Weight Loss Strategies That Work
- Losing weight is one of those New Year's resolutions that never changes. Like learning English or quitting smoking.
- First came the injectable Ozempic, then Wegovy and Mounjaro and, now, recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first daily pill to lose weight:...
- La alimentación y el ejercicio siguen siendo los cimientos para mantener un peso saludable.
Losing weight is one of those New Year’s resolutions that never changes. Like learning English or quitting smoking. With almost all of them,we start with will and enthusiasm,but we end up in the recovery exams of September (another month loaded with good intentions) and we see ourselves the next January 1st making the same promises.
Losing weight now seems easier with the new drugs. First came the injectable Ozempic, then Wegovy and Mounjaro and, now, recently, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first daily pill to lose weight: the oral version of wegovy
La alimentación y el ejercicio siguen siendo los cimientos para mantener un peso saludable. «La importancia del plan nutricional y del ejercicio es fundamental y para toda la vida. Es la base de este cambio de vida y todos los ensayos clínicos de los fármacos se han realizado añadido a nutrición y ejercicio», afirma el doctor Cristóbal Morales, endocrinólogo en el hospital Vithas sevilla, vocal de la junta directiva de la Seedo e investigador en ensayos clínicos sobre semaglutida, principio activo de Ozempic y Wegovy. El experto recuerda que, antes de medicarse, siempre hay que consultar con el profesional sanitario especializado para elegir lo que mejor le viene a ese paciente pensando en su salud y el largo plazo.
El doctor Morales recuerda que la obesidad es una enfermedad «crónica, recidivante y muy compleja. Si abandonas el tratamiento y vuelves a tus hábitos anteriores, la tendencia natural es que vayas reganando peso«. el experto señala que están en marcha ensayos clínicos en los que se está trabajando en diferentes pautas para saber si el mantenimiento del peso se podría conseguir con dosis mínimas, dosis alternantes o incluso abandonando el fármaco e incorporando hábitos.Los nuevos fármacos orales y las novedades que están por venir en 2026 y 2027 irán en esa línea de conseguir un tratamiento cada vez más personalizado.
Dietas que funcionan
En dietas también se sigue investigando para ver cuál es más eficaz en la pérdida de peso. Un nuevo estudio liderado por el doctor Francisco J. Tinahones, director científico de IBIMA Plataforma BIONAND e investigador responsable del grupo ‘Obesidad, Diabetes y sus Comorbilidades: prevención y Tratamiento’, aporta luz sobre estrategias nutricionales innovadoras para combatir la obesidad. Publicado en la revista ‘BMC Medicine’, el trabajo sugiere que ciertas dietas alternativas -como la cetogénica, el ayuno en días alternos modificado o la alimentación con restricción de tiempo de ingesta temprana- pueden ser significativamente má
Modified alternate-day fasting and late-time restricted feeding stood out as the approaches that most reduced body fat, with modified alternate-day fasting showing the greatest impact on this parameter.
“Almost everyone lost more than 8 kilos in three months. Everyone improved, but the loss was more significant in those following the alternate-day intermittent fasting, which also had a better metabolic effect than the other diets. Blood pressure decreased and neurocognitive improvements were observed. When you lose weight, concentration, short-term memory, and long-term memory tests improve,” explains Dr. Tinahones to ABC.
in the expert’s opinion, the reason for the success of fasting for weight loss is that when one goes without eating for more than 12 hours, and we have no glucose reserve, fats begin to be metabolized and ketone bodies appear in the blood as fuel, which suppress appetite. “If I don’t have dinner, the next day there is no compensatory intake because these molecules in our body take away some of our appetite. Many studies reflect that intermittent fasting is a good option for losing weight. The ketogenic diet cannot be maintained as a lifestyle in the long term and is not indicated in some patients with diseases, but intermittent fasting can be maintained over time,” he concludes.
The new oral drugs and the novelties that are coming in 2026 and 2027 are in line with achieving increasingly personalized treatment
For Dr. Inka Miñambres,a member of the obesity area of the SEEN,the most critically important thing when you want to lose weight with diet is that the proposed eating plan “is adapted to the clinical characteristics and preferences of each patient,and that it is indeed planned to facilitate long-term adherence.” “In our surroundings, the Mediterranean diet should be promoted for being the one that best adapts to our culture and for its association with a reduction in the risk of numerous diseases including cardiovascular disease, cancer, type 2 diabetes and degenerative diseases,” she points out.
The problem with diets is that…
Bariatric surgery remains the most effective strategy for reducing weight, achieving at least a 40% loss of initial body weight two years after the start of the surgical intervention, pharmacological treatment, or lifestyle change.
But when is bariatric surgery recommended? “It is indicated in patients with a BMI greater than 40, or in those with a BMI of 35 with comorbidities (cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, joint problems). In BMIs lower than 30, only if the patient has type 2 diabetes that is not adequately controlled with medication,” explains Dr. Lucas Sabatella, a specialist in training at the Department of General and Digestive Surgery at the Clínica de Navarra and first author of the study.
In patients with obesity, weight loss using drugs such as liraglutide and semaglutide is “very modest.it is rare to lose more than 10%, at maximum doses.” “With tirzepatide, the loss can reach 20%, but with surgery it can reach 40% of body weight,” says the expert, who assures that most patients who now arrive in the operating room have previously tried these medications without success.
Midway between drugs and surgery is bariatric endoscopy. The patient profile for this type of intervention is usually a person with overweight or mild to moderate obesity (BMI between 30 and 40) who has been trying