Addressing obesity with patients can be challenging in a busy primary care clinic, but it is imperative to helping patients achieve overall health. Counseling on nutrition and physical activity is an important part of this process.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to nutrition counseling. Focus on creating individualized plans through which patients can achieve success. Some guidance follows, but also beware of common pitfalls that we have observed in clinical practice which, when addressed, can enable significant weight loss (see “Common pitfalls inhibiting weight loss”).
SIDEBAR Common pitfalls inhibiting weight loss
On the part of the patient:
Continuing to consume substantial amounts of high-calorie drinks.
Taking in excessive amounts of sugar-rich foods, including cough drops.
Using non-nutritive sweeteners (eg, aspartame, saccharin, sucralose, and erythritol). Although the mechanism is not certain, some people are able to lose weight while consuming these substances, while others are not.
On the part of the provider:
Prescribing a diet that the patient cannot sustain long term.
Overlooking the issue of food availability for the patient.
Choose an approach that works for the patient.Commonly prescribed diets to address obesity include, but are not limited to, Atkins, Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), Glycemic Index, Mediterranean, Ornish, Paleolithic, Zone, whole food plant-based, and ketogenic. We attempt to engage patients in making the decision on what food choices are appropriate for them considering their food availability, culture, and belief systems. For patients who prefer a vegan or vegetarian whole food diet, it is important to note that these diets are generally deficient in vitamin B12 and omega 3 fatty acids, so supplementing these should be considered.
We recommend that patients focus on eliminating sweetened beverages, such as soft drinks, sports drinks, energy drinks, vitamin water, sweet tea, chocolate milk, and Frappuccinos.
Rather than focus on a specific diet, which may not be sustainable long term, encourage healthy eating habits. Low-carbohydrate diets have been shown to promote greater weight loss compared to low-fat diets.13,14 Low-calorie diets can also be quite effective in promoting short-term weight loss. In our clinic, when weight loss is the primary goal, patients are typically encouraged to focus on either calorie or carbohydrate restriction in the initial stages of weight loss.
Eliminate sugar and refined carbohydrates.While rigorous mortality data are not available, more recent trials have demonstrated significant improvements in atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk markers, including weight reduction and diabetes reversal, when following a diet that markedly decreases carbohydrate intake, especially sugar and refined carbohydrates.7,14-17
