- With Mayo Clinic preventive medicine specialist
Donald Hensrud, M.D.
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Donald Hensrud, M.D.
Donald Hensrud, M.D., M.P.H., M.S.
Dr. Donald D. Hensrud is chair of the Division of Preventive, Occupational and Aerospace Medicine with a joint appointment in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism, & Nutrition at Mayo Clinic. He is an associate professor of preventive medicine and nutrition at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine. Dr. Hensrud directed the Executive Health Program at Mayo Clinic for more than 10 years.
He received his B.S. from the University of North Dakota, M.D. from the University of Hawaii, M.P.H. from the University of Minnesota and M.S. in nutrition sciences from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He completed residency training in internal medicine and fellowship training in preventive medicine at Mayo Clinic and completed a clinical nutrition fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Dr. Hensrud is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, the American Board of Preventive Medicine and the American Board of Physician Nutrition Specialists, of which he is a past president.
His career interests have combined nutrition, weight management, and prevention. He is the author of many scientific articles and book chapters and was editor of Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for EveryBody; The New Mayo Clinic Cookbook, which won a 2005 James Beard Foundation award; The Mayo Clinic Plan: 10 Essential Steps to a Better Body & Healthier Life; and The Mayo Clinic Diet, published in January 2010.
Dr. Hensrud says healthy lifestyle habits in diet and physical activity are extremely important as evidenced by a large body of scientific evidence. He also says implementing these lifestyle habits is realistic, sustainable and enjoyable. A primary goal of his work is to help people achieve this.
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March 6, 2013
Myths about weight loss
By Donald Hensrud, M.D.
Recently, there was an article in a medical journal on myths about obesity, and there are many. Why is this?
Losing weight is challenging as everyone knows. And much more complex than it seems. It's much more than just eating less and exercising more. Because we don't understand weight loss well enough to be more successful, we search for explanations — and myths are created. Here are a few of these myths:
- The reason why I weigh more is my metabolic rate is low. As people gain weight they increase not only body fat, but also some muscle to support that fat. Approximately 20-30 percent of excess weight is muscle. Muscle tissue burns calories, so the more muscle someone has, the greater the metabolic rate. So in general, the more someone weighs, the greater their metabolic rate. This doesn't include calories burned through physical activity.
- The reason why I weigh more is my thyroid isn't working well. It's true that weight gain will occur in someone who has advanced hypothyroidism (low thyroid hormone). However, weight gain doesn't occur until someone has had hypothyroidism severely and for a long time. The vast majority of people whose thyroid gland isn't working properly have it discovered on a laboratory test when it's mild, long before it affects body weight. A simple blood test can tell if your thyroid gland is working properly.
- Small changes in calorie intake will cause large changes in body weight over time. Occasionally, someone will state something such as: If you eat one less cookie each day, and that cookie contains 100 calories, then by doing the math you should lose more than 10 pounds after one year. Yet, why don't we know more people who've accomplished this? It's because as we lose weight, we burn less calories (our metabolic rate decreases as discussed above). This is also one of the reasons why we hit a plateau when we lose weight, and one of the complexities of weight loss.
There are many other weight loss myths. In our book, "The Mayo Clinic Diet," we have tried to take some of the myths and complexities out of weight loss. We try to explain things simply and provide a program that people can understand and follow. While weight loss is still challenging, we believe this can help.
9 comments posted
May 29, 2013 12:41 a.m.
I used to have 2 small meals in breakfast and dinner, however lunch was always heavier and always had much more protein to compensate for the other two meals. this works well as your body doesn't need much calories in the night and in the mornings your metabolism is low so your calorie burning capacity is low too. However by lunch time your body is much more active and craving for a tummy full of nutritious food. that method really helps.
- Wellness Trainer
May 27, 2013 4:00 a.m.
I think eating less doesn't work for me. Because even if I skipped breakfast and dinner for weeks now, I think my weight is still the same. So I tried taking dieting pills to lose weight. Maybe I will have my luck on this.
- Ronald
May 3, 2013 10:58 a.m.
Hi I have seen that you can gain weight loss with virgin coconut oil, what is your opinion
- AJmal
May 2, 2013 4:52 a.m.
I also trying to loos weight for 3 months but i used this pill Alli Orlistat.my weight reduce automatically.
- radolf
April 23, 2013 1:53 a.m.
decided to lose weight because I needed to control something in my life. I was having issues at work with a new employer (same job just a new employer took over), family issues and a man who just up and walked away one day with no explanation and never looked back.
- mike
April 15, 2013 9:02 a.m.
So stunning! I had never heard about this thing before. I think this information is useful to people who wants to loss their weight.
- HCG Canada Group
April 1, 2013 5:58 p.m.
I found that doing a lifestyle change was the best answer to all my weight problems! I started out with a detox an eventually it all just got a little easier! There is a ton of info on www.detoxfromsugar.com good luck people!
- catherine
March 31, 2013 8:37 a.m.
One of the best way to lose weight is interval training. For those who would like to explore more about HIIT training go to http://www.intervalstraining.net/what-is-hiit
/ - Ron
March 11, 2013 5:35 a.m.
I've finally got where I wanna be with my weight and I haven't felt this good in years. I have so much energy!
- Timothy
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9 comments posted