Calorie Restriction An Approach towards Obesity Management

Abstract

Obesity is increasing worldwide and has become a public health concern due to associated degenerative diseases and morbidity. Even though overweight and obesity are not life threatening, they qualify themselves as a disease entity. The bulk of literature on obesity says that the external environment largely influences the increase in food intake and is termed scientifically as “obesogenic environment”. A “dual approach” that uses both traditional and holistic health can be used to curb this rising trend. Dietary approaches like low calorie diets and increased physical activity are recommended for weight management and prevention of diseases. A number of studies indicate that there is an increased interest in enhancing the use of herbs, bioactive components of foods, traditional diets; owing to their wide spectrum of therapeutic properties for obesity and for the armed forces personnel (under the hypocaloric rations in the field). Therefore, taking the existing scenario of obesity into consideration and the protective role of calorie restriction, this paper provides an insight into the highly convoluted process of dietary restriction and highlights the implications of hypocaloric diets.