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Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body weight, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue. It can occur unintentionally due to an underlying disease or can arise from a conscious effort to improve an overweight or obese state.
The least intrusive weight loss methods, and those most often recommended by physicians, are adjustments to eating patterns and increased physical activity, generally in the form of exercise. Physicians will usually recommend that their overweight patients combine a reduction of processed and caloric content of the diet with an increase in physical activity.
Other methods of losing weight include use of drugs and supplements that decrease appetite, block fat absorption, or reduce stomach volume. Medicines with herbs such as Fucus vesiculosus are popular. Finally, surgery (i.e. bariatric surgery) may be used in more severe cases to artificially reduce the size of the stomach, thus limiting the intake of food energy.
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