Weird weight loss tips that work

June 1, 2012 (WPVI) -- If your weight loss routine hits a wall, it may be because of some sneaky little suspects hijacking your diet.

*FOR ALLERGY SUFFERERS: Check your medications! Researchers at the Yale School of Medicine found that people on antihistamines are ten pounds heavier on average.

Those allergy-fighters work because they block the immune system's histamines, which also happen to play a role in appetite and fat breakdown.

Doctors say consider allergy SHOTS instead.

*TAKE YOUR VITAMINS: In a study of obese women, The International Journal of Obesity found that ladies who took a multivitamin over a 26-week period had significantly less body fat.

Apparently, when we lack certain nutrients, we eat more.

*SHUT THE SHADES: The darker the room you sleep in, the slimmer you will be! Researchers at Ohio State University found that snoozing in bright light or even by the glow of, say, a TV screen causes people to eat at odd times. That's roughly equivalent to late-night eating.

*READ YOUR E-MAIL: Your inbox can be a useful place to find nutrition email blasts. "They're crammed with clever tricks," said New York City nutritionist Joy Bauer, author of Joy Bauer's Food Cures (Rodale), who sends out her own daily tip sheet through joybauer.com.

She recommends print publications including the Tufts Health & Nutrition Newsletter and the Harvard Health Letter, as well as weightwatchers.com's free email newsletter. Bauer also cites a Kaiser Permanente study that found people who read weekly wellness newsletters ate more fresh produce and fewer trans fats after 16 weeks, as well as exercised more.

*GET SPICY: When researchers put a half teaspoon of cayenne pepper in a bowl of soup, people ate 60 fewer calories at the next meal on average, compared to people who ate plain soup with or without a cayenne-pepper pill, according to the study at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. Scientists say cayenne seems to rev metabolism when consumed in food, as opposed to pill form.

LINK: allure.com

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