Still obsessing over calories? The ultimate way to lose weight is to eat normally.

This spring, weight management is changing from a "personal matter" to a "national matter."

On March 9th, Lei Haichao, the director of the National Health Commission, stated at a press conference themed on people's livelihood that since the launch of the "Year of Weight Management" last year, China will promote weight management for three consecutive years, popularize healthy lifestyles, and strengthen the prevention and control of chronic diseases. In response to the national call, weight clinics in many hospitals across the country have also been set up.

As part of this national weight - loss campaign, netizens have also worried a great deal about this national issue. They suggested that gyms and weight - loss app memberships should receive national subsidies. Some even proposed a "four - day workweek with three - day weekends" and set one day as a "sports day."

Comments from netizens under relevant posts.

The clarion call for weight management was not sounded without reason. The latest research report published in The Lancet1 shows that as of 2021, the number of overweight and obese adults aged 25 and above in China reached 402 million, ranking first in the world. Some studies predict that if the trend of overweight in the population is not effectively curbed, the overweight and obesity rates of adults and children in China will reach 70.5% and 31.8% respectively by 2030.

The weight crisis is not just about "clothes shrinking." The medical community has long sounded the alarm: the expanding "love handles" increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases, and the accumulated fat provides opportunities for chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. Moreover, the national obesity problem will also impose a heavy economic burden on the country.

When your "weight - loss cause" has risen to a national strategy, everyone has become the protagonist in this "weight tug - of - war."

Popular weight - loss methods,

Can only "exchange pain for thinness"?

Lingfei, who is 162 cm tall, experienced a dilemma familiar to most postpartum mothers after giving birth. The number on the scale soared from 120 catties before pregnancy to 140 catties. When the diagnosis of "moderate fatty liver" in her physical examination report caught her eye, she suddenly realized that this was no longer just a problem of not being able to fit into her old clothes.

Searching for keywords such as "weight - loss" and "weight management" on social media platforms, various guides, strategies, and experience - sharing posts emerge in an endless stream. Weight - loss methods such as the "16 + 8" intermittent fasting method, the carbohydrate - free diet, and the ketogenic diet have generated a lot of discussions among the young population.

"I chose to lose weight for my own health, so I don't want to sacrifice my health during the weight - loss process." As a former researcher in pregnancy - related diseases, Lingfei is cautious about the popular weight - loss methods on social media platforms.

The "16 + 8" intermittent fasting method requires restricting daily eating time to 8 hours, creating a calorie deficit through a "time cage" to achieve weight - loss results. This method does not match Lingfei's lifestyle rhythm. She is used to getting up around 6 a.m. If she follows this method, she needs to finish eating for the day around 2 p.m. This is indeed difficult for her as a new mother.

Struggling with hunger for a long time requires strong willpower. Many people fall into the vicious cycle of "binge - eating - fasting" because they can't persevere. To reward themselves for the hard work of losing weight, they turn "intermittent fasting" into "eating continuously in a light way."

Netizens sharing their weight - loss experiences on social media platforms.

Netizens sharing their weight - loss experiences on social media platforms.

If the focus of intermittent fasting methods represented by "16 + 8" and "5 + 2" is to fight against appetite, then methods such as the ketogenic diet and the carbohydrate - free diet target the diet structure.

The ketogenic diet has quietly become popular under the guise of "science." Its core is to force the body into a "fat - burning mode" through a diet structure extremely low in carbohydrates and high in fat. Although it has significant short - term effects, its side effects cannot be ignored.

After in - depth understanding of its principle, Lingfei chose to abandon this method. The ketogenic diet was originally used to treat intractable epilepsy in children and is an auxiliary treatment method in clinical practice, which requires professional doctor guidance and strict quantification. If used blindly, it may not only lead to malnutrition, metabolic disorders, and other adverse consequences but also increase the burden on the kidneys and cause ketoacidosis.

More radical than the ketogenic diet is the "carbohydrate - free diet," which stigmatizes carbohydrates. Along with the sharp decline in the number on the scale, side effects such as hair loss, poor sleep quality, and irritable mood also follow. Complaints from women about "irregular menstruation" caused by the carbohydrate - free diet are also common on social media platforms.

Finally, Lingfei chose the traditional way of "eating less and exercising more." She maintained a highly self - disciplined exercise routine, followed fitness apps for workouts and took private fitness classes, and exercised for 30 minutes to 1 hour every day.

However, her diet was in a "robbing Peter to pay Paul" mode. For a Changsha native living in the north, fried dough balls, fried cakes, and fried dough sticks were regular breakfast items, and she usually had takeout for lunch. To create a calorie deficit, she chose to "punish herself" by eating boiled vegetables for dinner.

This long - term struggle with weight lasted for nearly three years. Although she finally lost 20 catties of fat, the process was much more painful than expected.

The number on the scale changed very slowly. Every gram of weight loss was accompanied by the fear of losing control of appetite. The impulse to "reward oneself with a cup of milk tea" often clashed fiercely with the rationality of "must resist." This weight - management journey has long become a "spiritual practice" that tortures the body and mind.

When weight - loss is simplified to "calorie addition and subtraction," people have to fight against their instinctive desires with willpower. The "tyranny" over the body also brings more hidden harm: hair loss and irregular menstruation, and mood swings along with weight rebounds.

Obesity is actually a systematic problem involving various aspects such as genes, metabolic function, lifestyle, and social culture. Common weight - loss tutorials often simplify the complex human body into a math problem. The method of eating less and exercising more can create a calorie deficit in the short term but ignores the wrinkles of real life and specific individuals.

Weight loss with probiotics: Reconciliation with the body

Science is uncovering another possibility: Weight - loss may not be about self - suppression but rather an ecological reconstruction.

Traditional weight - loss methods always revolve around the calorie formula of "input and output" but selectively ignore a delicate "ecosystem" in the human body - the gut microbiota.

Image source: @Visual China

In recent years, many scientific studies have shown that in our intestines, these invisible allies are playing the role of "weight manipulators." They not only participate in digestion and absorption but also affect energy metabolism, appetite regulation, and inflammatory responses through various mechanisms.

As early as 2013, a study in Science2 revealed the relationship between gut microbiota and weight. A research team from the University of Washington conducted an experiment on the impact of the gut microbiota of twin sisters on the weight of mice.

One sister was fat, and the other was thin. The research team transferred the gut microbiota of the two sisters into two groups of germ - free mice that had undergone the same treatment. They found that the mice that received the "fat microbiota" became fat, while the mice that received the "thin microbiota" remained thin. This experiment also provided some scientific basis for the gradually popular method of intervening in weight through probiotics in the market later.

As more and more relevant scientific studies emerged, Lingfei's attitude towards weight loss with probiotics changed from waiting and seeing to trying.

In the process of exploring a suitable weight - loss method for herself, she learned a lot of nutrition knowledge. On the basis of adjusting her diet structure, she paired it with some probiotic products. From imported strains such as Life Space to BGI's "remarkable national strains," Lingfei found that this time, she no longer needed to grit her teeth and fight against the number on the scale.

Since 2021, she has incorporated probiotics into her daily life: taking them once after breakfast in the morning and also pairing them with pre - meal blockers when eating out. Even at dinners, she would give a probiotic tablet to her friends.

Changes have quietly taken place. Once a sweet - tooth, she now stands in front of a milk tea shop calmly. Probiotics are like a "regulator" installed in the gut. The stable appetite naturally optimizes the diet structure: Her breakfast has changed from fried dough balls and fried dough sticks to black coffee with whole grains; for lunch, she prefers spicy hot pot and matches the proportion of various nutrients well; dinner also focuses on nutritional balance rather than extreme dieting. She no longer needs to deliberately "control her mouth" because her body already knows what it needs.

The weight - management model of "diet + exercise + probiotics" makes Lingfei feel "cooperation with the body" from the "calorie war." "Losing weight is just an appearance. The real victory lies in the gentle encounter with oneself after crossing numerous mountains." Lingfei summarized her physical and mental renewal in this way.

The future of weight management:

More gentle and more human - centered

A similar story also happened to David.

David, born in 1982, is an office worker who has been struggling with overweight for a long time. In the past, he tried private fitness courses but gradually lost confidence in the cycle of "weightlifting - weight loss - weight rebound." In March 2024, he came into contact with the "Slimming Plan" launched by BGI Nutrition and started a health transformation that subverted his perception.

During the 90 - day plan, under the full - time guidance of a health manager, he flexibly adjusted his diet structure, paired it with suitable probiotic products and appropriate exercise. His weight dropped from 82 kilograms to 75 kilograms, his sleep quality improved significantly, and the irritable bowel syndrome that had troubled him for a long time almost disappeared.

David

More profound than the numbers is the change in lifestyle - "My biggest gain is learning knowledge and developing healthy habits." David's experience is a microcosm of BGI's weight - management concept of "precision, safety, and sustainability."

Traditional weight - loss programs often ignore individual differences and try to apply the same formula to everyone. BGI, on the other hand, uses science as a weapon to pierce through weight - loss misunderstandings and achieve a core breakthrough in "precision."

The first step of its Slimming Plan is to draw a personalized health portrait for each user through various means such as genetic testing, gut microbiota testing, and lifestyle questionnaires. It evaluates the population according to the causes of obesity, provides corresponding diet and exercise plans, and pairs them with different probiotic products, making the intervention plan truly suitable for each specific individual.

[Genetic testing + Risk assessment]

Precise data is just the starting point. Human - centered service and dynamic adjustment are the keys to sustainability.

"The health consultant never told me to 'give up' anything but taught me how to balance." During the implementation of the "Slimming Plan," David needed to report his diet to the health consultant every day, but he still had a certain degree of freedom in his diet. Even if he ate barbecue late at night, the health consultant did not blame him but suggested that he could eat less for breakfast the next day or replace it with cherry tomatoes. Even a small amount of craft beer could be regarded as a liquid bread to supplement carbohydrates, subverting David's previous stereotype that "weight - loss = ascetic dieting."

BGI's confidence comes from its profound scientific research accumulation. As a global leading enterprise in life sciences, BGI has been deeply involved in gut microbiota research for 17 years, and its human symbiotic strain library currently has more than 60,000 strains. In addition, BGI is the only non - EU institution participating in the Human Gut Microbiome Project (MetaHIT) initiated by the EU and leads multiple world - class research projects.

Its star strains, Lactobacillus gasseri TF08 - 1 and Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis BGI - N3, have passed multiple experimental verifications and obtained national patents, and are applied in BGI's probiotic product [Jingzhi·Light].

BGI Nutrition's invention patent certificate

BGI's innovation lies not only in technological breakthroughs but also in