Obesity Archives ⋆ Page 2 of 3 ⋆ Carb Wars Cookbooks

Diseases and Conditions Archive by category "Obesity" (Page 2)

Brainstorming in Portland for the Metabolism Society

Dr. Feinman, founder of the Nutrition and Metabolism Society, invited me to join him and two other Northwest NMS members for a brainstorming session in Portland a little over a week ago. D offered to drive me down, so we put on a CD of Bluegrass music and took the day off for a much-needed mini-vacation. That’s me, Dr. Ann Childers, Dr. Peter Ballerstedt, and Dr. Richard Feinman in the picture above (left to right). I was thrilled to meet Dr. Ann Childers, a child and adult trained psychiatric physician who helps her patients…

Response to: “The New Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010, The Nutritional Law of the Land”

The March issue of The Front Burner, published by the International Association of Culinary Professionals, included an article by Michelle Dudash titled, “The New Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2010: ‘The Nutritional Law of the Land,’” with advice about how we can help implement the recommendations. This is my response: The first Dietary Goals for Americans in 1977 (1.) told us to eat more carbohydrates and less fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and salt. This same advice, carried to further extremes, is served up in the 2010 Dietary…

All Calories No Longer Equal at Weight Watchers, Cattlemen Fight Back, Pork Producers Change Slogan, and Harvard Says, “End the Low-Fat Myth”

“Calorie counting has become unhelpful,” according to David Kirchoff, president of Weight Watchers International. The company’s website has announced a change in their point system. . The old plan allowed dieters to eat whatever they wanted as long as they kept portions under control using points based on calorie content. The new PointsPlus system puts higher point values on fat and empty calories and gives lower points to foods that are high in protein or fiber, which make the body work harder to convert them into…

LESSONS ABOUT OBESITY FROM FAT MONKEYS

An experimental drug that dramatically reduced the appetite of rodents caused obese baboons to double or triple their food intake and is now being considered as a treatment for cancer patients and those who need to gain weight. Monkeys are better research models because they are more like humans than rats or mice, not only physiologically, but also in eating behavior; they will eat when they are bored, even if they are not hungry. Fat monkeys are providing some interesting findings about what causes obesity…

LAST DAY FOR COMMENTS ON USDA GUIDELINES

July 15th is the last day to submit your comments to the USDA about their new food guidelines. I urge you to please speak out before this travesty is finalized. You are limited to 2,000 characters or less, and they seem to count spaces. If you want to send a longer message, you can send it as an attachment. I thought people would be more likely to read it if they didn’t have to open anything, so I worked really hard to get my comment…

WHO NEEDS LOW CARB? (PARTIAL LIST)

– Those who have diabetes who want to reduce or eliminate their dependence on medication. -Those who have a family history of diabetes or have been told they are pre-diabetic or insulin resistant. Anyone with an “apple” body shape is probably insulin resistant. -Those who suffer from hypoglycemia. -The overweight and obese. This is by far the largest group who could benefit from carb restriction; they now make up over two-thirds of the population of the United States (data from the National Health and Nutrition…

CARB WARS FEATURED ON LIFESCRIPT

A huge thank you to Life Script, the premier website for women’s health, for the feature article on Carb Wars, which included 7 recipes with pictures and a story written by Nicole McEwen. Life Script is the 4th largest independent health site and the 10th largest women’s online community. . Judging by the comments, the article evoked the usual controversy among the pro- and anti-low carb factions, even though the writer softened my message somewhat by suggesting that lack of exercise might be responsible for…

BARIATRIC SURGERY: LOW CARB THE HARD WAY

Another article about the miraculous effects of bariatric surgery appeared in the news this morning. The procedure has already been proclaimed the “cure” for diabetes and now Canadian researchers have reported that it reduces colon and breast cancer rates by 80% over five years. (“Gastric bypass surgery may stave off cancer,” Thomas H. Maugh II and Denise Gellene, Los Angeles Times, June 19, 2008. You can read the story here: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/text/2008005564_obesity19.html.) The authors state that two studies from last August have shown a decrease in…

BEST LIFE? NOT EVEN CLOSE!

I watched part of an Oprah show a while back (it might have been a rerun) in which Oprah and her fitness guru, Bob Green, went to Mississippi to save the residents of “the fattest state in America.” Oprah, who has famously had her own troubles in that regard, was well aware of the irony of her attempt to give out advice on weight loss. She magnanimously absolved Mr. Green of any blame for her most recent relapse and took sole responsibility while vowing to…

Do artificial sweeteners cause weight gain?

This is interesting. Several recent studies have linked artificial sweeteners with weight gain, which I find baffling and counter to my own experience. The rationale used to explain the phenomenon is that just the sensation of a sweet taste provokes an insulin surge in anticipation of sugar just as a ringing bell associated with feeding caused Pavlov’s dogs to salivate. The insulin then promotes fat storage. A new study from Purdue University seems to confirm that using artificial sweeteners makes it harder, not easier to…

Eating Low Carb in the Sky

Anyone who doubts that the obesity epidemic is real probably hasn’t done much flying lately. It is all too common to have to surrender a sizable portion of your already cramped space to accommodate the overflow from a seatmate. Before you get off the ground, the stewards must pass out seatbelt extenders to passengers whose belts don’t fit and rearrange the seating to put overweight flyers next to an empty seat if one is available, which is rare these days. Airlines have been sued by…

Category: Obesity