As the number of Americans who see themselves as having serious weight problems increases, so does the frequency of bariatric surgical procedures. The American Society of Bariatric Surgery says there were 171,000 such procedures in 2005. We believe you should completely avoid these procedures in favor of major lifestyle changes unless your physician tells you not having one is life threatening. The evidence that the usefulness of these is short lived and the incidence of malnutrition among people who have undergone it are strong counter arguments, in our (non medical) opinion. For any of the quick fixes to work, whether it be fad diets, pills, or surgery, you have to change the way you eat and your activities or the weight will just come right back with a vengeance.

Nonetheless, for those who do decide to go under the knife, it is vitally important that you choose a hospital that is highly rated or you have a 66% higher risk of potentially serious complications. In fact, concerns about the safety of these procedures has caused some health insurers to pull back on reimbursements for them.

So how do you find a “highly-rated” hospital. Well there are services that will sell you that information. I just entered the following search in my friendly Google toolbar and got some reputable sources to check out:

hospital ratings bariatric surgery MyCity

By the way, as stated in the article linked below, complications set in in about 40% of bariatric surgery patients once they return home.

Be well!  –Di

Weight-loss surgery safety varies drastically (Reuters via Yahoo! News)

technorati tags:weight, loss, surgery, bariatric, complications

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Can you eat a high calorie diet and avoid at least some of the consequences? Maybe so. If you’re a mouse.

The skins and seeds of grapes contain a compound called resveratol. It’s found naturally in a variety of plants when they are stressed. Because of the grape skin content, it’s also found in red wine. Researchers at the Harvard Medical School started reporting in 2003 that it had anti-aging properties in yeast, worms, and flies. Tipsy flies?

More recently, they divided mice into three groups when they got to be a year old. This is middle-aged for these mice, since the usual life expectancy for this strain is 2 1/2 years.

One group was fed standard mouse food. A second group got a high calorie diet with 60% of calories from fat. The third group got the high calorie diet plus resveratol.

On most of the parameters measured, including longevity, motor function, diabetes markers, health of heart and liver tissue, and various other metabolic markers, the resveratol-fed mice did significantly better than the mice fed the high calorie diet but no resveratol. In fact, in many respects, there were almost on a par with the mice fed the standard diet, except they were indeed obese.

It should be mentioned that this research was done in conjunction with Sirtis, a private company with which Harvard has license and equity interest. Here’s a link to the press release from Harvard:

http://web.med.harvard.edu/sites/RELEASES/html/11_1Sinclair.html

There’s no guarantee that humans work the same way as mice in all respects. In fact we don’t. But this compound could very well be a good thing for us. Anybody want some nice red grapes?  Eat the seeds too. They definitely are good for us.  –Di

technorati tags:obese, weight, resveratol, grapes, red, wine, diet, high, calorie

Did you associate salt with weight gain? Me neither. High blood pressure maybe, but not weight gain, except that it causes fluid retention.

In recent years, I have even read articles in the popular literature downplaying watching salt intake as a health measure. But now, some Finnish researchers have some powerful observations that make me thing maybe we had better be paying attention to the salt shaker.

First they noted that, in Finland, a 30-35% decrease in salt intake over a 30 year period was accompanied by a 75-80% decrease in strokes and coronary disease and a 6-7-year increase in Finnish life expectancy. These favorable effects were most strongly associated with a large decrease in blood pressure, followed by decrease in cholesterol levels. Use of powerful drugs with side effects contributed less than 10% to these good effects.

Over  less than just 15 years (mid 1980’s to late 1990’s) of this time period in the U.S., however, salt intake increased more than 50%, as did blood pressure. Average blood pressure had been falling until the mid ’80’s but as the salt went up, so did the blood pressure.

Guess what else went up. Weight! During 1999 - 2002, the prevalence of obesity was 120% higher among men and 99% higher among women than it had been in 1976 - 1980.

The authors attribute the association between salt intake and weight gain to the thirst produced by salt. They say it makes people drink sweetened (sugary) beverages and they also have figures showing the consumption of those went up during the same period. I think it’s probably more complicated than that.

Anyway, it seems clear that too much salt is a bad thing in a number of respects. Other than using the salt shaker in moderation, an important thing to watch is how much sodium (salt) is in the prepared feeds we buy. Restaurants and frozen and canned food processors often put in a LOT of salt. So, for yet another reason it’s much better to cook your own food from fresh produce. It can be done quickly and easily if you take a little time to learn how to do it.

Gotta go. Time for mid-morning snack. I have a peach and some (unsalted) walnuts. Yum!  –Di

Salt intake is strongly associated with obesity (EurekAlert!)

A study published in the journal “Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases” refutes the frequently repeated claims that a comprehensive salt reduction would not produce any overall health benefits, or would even increase diseases and shorten the life-span.

technorati tags:weight, loss, salt, weight, gain, blood, pressure, stroke, diet

This morning I got on the scales and I was up 0.8 of a pound. I am a bad, bad girl and I should just give up on myself because I have no will power at all!  I should just fast all day today to make up for being so bad yesterday. Did you ever do that?

Actually, I stayed right on my plan yesterday in terms of overall calories, percentages of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, and exercise. So why did I gain weight?

For one thing, I really shouldn’t be weighing myself every day, although I do it at the same time (first thing out of bed in the morning), always on an empty stomach, every day. The important measure is inches as I explained in one of my earlier posts. But who can deal with a tape measure at the hour I get up?

Anyway, the article below describes some of the many reasons, other than real weight gain or loss, that what the scale says will fluctuate from days to day. Most of them have to do with fluid loss or retention. I would just be aware of all these things but keep track of my weight (and inches) regularly. The important thing is to watch the trend over the longer haul.

But maybe I really shouldn’t have had the afternoon latte. Maybe there was something in there I didn’t account for. Hmm…   –Di

Don’t celebrate — or lament — every change on the scales - Orlando Sentinel

technorati tags:weight, loss, diet, scales, fluid, retention

You can hardly pick up a newspaper these days without seeing some newly discovered bad consequence of obesity. For those of us who are already determined to move toward our happiest weights, these are sometimes drastic reminders to stay the course. 

One condition that has long been associated with obesity is Type II diabetes. Over 80% of people with Type II diabetes are obese, according to a recent report. Some of the worst consequences of being obese are actually consequences of this acquired diabetes. But why does being obese lead to diabetes?

This is probably not an easy question to answer. But here’s something that may be a piece of the puzzle. A recent report in the journal Cell Metabolism by Canadian researchers points out that obesity causes imbalance in the hormone leptin. Among other things, leptin acts on the pancreatic islet cells that produce insulin.  If there’s too much signaling by leptin, then the pancreas produces too much insulin. This leads to more fat production and more leptin and so on and thus causes major imbalances in blood sugar levels.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061019175156.htm

So what can a body do to decrease leptin levels while the body still has a lot of fat cells that tend to produce leptin? A study published several years ago said that physical exercise reduces leptin levels. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston reported that the equivalent of three hours of jogging per week was associated with a ten percent lower level of leptin, on average.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/03/000307090905.htm

So the answer, as with all weight management issues is not just to adopt a healthy veggies-fruits-protein, junk-free diet eaten in moderation. Another very important component is to increase physical activity.

Gotta go now. Gotta get moving, pushing, and stretching. Join me?  –Di

technorati tags:obesity, typeII, diabetes, leptin, exercise

Today we have a guest article by Dan Nessel. He makes the legimate point that, although there does seem to be evidence that chewing on the actual plant, Hoodia gordonii, does seem to make your appetite go away, most of the products marketed as containing hoodia have very little to no actual hoodia in them. The South African government grant rights to the cultivation and sale of the plant to a British drug company called Phytopharm. They had a deal with U.S. drug company Pfizer, which was going to buy the plant from Phytopharm and then make pills with the "active ingredient," P57, for sale in the U.S. and elsewhere. But that fell through. Now Unilever, the well known soap company, has a deal to buy the plant and make "slimming" snacks from it. Whatever the ad says, be sure and follow Dan's good advice and make sure that whatever you buy labeled as hoodia actually has it in it.

Two years after 60 Minutes  - Is Authentic Hoodia Available?
Copyright (c) 2006 Dan Nessel
Hoodia Advice
http://www.hoodia-advice.org

In Nov 2004 Leslie Stahl of CBS News 60 Minutes went to South
Africa, ate some Hoodia and proclaimed "no desire to eat or
drink the entire day. I'd have to say it did work" and
unintentionally launched a red hot Hoodia supplement industry.

In case you have a terrific spam filter - here is the 411 on
Hoodia. Hoodia Gordonii is a succulent plant that grows in South
Africa. The SAN Bushmen have chewed on Hoodia for close to 1,000
years to reduce their appetite while on long hunting trips.
Hoodia is now a highly sought after plant for it ability to
suppress appetite. In fact, Hoodia Gordonii is in such high
demand it is considered a protected plant and can only be
exported with a special permit from the government of South
Africa (a CITES permit).

It has now been almost two years since Hoodia as an appetite
suppressant burst onto the diet scene so let's recap what has
happened in the past 2 years.

 * A cure for lonely email boxes - Hoodia Spam!

A plant from South Africa that could suppress appetite and had
the endorsement of Leslie Stahl - this was just too much for the
spammers to resist. The spammers of the world somehow found time
in their busy schedule of spamming about Viagra and casinos to
send a few million spams about Hoodia supplements. If you had
been concerned that you just didn't get enough emails - you can
thank the Hoodia spammers for solving your problems.

 * Turns out everyone in world really wants to help the SAN
Bushmen

The SAN Bushmen discovered Hoodia and are supposed to get a
percentage of any legitimate Hoodia sales. If you believe all the
websites - everyone is a friend of the Bushmen and paying them
handsome royalties. Strange how with all this love and promise of
money the SAN Bushmen have seen almost no royalties at all.

 * In a breakthrough of science - more Hoodia has been sold than
grown.

Amazingly, more Hoodia has been sold in supplement form than has
ever been grown and exported from South Africa. Every company
claims to have authentic pure Hoodia from South Africa, so the
only possible answer is a scientific breakthrough that allows you
to have more Hoodia than actually exist in the world. If they
just apply this to food, I guess we could end world hunger.

 * Hoodia is free* (*as long as you are willing to pay $99 a
month for the rest of your life).

New Hoodia sites appear everyday offering a free supply of
Hoodia. Of course "free" is a relative term. It turns out it is
only free for 5 days, then you are billed $99 every month until
you cancel. Don't worry - canceling is easy - you just need to
call their non-existent phone number and speak to a friendly non-
existent customer service rep.

 * Over 200 Hoodia Products have been featured on Oprah, 60
Minutes and The Today Show.

If you believe all the Hoodia web sites that say "As Seen on
Oprah, 60 Minutes and The Today Show" there would be over 200
Hoodia products featured on those shows. It must make for a long
segment when you need to endorse all of those products. Of
course, none of those shows have ever recommended any Hoodia
supplement by name, but that is just a minor point.

 * Authentic Lab Tested Hoodia is available

Given the terrible state of the Hoodia supplement industry it may
be most surprising to learn that authentic lab tested Hoodia
Gordonii from South Africa is available and effective. Companies
such as Alkemists Labs have developed independent lab tests that
can determine if a Hoodia supplement is authentic or not.
Unfortunately, the majority of companies selling Hoodia do not
perform Alkemists lab tests.

So, was Leslie Stahl crazy? Is the whole Hoodia business a scam?
No, not at all you just need to do your research to make sure the
Hoodia you buy is actually lab tested Hoodia Gordonii from South
Africa. Try searching Google for "Alkemists Hoodia Lab Test"
and you will find the few reputable companies that are selling
authentic, lab tested, Hoodia from South Africa.  Of course, if
you prefer to throw money away and buy bogus products, check your
inbox - you probably have at least 10 new spams promising the
"only Hoodia seen on 60 Minutes."

———————————————————————
Dan Nessel is a writer and researcher for Hoodia-Advice.Org.
Mr. Nessel has spent the last 10 years writing and researching
dietary supplements for various online publications.
Hoodia-Advice.Org specializes in presenting unbiased research
and information on Hoodia Gordonii.

Read more articles at - http://www.hoodia-advice.org
———————————————————————

And never forget that JUST eating less is not the way to a beautiful healthy body. Keep the veggies, fruits, lean protein, and essential oils coming, make sure you're getting calorie buring, reistance, and flexibility exercise in forms you enjoy, and get some sleep! Be well! –Di

technorati tags:weight, loss, hoodia, appetite, suppressants, supplements, diet

Once you hit the mid-forties, or so the conventional wisdom goes, unless you’re a PC (physical culture) Queen or King, progressive middle-aged spread is unavoidable. I even know of a highly publicized female M.D. who sends a lot of emails saying that women over forty can’t lose weight (unless they buy her $70+ program that gives you the startling advice to eat green things - but that’s another story). 

But no less an authority than USA Today (see link below) has reported on studies from the University of Pittsburgh and the University of North Carolina saying that walking helps keep those pounds at bay. The UNC report said that if people start walking at least four hours a week when they’re in their twenties (18 - 30), they were much less likely to have gained weight 15 years later.

In a controlled study from Pittsburgh, researchers found that if overweight middle-aged people would walk fast for 30 minutes to an hour a day, they lost seven pounds, on average, over the course of a year and a half, without doing anything about their diet except trying to “eat healthy.”  Those who didn’t exercise regularly gained an average of seven pounds, victims of middle-aged spread. That’s a fourteen pound shift from just taking a brisk walk every day. Could you imagine what would happen if they threw in a couple of push ups?

So let’s park our cars at the farthest end of the parking lot and spend half of our lunch hours wearing the soles off our shoes while enjoying the lovely fall weather first hand.  –Di

Middle-aged people can walk off extra weight (USA Today)

technorati tags:weight, loss, lose, weight, walking, middle-aged, spread, exercise, diet