Tag Archive for: weight loss

Trial and Answer for Your Health

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We are alive today because our ancestors survived. That seems like stating the obvious, but think about it for a minute. They ate whatever gave them fuel to stay alive and didn’t kill them. It was trial and error, and I’m guessing many died from eating the wrong things. They experienced times of feast and times of famine. They ate what was available whether it was meat, roots, berries, greens, or whatever. They learned to grow food, both plants and animals. Their diets ranged from high-fat and protein like the Inuit to the plant-based diets of . . .

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Type 2 Diabetes: The Only Cure

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In this week’s messages, I’ve looked at medications and bariatric surgery as cures for type 2 diabetes. They’re treatments that can help with the symptoms, but they’re not cures. Considering the expense and the side effects of both, they’re not even very desirable treatments.

Let me be clear: they’re both effective, but effective and desirable are two different things. Reducing blood sugar and HbA1c are critical to slow the damage to the body caused by type 2 diabetes; we’re lucky those options are available. If your doctor wants you to do either, especially . . .

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Type 2 Diabetes: Is Surgery the Cure?

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About 20 years ago, I attended a conference on obesity convened by the National Institutes of Health. Every weight loss expert who was anybody was there and every approach to weight loss was discussed. The conclusion of the ending panel discussion was that while the concept for weight loss is simple, it’s not easy to sustain weight loss. At that point, a physician summarized the conference something like this: “What you’re saying is that after all the data presented this week, bariatric surgery is the most successful way to lose weight and maintain it?” It didn’t really . . .

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The Dark-Chocolate Study: The Problems

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After Thursday’s memo, you’ve got to be wondering what could be worse with the dark-chocolate study than its misleading conclusions. I’m going to examine the process the author explained in his faux study to show how that applies to many research studies from legitimate health research.

Not enough of the right expertise
There was no input from a nutrition expert that I could find. The author used a physician to do the study and collect the data. Even though the purpose of the study was to prove that eventually something will be statistically significant . . .

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Problems with the Dark-Chocolate Study

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The journalist and his colleagues who perpetrated the dark chocolate and weight loss study I talked about Tuesday were out to prove a point: typical journalists, even the ones who specialize in health, don’t really understand the fundamentals of nutrition, weight loss, and fitness. They especially don’t understand statistics and how they’re misapplied even in legitimate studies. Nothing new there.

What I think they did show was that there are many news and information sources on the web that will publish anything provocative. Dark chocolate helping weight loss certainly fit that profile.

The author explained everything he . . .

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Dark Chocolate and Weight Loss

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Late last week, Paula and a couple of readers sent me links about a journalist who managed to get a study on dark chocolate and weight loss published in a scientific journal in March 2015 (1). It made headlines everywhere. Then in late May, he wrote about how he fooled the journalistic world (2). While a lot has been written about his sting and the reasons he said he did it, there are more issues here than have been written about so far, and that’s what I’ll talk about this week. Let’s begin with the study.

The . . .

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The Real Agenda: Refined Carbohydrates

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Let’s finish up our look at the editorial in a sports medicine journal that says exercise will not help you lose weight.

While the headline certainly gets our attention, the authors really want to talk about the increase in refined carbohydrates as the cause of the obesity epidemic. I don’t disagree, but I disagree with how they’re doing it. They began by talking about an exercise myth and weight loss which was completely unnecessary. Then they ramble on about how the refined-food industry is using advertising tactics similar to the tobacco industry. The public is intentionally . . .

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The Exercise Myth

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I often begin the week’s messages by responding to a health headline gone crazy. The headline generally sensationalizes what’s in the article, usually supported with press releases with similar headlines. Not in this case; every headline I read was spot on.

Here’s the actual title of the editorial published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.

It Is Time to Bust the Myth of Physical Inactivity and Obesity: You Cannot Outrun a Bad Diet

Before I go further, ask yourself a question: do you believe that if you exercised . . .

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Weight Loss Supplement: The Bottom Line

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Based on Thursday’s memo regarding the lack of any research on the effectiveness of Acacia rigidula and the chemical ingredient β-methylphenylethylamine (BMPEA), why did this get so much press? After all, there’s no evidence people are dropping in the streets because they’ve used this chemical. I think it’s directly due to the passion of a single science writer and the lack of follow-up by the FDA. I can’t be sure, of course, but let me lay it out for you.

Let’s start with the FDA. When they found supplements tainted with BMPEA a . . .

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Weight Loss Supplement: The Research

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Purported experts say one thing about the amphetamine-like weight loss supplement that’s in the news. Manufacturers say another. The FDA basically says nothing. “What the heck is going on around here?” is one of my favorite Vince Lombardi quotes. I’ll break things down into three questions.

Is there any evidence that Acacia rigidula contains amphetamine-like chemicals?
Yes. The research was based on analyses of the edible parts of the plants that were eaten by animals in times of drought. Everything from caffeine to nicotine to many forms of amphetamine alkaloids were identified in the . . .

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