Bone density and suppliments

Did you know that calcium supplements do not work? I bet that is a news item to you. I studied in the "Better Bone and Balance" program that is part of the Oregon State University bone lab. They found that eating calcium has very little to do with building bones. Bone density is increased by impact exercises and not what you eat.

Look up the bone lab studies on the OSU website and you will find lots of up to date information on how you can stop osteoporosis in as little as 6 weeks. 

Obesity is now an epidemic

Did you know that in the USA, obesity is now at epidemic rates? That means that heart disease, diabetes, and other weight related health problems will rise right along with it. You will also see an increase in companies trying to cash in on that. More fad diets, exercise equipment and other gizmos will be bombarding us. Next you will see more franchises that encourage home based businesses with herbal supplements to help with weight loss.

All of that instead of people just learning to eat a balanced diet, stay away from fast food and excessive snacking and get out and off of the couch. I wonder when will people learn? Or are they merely sheep that listen to commercials that push food and videos games? I hope not. I hope there is hope for us.......for all of us.

Up date on my liquid diet

Well, it is now one week of my liquid Slim Fast, every other day diet. I have lost a total of 5 pounds and I am keeping it off. Tonight I had 2 homemade meatball sandwiches for dinner and I am stuffed. My plan of using the Slim Fast to shrink my stomach seems to be working. Well so much for learning dieting from textbooks, seems I just have to go with my gut feeling (please excuse the pun on that one) on dieting.

Do you wake up in the middle of the night to eat?

You know that your eating habits have gotten out of hand when you wake up hungry in the middle of the night and you get up to eat. Something that I learned from a dietitian is to eat a 1/2 cup of peanuts right before going to bed at night. What the peanuts do is act as natural sleep aids. They allow the body to slowly digest something and keep hunger pangs at bay. If your stomach is busy digesting then it tends to keep you asleep. The peanuts are also high in protien and low in sugar so that prolongs the digesting time.

Slow weight loss with pills

A few months ago, there was an interesting piece of research published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Before I start to explain the research, I should make it clear that it's not a full scientific study. Only a small sample of participants were involved and the conclusions have not been independently verified. But it is, as you might say, certainly food for thought. Most people who want to lose weight play around with their diet, talk about exercising and buy phentermine to use as an appetite suppressants. The combination of diet and a weight loss medication will, over time, reduce those pounds. All it takes is the self-discipline to stick to the diet.

When you were young, you probably remember your mother telling you to eat more slowly. In my family, there were standing jokes about how many times you were supposed to chew each mouthful before swallowing it. We agreed a different number of chews depending on whether it was toast in the morning or meat for dinner. But it now seems we were ahead of our time - unscientifically speaking. The most recent research was carried out by the University of Rhode Island. On two separate occasions, it invited thirty young people who notoriously eat large quantities, and gave them a meal of pasta, cheese and tomatoes. On the first occasion, they were asked to eat the meal as quickly as they could. On the second occasion, the participants were encouraged to socialize as much as possible during the meal and to eat slowly. Although they were not given an actual number of chews for each mouthful, they were told to make sure that the food was thoroughly chewed before they swallowed it. The results of this experiment showed that the participants ate an average of seventy fewer calories when they ate slowly. When you use the drug phentermine, it works by using the brain's messaging system to send a signal that the stomach is full. People stop eating when they feel full. Without the aid of phentermine, it takes about thirty minutes for the stomach to send that message to the brain indicating fullness. The natural process relies on physical changes to the stomach which distends as food enters and the release of appetite-related hormones. This new research confirms the theory that the more time you give yourself for the natural system to work, they less you will eat. The researchers also speculate that the more you savor and enjoy the food, the more you will be satisfied by eating fewer calories. Eventually you should be able to retain your eating habits to the point of not having to take any drug to either maintain or lose weight.

Whales and weight loss

Warning to all weight watchers. The Japanese have just published a scientific report in Polar Biology - another of those must-read journals. Kenji Konishi, who works out of the Institute of Cetacean Research in Tokyo, said August 27 that killing was the only way to accurately measure factors such as body weight or fat thickness! So if you're holidaying in the polar regions this Fall and see a Japanese researcher coming towards you with one of those big samurai swords, you may decide that you don't want to be a part of the research. Except that he's talking about Antarctic minke whales. OK, so when did you last see a minke whale on your bathroom weighing scales? He's got a point. It's hard to get a whale to stay still long enough to get an accurate reading. And then there are those caliper things, the "fat pinchers". Where would you get pinchers big enough? Seems hard to have to kill them to find out whether their diets are working. How would you like it in a clinical trial? Take these Acomplia tablets for six months and then we'll kill you to find out how much adipose fat you've lost. Can't they just guess? Actually, when it comes to human clinical trials, they use advanced science like tape measures for waists.

Skin cancer and dieting

A lower calorie intake might be helpful in lowering your risk to skin cancer. Interesting study - article below

Eating healthy at your next cookout

Forget the greasy hamburgers. Try something different for you next cookout. Read the article below.

Liquid diet study

If you have ever thought of going on one of those liquid diets then read this interesting article about a study done in Australia on obese dieters.

Breast cancer is more deadly to obese women

Here is another good reason to shed those extra pounds. Interesting article on breast cancer.

If you want to lose weight - eat breakfast

This news came out today about how important eating breakfast can be when it comes to losing weight.

Obesity in men increases risk of enlarged prostrate

Did you know that obesity in men can cause a multitude of health problems. They are 3.5 times more likely to have an enlarged prostrate. If you have seen any of the medical company commercials on TV then you know what an enlarged prostrate can do to your health. If you are an over weight male then you need to think seriously about losing some of that excess baggage to insure you don't have to worry about prostate problems. If you already have an enlarged prostate then you need to contact your doctor for enlarged prostate relief.

Diet pill may help people with acne

Diet sodas and gaining weight

I am sure you have heard all about how diet sodas can make you gain weight, but did you really find out how they came to that fact? They did a study on rats and found that the rats that were given saccarine in yogurt were more likey to eat more than the rat given just regular yogurt. For one thing we are not rats and we can choose if we want to eat more or not. The study did not find that the diet sugar made the rat gain weight by itself but by encourging the rat to eat more. Of course the food was available to the rat as well. Cooped up in a cage with nothing else to do I guess they did not take into account the boredom factor of eating.