Weight Loss » Nutrition Therapy Articles & Stories

Many pregnant women are unaware of being overweight or obese, and lack knowledge of the risks it poses to their possible pregnancy, according to findings published in the Medical Journal of Australia. Associate Professor Leonie Callaway and her colleagues surveyed 412 women in early pregnancy that attended a public antenatal clinic or were patients of a private obstetrician.
( Read more about The Risks of Being Overweight During Pregnancy)

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Obesity, along with the diabetes and heart disease that often accompany it, can quicken the onset of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, according to a series of four recent studies, which also point to the importance of adopting practices aimed at early prevention of brain ills.
   
“This is an important message,” said Ronald C. Petersen, chairman of the Medical and Scientific Advisory Council of the Alzheimer’s Association and director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the Mayo Clinic. He was not involved in the studies, which were published in the journal Neurology. “Development of cognitive decline need not be a passive process. We are not all just sitting here and aging, and sooner or later it’s going to hit us. In fact, there may be some modifiable lifestyle factors that may influence our risk of developing cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease down the road.”

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If patients lose 9 percent of their body weight, a dangerous condition of the liver can be reversed, a recent study has shown.
   
The condition, known as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), is characterized by an abnormal, usually obesity-caused buildup of fat in the liver. This produces inflammation, which damages sensitive liver tissue, resulting in the formation of scar tissue, and eventual liver hardening and impairment of the organ’s function.

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Wolfing your food and at the same time eating until you feel full cause a near tripling of the risk of being overweight, according to a recent study from Japan's Osaka University.

The researchers, who published their work in the British Medical Journal, used special questionnaires to analyze the eating habits of 1,122 men and 2,165 women ages 30 to 69. The subjects assessed their speed of eating (very slow, slow, medium, fast, very fast) and reported whether they ate until full. ( Read more about Fast Eating Increases Fatness)

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Overeating can cause the brain to lose control and cause damage potentially leading to diabetes, heart disease, and other ills - according to new U.S. research. Eating too much appears to make a usually dormant immune system pathway in the brain, sending out immune cells to attack and destroy non-existent invaders. The finding could help explain why obesity causes so many different diseases, and also may offer a way to prevent obesity itself.

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Instead of getting on a fad diet, only to crash and burn a few weeks later, it's best to eat wholesome, natural foods in five or so small meals a day, according to anti-aging expert Dr. Maoshing Ni. Dr. Mao, as the doctor of Chinese medicine and author of the best-selling book Secrets of Longevity is known, says a good weight-loss diet includes lean proteins, such as chicken breast; legumes, such as split peas and lentils; and whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Fad diets, he says, almost inevitably deny a person some important nutrients, leading to cravings all too often cause the dieter to regain his weight - and perhaps even more. He advocates eating the following as part of a sensible weight-loss program:

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If you have high cholesterol and you're brimming with confidence in synthetic pharmaceuticals, then statin drugs such as Lipitor, Crestor, Zocor and Levitor are for you. If, however, you lean toward medicating your body with natural products, there are a variety of items that have been scientifically proven to lower cholesterol - without the serious side effects of statin drugs that include severe memory loss, muscle cramps, liver toxicity, hair loss, heartburn and nausea.

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Exercise may not halt the aging process, but mounting evidence suggests people who stay active can slow its effects. The latest issue of Mayo Clinic Women's Healthsource offers 8 benefits to regular exercise. It Provides Energy: Feeling tired and lethargic is largely a result of being inactive. Endurance exercises like walking, swimming, jogging, biking, and rowing improves stamina and energy. Even after a few weeks in a walking program, people have more energy for activities. It Improves Mental Health: There's considerable evidence that regular physical activity can help reduce stress, manage mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety, improve sleep quality, boost mood, and enhance the overall feeling of well-being.

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In America, it is estimated that 45 percent of women and 30 percent of men diet to lose weight. A recent study, published in the scientific journal Hypertension and led by David Gutterman has found low-carbohydrate diets to be significantly higher in total grams of fat, protein, dietary cholesterol and saturated fats than low-fat diets. Dr. Gutterman states, "While a low-carb diet may result in weight loss and an improvement in blood pressure, the higher fat content is ultimately more detrimental to heart health than the low-fat diet suggested by the American Heart Association."

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Emily Loewenstein is one energetic weight watchers instructor. She has reason to be: she lost 70 pounds on the program. Tom Pimpinelli has also had tremendous success losing weight. “I did very well. Two pounds a week. I dropped from 268, my lowest was 214 or 212,” says Tom. Tom and Emily are great stories. But according to studies in respected medical journals like the Journal of the American Medical Association, Weight Watchers, on average, provides a loss of between six and thirteen pounds after one year. That’s roughly a half pound to a pound a month, or less. In this study, after the second year, the average person ended up only six pounds down; They had, in fact, gained some of the weight they lost back. One expert told us, after five years, most people will have gained back most or all of the weight they lost. “The people who seek help are the people who feel that they can’t do it on your own. Many of them have tried it before by one program or another and they have failed, and they try another program and they fail,” says Dr. Xavier Pi-Sunier, an obesity expert at St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital Center.

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