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By HealthWatch, June 25, 2011

So one of the most common misconceptions when people visit fast food restaurants is that its the main food items that are the cause of their weight gain….i.e. the big macs, the whoopers, the burrito supremes, when in fact the slow killer that has remained somewhat dormant in the news is that it’s really the sugar content found in the diet coke and potato products that lead to the slow gain of weight, especially when people who try to stay “healthy” yet are under a time crunch opt for the salad or more “healthier” options when visiting these fast food restaurants. This primarily is seen in mothers trying to satisfy their children’s craving for their happy meals while at the same time stay healthy themselves. Want to really lose weight? Go for the water or non-soda option on your salad. While at it, skip the fries, and with that all other potato-based products, especially potato chips.

According to a recent report by the New England Journal of Medicine, just one extra serving of french fries resulted in an average of 3.35 extra pounds gained every four years, accompanied by the findings that even just an extra handful of potato chips each day could potentially add 1.69 pounds in the same time period. So next time you’re thinking about a quick snack, don’t reach for the bag of chips, try opting for something more healthy, like carrot sticks, celery, etc.. The same exact advice that you’ve been given to keep your children from becoming obese before it’s even up to them to make their own dietary decisions.

In the same report, they also tracked sleeping habits of the participants. Those who had a decent amount of regular sleep (mind you by decent I don’t mean too much) were also prone to lose weight rather than gain it. That was defined as:

People who slept between six and eight hours per night gained less weight over time than people who slept fewer than six hours or more than eight.

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Now if you’re practicing a balanced diet that includes proper amounts of vegetables and other essential nutrients, that also has been shown to counter-act the occasional ‘binge’ at the fast food counter. It’s those that live hectic lives, i.e. having to take care of children and/or work, that sometimes will go without that natural balance which displaces the starch/sugar/carbohydrate levels in your body and results in the additional weight gain.

So as I said, next time you’re at the drive-through, think twice about ordering that diet coke and large fries…..the salad won’t counter-act the effects they’ll play on your body in the long run.

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By HealthWatch, October 17, 2009

The latest diet craze to sweet the nation involves a food item not typically seen in any traditional diet plan, Introducing Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet.

Dr. Sanford Siegal first developed the cookie diet in 1975 as a way to treat chronically obese patients (patients who are unable to keep off any weight lost due to exercise/dieting). He has treated more than half a million patients with the sugary diet and claims that there is less risk of obesity in the very low-calorie diet.

“I have yet to see the first case where anyone suffered any ill effect from eating a low-calorie diet,” said Dr. Siegal in an ABC News report.

The 1,000-calorie a day regimen, which ABC News has reported celebrities like Jennifer Hudson, Denise Richards and Kelly Clarkson have all reportedly tried is dangerously lacking in nutrients found primarily in vegetables and fruits.

Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet may result in quick weight loss, it’s nutritionally unsound and can even result in weight gain, experts say.

Cookie Diet followers drink water and eat six uniquely developed 90-calorie cookies each day, followed by a 500-calorie dinner of lean protein and sparse vegetables. With reports being mixed, there have been a bunch of documented success stories.

Josie Raper told “Good Morning America” that she went from being a size 24 to a size 6 in a little close to six months by following this diet.

“When I started the Cookie Diet, there was no splurging or sneaking little snacks,” Ms. Raper told “Good Morning America.”

I was very strict in keeping to the diet including waiting until the Monday of Thanksgiving to start this program so that I could get through every single holiday without snacking or caving in to my cravings.”

According to Josie Raper, she has been on the Cookie Diet for two years now and hasn’t regained the weight.

Weight loss experts say the Cookie Diet’s basic flaw is that it does not help dieters to retrain their eating habits, this results in a greater chance of the dieter falling off the diet or ‘cheating.’

“If you lose weight through diet and exercise alone and don’t change anything else in your life, you are probably going to gain the weight back,” says registered dietitian Anne Fletcher, author of “Thin for Life” and “Weight Loss Confidential.”

When you don’t deal with the underlying reasons for why you’re overeating, you’re definitely more likely to gain weight. This is like putting a band-aid on a gunshot wound, it fails to treat the core reason for why the individual is overweight in the first place.

The diet also worries Dr. Louis Aronne, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Program at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, because it lacks in serious good nutrition.

“I am concerned that if someone were to follow this over the long term, there are many different nutrients that they would be missing that you would normally get by eating regular food,” he told “Good Morning America.”

Cookie consumption as a weight-loss strategy is just another fad diet, says Dr. Stuart Fischer, who wrote “The Park Avenue Diet.”

“Every study shows that when people change foods only and rely on that to lose weight, they have a 95% failure rate. This cookie diet relies heavily on sweets but to lose weight you need to forget what sweet tastes like. When you lose your sweet tooth, you are about a fourth of the way to reaching weight-loss success.”

“It just doesn’t exist.” But Fischer says the diet is so low in calories that followers won’t have the energy to do any of the necessary exercise, which he says is important to maintain good heart health. He also added that staying on a cookie-heavy diet will most-likely result in dieters falling into a rebound phenomenon.

“The body goes into a starvation state,” Fischer explains. “And it holds onto every morsel and calorie until the person’s weight goes higher than it was before.”

Dr. Siegal is frequently in the news. Over the years he has been featured on ABC’s Good Morning America, New York Daily News, CNN, and the Fox News Channel. Thanks to the recent resurgence of interest in hypothyroidism (“super-foods”) that was sparked by Oprah Winfrey, multiple media outlets have aired features on Dr. Siegal and his work.

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By HealthWatch, July 28, 2009

According to a medical research study released yesterday, overweight Americans spend close to 42% more on health care than your average “normal-weight” citizen.

Consumer as well as corporate spending on weight-loss related treatments is projected to top over $147 billion a year in 2008, according to the new study which started in 2006 to track both a series of test patients as well as national consumer spending trends. That figure accounts for almost 10 percent of all medical spending in the USA for this year!

Overweight and obese Americans spend close to $1,429 more on health care each year than the roughly $3,400 spent by those Americans who fall within the “normal-weight” range.

Most of the excess spending is for prescription drugs needed to manage obesity-related conditions, said Eric A. Finkelstein, one of the study’s authors and the director of the public health economics program at the Research Triangle Institute, a nonprofit research organization.

The results were presented on Monday at the first Weight of the Nation conference, which was held in Washington by officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Obesity, and with it diabetes, are the only major health problems that are getting worse in this country, and they’re getting worse rapidly,” Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the C.D.C., said.

The average American consumes 250 more calories per day than just two decades ago, Dr. Frieden noted, and don’t forget that thanks to advances in modern technology, the average time spent exercising has decreased compared to that same time period. This could be part of the blame for our rising obesity rate which currently represents the single greatest contributor to the over-all increase in diabetes cases reported in the US. Time spent exercising includes both strenuous physical activity as well as physical labor.

According to a medical research study released yesterday, overweight Americans spend close to 42% more on health care than your average “normal-weight” citizen.

Consumer as well as corporate spending on weight-loss related treatments is projected to top over $147 billion a year in 2008, according to the new study which started in 2006 to track both a series of test patients as well as national consumer spending trends. That figure accounts for almost 10 percent of all medical spending in the USA for this year!

Overweight and obese Americans spend close to $1,429 more on health care each year than the roughly $3,400 spent by those Americans who fall within the “normal-weight” range.

Most of the excess spending is for prescription drugs needed to manage obesity-related conditions, said Eric A. Finkelstein, one of the study’s authors and the director of the public health economics program at the Research Triangle Institute, a nonprofit research organization.

The results were presented on Monday at the first Weight of the Nation conference, which was held in Washington by officials at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Obesity, and with it diabetes, are the only major health problems that are getting worse in this country, and they’re getting worse rapidly,” Dr. Thomas R. Frieden, director of the C.D.C., said.

The average American consumes 250 more calories per day than just two decades ago, Dr. Frieden noted, and don’t forget that thanks to advances in modern technology, the average time spent exercising has decreased compared to that same time period. This could be part of the blame for our rising obesity rate which currently represents the single greatest contributor to the over-all increase in diabetes cases reported in the US. Time spent exercising includes both strenuous physical activity as well as physical labor.

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By HealthWatch, May 19, 2009

Weight Loss Linked With Sleep

A new study by the American Thoracic Society was presented at their International Conference in San Diego that found a direct link between sleep and weight. Study participants who were deemed “short sleepers” (meaning they got less than six hours per night) were discovered to have a higher average body mass index, or BMI, than the average for “long sleepers” (those who sleep more than 6 hours per night).

Their data was comprised from a study that was conducted with 14 nurses at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Nurses received counseling on nutrition, exercise, stress management, and sleep improvement throughout the program. Each nurse received identical advice and support.

To measure total activity, body temperature, body position, and other indicators of rest and activity the nurses were required to wear armbands which were capable of storing and reporting the data.

The Data Behind The Study
The average BMI for short sleepers was 28.3. That compares to an average BMI of 24.5 for long sleepers. The BMI range for normal weight is considered to be 18.5-24.9 and for overweight 25.0-29.9. BMI is calculated from a person’s weight and height and is an indicator of body fat. You can find out what your own BMI is using our free online BMI calculator.

Surprisingly, the overweight participants were significantly more active than their “normal-weight” peers. The overweight participants took an average of 13,896 steps per day, compared to 11,292 for normal-weight participants. The overweight participants also burned nearly 1,000 more calories per day on average than their normal-weight peers.

“We found so many interesting links in our data,” lead researcher Arn Eliasson, MD, says in a written statement. “Primarily, we want to know what is driving the weight differences, and why sleep and weight appear to be connected.”

There are several possible reasons for these findings, Eliasson says. Lack of sleep may disrupt natural hormonal balances, triggering overeating. Stress could also be a factor which could result in less sleep and an increase in appetite for the participants.

He says that “higher perceived stress may erode sleep. Stress and being less rested may cause these individuals to be less organized than normal-weight individuals, meaning they would have to make more trips and take more steps to accomplish the same tasks. This might add to their stress and encourage other unhealthy behaviors, like stress eating.”

The organization has stated that they are in the middle of planning and conducting further in-depth tests to try and gauge a better understanding of the role that sleep plays in body weight.

The best advice though is to make sure to get at least six to eight hours of sleep each night along with maintaining a proper diet and exercise regiment.