Quick Trim and Kim Kardashian
The diet system makes a wealth of claims and says it will 'rid the body of excess water weight, belly bloating and intestinal bulk'. But the product has not been given the seal of approval by the US Food and Drug Administration which rubber-stamps the safety of such products. Side effects of the product include insomnia, diarrhoea, irregular heartbeat, dizziness, vomiting, headache, loss of appetite, raised blood pressure and increased heart rate. The 28-year-old's curves have all but disappeared, with her once shapely hips and thighs replaced by a trim and toned look.Read more: DailyMail
Fasting every other day can help obese people lose weight
Even though the study participants ate whatever they wanted on their non-fasting days, they lost an average of 5.6 kilograms (about 12 pounds) after eight weeks, Dr. Krista A. Varady of the University of Illinois at Chicago and her colleagues found. What's more, their total and "bad" LDL cholesterol levels dropped, and their blood pressure fell. "People lost anywhere from about 7 pounds to about 30 pounds and that was in a very short amount of time," Varady said. And, she added, the program was pretty easy for the study participants to follow.People typically try to lose weight by cutting their calorie intake every day, Varady and her team note in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. A much rarer approach, they add, is to have people alternate "feed days" with "fast days." Studies in normal and overweight people have shown that this strategy can indeed help people lose weight and improve their cholesterol levels. To test alternate-day fasting in obese adults, Varady and her colleagues had 12 obese women and 4 obese men begin by eating normally for a two-week control period. Then, for eight weeks, they ate just 25 percent of the calories they needed to maintain their weight, between noon and 2 p.m., every other day.
For the first four weeks, the researchers provided study participants with their fasting day meal, while for the next four, study participants met with a dietitian every week and prepared the meal themselves. Study participants lost about 0.7 kilograms (1.5 pounds) every week. At the end of the eight-week diet, their total cholesterol had dropped by 21 percent, on average, while their LDL cholesterol had dropped 25 percent. Moreover, their systolic blood pressure (the upper number in a blood pressure reading) had fallen by an average of five points.
While Varady and her team had thought people might overeat on their non-fasting day in order to compensate, this turned out not to be true; people typically ate between 100 percent or 125 percent of their calorie needs on their all-you-can eat days. "I think it's probably because their stomachs kind of shrunk," she said. The next step, the researcher said, will be to figure out if people can maintain the on-off approach for a longer period of time, to continue to lose weight or to maintain a healthy weight.
Anyone who wants to give the diet a try, she added, should meet with their doctor or a dietitian first.
Source: Reuters
Weight Loss breakthrough: probiotic drinks or supplements could help keep us trim
Bugs that live in our stomachs could be causing us to get fat, research suggests. Scientists have shown that the type of bugs in our gut change depending on the food we eat. And bacteria that thrives on junk food may make it easier for us to pile on the pounds. The discovery, by U.S. scientists, suggests that bugs found in the digestive tract are helping fuel the obesity epidemic. The research could also open the way to designing probiotic yoghurts similar to Yakult (pictured) to combat weight gain. It is thought that stomach bugs that thrive when we eat fatty foods affect metabolism, leading to more fat being stored. Read more: DailyMail
Woman who loses 170 Pounds: It takes a made-up mind
Gayle Jones is almost 50 years old, and she runs 12 miles a day. She's a busy mom with nine grandchildren and she's 170 pounds lighter than she was 10 years ago. "I didn't notice the weight until I went to the doctor and tipped the scale. The scale couldn't weigh me it would only go up to 300 pounds.", Jones said. Her road to weight loss started with a simple offer of help from her son who knew about her New Year's resolution. "He said, 'You haven't started,' and I said, 'No, I haven't,' and he said, 'I'll be your coach.' At that moment, I recognized that I needed to do something to show him, whatever you put your mind to you can achieve." Her curse of weight gain started with the blessing of pregnancy.Read more: First Coast News
The Zone Diet: Madonna, Jennifer Aniston, Demi Moore and Cindy Crawford swear by the Zone Diet
The key factor in Zone Diet is the hormonal balance you achieve while eating each skillfully prepared meal. With a food plan comprising an accurate balanced ratio of carbohydrates (40%), fat (30%) and proteins (30%); you actually get to eat foods, which control your body’s insulin production. This means that no meal or snack is forbidden in the Zone Diet and yet you can lose weight or fat while Zone dieting.Although the Zone Diet does include more fat than most diet programs, many people report a reasonable amount of weight loss while on it.
The Zone Diet Plan
•40% Good Carbs - Most fruits and vegetables, oatmeal and barley.
•30% Protein - About 3-4 ounces skinless chicken, turkey, fish, very lean cuts of meat, egg whites, low-fat dairy products, tofu, soy meat substitutes.
•30% Fats - Olive oil, Almonds, Avocados, Fish oils, and some butter or even guacamole.
•Limited Quantities - Bananas, figs, prunes, raisins and grapes, potatoes, peas, carrots and corn.
•Thumbs Down - Sugar in all forms, breads, pastas, potatoes, rice, Bagels, cereals, juices, sodas, alcohol and caffeine. Although frowned upon, you can have these foods in moderation.
Making a Zone Diet Meal
•Divide your plate into three sections.
•Place 3-4 ounces of low-fat protein on 1/3 of the plate.
•Heap the rest of the plate with fruits and vegetables.
•Add a small amount of fat from the list above.
Children who drink full-fat milk are less likely to become overweight
It said that a study of eight-year-old children found that those who drank the most full-fat milk had a lower body mass index (BMI). The finding that full-fat milk was associated with lower BMI is unexpected and the researcher herself was surprised by this. Two theories are put forward: either the children who drink full-fat milk have fewer snacks and sugary drinks, or their diets.Both theories are plausible, but these results need to be repeated in a larger group of children to see if the same links are found. People should not give their children full-fat milk to reduce their BMI on the basis of this research.

Read more: The Star
New anti-obesity drug Liraglutide significantly reduce weight
The drug, liraglutide, is the first of a new class of anti-obesity agents which mimic the action of a hormone that occurs naturally in the gut, reducing hunger. Experts said it had "great potential" because it also reduced the risk factors for Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Diabetes already affects more than two million people in Britain and is rising so fast it threatens to overwhelm the National Health Service (NHS). "It tells the body to produce more insulin and the brain to stop eating. It is a naturally occurring satiety hormone."The problem is that it is eliminated from the blood stream within minutes. The company (Novo Nordisk) has added a molecule to make it more resistant to elimination, so it lasts for a full day."
Read more: NZHerald
Eating lots of tomatoes keeps you slim
It is thought tomatoes are rich in compounds that alter levels of appetite hormones, making them an easy and cheap way to keep hunger pangs at bay. However, it is not known which part of the tomato dulls the appetite, but it may be lycopene, the pigment that gives tomatoes their red colour. Lycopene is already credited with a host of health benefits, from warding off cancer to boosting fertility.It is thought to be particularly effective at combating prostate cancer, protecting against the disease and slowing its progress when it does develop.
It may also ward off a host of other cancers, including breast, cervical, skin, lung, bladder, and pancreatic. Previous studies have shown tomatoes can help heart health, with regular helpings of ketchup and tomato juice sending cholesterol levels plummeting in a matter of weeks.
Read more on: DailyMail
TweetWhatYouEat (TWYE), the latest diet craze
How on earth can I stop myself from this endless cycle of eating and not-eating, feeling hungry and then feeling guilty? There has to be a way of taking responsibility. So, thank goodness for a new wheeze (well, newish) by Twitter. It's called TweetWhatYouEat, commonly known as twye. It's the latest diet tool and apparently thousands are signing up to it every week.The concept is simple. It is, basically, an online food diary where you log absolutely everything you eat and drink.
All you have to do is set up an account (or log in if you are on Twitter) and then start typing away. You can add your weight, your goal weight, even all the foods you shouldn't eat.
Go to TweetWhatYouEat
Source: DailyMail
Lose between 10 and 15 pounds in a month by eating dr. Siegal cookies
Siegal began his medical practice in Hialeah in the pre-Slim Fast world of the 1950s, and soon noticed most of his clients wanted advice on how to lose weight. So he began focusing on obesity, drawing the conclusion that simply encouraging exercise and healthy eating would not be realistic. If clients wanted to eat, they would.'Hunger kills diets', is one of Siegal's favorite phrases.
He started experimenting with different protein-based ingredients to make a person feel full. Then he threw in a little flour, a little sugar and created the cookie.
Because the cookie satisfies the eating sensation, Siegal said, the person takes in fewer calories -- 1,000 in a day -- and feels like they are eating much more.
Read more on: The Miami Herald







