Health Issues is a general health based blog concentrating on multiple health topics.

NUTRITIONAL ASPECTS OF APPETITE CONTROL: CHOCOLATE

Friday, May 8th, 2009

This food deserves special mention as it is commonly the typical object of food cravings. There is now some scientific evidence to explain the anecdotal need for a ‘chocolate fix’. Chocolate contains phenyiethylamine, an addictive substance that affects the brain to produce a pleasure response. This mild ‘high’ involves the same opiate chemicals or endorphins which respond to some illegal drugs. It is hypothesised that uncontrollable eating binges experienced by some individuals are triggered by an imbalance in the opiate system.

Preliminary experiments which have blocked the action of opiates point to sugar-fat mixtures as the predominant foods of desire. A chocolate addiction may also have something to do with its sensory (‘party in your mouth’) properties or its frequent use as a special gift or reward.

In line with the belief endorsed throughout this book that for success, lifestyle changes must be those that are enjoyable, there should be no suggestion that chocolate (or any food) be ‘banned’ from the diet of someone wanting to lose fat. On the contrary, if it is eaten, only the very best (and most expensive) chocolate should be eaten—and savoured—but in small quantities! However, keep in mind that clients who regularly binge on chocolate or other ‘bliss point’ snacks may require more specialised attention.

Myth-information. Appetite-control lozenges generally have an anaesthetic ingredient which numbs the tongue and throat. This makes eating uncomfortable. It does not suppress the appetite.

*121\186\4*

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TREATMENT OF EATING DISORDERS: IN OR OUT OF THE HOSPITAL?

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

One crucial decision is whether the patient should be hospitalized or whether she can be managed as an outpatient. There are advantages and drawbacks to either approach.

It’s generally better if treatment can take place outside the hospital. The patient won’t be snatched out of her familiar surroundings and plunked down into a strange environment. Yet sometimes those “familiar surroundings” are contributing to her disorder.

And, of course, it’s easier to monitor and control behavior in the hospital. Often the hospital provides a kind of safe haven in which a patient and her family can begin to gain control of the problem.

Realistically, you can’t “cure” an eating disorder in the hospital. People have to eat every day for the rest of their lives. They have to learn how to function on their own, in the “outside world,” without supervision. A bulimic woman usually has to keep wrestling with the urge to binge and purge even after she leaves the hospital. In follow-up counseling, we continue to work on controlling these urges.

Inpatient care is required when:

• There is a medical emergency-the patient is severely emaciated, has a severe electrolyte imbalance or arrhythmia, is blacking out, or is otherwise unable to function

• She can’t keep any food down

• She is unable to break the binge-purge cycle

• She is severely depressed or suicidal

• She is so obsessed with food that she can’t function

• She is a substance abuser and can’t break the habit

• She is a severe laxative or diuretic abuser and can’t stop as an outpatient

• She has a severe personality disorder that complicates her ability to be treated outside the hospital

• Her personal situation is so unstable that treatment outside of the hospital is impossible

• Her family can no longer cope with the problem

• A careful program of outpatient care fails to work

• Adequate outpatient care isn’t available

Although hospitalization is expensive, it is certainly more effective-in terms of both symptom improvement and cost – than a prolonged, unsuccessful outpatient treatment.

*58/35/5*

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WIN THE FAT WAR: SMALL STEPS LEAD TO BIG WIN

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Just one change is all that 36-year-old Julie May needed to kick start her weight-loss program. And she eventually took off 50 stubborn pounds, one change at a time.

Julie, a case manager for a hospital in Shreveport, Louisiana, ^ had been trapped in a cycle of dieting, depression, and weight gain for most of her adult life. Stung by each failed attempt to slim down, she sought solace in food … and put on a pound or two more. Inevitably, she launched new diets, starting the cycle all over again. When her weight reached 190 pounds, she decided that she’d had enough of her destructive eating pattern.

In search of a solution to her weight-loss woes, Julie picked up a copy of Oprah Winfrey’s best-seller Make the Connection. As she read about Winfrey’s struggle to slim down, Julie made a connection of her own. “I had tried and failed on so many diets that I no longer believed that I could lose weight,” she says. “I had to prove to myself that I could succeed.” She would do that by making one change at a time.

Julie decided to work on her activity level first since she knew that her eating habits would be harder to change. She set a goal of walking for about 20 minutes, 4 days a week. As her fitness improved, she found that she could go longer. Within a matter of weeks, when she actually looked forward to her regular walks, she knew that she had succeeded in making exercise a part of her life.

Excited by her progress, Julie felt ready to tackle her eating habits. Her first step was to phase out the candy, cookies, and desserts that had once been her comfort foods. She didn’t tell herself that she couldn’t have sweets; instead, when she indulged, she reminded herself that what she was eating could impede her weight-loss efforts. Within a month, she was making conscious decisions to not eat the chocolate cake or lemon ice-box pie that she had once thought she couldn’t pass up.

Julie continued to improve her eating habits, eating more fruits and vegetables, paring her fat intake and portion sizes, and drinking more water. She made one change at a time, allowing herself time to adapt before moving on to something new. “I never felt overwhelmed,” she says. “And each success made me more and more confident that I could lose weight.”

Julie did lose weight—50 pounds, to be exact. And she has kept off the weight for a year and a half. As a bonus, her attitude and energy are at an all-time high.

WINNING ACTION

Make one change and give it a chance. As Julie illustrated so well, one small achievement will lead to the next. In fact, weight-loss experts have observed that it takes about 6 weeks for any lifestyle change to become a habit. So allow yourself the time to adjust. If you slip up by eating a dozen doughnut holes in one sitting or skipping your workout for 2 days in a row, don’t beat yourself up over it. Just pick up where you left off. Before you know it, your healthy new behavior will seem like second nature to you.

*112\89\8*

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THE FAT BLOCKER PROGRAM: THE DAIRY GROUP

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

(Fats, Oils, and Sweets): Use sparingly-Saturated fat (the kind found in animal products, pies, pastries, and other goodies) is just about the worst thing for your diet. As I have explained, it is especially bad for the heart and has been implicated in the cancer process. Luckily, it is also electro-negatively charged and therefore sticks to Chitosan just as iron filings do to a magnet. This is where Chitosan is such a godsend. So, use low- or no-fat substitutes where they taste good. For example, there are lots of good-tasting nonfat and low-fat salad dressings, baked goods, and mayonnaises available. But when you want an occasional piece of chocolate, some popcorn with butter at the movies, or a hot dog at the ball park (and who can resist those things all the time?), eat them in small amounts and take Chitosan about 30 minutes in advance to help offset all the dangers of excess fat. Keep It Lean! Trimming the fat, removing the skin, and choosing the leaner cuts of meat and poultry can make the difference between a high fat, high calorie choice and a “slimmer” one. When choosing a cut of red meat, remember that one with the word “round” in its name, such as “round steak,” is generally lower in fat.

*82\29\2*

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THE FAT BLOCKER PROGRAM GUARDS AGAINST HEART DISEASE AND STROKE

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Most of what we call heart disease is really coronary artery disease, or clogged arteries. The tiny coronary arteries supplying fresh blood to the heart muscle become blocked by plugs made of cholesterol, fat, and debris. As a result, some part of the heart dies. If the blockage is severe enough, the entire heart (and the
person it keeps alive) will die. A very similar process can happen in the arteries carrying fresh blood to the brain, leading to a stroke (a brain attack).

Clearly, keeping the arteries clean is vital—and the Fat Blocker Program can help do just that. Switching overweight people from a standard high-fat diet to a low-fat, low-calorie diet almost always reduces their levels of total cholesterol as well as the LDL bad cholesterol¹—provided, obviously, that they stay with it. But obese people usually got that way because they love to eat and don’t love to exercise. To ask them to stay with any truly tough diet indefinitely is unrealistic. That is why, up to now, there has been no surely effective, permanent way to help people lose weight. The statistics prove the point: Individually and collectively we are gaining weight. And the personal experience of virtually every overweight person attests to it: “I just can’t lose weight and keep it off.”

But now, with Chitosan, that is all different. My patients who use Chitosan can lose the fat that is putting their arteries at risk—and considerably extend their life expectancy. And they can do so permanently, and without having to resort to an eating program that is harsh enough to harm the quality of their lives. Overweight people (like almost everyone) love food—they just don’t like the excess weight it brings with it. Now, with Chitosan, they can enjoy reasonable amounts of what they love—and not have to put up with the weight they hate.

Many patients who come to see me are still gaining weight. And there is no doubt that is very dangerous. For example, a 1990 study appearing in the Journal of the American Medical

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DR.FOX’S FAT BLOCKER PROGRAM

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Winter’s snow has barely melted, and we’ve already begun to think of summer with mixed anticipation and dread. Sweaters and heavy clothes will soon be shed to reveal the pounds that have been put on since last bikini season. During these early months of the New Year, many people begin to dust off their diet books or scan the newspaper ads for the latest wonder diet. Thus begins the latest round in the diet derby, a brutal pastime in which there are no winners.

Dana B. is typical of those who race through the diet derby, unknowingly courting disaster. This attractive, 36-year-old banker came to my office saying, “If you examine me and write a letter that says I’m healthy, I can go on this special fast that guarantees that I’ll lose 20 pounds in 3 weeks.”

This didn’t particularly surprise me. I knew that she probably could lose 20 pounds in 3 weeks on a fast. I’ve seen people lose lots of weight quickly on various diets. I’ve also seen people lose their health, just as quickly, on some of these crazy diets because they’re nutritionally unbalanced and they force the dieter to drop the pounds too quickly. (Simply losing too much too fast can be deadly.) And even if these diets weren’t health threatening, the fast weight loss and subsequent weight gain that they cause can result in saggy, drooping skin.

For Dana and many others, the diet derby is a way of life, unfortunately. Come March or April, they eagerly try the latest miracle diet, not really understanding the possible health

consequences. But sensible eating should be a way of life. Dieting as an annual knock-’em-down ritual is uncomfortable, unhealthy, and unproductive. Consequently, our permanent diets should consist of the food we eat every day of the year, not the food we forgo. Our diets should also include a reasonable amount of exercise and lifestyle habits that are sensible and easy to stick to. I tell my patients that diets should be considered everyday blueprints for health.

The problem is that if looking slim and healthy while wearing nothing but a bikini, shades, and sunscreen only required a fairly easy regimen of moderate, nutritional eating coupled with a doable amount of exercise and a positive mental attitude, we would all look like movie stars. But, of course, we all know that life is not like that. If you see those stars in real life, you would see that not even they look like movie stars! Sensible eating and reasonable exercise are essential to looking good and feeling healthy. But, unfortunately, that’s often not enough. Even if we are reasonable, many of us still tend to gain an unhealthy amount of body fat as we age.

The reason is, of course, that there is more to losing weight than merely eating less. While no weight-loss program is likely to succeed if caloric intake is not reduced, it does not follow that such a reduction inevitably causes weight loss. This is because our bodies are remarkably adaptable. If less food is taken in, the body recognizes this and quickly reorders its behavior: It starts to use less energy and to metabolize the food more efficiently, thus spending fewer calories. After several days of a reduced calorie diet, most people report that their rate of weight loss slows severely or stops.

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FAT AND DIABETES

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Instead of saying, “I’ve got diabetes,” some of my patients say, “I’ve got the sugar.” Diabetes in children is caused by the failure of the pancreas to produce sufficient insulin, while adult-onset diabetes is associated with overweight or obesity.

Normally, the carbohydrates we take in from our food are corralled, controlled, and stored by the insulin produced in the pancreas. But sometimes the pancreas is simply unable to produce enough insulin, and the blood sugar runs wild. This condition is known as Type I or insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. (It used to be called juvenile diabetes.) In other cases, the body produces but has become resistant to its insulin, usually due to obesity, pregnancy, certain drugs, or age. This is known as Type II or noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. (It used to be called adult-onset diabetes.) Diabetes can be a mild annoyance or a major problem. Symptoms include extreme thirst and urination, weight loss despite eating a lot, ulcers, gangrene, and an increased risk of infections, heart disease, kidney failure, stroke, and blindness.

A high-fat diet is one of the most common contributing factors to the development of Type II diabetes. The National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference¹² reported that the risk of Type II diabetes rises as body weight increases-and the longer one is obese, the greater the risk. Nearly 80 percent of all those who develop this disease were obese when it struck.

I’ve been using a low-fat, high-complex carbohydrate, Fat Blocker type of diet for my Type II diabetic patients for well over 20 years, with great success. My clinical experience has been

backed up by studies conducted at the University of Kentucky Medical School. There, Dr. James Anderson showed that a tremendous number of diabetics could be helped by switching to the type of diet in my Fat Blocker Program.¹³ Not only does my program help those who already have diabetes, it’s an excellent preventive measure, as well.

*30\29\2*

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LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT THE DANGERS OF EXCESS FAT

Wednesday, March 11th, 2009

Claire, the computer-savvy nurse who used her diet database to track her failure on numerous diets? She showed me her revised diet graph not too long ago.. “These lines track my progress on the diets,” she explained, pointing to the various colored, solid, dashed, and dotted lines om the screen. “This one is Atkins, this one is the Scarsdale, this one is the liquid protein, and so on. Now this one,” she continued, pointing to a bright red line, “is your Fat Blocker Program. See how my weight moves down, and then stays down all the way across the screen? Each of these marks is one month and the red line stays down for 30 of them, so it’s been 2¹/₂ years that I’ve kept the weight off!”

You can do it, too, by following the simple eating and exercise plans that I’ll describe in coming chapters, and maintaining a positive attitude toward your weight, your health, and life in general. You’ll learn how to safely use Chitosan to help you get started, stick with the program and get through any rough periods. But before delving into the specifics of Chitosan and the Fat Blocker Program, let’s take a look at the dangers of excess fat.

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