Meal Replacements as Top Strategy for Weight Loss
With obesity now the greatest threat to the health of Americans, finding an effective approach to weight loss is more critical than ever. According to a new study in the August 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, portion and calorie-controlled meal replacements used in a structured weight-loss program are successful in facilitating medically significant weight loss.
The study looked at dieters using the meal replacements and the intensive behavioral program developed by HMR((R)) (Health Management Resources). Dieters used one of two weight-loss options: patients with diabetes, hypertension, or other weight-related medical problems used HMR’s medically supervised diet and ate only meal replacements (which consisted of HMR Shakes, HMR Entrees, and HMR Nutrition Bars). Other dieters used HMR’s Healthy Solutions((R)) Diet and consumed meal replacements along with fruits and vegetables. All dieters attended weekly classes, kept food records, had mid-week phone calls with a health educator, and burned a minimum of 2,000 exercise calories each week.
Patients on the medically supervised diet lost an average of 43.3 pounds in 19 weeks. Patients on the Healthy Solutions diet lost an average of 37.5 pounds in 18 weeks. These data represent two to three times more weight loss, in less time, compared to published results of any other commercial diet program.
According to the study’s co-author, Dr. James W. Anderson, Professor Emeritus of Internal Medicine and Clinical Nutrition at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine, the gold standard for weight loss in the health community is to achieve a 5 – 10% loss of initial body weight. “This study showed a weight loss between 15.8 % and 16.4% of initial body weight, both well above the gold standard the health community considers successful and the point at which health improvements are seen.”
The Centers for Disease Control reports a dramatic increase in obesity in the U.S. over the past 20 years, with 2/3 of Americans now overweight or obese. Furthermore, there are more obese Americans than overweight or normal weight. Some common effects of obesity include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, arthritis, and cancer. If you are obese, losing just 5% to 10% of your body weight can delay or prevent some of these diseases.
HMR is currently the nation’s leading provider of medically supervised weight management programs. HMR weight-loss programs are located in hospitals, medical centers, and university settings across the U.S. HMR also offers HMR at Home(R) Diet Kits with meal replacements and diet support materials delivered directly to dieters’ homes.
what should be the best weight-loss diet?
Researchers have randomly assigned 811 overweight adults to low-calorie diets with differing percentages of energy derived from protein, carbohydrate, and fat; participants were followed up for 2 years. All groups experienced modest weight loss and improvements in cardiac and diabetes risk factors. Does this finding mean that clinicians can finally advise their patients on the best way to lose weight?
Most overweight and obese patients and their clinicians remain alert for ‘the’ diet that results in meaningful and sustained weight loss. The most obvious answer is to simply eat less. This advice is logically satisfying as energy balance is clearly tipped in a negative direction, at least temporarily, and serves as a conveniently simple treatment sound-bite for a 15 min doctor’s visit. However, evidence that meaningful weight loss is sustained for more than a few years following a low-calorie diet is hard to find.The reason for this lack of sustainability is thought to include both environmental influences and a complex regulatory system in the body, which is geared towards limiting weight loss during hypocaloric states and restoring baseline body weight, even when that baseline weight is considered socially and medically undesirable.
Poor long-term outcomes with caloric restriction alone have given rise to advocation of increased consumption or elimination of specific food elements instead, typically a macronutrient in the diet such as fat, carbohydrate or protein. New diet claims routinely come out, are adopted by a public eager for an effective weight-loss treatment, and inevitably fall by the wayside. Recently, investigators from three major nutritional research centers in the US reported their findings on weight loss and health outcomes in overweight and obese individuals assigned to reduced-calorie diets that contained different macronutrient compositions.
ObesityCalories or content: what is the best weight-loss diet?
In this study by Sacks and co-investigators,one of the largest such comparator studies to date, 811 patients followed diets that aimed to achieve a caloric deficit of 750 kcal per day, calculated from their energy expenditure and activity level at baseline. Participants were randomly allocated to one of four diets that differed in the percentage of total calories from different macronutrients: 20% fat (low fat), 15% protein (average protein) and 65% carbohydrate (high carbohydrate); 20% fat, 25% protein (high protein) and 55% carbohydrate; 40% fat (high fat), 15% protein and 45% carbohydrate; or 40% fat, 25% protein and 35% carbohydrate (low carbohydrate). Despite the notoriously high dropout rate of greater than or equal to40% for most dietary studies, a remarkable 80% of participants completed 2 years of follow-up.
In the subset of participants who provided dietary information at baseline, intake of fat as a percentage of total calories was relatively high at 37%, which is similar to that reported in population studies a decade ago.4 This finding indicates that the average US diet has been remarkably stable for years. At the end of 2 years, individuals assigned to the low-fat diets had successfully lowered their fat intake to roughly 27%; however, those assigned to the high-fat diets had also lowered their average fat intake to 33–35%, instead of the study target of 40%. While this difference enabled a comparison of the effects of high-fat and low-fat intakes, in actuality both groups might have experienced partial weight loss as a result of their reduced fat intake. In addition, the hoped-for comparison between an average-protein diet (15% of total calories) and a high-protein diet (25% of total calories) was not successful. Both these groups ended up increasing their average protein intake from 18% at baseline to between 20% and 21% after 2 years.
The patterns of weight loss for all combinations of diet comparisons were similar, with an average nadir loss of 6 kg by 6 months and slow, steady, weight regain thereafter; by the study end, participants were on average 4 kg below their baseline weight. Not unexpectedly, attendance at the regular group sessions that promoted dietary adherence was associated with increased weight loss. In addition, the 2 times 2 factorial design of the study meant that self-reported intake of each dietary macronutrient could be used to test the effect of each goal on weight loss. Adherence to the protein-intake goal was related to increased weight loss in the high-protein but not the average-protein groups, and adherence to the fat-intake goal was related to increased weight loss in the low-fat but not the high-fat group. This same factorial analysis was used to compare changes in cholesterol levels between the diets by differing macronutrient content: after 2 years, both total and LDL-cholesterol levels were lower when participants ate fewer calories as fat and more as carbohydrates, but HDL cholesterol did not improve (increase) to a similar extent in those who ate the highest proportion of carbohydrates. Variations in protein consumption did not significantly affect any metabolic outcome, although the lack of any significant effect may have been because of the limited difference in percentage protein between the diets.
With weight loss, all diets resulted in decreased levels of total and LDL cholesterol, increased levels of HDL cholesterol, and improvements in insulin levels and homeostasis model assessment (HOMA) scores for insulin sensitivity. What did not happen is also worth noting. High-fat diets did not result in catastrophic deterioration of glucose and lipid metabolism, and high carbohydrate levels, long thought by some to be the agent of weight gain and diabetes, did not elevate triglyceride or insulin levels or result in deterioration of HOMA scores.
A better dietary comparator trial than this one is unlikely to be conducted in the foreseeable future in terms of the number of participants enrolled, study design, low dropout rate, and the provision of dietary counseling and behavioral intervention. When these results are combined with similar findings of other recent diet comparator studies,the take-home messages become clearer. First, the average weight loss on any diet, regardless of the macronutrient content, is very modest (about 2–4 kg in total) and certainly does not back up the claims of dramatic results usually made by commercial products. This point is especially important for patients, as unrealistic weight-loss expectations can lead to frustration and abandonment of diets that clearly improve or prevent chronic diseases such as diabetes.8 Second, regardless of the diet content, weight loss improves lipid levels, inflammatory markers, and glucose levels.
This study did not, however, address a number of important issues, including a description of the range of individual weight changes by diet assignment. Dansinger et al. showed that regardless of assignment to a low-calorie, low-fat, low-carbohydrate, or high-protein diet, individual weight changes at 1 year varied greatly, from weight gain in some participants to marked weight loss in others.If determinants of individual responsiveness could be identified, clinicians might be able to tailor dietary advice on macronutrient content to optimize each patient’s weight-loss potential. In addition, no exercise arm was included. Along with diet, exercise is often included as a standard clinical recommendation for obese patients and may improve their chances of sustained weight loss.Finally, as raised by the accompanying editorial to the discussed paper,the results of this study do not answer the question of what is the optimal dietary macronutrient composition to prevent onset of unwanted weight gain and obesity, a far more important consideration from a public health standpoint.
The seed that doubles as a weight loss product
Irvingia gabonensis is a deciduous tree that grows in West and Central Africa. The tree produces edible yellow fruit and seeds whose extract is used for various medicinal purposes, including weight loss.
There have been a couple of studies done. Researchers believe Irvingia gabonensis does promote weight loss. One way is by increasing the levels of adiponectin, a protein and another is through lowering an enzyme called amylase. This reduces the amount of starches the body will absorb as sugar.
Researchers are hopeful that Irvingia gabonensis will help in treating obesity. Can you imagine how healthy and fit so many people will be if this is given the thumbs up by the FDA? By the way it also lowers cholesterol, insulin resistance, and conditions related to them.
Now Increase Metabolism Naturally With Coconut Oil
With all the dangers associated with thermogenic stimulants, it’s no wonder a growing number of people shy away from them. This leaves us to wonder if there is a way to boost the metabolism naturally without resorting to popping pills full of chemicals and caffeine. The secret to a healthy metabolism and a wealth of energy is no fad stimulant: it’s pure extra virgin coconut oil.
Coconut oil primarily consists of medium-chain fatty acids. These triglycerides can speed up the metabolism because they are so easily digested and converted into energy. Long-chain fatty acids, like those in polyunsaturated oils, are more difficult for the body to break down and use for energy. Instead, long-chain fatty acids are usually stored as fat in the body.Several scientific studies have exhibited these principles.
One study examined the effect of medium-chain fatty acids on metabolism. Participants’ metabolism was evaluated before and after a meal rich in these fats. On average, metabolism increased by 48 percent. In obese individuals, the increase was as high as an astounding 65 percent. Studies have shown this thermogenic effect can last for 24 hours.
A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported that medium-chain fatty acids were three times more effective at raising the metabolism than long-chain fatty acids. Researchers concluded that replacing long-chain fatty acids with medium-chain fatty acids was an effective method for weight loss. Another study from the same journal showed that eating medium-chain fatty acids increases metabolism and also helps burn off stored fat.
Coconut oil can support a healthy weight in other ways as well:
- Coconut oil slows down the digestion of food, which helps you feel fuller after a meal. Many people notice that after adding coconut oil to their diet, they are less prone to snacking.
- Because it slows digestion, coconut oil also helps prevent blood sugar fluctuations after a meal by slowing the rate carbohydrates are broken down into blood glucose.
- The medium-chain fatty acids in coconut oil destroy candida, a condition of yeast overgrowth in the body which triggers symptoms of weight gain, carbohydrate cravings, fatigue and many others. Eliminating candida is an important part of achieving permanent weight loss.
- Coconut oil is excellent for detoxification. It cleanses the body of many infirmities, balances the digestive tract and nourishes all cells in the body. These benefits restore your health and pave the way for natural weight loss.
Tips for Using Coconut Oil to Increase Metabolism:
- Start small. If you’ve never taken coconut oil before, start with one teaspoon a day and slowly work up to 3-6 tablespoons per day. This will help your body adjust to the beneficial effects of coconut oil.
- The kind of coconut oil you choose is very important. Organic, unrefined extra virgin coconut oil is the best choice since it preserves all the natural goodness of the oil.
Grapefruit found to aid weight loss
A flavanoid found in grapefruit could aid weight loss and reduce the risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes, new research has found.
Scientists from the Robarts Research Institute at the University of Western Ontario have discovered that naringenin, which is found in citrus and grapefruit in particular, is able to “re-programme” the liver to burn up excess fat, rather than store it.
The researchers found that naringenin also helped rebalance insulin and glucose levels, suggesting the compound could fight diabetes too.
The study, published in journal Diabetes, saw scientists give naringenin to a group of mice fed on a high-fat diet. A control group, on the same diet, were left untreated.
The team found that the untreated mice became obese and developed symptoms of metabolic syndrome, including high cholesterol and insulin resistance, which can lead to complications such as heart disease and diabetes. The treated mice did not suffer from these symptoms and did not get obese.
Lead researcher Professor Murray Huff said: “The marked obesity that develops in these mice was completely prevented by naringenin.
“What was unique about the study was that the effects were independent of caloric intake, meaning the mice ate exactly the same amount of food and the same amount of fat. There was no suppression of appetite or decreased food intake, which are often the basis of strategies to reduce weight gain and its metabolic consequences.”
However, the levels of naringenin used in the study were much higher than those found naturally occurring in grapefruit.
The researchers intend to carry out further research to discover whether naringenin can be safely and effectively used in humans to combat obesity and diabetes.
Increased health insurance discounts proposed for weight loss
The annual healthcare cost of obesity in the United States has doubled in less than a decade and may be as high as $147 billion a year according to new government-sponsored research. As a result, a focus of health care reform proposals being put forth would provide increased health insurance discounts for employees who lose weight or lower their cholesterol.
According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the prevalence of obesity in the U.S. went up 37 percent between 1998 and 2006. The rise in obesity prevalence added $40 billion to the annual health care bill. As a result, costs for both individual and employer-sponsored health insurance continue to rise.
The new health insurance proposal would build upon current law which permits employers and insurers to give discounts of up to 20 percent on premiums, co-payments or deductibles to workers who take part in wellness programs which include anti-smoking and weight-loss programs. The health overhaul bill passed by the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee “would allow employers to increase these discounts to 30 percent and up to 50 percent if the secretaries of Labor, Health and Human Services and Treasury agree.”
The cost of care for obese individuals impacts Medicare both in terms of need for medical care as well as the prescription drug benefit. Medicare prescription drug payments for obese recipients are about $600 a year more than for normal weight recipients. Obesity accounts for 8.5 percent of Medicare expenditures and 12.9 percent of private health insurance expenditures.
Obesity is a major concern among aging Americans and is a leading cause for increased need for long-term care services. The potential future claims cost to health insurance companies and long-term care insurance companies as well as tax payers is growing exponentially and must be addressed by both legislative initiatives as well as personal responsibility.
weight loss with skim milk
Drinking skim milk in the morning might help with weight loss. Dietary strategies can keep hunger at bay, contributing to weight loss efforts. Researchers suggest drinking milk for breakfast might result in lower calorie consumption at later meals. Consider a glass of skin milk in the morning as a helpful additon for weight loss.
A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition revealed that drinking skim milk in the morning may help weight loss by decreasing hunger and reducing calories consumed at lunchtime.
The researchers found the weight loss benefits of drinking milk in the morning among study participants who had milk for breakfast and then ate fewer calories at lunch. Morning milk drinkers also reported feelings of satisfaction four hours following breakfast, compared to those who drank juice. Both groups had 250 calories from their breakfast beverage, either from juice or skim milk.
Drinking milk in the morning may help with weight loss because the proteins, whey and casein in milk satisfy hunger better than sugars from fruit juices, leading to less desire for food.
Thirty-four study participants were recruited for the study. The group was asked to report feelings of hunger throughout the morning. The study group ate lunch four hours after having breakfast that included either skim milk or juice. They were allowed to eat as much as desired for lunch. The results showed milk for breakfast might lead to less desire to eat throughout the day and help with weight loss.
The study participants who drank skim milk in the morning consumed significantly less calories at lunch compared to the group who drank juice for breaking Drinking skim milk for breakfast might be worth considering if you are trying to lose weight.
Weight Loss Improves Mood In Depressed People
A new study showed that weight loss programme could improve depressed mood and reduce risk factors for heart disease in obese patients, reports China’s Xinhua news agency on Monday.
The study revealed that after a six-month behavioral weight loss programme, the depressed patients lost eight percent of their initial weight and improved significantly in their symptoms of depression.
The study, which will presented on Tuesday at the Annual Meeting of the U.S. Society for the Study of Ingestive Behaviour (SSIB), also revealed that there is a reduction in triglycerides, the risk factor for heart disease and stroke.
The report, cited by Xinhua news agency, reported that fifty-one depressed and non-depressed subjects were recruited into the study to follow a supervised weight loss programme that included lifestyle modification and meal replacements.
Both depressed and non-depressed subjects lost significant amounts of weight, with depressed individuals losing eight percent of their initial body weight, compared with 11 percent loss by non-depressed individuals.
After six months on the weight loss programme, depressed subjects also showed significant improvement of their depressive symptoms based on a questionnaire.
Additional significant improvements in glucose, insulin and high density lipoprotein cholesterol were observed in both depressed and non-depressed subjects, and depressed individuals showed reduced levels of triglycerides in the blood, which have been linked to risk of heart disease and stroke.
“Depression and obesity are independently associated with increased risk of heart disease and stroke, and so reductions in both body weight and symptoms of depression are likely to improve long-term health outcomes,” said Dr. Lucy Faulconbridge, of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, who is also lead author of the study, Xinhua said.
Faulconbridge said the latest findings suggested that depressed, obese individuals can indeed lose clinically significant amounts of weight, and that weight loss can actually reduce symptoms of depression.
It also highlight the need for further research into the effects of weight loss in individuals suffering from psychiatric disorders.
West Penn rated best hospital in Pa. for weight loss surgery
For the third time in as many years, The Western Pennsylvania Hospital has been recognized as the best hospital in Pennsylvania for weight loss surgery by HealthGrades, a leading independent rating organization.
The West Penn Allegheny Health System also announced that its Bloomfield hospital received its fourth consecutive five-star rating and top 5 percent in the nation ranking for weight loss surgery. In the HealthGrades survey, West Penn was among 88 hospitals in the country that were identified as a “top performer,” with mortality and complication rates and lengths of stay that were much lower than poorly-rated hospitals.
Bariatric surgery patients treated at five-star hospitals such as West Penn have an average 67 percent lower chance of experiencing serious complications compared to patients who undergo the surgery at poorly-rated hospitals, according to HealthGrades.
Weight Loss With Honey and Lemon
If you want to lose weight, there are various ways to do that. One of them that you might want to consider is honey and lemon.
When you mix honey and lemon with water and take it as a tonic, you can lose weight more easily. Dissolving fat cells is the key to weight loss if overeating is the only real problem that you have. Lemon and honey are both very good for a lot of health and wellness issues, and they can also work in combination with one another to remove fat from the body and take off pounds and inches.
Most people today have a few extra pounds that they would like to lose, and they don’t always have time to get more exercise. With that being the case they need to find some other choice. Starving oneself is never good, so rather than do something like that it would be better to enjoy the sweet and tangy taste of honey and lemon. Great taste and weight loss is never a bad combination.
