Fatty Diet Preventing Seizures May Lead to Epilepsy Drugs

Posted on May 24, 2012 by bilrob

Fatty Diet Preventing Seizures May Lead to Epilepsy Drugs

A fatty diet that helps control epileptic seizures may do so by triggering a chemical change in the brain, a discovery that could lead to new treatments,
according to a Harvard University study.

The diet may force a protein to switch the brain’s fuel to fat byproducts called ketones from its preferred energy, glucose, according to a study in genetically manipulated mice in the journal Neuron. Making the brain operate on ketones is known to shut down overexcited neurons that cause seizures.

This so-called ketogenic diet is used by epilepsy patients who aren’t helped by seizure-reducing drugs. The patients are only allowed a saltine cracker’s worth of carbohydrates daily, said Gary Yellen, a study author. That’s hard to do, and new treatments based on the diet’s effects in the body may lead to better control of seizures, he said.

“There are kids who go off this diet because they and their parents can’t manage it,” said Yellen, a professor of neurobiology at Harvard Medical School in Boston. “Having a pharmaceutical to help them would be important.”

Epilepsy is a brain disorder that causes repeated seizures, where neurons fire in a disorganized and sudden way, according to the National Institutes of Health. About 3 million Americans are epileptic, according to the Landover, Maryland-based Epilepsy Foundation, an advocacy group.

Mimicking the Protein

Yellen’s coauthor, Nika Danial, an assistant professor of cell biology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, is working on mimicking the protein. That may lead to a treatment, or help researchers look through chemical libraries for something similar, she said.

The diet is very high in fat, with some protein and almost no carbohydrates, triggering the body to use fat as its source of energy and imitating the effects of starvation on the body. That releases ketones, which can provide energy to the brain in lieu of sugar.

In epileptic mice, the scientists tinkered with a protein called BCL-2-associated agonist of cell death, or BAD, to promote ketones and lower levels of glucose. While their seizures decreased, there was no effect in mice that had been genetically altered to take out the protein, providing evidence for how it worked, according to the study.

The switch is much like changing from diesel to unleaded fuel, causing fewer seizures, Yellen said. Something about the swap prevents neurons from firing too much, though the full extent of the changes isn’t clear. Additionally, a ketogenic diet may be effective in some neurodegenerative disorders, Danial said.

“This could have broader implications for the protective effects of being able to reprogram what the brain burns,” Danial said.

The study was funded by Harvard Catalyst, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, and the NIH.

To contact the reporter on this story: Elizabeth Lopatto in New York at [email protected].

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at [email protected].

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Diet supplements linked to liver damage in body builders

Posted on May 24, 2012 by bilrob

Diet supplements linked to liver damage in body builders

Bodybuilding is a form of body modification involving intensive muscle hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to as a bodybuilder. In competitive and professional bodybuilding, bodybuilders display their physiques to a panel of judges, who assign points based on their appearance.

Bodybuilders prepare for competition through a combination of fat loss, oils, and tanning (or tanning lotions) which combined with lighting make the definition of the muscle group more distinct. Some well-known bodybuilders include Charles Atlas, Steve Reeves, Reg Park, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Lou Ferrigno. Currently, IFBB professional bodybuilder Phil Heath from the United States holds the title of Mr. Olympia. The winner of the annual Mr. Olympia contest is generally recognized as the world’s top professional bodybuilder.

Body-building and weight-loss products are the types of dietary supplements most likely to cause liver injury, according to a small new study.

Liver injury from medication is the main reason drugs are taken off the market. Dietary and herbal supplements — which do not require a prescription and can be bought over the counter or online — are used by up to 40 percent of people in the United States, but their potential side effects are not well-known.

In this study, funded by the U.S. Drug-Induced Liver Injury Network, researchers looked at 109 cases of patients who appeared to have suffered liver injury because of dietary supplements. Most of the patients were male, white and overweight.

The study found that supplements for body building and weight loss were most likely to cause liver injury.

The results are scheduled to be presented today at the Digestive Disease Week meeting in San Diego.

“There is so little regulation of the many products on the market,” study leader Dr. Victor Navarro, professor of medicine, pharmacology and experimental therapies at Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia, said in a meeting news release. “We couldn’t possibly begin to figure out which products to target first without doing this research.”

The finding that body-building and weight-loss supplements are the most common causes of dietary-supplement-induced liver injury means these products could provide a target for regulatory efforts, Navarro suggested.

The study does not prove, however, that these supplements actually cause liver damage. The researchers merely noted an association that merits further investigation.

Data and conclusions presented at medical meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.

More information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has more about dietary supplements.

supplements

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HCG Diet Experts Reveal why 800 Calorie Plan is Better than the 500 Calorie Plan

Posted on May 22, 2012 by bilrob

HCG Diet Experts Reveal why 800 Calorie Plan is Better than the 500 Calorie Plan

The 800 calorie diet is a recently developed option for HCG dieters. With the 800 calorie diet, dieters experience less side effects, hunger pains, and are allowed more daily exercise.

Orem, UT (PRWEB) May 21, 2012

EZ Wellness LLC has recently revealed why dieters would choose the 800 calorie HCG plan over 500 calorie plan.The HCG diet often contains recommendations for individuals to eat 500 calories each day. HCG diet experts have started to suggest individuals eat 800 calories per day instead, contradicting the old thought processes. While both diet plans are seriously restrictive, experts say the 500 calorie diet is nearly impossible for some people to follow through with.

The diet employs the human hormone HCG or Human Chorionic Gonadotropin to help convert the body’s stores of fat into usable fuel, resulting in rapid weight loss. In fact, many individuals have experienced weight loss of between 1 and 3 pounds per day. While many individuals completed the diet consuming only 500 calories, experts are now touting the benefits of the 800 calorie plan.

“With 800 calories, dieters can be a little more relaxed with what they’re eating,” says Dave Sherwin, owner of www.hcgezdrops.com. “It gives them the freedom to choose additional foods that can stave off hunger, and keep them motivated. With the 500 calorie diet plan, too many dieters feel deprived, which can lead to failure on the diet.”

For a typical 500-calorie day, individuals might have black coffee for breakfast, then 100g of meat at lunch or dinner with one serving of vegetables, one serving of fruit and one breadstick. This can leave individuals feeling rather deprived. For a typical 800-calorie day, individuals can add to their meat portions or vegetable portions, or have small snacks after lunch and after dinner. This enables individuals to feel fuller for a longer period of time, so that they’re less likely to give up on the diet and binge eat.

The diet is considered relatively safe, because the HCG converts the stored fat in the body into usable energy. This adds an additional 2,000 calories each day to the 800 calorie diet, so that individuals are not starving their bodies, simply using the stored fat that exists within the body rather than outside sources of calories. The diet is typically done for one month, and then a resting period occurs where the dieters eat whatever they want aside from processed sugar, white flours, and starches like potatoes.

Some individuals have reported losing tremendous amounts of weight while on the HCG diet. In fact, there have been reports of weight loss up to 40 or 60 pounds in one month. The individual results will vary since not everyone loses weight at the same speed and not everyone will react to the diet in the same way. During the diet, individuals are not permitted to have condiments, sweeteners (other than the all-natural sweetener Stevia), starches or white flour. They are encouraged to have plenty of vegetables, fruits and lean meats.

To learn more about the HCG diet and how the 800 calorie plan works effectively to help individuals lose weight and keep it off, readers are encouraged to visit http://hcgezdrops.com/hcg-diet/hcg-1-2-3-diet-menu

For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/5/prweb9507754.htm

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Super Diet Genius app puts superfoods to work

Posted on May 22, 2012 by bilrob

Super Diet Genius plans your meals based on super-healthy superfoods.

Super Diet Genius plans your meals based on super-healthy superfoods.

(Credit:
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET)

Super Diet Genius app puts superfoods to work

Diet apps are a dime a dozen. And with good reason: your smartphone is the ideal mobile companion for counting calories, managing exercise, and tracking overall health.

The latest entry into this crowded field: Super Diet Genius. What separates this $3.99 app from the likes of Lose It, Calorie Tracker, and MyFitnessPal? It’s all in the “super.”

Specifically, Super Diet Genius puts you on a diet that relies heavily on superfoods — stuff that packs the maximum vitamins, minerals, fiber, antioxidants, and overall nutrition goodness. (You know: not pizza. Not candy bars. Not French fries.)

Getting started with SDG is much like getting started with any other diet app: you supply details about your age, activity level, current and desired weight, and so on.

But then you’re asked to choose the foods you like from lists in five categories: protein, carbs, fat, fruit, and veggies. This takes a few minutes, but I must admit it’s kind of fun. (Oatmeal? Yes! Tofu? Um, no.)

From there, SDG generates a meal plan for you, rather than just leaving it to you to choose the foods you eat and enter them into the app (a task I find both tedious and difficult, as a lot of prepared dishes are borderline impossible to record).

For any given meal you can swap out an individual item, add a fruit or veggie (they’re “free,” apparently, just like with Weight Watchers), or refresh the entire meal to get different foods.

A tap of the Planner button takes you to the meal plans for your entire week, which is helpful for shopping, and even gives you the option of e-mailing them to yourself.

Tap Kitchen and you’ll see a list of all the foods you “liked” during the initial setup. If you’re out of a particular food, switch it to “off” and SDG will add it to your shopping list — and exclude it from your meal plans until you restock. Neat.

In my history of trying to eat smarter and lose weight, I’ve found that I do much better when I plan my meals in advance. SDG makes that a snap while keeping me on the superfood straight and narrow. It also takes calorie counting out of the equation, which is nice.

The flipside is that the app allows you no deviation. If you sneak, say, a handful of MM’s, there’s no way to add them in so you can subtract something else. Also, there’s no way to record your exercise (which would help make those MM’s allowable).

Those gripes aside, Super Diet Genius might be the ideal solution for those looking to lose weight and improve their overall health, as it takes a different — and, some would say, easier — tack than most other apps. (Also, I like saying the name in my Wile E. Coyote voice: “Sooo-pah Diet Geeenius.”)

Have you found a diet app you like better? Tell me about it in the comments. Personally, I think MyFitnessPal is the gold standard, but I’m keen to give SDG a try.

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Weight in pregnancy best controlled by diet, study suggests

Posted on May 21, 2012 by bilrob

Weight in pregnancy best controlled by diet, study suggests

ScienceDaily (May 18, 2012) ? Pregnant women, including those who are obese or overweight, should be encouraged to minimise weight gain through diet, according to major new research from Queen Mary, University of London.

Piling on excess weight during pregnancy increases the risk of complications for pregnant women but doctors have been cautious in advising women on ways to manage weight for fear of any adverse effect on mother or baby.

However, the new study published in the BMJ shows that following a healthy diet, overseen by health professionals, stems excess weight gain in pregnancy and reduces the risk of pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia, diabetes, high blood pressure and early delivery.

Half the UK population are either overweight or obese and the rates are rising. Around a third of women gain more than the recommended amount during pregnancy.

Previous research has linked obesity during pregnancy with an increase in a variety of risks including high blood pressure, diabetes, miscarriage, birth defects, blood clots, pre-eclampsia, and even maternal and infant deaths.

The new research, which brings together the results of 44 separate studies, is the largest of its kind and includes data on more than 7,000 women. It was commissioned and funded by the NIHR’s Health Technology Assessment programme.

The researchers investigated the effect of diet, exercise, or a combination of the two. They looked at how much weight women gained throughout pregnancy and whether mother or child suffered from any complications.

Although all three methods reduced the mother’s weight gain, diet had the greatest effect with an average reduction of nearly four kilograms. Exercise only resulted in an average reduction in weight gain of just 0.7kg. A combination of diet and exercise only produced and average reduction of one kilogram.

Women who followed a calorie controlled diet were 33 per cent less likely to develop pre-eclampsia, one of the most dangerous pregnancy complications that presents with raised blood pressure and protein in the urine. Their risk of gestational diabetes was 60 per cent lower, their risk of gestational high blood pressure was 70 per cent lower and their risk of early delivery was 32 per cent lower. However, the researchers acknowledge that these findings need to be confirmed by further large studies.

Crucially, babies’ birth weights were not affected by dieting.

The research was led by Dr Shakila Thangaratinam, a Clinical Senior Lecturer and Consultant Obstetrician at Barts and The London Medical School, part of Queen Mary, University of London with researchers in UK and Europe. She said: “We are seeing more and more women who gain excess weight when they are pregnant and we know these women and their babies are at increased risk of complications.”

“Weight control is difficult but this study shows that by carefully advising women on weight management methods, especially diet, we can reduce weight gain during pregnancy. It also shows that following a controlled diet has the potential to reduce the risk of a number of pregnancy complications.

“Women may be concerned that dieting during pregnancy could have a negative impact on their babies. This research is reassuring because it showed that dieting is safe and that the baby’s weight isn’t affected.”

Dietary advice was based on limiting overall calorie intake; balancing protein, carbohydrate and fat; and eating foods such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables and pulses.

Dr Thangaratinam added: “What we don’t know is why diet should be so much better than exercise in controlling weight gain. It could be that it is simpler and easier for women to stick to. It may also be that eating a high-fibre diet has other positive health effects for a pregnant woman.”

Combining data on the thousands of women who participated in these trials will also allow researchers to further examine the effects of diet and exercise across women of various ages, body mass index, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and medical conditions.

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Kim Kardashian Pushes Sketchy Diet Pills in Great Britain

Posted on May 20, 2012 by bilrob

diet

Kim Kardashian Pushes Sketchy Diet Pills in Great Britain

Kim Kardashian appeared at the U.K. launch of her controversial QuickTrim diet supplements, even though she and the pill maker are being sued in the United States for false advertising.

Health experts say the pills are ineffective as a weight loss supplement and may even be dangerous to some because they are loaded with caffeine, which is the main ingredient.

Nonetheless, Kim made an appearance at the Westfield London shopping mall today (May 19) to tout the supplement. She’s even promoted over Twitter to her 14 million followers, although she’s never acknowledged that its a paid promotion.

Ironically, the curvy 5-foot-2-inch Kim didn’t look any slimmer at the mall, but insisted the diet pills have helped her shed weight over the years.

When asked by reporters whether she was aware that some gyms in the U.K. offer butt-toning classes inspired by her oversized glutes, Kardashian was quick to reply with a canned marketing plug.

“It’s really crazy to me that there are workouts like that, but with the help of QuickTrim, hopefully that will help,” said Kim, who has been a paid rep for the supplement manufacturer since 2009.

Meanwhile, Kardashian and her sister Khloe are defendants the class-action that was filed in March. Four customers sued Windmill Health, the makers of QuickTrim, and several of its distributors, claiming QuickTrim is unhealthy and ineffective.

“The FDA has determined [that caffeine] is not a safe or effective treatment for weight control,” according to the lawsuit, which also alleges that there’s no proof that using QuickTrim leads to weight loss.

The Kardashians have made a business out of gaining and losing weight.

Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman, a physician and associate professor at Georgetown University Medical Center, warns that Kardashian’s QuickTrim diet supplements, could be dangerous and even fatal.

“I don’t think anyone should take these products,” Fugh-Berman warns in US News.

The diet supplements contain powerful stimulants, laxatives, and diuretics that could cause abdominal pains, cramping and even kidney failure, she said.

Khloe Kardashian Rapid Weight Loss Claims Raise Red Flags

Fugh-Berman and registered dietitian Keri Gans, author of “The Small Change Diet,” reviewed three popular QuickTrim products, labeled “Burn Cleanse 14 Day Diet System,” “Sugar Carb Cheater” and “Fast Cleanse.”

They concluded that QuickTrim products contain large amounts of caffeine, laxatives and diuretics, which could lead to temporary water-weight loss but not much else. “It irritates me that they’re not saying how much caffeine is in these pills,” Fugh-Berman says. “Too much caffeine can make you jittery and increase your blood pressure and pulse.

“If you pop a couple of these pills with your Starbucks coffee, that’s not good; you could get caffeine poisoning, which can cause heart arrhythmias,” she added.

RELATED POSTS: CHECK OUT THESE TOP STORIES

Diet and Weight loss with Bill & Sheila

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Healthy food no more costly than junk food, government finds

Posted on May 17, 2012 by bilrob

Healthy food no more costly than junk food, government finds

In fact, carrots, onions, pinto beans, lettuce, mashed potatoes, bananas and orange juice are all less expensive per portion than soft drinks, ice cream, chocolate candy, French fries, sweet rolls and deep-fat fried chicken patties, the report says.

“We have all heard that eating a healthy diet is expensive, and people have used that as an excuse for not eating a healthy diet, … but healthy foods do not necessarily cost more than less healthy foods,” says Andrea Carlson, an economist and co-author of the report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service.

“The price of potato chips is nearly twice as expensive as the price of carrots by portion size,” she says.

Some of the least expensive foods and beverages by portion size:

Corn tortillas
Onions
Pinto beans
Coffee (brewed at home)
Lettuce
Peanut butter

Multigrain bread
Small chocolate chip cookie

Carrots
Orange juice
Popcorn
Eggs

Source: U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service

Carlson and and her colleague Elizabeth Frazão gathered national pricing data on more than 4,000 foods and then ranked the foods by price based on calories, weight and portion size.

They placed the foods into the five food groups — grains, dairy, protein, fruits and vegetables. They added a category for unhealthy foods, which included items that did not fit the other categories or were high in sugar, sodium and/or saturated fat such as cookies, candy, desserts, granola bars and many ready-to-eat cereals.

When using weight and portion size as the guide, many healthy foods were not any more costly than unhealthy ones, Carlson says. You can always find healthy foods that are cheap and healthy foods that are expensive. The same is true of less healthy foods, she says.

She says one of the best ways to think of food costs is to consider portion size: “How much do you have to pay to put something on your plate?”

Overall, the economists found:

•When considering portion size, the ranking from least to most expensive is: grains, dairy, vegetables, fruit, protein and less healthy foods. Protein and less healthy foods are very close in cost, Carlson says.

•Grains, such as bread, oatmeal, pasta and rice, are the cheapest foods no matter how you measure by portion, weight or calories, Carlson says.

•Protein, such as meat, chicken and fish, is the most expensive food by portion size, but there are low-cost proteins such as beans and eggs.

•When looking at price per portion, fruits and vegetables are lower in price overall than unhealthy foods. “Like every food group, there are cheap veggies and fruits, and pricey ones. Cheap unhealthy foods and more expensive ones.”

•When trying to eat a healthy diet based on the government’s dietary guidelines, protein and vegetables are the most expensive recommendations to meet, followed by fruit, she says. One of the reasons: The vegetable recommendation has high amounts, about 2½ cups for someone eating a 2,000-calorie-a-day diet, and so it takes a lot of food to meet that goal, Carlson says.

Previous research has just looked at price per calories and found that healthy foods are more expensive, but Carlson says price per calorie isn’t a fair measure. For example, non-fat milk has a higher price per calorie than 2% milk but most health experts recommend drinking non-fat or 1% milk, she says. “Whole milk and skim milk are about the same price per gallon at the grocery store.”

Another example: a half cup of broccoli has 27 calories while a one-ounce bag of potato chips has 154 calories. To consume 100 calories of broccoli, you’d have to eat almost two cups and that’s more than what most people normally eat in one sitting, she says.

If you eat a chocolate-glazed doughnut at 240 calories or a banana at 105 calories, you get more nutrients from the banana and probably spend less on it, she says.

Most people allocate only about of 20% to 25% of their food budget to fruits and vegetables, but the government recommends that it should be more like 40%, Carlson says.

Dawn Jackson Blatner, a registered dietitian in Chicago and author of The Flexitarian Diet, says that the report “is great information to help bust the myth that it costs too much to eat healthy.”

Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian in New York City and author of S.A.S.S.! Yourself Slim, says, “Many of my clients are surprised to find that their grocery bills don’t go up when they swap processed goods for fresh foods, especially when they buy in-season produce and they’re eating ideal portions, meaning three ounces of cooked chicken, rather than six.”

Just giving up soda to drink fresh-brewed hot or iced tea, or water with a wedge of in-season citrus fruit can be a huge cost savings, she says. “And many of the healthiest superfoods in the market are inexpensive, such as beans and brown rice.”

Healthy Lifestyle – with Bill & Sheila

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Diet .com Member Loses 25 lbs, Maintains Weight Loss for Over Two Years

Posted on May 17, 2012 by bilrob

Diet.com Member Weight Loss Success Before/After Pictures

Diet.com Member Loses 25 lbs, Maintains Weight Loss for Over Two Years

“I am happier and I have a lot more self-confidence when I am very active and eating clean.” – Kaylie Walker, Diet.com success story

Brookline, MA (PRWEB) May 16, 2012

Diet.com, one of the web’s leading resources for diet, fitness, and nutrition content and tools, has posted a new weight loss success story highlighting one of its members’ 25 pounds of successful weight loss.

The success story – the latest in Diet.com’s Weight Loss Success Stories library – details how branching out to try new healthy foods and fitness classes, as well as finding a supportive weight loss community on Diet.com, led 5’2” Kaylie Walker to drop 25 lbs, reaching a healthy weight of 117lbs and maintaining that weight loss for over two years now.

Kaylie, a 21-year-old registered nurse and newly-certified Zumba instructor, became a member on Diet.com in September of 2009, and began posting blogs in the site’s Diet Blogs community. According to the site’s feature story about her, Kaylie began experimenting with more new foods and tracking her food intake using Diet.com’s Calorie Counter tool.

“Every evening I logged everything I ate for the day,” Walker told Diet.com. “It kept me aware of what I was eating on a daily basis.”

As she tried out new foods and recipes, she shared them with her fellow Diet.com members via her blog – helping to foster a supportive community while encouraging other site members to try new foods themselves. One of Kaylie’s top diet tips? Variety! “Try eating new things,” she advises. “When you are dieting, it is a great time to explore healthy, new foods. I never ate salmon in my life until I gave it a try. Now I’m hooked on it and many other types of fish.”

In addition to trying new, healthy foods, Walker pushed her fitness regimen up a notch, falling in love with new group exercise classes and the fitness videos on Diet.com. “I use the fitness videos all of the time to give me fresh ideas for the gym or at home,” she tells Diet.com.

Kaylie excelled in her new fitness classes, such that her instructor invited her to teach her own classes at the gym. After becoming certified, Kaylie has spent the last two years teaching fitness classes at her gym, all the while completing her degree in nursing school.

Walker is now both a registered nurse and a certified Zumba instructor who is leasing her own workout space to hold classes.

Throughout her journey she’s maintained a journal via her diet.com blogs, amassing a personal library of over 130 blog entries.

“Blogging through Diet.com has helped me a lot by giving me a place to talk about fitness/exercising with people who are interested in it too,” Kaylie told Diet.com last month. “I’ve gained a great deal of knowledge and ideas from fellow Diet.com bloggers during my journey as well.”

Kaylie’s new lifestyle has not only made her healthier – it’s made her happier, as well:

“I’ve noticed that I am happier and I have a lot more self-confidence when I am very active and eating clean. I am the complete opposite when I lose control over my diet and exercise. Knowing that I feel so much better while active and eating clean keeps me motivated.”

For more weight loss success stories and inspiring before and after photos, check out Diet.com’s Weight Loss Success Stories library.

About Diet.com:

Diet.com is a multifaceted health and wellness organization that provides quality information and cutting edge tools and services to consumers and businesses alike. Since its founding, Diet.com has been a valuable online resource for dieters and those seeking information on living a healthy lifestyle. As one of the web’s leading resources for diet, nutrition, and fitness content and tools, Diet.com has created a platform where consumers are able to set and track diet and fitness goals, browse over 1,000 healthy recipes, learn new exercises, and interact with others in the thriving Diet.com online community. The diethealth YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/diethealth) has a library of close to 500 videos, over 107,000 subscribers, and has received upwards of 86 million views. For any inquiries please contact Lauren Alford, Director of Business Development, at [email protected] or 919-616-7532.

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Common diet busters -- and how to avoid them

Posted on May 15, 2012 by bilrob

Common diet busters — and how to avoid them

Have your healthiest summer yet! Ease into the dreaded “swimsuit season” with healthy tips from TODAY experts. All throughout May, we’ll offer smart do-it-yourself ways to look, eat and feel better. So stop stressing about that swimsuit, and read on.

Who isn’t always looking for ways to boost the results of a summer weight-loss plan? Your best efforts can be undermined by “diet mistakes” that often sound like good advice, but can sabotage the efforts of even the most well-intentioned dieters, new evidence shows.

Sorting fact from fiction can be difficult when you’re trying to find the best way to lose weight. TODAY diet and nutrition editor Madelyn Fernstrom has authoritative answers to common diet questions.

Eating too often. While skipping meals will sabotage a diet effort, eating three times a day is sufficient for healthy people. No need to “fuel” constantly, as eating more often frequently leads to eating more calories. And grazing often prevents the biological development of strong hunger and fullness signals, which help keep your food intake under control.

Skimping on Protein. A diet rich in colorful fruits and vegetables is a major plus for weight-loss success. But don’t swap out protein. Protein enhances your sense of fullness and is also essential to fuel muscles – a plus when bumping up your exercise effort. Stick with animal proteins like lean cuts of beef, skinless poultry, fish, whole eggs or egg whites, and low or non-fat dairy. Vegetable proteins like soy (as tofu or burger/chicken substitutes) and beans are other sources.

Confusing Healthy and Low-Calorie. It’s hard enough to swap out artery-clogging fats for heart-healthy ones, but the calories are the same for butter and olive oil. Avocados and nuts are tasty and satisfying because they contain a lot of heart-healthy fat — but the calories add up quickly. For best control, choose single serving packs of nuts (100-150 calories), or the new 100-calorie guacamole packets. Measure out the portions and avoid “eyeballing” serving sizes of your high-fat favorites.

Overestimating Calorie Output from Exercise. Exercise is a major boost for mind and body, but when it comes to weight loss, don’t be fooled. Just like we don’t accurately estimate food intake, we’re all just as unreliable in our estimates of calorie use. It’s not just duration, but intensity of your exercise matters. Covering one mile burns about 100 calories, roughly 15-20 minutes if you walk, and 10 minutes running. Sweating is also not an indication of calorie burn. Get an electronic monitor or go online for more precise estimates. Be wary of exercise equipment calculators; they are just a ballpark number as well. To boost weight loss, view your activity calories as “saved” — not a reason to overindulge with food later.

TODAY diet and nutrition editor Madelyn Fernstrom separates truth from fiction when it comes to dieting strategies, from cutting carbs to eating a big breakfast.

More from Madelyn Fernstrom:

Watch for hidden calories with every sip

Check out more of TODAY Health’s Summer Shape Up:

Jenna Wolfe: What’s on my summer playlist
This yummy protein breakfast speeds summer weight-loss
4 summer skin tips you should know

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Panel advises FDA to approve lorcaserin obesity pill

Posted on May 12, 2012 by bilrob

obesity

Panel advises FDA to approve lorcaserin obesity pill

(CBS/AP) A panel of expert advisers to the Food and Drug Administration recommended late Thursday that they approve sales of what would be the first new prescription weight-loss drug in the U.S. in more than a decade, despite some concerns over heart risks.

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The panel voted 18-4 with one abstention to recommend approval of Arena’s lorcaserin, concluding that its benefits “outweigh the potential risks when used long term” in overweight and obese people.

“We will continue to work with the FDA as the agency completes its review,” Arena CEO Jack Lief said in a statement.

The drug is intended for people who are obese or for people who are overweight and have at least one weight-related health problem, such as high blood pressure.

Arena said the FDA has set a target date of June 27 for deciding whether to approve sales of the drug. The FDA is not bound to follow the advice of its advisory panels, but it often does.

Lorcaserin is one of three experimental weight-loss drugs whose developers have been trying for a second time to win approval, after the FDA shot them all down in 2010 or early 2011 because of serious potential side effects.

Earlier this year, rival Vivus Inc. won endorsement from an FDA panel for its diet drug Qnexa after previously being rejected due to safety concerns, HealthPop reported. That move raised expectations for both Arena and Orexigen Therapeutics Inc., the third company racing to get the first new diet drug into drugstores.

The panel’s vote Thursday comes two days after federal health regulators gave a surprisingly favorable assessment of lorcaserin. When the agency turned the drug down in 2010, its scientists raised concerns about health issues such as tumors that developed in laboratory animals tested with the drug. In the interim, the San Diego company again applied for approval, submitting additional data in hopes of swaying the agency to a favorable decision.

A review of all the research studies by FDA staff, posted online Tuesday, stated that new analysis Arena submitted suggests there’s only a “negligible risk” of tumors in people taking the drug. However, questions remain about it possibly increasing risk of high blood pressure in diabetics or damaging heart valves, a life-threatening side effect that has been an issue with some earlier weight-loss pills.

If the FDA agrees with the panel’s recommendation, lorcaserin could be the first obesity pill of the trio to hit the market. A month ago, Vivus said that the FDA had pushed back its target date for a final decision on Qnexa from April 17 until July 17. The agency said it needed more time to consider a new drug safety plan submitted by the company.

While patients and doctors are eager for new obesity treatments, the pills are far from magic weight loss remedies. Research showed that people taking lorcaserin had modest weight loss, on average losing just 3.1 percent of starting body weight over a year. More than 37 percent of patients lost 5 percent of their weight or more, which is enough to meet FDA standards for effectiveness. By comparison, average weight loss with Qnexa was 11 percent, with more than 83 percent of patients losing 5 percent of their weight or more.

Currently, the only drug approved for long-term weight loss in the U.S. is orlistat, which is sold as the prescription drug Xenical and over the counter as alli. The drug works by blocking the absorption of fat, but hasn’t gained traction because of unpleasant side effects, including loose bowel movements.

The quest for a safe weight loss pill has been filled with bumps along the way, HealthPop reported. In the 1950s and ’60s, amphetamines were used for weight loss but the pills were highly addictive and dangerously increased blood pressure and heart rate. In the 1990′s, a combination drug called fen-phen (fenfluramine) was recalled because one-third of people taking it experienced heart valve damage, resulting in more than a $13 billion settlement of tens and thousands of personal injury lawsuits.

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