Vegetarian Diets Cause Major Weight Loss

Vegerarian diet

A scientific review in April's Nutrition Reviews shows that a vegetarian diet is highly effective for weight loss. Vegetarian populations tend to be slimmer than meat-eaters, and they experience lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other life-threatening conditions linked to overweight and obesity. The new review, compiling data from 87 previous studies, shows the weight-loss effect does not depend on exercise or calorie-counting, and it occurs at a rate of approximately 1 pound per week.
Rates of obesity in the general population are skyrocketing, while in vegetarians, obesity prevalence ranges from 0 percent to 6 percent, note study authors Susan E. Berkow, Ph.D., C.N.S., and Neal D. Barnard, M.D., of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM).
The authors found that the body weight of both male and female vegetarians is, on average, 3 percent to 20 percent lower than that of meat-eaters. Vegetarian and vegan diets have also been put to the test in clinical studies, as the review notes. The best of these clinical studies isolated the effects of diet by keeping exercise constant. The researchers found that a low-fat vegan diet leads to weight loss of about 1 pound per week, even without additional exercise or limits on portion sizes, calories, or carbohydrates.
"Our research reveals that people can enjoy unlimited portions of high-fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to achieve or maintain a healthy body weight without feeling hungry," says Dr. Berkow, the lead author.
"There is evidence that a vegan diet causes an increased calorie burn after meals, meaning plant-based foods are being used more efficiently as fuel for the body, as opposed to being stored as fat," says Dr. Barnard. Insulin sensitivity is increased by a vegan diet, allowing nutrients to more rapidly enter the cells of the body to be converted to heat rather than to fat.
Earlier this month, a team of researchers led by Tim Key of Oxford University found that meat-eaters who switched to a plant-based diet gained less weight over a period of five years. Papers reviewed by Drs. Berkow and Barnard include several published by Dr. Key and his colleagues, as well as a recent study of more than 55,000 Swedish women showing that meat-eaters are more likely to be overweight than vegetarians and vegans.

Green Valley Spa Now Offers hCG Weight Loss Therapy

During this time of economic instability, there is a different type of belt tightening going on at a luxury destination spa in Utah’s red rock canyon country. Green Valley Spa has become the first destination spa in the U.S. to offer a medically guided weight loss program founded on the Simeons hCG hormone diet. Average weight loss on the 23-day program is a pound a day. The minimum stay for the hCG weight loss program at Green Valley is seven nights with a cost of $995.00 above the basic, all-inclusive spa package.
Over 30 people have already completed the three-week program, with very promising results. While most spas are reporting revenues down as much as 20% over this economically rocky time, Green Valley is experiencing a 30% increase in bookings over the same dates last year.
Gordon Reynolds, M.D., a former Assistant Clinical Professor at UCLA and Loma Linda University with over 50 years of experience practicing medicine, including five at Green Valley, is very enthusiastic about offering the program.
“We are witnessing a resurgence of one of the only truly safe, successful weight loss programs for both men and women ever supported by five-year follow-up studies,” explains Dr. Reynolds, renowned for his work in holistic wellness built on a solidly traditional medical background and for founding the Life Fitness & Longevity Program at La Costa Spa in California in the late 1980s. “Not only did the hCG diet study reveal absolutely no negative side effects, but it also showed that 85% of the participants in the study remained within 10% of their newly achieved weight goal, with none regaining all their weight. No other program can claim this.”
The use of hCG in the treatment of obesity was discovered by the late British Physician, Dr. A. T. W. Simeons, and he published his first report on the topic in 1954. He devoted years to researching the causes and treatments of obesity and his work showed that with low doses of hCG and a 500 calorie a day diet, users reported no headaches, hunger pains, weakness, or irritability and an average weight loss of one pound a day and no muscle loss. Those interested in the program are invited to download Dr. Simeons’ complete study from the spa’s Website, at no cost to them.
“We opened this spa over two decades ago in concert with a program about resetting your fat thermostat,” explains Green Valley’s co-owner, Alan Coombs. “We’re thrilled to have come full circle to a proven, safe and permanent solution. And in these turbulent times, it is so gratifying to help people get control of a key part of their lives.”
Green Valley has garnered a list of accolades since it was founded 23 years ago by the Coombs family. The July 2008 issue of Health Magazine named the 50-room, family owned destination spa as one of the “Top Ten Healthiest Spas in America.” Luxury Spa Finder readers said Green Valley had the “Best Rooms” and the “Best Hiking” program of any U.S. destination spa while a Travel & Leisure Magazine Reader’s Poll named the luxury wellness retreat the #3 spa in the world.

How to market diet pills

Diet Pills

Study finds that the more effective a drug is perceived to be, the more likely the user is to engage in risky behavior

Glaxo Smith Kline's Alli� � � , the first FDA-approved over-the-counter weight loss pill, hits shelves nationwide this Friday. Whether or not it succeeds depends a large part on its multilingual, multi-million dollar marketing campaign. A new study by Wharton professors and doctors at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine provides applicable new insight into consumer thinking about health remedies. A fat absorption pill, Alli has labeled itself as an over the counter non-prescription "drug," but its marketing places heavy emphasis on its role as a supplement to a healthy lifestyle � � " the sort of remedy marketing, the researchers argue, that promote the pill's chances of working by encouraging complementary healthy behaviors such as exercise.
When consumers are diagnosed with a health condition such as obesity, they don't immediately trade fries for carrot sticks or start taking brisk walks after dinner. In a forthcoming paper in the Journal of Consumer Research, Lisa Bolton and Americus Reed, both marketing professors at Wharton School of Business, and Kevin G. Volpp and Katrina Armstrong, both professors at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, found that consumers who contemplate taking a prescription or over-the-counter drug for their condition become more likely to engage in bad habits like junk food and a sedentary lifestyle.
This "boomerang effect" happens for two reasons. First, drug marketing undermines motivation to live a healthy lifestyle � � " 'why bother eating low-fat foods when a drug exists to fight fat for me"' Drugs also appear to weaken consumers' beliefs in their ability to live a healthy lifestyle by eating right and exercising.
Interestingly, in a series of experiments and test groups, the researchers found that supplements did not have this same 'boomerang effect" on a healthy lifestyle: regardless of how effective the supplement actually is, consumer perceptions of supplements are that they require "supplementary" behavior in order to work.
"People appear to choose supplements almost as a matter of faith rather than science," Bolton says. "They perceive these products as 'natural' and figure they can't hurt. And our research suggests that they don't - at least in terms of healthy lifestyle intentions."
These findings add to the growing debate over the regulation of drug and supplement markets and the role of direct-to-consumer advertising. Indeed, Professor Reed feels that the Alli marketing campaign � � " which emphasizes the pill's role in a healthy lifestyle that also includes menu planning and exercise � � " may soon lead other pharmaceutical companies to follow suit and play down the effectiveness of their products.
Reed says that this more honest approach to the marketing of these kinds of products may not be what consumers want to hear, but is promising because it is so different than the typical approach used to market these kinds of products. "Usually, they are positioned as effective as some kind of easy, magic solution. This product is up front in educating consumers that the road to long term weight loss goals requires hard work and a long term commitment. Its effectiveness is maximized in conjunction with other behaviors."
Bolton cautiously adds however, that: "Consumers won't buy the drug if it's seen as ineffective. But, on the other hand, the drug may have unintended consequences if it's seen as too effective (because of the boomerang effect on a healthy lifestyle). So marketing these remedies requires a delicate balancing act."
Time will tell if Alli has the right balance, but the present research suggests that Glaxo Smith Kline is moving in the right direction to protect consumer welfare. "Even highly educated consumers and consumers who have otherwise acknowledged the importance of a healthy lifestyle are nonetheless susceptible to the boomerang effect for drugs," write the authors. "Thus drug marketing � � " and even supplement marketing � � " should be treated with caution lest such products seduce consumers into treating them as get-out-of-jail-free cards."