FDA Approves REALIZE(TM) Adjustable Gastric Band For Morbid Obesity

More malpractice.

"The REALIZE Band is an innovative device intended for use in weight reduction for patients with morbid obesity and is indicated for individuals with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of at least 40 kg/m2, or a BMI of at least 35 kg/m2 with one or more co-morbid conditions. It is for use in morbidly obese adult patients who have failed more conservative weight-reduction alternatives, such as supervised diet, exercise and behavior modification programs." (see here, too.)

Access To A Credible Nutrition Expert For Accurate Nutrition And Health Information Is Only A Click Away! Canada

Oxymoron alert! (typos in the original)

"On deadline' and looking for a credible source of nutrition information for a timely story? Dietitians of Canada (DC) makes it easy for journalists to connect with a dietitian - for nutrition information you can trust."

"Dietitian." "Credible source of nutrition information." "Nutrition information you can trust."

Not hardly. Those are words that should never be used together.

"Whether you're looking for general nutrition information or for expertise on a specific nutrition and health topic, the Interview an Expert database allows one to search by skills and practice, location, language, profession and target audience. When you find the expert that meets your needs, you can contact them by e-mail or telephone, "

It is more accurate to call it lies on-line.

To keep your mind as free of their pollution for as long as you can, use a dial-up connection.

Exercising To Excess Bad For Health, Australia

More value judgments and conflicting information.

"A psychological study of gym-goers has found 23 per cent of respondents exercised at excessive levels.

Seventy-five per cent of 'excessive exercisers' were motivated to hit the gym to relieve stress and anxiety, according to the Victoria University study...

The study excluded people with clinical eating disorders and professional or elite athletes."

Of interest, the study excluded people who "exercise" for money, but included those who "exercise" for other reasons.

Just like researchers, if you do it for money it is okay.

Otherwise you are sick.

I wonder how these folks quantify excessive research. Especially lousy research.

"To be defined as an 'excessive exerciser' participants had to score above average on an exercise dependence questionnaire and exercise more than six hours per week. "

Six hours per week, eh?

Are they aware that the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005, the latest and greatest, recommends much more?

"To sustain weight loss in adulthood: Participate in at least 60 to 90 minutes of daily moderate-intensity physical activity while not exceeding caloric intake requirements."

That equals 7 to 10.5 hours per week. (BTW, I think the DGA Guidelines are nonsense. So is this Australian study.)

Clearly this Fletcher lady is pushing for her own nanny state.

"'While exercise is vital to our health and well-being, when people become addicted to and reliant on exercise, it can be damaging to both their physical and psychological health,' said study co-author, Jane Fletcher.

Ms Fletcher, a psychologist, said people who exercise excessively do so even when they are injured, tired or sick.

'Sometimes they will even push themselves harder, because it is a challenge to get through it,' Ms Fletcher said.

'They regularly turn down invitations with friends and family to go to the gym. Exercise makes them feel really good and if they don't do it, they can feel anxious and withdrawn. This can negatively affect their social life and career.'"

As if she should sit in judgment of those who "exercise" for the challenge of it. Or whatever their reasons for doing what they think positively affects their lives.

This lady is nuts.

"Results from the study will be presented at the 42nd Australian Psychological Society national conference, 'Psychology Making an Impact,' at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre from 25 to 29 September."

Too bad the impact psychology is making is negative.

Fattening Carbs—Some Promote Obesity and Worse

More carb crap.

"Rapidly digested carbs aren't healthy for people with diabetes and others watching their blood sugar. A new study by Ludwig and his colleagues at Children's Hospital Boston suggests that such carbs are also problematic for people looking to shed body fat. Indeed, the findings indicate that consumption of the wrong carbs can spur the development of body fat, even with no gain in weight."

The provenance of this trash is similar to that of the dreaded "mini-starvation mode," another favorite fantasy of the experts.

As to the "even with no gain in weight" part. That is also untrue.

Look.

This is how it is.

There is no "mini-starvation mode" that sabotages dieting. There is only the natural and expected metabolic response to a sustained decrease in Calories.

Also, fatty gain occurs anytime unused Calories are absorbed. Calories absorbed more quickly need to be burned more quickly or they are added to the body.

Weight must be gained whenever mass, fatty or lean, is added to the body.

Regulating this is a technique used by successful body builders and athletes.

There is no mystery here despite the fact that this Ludwig character is asking for more money for more research.

More carb crap.

And we are all paying for it.

Some with their lives as the bad and really, really stupid noise (not information) proliferates.

Carbohydrates Make You Fat, and Perhaps Sick

Nope.

Carbs do NOT make you fat. Too many Calories do.

Nope.

Carbs do not make you sick. Stupid reporters cum diet gurus do.

"In a world of fad diets and ever-changing ideas on how to get thin, Gary Taubes is not just another diet guru but a journalist who has covered science for the past 30 years."

Taubes is more than a diet guru, he is a journalist who has apparently squandered the last 30 years.

And a moron.

"Taubes said that after rereading years of scientific research, he has found proof that for the last half century, science has just gotten it wrong: It's not fat that is making Americans fat, he said, it is the base of the food pyramid, the complex carbohydrates, foods such as bread, pasta, potatoes. It's the starches we were told we needed that make us pudgy."

It is a 100% impossibility to become "pudgy," assuming this term is used for any level of overweight, in the absence of excess Calories.

Impossible.

"It's simple chemistry, said Taubes. Carbs spike insulin. Insulin creates sugar. And sugar packs on the pounds."

Nope.

Excess Calories pack on pounds.

It is simply that Taubes is an idiot.

Do not listen to this yet another fool.

Great John vs Big John

How fat are we?

I came across this article that seems to offer some direction to the answer.

"T'he obese now represent the most populous group of people in the U.S.,' points out Bruno Kordic, marketing and sales director for the Great John Toilet Co., which is based in Monterrey, Mexico. 'If they ever organized, they could elect their own president every time.'"

Bill Richardson has hope.

"A survey by Novation found that over the last three years 80% of hospitals are treating more obese patients (called bariatric patients in medical terminology) than ever; 40% have altered their procedures to accommodate the needs of obese patients, and 17% have remodeled their facilities to accommodate obese patients...

One frequent remodeling feature relates to commodes. More hospitals are switching to floor-mounted commodes, which can accommodate heavier individuals.

'Wall-mounted commodes can accommodate patients and visitors up to about 250 lb.,' Wise explains. 'If someone who is heavier than that uses these commodes, they may come off the wall.'"

Timber!

Oops.

"One hospital that has remodeled is Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital in Milwaukee.

'When we remodeled and built new rooms for bariatric patients, part of the remodeling involved replacing wallmounted toilet fixtures with floormounted fixtures,' says Lynne Mueller, R.N., clinical materials resource manager.

All the toilets are a little farther away from the wall than the wall-mounted toilets for additional comfort. The primary reason for shifting to floormounted was not comfort, though.

'The main reason was that some of the wall-mounted toilets were coming off the wall due to frequent use by heavier people, including patients, family members and staff,' Mueller notes."

To paraphrase Tennyson's Charge of the Heavy Brigade, "half a ton, half a ton, half a ton onward."

"For facilities that don't want to shift from wall-to floor-mounted toilets to accommodate obese people, there is another option. Bar Industries manufactures a metal toilet support that fits under wall-mounted toilets, providing support to the floor for up to 1,000 lb."

These mega-loos are not just for institutions.

You can even own the home game.

"Miles Allen, owner of Ray Allen Plumbing in Tyler, Texas, reports that he has a number of obese customers who, when they sit on the toilet, end up falling the last 6 in. or so.

'With that type of mass and acceleration, they're hitting that toilet with more than just their body weight — for some people, maybe up to 1,000 lb. of pressure,' he points out.

As a result, Allen has had to replace several toilets because of impact fractures. He is considering the idea of replacing some of these toilets with stainless steel prison-model toilets."

"Prison-model toilets."

Here's a pretty picture.

"That's just one problem Allen faces. He has a 500-lb. customer whose midsection is very large. When he is sitting on the commode, he can't get his hand within 12 in. of his groin area, which ends up hanging over the front of the toilet by 6 to 7 in."

And a solution.

A toilet that:

"...is also built stronger, he adds, to reduce the potential for breakage, using a reinforced structure (ceramic tested to 2,000 lb.). The toilet features additional anchorage points and reinforced steel hinges."

For perspective, 2000 lbs. is about 9 times the weight of an elephant at birth.

Here's a better solution.

Lose weight.

Glycemic Index Values Are Surprisingly Variable, Researchers Report

The uselessness of the glycemic index, or GI, shown again.

"In work investigating the reproducibility of glycemic index values, researchers at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University (USDA HNRCA) have reported that multiple glycemic index value determinations (measure of the rate of glucose absorption into the bloodstream) using a simple test food, white bread, resulted in a relatively high level of inter-individual (among different individuals), and intra-individual (within the same individual) variability."

In other words, you cannot trust the numbers.

No surprise.

"'Using glucose as the control food, previous studies indicate that white bread has a glycemic index of about 70,' says Lichtenstein, who is also the Gershoff professor of nutrition science and policy at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts. 'In our study the combined average was 71, virtually identical to the published value. However, quite strikingly, individual values ranged from 44 to 132. What is critical is to determine why there is such a wide range of responses among individuals.'

In addition, within the same individual, test values varied by as much as 42 percent."

However, the one thing that is NOT "critical is to determine why there is such a wide range of responses among individuals."

That research will likely lead nowhere except to the researcher's banks.

The GI is simply dependent on too many variables.

Still, your money is being wasted.

"Lichtenstein and colleagues have received a five-year grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to further their understanding of the glycemic index and its utilities. The current study was supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Research Service."

It is and always will be about Calories in and Calories out.

Nothing else.

The GI is really the Garbage Index.

Excessive Multivitamin Use May Raise Risk For Prostate Cancer

Possible.

Even though this is from Harvard, the designer of killer diets.

There has been no real, convincing data that taking vitamins improves health.

That part they got right.

"About a third of American adults take some type of multivitamin on a regular basis. In nearly every case, the goal is better health, even though there is no firm evidence to support this hope."

There have been other data suggesting a link between vitamins and the development of some diseases.

"When scientists further explored this finding, they found no link between multivitamin use and the risk of developing localized prostate cancer. But they did find that men who take multivitamins more than once a day were 32% are more likely to develop advanced prostate cancer and 98% more likely to die from the disease."

Save your money on vitamins.

You just might live longer to spend it.

Weight hitting bottom lines

Fly the flabby skies. (typos and punctuation from the original)

"IN 2000 it was estimated by the American Journal of Preventative Medicine that the increasing 'weight of passengers was costing the US airline industry $275 million for the additional 300 million gallons of fuel required to lift the extra pounds'.

Seven years on, with fuel up 145 per cent, that cost has ballooned to $673 million, but so has the weight of passengers - and not just in the US."

This is apparently one big-butt issue.

"What was once a minor economic and political problem is developing rapidly into a major headache, with significant ramifications for PR departments and airline bottom lines as well as aircraft manufacturers.

Through the 1990s, the average weight of Americans jumped by 10lb (4.5kg), according to the US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.

From 1990 to 2002, the number of overweight or obese adults jumped from 56 per cent to 65per cent of the population, prompting the Federal Aviation Authority on August 12, 2005 to increase the weighting of passengers. The FAA lifted the male passenger with carry-on weighting from 185lb to 200lb (84kg to 90.7kg) for summer and 190lb to 205lb (86.2kg to 93kg) for winter. The averages for women - who are also weighing in heavier - increased from 145lb to 179lb (65.8kg to 81.2kg) in summer and 150lb to 184lb (68kg to 83.5kg) inwinter."

I wrote about this a way long time ago.

"Those weight and height gains prompted the British Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and European Joint Aviation Authority (JAA) to commission a review of seat size and spacing in 1999.

The report conducted by ICE Ergonomics Ltd found that cramped seating could trap and trip passengers during emergency evacuations and found that more space was needed for today's overweight passengers.

The study was safety-focused and did not comment on the comfort of passengers, but found that 'economy-class passengers are so tightly packed together that they cannot assume a correct brace position for emergency landing'. The study concluded that the minimum dimensions needed to be expanded by 'at least three inches' (7.62cm) in terms of seat pitch - something all passengers would agree with.

The report also said that 'the current widths of typical economy class seats, and in particular the distances between the two armrests, are totally inadequate to accommodate larger-bodied passengers.'"

Get that these cows are safety hazards to the rest of us and putting us at risk, in addition to increasing costs.

"While Southwest is trailblazing the problem - just as it has led the low-cost carrier revolution - by asking larger passengers to pay for two seats, other airlines are quietly selling space in more subtle ways, such as selling the more spacious exit-row seats for a small premium.

More and more airlines are pricing tickets at a base price and passengers pay for additional options. Now some analysts are suggesting some type of weight penalty be introduced.

One analyst, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Australian: 'It's unfair that we charge passengers for excess baggage but not excess weight. What about the poor passenger who weighs just 150lb (68kg) but has 90lb (40kg) of baggage and gets slugged hundreds of dollars for excess baggage, but the guy who weighs in at 220lb (100kg) with a 30lb (13.6kg) bag is fine?'

In 2002, Virgin Atlantic paid pound stg. 13,000 ($30,000) to an English passenger who allegedly suffered a blood clot in her chest, torn leg muscles and acute sciatica after sitting next to a grossly overweight passenger from London to Los Angeles.

Southwest Airlines is the only airline that has a clear policy on its website regarding passengers who are overweight.

That policy has been in place since 1980, but only in the past few years has it been enforced after nine-out-of-10 complaint letters were about passengers being seated next to a 'customer of size'."

Fly Southwestern.

"Southwest's policy is simple. If you do not fit the seat - defined by the two armrests - you have to buy two, but if there is one spare seat on your flight you will get a refund, which means most get a refund. Interestingly, the Oakland based National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance on its website, encourages its members to get around that problem by raising the armrest on boarding.

It states: 'When you get to your seat during pre-boarding, raise the armrest between seats. This may give you the few centimetres of extra space you need. The chances are that the passenger who will be seated next to you won't say anything. If he does, smile pleasantly and say that you'll both be more comfortable if the armrest is up.'"

Keep the armrests down.

And send the NAAFA pigs to hell.

Texas unveils fitness test for students

Addresses less than half the matter.

"State officials believe the Fitnessgram test, which allows physical education teachers to record and compare fitness levels of students, will help change what one health expert called 'the fitness and fatness of our youth in Texas.' The test — which measures aerobic capacity, body composition, muscular strength, muscular endurance and flexibility — will be used in every gym class in the state in grades three and up...

The Legislature required mandatory testing in a bill passed earlier this year. The bill also mandates 30 minutes of daily "moderate to vigorous" physical activity, or 135 minutes a week, for children up to fifth grade. For students in sixth through eighth grades, 30 minutes a day, 125 minutes a week or 225 minutes over two weeks is required."

Not likely to succeed.

Will have to see how they intend to limit the real culprit and the real solution, Calorie intake.

"The results are recorded on a report card that allows parents and teachers to identify the physical strengths and weaknesses of each student."

Of course, the child abusing fat parents will offer resistance.

And food to the kids.

Obesity Threatens Emergency Services: Report

More large animal vets needed to care for fat people.

"Extra wide beds, stronger toilets and special patient lifting devices are becoming more and more common in emergency rooms. The reason for such new equipment? Hospitals across the United States are struggling to handle increasing numbers of extra-large patients."

"Stronger toilets."

You know you are really fat when you need a titanium toilet.

"Some communities have had to invest in special bariatric ambulances -- trucks equipped with hoists and special stretchers to transport patients weighing up to 1,100 pounds. 'Occasionally the fire department may be called in to help remove a patient via cherry picker because they cannot be brought through the stairwell,' said Dr. Shelly Jacobson, chair of emergency medicine at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York"

Money well-spent. Resources well-used.

Not.

Guess cherry pickers are not just for meting out justice anymore. (this link is not for the faint of heart)

Isn't it reasonable to expect that if someone is unable to fit through a doorway or down a stairwell, they should, without requiring assistance, be alerted to the fact that something is wrong here?

And make changes.

Please. Assume and expect some responsibility.

"This rise in obesity causes health problems in and of itself. Obese patients are more likely to have health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and liver disease, all of which can be life threatening. Obese people are likely to become sick and present themselves to emergency rooms, threatening to exceed the capacity."

More sick care costs to the rest of us from fat people who cannot keep their mouths shut, their forked and spooned hands from their pie-holes and just say "No" to swallowing.

Forgotten in the quote above is that "obese people are likely to make the rest of us sick."

"CT scanners and MRIs have weight limits of around 250 pounds. Heavier patients are unable to access these scans prompting calls to local zoos for the use of their animal scanners."

Better make sure your local zoo is in network, fat people.

And that your insurance covers the cost of private cages.

"The strains to the system are also financial. Hospitals have to invest in extra wide beds, wheel chairs, patient lifting devices and extra staff to help lift and transport patients. A special bariatric lifting device, called the Titan X, costs about $18,000. According to the press release, 'global sales in bariatric stretchers and lift systems are expected to soar in the next five years.'

'I'm not certain this is creating a crisis yet, but it is something we need to plan for and address with newer equipment," said Dr. Charles Emerman at the Department of Emergency Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic.'"

Chuck, get "certain." It is a crisis to those of us who have to pay for these irresponsible fat people.

"'Who will pay for this?' he asked. 'Hospitals may need a new revenue source.'"

News Flash!

Have the fat people pay for it!

Bill Richardson Speech to The Obesity Society

Bill Richardson probably has good qualities.

Sadly, none are displayed in this clearly ignorant speech. In fact, this speech is so full of crap and nonsense, you have to wonder if he had a stroke from his own fatness prior to taking the podium.

One has to ask, "If the guy cannot understand the simple matter of overweight and obesity, how will he be able to understand complex matters?"

Likely he will not.

This is an embarrassment. There is so much misinformation and stupidity in this talk that a complete critique would take too much time.

Here are a few points.

"I noticed that none of the other presidential candidates are here today. I know they may not weigh as much as I do, but I still think you should have invited them.

But, in all seriousness, it's a shame they couldn't join us No matter their weight, every American is affected by this quiet epidemic."

Bill is a fat guy. He cannot lead by example. (This is an older image of a "leaner" Bill.)



That is a matter of some "seriousness."

"As we all know, the prevalence of obesity in this country has skyrocketed in recent years. Nearly 200 million Americans - two-thirds of our population -- are now considered overweight or obese.

The effects of this disease are not cosmetic."

Further he fails to recognize that obesity and overweight are not diseases.

"Make no mistake about it -- this is a critical problem that has the potential to become a nationwide crisis. We must deal with this problem before it is too late. We as a country need to have some long-term vision. We can't afford to continue to put our communities and society at risk."

"The potential to become a nationwide crisis" and "before it is too late"?

Has this guy been asleep? (except to awaken for feedings)

"And I pledge to you that when I am President, we will fight obesity every day.

Our first step must be making sure that every American has access to affordable, quality health coverage. My health care plan provides a common-sense path to achieve that.

It focuses on the three critical issues of coverage, cost, and care. We build on proven programs that already work for millions of Americans..."

If "As we all know, the prevalence of obesity in this country has skyrocketed in recent years. Nearly 200 million Americans - two-thirds of our population -- are now considered overweight or obese," where are the "proven programs" he will "build on"?

There are none.

"Our next President must take a prominent and public role, joining all of you in your efforts, to increase the public's understanding of obesity and remove the stigma. We must help people understand that it is a disease, not a behavior. And that those of us who are overweight or obese are NOT lazy or undisciplined."

In addition to making excuses for his own ventripotence, the nominee wannabe has not the most fundamental of understandings about the matter.

He needs to "increase HIS understanding of obesity."

"We must also eliminate discrimination of those who are overweight. This is an issue of basic civil rights. There are no federal laws that protect obese Americans from discrimination in the workplace, school, or anywhere else This must change.

As President, I will work with Congress to include federal protections for the obese in the Americans for Disabilities Act and by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

We need to dramatically boost our research efforts associated with obesity and we need to involve the NIH, CDC, FDA, USDA, and others. The more we know about obesity, the more we know how to prevent and treat it. It is imperative that we better understand what works to help overweight and obese people improve their health."

With 100% certainty we know exactly "how to prevent and treat" overweight and obesity.

Further, who will protect the fit from underwriting the costs of this needless research and new layer of alleged "civil rights" bureaucracy?

This guy wants to protect the majority from the minority!

"As Governor of New Mexico, I've attacked this problem head-on."

Bull, Bill.

Look at his body. He certainly has no idea how to "attack the problem head-on" for himself and as per the above, has no idea of the problem, period.

"We also need to ask adults to consider what they can do within their own lives to reduce obesity and its effects. Obesity is not a behavior, but we can adopt lifestyle choices -- such as exercising and eating right - that can mitigate obesity and obesity-related diseases."

"Not a behavior" and "adopting lifestyle choices" will have an effect to reduce obesity?

Bill needs courses in logic and integrity.

"Of course, many Americans do care about their weight and their health -- this is not just about willpower.

Americans and their doctors need the right tools, information, and incentives to make healthy choices and treatment decisions -- and that means that the food and fitness industries, the insurance companies, the schools and government, the individuals and families, all have to do their part. If we work together, we can end this epidemic."

There is no tool of medicine that will work in the matter of overweight and obesity since they are not medical problems.

"Incentives"?

If not being dead prematurely, avoiding cardiovascular disease, not getting diabetes and participating more fully in life are inadequate "incentives," what does Bill propose?

Maybe free pizza, beer and desserts.

Bill is just pandering to his audience and the fat majority as he sucks for votes.

"I'm proud of my record as Governor in fighting obesity..."

Pity pride comes so cheaply.

And if he gets the nod for VP, remember this fellow is only a heartbeat away from the Oval Office.

"All political thinking for years past has been vitiated in the same way. People can foresee the future only when it coincides with their own wishes, and the most grossly obvious facts can be ignored when they are unwelcome." George Orwell

DOV 21,947 Demonstrates Significant Body Weight And BMI Reductions In Drug Compliant Subjects In Phase Ib Clinical Study

Hey, fat people, just eat fewer Calories than you burn.

Otherwise, we will see more and more of this drivel.

If you can, read it all and see what fat people are provoking.

"DOV Pharmaceutical, Inc. ("DOV", or the "Company") (OTCBB and Pink Sheets: DOVP) announced additional Phase Ib results for DOV 21,947, its lead triple reuptake inhibitor ("TRIP") for the treatment of depression and obesity. A preliminary analysis of the study results demonstrated that DOV 21,947 was safe and well tolerated at the doses examined, and produced a statistically significant reduction in plasma triglyceride levels, as described more fully below. Further analyses of these data demonstrate that DOV 21,947 significantly reduces body weight and Body Mass Index ("BMI") in drug compliant subjects compared to placebo. The Company intends to initiate a Phase II study of DOV 21,947 for the treatment of depression in the first quarter of 2008."

Good News For Lovers Of Fish And Chips

The Japanese have gone insane, too.

At least the human condition appears consistent. There's comfort.

"Japanese scientists have come up with the perfect recipe to make a crispy batter which is also lower in fat, reports Joanna Harries in Chemistry & Industry, the magazine of the SCI."

"Perfect." Can't improve on this.

"According to Thanatuksorn's research, larger pores trap less oil during cooking so will reduce the amount of fat in the cooked food. By using a batter with a moisture content of 60% and frying for 5 minutes a highly crisp lower-fat batter is formed. The scientists say the residual moisture should be less than 5%.

Thanatuksorn says this method can be extended to other food types, so next on the menu could be perfect chips. "

Besides other matters (batters?) making this research valueless, the only way that these Japanese "scientists" will find a means to weight loss is by doing what they do best - miniaturize things.

As in miniaturize the amount of Calories people eat.

This approach is "perfectly stupid."

Kaiser Permanente Launches New Tool to Fight Childhood Obesity

Will never work!

Try it yourself.

Isn't it a great way to keep kids sedentary and in front of the monitor?

Scottish obesity 'just behind US'

Despite the killer haggis, we're still Number One!

"Obesity levels in Scotland are the second highest in the developed world behind the USA, new statistics have revealed."

And how quickly are Scottish genetics mutating, hormones going out of whack and bodies being infected by the obesity bacterium/virus?

"Since 1995, obesity in the adult population has increased by 46%."

World beware. Your genetics, hormones and immune systems are next.

Clearly it is time to do the "Overweight/Obesity and Haggis Study" in order to correlate the consumption of this delicacy with the development of genetic mutation, hormonal imbalance and infection-proneness.

What else could it possibly be?

"The report said: 'These figures provide little evidence that current approaches to obesity are having any impact.'"

Could it possibly be that expert diet advice is wrong? (see here, here, here, here and here)

Could it be that fat people consume more Calories than they burn?

Nah. It must be genetics, hormones and bugs.

In a world where no one can do wrong, it must be factors other than human choice.

Like the devastating effects of haggis, genetics, hormones and bugs.

'Fatal Flaw' Found In Vitamin E Trials

Is is me, or does this sound familiar?

"Generations of studies on vitamin E may be largely meaningless, scientists say, because new research has demonstrated that the levels of this micronutrient necessary to reduce oxidative stress are far higher than those that have been commonly used in clinical trials...

This could help explain the inconsistent results of many vitamin E trials for its value in preventing or treating cardiovascular disease, said Balz Frei, professor and director of the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, and co-author of the new commentary along with Jeffrey Blumberg, at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University.

'The methodology used in almost all past clinical trials of vitamin E has been fatally flawed,' said Frei, one of the world's leading experts on antioxidants and disease."

Wasn't there something else that was fatally flawed? Or was it flawed and fatal?

Oh yeah.

Expert diet advice. That was it. (see here, here, here, here and here)

Here is a radical concept from the investigators:

"'Only when we do these studies right will we answer questions about the value of vitamin E in addressing cardiovascular disease,' he said. 'So far we've been flying blind.'"

Doing things right.

Radical. (free radical, for you punsters)

Assuming that you are capable of critical thought, think twice before believing any expert data.

Study questions value of annual medical check-up

Not new, but serves to illustrate a point.

"The customary annual physical check-up at the doctor's office may not be worth the time or money, researchers said on Monday...

The institution of the annual medical check-up, intended to detect or prevent unseen health problems, dates back about a century in the United States, Mehrotra said.

But large studies in 1960s and 1970s failed to show these check-ups provide a significant medical benefit to the patient, and there has been a debate about their value ever since."

Where else but in sick care does "preventive maintenance" fail and still continue to live to see another day and payment?

Similar to expert diet advice, this is another example of a huge mistake in the system that survives like a cockroach.

The difference is that expert diet advice kills directly.

"'Is a physical harmful at all? To the patient, there's likely little harm. The potential downsides of a physical are the money and people's time,' as well eating up a doctor's time that might be better used elsewhere, Mehrotra said."

Better it and expert diet advice should die, than you.

Time to make these mainstays of sick care go away.

Study: Money can prod one to lose weight

I told you.

See the previous blog entry.

Just charge the porcine and they will lose rather than pay.

Cover surgery to help in losing weight

Absolutely not.

From the Cincinnutcases in Ohio.

"Why should one disease be treated any differently than others when it comes to insurance coverage?

That's a question more and more Americans should be asking about the disease of obesity."

The answer should be, re: obesity, "It should not."

Further, obesity is NOT a disease. It is a choice.

The stage is set for the spurious editorial argument of the Cincinnati Enquirer.

"The chart on Page E5 divides up the problem into categories - overweight, obese, severely obese, morbidly obese and the newly coined term to deal with the growing problem - super obese.

Excess weight can be a crippling and deadly disease."

There is the conclusory mantra repeated again à la Goebbels. You know (to paraphrase), if you repeat a lie often enough it becomes the truth.

"Some companies, as Lang's report spells out (see article), may approve the surgery, but only after the patient has first spent months or even years trying diets and other weight-loss regimens that statistically have little chance of success with severe cases.

The unfairness of such a policy, and the risks involved, seem obvious."

It is absolutely fair and appropriate to attempt conservative methods before more radical means of therapy.

What the ignoramuses on the editorial staff ignore, is that diet advice is wrong ensuring "little chance of success."

This is what they should investigate, assuming they have the mental capacity to investigate critically. This would appear to be a big assumption.

What seems obvious is that these folk have transitioned from morbidly stupid to severely stupid.

Small wonder newspapers are going the way of the dinosaur.

But even with the bad advice and the malpractice known as bariatric surgery aside, the mini-minds in Cincinnati want to protect us from ourselves and have society pay for the bad decision-making of the fat.

If these pigs cannot see that they are going from overweight to obese to severely obese to morbidly obese to super obese and refuse to make changes, then they are where they intended to be.

Leave them there.

When they are ready to change, they will.

The universal laws of physics are on their side.

It is impossible to fail. If they want to succeed.

But, these morons in Ohio feel differently.

"Increased cost, to the employer and the employees paying for insurance, is the reason most often cited for not including such surgeries under basic coverage plans. But any covered procedure involves costs and as noted above obesity often leads to other serious health problems with even greater costs."

Solution - don't pay or pay a "subsistence amount" for the other stuff until the fat lose weight.

"Accepting obesity as a disease, and covering its treatment as we would most other diseases, is the way to deal with this serious health problem."

Clearly, wrong.

The way to deal with it is to have people experience the results of their behavior and if they are displeased with it, they will change.

Like the psychiatrists and the light bulb.

And without siphoning off additional resources from the rest of us.

"A society that pushes 'super sized' helpings of fat-laden fast food shouldn't be surprised at rising numbers of overweight children who grow into even more overweight adults.

A society that eliminates physical education from school calendars, builds neighborhoods that require car rides instead of walking and has kids playing games on computers instead of ball fields should not be surprised that younger generations grow more sedentary."

I wonder if these idiots would make the same argument if, say, their daughters wore short skirts and were gang-raped. Or their sons wore expensive basketball shoes and were shot while being robbed of them. Something on the order of this:

"A society that pushes hemlines up shouldn't be surprised at rising numbers of rapes by minors who grow into even more rape-prone adults."

Then there is this:

"As today's special report explains, even those who undergo weight-loss surgery must reform their eating and exercise habits if the benefits are to be permanent."

Duh. If the porkers would have done that in the first place, the whole matter would have been obviated.

"The cost to our society of all the unwanted pounds being carried by the millions of us who are overweight is billions of dollars - in insurance and medical expenses and lost productivity and sick time."

Only because we are catering to and paying for these fat people.

If they had to pay for their own treatment, billions would be saved and the overweight and obese would find a way to shed pounds or live the life they chose.

Overweight kids show heart risks as teens

They grow up so fast these days, don't they?

Why they are almost like old people before you know it.

Thanks to child abusing parents/guardians and sick care and diet industries that kill, that is.

Interested in stopping the carnage?

Ses here, here, here, here, here and here.

After checking out the last link, talk to your friendly plaintiff's attorney.

Starchy diet 'may damage liver'

Another article worthy of skepticism, but with an interesting side effect.

"A diet rich in potatoes, white bread and white rice may be contributing to a 'silent epidemic' of a dangerous liver condition."

Here is the reason for skepticism.

We have not seen a true epidemic of liver disease, of which I am aware, related to fatty livers in adults with BMIs between 18.5 and 24.9 who have not been on a low glycemic diet all their lives.

Now for the far more interesting side effect:

"The study, carried out at Boston Children's Hospital, looked at the effect of diets with precisely the same calorific content, but very different ingredients when measured using the glycaemic index (GI)...

After six months on the diet, the mice weighed the same..."

Bottom line, no matter what you eat it is Calories in, Calories out.

Here the mice were fed different diets with the same number of Calories and they ended up the same weight.

That Law of Thermodynamics is pretty good, eh?

Trust it.

Not the experts.

Especially the clearly more crooked types, IMHO, like Cruise and Katz, NutriSystem, Sears and The Zone (there are more), who try to sell you diet products at a ginormous markup.

To read about the costs diet and exercise rip-offs, see here.

For a reasonable approach to losing weight and/or keeping the weight off, IMHO, see here.

Merck abandons HIV vaccine trials

Learn from other's experiences.

"International drug company Merck has halted trials on an HIV vaccine that was regarded as one of the most promising in the fight against Aids."

Normally HIV matters would not be on Fitness Watch.

But, this article is an exception.

Here's why.

The human immune system is one of the things at which medicine is better than most other things human.

A virus is about as simple a particle as is known to modern science.

Much more simple, arguably, than a human cell involved in the many processes of human life.

And they can't get this one right.

And they have been working at it for decades. This particular vaccine took 10 years.

"Merck had previously expressed high hopes for the drug, which it spent 10 years developing."

And they won't get overweight and obesity right.

Don't be a really, really stupid sucker for their bull.

It is up to you, and the universal Law of Thermodynamics, a penultimately powerful ally, to succeed.

But to do so, you must not listen to the experts' diet and exercise advice. (see here, here, here and here)

Multipronged approach needed to get teens moving

Clearly not true.

A "multipronged" approach is not "needed."

What is needed are responsible, i.e., non child abusing parents/guardians to step up and step up, thus setting an example for their children.

There is blame and it is squarely on parents/guardians who do not care enough about raising healthy children so they abuse them by overfeeding them.

There is no doubt that instilling an ethic of physical activity in children is good.

Schools and others can help.

But it is not their responsibility.

And even if it is, for the sake of argument, in their absence it is still the responsibility of parents/guardians to get the job done.

As an example, in many countries it is not the responsibility of the schools to instill a religious ethic in the children. It is the responsibility of the parents/guardians.

This is no different.

If there is an ethic parents/guardians want their children to have, and there is no other place providing it, do it yourselves.

Shut up.

Stop whining.

Stop the child abuse.

Stop blaming others.

Be the grown-up.

Americans Are Following Questionable Health And Nutrition Advice From The Web

Pot calling the kettle black alert!

"According to a statement issued by the American Dietetic Association (ADA), 'popularization of electronic interaction has resulted in rapid and widespread dissemination of misinformation and 'urban health myths… It is the position of the ADA that food and nutrition misinformation can have harmful effects on the health, wellbeing, and economic status of consumers… Several health organizations are addressing the proliferation of misinformation on the Internet. It is critical, therefore, that dietetics professionals be skeptical of information on the Internet, and that they are especially careful to provide accurate, research-supported evidence when contributing to these venues.'"

These are the same "professionals" who are responsible for the "rapid and widespread dissemination of misinformation" of their own. (see here, here, here, here and here)

What irony.

Despite their acknowledgment "that food and nutrition misinformation can have harmful effects on the health, wellbeing, and economic status of consumers," these killers have not provided "accurate, research-supported evidence" to date, IMHO.

They are not going to start now.

Protect yourselves.

New Clue To Why Eating Fewer Calories Can Help You Live Longer

The old clues were pretty darned good.

You know, not getting cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc., the things that kill you prematurely.

Not dying early is a very good way to "live longer."

Still, there is an interesting aspect to this research.

It has nothing to do with their attempts to harm you via therapy for being fat.

It has to do with the proposed mechanism.

Without reviewing the technical stuff, here is the conclusion:

"Apparently the mechanism is similar to that produced by exercise."

Not quite.

Their proposed mechanism is similar to that produced by aerobic training.

And aerobic training only since resistance training results in a different type of cellular adaptation.

Also, there is a big difference between exercise and training.

If they are right about the mechanism (once corrected by substituting training for exercise) then doing aerobic training will get you to the same place without the complications of "treatment." (They will not be able to use this research for treating fat people without complications. Treatment complications are a certainty.)

Health is a function of participation. Participation is a function of fitness. (tm)

Christiana Care Designated As Bariatric Surgery Center Of Excellence

A pig in lipstick.

"Christiana Care Health System announced that it has been named a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence® by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery and Surgical Review Corporation. The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence designation recognizes surgical programs with a demonstrated track record of favorable outcomes in bariatric surgery. "

What an honor!

Being rewarded for doing malpractice well.

"This accreditation for a three-year term means that Christiana Care, in conjunction with the surgeons of the Christiana Institute of Advanced Surgery, has met the required standards after a rigorous site visit by Surgical Review Corporation to review clinical practices, patient outcomes and facility compliance with American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery standards."

Except the standard of informed consent, that is.

There is more about one of the ringleading organizations in this malpractice at the end of the article.

First read the stated guidelines for the malpractice known as bariatric surgery.

Then consider that since all expert diets are designed to fail. This makes any prior attempt at dieting as a prerequisite for fat person surgery a hoax. (see here, here, here and here.)

Then read about the organization to learn more about your executioners.

BTW, the malpractitioners are killing your kids, too.

Sue them.

'Remote Control' For Fat Metabolism Discovered In Brain

The oxymoron of the morons:

"A system in the brain already known to regulate food intake also serves as a direct 'remote control' for the way fat is stored and metabolized in the body, say University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers. "

This is a new and interesting concept - the direct remote control.

Whoever thought that up likely has separated contiguous thoughts.

Whatever.

Here is the gist of this approach to assaulting you. Or so the researchers claim.

"The group studied the melanocortin system at the molecular level in rodents. They found that when the system is stimulated to increase activity, fat is metabolized. When activity in the system is reduced -- either pharmacologically or genetically -- fat accumulation increases. "

Interestingly, if fat people increased activity without drugs, their fat would be metabolized.

Imagine that.

"'We were able, in essence, to change traffic signals in so-called nutrient highways in the body so that calories were metabolized, and not dumped into fat cells,' says Tschöp. 'And we did this without changing the rate of food intake.' "

Interestingly, if fat people increased activity without drugs, their fat would be metabolized "without changing the rate of food intake."

Imagine that.

Just keep telling yourself that the same people who are intending to control your brain and genetics cannot cure toenail fungus.

And don't trust a single one of them for an instant.

Being Overweight Or Obese In Old Age Does Not Increase Risk Of Cognitive Decline According To Study

No, "Being Overweight Or Obese In Old Age Shows Increased Cognitive Decline When The Fat People Were Younger."

That's how they got fat.

Maybe "being overweight in old age does not lead to memory problems."

Arguably, it is because of young age "memory problems" or "cognitive decline" that they got fat.

They were not thinking right or forgot to stop eating at a younger age.

Weight Management Programme Stresses The Positive Experience Of Eating

More crap.

Virtually every overeater "Stresses The Positive Experience Of Eating."

These research morons should "Stress The Positive Experiences Of Caloric Intake Control and Fitness."

Are All Calories Created Equal? A New Study Shows A Serving Of Almonds Can Help You Feel Full, Without Leading To Weight Gain

The answer to the Calorie question is "Yes."

As to the other matter, look who sent out this press release:

"The Almond Board of California welcomes the participation of all industry members and does not discriminate on the basis of race, colour, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, marital status, religion, age, disability or political beliefs.

http://www.AlmondsAreIn.com"

They can be trusted, just like the Purdue researchers. (see here and here)

Obesity myths

Dumber and Dumberer.

This is an instance of two men fighting moron a moron.

In one corner you have Paul Campos.

In the weight debate, perhaps the only slitherer lower than the sick care and diet professionals in their capacities as sick care and diet workers is this lawyer, Campos.

You decide.

He is a professor. So was Ward Churchill. You decide.

He is at the University of Colorado. So was Ward Churchill. You decide.

It appears to me as if the U. of Colorado is the Yale of the West. You decide.

Campos's deal is basically his claim that it has never been proven that fat people either consume too many Calories or burn too few Calories or that being overfat is bad.

If Campos represented the innumerate, his deal would basically be that since there has never been a "1" discovered in Nature, then it cannot be concluded that "1 + 1 = 2."

Like any "good" attorney, Campos turns the truth on its head to confuse the public into believing that an unreasonable doubt is reasonable.

Like any "good" con, Campos turns the truth on its head to confuse the public into believing that an unreasonable doubt is reasonable.

You decide what is happening.

Kelly Brownell is fat.

He hides this fact. Like any "good" con, he hides the truth. You decide what is happening.

He is another Yale weight loss expert. He is in "good" company. (see here, here and here)

This LA Times piece is so ridiculous that, again, but for the fact that people suffer and die from this stuff, it would be laughable.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your experts.

If you are the least bit concerned or incensed, contact the LA Times and complain about this crap.

Like others in the media, the LA Times is your executioner.

One Off Weight Loss Subsidy Is Just A Bandaid, Australia

At last, an admission of truth.

"The Association says more money needs to be put into obesity management..."

Here is the crux of the matter.

Money.

And where will the money go? To the "Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA)," no doubt. Or so they hope.

"Vice-President of the Dietitians Association of Australia, and Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian, Ms Julie Dundon, explained, 'Australians need long term, evidence based approaches to losing weight and keeping it off and to related chronic diseases or we are just putting bandaids on problems that need stitches. People who are overweight or obese often have other health problems like diabetes and heart disease or they are at very high risk of developing them. So it is critical they are also assessed and managed by qualified health professionals.'"

Note "qualified health professionals," which these dietitians clearly are not, though they claim to be:

"The Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) is the professional body representing dietitians nationally. Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) is the only national credential recognised by the Australian Government, Medicare, the Department of Veterans Affairs and most private health funds as the quality standard for nutrition and dietetics services in Australia."

This is hubris as all the "evidence based" data show that the battle against overweight/obesity is being lost and the dietitians, nutritionists, doctors, trainers, etc., have been around for decades.

Their solution?

Give us more money for the slam bang jobs we have been doing thus far.

Who do they think they are demanding more money for poor results?

CEOs?

The solution is to cut-off the money to these parasites and starve them so their bad advice can die, allowing the rest of us a chance to live.

A beneficial effect will be weight loss among dietitians, nutritionists, doctors, trainers, etc., many of whom are overfat.

Stopping the money flow can be a win-win.

This October, The American Physical Therapy Association's National Physical Therapy Month To Focus On Nation's Obesity Epidemic

Here is where stupid intersects with depraved.

"For the nearly 100 million Americans who are overweight or obese, physical activity must be a crucial component to weight loss and better health, which is the focus of October's National Physical Therapy Month, the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) announced today...

A lack of exercise is a major contributing factor to obesity rates. 'People who are overweight or obese must follow an appropriate exercise program that includes aerobic conditioning and avoids exercise that can lead to injury,' notes Terry Michel, PT, DPT, DSc, CCS, a physical therapist at Boston's Mass General Hospital. 'Physical therapists will typically recommend a low-impact form of weight training, such as exercise bands that help avoid excessive joint stress, and modified yoga stretches and Tai Chi for promoting flexibility and relaxation,' she adds."

Not only is the value of "exercise" for weight control vastly overrated, but now you need a paid specialist to coach you on how to burn a minimal amount of Calories.

Depravity.

This sucking sound you hear is the money being vacuumed from your wallet.

What's For Dinner Mum? UK

More stupid Brits.

"Mothers of teenage children feel that outside factors such as fast food and peer pressure are undermining the 'gold' standard of nutrition that they strive to provide at home."

Right.

Fat parents setting a "gold standard of nutrition."

That'll happen.

And what an extensive study was performed by these psychologists!

"Interviews were carried out with 15 British mothers who had children aged 13-16 years. All of the interviewees were highly motivated to give their child a healthy diet. The interviews revealed that all mothers described a gold standard of healthy eating, which involved a balanced diet with lots of fruit and vegetables."

A whole 15 people!

Their computers must have overheated crunching that data.

And "highly motivated" interviewees. There can be no selection bias here.

What is most important is parents blaming others for their lack of ability to be parents.

They must have been "highly motivated" enough to blame others, but not "highly motivated" enough to parent well.

It has to be "fast food and peer pressure."

It cannot be the parents.

No way. Never. Nope.

Remember: finger-pointing is always fun until someone loses an eye.

Australian And New Zealand Dietitians Reach Mutual Recognition Agreement

The sucking sound you hear are the bellies of fat Aussies and Kiwis being held in now that they can get twice as much bad advice as before.

"DAA President, Ms Julie Hulcombe, said, 'This agreement will open up opportunities for dietitians on both sides of the Tasman and will help advance nutrition and dietetics in both countries through the sharing of knowledge and expertise. We are delighted to have worked with our New Zealand colleagues to achieve this Charter.'"

You gotta love "the sharing of knowledge and expertise" part.

As if there is secret diet "knowledge" to share and as if they are so successful that they have any "expertise."

Stupid is clearly both in control and out of control.

Dietitians Urge Kids to Read Food Labels

This is useless or worse.

Since food labels are bad, what is the point?

BTW, note that these kids are not learning to analyze a food label, they are being taught to recognize certain select characteristics which may not lead to weight control.

"Another shopper, Sofia Rachi, 10, said she always reads foods labels and likes to look at the colored boxes, but when pressed, the youngster admitted she didn't 'really know what to look for.'

Though the labels can be tricky even for adults, some nutrition experts say it is reasonable for children to grasp the concept by focusing on a few components."

I would like to see them estimate serving sizes.

Wouldn't you?

Any bets on their success?

Researchers Discover Gene Mutation Thought To Control Energy Levels

More proof that the overweight/obesity research world is insane.

"University of Ottawa medical researchers have discovered a mutation in a gene that is widely considered to be the major controller of energy levels in our bodies."

How do you "discover" something that is "widely considered"?

Doesn't this imply that it was already discovered so it could be "widely considered"?

Okay, maybe they are referring to the mutation.

Whatever.

It is useless. Nothing will trump The Laws of Thermodynamics re: overweight and obesity.

This is simply more waste.

Motivational Weight Loss Game Where Everyday Moves May Inspire A New Addiction To Aid Fitness

Will never work.

"The lack of daily mild exercise is largely responsible for the world's obesity epidemic, according to James Levine, a Mayo Clinic physician and leading authority on obesity."

Levine is a moron. Eating more Calories than you burn is the only cause of overweight and obesity.

"Levine coined the 'NEAT' term to cover all physical activity that is not conscious exercise."

So-called NEAT is trash.

"Ioannis Pavlidis, a UH computer science professor, and research assistants Yuichi Fujiki and Kostas Kazakos, have developed a computer game that translates physical activity into video games, such as races and logic puzzles. Dubbed Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (NEAT-o) games, they can be played on any hand-held personal digital assistant (PDA) with users wearing a lightweight, wearable sensor that detects movement like running, walking, bending over or even foot tapping. "

Video games, eh?

These fools should first explain how all the fat people sitting in front of their monitors playing video games are not as slim as Kate Moss.

Remember, Mayo is the same place that recommends The Executioners' Diet.

Avoid the experts and their schemes.

But time it right.

Like before they harm or kill you.

Rising Cost Of Obesity Threatens NHS, UK

It's everywhere. It's everywhere.

"Widespread obesity is draining NHS resources, say a new independent report commissioned by health policy think-tank the King's Fund."

At least everyplace where people are making the mistake of paying for the results of bad decision-making by fat people.

"'With escalating numbers of people - including growing numbers of young people - being diagnosed, now is the time for action.'"

"Now is the time for action"? Hello.

The best action is to turn off the money spigot.

Stop paying for rescue and stop paying for research.

Let the offenders pay for the results of their behavior.

Silence the diet and fitness experts since they are killing us. (see here in general and here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.)

Prosecute the diet and fitness experts for their lies, misinformation, health advice, etc.

Provide people with correct weight control and fitness information. (see here, here, here and here, IMHO)

Then watch overweight and obesity and nutritional child abuse plummet.

"Sir Derek Wanless, the report's author, warns that the unnecessary expenses incurred by the health service will continue to soar if the UK's rising level of obesity is not curbed."

At least Derek gets that these expenses are "unnecessary."

Now what is he and what are we going to do about it?

Intriguing Structures On Surface Of Fat Cells Play Key Role In Regulation Of Fats

More bull from The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Nowhere does this "research" report show that "Intriguing Structures On Surface Of Fat Cells Play Key Role In Regulation Of Fats."

"The surface of fat cells contains many small pockets called caveolae (because they look like caves in an electron microscope). Although their role is not clear, Paul F. Pilch and colleagues review in the October issue of the Journal of Lipid Research current knowledge about caveolae and conclude that one of their major functions is to regulate the movement and production of fats in fat cells. Caveolae may also help the hormone insulin bind to fat cells, but this is controversial.

Insulin binds to protein receptors on the surface of a fat cell, which activates proteins inside the cell that help lower the amount of sugar in the blood and store fats. Some scientists have shown that insulin receptors attach to caveolae, hinting at a possible role of caveolae in insulin function, but other scientists have disputed this finding. Also, scientists have suggested that caveolae can be absorbed inside the cell, forming spherical vesicles that may carry fats for storage in the cell.

Caveolae may also be involved in regulating the amount of fatty acids the molecules resulting from the breakdown of fats present in fat cells."

"Role is not clear," "may also help," hinting at a possible role," may carry fats" and "may also be involved."

Liars.

A Balanced Diet Is A Healthy Diet

More lies, damn lies, statistics and nutrition "information."

"People are confused about what foods they can eat and are not sure what a healthy balanced diet looks like, reveals a new survey by the Food Standards Agency (FSA).

These findings coincide with the launch of the new eatwell plate, a practical tool that cuts through the array of conflicting messages around food and reminds us what a healthy diet is. It helps people make confident choices about what they eat by clearly showing the types and proportions of foods that strike a good balance."

A balanced diet is a balanced diet. No more, no less. It can be a healthy diet. It can also be an unhealthy diet.

In fact, just about all overweight/obese people got fat, i.e., less healthy, on a balanced diet.

By definition, a balanced diet is one where you get your Calories from all three of the macronutrient groups: fat, carbohydrate and protein.

This is to be distinguished from diets where you cut out some macronutrient, like the awful ketogenic diets, e.g., Atkins' or South Beach.

A healthy diet is one that results in a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 (for virtually all of us, some athletes appear to be exceptions).

No more, no less.

How you get there is your choice.

That is the state of the art.

That should be your goal.

As should avoiding all expert diet and fitness advice.

How Nutrition Affects The Breakdown Of Fats

Clearly unproven conclusions.

"Scientists report in the October issue of the Journal of Lipid Research that when either lean or obese individuals exercise after eating a high fat meal, their fats are broken down and oxidized in skeletal muscle, making them healthier."

There is not one sentence in the report proving this scheme made someone "healthier."

"These results show for the first time how a high fat diet and exercise stimulate the breakdown of fats and may help design ways to reduce excessive fat in the body."

Didn't show squat.

If you want "to reduce excessive fat in the body," eat fewer Calories than you burn for a while.

If you want to remove noise from your life, do not believe any of the swill spouted by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Better yet, remove all overweight/obesity research data from your life.

Alternate Day Fasting: How Good Is It For Your Health?

Really confused researchers alert!

"Krista Varady and colleagues studied the effects of alternate-day fasting on 24 male mice for four weeks. To assess the impact of ADF on the health of the mice, the scientists not only tested mice that followed and didn't follow an ADF diet, but they also studied mice that followed the diet only partially: a group of mice consumed 50 percent of their regular diet every other day (ADF-50%) and another consumed 75 percent of their regular diet every other day (ADF-25%)."

Okay.

"The scientists noticed that the mice that followed the complete ADF diet (ADF-100%) lost weight and that the fat cells of both the ADF-100% and ADF-50% groups shrunk by more than half and by 35 percent, respectively. Also, in these two groups of mice, fat under the skin but not abdominal fat was broken down more than in mice that did not follow the diet."

So they lost weight on the complete ADF diet. Got it.

"These results suggest that complete and modified ADF regimens seem to protect against obesity and type 2 diabetes but do not result in fat or weight loss."

So they did not lose weight on the complete ADF diet.

Huh? What's with that?

Which is it?

Then there is the fat cell shrinking thing.

If they did not lose fat, where did it go?

BTW, the research never answers the question "Alternate Day Fasting: How Good Is It For Your Health?":

"More studies will be needed to confirm whether the long-term effects of ADF regimens are beneficial for health and reduce disease risk, the scientists conclude."

Deceptive people.

Folks, gotta stop funding this trash.

Obesity Surgery Can Improve Sleep And Reduce Snoring, US And Spanish Studies Conclude

Nope.

More lies from the malpractitioners of bariatric surgery.

"Two studies presented at the annual Congress of the European Respiratory Society (ERS) in Stockholm have revealed that obesity surgery (known to specialists as bariatric surgery) may have important advantages beyond its primary objective of major weight loss. It can significantly reduce, or even eliminate, interruptions to breathing (apnoea) during sleep. Sleep apnoea can cause snoring and is a recognised risk factor for cardiovascular disease."

It is simply the weight loss that "significantly reduce(s), or even eliminate(s), interruptions to breathing (apnoea) during sleep."

If the weight was not lost the apnea would not go away.

When the weight is regained (which is common), POOF!, the apnea returns.

It is not the surgery. It is the weight loss.

This is the marketing hype the malpractice known as bariatric surgery employs in order to mutilate you and your children.

Woman's death calls gene therapy into question

The next time some moron talks about medical treatments for the non-medical problems of overweight and obesity or mentions gene therapy, think about this:

"A few hours before she died this summer at the age of 36, Jolee Mohr lay in a Chicago hospital so swollen by internal bleeding and her failing kidneys that her husband decided against bringing their 5-year-old daughter to say goodbye. The girl wouldn’t have recognized her mother.

Robb Mohr couldn’t bring himself to watch her die and he spent his wife’s last hours talking with her helpless and puzzled doctors. One vowed to get to the bottom of the illness...

...Jolee Mohr fell ill the day after her right knee was injected with trillions of genetically engineered viruses in a voluntary experiment to find out if gene therapy might be a safe way to ease the pain of rheumatoid arthritis. She was dead three weeks later."

Oops.

Here is what a good, caring, compassionate doctor has to say about the matter:

"Dr. Theodore Friedmann, who once headed the NIH committee that oversees gene therapy experiments, said developments in medicine often come with problems, even death.

Even if gene therapy is found to be the cause of Jolee Mohr’s death, Friedmann said, the method remains promising.

'There’s no question that this event is tragic for the family and the woman involved,' he said. 'It does simply point to the fact that we have a lot more to learn.'”

At the expense of your life. All because you eat more Calories than you burn.

Then there is this:

"There have been more than 800 gene therapy studies involving 5,000 U.S. patients since the NIH approved the nation’s first human gene transfer study in 1989. Yet there are no approved therapies despite 17 years of research, and the only major success — a cure for the rare inherited immune disorder known as 'bubble boy disease' — came with a high cost: leukemia linked in 2003 to the virus that delivered the treatment."

Don't forget the poor sick care workers who apparently got PTSD from the affair. They were "bothered."

“'The human side to this is awful — it bothered everybody on the team,' Hogarth said. 'We’ve all unfortunately been around it, but this one just seemed even sadder, because she didn’t have a life-threatening illness to begin with.'”

Of course, it you are older, it is okay if you die since it won't cause any gene therapy sick care worker PTSD from witnessing something "really bothersome."

“'To see someone who is otherwise young and otherwise healthy — that I think is the part that is really bothersome,'” he said.

Just a suggestion.

You might want to either think twice before you stuff your pie-hole or die like stink in some gene therapy experiment.

Children Caught In Web Of Junk Food Promotion - New Cancer Council Report Exposes Marketing "Trickery", Australia

Apparently, down under, parents are as irresponsible as they are up over, and the apologists are the same, too.

"Parents fighting childhood obesity must compete with clever and pervasive junk food marketing pitched directly at young children, according to an independent study conducted for The Cancer Council Australia.

The Cancer Council is calling for regulation of junk food marketing to children to reduce an expected obesity-related surge in future cancer incidence, with the new research emphasising how extensively food companies promote their unhealthy products to young children and use imagery to convey a false association with health and fitness."

If there is a "false association" then it must be stopped.

Just as the "clever and pervasive junk science marketing pitched directly at parents and children" by the diet and sick care industries must be stopped. (see here, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here.)

The problem is that there is no known association between health and fitness except at body weight.

And body weight, for all practical purposes, depends on Calories in vs. Calories out, not the source of the Calories. (see here, here, here and here.)

Leave it to the experts to screw it up for businesses and consumers.

"Chair of The Cancer Council Australia's Nutrition and Physical Activity Committee, Terry Slevin, said the new report, Food Marketing to Children in Australia, showed the extent to which food companies directly advertise to children, rather than to their parents.

'Use of online games, quizzes, competitions, cartoon characters, print advertising, premium prizes, toys and other marketing trickery makes promotion of unhealthy food a complex web that often goes undetected by parents who are doing their best to encourage healthy eating,' he said."

"Their best"? Where do the kids get the money to spend on this stuff?

Perhaps a publicly funded study is necessary.

"Best" has been vanity sized to fit poor to mediocre.

"'Our findings suggest that, despite these policies, most of the products promoted to children - and recalled by children - were those high in sugar, fat and salt,' Professor Jones said. The report concludes that Australia's current regulatory arrangements around food marketing are ineffective in helping to control consumption levels of foods that have a negative impact on the health of Australian children."

So don't purchase the stuff.

This would be the best "regulatory scheme" of all.

And the only effective one.

Brits 'dying not to do exercise'

Likely the same for all of us.

"Most UK adults are so unwilling to exercise that not even the threat of an early death is enough to get them off the sofa, a survey suggests.

Only 38% of people questioned by YouGov said they would do more exercise if their life depended on it."

There is, interestingly, a fortunate and heartening willingness stated by the unfit public:

"A greater inspiration was exercising to change body shape, particularly among women and young adults.

Almost a third of 18 to 24-year-olds reported they would do more exercise if they saw an unflattering photo of themselves or were told they looked fat."

Whether they would really do this is another matter.

The only reason to train is to control the distribution of lean and fat in the body, i.e., lose fat, gain muscle.

These = look better. (Did you know the American Heart Association tells us not to get fitter in order to look better?)

The other reasons for "exercise" are trash and lies.

They are malicious fantasies conjured by the experts to keep us fat. Ruses to make us think they are necessary when they are the problem.

This is the propaganda of the Mehmet Ozs, Jorge Cruises, David Katzs, Oprah Winfreys (and here), David Zinczenkos and the other experts of the world.

Ladies and gentlemen, you have seen the enemy and it is our diet and fitness experts.

They are the executioners of you and your children.

Wise up.

Drunks 'should pay for treatment'

So should fat people.

Why the NHS struggles with obesity

The problem all sick care systems face.

"Obesity has once again been pinpointed as a major problem facing the country.

Former NatWest bank chief Sir Derek Wanless, who has already carried out two reports for the government on the NHS, is now warning the issue could overwhelm the health service."

Here are a few of the absolute solutions that can be applied now, all of which use off-the-shelf, currently available methods:

• Recognize that overweight and obesity are not medical problems
• Get that is is all about Calories in and Calories out. Nothing else. Stop making excuses.
  
• Recognize that overweight and obesity are not issues that will respond to the tools of medicine
• Cease funding for all medical efforts directed at the issues of overweight and obesity
• Cease funding for all medical "care" directed at overweight and obesity
• Cease funding for all research directed at combating overweight and obesity
• Allow people the benefit of experiencing the consequences of their actions
• Make businesses collect greater sick care insurance contributions from their overweight or obese employees to reflect their increased burden to society
  
• Enforce CAPTA (especially as it relates to parents and mandatory reporters)
• Prosecute diet gurus, their publishers and the media who expose diet and fitness lies to the public
• Prosecute diet gurus, their publishers and the media for practicing medicine without a license by offering health advice as it relates to body weight
  
• Prosecute those in the medical establishment, including providers, nutritionists, dietitians, Big Pharma, medical centers for malpractice in providing bad diet advice
• Forbid the "health food" industry from claiming its products are "health foods" in the context of the weight debate
  
• Get Oprah off the air. And do it fast. She is clearly a big, fat threat to national health.

Once you stop paying for this crap and utilize existing measures, you'll be pleased by the amount of resources saved that can be applied to much better purposes.

Problem solved.

Next.

No Link Found Between The Amount Of Soft Drinks UK Children Consume And Their Body Weight

A study that could not be less important if it tried.

"Soft drink consumption has increased in both the USA and the UK over the years and this has often been blamed for a rise in childhood body mass index (BMI). However, many of the review methodologies investigating the alleged links have been flawed. A recent scientific analysis of a nationally representative sample of children's diets and lifestyles found no link between the amount of soft drinks children consume and their body weight."

Nor could it be more wrong.

Not necessarily in its direct study conclusions (though those might be hokum), but in its secondary pronouncements:

"The reasons for obesity developing and continuing in children are complex, including both diet and lifestyle."

Wrong.

The reason, there is only one, is no more "complex" than Calories in and Calories out. And it can never be more "complex" than that.

"The solution to obesity is also unlikely to be as simple as reducing individual food or drink products."

Wrong.

"The solution to obesity is" certainly "as simple as reducing individual food or drink products" so as to consume fewer Calories than are burned."

There can be no other.

Pathological Gamblers Addiction Targeted By Health Food Supplement

But will it work for Calorie addiction? Or excuse-making addiction? Or nutritional child abuse addiction? Etc.

"In a recent eight-week trial, 27 people were given increasing doses of the amino acid, N-acetyl cysteine, which has an impact on the chemical glutamate -- often associated with reward in the brain. At the end of the trial, 60 percent of the participants reported fewer urges to gamble."

Healthy claims fool diners into eating extra

Leave it MSNBC, the massive storehouse of nutritional bull crap, to blame everyone but the diners.

As if these diners are "fooled" into eating extra.

Right.

Or as if their arms are being twisted.

"People who opt for a meal at a 'healthy' restaurant often consume more calories than they would dining at fast food joints that make no health claims, a new study shows."

Incidentally, this can bootstrap into an argument against providing nutritional data for restaurant food as people are not smart enough to understand their meaning.

Here is a big duh.

"The researchers found that individuals underestimate the calorie content of foods served at restaurants they see as healthier, to a degree that could easily lead to weight gain."

People always underestimate Calories in and overestimate Calories burned.

Fat people in particular have a very bad relationship with caloric truth.

This has been proven ad nauseam.

Too bad that we cannot prove it ad "it makes me so sick that I stop eating."

When it comes to weight loss, there is no such thing as "healthy food."

It is all about the Calories.

Nothing more. Nothing less. Nothing else.

Teens’ unhealthy weight hurts later fertility

Blessing in a muumuu.

"Teenagers who are either underweight or obese are likely to have fewer children in adulthood, a study has found."

If true, this will lead to fewer nutritionally abused children. A good thing.

"Given the increase in obesity rates around the world, the researchers note, the current findings suggest there could be widespread effects on adults’ reproductive health."

Keep your fingers crossed.

Particularly when the legs of fat women aren't.