Ingredients of Shady Origins, Posing as Supplements

More traditional Chinese medicine.

DR. PIETER COHEN is scanning the shelves inside a shop in Chinatown here when something familiar — and potentially dangerous — catches his eye.

“What’s that yellow box, behind the other one?” Dr. Cohen asks the clerk.

It is Pai You Guo, a supposedly natural weight-loss supplement from China that, according to federal authorities, has tested positive in the past for containing two hazardous drugs, including a suspected carcinogen. The product was recalled in 2009. One of Dr. Cohen’s patients in the Boston area ended up in the hospital last year with a range of ailments after taking Pai You Guo, a brand-name that, loosely translated from Chinese, means “the fruit that eliminates fat.”

But he has seen worse: kidney failure, heart problems, depression, addiction — all, he says, caused by tainted products sold openly as dietary supplements in shops across the nation and on the Internet.

“My patients are being harmed by this,” says Dr. Cohen, an internist at the nearby Cambridge Health Alliance and an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Marketing drugs in the guise of supplements is illegal in the United States. Tainted Pai You Guo is just one small part of that global business. Federal authorities are struggling to identify and intercept these black-market goods, which, they warn, pose grave health risks.

The makers of legal dietary supplements — the kind found at GNC, for example — acknowledge they are reluctant to raise too many alarms. Even though there is little evidence that many dietary supplements provide real health benefits, legal supplements, from multivitamins to ginkgo biloba, are a big and growing business. Americans spent $28.1 billion on them last year, up from $21.3 billion five years ago, according to estimates from Nutrition Business Journal, a market research firm.

Hit it!

Obese boomers will cost Medicare plenty

Only if we pay for them and their diseases of choice.

The largest generation may now be the fattest generation ever. And that spells trouble for the healthcare system.

Studies show that baby boomers — 81 million born between 1946 to 1964 — are losing the battle of the bulge. About a third of boomers are obese and an additional 36 percent are overweight, according to a new Associated Press-LifeGoesStrong.com poll. That makes them heavier than the generation that precedes them and the one that follows them.

Cut the flow of money.

Increase the flow of fat from the body.

Drink-driving risk for obesity surgery patients

More benefits from the IMHO malpractice known as bariatric surgery.

Dr Peter Holt, a researcher at Rockefeller University in New York, said that overweight patients who have the common “stomach stapling” operations are likely to have large concentrations of alcohol in the blood even if they drink little, which take a long time to wear off.

He also claimed that bacteria in parts of the gut cut off in gastric bypasses can produce pure alcohol.

As a result, Dr Holt suggested that all patients who undergo weight-loss surgery should be warned about the effects on their ability to drink and should think about avoiding alcohol completely if they drive.

Fat, drunk and in a motor vehicle.

Save yourselves!

Weight Loss Of 10 Pounds Over 3 Years By Eating 100 Calories Less Per Day, New Predictive Model Shows

The lie of the lose one pound per week by eating 500 fewer Calories per day was first exposed here, here and here.

Doctors and dieticians have worked for decades assuming that cutting 500 calories from a person's daily diet will result in a steady weight loss of approximately one pound per week, however, this assumption is incorrect, as it does not take metabolic changes into account that can lead to unrealistic expectations for diet plans.

It is, it was and it always will be a mathematical, biological, physiological and physical impossibility to lose one pound per week by consuming 500 fewer Calories per day.

For years, Fitness Watch readers have known this.

And at FitnessMed, for consultations and program planning, I have been running a simulator for about a decade.

Nice to see someone is trying to catch-up.

Differences in Metabolic Disease Markers in Healthy and Obese 7-To-9-Year-Olds Identified

More nutritional child abuse.

Research led by Dr. Melinda Sothern, Professor of Public Health and Jim Finks Endowed Chair in Health Promotion at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has found that obese 7-9-year-old children had nearly three times the liver fat and almost double the belly fat of their nonobese counterparts and that insulin resistance was more than double and insulin sensitivity less than half respectively. The study is the first to use a combination of advanced measurements in healthy obese and nonobese children in this age group prior to entering puberty.

Kudos, fatsos.

You child abusers, you.

Stop nutritional child abuse.

Protein Linked to Parkinson's Disease May Regulate Fat Metabolism

So what?

National Institutes of Health researchers have found that Parkin, an important protein linked with some cases of early-onset Parkinson's disease, regulates how cells in our bodies take up and process dietary fats.

Parkinson's disease is a complex, progressive, and currently incurable neurological disorder characterized by shaking, stiffness, slowed movement, and impaired balance.

Well, being a fat person is not incurable.

And it has nothing to do with this Parkin bulls**t.

Wanna get cured?

Learn how to do it right, here.

If Historic Trends Continue, Number Of Obese Adults In US Will Rise By 65 Million And 11 Million In The UK By 2030

But if we stop paying for them, at least the historic trend of going broke will not rise.

The second paper in The Lancet Obesity Series by Dr Y Claire Wang, Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University in New York, NY, USA, and Professor Klim McPherson, New College, University of Oxford, UK, and their team evaluate obesity trends in the USA and UK including the impact on prevalence of diseases and cost of healthcare.

According to the authors, the amount of chronic and acute health disorders is linked to excess bodyweight burdening society. It affects the individual's health-related quality of life but also incurs costs to the individual as well as to the society as a whole due to higher cost of health-care and lost productivity.

With currently 99 million obese people in the USA and 15 million in the UK, the two countries represent the highest obesity rates among OECD countries. The trend is set to continue in the coming decades.

Time to enjoy the results of your behavior without the rest of us sharing in the costs.

Slim Down by Targeting the Hormone Uroguanylin

This is it. This time for sure. This is the key.

The number of people who are obese and suffer one or more of its associated health problems (including type 2 diabetes) is escalating dramatically. Researchers are seeking to identify new targets for therapeutics that could limit appetite and thereby obesity. A team of researchers, led by Scott Waldman, at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, has now uncovered one such potential target by studying the molecular control of appetite in mice.

No question.

Not.

New Children's Book Labeled "Dangerous" By Diet Guru

I do not endorse this book, I have not read the book, I have not seen the book.

I condemn the response of the so-called "diet guru."

The founder of Britain's top weight loss organization has called a book about the story of a short overweight girl who diets and becomes the school soccer star "an outrage".

The book, Maggie Goes on a Diet, written and self-published by Paul Kramer, is aimed at pre-teens with 'Maggie', the character, portrayed as a chubby, round jumper-wearing cartoon figure with orange pigtails holding up a tiny pink dress and looking wistfully at a skinny version of herself in the mirror. The book has just been unveiled on Amazon and is soon to be made available from other booksellers.

Alison Wetton, CEO of All About Weight, labels the book as a:

"Dangerous weapon promoting the message of body dissatisfaction among a highly vulnerable age group.

This is the wrong way to spread the message despite acknowledging children's needs for more encouragement to be active and eat healthily. In her view it would simply encourage youngsters to concentrate on their body image, which is linked to a variety of appalling consequences like depression, eating disorders and bullying."

Kids ought to be dissatisfied with things.

If you do crappily at school, you should be dissatisfied with your performance and do better.

If you are a fat piglet, you should be dissatisfied with your body.

This Wetton POS, wants to keep kids fat into older age, probably so she has can keep being a guru by perpetuating harm to kids, IMHO.

When she has milked the system completely at the expense of others, then off she goes leaving a trail of fat, sick older kids and adults so the process can continue and another jerk can profit.

F**k you, Wetton.

To Curb Worldwide Obesity Epidemic, Government-Led Efforts Targeting Eating Habits Of Children Needed

When government leads:

The global obesity epidemic has been escalating for decades, yet long-term prevention efforts have barely begun and are inadequate, according to a new paper from international public health experts published in the August 25, 2011 edition of the journal The Lancet. Noting that many countries lack basic population-wide data on children's weight and height, the authors call on governments around the world to launch a coordinated effort to monitor, prevent, and control obesity, and the long-term health, social and economic costs associated with it.

The paper is part of a special Lancet series on obesity.

"By imposing tax on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and limiting marketing of unhealthy foods to children, governments can lead in making it easier for children to make healthy choices," said lead author Steven Gortmaker, professor of the practice of health sociology at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH).

Special taxes and marketing restrictions to discourage smoking have been effective in tobacco control and likely would be effective in reducing SSB consumption, the authors note. Consuming sugar-sweetened beverages increases risk of excess weight gain and obesity which can lead to a host of health problems, including type 2 diabetes - and SSBs have no additional nutritional value beyond calories, Gortmaker and his colleagues say.

International organizations like the United Nations, the World Health Organization, and others must participate with the public and private sector to target children and adolescents, in particular, with these and other cost-effective strategies that encourage healthy eating habits and physical activity, the authors say.

The LAST thing that is needed in government intervention.

Especially at the level of the Internationale.

Disease-Causing Fat Cells Found In Those With Metabolic Syndrome

Then lose the fat.

UC Davis Health System researchers have discovered biological indicators that help explain why some obese people develop chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease, and others do not.

The researchers took a novel approach of looking specifically at the body fat of people with metabolic syndrome - a condition characterized by increased blood pressure, high-fasting blood-sugar levels, excess abdominal fat and abnormal cholesterol levels. They found the fat cells released biomarkers associated with insulin resistance and chronic inflammation, conditions often leading to diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

"Our study shows that not all obesity is the same and some body fat may actually be toxic," said Ishwarlal Jialal, UC Davis professor of endocrinology, diabetes and metabolism and senior author of the article, "Adipose Tissue Dysregulation in Patients with Metabolic Syndrome," published online in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism. "We have shown that the dysfunction in the fat of people with metabolic syndrome is more than can be explained by obesity. It tells us that metabolic syndrome is a high-risk condition for people who are obese."

Problem solved.

Obesity Epidemic On The Rise As It Enters Its Fourth Decade

Kudos, fatsos.

The first paper in The Lancet Obesity Series describes the global initiators of the obesity epidemic according to a study by Professor Boyd Swinburn and Dr Gary Sacks from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.

The increase of obesity (defined by a body-mass index (BMI) greater than 30kg/m2) is worldwide, however rates vary widely between countries; whereas in Japan and China only 1 in 20 adult women is obese, in the Netherlands 1 in 10 women are grossly overweight compared to 1 in 4 in the UK and Australia, 1 in 3 in the USA, and a staggering 7 in 10 women in Tonga.

The steady rise in the apparent food consumption per capita in high-income countries in the 70's and 80's seems to be associated with the simultaneous start of the obesity epidemic.

Cut-off publicly paid care for diseases of choice.

Watch the trend reverse.

Global governments 'must get tough on obesity'

Obesity is shakin' in its boots! Governments gonna "get tough."

Tougher action - including taxing junk food - is needed by all governments if the obesity crisis is going to be tackled, experts say.

The international group of researchers, who have published a series of articles in The Lancet, said no country had yet to get to grips with the problem.

They said changes in society meant it was getting harder for people to live healthy lives.

And they warned without state action health systems could become swamped.

Obesity-related problems, such as diabetes, were now accounting for between 2% and 6% of health care costs in most countries.

Rising spending
But as one of the articles showed this is likely to get worse if current trends continue.

Researchers made projections for the US and the UK - two of the developed countries with the worst rates of obesity.

They predicted obesity rates would rise from a quarter in the UK to about 40% by 2030.

Such a scenario would cost the NHS an extra £2bn a year - the equivalent of 2% of health spending.

The rise in costs would be even greater in the US where obesity rates would rise from one in three to about one in two.

"NO!" to a junk food tax that punishes all of us.

"YES!" to get tough on fat people.

How about not paying for their diseases of choice and taxing items like these? (a much better approach)

Inactivity Linked With Risk Factors For Type 2 Diabetes

A diabetic adult and its youngin.

News flash!

Not.

79 million American adults have prediabetes and will likely develop diabetes later in life, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As the number of people diagnosed with diabetes continues to grow, researchers are focusing on discovering why the prevalence of the disease is increasing. John Thyfault, an assistant professor in MU's departments of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology and Internal Medicine, has found that ceasing regular physical activity impairs glycemic control (control of blood sugar levels), suggesting that inactivity may play a key role in the development of type 2 diabetes.

"We now have evidence that physical activity is an important part of the daily maintenance of glucose levels," Thyfault said. "Even in the short term, reducing daily activity and ceasing regular exercise causes acute changes in the body associated with diabetes that can occur before weight gain and the development of obesity."

More choices leading to diseases of choice which we are forced to underwrite without choice in the matter.

Fight back.

Physical Training Can Substitute Effectively As Second 'Medication' For People Diagnosed With Depression

But for fat people, the second drug is called "food," i.e., the common person's Prozac.

Exercise can be as effective as a second medication for as many as half of depressed patients whose condition have not been cured by a single antidepressant medication.

It is a drug the fat are unwilling to give up.

Especially for "exercise."

After all, "exercise" is effort and there are no entitlements associated with it.

Thank (insert your diety or its equivalent), she does not have to walk.

Obesity Costing States Billion (sic) in Yearly Medical Expenses

Money well spent.

Not.

Obesity is costing states up to $15 billion each year, a new study suggests.

In nine states, obesity already accounts for 10 percent or more of the state's annual medical expenses, according to researchers from RTI International, Duke University and the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The study pointed out that taxpayers are footing a large part of the bill, with the state's share of obesity expenditures funded by Medicare and Medicaid ranging between 25 percent in Virginia and a whopping 64 percent in Rhode Island.

"This study shows that the toll that obesity takes goes beyond impairing the health of individuals to imposing a major burden on the entire health care system," AHRQ Director Dr. Carolyn M. Clancy said in a news release. "Reducing the prevalence of obesity and its complications is an important priority for the nation and requires focused and constant attention."

Too bad conventional diet advice does not fit the bill.

In fact, it makes the rest of us foot the bill.

To lose weight the right way, go here.

Too Much Salt, Too Little Exercise Bad for Brain

"Too much" and "too little" are, by definition bad, no?

Too much salt and too little exercise is hard on the heart, but new research suggests it can be hard on the brain, too. A three-year study of more than 1,200 people has linked a salty diet and sedentary lifestyle to cognitive decline in old age.

Duh.

Future heart health 'shaped by diet'

Neither extreme appears to be good. Note that the higher end of the spectrum is similar to the very low Calorie diets used today.

Growing up starved of calories may give you a higher risk of heart disease 50 years on, research suggests.

Researchers in The Netherlands tracked the heart health of Dutch women who lived through the famine at the end of World War II.

Those living on rations of 400-800 calories a day had a 27% higher risk of heart disease in later life.

Stay away from low Calorie (not reduced Calorie) diets.

Designer vagina NHS operations unwarranted

Although this has more to do with "Fit This" than fitness, I could not resist.

GPs should not refer women who are well but worried for female genital cosmetic surgery on the NHS, say experts.

Specialists at a Central London teaching hospital say they received 30 such referrals, mainly from family doctors, over the past three years.
This included eight schoolgirls - one as young as 11 - the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology reports.

Experts say doctors need clear guidance on how best to care for women who mistakenly believe they need surgery.

The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons says medics need to determine whether a problem exists or whether an alternative solution may be preferable, but offers no advice on how to judge the problem, say the researchers from University College London's Women's Health Institute.

They say it may be simpler to ban the procedure in the NHS altogether, leaving it to private practices. Some Primary Care Trusts do this.

And private provider Bupa says the procedure is purely cosmetic and does not offer financial cover for the procedure.
The NHS has no such restriction.

The experts who carried out the latest work said: "A private medical insurance company seems to be able to come to a conclusion when professional bodies are reluctant to act.

"National care standards are urgently needed."

Boom industry

Dr Sarah Creighton and colleagues believe the future demand for so-called "designer vagina" operations or labial reductions is potentially infinite and is driven by society's wider and growing desire for cosmetic surgery in general and changing expectations about what is a desirable appearance for women.

"It's shocking, particularly because we are seeing girls who are really young. They are asking for surgery that is irreversible and we do not know what the long-term risks of the procedure might be."

She said latest figures for England show about 2,000 of the procedures are paid for by the NHS each year.

"That's probably just the tip of the iceberg. It's a massive boom industry in the private sector."

For the study, they reviewed all 33 women referred to their clinic between 2007 and 2010 with requests for a labial reduction.

Most of the women were seeking help because they were concerned about appearance. Only a fifth wanted the surgery to reduce discomfort. One woman said she felt compelled to have the surgery after seeing a television programme on cosmetic genital surgery.

A third of the women said they had looked at advertisements about the surgery before seeing a doctor.

Upon examination, all of the women were deemed to have "normal" genitalia by the doctors. But three were offered surgery to address "a significant asymmetry". The remaining 30 were refused any procedure.

All of the women were offered the options of sessions with a clinical psychologist to explore issues leading to their request for surgery.

Twelve of the women said they would be seeking a second opinion and would consider going private to get the surgery if they still could not get it on the NHS.

Paul Banwell, of the British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons, said the operation was merited for some women, particularly those with functional concerns like discomfort.

"But if the concerns are aesthetic, that should probably be seen in the private sector."

He said he often dissuades patients from having the surgery and explains to them that there is a spectrum of 'normal' when it comes to female anatomy.

"We welcome the opportunity to be involved in suggesting guidelines and help for healthcare professionals seeing patients who are interested in labiaplasty."

Among others, I want to see the Paul Frank designer vaginas.

Greater Decrease In LDL Levels Found In Diets Combining Cholesterol-Lowering Foods Than In Low Saturated Fat Diets

Assuming this, i.e., lowering LDL-C, is important, so what?

As if people are going to follow this diet in droves.

A new study, published in the August 24/31 issue of JAMA, has found that a diet combining foods with cholesterol-lowering properties can reduce levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) more effectively than a low saturated fat diet.

Two groups of people with high cholesterol were studied over a course of 6 months, one group was counseled to follow a diet consisting of cholesterol-lowering foods, such as nuts, plant sterols and soy protein, whilst the other group was counseled to follow a low-saturated fat diet. What they found was that the group following a diet combining cholesterol-lowering foods achieved a greater reduction in levels of LDL-C.

Not to mention the falling off the wagon effect as time passes.

Simply put, there are better approaches.

They are found here.

Nuptials And Breaks Can Cause Weight Fluctuation And Body Changes

Hey, we all know that food cures bad hair days, a "my boss is a jerk" life and more.

So why not eat to make up for divorce and the effects of marriage?

Stress can affect anyone's waistline and the tension of being in a serious relationship is no different. Love can be blind, but also fattening according to a new study that shows women are more apt to pile on excess pounds after marriage, while men add the weight after a divorce.

Both men and women who divorced or married were more likely than never-married people to have a small weight gain in the two years following their marital transition according to the study.

In most cases, the weight gain was minor and not a serious health threat. But the risk of incurring a large weight gain was higher among men after a divorce and among women after getting married.

But for food, life is a bi*ch.

Right, fatsos?

Call to measure duration of obesity

But wait! There's more.

Experts say the health hazards of obesity may have been grossly underestimated because we are not measuring the condition adequately.

Risk calculations have focused on severity of weight gain alone and not how long it persists.

Latest research suggests every additional decade of being obese more than doubles death risk.

The researchers told the International Journal of Epidemiology a new measure is needed - the "obese-year".

Similar to the "pack-year" used for smoking, it gives a further quantification that can be used to help estimate the associated health risks.

Of course, there is the "why bother?" factor since fat people are not motivated by risk of illness to make changes.

If they were, there are enough data out there already.

Yet, they stay fat.

Fat Around Heart May Be Early Indicator of Coronary Disease

As in your whole body surrounding your heart is fat.

Researchers have found more evidence supporting the role of fat around the heart in promoting atherosclerosis, according to a study published online in the journal Radiology...

"The findings indicate yet another reason that obesity is bad for us," Dr. Bluemke said. "It is particularly bad when the fat forms around the heart, since the heart fat appears to further promote coronary artery plaque."

Kudos, fatsos.

Thinking disorders, not lifestyle, may lead to obesity

Hard to argue with the proposition that fat people think like s**t. Even harder to blame fatosity on it.

OBESE people are more likely to suffer from bad planning and decision-making skills, putting them in a vicious cycle of being unable to lose weight, a controversial study suggests.

Researchers from the University of New South Wales said a review of 38 studies of obesity and cognitive function found a strong association between obesity and weakness in the executive part of the brain, which controls problem-solving, decision-making, reasoning, planning, organisational skills and achievement of complex goals.

They said the novel finding, which comes amid growing evidence of a link between obesity and dementia, meant obesity may be better treated partly as a brain condition like anorexia nervosa, rather than a ''lifestyle disorder''.

These excusinators are working overtime.

New Research Links Obesity With Heart Rhythm Disorder

Flab-dub, flab-dub,flab-dub...

University of Adelaide research has shown for the first time that obesity directly causes electrical abnormalities of the heart.

...flab-dead.

Moderate Exercise for 15 Minutes Daily Improves Survival

Just as we expect less and less from students, they keep downsizing "exercise" recommendations.

The minimal amount of physical activity to reduce mortality risk is 15 minutes a day of moderate-intensity exercise, according to the results of a prospective cohort study reported online August 16 in The Lancet.

"Exercising at very light levels reduced deaths from any cause by 14 percent," said senior author Xifeng Wu, MD, PhD, professor and chair of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Department of Epidemiology, in a news release. "The benefits of exercise appear to be significant even without reaching the recommended 150 minutes per week based on results of previous research."

Just wait a bit longer. Soon they will advise against it.

Remember, though, that if you actually want to improve your fitness, you have to train, not exercise.

Gene That Exacerbates Risk Factors for Heart Disease and Diabetes Identified

Hey, look!

The same people who cannot cure toenail fungus have found another gene that's gonna fix what ails fatsos.

A scientist at the Gladstone Institutes has discovered how a gene known as SIRT3 contributes to a suite of health problems sweeping across America, offering new insight into how to combat these potentially fatal conditions.

In a paper being published August 18 in Molecular Cell, Gladstone Senior Investigator Eric Verdin, MD, describes how SIRT3, when switched off, accelerates the build-up of fats throughout the body. This can lead to obesity, high blood pressure and a decreased ability to process sugar -- the combination of which is known as the "metabolic syndrome." Metabolic syndrome significantly increases one's risk for developing heart disease and diabetes.

You can bet that when they switch this one off, other parts of your life will follow.

Lose weight the proper way without re-engineering the human being.

U.S. Rejects Mayor’s Plan to Ban Use of Food Stamps to Buy Soda

In some ways, too bad, as this had the potential to make some difference.

Federal officials on Friday rejected Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s proposal to bar New York City’s food stamp users from buying soda and other sugary drinks with them.

The decision derailed one of the mayor’s big ideas to fight obesity and poor nutrition in the city. Mr. Bloomberg and the city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley, were quick to criticize the ruling by the United States Department of Agriculture as a disservice to low-income residents.

Dr. Farley, who said he was “very upset” by the decision, said that it “ really calls into question how serious the U.S.D.A. is about addressing the nation’s most serious nutritional problem.”

Well, what do you expect when Michellesie "The Cow" Obama and the Surgeon General are overweight and morons?

Obese Patients Risk Misdiagnosis

But the misdiagnosis is not that you are too darned fat.

The prevalence of physician-diagnosed asthma is increasing partly because of a link between asthma and obesity.

Several factors lead to asthma-like symptoms in obese patients, including the mechanical effect of increased body mass index on lung volumes, which increases the work required for breathing.

Researchers from the Countess of Chester Hospital and the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom recently found that obese patients may be more at risk for asthma misdiagnosis due to the similarity of symptoms experienced, such as breathlessness. Out of 91 subjects, 33 (36.3%) experienced a possible misclassification of an asthma diagnosis.

Kudos, fatsos.

You are so fat that you cannot breathe as humans were intended.

Vegan Diet Makes Bill Clinton "Feel Good", "Have More Energy"

Except he is not vegan.

He said then that he occasionally ate fish.

Once a politician, always a politician.

Problems with the truth.

Medical Expenses Related To Obesity Costs States Billions

Only because the rest of us are stupid enough to pay for their diseases of choice.

States spend up to $15 billion a year in medical expenses related to obesity, according to a new study by researchers at RTI International, Duke University, and the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The study, published online in Obesity, updates 2004 state-by-state estimates of obesity-attributable medical expenditures. The report also provides rough estimates of the share of obesity expenditures in each state that are funded by taxpayers through Medicare and Medicaid.

Total state-level estimates in 2009 dollars range from $203 million in Wyoming to $15.2 billion in California. Obesity-attributable Medicaid expenditures range from $38 million in Wyoming to $4 billion in New York, and Medicare expenditures range from $35 million in Wyoming to $3.4 billion in California.

"This evidence clearly indicates that obesity imposes high annual total and public sector medical costs on state budgets," said Justin Trogdon, Ph.D., a health economist at RTI and the paper's lead author. "The high costs emphasize the need to prevent and control obesity as a way to manage those costs."

Turn off the money spigot.

Watch the weight come off.

Mother's BMI Linked to Fatter Babies

More early nutritional child abuse.

Babies of mothers with a higher pre-pregnancy body mass index (BMI) are fatter and have more fat in their liver, a study published in September's issue of the journal Pediatric Research has found. The researchers from Imperial College London say that the effect of a mother's BMI on her child's development in the womb might put them on a trajectory towards lifelong metabolic health problems.

The fat should not reproduce.

Help the kids and kids-to-be (if they survive in the womb).

Metabolic Syndrome May Cause Kidney Disease

Pay for your dialysis on your own.

Metabolic syndrome comprises a group of medical disorders that increase people's risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and premature death when they occur together. A patient is diagnosed with the syndrome when he or she exhibits three or more of the following characteristics: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat in the waist/abdomen, low good cholesterol, and higher levels of fatty acids (the building blocks of fat).

People with metabolic abnormalities are at increased risk of developing kidney disease, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN).

Sankar Navaneethan, MD (Cleveland Clinic) and his colleagues searched the medical literature and combined data from 11 studies examining the relationship between metabolic syndrome and kidney disease. Altogether, they included 30,416 individuals from various ethnic groups.

People with metabolic syndrome have a 55% increased risk of developing kidney problems, especially lower kidney function, indicative of kidney disease.

Kudos, fatsos.

How Do Children Convince Their Parents To Buy Unhealthy Foods?

Let's see if we can figure this out...



BTW, There are no unhealthy foods, there is only eating unhealthily.

Sure they're fun and kids love them, but could cartoon characters used in marketing contribute to the obesity epidemic as well as create nagging children? Today, some parents find themselves having a battle in the cereal aisle. Recognizable characters and logos prompt children to make repeated requests for a range of products including low nutritional foods and beverages. To better understand the media's impact on children's health, a team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health examined the "Nag Factor." The "Nag Factor" is the tendency of children, who are bombarded with marketers' messages, to unrelentingly request advertised items. Researchers explored whether and how mothers of young children have experienced this phenomenon and strategies for coping. The results are featured in the August 2011 issue of the Journal of Children and Media.

As if only kids "bombarded with marketers' messages" are the only one's that nag.

Still, that is beyond the point.

Be the friggin' parent and say "NO."

It is always someone else's fault.

It is never the fault of the parents.

Bulls**t.

But do not be this parent:

Increased Muscle Mass Associated With Reduced Risk for Insulin Resistance

Another reason to train.

Another reason to go to The Anabolic Clinic (sm).

In tandem with worldwide increases in the prevalence of obesity, the prevalence of diabetes is also expected to increase rapidly. Insulin resistance is associated with elevations in blood glucose levels above the normal range and contributes significantly to the development of diabetes, which, in turn, is a major cause of cardiovascular morbidity.

Very low muscle mass, or sarcopenia, is a risk factor for insulin resistance, according to findings from earlier research. In addition, muscle is the primary tissue contributing to whole-body insulin-mediated glucose disposal. However, no previous study has looked at whether increasing muscle mass to average and above-average levels, independent of obesity levels, would be associated with better regulation of blood glucose...

Building a higher muscle mass may improve insulin sensitivity and lower the risk for prediabetes or overt diabetes, findings of a new study suggest.

Preethi Srikanthan, MD, MS, with the Department of Medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles, and colleagues reported the findings online July 21 in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

"Our findings represent a departure from the usual focus of clinicians, and their patients, on just losing weight to improve metabolic health," noted Dr. Srikanthan in a press release. "Instead, this research suggests a role for maintaining fitness and building muscle," he said.

Find out more here, here and here.

Sniffer dogs detect lung cancer

Dr. Fido, I presume.

Sniffer dogs can be used to reliably detect lung cancer, according to researchers in Germany.

Writing in the European Respiratory Journal, they found that trained dogs could detect a tumour in 71% of patients.

However, scientists do not know which chemical the dogs are detecting, which is what they say they need to know to develop a screening programme.

Cancer Research UK said that was still a "long way" off.

It was first suggested that dogs could "sniff out" cancer in 1989 and further studies have shown that dogs can detect some cancers such as those of the skin, bladder, bowel and breast.

Don't forget crotch and butthole cancers, too.

If Fat Dogs Are Cool, Could Fat People Be, Too?

Dogs**t.

Fat dogs are cool. And obese people may be, too. That's what research by a University of South Carolina Salkehatchie professor suggests.

Dr. Roberto Refinetti, a professor of psychology and associate dean, studied the relationship between body temperature and body weight in lean and obese dogs. His findings showed that obese dogs have lower body temperature than lean dogs, and the difference in temperature is enough to account for weight gain.

Refinetti is the senior author of the study that was published in the Aug. 10 issue of the International Journal of Obesity. He collaborated with researchers from the University of Messina in Sicily, Italy.

"We don't fully know the causes of the obesity epidemic that the U.S. is experiencing," Refinetti said. "One possible cause that hasn't been studied is the relationship between a lower body temperature and obesity."

And the reason it has not been studied, until now, is that it awaited an idiot the magnitude of Dr. Refinetti to get funding.

Body temperature makes no difference. High or low, one has to consume fewer Calories than one burns to lose weight.

Period.

Eating Dried Plums Really Helps Prevent Osteoporosis And Fractures

Really?

"Dried plums" used to be known as prunes.

S**t to keep your bones strong.

Postmenopausal women who regularly eat dried plums have a considerably lower risk of developing osteoporosis or fractures compared to other women of the same age, researchers from Florida State University reported in the British Journal of Nutrition. The authors describe the regular consumption of dried plums as a "simple, proactive solution to help prevent fractures and osteoporosis."

Professor Bahram H. Arjmandi said:

"Over my career, I have tested numerous fruits, including figs, dates, strawberries and raisins, and none of them come anywhere close to having the effect on bone density that dried plums, or prunes, have. All fruits and vegetables have a positive effect on nutrition, but in terms of bone health, this particular food is exceptional."

Don't forget to wear your Depends.

Vitamin D May Not Protect from Death, Cardiovascular Risk

A bad day for the cure du jour.

Vitamin D may not protect against mortality and cardiovascular risk, according to the results of a systematic review and meta-analysis reported in the July issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

"Several studies found association between vitamin D levels and hypertension, coronary artery calcification, and heart disease," write Mohamed B. Elamin, from the Knowledge and Evaluation Research Unit at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues. "The aim of this study was to summarize the evidence on the effect of vitamin D on cardiovascular outcomes."...

"Trial data available to date are unable to demonstrate a statistically significant reduction in mortality and cardiovascular risk associated with vitamin D," the review authors write. "The quality of the available evidence is low to moderate at best."

No need to waste your bucks at Whore Foods any longer.

Cutting salt 'should be global priority'

If salt intake needs to be cut, it ain't gonna happen 'cause the UN says so.

The UN must make reducing salt intake a global health priority, say UK scientists.

Writing in the British Medical Journal they say a 15% cut in consumption could save 8.5 million lives around the world over the next decade.

The report says practical steps to reduce consumption should be drawn up without delay.

If voluntary measures do not work, the food industry should be compelled to cut salt levels, it says.

Clearly it is the fault of industry.

Clearly there is a need to outlaw/regulate salt shakers.

Idiots.

Depressed women 'have increased risk of stroke'

More likely among the fat, apparently.

Women with depression may also be at increased risk of having a stroke, US researchers suggest.

A study of over 80,000 women found those with a history of depression had a 29% increased risk of stroke.

The research, in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association, said doctors should be aware people with depression may neglect their general health.

UK stroke experts said depression alone was unlikely to increase stroke risk...

But he added: "Regardless of the mechanism, recognising that depressed individuals may be at a higher risk of stroke may help the physician focus on not only treating the depression, but treating stroke risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes and elevated cholesterol as well as addressing lifestyle behaviours such as smoking and exercise."

What is there to be depressed about, you rascally fat gals?

Red Meat Linked To Increased Risk Of Type 2 Diabetes

Maybe:

The study, led by An Pan, research fellow in the HSPH Department of Nutrition, will be published online in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition on August 10, 2011 and will appear in the October print edition.

Pan, senior author Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at HSPH, and colleagues analyzed questionnaire responses from 37,083 men followed for 20 years in the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study; 79,570 women followed for 28 years in the Nurses' Health Study I; and 87,504 women followed for 14 years in the Nurses' Health Study II. They also conducted an updated meta-analysis, combining data from their new study with data from existing studies that included a total of 442,101 participants, 28,228 of whom developed type 2 diabetes during the study. After adjusting for age, body mass index (BMI), and other lifestyle and dietary risk factors, the researchers found that a daily 100-gram serving of unprocessed red meat (about the size of a deck of cards) was associated with a 19% increased risk of type 2 diabetes. They also found that one daily serving of half that quantity of processed meat-50 grams (for example, one hot dog or sausage or two slices of bacon)-was associated with a 51% increased risk.

Maybe not:

Risks from unprocessed meats have been less clear. For instance, in 2010, HSPH researchers found no clear evidence of an association between eating unprocessed meats and increased risk for either coronary heart disease or type 2 diabetes, but that study was based on smaller samples than the current study, and the researchers recommended further study of unprocessed meats. Another HSPH study in 2010 linked eating red meat with an increased risk of heart disease-which is strongly linked to diabetes-but did not distinguish between processed and unprocessed red meats.

Jury = out.

Clearly.

Excess Salt Consumed By 70 Percent Of 8-Month-Olds

Just as with later childhood obesity, it is never the fault of the parents.

Seventy per cent of eight-month-old babies have a salt (sodium chloride) intake higher than the recommended UK maximum level, due to being fed salty and processed foods like yeast extract, gravy, baked beans and tinned spaghetti.

Many are also given cows' milk, which has higher levels of salt than breast or formula milk, as their main drink despite recommendations that it should not be used in this way until babies are at least one year old. High levels of salt can damage developing kidneys, give children a taste for salty foods and establish poor eating practices that continue into adulthood and can result in health problems later in life.

These are the latest findings from researchers at the University of Bristol based on almost 1,200 participants in the Children of the 90s study and just published online by the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition...

'Given that three-quarters of salt in the diet comes from processed adult foods, successful salt-reduction strategies can only be achieved with the co-operation of the food industry. Manufacturers have a responsibility to reduce the salt content of food products. This process has already started in UK but much more needs to be done. If this study were repeated today it is likely that there would be some improvement but not enough to safeguard the health of all babies.'

Hey, researchers.

F**k you.

Idiots.

Children's Exposure To Unhealthy TV Ads Not Reduced Through Self-regulation By Food And Beverage Industry

Turn off the TV. Kids don't have the discretionary income to buy this stuff anyway.

So who does? (answer below)

A study published today in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine revealed that despite children watching fewer advertisements from food and beverage companies, most television ads viewed promote fast-food restaurants or unhealthy food high in saturated fat, sugar or sodium. It has been discovered that there has been a significant increase in TV ads from fast-food restaurants viewed by children.

The new study monitors airings of all food, beverage and restaurant TV advertisements viewed by children before and after the launch of the Children's Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative (CFBAI) in 2006. Companies associated to the CFBAI, a voluntary initiative, agreed to put a restriction on TV screenings for unhealthy food and beverages aimed at viewer audiences of children aged 11 years and younger. Researchers monitored ads by CFBAI member companies and non-members.

Between 2003 and 2009, children's overall daily average TV airings for food, beverage and restaurant ads was reduced by 18 percent among children aged 2 to 5 and by 7 percent for children aged 6 to 11, however, in 2009 a staggering 86 % of all food and beverage ads still featured unhealthy products classed high in saturated fat, sugar or sodium.

Parents.

BTW, there are no "unhealthy foods."

There is eating unhealthily, though.

Learn to eat healthily.

Antioxidant Spices Reduce Negative Effects Of High-Fat Meal

But what will protect you from the negative effects of antioxidants?

Eating a diet rich in spices, like turmeric and cinnamon, reduces the body's negative responses to eating high-fat meals, according to Penn State researchers.

"Normally, when you eat a high-fat meal, you end up with high levels of triglycerides, a type of fat, in your blood," said Sheila West, associate professor of biobehavioral health, Penn State, who led the study. "If this happens too frequently, or if triglyceride levels are raised too much, your risk of heart disease is increased. We found that adding spices to a high-fat meal reduced triglyceride response by about 30 percent, compared to a similar meal with no spices added."

Double-edged sword?

Antioxidants Of Growing Interest To Address Infertility, Erectile Dysfunction

Those killer/harmful antioxidants, again.

A growing body of evidence suggests that antioxidants may have significant value in addressing infertility issues in both women and men, including erectile dysfunction, and researchers say that large, specific clinical studies are merited to determine how much they could help.

A new analysis, published online in the journal Pharmacological Research, noted that previous studies on the potential for antioxidants to help address this serious and growing problem have been inconclusive, but that other data indicates nutritional therapies may have significant potential.

Here is my bet.

The only ones that will get hard-ons are the people who sell antioxidants to the fools who think it will give them erections.

Wait and see.

Popular Muscle-Boosting Supplement Does Not Increase Blood Flow

Say it ain't so.

A Baylor University study has found that a popular nutritional supplement that is marketed to lead to greater muscle strength through increasing blood flow to the muscle does not increase blood flow as claimed on the bottle.

In recent years, various nutritional supplements have been developed containing arginine-alpha-ketoglutarate (AAKG), which is alleged to increase nitric oxide production thereby resulting in "vasodilation," the widening of blood vessels and increased blood flow to the muscles. The AAKG supplement-enhanced blood flow to working muscles during resistance exercise is alleged to provide increased muscle strength than just exercise alone.

The Baylor researchers studied the effects in 24 men of seven days of AAKG supplementation using the nutritional supplement NO2 PlatinumTM on arterial blood flow in the arms after a single bout of resistance exercise. The results showed that seven days of AAKG supplementation had no significant impact on blood movement or increased brachial artery blood flow in response to a single bout of resistance exercise.

"We did see a slight increase in blood flow but those effects can only be attributed to the resistance exercise and not to the supplement," said study author Dr. Darryn Willoughby, associate professor of exercise, nutritional biochemistry and molecular physiology at Baylor.

You mean there is a supplement that does not work?

And is falsely advertised.

Imagine that.

Welcome to the world of Whore Foods and other IMHO rackets.

Does Your Bologna Have A First Name? It May Be D-I-A-B-E-T-E-S

Finally, the real cause of Type 2 diabetes - less than 2 oz. of processed meat per day.

A new study finds that processed products such as bologna and hot dogs can increase your risk of type 2 diabetes by almost half, and that by getting your protein from other rich sources such as nuts, whole grains and dairy low in fat, it will actually have the reverse effect.

A daily serving of 50 grams of processed meat, equivalent to one hot dog or sausage or two slices of bacon, was associated with a 51% increased risk of diabetes.

Don't go out to the ballgame.

Lifestyle Changes Can Prevent T2DM in Overweight Japanese

Lifestyle change can be an impediment to weight loss.

Lifestyle change is too extreme and unnecessary.

All that is needed is to cut back on the Calories and not all that many, at that.

That is not a "lifestyle change."

Lifestyle modification may reduce risk for type 2 diabetes in overweight Japanese persons with elevations in fasting glucose levels, according to the results of an unmasked, multicenter, randomized controlled trial reported in the August 8 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Fewer Calories in than out will work for all.

May not solve all of a person's problems, however.

'Good Fat' Most Prevalent in Thin Children

Children under attack.

Researchers at Joslin Diabetes Center and Children's Hospital Boston have shown that a type of "good" fat known as brown fat occurs in varying amounts in children -- increasing until puberty and then declining -- and is most active in leaner children.

The study used PET imaging data to document children's amounts and activity of brown fat, which, unlike white fat, burns energy instead of storing it. Results were published in The Journal of Pediatrics.

"Increasing the amount of brown fat in children may be an effective approach at combating the ever increasing rate of obesity and diabetes in children," said Aaron Cypess, MD, PhD, an assistant investigator and staff physician at Joslin and senior author of the paper.

If you think that the same people who cannot cure toenail fungus will be able to selectively and without harm alter the amount of brown fat in a kid's body, you are an idiot.

Just be a responsible parent and cut your fat kid's Calorie intake.

$1.7 Million To Study Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease

A waste.

Seen commonly in fat people.

Kezhong Zhang, Ph.D., assistant professor of molecular medicine and genetics and of immunology and microbiology in the School of Medicine at Wayne State University, was awarded $1.7 million by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health to explore how molecular elements in the body regulate the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

The liver is an irreplaceable organ responsible for processing foods into essential energy and nutrients. According to the American Liver Foundation, 25 percent of Americans suffer from NAFLD, which involves the buildup of excess fat in the liver. Fatty liver disease is typically attributed to the consumption of alcohol, but NAFLD is a form of fatty liver disease that occurs even if a person does not consume alcohol. The condition frequently precedes or coexists with obesity, Type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease.

Lose weight.

Better to save the money than the fat.

NAFLD was their choice.

Red meat boosts diabetes risk: US study

Dubious.

Two slices of bacon, a hot dog or a serving of deli meat daily has been found to significantly boost the risk of getting type 2 diabetes, said a major US study published on Wednesday.

The research by experts at the Harvard School of Public Health represents the largest study of its kind to date and appears in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Eating 50 grams of processed red meat every day increased a person's diabetes risk by 51 percent, while eating 100 grams of unprocessed red meat each day, about the size of a deck of cards, boosted the risk by 19 percent.

However, those risks went down if the red meat was substituted with nuts, white meat, low-fat dairy or whole grain proteins...

The data for the study came from questionnaire responses from more than 204,000 people in US nurses and health professionals' studies.

The lowest form of data is self-reported data.

Grain of salt.

The most common form of diabetes is Type 2.

That is fat person diabetes.

Weight control would do much more to prevent diabetes than avoiding a hot dog.

Low-Carb Diets May Improve Acne

Fat and pimply. The Gordo Bifecta - a pretty picture, no?

Low-carb eating plans may do more than promote weight loss. These diets may also improve acne.

Although the few studies conducted on this topic have yielded mixed results, “theoretically, people with acne may have hyperinsulinemia and foods that are low in the glycemic index (GI) may contribute to the hormonal control of acne,” says Alan R. Shalita, MD, thedistinguished teaching professor and chairman of the department of dermatology at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York.

"Theoretically."

BTW, all diets will result in weight loss as long as fewer Calories are consumed than burned.

Contrary to Earlier Findings, Excess Body Fat in Elderly Decreases Life Expectancy

Likely.

While some past studies have shown that persons carrying a few extra pounds in their 70s live longer than their thinner counterparts, a new study that measured subjects' weight at multiple points over a longer period of time reveals the opposite.

Research from Adventist Health Studies recently published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society showed that men over 75 with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 22.3 had a 3.7-year shorter life expectancy, and women over 75 with a BMI greater than 27.4 had a 2.1-year shorter life expectancy. Generally, a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered normal weight, and a BMI of 25 to 29.9 is considered overweight. A BMI of 30 or more is considered obese.

Previous work in this area by others found a protective association for a high body weight among the elderly. Pramil N. Singh, DrPH, lead author of the paper and an associate professor in the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University, says the data from many past studies is problematic because only a single baseline measure of weight was taken, which does not account for weight changes or how weight changes affect life expectancy. Additionally, most past studies had mortality surveillance of fewer than 19 years, which analyses have shown to be an inadequate amount of time to study risks associated with weight.

"We had a unique opportunity to do 29 years of follow-up with a cohort that was also followed for mortality outcomes," Dr. Singh said. "Across this long period of time, we had multiple measures of body weight, which provided a more accurate assessment."

Weight off. Life on.

Herbal Supplements Leave Out Safety Information

No. They leave out danger information.

Herbal medicines have become popular in recent years as people seek out natural remedies to better their health, but many of those supplements can cause dangerous side effects when mixed with certain medicines or health conditions, says a new study.

No. They "seek out natural remedies" because they are too lazy or stupid to do what it really takes to "better their health."

Researchers from the University of Leeds evaluated several different kinds of five commonly used remedies—St. John's wort, Asian ginseng, Echinacea, garlic and Gingko—from popular pharmacies and health food stores. While typically safe, all five products can cause problems in people who take certain medications or suffer from particular diseases.

The scientists also looked for key safety messages, like the seal from the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine,and warnings about interactions and side effects.

They found that 93 percent of the tested products did not meet standard safety and quality requirements and more than half were marketed as food supplements. Only three of the 68 evaluated products contained an acceptable amount of safety information, researchers said.

"Most of the herbal medicine products studied did not provide key safety information which consumers need for their safe use," researchers wrote in the study, published in the journal, BMC Medicine. "Potential purchasers need to know, in both the short term and the long term, how to purchase herbal products which provide the information they need for the safe use of these products."

Caveat emptor.

A Protein May Help Treat Obesity, Diabetes

It will if the protein is named "Weight Loss."

A newly-identified protein may hold the key to keeping appetite and blood sugar in check, according to a study by York University researchers.

Suraj Unniappan, associate professor in York's Department of Biology, Faculty of Science & Engineering, is delving into the metabolic effects of a protein called nesfatin-1, abundantly present in the brain. His studies found that rats administered with nesfatin-1 ate less, used more stored fat and became more active. In addition, the protein stimulated insulin secretion from the pancreatic beta cells of both rats and mice.

Yep, this is it.

This is the key.

Not.

Eating Protein Throughout the Day Preserves Muscle and Physical Function in Dieting Postmenopausal Women, Study Suggests

Unlikely.

Dieting postmenopausal women who want to avoid losing muscle as they lose fat should pay attention to a new University of Illinois study. Adding protein throughout the day not only holds hunger pangs at bay so that dieters lose more weight, it keeps body composition -- the amount of fat relative to muscle -- in better proportion.

"A higher-protein weight-loss diet is more protective of muscle," said Ellen Evans, a former U of I associate professor of kinesiology and community health and member of the university's Division of Nutritional Sciences.

Scientists in Evans's Illinois lab wanted to study the way body composition relates to physical function because older women who diet risk losing muscle as well as fat.

"That loss can affect their strength, balance, and how well they perform everyday tasks, such as climbing stairs and getting up out of a chair," said Mina Mojtahedi, a researcher in Evans's laboratory.

The study shows that higher protein intake during weight loss can offset negative effects on muscle mass by maintaining more muscle relative to the amount of weight lost. Women who ate more protein lost 3.9 percent more weight and had a relative gain of 5.8 percent more thigh muscle volume than woman who did not, she said.

"When a woman has less weight to carry, even if she's lost a bit of lean mass in her legs, the effect is that she has better physical function," she said.
It's likely that such women will be better able to maintain their mobility and independence as they age, she added.

In the six-month double-blind study, 31 healthy, postmenopausal obese women were divided into two groups. Each group followed a 1,400-calorie weight-loss diet based on USDA's My Pyramid, but one group received a powdered whey protein supplement in the morning and again in the afternoon or evening; the other received a placebo that contained carbohydrates.

"We believe it's important to eat protein in the morning and through the day so those amino acids are always available. Unfortunately, American women tend not to eat much protein, especially when they're trying to cut calories. But it's easy to add protein powder into a smoothie or eat a high-protein snack and incorporate a healthier diet into a busy lifestyle," she said.

Both groups were encouraged to engage in light exercise (walking and stretching) and given diet education, including examples of healthy daily menus and a scale to measure portion size.

Before and after the study, participants were assessed for strength, balance, and the ability to perform such physical tasks as walking 50 feet, standing up five times from a chair, and lifting a book 12 inches above shoulder height.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) was used at the beginning and end of the study to measure muscle volume of the right thigh, the amount of fat around the thigh, and the amount of fat within the thigh muscle.

In both groups, strength decreased as weight decreased. However, the study suggests that an increase in the amount of muscle relative to fat had beneficial effects on balance and performance, Evans noted.

There are no good data to suggest that eating more protein adds muscle.

The myth of the "mass effect" of protein consumption is seen all around.

Americans, for example, eat more protein than most people.

Yet, what they gain is fat.

If "mass effect" led to muscle gain, then it is reasonable to expect that more Americans would be Adonises and Aphrodites.

They are not.

There are other peculiarities to this study, too, e.g., gain in muscle and loss of strength.

Soy No Help for Bone Loss, Hot Flashes

Two words - Anabolic Clinic (sm).

Taking soy supplements won't ease the symptoms of menopause or protect against bone loss in women, researchers have found.

Over two years, there were no differences in changes in bone density or menopausal symptoms between women taking soy and those taking a placebo, although women taking isoflavones did have more hot flashes, Dr. Silvina Levis of the University of Miami and colleagues reported in the August 8/22 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

Anabolic substances can.

Learn more here and here and here.

2-Step Model Helps Predict Future Risk for Type 2 Diabetes

What is step 1?

Risk score for each participant was calculated from anthropometric parameters, plasma glucose and lipid profile, and blood pressure. High-risk individuals were defined as those with a risk score above a certain cut point, and their future risk for T2DM was further refined using 1-h PG concentration during the oral glucose tolerance test.

Anthropometric data relate to measurement of the body, e.g., how big and fat you are.

Lose the weight. Lose 2-steps in one.

Sleep-Disordered Breathing Linked to Cognitive Impairment

Guess who tends to have sleep-disordered breathing?

Fatsos.

Who also tend to have cognitive impairment.

Sleep-disordered breathing is associated with a significantly increased risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and dementia in elderly women, results of a prospective study indicate.

The relationship seems to be related primarily to measures of hypoxia rather than sleep fragmentation or sleep duration, Kristine Yaffe, MD, of University of California, San Francisco and colleagues note in the August 10 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

As in sleep apnea.

Exercise should be 'standard part of cancer care'

Should? Maybe.

Will? No way.

Professor Robert Thomas: "You can reduce the chances of cancer coming back if you continue to exercise" (sic)

All patients getting cancer treatment should be told to do two and a half hours of physical exercise every week, says a report by Macmillan Cancer Support.

"...continue to exercise"?

As if.

A real laugher.

Insulin pump hack exposes medical device danger

Type 2 diabetes is fat person diabetes and frequently requires insulin.

A computer threat analyst on Saturday will show a gathering of hackers how easy it is to wirelessly take control of an insulin pump on which a diabetic's life could hinge.

Jerome "Jay" Radcliffe's demonstration at DefCon in Las Vegas will spotlight a critical need to build software defense into pace makers, insulin pumps and other medical gadgets getting "smarter" with computer chips.

"If you look at the history of hacking medical devices, worms and viruses are running rampant," said 'informatics nurse' and hacker Brad Smith, who specializes in medical software.

The list of medical gadgets vulnerable to being hacked wirelessly includes pace makers, intravenous pumps, and blood pressure cuffs, according to Smith.

Certainly one (not recommended) way to decrease the fatso population.

Soy 'does not ease the menopause'

Bad day for soy.

Soy appears to do nothing to relieve the symptoms of menopause, scientists say, despite the high hopes of many.

A controlled study involving nearly 250 US women going through "the change" found soy tablets did not abate hot flushes or bone density loss.

Did you really think it worked?

Another sacred soy milk cow slaughtered.

Nutrition experts blame government for bad eating habits

Bulls**t.

Americans have a reputation for reckless eating - no secret there. We fill our cupboards with fatty, sugary, high-calorie foods while shunning the nutritious fruits and vegetables that government guidelines urge us to eat.

But what underlies our dubious diets? A controversial new study suggests that federal polices deserve some of the blame because they inflate the cost of healthy food.

The guidelines call for us to consume more potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin D, and calcium - and to get fewer calories from saturated fat and added sugar. But meeting those goals inflates our annual grocery bills by hundreds and perhaps thousands of dollars each year, the controversial study showed.

For the study - published in the journal Health Affairs - a team led by University of Washington epidemiologist Dr. Pablo Monsivais used a phone survey and questionnaires to examine the economic impact of meeting the guidelines among consumers in King County, Washington...

"It's a common misconception that food choices are solely a matter of personal responsibility," Dr. Marion Nestle, professor of nutrition, food studies, and public health at New York University and an outspoken critic of the fast food industry, told CBS News.

It is apparently a common misconception that these folks, Nestle and Monsivais, are experts.

Banish them.

Healthy Eating Costs Much More In America

No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

If you want to follow a healthy diet in the USA it will cost you more money, researchers revealed in the journal Health Affairs. According to their analysis, those wishing to follow the federal Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010 - which means consuming more potassium, vitamin, calcium and dietary fiber - most will have more expensive grocery bills. For people on limited budgets, this is going to be very difficult, if not impossible, many believe.

Truly stupid.

Mindless Eating Can Make You Fat, But It Can Also Make You Healthy

What could possibly be clearer?

'nuff said.

Healthy eating and exercise a waste of time, says obesity expert

Right and wrong.

A BATTLE of the bulge has broken out over how to best treat obesity following claims exercise and healthy eating are a waste of time when it comes to keeping off lost kilos.

Obesity expert Dr Joseph Proietto has come under attack for saying obese people are genetically programmed to regain any weight they lose and, given current technology, bariatric surgeries such as lap banding are the only effective long-term weight-loss solution.

"It's a very defeatist message," said Dr Leon Massage, founder of the private weight loss clinic Body Metabolism Institute.

"It sends a very bad message to people out there who are fighting a weight-loss battle."

Dr Proietto, who runs a weight-control clinic at the Austin Hospital, prompted controversy when he published his views in the Medical Journal of Australia, adding that public health campaigns encouraging exercise and healthy eating had proved overwhelmingly ineffective in tackling obesity.

It is true that "exercise" is a near impossible way to lose weight.

It is not true that "healthy eating" is a waste of time. It is just that few do it.

It is true that there are no "healthy foods."

"It appears weight is defended by the brain," Dr Proietto told the Sunday Herald Sun.

"When people lose weight, the body puts in place a defence mechanism to put it back on."

Two hormones, he said, were crucial to understanding obesity: leptin, which suppresses hunger, and ghrelin, which stimulates it.

"When people lose weight, ghrelin goes up and leptin goes down," he said.

"The result is that you are more hungry and this is the real reason why people regain weight after dieting. It's not difficult to get people to lose weight; it's difficult for them to keep it off. If you want to use exercise as a means of keeping weight off, you have to do a lot of it.

"I am talking about regular marathon running, not just walking around the block."

Dr Massage said while obese people had a genetic disposition to gain weight, their size could be controlled through healthy eating and exercise.

This is a lot of scientific-sounding technobabble.

It is true that for "exercise" to deal with weight, one needs to do an awful lot of it.

Weight loss is impossible because the recommended approaches by the weight loss establishment are all starvation diets. (e.g., see here, here, here and here.)

If recommendations were to change so weight loss became possible, i.e., sustainable, then the problem would go away.

Bariatric surgery is IMHO clearly malpractice since it is not to be performed unless someone fails on a diet and no one tells the dieter that he or she is doomed to fail since the diet advice that is provided is impossible to follow.

There is a right way to shed pounds.

It can be found here.

Gazpacho Ingredients Lose Vitamin C During Preparation

A good example of clearly meaningless research.

In summer, more dishes like gazpacho a cold soup containing raw vegetables, bread, olive oil and vinegar are consumed. A new study has revealed that ingredients' vitamin C content as well as other organic acids is lower in the resulting mixture, meaning that it should be eaten immediately after preparation.

Or what?

"We found that the gazpacho showed a lower ascorbic/dehydroascorbic acid ratio than the vegetables used to prepare it," explained Elena María Rodríguez, co-author of the study conducted by the Complutense University of Madrid and the University of La Laguna (Santa Cruz de Tenerife). She added: "This suggests that some of the vegetables' antioxidant capacity is lost."

Since antioxidants can harm, apparently, this could be a good thing, not a bad one as these morons suggest.

What is needed in so much so-called research is a result, a consequence, a meaning.

Don't hold your breath.

Diabetic? Erectile Dysfunction? Lose Weight And Win, Study Reports

A more than reasonable conclusion - stop paying for ED treatments directed at fat diabetics.

New studies support the fact that men with type 2 diabetes suffering from erectile function problems tend to be obese, but by losing a few pounds, patients can recover and be winning again in the bedroom.

The choice - winning or whining.

Using Comic Books To Combat Childhood Obesity

They already do - it is called the expert literature on childhood obesity.

University of Cincinnati research challenges kids to develop comic book characters who communicate healthy messages. The results indicate those messages were inspiring.

"Inspiring" is different from successful.

The French Are Getting Fatter, Too

Au revoir.

As the United States struggles to cope with obesity rates, France is often looked to as a counterexample. Yet obesity is on the rise there as well now, and though French culinary traditions are often credited with keeping people trim, some worry those eating habits are under assault.

Porcs.

Weight Loss Improves Sexual Health of Overweight Men With Diabetes, Study Finds

Bittersweet news.

A new study published in The Journal of Sexual Medicine reveals that in obese men with type 2 diabetes, weight loss improves erectile function, sexual desire and lowers urinary tract symptoms.

Since fat parents are the number one risk factor for fat kids, if the formerly fat regain the weight after their libido increases, it puts their kids and their future kids at risk.

A problem.

Study: Healthy eating means spending more at store

Lies.

Fewer Calories cost less than more Calories.

Fewer Calories in is what most of us need in order to be healthy, i.e., eat healthily.

A healthy diet is expensive and could make it difficult for Americans to meet new U.S. nutritional guidelines, according to a study published Thursday that says the government should do more to help consumers eat healthier.

A healthy diet gets your BMI to between 18.5 and 24.9.

Period.

It costs less.

Period.

Happy Meals? The Nutritional Value Of What Kids Actually Eat At A Fast Food Restaurant

So?

High-calorie, high-sodium choices were on the menu when parents purchased lunch for their children at a San Diego fast-food restaurant. Why? Because both children and adults liked the food and the convenience.

However, the study of data compiled by researchers in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego, appearing this week in the new journal, Childhood Obesity, showed that convenience resulted in lunchtime meals that accounted for between 36 and 51 percent of a child's daily caloric needs. In addition, 35 to 39 percent of calories came from fat and the meals provided more than 50 percent of the recommended total daily sodium intake for most children -and as high as 100 percent of sodium levels recommended for pre-schoolers.

Then eat fewer Calories and less sodium at other meals.

Morons.

Fewer Colon Polyps Detected When Diet Includes Cooked Green Vegetables, Dried Fruit, Legumes, And Brown Rice

Obstructed view seats?

Eating legumes at least three times a week and brown rice at least once a week was linked to a reduced risk of colon polyps by 33 percent and 40 percent respectively, according to Loma Linda University research recently published in Nutrition and Cancer. High consumption of cooked green vegetables and dried fruit was also associated with greater protection, the study shows.

Maybe they missed 'em in all that rice, fiber and legume.

Just kidding.

Probably true.

Planet Health Obesity Prevention Curriculum: Cost/Benefit Analysis Shows Net Savings For Obesity And Eating Disorders

K-rap.

Teaching middle-school children about nutrition and exercise and encouraging them to watch less TV can save the health care system a substantial amount of money, suggests an economic analysis from Children's Hospital Boston and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Teaching the kids is one (useless) thing.

Because parents undo it all.

One fool (a fat parent) can undo the work of seven wise people.

So can two fools, i.e., fat parents (in families with two parents - a vanishing breed).

Planet Health is just that.

Not of this planet.

Study Reveals Heart Attack Survivors From Poorer Neighborhoods Get Less Exercise

More excusinating.

Engaging in physical activity after a heart attack is known to increase the odds of survival. In a study published in the September issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers from the Israel Study Group on First Acute Myocardial Infarction found that myocardial infarction (MI) survivors who lived in low socioeconomic status (SES) neighborhoods engaged in lower levels of leisure-time physical activity (LTPA) compared to survivors from wealthier neighborhoods.

No matter the income level, one can always find a way to move.

Just as one can always find a way to eat fewer Calories.

Fat- and lazy- osity are choices.

They are choices made by people from all economic strata.

Researchers Making Every Bite Count

Stupid technology. Stupid researchers. Stupid idea.

Two Clemson University researchers seek to make diners mindful of mindless eating.

Psychology professor Eric Muth and electrical and computer engineering professor Adam Hoover have created the Bite Counter, a measurement device that will make it easier for people to monitor how much they eat. Worn like a watch, the Bite Counter device tracks a pattern of wrist-roll motion to identify when the wearer has taken a bite of food. Think of it as a pedometer for eating.

"At the societal level, current weight-loss and maintenance programs are failing to make a significant impact. Studies have shown that people tend to underestimate what they eat by large margins, mostly because traditional methods rely upon self-observation and reporting," said Muth. "Our preliminary data suggest that bite count can be used as a proxy for caloric count."

What takes more bites - a celery stalk or a candy bar?

Idiots.

Even With Regular Exercise, People With Inactive Lifestyles More at Risk for Chronic Diseases

Damned if you, damned if you don't and putting the lie to the other "experts."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 percent of Americans have inactive lifestyles (they take fewer than 5,000 steps a day) and 75 percent do not meet the weekly exercise recommendations (150 minutes of moderate activity each week and muscle-strengthening activity twice a week) to maintain good health. After reviewing recent literature, University of Missouri researchers contend that physical inactivity is the primary cause of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity and fatty liver disease and that even people who set aside time for exercise regularly but are otherwise sedentary, may not be active enough to combat these diseases.

It is far better to lose weight by PROPERLY controlling caloric intake, a strategy that will decrease your risk of chronic diseases.

"Exercise" is unnecessary.

Registered Dietitians Are Essential For Successful Treatment Of Eating Disorders, Says American Dietetic Association

Not hardly.

In fact, they are the problem when it comes to the most common eating disorder, i.e., the you eat too many Calories eating disorder.

As one of the most complicated sets of illnesses to treat, eating disorders have mental health, as well as medical and nutritional, aspects. While treatment by a multidisciplinary health-care team is considered the best practice, there is considerable debate over how to most effectively treat eating disorders and who should be on a treatment team.

In a newly updated position paper, the American Dietetic Association says nutrition counseling by a registered dietitian is an "essential component" of successful care for people diagnosed with eating disorders.

Vested interest/bias, anyone?

New Link Found Between Obesity and Insulin Resistance

BFD. Matters not.

Obesity is the main culprit in the worldwide avalanche of type 2 diabetes. But how excess weight drives insulin resistance, the condition that may lead to the disease, is only partly understood. Scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center now have uncovered a new way in which obesity wreaks its havoc, by altering the production of proteins that affect how other proteins are spliced together.

The fix is the same.

Shed the pounds.

Understanding is the booby prize.

Focusing On Neurobehavioral Processes, Not Personal Choice, May Improve Obesity Counseling

Not in a million years.

(Here is the explanation for why diets fail.)

Current approaches to dietary counseling for obesity are heavily rooted in the notion of personal choice and will power - the ability to choose healthy foods and portion sizes consistent with weight loss while foregoing sweets and comfort foods.

According to preventive medicine and behavioral experts at Rush University Medical Center, research supports a new counseling approach that views obesity as a result of neurobehavioral processes - ways in which the brain controls eating behavior in response to cues in the environment.

The new, proposed neurobehavioral model is highlighted in an article in the August issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

"Typically, overweight and obese patients receive education about dietary contributions to weight gain, and they are simply encouraged to fight the powerful urge to eat the delicious foods that are available almost everywhere in the environment, and instead, make dietary choices consistent with weight loss," said Brad Appelhans, PhD, clinical psychologist and obesity researcher in the Rush University Prevention Center and lead author of the article. "Yet, we know this approach rarely works. Even highly motivated and nutritionally informed patients struggle to refrain from highly palatable foods that are high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats."

So what do these morons suggest?

A few strategies recommended by the researchers include:
In order to combat food reward, patients can remove high fat foods they crave from personal environments such as the home and workplace to prevent the activation of the reward circuitry.

Limit the impact of reward on food choice by shopping with a grocery list or using online grocers.

Practice stress management techniques since stress promotes overeating and obesity by enhancing food reward processing.
Avoid situations such as buffets and restaurants that challenge inhibitory control.

Focus on achieving short-term behavioral goals, such as cooking a healthy dinner on three nights of the week rather than focusing on long-term weight loss goals.

Ways to "... fight the powerful urge to eat the delicious foods that are available almost everywhere in the environment, and instead, make dietary choices consistent with weight loss..."

Idiots.