Weight Loss Research

Glucomannan comes from the konjac root, and it has been widely researched, mostly in obese individuals as an appetite suppressant. It has been hailed as the gastric bypass in a bottle. One double blind trial spanning over 8 weeks showed that those using 1000mg of glucomannan as opposed to the placebo with an 8 oz glass of water each time, 3 times per day. The participants were not to change eating habits or exercise plans. Those using glucomannan lost an average of 5.5 lbs with no side effects.
Fiber is important to our bodies. It keeps our tracts clean and bodies in working order. Above all, you can see fiber supplements meant to regulate bowel movements. It is not produced within our own bodies, just in plant sources. They are indigestible and reduce our risk of heart disease. They have also shown that high fiber diets reduce the risk of colon cancer. But rapid increases in fiber consumption could lead to gas or diarrhea, so make it gradual, and remember to drink plenty of fluids.
Glucomannan works by expanding in the stomach, hence why it is compared to a gastric bypass surgery. But it only works in quantities of 1000mg or more, and it also has other properties. First of all, it controls cholesterol levels. It is not only the quantity, but the type of food we eat that contributes to cholesterol levels. Improper diet, obesity, smoking, and lack of exercise can lead to higher levels of cholesterol. Glucomannan can reduce your intake and with a 1 month course of 3.9 grams of glucomannan, you can significantly lower your total cholesterol.
Second comes chronic constipation. It is a common condition, affecting people of all ages. As a fiber, glucomannan can be indigestible and help your body to get rid of excess waste. Twice as many men as women, the elderly, and pregnant women take some kind of medicine for constipation.
So if you are looking for a good appetite suppressant that will also provide you some other benefits, you should try glucomannan. It is completely natural, has no known side effects, and when used in the right amounts, can be quite effective in helping you to lose weight.

We’ve all experienced it, weight loss plateaus. A plateau is a period or phase, where despite your best efforts, you stop losing weight. Your body gets used to whatever you are doing, and it responds to that by only burning so many calories or taking other steps for itself. You are not gaining weight, but that could be only because you are keeping up your regular regimen. But you are not losing any weight, and that can be hard on many people’s resolve. However, you can make little changes to help ensure that your body does not go into one of these plateaus.
First, stop eating after 6 PM. Most of us on a diet already do this. And for those who haven’t started doing it, it can be hard to accomplish. But if you stop eating after 6, it gives your body the extra time to burn off your fat before you go to bed, instead of storing that fat when you go to bed.
Second, eat 4 to 6 small meals each day. Again, this gives your body a chance to burn extra fat throughout the day instead of just focusing on burning a ton of calories all at once. This will also keep your body’s metabolism running at a steady rate instead of storing some of that fat and then stopping. It is referred to as “grazing”, and many test subjects felt more satiated and saw more weight loss.
Third, focus on your fruits. If you have fruit ready and waiting in your fridge, when you get munchy or snacky, instead of running to the cupboard for your nightly chips, you can eat some fruits, which are low calorie and high in antioxidants and vital nutrients. It is cold, healthy, and guilt free.
Fourt, drink plenty of water. You have to drink 8 8oz glasses of water each day. This can work as a natural appetite suppressant, keep you from being dehydrated, and actually fulfill one of your body’s basic needs. The more water you drink, the less you eat and the better your body is able to function in general.
Finally, move a little more. If you are sitting in your desk all day, fidget a little. If you have the choice, take the stairs instead of the elevator. Walk around your block for about 15 to 20 minutes longer if you have the time. If you live nearby to a friend, walk instead of driving. It’s these little changes in exercise that will make a huge difference.
All in all, avoiding plateaus doesn’t take a lot of time out of your schedule or require you to change your life all at once. It only requires small things that you can easily fit into your day, but they make a big difference. Some of them may not seem like a big deal at all, until of course you step onto the scale.

Now that the Baby Boomers are reaching old age, they make up 26% of the American population. They now get the chance to take advantage of Medicare, caregivers, children, etc. However, one might not guess that the Baby Boomers generation is also suffering from a higher rate of obesity across the board than ever before. Combine this with widespread lack of exercise, and you get a recipe for disaster in the form of Type 2 diabetes along with other chronic, obesity related diseases. Now, those between the ages of 55 and 64 suffer from a 39% rate of obesity as opposed to 31% between 1988 and 1994.
50% of Baby Boomers are now suffering from high blood pressure, heart disease, strokes, etc according to the CDC. The CDC has stated that increased diet and exercise would make a significant impact on these diseases among other things. And apparently 40% have reached the point of obesity. Former Utah Governor and Now secretary of Health and Human Services, Mike Leavitt states “It’s time to act against both conditions so more Americans can live longer, healthier lives.”
There are those who would critique the CDC such as Paul Campos, author of The Obesity Myth: Why America’s Obsession With Weight Is Hazardous To Your Health. Campos believes that all these studies are fueled by unreliable science, prejudices against fat people, and greedy marketing executives. Apparently, all those people, including the infamous Star Jones, who have undergone gastric bypass surgeries or serious weight loss programs because of various existing health problems were fooled by the sneaky medical community. Campos also claims that Kate Moss and Calista Flockhart are the cultural ideal, even though they have technically been criticized for being “too thin” as have various international runway models. As such, Campos offers no support for his claims.
Campos’ book has been featured a Scientific American cover article, and his book is literally flying off the shelves. After all, if you tell people the things they want to hear rather than the things they need to hear, they want to listen to you. After all, it’s more pleasant to think that the health care industry and the government is conspiring against you than it is to admit that you might be overweight and at a higher degree of health related risks because of it.

The New England Journal of Medicine finally came out with a study saying that the way to lose weight is to eat less, not to focus so much on balancing carbs, fats, and proteins, but to eat fewer calories. Duh? The brilliant researchers in this study also came to the obvious conclusion that men and women function differently, diet differently, lose weight differently. Feeling smarter yet? But what you might not have known is that cutting calories can be done in several strategic ways that produce better results than others. And apparently men have different results largely because men do it differently, because:
1. Men can “just say no” to bad foods:
They have used PET scans to monitor the brain, and men were able to suppress hunger and satiate hunger. Women will continue to crave good and high caloric foods, even after being specifically told to turn their thoughts elsewhere. In short, women are more likely to participate in emotional eating. Men did not suffer the same problems.
2. Women Focus On The Healthy Isles
A women starts going first to the health isles, the fruit isles, the vegetable isles, wheat bread, etc. They check labels, they consult professionals, etc. And while it would be better to stay away from these foods all together, many women replace their favorite foods with lower calorie versions of the same thing. Men think that if it’s chicken, it’s automatically healthy.
3. They compete
While women have Curves, Weight Watchers, etc. to try to “hold hands” and show moral support, men have a different approach entirely. Weight loss becomes a sport to them, they want to show each other up, forget holding hands. Women will agree to go buy new outfits when they both reach their goal, men will bet each other that they can lose the weight first and then collect $100. Men run the risk of losing something or the benefit of gaining something. Women have some kind of everybody wins playing field.
4. Guys Don’t Care
You may have noticed that when men get married, they are more likely to let themselves go, because they have the prize. Women on the other hand are constantly competing with other women in such a way that they compete for social acceptance. In addition, you could consider many a NFL player, whose 300 lbs guts hang over their pants at all time, and they don’t care! In fact they take pride in their weight! Women on the other hand, even the ones who pretend to be proud fat women, tend to have serious concerns to the point that you will never see a 300 lbs woman showing off her fat, or not in most cases.
5. Muscles are beneficial
When a woman thinks about gaining muscle, she thinks about gaining bulk and looking like a gladiator, which is not so appealing for most women. Men think about beating all the guys and “pumping iron” to impress the ladies. They don’t want to be scronny or skinny. To lose significant amounts of fat, you have to have a certain amount of muscle. It doesn’t have to be bulky, but women run away from it while men run towards it.

So when it comes down to it, while women have a couple advantages over men, they are few and far between. Men hold the overall advantage in losing weight. But then we already knew that. We just didn’t necessarily know the fine tools and mechanisms of it all.

They are calling it the “new anorexia”, avoiding all processed foods, fats, animal fats, preservatives, milk, and egg products, This doesn’t actually sounds like a bad diet to most, and for the most part it’s not. The problem is when you get to the point of obsession. If you obsess you start to cut out vital macronutrients, antinutrients, and could become orthorexic. Children are developing higher levels of orthorexia due to health obsessed parents according to a New York Times article. Officially they are often called “health food junkies”, but it is not actually an officially defined disease. It would probably be defined more as obsessive compulsive disorder in some cases, but not actually anorexia nervosa or some similar disease defined in the DSM.
There are multiple children now suffering through this type of undefined disorder due to some would say eccentric parents. They do not choose this lifestyle, they grow up with it. After a while they develop their own eccentricities and worries apparently not normal to a 5, 6, 7, 13, or so on year old child. They worry about foods that may harm them, preservatives, fillers, and things we all should worry about, but not to the extreme degree of this.
One such example is Greye Dunn who worries mostly about sodium. Without question, obtaining the right vitamins is a worry, and some supplement with great multivitamins for this purpose. However, with high levels of sodium, your heart rate and blood pressure can increase, whereas with extremely low levels of sodium, your blood pressure can actually drop below the normal levels of health. Greye comes from a mother who actually heads a multimedia company dedicated to organic foods, and has been teaching Greye how to read labels on foods from an early age.
No one would fault a parent for trying to care for their children, trying to teach their children healthy eating habits, especially in a time of rising obesity rates in adults and children. The problem is that with these over-exuberant parents, anxiety levels, stress levels, and therefore certain risk factors as well as malnourishment is on the rise. These kids go to regular functions like birthday parties, and if there is not a specialized cake such as granola cake, they feel the need to avoid it, the inability to eat it. Not only are their parents micromanaging their diets, and they know it, they begin to officially micromanage their own diets.
At this point, there are no official studies, and apparently it is not as widely spread as one might worry. There is only an official 15% rise in these kinds of practices. Many patients actually reduce refined sugar and high fat foods, but not many restrict their diets to only organic foods to avoid pesticides, and not so many children are becoming terrified of their foods. One could say, every good thing in moderation, or else even the best of intentions can easily be misled.

1. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/26/health/nutrition/26food.html?_r=3&ref=style