WESTON, WV(Marketwired February 23, 2017) The physicians and researchers at Diet Doc medical weight loss are urging consumers to choose wisely when it comes to weight loss strategies this year. Certain diets are gaining popularity due to an enormous internet presence, which leaves little room for proven, researched based weight loss strategies. This can lead many individuals to make unsafe dietary choices simply because a fad has allegedly produced satisfactory results for other dieters. The hGG diet is a prime example of this. Produced during pregnancy, the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone (hCG) is purported to stimulate weight loss in conjunction with a calorie restrictive diet plan (only 500 calories per day are to be consumed). Supporters claim that HCG injections, drops or tablets target and eliminate long-stored fat reserves within the body. Over the past few years, the marketing and promotion of the hCG diet for weight loss have grown astronomically on the internet and the vast majority of the information on hCG and its corresponding products offered online are designed to confuse and make profit from an unknowing public. The truth, is that the medical industry has never supported the hCG diet. In fact, since its emergence in the 1950s, it still has yet to be deemed effective, or safe by any reputable medical organization.

Consuming a mere 500 calories per day can lead to health problems and since hCG isnt FDA regulated, most online retailers are selling products that contain little to no hCG. Therefore, any quick weight loss that occurs from the hCG diet is due to starvation dieting. There are claims that hCG is a permanent cure for obesity and that patients who on the hCG diet are losing two pounds of fat per day. However, any legitimate weight loss expert knows that starvation dieting is dangerous and can cause more harm than good. Rapid muscle loss, excessive bloating, binge eating, weight rebounds, poor nutrition and low-energy are just a few of the potentially negative side effects of such diets. Lastly, many existing websites claim that hCG permanently resets the metabolism. But experts suggest that any method one utilizes to lose weight, whether it be diet, exercise or gastric bypass surgery, once the weight is off long-term, a consistent weight maintenance regimen must be implemented to keep the weight and health in check.

Diet Doc wants consumers to know that there are in fact, many other safer dieting strategies for weight loss which are more effective than the severely restricted diet. The best options will be those which offer nutritional support and doctor supervision throughout the process. Dr. Rao, Medical Director of Diet Doc states that, Weight loss goals can be met by the development of specific nutrition plans, dietary supplements and guidance to ensure that body composition changes are optimal for each individual. Diet Doc also offers their clients unlimited access to nutritional coaches and weight loss experts by phone, which means no traveling to weight loss centers for weigh-ins and prescription pickups. Dedicated patients can follow Diet Docs guidance and start safely losing up to 20 pounds per month.

New patients can get started immediately, with materials shipped directly to their home or office. They can also maintain weight loss in the long-term through weekly consultations, customized diet plans, motivational coaches and a powerful prescription program. With Diet Doc, the doctor is only a short phone call away and a fully dedicated team of qualified professionals is available six days per week to answer questions, address concerns and support patients.

Getting started with Diet Doc is very simple and affordable. New patients can easily visit https://www.dietdoc.com to quickly complete a health questionnaire and schedule an immediate, free online consultation.

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Diet Doc Reminds Consumers that the hCG Diet is not a Viable Weight Loss Strategy - Military Technologies

New research examines the effects of a high-fat, low-carb ketogenic diet on both rodents and humans, and suggests that it can alleviate the symptoms of gout.

Gout is a rheumatic disease that affects more than 8 million people in the United States. It is caused by either an excessive production or insufficient excretion of uric acid. In gout, the uric acid crystals sediment in tissues and fluids, triggering the body's immune cells. This results in disabling pain, inflammation, and fever.

These episodes of immune cell reactivation, also known as flares, are triggered by a protein complex called the NLRP3 inflammasome.

New research from the laboratory of Vishwa Deep Dixit - professor of comparative medicine and immunobiology at Yale School of Medicine in New Haven, CT - suggests that the so-called ketogenic diet may help to relieve the symptoms of gout.

A ketogenic diet is low in carbohydrates and typically used to lose weight. Ketogenic diets work by inducing "physiological ketosis" in the body - a state of the metabolism where the body's reserves of glucose are no longer enough for the body's central nervous system.

The central nervous system then needs an alternative source of energy, so it makes the liver turn fats into fatty acids and ketone bodies.

The new study - published in the journal Cell Reports - suggests that one of these ketone bodies, the beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), may alleviate urate crystal-induced gout.

The research team developed a new model of gout flares in rodents.

As the researchers explain, these flares are triggered by the NLRP3 inflammasome. With the help of neutrophils - the most common type of white blood cell - NLRP3 activates the IL-1B pro-inflammatory cytokine, leading to episodes of intense pain, fever, and the destruction of joints.

In the rodent model, researchers induced gout by injecting 1.25 milligrams of monosodium urate into rats' knees. Researchers measured knee thickness and performed pathology analyses on the rats' ligaments and menisci.

The rodents were kept in pathogen-free conditions and fed a ketogenic diet 1 week before starting the experiments. Scientists measured the levels of BHB in the rodents' blood.

The scientists also examined human subjects. They recruited healthy, steroid-free adults aged between 18 and 45, as well as older adults aged 65 and over. Participants were not fasting when their peripheral blood was collected.

Dixit and colleagues also conducted statistical analyses and performed all of the experiments at least twice.

The team found that a ketogenic diet raised BHB levels, which in turn inhibited the NLRP3 inflammasome. As a consequence, the symptoms of urate crystal-induced gout were alleviated, without negatively impacting the immune system or its ability to defend against bacterial infections.

Additionally, BHB blocked IL-1B in the neutrophils of both mice and humans, regardless of age. Dixit and colleagues conclude that:

"Collectively, our studies show that BHB, a known alternate metabolic fuel, is also an anti-inflammatory molecule that may serve as a treatment for gout."

Emily Goldberg, co-author on the study, associate research scientist, and clinical veterinarian in comparative medicine, explains the findings:

"In isolated neutrophils, [BHB] completely blocked NLRP3 inflammasome activation, even when provided at low concentrations that are physiologically achievable through dietary modification."

She also suggests that targeting the NLRP3 inflammasome to reduce inflammation during a flare may improve the gout patients' symptoms. However, she admits that more studies are needed to test this possibility.

Learn how gout flare-ups could be managed by blood pressure diet.

Read more from the original source:
Ketogenic diet may protect against gout - Medical News Today

Full disclosure: I don't really get juicing. Don't get me wrong, I've slurped down some delicious veggie and ginger concoctions and done my fair share of shots of lemon and turmeric. But spending 10 bucks onor trying to replace breakfast witha beverage that essentially amounts to cold, sugary soup has just never sounded appealing.

Still, there's no accounting for taste, and I don't begrudge folks who enjoy sipping on cold carrot water. But don't pretend that juicing is good for you.

Researchers have tackled the pervasive myths of juice-related health benefits in a study published Monday in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. In an attempt to cut through confusion surrounding research on nutrition, the study authors reviewed existing reports on various fad diets looking for any sign of actual benefit. Many of these popular dietary choices are supported by the "evidence" of a single study or two, meaning the results haven't been replicated by enough scientists to be taken as truth. Others are based on industry-funded studies that are likely biased, or are based on research that relied on self-reported surveys, where folks are known to lie aboutor simply misremembertheir eating habits.

Unsurprisingly, the cardiologists focused on the effects of fad diets on heart health. But let's be real: if your diet is bad for your heart, can you even pretend it's "healthy"? Nah.

Juicing was called out for its tendency to sneak extra sugarand caloriesinto your diet. When you juice a fruit, you remove the healthful fiber contained therein. You're basically just drinking sugar water with some vitamins in it. You'd be better off eating a few carrots and apples than drinking a whole grocery cart worth of fruits and veggies in one sitting.

"There are things that youre going to have in the whole fruit that you cant get into the juice," Keith Ayoob of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who wasn't involved in the new study, told ABC. "Also the other side is to remember that your gut is a great juicer, it just works more slowly. Let your teeth and digestive tract do what its supposed to do. And the fiber in fruits and vegetables is critical to a healthy diet."

And that leads us to another important point: detoxing. If you're drinking fruit juice instead of eating real food, you might roll your eyes at a doctor's warning about sugar and caloriesafter all, you're going to consume fewer calories overall if you drink 50 carrots a day than if you eat breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But your body is perfectly capable of filtering out "toxins" without a juice cleanse, and juicing in this manner might actually make your body filter out the bad stuff more slowly. Meanwhile, all those sugar spikes will do a real number on you, and could actually make it harder for you to lose weight in the long run.

Lest you think the researchers just have it in for kale juice, the study's disclosure of conflicts of interest actually reveal that one of the authors serves as a scientific advisor for Pressed Juicery. Dr. Miller is clearly not shilling for Big Juice. Dr. Miller is gonna tell it like it is.

But juicing wasn't the only dietary fad to attract the researchers' ire:

The study also takes a stab at coconut oil, a much-lauded "healthy" fat. The oil has more saturated fat than even butter or lard, but its popularity has surged in recent years due to many reports of health benefits.

But "current claims of documented health benefits of the tropical oils are unsubstantiated," according to the new study, "and use of these oils should be discouraged."

And then there's gluten. Hoo boy, gluten. The study authors conclude thatunless you have a wheat allergy, celiac disease, or are one of the six percent of the population that has some other type of sensitivity to this wheat proteinthere's no sound evidence that cutting gluten out of your diet has any health benefit. But unlike the whole juicing thing, there's no harm in avoiding gluten if you really want toas long as you're not filling up the resulting gaps in your daily food intake with foods high in calories or cholesterol.

The bottom line? Any diet that has you swapping food for sugar water is probably misguided. And while your daily dietary needs may very, you probably already know what a heart-healthy diet looks like: leafy greens, fresh fruits, and taking it easy when it comes to calories.

All in all, the analysis is a good reminder of just how confusing it can be to navigate the landscape of nutritional research. Just remember: a single study doesn't mean anything. Scientists need to reproduce the same results over and over again, in different circumstances and settings, to determine how likely something is to hold true. So stop worrying about new research praising the health benefits of wine or demonizing your favorite wheat product. Instead, stick to the things you know are healthyand enjoy the rest in moderation.

Link:
Juicing isn't actually good for you and your diet is probably dumb - Popular Science

A diet that mimics fasting temporarily put mice in a starvation state, reversing diabetes in the animals, according to a new study. The diet was also shown to reduce the risk factors in people with pre-diabetes

Research by investigators at the University of Southern California showed the special, fasting-mimicking diet triggers the development of insulin-producing cells in mice with diabetes. The study was published in the journal Cell.

In humans, an earlier study of the diet reduced the risk factors of diabetes, such as elevated blood sugar, in people who were headed toward development of the disease. An article on the diet in humans appeared in Science Translational Medicine.

In both Type 1 diabetes and in the later stages of Type 2 diabetes, the beta cells of the pancreas are destroyed. But the authors said the diet appears to "reboot" the body, switching on genes that trigger the release of stem cells, master cells responsible for organ development.

More than fasting required

However, fasting alone is not the key to restoring insulin levels. Scientists said refeeding after the brief starvation diet, with specially calibrated nutrients, is critical to kickstarting the production of new beta cells.

FILE - A woman fills a syringe as she prepares to give herself an injection of insulin.

The process of stem cell activation is the same as seen in embryos to stimulate organ growth, according to gerontology professor Valter Longo, the director of USC's Longevity Institute and senior author of both studies. He said the fasting-mimicking diet can be used to reprogram cells without any genetic alterations.

"So basically the system is using some of the same program that we use during embryonic and fetal development to regenerate the pancreas once the food comes back around," he said. "And that's the trick. It's not so much the starvation. It's really the combination of the starvation and the refeeding." And, he stressed, "the refeeding's got to be a high-nourishment one."

Study participants put on the high-fat, low-calorie, low-protein diet consumed between 800 and 1,100 calories daily for five days in a row each month for three months. After each fast, they were refed with nutrient-rich foods.

Researchers found fasting triggered the production of a protein called Ngn3, which generated new, healthy beta cells that secreted insulin. They saw production of insulin in a dish in pancreatic cells extracted from mice and from healthy human donors and patients with both types of diabetes.

Scientists found the diet replaced damaged insulin-producing cells with new functioning ones in mice placed on the diet for four days.

Heart disease, cancer risks

The investigators have also amassed evidence that the fasting-mimicking diet reduces the risk of age-related diseases, including heart disease and cancer. It may also hold benefits for people with multiple sclerosis, said researchers.

FILE - A woman who suffers from diabetes is seen walking on a treadmill as part of an exercise program to help control the disease.

But Longo said people with diabetes should not try the diet at home yet because it can drop blood sugar to perilously low levels if they don't know what they are doing. "We warn people that, particularly [for people with] Type 1 or patients that inject themselves with insulin, it can be very risky or even lethal," Longo cautioned.

He said investigators were poised to begin larger human clinical trials of the fasting-mimicking diet in the next six months.

Original post:
Fasting Diet Reverses Diabetes in Mice - Voice of America