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Fructose diet hampers learning, memory

Posted: May 16, 2012 at 10:11 am

LOS ANGELES, May 15 (UPI) -- A diet steadily high in fructose slows the brain and hampers memory and learning, researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, said.

Fernando Gomez-Pinilla of the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said high-fructose corn syrup -- an inexpensive liquid six times sweeter than cane sugar -- is commonly added to processed foods, including soft drinks, condiments and baby food.

Gomez-Pinilla and study co-author Rahul Agrawal, a UCLA visiting postdoctoral fellow from India, studied two groups of rats that each consumed a fructose solution as drinking water for six weeks. The second group also received omega-3 fatty acids in the form of flaxseed oil and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), which protects against damage to the synapses -- the chemical connections between brain cells that enable memory and learning.

The animals were fed standard rat chow and trained on a maze twice daily for five days before starting the experimental diet. The scientists placed visual landmarks in the maze to help the rats learn and remember the way.

Six weeks later, the researchers tested the rats' ability to recall the route and escape the maze.

"The second group of rats navigated the maze much faster than the rats that did not receive omega-3 fatty acids," Gomez-Pinilla said. "The DHA-deprived animals were slower, and their brains showed a decline in synaptic activity. Their brain cells had trouble signaling each other, disrupting the rats' ability to think clearly and recall the route they'd learned six weeks earlier."

The findings were published in the Journal of Physiology.

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Fructose diet hampers learning, memory

Weight-Loss Company Runs to Court over Marketing Claims

Posted: May 16, 2012 at 10:11 am

By Joe Palazzolo

A battle of the anti-bulge is underway in Texas, where U.K. weight loss company Slimming World is suing rival Weight Watchers to protect itsmarketingclaims that its diet is better.

Slimming World, which has been around from more than 40 years, bills itself as the U.K.s top weight loss organization and its largest. The company first entered the U.S. in 2010, marketing itselfasan easier-to-follow, more scientifically advancedservice than New York-based Weight Watchers.

Weight Watchers sent an April 11 letter to Slimming World accusing the company of making false representations about its services and threatening to sue if it didnt retract them, according toSlimming World, which responded to the threat by filing a lawsuitFriday in federal district court in Sherman, Texas. (Slimming Worlds U.S. unit is based in nearbyLewisville.)

The lawsuit seeks to block legal action by Weight Watchers by having a federal judge declare its marketing statements true.

Rather than requiring members to count points or calories, Slimming World allows members to eat all they want of certain categories of healthy foods. The diet steers members tofoods low in energy density, which provide fewer calories per gram than foods with higher energy density, meaning you can eat a larger portion for the same amount of calories.The complaint describes Weight Watcherss point-controlled dieting as old fashioned.

A spokeswoman for Slimming World declined to comment, saying the company would let the complaint speak for itself. Weight Watchers didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

A Weight Watchers spokeswoman said that lawsuit waswithout merit and that the company intends to vigorously contest it.

Slimming World Complaint

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Weight-Loss Company Runs to Court over Marketing Claims

Washington, DC Weight Loss Surgeons Discuss New Link Between Obesity Surgery and Diabetes Treatment

Posted: May 16, 2012 at 10:11 am

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwire -05/16/12)- Thanks to two recent studies published in The New England Journal of Medicine, researchers and surgeons have established a tangible link between bariatric surgery and the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Doctors with the Bluepoint Surgical Group, a team of bariatric surgeons in Northern, VA and Washington, DC, say the new findings suggest weight loss procedures are the most effective therapies for type 2 diabetes in obese and morbidly obese patients and should be considered sooner and more often by patients battling with the disease. The Bluepoint Surgical Group says it is encouraged by the results of these trials and hopes they help patients find the most successful treatments for type 2 diabetes on their return to a healthier life.

As the first head-to-head studies to compare bariatric surgery versus medical therapy, The New England Journal of Medicine reports that bariatric surgery procedures such as gastric banding or gastric sleeve have proven to be superior to medical treatment such as pharmaceuticals in producing the remission of type 2 diabetes. One study, conducted by the Cleveland Clinic, shows within one year type 2 diabetes remission rates with bariatric surgery were 40%, compared to 12% for patients treated with the best pharmacotherapy available. A similar two-year study from the Catholic University of Rome, Italy and New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center experienced remission rates of about 85% for bariatric surgery (75% gastric bypass, 95% biliopancreatic diversion) and zero for medical therapy in patients with BMI greater than 35. Dr. Amir Moazzez and Dr. Denis Halmi of the Bluepoint Surgical Group say they have seen similar results from their patients who have undergone surgical treatment through weight loss surgery in Washington, DC.

Dr. Halmi and the rest of the Bluepoint Surgical Group say the implications of the two studies will have enormous effects on the future of diabetes treatment. While weight loss surgery procedures have always been known to produce significant results in life expectancy (89% improvement according to the latest study from the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery), he says patients are also able to reduce the risk of more serious health complications such as heart disease, stroke, hypertension, and now diabetes, a correlation he is eager to explore both at his practice and through further research.

"Research like this helps patients make informed decisions about bariatric surgery. The article here adds credence to the fact that the surgery does more for the patient than just aid in weight loss, if often times reduces other life-threatening conditions the patient may have," says Dr. Halmi.

Because of the gravity of the decision to undergo weight loss surgery, the Bluepoint Surgical Group strongly urges patients to consult with a board-certified and experienced bariatric surgeon before deciding on a procedure, whether it be a gastric bypass or revisional bariatric surgery. Dr. Halmi says through partnership with a dedicated and knowledgeable practice, patients can make a serious difference in their lives. Now equipped with further evidence pointing towards the benefits of bariatric procedures, he adds that he is excited about the future of weight loss surgery and hopes to continue pursuing the highest quality care for his patients in eliminating both type 2 diabetes and obesity.

About Denis J. Halmi, MD, FACS

Dr. Denis Halmi completed his surgical residency at the Brooklyn Hospital Center in New York. Board-certified in general surgery, he has completed over 1,500 gastric bypass surgeries and over 100 laparoscopic gastric bands. Dr. Halmi is the Medical Director of the Weight Loss Surgery Center at Potomac Hospital and a designated Center of Excellence Surgeon by the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery.

About the Bluepoint Surgical Group

As a Designated Center of Excellence by the American Society of Bariatric Surgeons, the Bluepoint Surgical Group is comprised of a team of bariatric, general, and laparoscopic surgeons focusing on a range of procedures including colon/rectal surgery, weight loss procedures, and several plastic surgery options. Doctors with the practice have performed over 2000 weight loss operations and also offer long term weight management assistance programs through dietary education, nutritional counseling, and support groups.

The Bluepoint Surgical Group has three locations in the Washington, DC area: 3620 Joseph Siewick Drive Suite 200 in Fairfax, VA, reachable at (703) 620-3211; 2280 Opitz Blvd Suite 320 in Woodbridge, VA, reachable at (703) 878-7610; and 125 Hospital Center Blvd Suite 207 in Stafford, VA, reachable at (540) 318-6135. It can also be contacted online via the website bluepointgroup.com or the Bluepoint Surgical Group Facebook page.

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Washington, DC Weight Loss Surgeons Discuss New Link Between Obesity Surgery and Diabetes Treatment

The latest craze in rapid weight loss

Posted: May 16, 2012 at 10:10 am

Posted at: 05/15/2012 9:42 PM | Updated at: 05/15/2012 10:28 PM By: Heather Mills, KOB Eyewitness News 4

Two-thirds of Americans are overweight, or obese. As you know, that can lead to lots of health problems down the road.

While that should be enough to scare us into making better choices, sometimes it's just our vanity that convinces us to make changes.

With swimsuit season right around the corner, KOB Eyewitness News 4 set out to compare two very talked about diets to see what you're really getting.

We've all heard it before, calories in, calories out. "You didn't put it on overnight. You're not going to take it off overnight," said Weight Watchers meeting leader Carlyn Chiado.

In case you haven't heard this before, Natalie Furst, a dietitian with Lovelace Hospital says all those "fad" diets, like low-carb and fat-free, aren't sustainable long-term. It's simple, she says. "It's how much they're eating, not just what they're eating."

But, there are programs out there designed to enact lifestyle changes. So how do they stack up? We looked into Weight Watchers and the HCG Diet. Both programs tout lifestyle changes and both have been around about 50 years.

Weight Watchers is a points-based system. "Weight Watchers gives you so many choices and it's up to you to pick which choice works for you," said Chiado. She says the program also offers accountability with weekly meetings. "It teaches you to eat and live beyond these walls."

The goal is to lose about 1/2 pound to two pounds a week. The cost comes out to about $10 a week, depending on which program you choose.

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The latest craze in rapid weight loss

Exclusive: ABC Orders Third Season of Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition

Posted: May 16, 2012 at 10:10 am

Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition

Talk about a weighty vote of confidence: The second season of ABC's summer series Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition doesn't launch until June 3, but ABC has already given the show a third-season pickup (15 two-hour episodes) to air in summer 2013.

The early order comes out of production necessity. Each episode chronicles one person's journey over an entire year, which means the show needed to start shooting Season 3 this spring to meet next year's airdate. "In my mind, this is a huge franchise that has been on the air for a while, but in reality, only eight episodes have aired so far," says executive producer JD Roth.

Roth is proud of Season 2 and says the strength of the stories convinced ABC to pick up Season 3. Motivational trainer Chris Powell is back as host, and Walmart has joined as a sponsor. In expanding the show to two hours, Roth says, "we can let the story breathe. There's much more storytelling now."

A handful of people featured in Season 2 have signed on to appear as weight-loss "ambassadors" next year, including Tony, a man who ballooned to 400 pounds while working in a fast-food restaurant and who disappeared for a time during taping because he became homeless. "He was worried that we'd kick him off the show if we knew," Roth says.

Another participant who's back as an adviser on Season 3 is Jacqui, who came to the show at 360 pounds. Roth, a veteran of The Biggest Loser, says, "She's the greatest transformation I've ever seen for any show I've done." That's totally Extreme.

Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

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Exclusive: ABC Orders Third Season of Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition

Weight-loss tips not often brought up

Posted: May 16, 2012 at 10:10 am

Youve heard it before. Eat right, exercise, and BAM! Youre healthy. Right?

Not so fast.

According to a 2003 Baylor University study, more than 90 percent of Americans will be overweight by 2032 if we continue with our current trend.

The truth is far more complicated. Reaching and maintaining a healthy weight is difficult because we live in a society centered on food often fast food and high fructose corn syrup, to name a few culprits.

That makes staying at an ideal weight a not so easy task.

Instead, here are a few tools you may not have read on those headlines in the magazines at the grocery store checkout aisle. These tools helped the author drop more 80 pounds in six months, so stick them in your tool belt and try them out.

1. Choose your words mindfully

When you lose something, what do you want to do?

Thats right. You want to find it.

Loss connotes regret. We lose our keys, our car in the parking lot and our cell phones in the unlikeliest of spots. When getting rid of extra weight, think about shedding, releasing or dismissing the pounds.

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Weight-loss tips not often brought up

High-fat diet lowered blood sugar and improved blood lipids in diabetics

Posted: May 13, 2012 at 12:14 pm

Public release date: 11-May-2012 [ | E-mail | Share ]

Contact: Fredrik Nystrm fredrik.nystrom@lio.se 46-736-569-303 Linkping University

People with Type 2 diabetes are usually advised to keep a low-fat diet. Now, a study at Linkping University shows that food with a lot of fat and few carbohydrates could have a better effect on blood sugar levels and blood lipids.

The results of a two-year dietary study led by Hans Guldbrand, general practitioner, and Fredrik Nystrm, professor of Internal Medicine, are being published in the prestigious journal Diabetologia. 61 patients were included in the study of Type 2, or adult-onset diabetes. They were randomized into two groups, where they followed either a low-carbohydrate (high fat) diet or a low-fat diet.

In both groups, the participants lost approximately 4 kg on average. In addition, a clear improvement in the glycaemic control was seen in the low-carbohydrate group after six months. Their average blood sugar level dropped from 58.5 to 53.7 mmol/mol (the unit for average blood glucose). This means that the intensity of the treatment for diabetes could also be reduced, and the amounts of insulin were lowered by 30%.

Despite the increased fat intake with a larger portion of saturated fatty acids, their lipoproteins did not get worse. Quite the contrary the HDL, or 'good' cholesterol, content increased on the high fat diet.

No statistically certain improvements, either of the glycaemic controls or the lipoproteins, were seen in the low-fat group, despite the weight loss.

"You could ask yourself if it really is good to recommend a low-fat diet to patients with diabetes, if despite their weight loss they get neither better lipoproteins nor blood glucose levels," Nystrm says.

In the low-carbohydrate diet, 50% of the energy came from fat, 20% from carbohydrates, and 30% from protein. For the low-fat group the distribution was 30% from fat, 55-60% from carbohydrates, and 10-15% from protein, which corresponds to the diet recommended by the Swedish National Food Agency.

The participants were recruited from two primary health care centres and met for four group meetings during the first year of the study. All 61 participants remained in the study for the follow-up.

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High-fat diet lowered blood sugar and improved blood lipids in diabetics

Diet finally starts deliberations on tax hike bill

Posted: May 13, 2012 at 12:14 pm

The Diet kicked off deliberations Friday on the contentious bill to double the 5 percent consumption tax by 2015, and Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is urging the opposition camp to help ensure its passage by the end of the Diet session in June.

During the afternoon Lower House plenary session, opposition parties blasted Noda's Democratic Party of Japan for seeking the sales tax hike after promising during the 2009 Lower House poll campaign not to pursue raising the levy during the elected lawmakers' four-year term.

Noda countered that the DPJ did not violate its election platform because the tax hike will not begin until after the current Lower House members' term ends in summer 2013.

"Our party made statements during the previous Lower House election campaign that were lame or went too far, and I must earnestly reflect on the past and apologize that the DPJ lacked discussions on the (platform) during our time in the opposition camp," Noda said.

But he once again reiterated the need to reform the social security and tax systems amid the snowballing national debt and rapidly aging society.

"We are at a crucial point where the sustainability of Japan's social security system and finances is on the line," Noda said. "We cannot run away from this social security and tax system reform, and the ruling and opposition forces must hold constructive discussions and implement the reform for the country and its people."

The outlook for the tax bill remains gloomy because the main opposition force, the Liberal Democratic Party, is more bent on pressing Noda to dissolve the lower chamber and call an election first.

Many DPJ members, particularly allies of kingpin Ichiro Ozawa, also strongly oppose the tax hike.

LDP lawmaker Takeshi Noda meanwhile pointed out that the LDP itself was not against a 10 percent tax but said various obstacles standing in the way of tax hike talks.

"Look around carefully. Do you really think the environment (is ready) to move the discussions forward?" he asked Noda. "There are many major hurdles, including seeking the support of the people, the DPJ's internal political situation and the party's policy principles. These matters need to be dealt with before beginning talks (of the tax hike)."

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Diet finally starts deliberations on tax hike bill

Is Tim Tebow's Diet Healthy? Fan's View

Posted: May 13, 2012 at 12:14 pm

Like most men across the country, I have been jealous of Tim Tebow's chiseled physique since the photos of him in a "Gator Charity Challenge" tank top popped up on the internet in 2009.

In those pictures from three years back, his muscular shoulders, tight abs and rippling biceps are clear for all to see, and I hoped to work for a similar body frame for myself.

Obviously one of the main reasons why he has such a big, mobile body is because he has a vigorous workout routine, but I felt like his diet was an equally important component.

I found myself constantly searching online for diet tips that would help me have Tebow's body, and it wasn't until an ABC News report on May 10 that I was able to find my answer.

I always imagined in the past that Tebow just lived on a low-carb diet of lean meats and organic juices, as he hadn't really divulged his daily regimen until the ABC News report came out.

In the past, he has provided fairly generic answers to dieting questions, like his response in a muscleprodigy.com interview where he said "It all starts with your diet, so I always eat a great breakfast because that's giving your body fuel."

In the ABC News report, Tebow finally revealed what gave him all that muscle, all that mass and all that strength: "pizza pie" and "ice cream pie."

Not the answer you were expecting? I was shocked, myself.

"I just like normal food. I mean, you have to go to so many, like, rubber chicken dinners and you put on the face and you're like, 'Oh, thank you, it's so good,' and you're like, 'Man, I just can't wait to go home ... and have pizza pie,'" he said.

Pizza pie includes fairly unhealthy ingredients like ground beef, baking powder biscuits and fattening mozzarella cheese.

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Is Tim Tebow's Diet Healthy? Fan's View

FDA panel backs Arena weight-loss pill lorcaserin

Posted: May 13, 2012 at 12:14 pm

PHARMACEUTICALS FDA panel endorses weight-loss drug

Arena Pharmaceuticals jumped the most ever Friday after the company's weight-loss pill gained the backing of an advisory panel, putting two obesity drugs in line for U.S. approval almost two years after regulators rejected them as too risky.

Arena rose 74 percent to $6.36 at 4 p.m. New York time, the biggest increase since the company's shares began trading publicly in July 2000.

Food and Drug Administration advisers voted 18-4 Thursday that the benefits of Arena's pill, known as lorcaserin, outweigh the risks. The FDA is scheduled to decide by June 27 on lorcaserin, and doesn't have to follow the panel's advice.

Arena, based in San Diego, is competing with Mountain View's Vivus Inc. and Orexigen Therapeutics, based in La Jolla, to introduce the first weight-loss drug since Roche Holding AG's Xenical in 1999. The FDA previously turned down all three drugs. Panel members raised concerns that lorcaserin provides a modest benefit while potentially raising heart risks.

A federal appeals court has turned down a Freedom of Information Act request to disclose National Security Agency records about the 2010 cyberattack on Google users in China.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center, which focuses on privacy and civil liberties, sought communications between Google and the NSA, which conducts worldwide electronic surveillance and protects the U.S. government from such spying. But the NSA refused to confirm or deny whether it had any relationship with Google. The NSA argued that doing so could make U.S. government information systems vulnerable to attack.

A federal district court judge sided with the NSA last year, and on Friday, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the ruling.

Nordstrom on Friday dropped the most in more than eight months after the department-store chain posted quarterly profit that trailed analysts' estimates, hurt by expenses for e-commerce investments.

Nordstrom fell 4.8 percent to $50.96 in New York, the most since Aug. 18. The shares have gained 2.5 percent this year.

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FDA panel backs Arena weight-loss pill lorcaserin


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