How to Lose Pounds Fast

In an age when obesity rates have reached epidemic proportions, a diet containing an extreme amount of fat may sound absurd. But in reality, a high-fat, low-carbohydrate food plan—or ketogenic diet—has been successfully used to rid or markedly reduce seizures in children with drug-resistant epilepsy. By starving the body of carbs and sugars it tricks the body into using fat stores instead of glucose for energy. And that same concept may soon lead to an effective treatment for another serious condition.

WEDNESDAY, March 30 (HealthDay News) — A combination of diet and exercise can help obese seniors lose weight and stay fit much better than either diet or exercise alone, researchers reported Wednesday.

The finding may sound obvious, but the lead author of the new study said it had not been proven previously in people over 65.

In fact, some physicians worry about recommending dietary changes and exercise for older people for fear that weight loss may cause them to lose muscle and bone mass and increase their frailty, said geriatrics specialist Dr. Dennis T. Villareal, whose study is published in the March 31 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

The Atkins Diet Plan gained popularity in 1972 with the publication of the book, Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution. Dr. Atkins, the founder and former Executive Medical Director of The Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine, was one of the first vocal proponents of a low-carbohydrate diet. Long a voice for nutritional medicine, that first book has spawned newly revised versions as well as diet variations such as the South Beach Diet.

From a pure weight-loss perspective, I could eat nothing but bacon-wrapped sticks of butter topped with chocolate-covered Froot Loops, and as long as I maintained a caloric deficit I would lose weight. This concept has been proved time and again, most recently by the Twinkie Guy.

Twinkie Guy — also known as Mark Haub, a professor of human nutrition at Kansas State University — is the genius who lost 27 pounds in 10 weeks subsisting almost exclusively on Twinkies, Doritos, Oreos and other treats by ensuring that he consumed fewer calories than he burned.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Danish researchers have come up with a recipe for preventing and treating obesity: a diet high in proteins and low in refined starches such as white bread and white rice.

Researchers from the Faculty of Life Sciences (LIFE), University of Copenhagen, compared official European dietary recommendations with a diet based on more recent knowledge on the importance of proteins and carbohydrates for appetite regulation.

Details of the project, code-name “Diogenes,” appear in the November 25 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Kidney failure is a main complication of diabetes, but a lab study on mice showed that a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet could reverse that in eight weeks, US researchers said Wednesday.

The extreme food plan is known as a ketogenic diet and is often used to treat children with drug-resistant epilepsy. It starves the body of carbs and sugars, thereby tricking the body into burning fat for fuel instead of glucose.

The diet is so restrictive it must be devised with an expert’s help. Meal options may include scrambled eggs with cream, a bacon and butter omelet, or lettuce doused in mayonnaise.

WASHINGTON – The government on Tuesday unexpectedly rejected what appeared to be the most promising candidate among a class of new diet drugs, wiping out hopes for a new medication to fight obesity anytime soon.

Orexigen Therapeutics Inc. said the Food and Drug Administration is concerned about the heart side effects of its drug Contrave and will require a new study, a costly undertaking that may prove too burdensome for the small drugmaker.

The FDA’s ruling marks the third rejection of a weight loss drug in recent months, raising questions about whether any new drugs in the class can be made safe enough to win approval. The FDA has not approved a new diet pill in more than a decade.

There is no one diet or eating plan that fits everyone, but Consumer Reports has ranked diet/eating plans according to their effectiveness for weight loss. Baby boomers, Generation Xs and all parties interested in shedding pounds take heed of the rankings: 1. Jenny Craig diet; 2. Slim-Fast Plan Diet; 3. Weight Watchers; 4. Zone Diet; 5. Ornish Diet; 6. Atkins Diet and 7. NutriSystem Diet.

In addition to weight loss effectiveness, the eating plans were also ranked according to their adherence to the dietary guidelines established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, referred to as the U.S. Dietary Guidelines.