Assessing diets is a specialised task and there are now publications available which assist in rating diets and diet plans.

In the US, the National Council Against Food Fraud4 has suggested the following criteria as a basis for assessing diet plans:

F the answer to any of the following is yes’, the program/diet should be regarded as suspect.

1. Does it promise or imply a dramatic or rapid weight loss of substantially more than 1-1.5 kilograms per week?

2. Does it promote a diet that is extremely low in energy (kilocal-ories) without the close supervision of recognised, competent health professionals? As a guide, nutritional adequacy for most micronuuients cannot be met if the daily energy intake is less than 1200 kilocalories.

3. Does it attempt to make consumers dependent upon special products rather than being able to base food choice upon foods that are easily available and part of the usual food supply?

4. Are the ‘counsellors’ actually salespeople given some in-house training to support the needs of the overfat, and do they have a conflict of interests, given profits are linked to the products they recommend and sell?

5. Do they promote unproven fat loss aids such as human chorionic gonadotrophin, electric muscle-stimulating devices, amino acid supplements, herbal supplements, spirulina, diuretics, starch blockers, passive exercise, acupuncture, body wraps, glucomannan, enzymes, sweating techniques? … The list goes On.

6. Do they claim a special technique for ‘breaking down’ cellulite?

7. Do they encourage the use of appetite suppressants, either prescribed or ‘natural’, or the use of bulking agents prior to eating in an attempt to modify appetite and hunger?

8. Do they claim that their product contains a unique ingredient or component, particularly given the increasing interest in herbs, to achieve fat loss? Many of the herbs induced in products, especially of the powdered or meal replacement type, are gastrointestinal irritants.

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Fenfluramine: This product also enhances serotonin activity and is widely used to promote weight loss in obese people. Recently a study found that fenfluramine may significantly reduce symptoms of both bulimia and depression.

Opiate antagonists: Certain drugs can block these endogenous opiates and thus reduce their effect on behavior. One of these products, naltrexone, is used to treat heroin addicts. Theory has it that naltrexone may also have a role in managing eating disorders. However, clinical results so far are mixed. One study turned up no evidence that naltrexone led to weight loss in obese people. And a study at the usual dosage level failed to show any impact on bingeing behavior, although a study at a dosage four times as high saw a significant reduction in bulimic symptoms. Unfortunately, such high doses also resulted in a high rate of nausea and a serious risk of liver toxicity.

Anticonvulsant drugs: In some ways, bulimia resembles a seizure disorder such as epilepsy. Seizure disorders involve misfires in the electrical system of the brain. Like seizures, bulimic binges are episodic – that is, they occur at unpredictable intervals rather than constantly. Both binges and seizures make their victims feel out of control. Many bulimics look on their binges as repugnant or inconsistent with their true personality-in other words, they feel their binges are somehow foreign, not really a part of themselves. People with seizures often make similar remarks.

To find out whether eating binges were the result of faulty brain wiring, some researchers studied the electroencephalograph readings of bulimic patients. Because they found brain waves similar to those seen in epilepsy, these researchers tried giving their patients phenytoin, an anti-seizure medication (sold under the brand name Dilantin). They reported that the drug was effective. Unfortunately, subsequent studies, failing to replicate these findings, indicated no more than mild results with phenytoin.

Another study looked at carbamazepine (sold under the brand name Tegretol), an anticonvulsant related to the TCAs that is used to treat seizure disorders and manic depression. Results showed that carbamazepine had a profound effect on a bulimic woman who also suffered from a mood disorder that resembled manic depression, but had no effect on five other patients in the study.

Thus the notion that bulimia is primarily a form of seizure disorder, and that anti-seizure medications can help, hasn’t won many supporters over the last twenty years or so.

Anti-anxiety medications: Anxiety can set the binge-purge cycle in motion. Because therapy must address the patient’s anxiety, naturally it’s tempting to consider using one of the many anti-anxiety drugs on the market.

Perhaps the most widely known of these are the benzodiazepines such as diazepam (sold under the brand name Valium). We used to call these “minor tranquilizers” because they seemed relatively safe compared to the “major tranquilizers,” such as chlorpromazine.

We now realize there’s nothing “minor” about them. These powerful medications have a high potential for abuse and can lead to dependency. In the state of New York, for example, the law now requires that doctors follow the same procedures in prescribing benzodiazepines as they do when prescribing narcotics, another class of drugs with high potential for abuse. As we have seen, bulimics have a high incidence of substance abuse, and may misuse an anti-anxiety drug. Side effects include drowsiness, disorientation, and headaches.

Anti-anxiety medicines do have a specific use, however. I may prescribe them for a limited time when a patient knows she is about to face a highly stressful situation, such as a family reunion or a trip home for Thanksgiving.

Stimulant medications: Although amphetamines may help reduce appetite and produce antidepressant effects, these drugs have a high potential for abuse and are almost never appropriate for use by bulimics.

Lithium carbonate: Some physicians have given lithium, commonly used in treating bipolar disorders, to bulimics. A few of those treated, including some who didn’t respond to other antidepressants, noticed a drop in their bingeing and purging episodes. We don’t yet have good controlled studies proving the effectiveness of this medication. Lithium has a serious drawback: It depletes the body’s supply of potassium. As we have seen, bulimics who vomit a lot or who abuse laxatives or diuretics are already at risk of low potassium. The medical literature contains at least one report of a bulimic woman who died of cardiac failure caused by the combined effects of vomiting and lithium.

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Over the course of 14 years, Kelly Feick lost and regained between 80 and 140 pounds five times. Then, a haircut changed her life.

Kelly was the kind of girl who got a lot of compliments on her hair. Blond and thick, flowing to her waist, it hadn’t been cut in 14 years. It seemed to be the only thing that people noticed about her. And at 315 pounds, the young McKeesport, Pennsylvania, nurse was glad. She liked to believe that her hair hid her body.

But by the time she turned 28, Kelly was a mess, physically and emotionally. She couldn’t look into the mirror without crying. Every joint in her body ached. Bitterness began to show in her features. She realized that she needed to renew her weight-loss efforts. More important, she needed the results to stick. She vowed to change her life, not just her weight.

To do this, Kelly decided to take a risk so drastic that it would prove her commitment to her efforts. “I knew that if I could handle getting my hair cut off, I could get through anything,” she says. And cut off her hair she did, all the way to the middle of her neck.

The change sparked a sense of purpose and commitment in Kelly. She began making better food choices, cooking healthier, and

walking every day. In just 1 year, she lost 185 pounds, going from a size 30 to a size 4.

These days, Kelly is letting her hair grow back a little. But those pounds have stayed away.

WINNING ACTION

Throw away your security blanket. As Kelly discovered, making a major non-weight-related change can serve as a stepping stone to permanent weight loss. Think of something daring that you’ve always wanted to try— even something as radical as bungee jumping or skydiving. Meeting a challenge builds your self-confidence and makes you feel empowered: “If I can do that, I can do anything!”

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In my many years of experience with weight-loss patients, I’ve found that 3 meals and 2 snacks per day work a lot better than 3meals alone. The body seems to speed up its metabolism when it realizes it’s getting fed on a regular basis, with brief periods of fasting time in between. And it’s easier both physically and psychologically to stay with the plan. The number one enemy of the overweight health seeker—hunger—is banished!

If you take, say, 3 grams of Chitosan during the day for Plan I and 6 grams for Plan II that will eliminate between 9 and 18 grams of fat (or 80 to 160 calories) for Plan I and between 18 and 36 grams of fat (or 160 to 325 calories) for Plan II. Since without that reduction these plans are sufficient for most people to lose weight, with the Chitosan you can afford an extra splurge now and then—even if you are on an ideal diet.

If you are not on the ideal plan, but working your way towards that beacon, all you have to do is eat the same as before, but cut down slightly by using your Chitosan bag, keep the splurging to the level you’ve always enjoyed, and let the Chitosan be your basic calorie reduction mechanism. Although you eat just a little bit less each day, your body will absorb quite a bit less, and so you’ll lose weight. What Is Saturated Fat? Saturated fats come from meat and animal products. We also make saturated fats by turning oil, such as corn oil, into solids such as margarine. All saturated fats cause the body to make more cholesterol. Cakes, pies, and pastries are usually filled with saturated fat.

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We’ve also known for years that eating a high-fiber, low-fat diet can reduce the risk of ulcers. While I don’t recommend Chitosan as a primary treatment, I’ve found that taking Chitosan can ameliorate the pains of ulcers or gastritis.

In one study,²⁸ 38 patients with peptic ulcer disease were compared to 40 healthy controls. Those who developed the disease ate significantly less fiber than those who were ulcer-free. Another fascinating study²⁹ involved 73 people whose duodenal ulcers had recently healed. Thirty-eight of them were randomly chosen and asked to include lots of whole-grain bread, vegetables and porridge in their diets, while the other 35 were asked to avoid these same foods. Six months later, only 45 percent of the high-fiber group had suffered relapses, compared to 80 percent of the low-fiber eaters.

A similar study involved 42 patients with chronic duodenal ulcers. Half of them were put on a diet containing a good amount of unrefined wheat, which is high in fiber. The other 20 were asked to continue eating their low-fiber diets. Five years later, only 14 percent of the high-fiber eaters suffered relapses, compared to 81 percent of those consuming little fiber.³⁰

As shown in these preliminary studies, Chitosan and the Fat Blocker Eating Program may help you prevent and/or treat ulcers.

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Success begins with belief. As Frank Lloyd Wright said, “The thing always happens that you believe in. And the belief in a thing makes it happen.” Begin your Fat Blocker Program by

visualizing yourself as the trim, healthy person you want to be. With your mind’s eye, picture yourself at your desired weight, perhaps standing by a pool. Don’t stop there; see yourself slim during the holiday season as well—slim the year round. I teach my patients to see it, then say it, and above all feel it. Affirm that you are what you want to be: “I am slim and healthy.” Say this out loud and repeat it often, it works better. So, try saying it out loud, 50 times a day. As my friend Reverend Ike says, “Positive affirmations are seeing and feeling yourself—in your mind— already being, doing, and having what you want.” Having dealt with countless dieting patients I can confidently report that the belief in your ability to control your body and to be slim and healthy is a vital part of dieting—and of life. One of the main advantages of Chitosan, and one not written about very often, is that it will greatly strengthen your conviction that you will lose weight. And, no wonder, for the product obviously works. At last, you can really believe you will be able to lose weight. How can you believe in other diets that you have tried over and over without success? But now, with Chitosan, you will be able to believe. And all things are possible to those who believe.

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Of course, animals are not human. Therefore, while the animal studies were conclusive, there was the possibility that the findings did not apply to us.

Fortunately, this possibility has now been removed. The idea that Chitosan can help one lose weight by preventing the absorption of calorie-laden fat is no longer just a theory based on animal studies. It is a fact proved in human studies. It really works. Specifically, a randomized, double-blind study⁶ conducted in Finland by Professors Lasus and Abelin in 1994 proved that ingesting Chitosan could help one shed pounds. In this study, 30 obese patients were given Chitosan, while a control group with a precisely identical diet was given a placebo. Within a

Technically speaking, cholesterol is a fat-soluble steroid alcohol made by the body and used to make cell membranes, sex hormones, and cortisone, among other things. Our bodies make some 500-1,000 milligrams of this substance daily, which is all the cholesterol we need. We really don’t need to get any cholesterol in our diets, but of course we do. We take in cholesterol whenever we eat meat, fish, chicken, eggs, milk, or other foods that come from animals. And many of these foods are also high in fat. Foods that come from plants, however, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, peas, beans, and lentils, do not contain cholesterol and, with a few exceptions, are also low on fat.

Most of us take in 400-500 milligrams of cholesterol every day in the food that we eat. The body may attempt to compensate for this additional load by cutting back on its own cholesterol production. When, as often happens, the body cannot cut back far enough, the blood cholesterol level rises. Eating saturated fats also causes the body to manufacture cholesterol. In fact, you could eat no animal foods at all but still because your blood cholesterol to rise by eating foods made with palm and/ or coconut oil, both of which are high in saturated fat.

As a rule of thumb, you can simultaneously lower your fat intake and cholesterol level by eating more vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. On the other hand, consuming more meat and high-fat dairy products will cause both of these levels to rise.

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