Avoid déjà vu dieting – watch this video

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London: This coming year more and more of us are likely to make dieting our New Year’s resolution. However for many of us, this will be a ritual we are all too familiar with. Having tried dieting the year before and been unsuccessful, the process of losing weight and then gaining it is something us women struggle with on a regular basis.

Losing weight and keeping the weight off can give you a better quality of life, not only will you look fabulous in that dress, but the health benefits are astounding, reducing the risk of life threatening diseases such as type-2 diabetes and heart disease, two of the leading causes of death worldwide1.

With all the weight loss programmes and diets that Britons are attempting this New Year, it’s important to know what food and exercise combinations can help you lose weight – consequently reducing visceral fat. Visceral fat which surrounds vital organs in the abdomen can’t be seen or felt, but the metabolically active fat in unhealthy amounts can add to serious health problems.

Show date: Monday 4th January
Show time: 2:30pm

In this live WebTV show, David Haslam, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, and Terry Maguire, Pharmacist of Maguire Pharmacy, Belfast, explain what you can do to avoid the yo-yo dieting pattern and how to get rid of dangerous hidden fat. We also have Paula Keogh talking about her weight loss experiences with alli*. Submit your questions before hand or ask them live.

David Haslam, Terry Maguire and Paula Keogh join us live online at Live Web TV
on Monday 4th January at 2:30pm to discuss visceral fat and weight loss.

*alli is a weight loss aid for overweight adults with a BMI of 28 or over, designed to be used with a comprehensive support programme.

References:

1. World Health Organisation. Fact Sheet – The top ten causes of death. FACT SHEET

Diet pills no substitute for healthy lifestyle

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London: Pharmaceutical diet pills which go on sale in the UK for the first time later this week are no substitute for a healthy lifestyle, according to medical experts.

One of the drugs, Alli, can help those to take it lose 3lb a week, according to its manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline. This is more than three stones over four months.

The drug, is a milder version of prescription-only Xenical, works by reducing the body’s ability to process fat by about 25 per cent. The fat passes straight through the body, creating a need to go to the toilet frequently.

Professor Gareth Williams, professor of medicine at the University of Bristol and the author of Obesity: Science To Practice, said in the British Medical Journal that the side-effects are so severe that “possibly few users will even finish their first pack of Alli, let alone buy a second”.

More seriously, he said: “The drug may cause only a small and transient downward blip in the otherwise inexorable climb in weight.

“Selling anti-obesity drugs over the counter will perpetuate the myth that obesity can be fixed simply by popping a pill and could further undermine efforts to promote healthy living, which is the only long-term escape from obesity.”

He said that real-life weight loss may not be as dramatic as in clinical trials.

“Dieters in these trials are highly motivated and under medical supervision,” he said. “People … taking it without medical supervision may achieve an average daily energy deficit of only 100kcal – equivalent to leaving a few French fries on a plate, eating an apple instead of ice cream, or (depending on enthusiasm and fitness) having 10 to 20 minutes of sex.”

The second drug is Appesat, which claims to cause weight loss of just under 2lb per week. It is a seaweed extract, which swells in the stomach and tricks the user into feeling that they are full.

Its long-term benefits were even questioned by Dr Jason Halford, the director of the Study of Human Ingestive Behaviour University of Liverpool, who is paid to advise the drug’s manufacturer.

“The cure for obesity and being overweight will never be found in a pill, packet or a wonder drug,” Dr Halford said. “That can only come from enormous changes to our food and physical environment, which are going to take a long time to achieve.

“Drugs don’t necessarily deal with reasons why people become obese, which are largely psychological.”

About two-thirds of adults and a third of children are obese, according to the Health Survey for England. Last year the number of prescriptions for “fat pills” rose 16 per cent to 1.23 million.

Last week a BBC television investigation by Professor Lesley Regan of St Mary’s Hospital in London found that women taking a placebo starch pill, who thought they were taking a diet pill, lost up to half a stone in six weeks.

First diet pill approved by the FDA goes on sale in US

Los Angeles: The first over-the-counter diet drug approved by the US Food & Drug Administration has gone on sale. In some cities there were stampedes as the drug called Alli sold out.

Alli is a lower dose version of the prescription-only drug called Xenical that blocks absorption of fat. It works by disabling some of the natural enzymes in the digestive system that break down fat for absorption. When those enzymes can’t do their job, excess fat passes through the body.

Those who use alli “may recognize it in the toilet as something that looks like the oil on top of pizza,” according to the product Web site – www.myalli.com Nutrients absorbed from carbohydrates and proteins are not affected

The drug blocks about one-quarter of fat consumed. When used along with a healthy diet plan and regular exercise, about half of people taking Alli in clinical studies lost 5 percent of their body weight in six months.

But the drug has some unpleasant side effects. Digestive side effects include gas with oily spotting, loose stool, and hard-to-control bowel movements, reports its manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline.These side effects are more likely when a person consumes more than 30 percent of fat in a meal.

The drug is relatively expensive at $40 to $50 for 20- and 30-day starter kits may have put customers off.