Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 7/15/09.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

Statin Drugs May Cut Dementia Risk - WebMD, 7/14/09 - "people who took statin drugs were 58% less likely to develop dementia than those who did not ... So what is going on? A risk factor for dementia is high insulin; one theory is that statins may lower the high insulin levels in the brain. Statins have also been shown to reduce levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation that has been linked to the pathology that can lead to dementia"

Citrus-derived Flavonoid Prevents Obesity, Study Suggests - Science Daily, 7/14/09 - "Naringenin corrected the elevations in triglyceride and cholesterol, prevented the development of insulin resistance and completely normalized glucose metabolism. The researchers found it worked by genetically reprogramming the liver to burn up excess fat, rather than store it ... Furthermore, the marked obesity that develops in these mice was completely prevented by naringenin ... These studies show naringenin, through its insulin-like properties, corrects many of the metabolic disturbances linked to insulin resistance and represents a promising therapeutic approach for metabolic syndrome" - See naringenin at Amazon.com.

Asian Spice Could Reduce Breast Cancer Risk In Women Exposed To Hormone Replacement Therapy - Science Daily, 7/13/09 - "curcumin, a popular Indian spice derived from the turmeric root, could reduce the cancer risk for women after exposure to hormone replacement therapy ... curcumin delayed the first appearance, decreased incidence and reduced multiplicity of progestin-accelerated tumors in an animal model. Curcumin also prevented the appearance of gross morphological abnormalities in the mammary glands" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.

Exercise Cuts Decline in Mental Skills - WebMD, 7/13/09 - "sedentary older people who began new exercise programs curbed their rate of cognitive decline, especially when it came to the ability to process complex information quickly ... people who were consistently sedentary had the worst mental skills. On a standard test that measures overall cognitive function, including memory, attention span and problem-solving, "they scored the worst at the beginning and experienced the fastest rate of cognitive decline,""

DHA Appears Beneficial for Patients Diagnosed With Mild Cognitive Impairment - Doctor's Guide, 7/13/09 - "Algal DHA appears to have a significant impact on early episodic memory changes and its benefits are roughly equivalent to having the learning and memory skills of someone 3 years younger" - [WebMD] - See Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Link Between Oral Infections And Cardiovascular Disease Morbidity Explained - Science Daily, 7/9/09 - "A recent study that will be cited during the presentation explored the existence of bacteria known to cause periodontitis and the growth of blood vessel walls, which is a symptom of CVD. After examining the subjects used, the investigators found a positive connection between the growth of blood vessel walls and the existence of bacteria found in dental plaque, causing periodontitis"

Reduced Diet Thwarts Aging, Disease In Monkeys - Science Daily, 7/9/09 - "We observed that caloric restriction reduced the risk of developing an age-related disease by a factor of three and increased survival ... The incidence of cancerous tumors and cardiovascular disease in animals on a restricted diet was less than half that seen in animals permitted to eat freely. Remarkably, while diabetes or impaired glucose regulation is common in monkeys that can eat all they want, it has yet to be observed in any animal on a restricted diet" - It makes you wonder why this is true:

• Study: Overweight People Live Longer - WebMD, 6/25/09 - "There is more evidence that people who are overweight tend to live longer than people who are underweight, normal weight, or obese ... Those classified as underweight were 73% more likely to die ... Those classified as extremely obese with BMI of 35 or greater were 36% more likely to die ... Those classified as obese with BMI 30-34.9 had about the same risk of death ... Those classified as overweight with BMI 25-29.9 were 17% less likely to die"

Soy may help men remember anniversaries: Study - Nutra USA, 7/9/09 - "men receiving the isoflavones required 18 per cent fewer attempts to correctly complete the tasks, committed 23 per cent fewer errors, and achieved the tasks in 17 per cent less time than they did during the placebo phase" - [Abstract] - See soy isoflavones at Amazon.com.

Antibiotic Delayed Aging in Mice - NYTimes.com, 7/8/09 - "The effectiveness of rapamycin in extending the life of elderly mice was discovered by accident. The researchers found that the mice fed rapamycin were not getting the proper dose in their bloodstream. They reformulated the drug in the form of capsules that fed slow doses to the intestine, but by that time the mice were elderly. Nonetheless, life span increased by 14 percent in the females and 9 percent in the males"

Inflammation May Trigger Alzheimer's Disease - Science Daily, 7/8/09 - "Inflammation, which is part of the body's natural immune response, occurs when the body activates white blood cells and produces chemicals to fight infection and invading foreign substances ... We induced inflammation in mice and found that it turned off the LRP pump that lets amyloid beta protein exit the brain into the bloodstream. It also revved up an entrance pump that transports amyloid beta into the brain. Both of these actions would increase the amount of amyloid beta protein in the brain"

Omega-3 Supplements Provide Mixed Results as Antidepressant - Medscape, 7/8/09 - "There is a large body of epidemiological data to support a link between omega-3 and depression ... For example, 8 of 11 epidemiological studies evaluating the association between depression and fish consumption report a statistically significant inverse association. In other words, less fish means more depression" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Oily fish may reduce dementia risk: Transcontinental study - Nutra USA, 7/8/09 - "Almost 15,000 people aged 65 or over were surveyed. After adjusting for various confounders and pooling the data from all the sites, the researchers report that they observed a dose-dependent inverse association between dementia and fish consumption" - [Abstract] - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Blood Pressure Targets: Aiming Lower Offers No Benefit, Review Finds - Science Daily, 7/7/09 - "At present there is no evidence from randomized trials to support aiming for a blood pressure target lower than 140/90, in the general population of patients with elevated blood pressure ... The review is based on the results of seven trials, which together involved 22,089 people. Whilst patients aiming for targets below 135/85 mmHg did succeed in achieving greater reductions in blood pressure than those in the standard target group, there was no difference between the two groups in terms of the number of patients dying or suffering heart attacks, strokes, heart failure or kidney failure"

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics plus abstracts from my RSS feeds (Click here for the journals, the PubMed ones at the top):

Coffee drinking and risk of endometrial cancer-A population-based cohort study - Int J Cancer. 2009 Apr 27 - "Each additional cup (200 g) of coffee per day was associated with a rate ratio (RR) of 0.90 [95% confidence interval (CI), 0.83-0.97]. In women drinking 4 or more cups of coffee a day, the RR for the risk reduction of endometrial cancer was 0.75 (95% CI, 0.58-0.97) when compared with those who drank 1 cup or less"

Soya isoflavone supplementation enhances spatial working memory in men - Br J Nutr. 2009 Jun 1:1-7 - "Compared with placebo supplementation, there were 18 % fewer attempts (P = 0.01), 23 % fewer errors (P = 0.02) and 17 % less time (P = 0.03) required to correctly identify the requisite information" - See soy isoflavones at Amazon.com.

Glutamic Acid, the Main Dietary Amino Acid, and Blood Pressure. The INTERMAP Study (International Collaborative Study of Macronutrients, Micronutrients and Blood Pressure) - Circulation. 2009 Jul 6 - "Dietary glutamic acid (percentage of total protein intake) was inversely related to BP. Across multivariate regression models (model 1, which controlled for age, gender, and sample, through model 5, which controlled for 16 possible nonnutrient and nutrient confounders), estimated average BP differences associated with a glutamic acid intake that was higher by 4.72% of total dietary protein (2 SD) were -1.5 to -3.0 mm Hg systolic and -1.0 to -1.6 mm Hg diastolic (z scores -2.15 to -5.11)" - See l-glutamic acid at Amazon.com.

Dietary fish and meat intake and dementia in Latin America, China, and India: a 10/66 Dementia Research Group population-based study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jun 24 - "We found a dose-dependent inverse association between fish consumption and dementia (PR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.72, 0.91) that was consistent across all sites except India and a less-consistent, dose-dependent, direct association between meat consumption and prevalence of dementia (PR: 1.19; 95% CI: 1.07, 1.31)" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Pioglitazone, but not metformin, reduces liver fat in Type-2 diabetes mellitus independent of weight changes - J Diabetes Complications. 2009 Jul 3 - "metformin (Met) ... Pio plus the American Diabetes Association diet (Pio+ADA) ... Pio plus a portion control weight loss diet (Pio+PC) ... The Pio+ADA group gained (mean+/-S.E.M.) 2.15+/-1.09 kg, while Pio+PC and Met+ADA group lost -2.59+/-1.25 and -3.21+/-0.7 kg, respectively. Pio-treated groups (Pio+ADA and Pio+PC) significantly decreased hepatic fat as indicated by increased liver density on CT scan [10.1+/-2.4: 11.4+/-1.0 Hounsfield units (HU)], compared with Met+ADA group (-2.4+/-3.1 HU). The Pio groups demonstrated significantly increased serum adiponectin, (8.6+/-1.5; 7.4+/-1.6 mug/ml) independent of weight change, compared to Met+ADA (-0.14+/-0.6 mugm/ml) group which lost weight. Serum hs-CRP decreased in groups showing weight loss (Pio+PC, -3.1+/-1.7 mg/l; Met+ADA, -1.5+/-1.2 mg/l) compared to Pio+ADA (1.8+/-3.0 mg/l) group that gained weight" - Note:  This is just one of the many reasons I take pioglitazone even though I don't have diabetes.  See pioglitazone at Pioglitazone at OffshoreRx1.com.

Fish Oil-Based Lipid Emulsions Prevent and Reverse Parenteral Nutrition-Associated Liver Disease: The Boston Experience - JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2009 Jul 1 - "Parenteral nutrition-associated liver disease (PNALD) is the most prevalent and most severe complication of long-term parenteral nutrition. Its underlying pathophysiology, however, largely remains to be elucidated. The currently approved parenteral lipid emulsions in the United States contain safflower or soybean oils, both rich in omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Mounting evidence indicates that the omega-6 PUFAs originating from plant oils in these lipid emulsions may play a role in the onset of liver injury. Fish oil-based lipid emulsions, in contrast, are primarily composed of omega-3 PUFAs, thus providing a promising alternative. The authors review the literature on the role of lipid emulsions in the onset of PNALD and discuss prevention and treatment strategies using a fish oil- based lipid emulsion. They conclude that a fish oil-based emulsion is hepatoprotective in a murine model of PNALD, and it appears to be safe and efficacious for the treatment of this type of liver disease in children" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Neat Tech Stuff :

• Google Voice - There are limited numbers so you have to request an invite.  It took about 10 months to get mine.  It has a lot of neat features like individual greetings and being able to have individual telemarketers get a greeting that says “This is not a working number …”. It will also forward your incoming calls to several phones such as your cell phone. I have Vonage at home and that has the call forward feature so I forward it to my Google number to filter out telemarketers (make sure you don’t cause a loop, ask me for directions if you try it). Also you can make overseas calls from your cell phone for as little as 2 cents per minute to China for example. Just call your Google number and press “3” and enter the overseas number and hit “#”. Also:
  • A personal phone number that rings all of your existing phones when people call
  • All of your voicemail in one inbox with unlimited online storage and free voicemail transcripts sent to your phone and email
  • Low-priced international calling to over 200 countries and free SMS
  • Other powerful features like the first phone spam filter to protect you from unwanted callers, the ability to ListenInTM on your voicemail messages while they are being left, conference calling and more

Health Focus (Weight Control):

Related Topics:

• Axokine / leptin / obesity / weight control / ghrelin / peripheral hormone peptide YY (PYY 3-36) / PGC-1beta / oleylethanolamide (OEA) / Xenical (orlistat) / Meridia® (sibutramine) / Topamax® (topiramate) / Wellbutrin®/Zyban® (bupropion) / Glucophage (metformin) / Acomplia (rimonabant)
• Diets / Atkin's diet / Zone diet / Mediterranean diet / Ornish diet

Popular Medications:

• Xenical (orlistat) / Meridia (sibutramine) / Glucophage (metformin) / Wellbutrin (bupropion) / Topamax (topiramate) / Acomplia (rimonabant)

Popular Supplements:

• Coleus forskohlii / HCA / calcium / CLA / green tea / 5-HTP / fiber / chitosan / DHEA / GH-3

News & Research:

• New Evidence That Vinegar May Be Natural Fat-fighter - Science Daily, 6/22/09 - "Their new study showed that laboratory mice fed a high-fat diet and given acetic acid developed significantly less body fat (up to 10 percent less) than other mice. Importantly, the new research adds evidence to the belief that acetic acid fights fat by turning on genes for fatty acid oxidation enzymes. The genes churn out proteins involved in breaking down fats, thus suppressing body fat accumulation in the body" - See apple cider vinegar at Amazon.com - 4.5 tablets equals about 3 tablespoons by my calculations.  I've been popping 4 of these with meals for years and more and more research keeps backing me up.
• Comparison of dietary conjugated linoleic acid with safflower oil on body composition in obese postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes mellitus - Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Jun 17 - "Supplementation with CLA reduced body mass index (BMI) (P = 0.0022) and total adipose mass (P = 0.0187) without altering lean mass. The effect of CLA in lowering BMI was detected during the last 8 wk of each 16-wk diet period. In contrast, SAF had no effect on BMI or total adipose mass but reduced trunk adipose mass (P = 0.0422) and increased lean mass (P = 0.0432). SAF also significantly lowered fasting glucose (P = 0.0343) and increased adiponectin (P = 0.0051). No differences were observed in dietary energy intake, total fat intake, and fat quality in either diet period for either intervention. CONCLUSIONS: Supplementation with CLA and SAF exerted different effects on BMI, total and trunk adipose mass, and lean tissue mass in obese postmenopausal women with type 2 diabetes" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.
• Could vinegar be natural fat fighter? - Nutra USA, 6/18/09 - "fed mice a high-fat diet, with 50 per cent of energy coming from fat, and treated the animals with 1.5 per cent vinegar (high-dose group), 0.3 per cent vinegar (low-dose group), or water (control group) ... the researchers noted that that both vinegar groups produced reductions in fat mass of about 10 per cent, with no apparent dose-dependent effect, compared to the control mice ... The results of this study suggest that acetic acid suppresses body fat accumulation by increasing fatty oxidation and thermogenesis in the liver through PPAR-alpha" - [Abstract] - See vinegar supplements at Amazon.com.
• Acetic Acid Upregulates the Expression of Genes for Fatty Acid Oxidation Enzymes in Liver To Suppress Body Fat Accumulation - J Agric Food Chem. 2009 May 26 - "acetic acid (AcOH) ... AcOH suppresses accumulation of body fat and liver lipids by upregulation of genes for PPARalpha and fatty-acid-oxidation-related proteins by alpha2 AMPK mediation in the liver" - See apple cider vinegar at Amazon.com.
• Skip Breakfast, Get Fat - WebMD, 6/15/09 - "Forgoing the first meal of the day actually tricks your brain into thinking you want higher-calorie foods -- foods that can make you fat, or at least increase your risk for weight gain"
• Sleep Restriction Results In Weight Gain Despite Decreases In Appetite And Consumption - Science Daily, 6/8/09 - "in the presence of free access to food, sleep restricted subjects reported decrease in appetite, food cravings and food consumption; however, they gained weight over the course of the study. Thus, the finding suggests that energy intake exceeded energy expenditure during the sleep restriction ... Results indicate that people whose sleep was restricted experienced an average weight gain of 1.31 kilograms over the 11 days of the study"
• Compound In Turmeric Spice May Stall Spread Of Fat Tissue - Science Daily, 5/22/09 - "supplementing the animals’ high-fat diet with curcumin reduced body-weight gain and total body fat, even though food-intake was not affected, when compared to the nonsupplemented high-fat-diet group ... The curcumin-treated group also had less blood vessel growth in fat tissue. Blood glucose, triglyceride, fatty acid, cholesterol and liver fat levels also were lower" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.
• Plasma n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids are negatively associated with obesity - Br J Nutr. 2009 May 19:1-5 - "Plasma fatty acid composition was determined by GC. BMI, waist circumference and hip circumference were inversely correlated with n-3 PUFA, EPA and DHA (P < 0.05 for all) in the obese group. Obese individuals had significantly lower plasma concentrations of total n-3 PUFA, compared with healthy-weight individuals (4.53 (sd 1.11) v. 5.25 (sd 1.43) %)" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Turmeric Extract Suppresses Fat Tissue Growth In Rodent Models - Science Daily, 5/18/09 - "Curcumin, the major polyphenol found in turmeric, appears to reduce weight gain in mice and suppress the growth of fat tissue in mice and cell models" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.
• Lose Weight With a Good Night's Sleep? - WebMD, 5/16/09 - "The average BMI for short sleepers was 28.3. That compares to an average BMI of 24.5 for long sleepers. The BMI range for normal weight is considered to be 18.5-24.9 and for overweight 25.0-29.9. BMI is calculated from a person's weight and height and is an indicator of body fat"
• Whole-Grain, Low-Calorie Diet Reduced Body Fat Compared With Refined-Wheat Low-Calorie Diet - Doctor's Guide, 5/14/09 - "Patients consuming whole-grain foods had a significantly larger drop in body fat percentage (assessed by dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scanning) compared with patients who had eaten refined foods (-6.8% vs -4.8%; P = .03) ... Total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol levels rose by 5% in the refined-wheat group but remained unchanged in the wholemeal-wheat group"
• White Tea: Solution To Obesity Epidemic? - Science Daily, 5/7/09 - "After treating lab-cultured human pre-adipocytes with the tea extract, the authors found that fat incorporation during the genesis of new adipocytes was reduced ... The extract solution induced a decrease in the expression of genes associated with the growth of new fat cells, while also prompting existing adipocytes to break down the fat they contain ... It is less processed than the other teas and contains more of the ingredients thought to be active on human cells, such as methylxanthines (like caffeine) and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) – which the authors believe to be responsible for many of the anti-adipogenic effects demonstrated in their study" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Study In Pregnant Women Suggests Probiotics May Help Ward Off Obesity - Science Daily, 5/7/09 - "One year after giving birth, women were less likely to have the most dangerous kind of obesity if they had been given probiotics from the first trimester of pregnancy, found new research that suggests manipulating the balance of bacteria in the gut may help fight obesity ... Central obesity, where overall obesity is combined with a particularly fat belly, is considered especially unhealthy ... We found it in 25% of the women who had received the probiotics along with dietary counselling, compared with 43% in the women who received diet advice alone" - See probiotics at Amazon.com.
• Curcumin may cut body fat and weight gain: Mouse study - Nutra USA, 4/27/09 - "The curcumin suppression of angiogenesis in adipose tissue together with its effect on lipid metabolism in adipocytes may contribute to lower body fat and body weight gain ... Curcumin was also associated with significantly lower cholesterol levels and a reduction in the expression of peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-gamma), a protein that plays a role in metabolic functions" - [Abstract] - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.
• Curcumin inhibits adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 adipocytes and angiogenesis and obesity in C57/BL mice - J Nutr. 2009 May;139(5):919-25 - "Supplementing the high-fat diet of mice with curcumin did not affect food intake but reduced body weight gain, adiposity, and microvessel density in adipose tissue, which coincided with reduced expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor VEGFR-2. Curcumin increased 5'AMP-activated protein kinase phosphorylation, reduced glycerol-3-phosphate acyl transferase-1, and increased carnitine palmitoyltransferase-1 expression, which led to increased oxidation and decreased fatty acid esterification ... Our findings suggest that dietary curcumin may have a potential benefit in preventing obesity" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.
• Green Tea (-)-Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate Reduces Body Weight with Regulation of Multiple Genes Expression in Adipose Tissue of Diet-Induced Obese Mice - Ann Nutr Metab. 2009 Apr 22;54(2):151-157 - "Experimental diets supplemented with EGCG resulted in reduction of body weight and mass of various adipose tissues in a dose-dependent manner. EGCG diet also considerably lowered the levels of plasma triglyceride and liver lipid. In the epididymal white adipose tissue of EGCG diet-fed mice, the mRNA levels of adipogenic genes such as peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-gamma (PPAR-gamma), CCAAT enhancer-binding protein-alpha (C/EBP-alpha), regulatory element-binding protein-1c (SREBP-1c), adipocyte fatty acid-binding protein (aP2), lipoprotein lipase (LPL) and fatty acid synthase (FAS) were significantly decreased. However, the mRNA levels of carnitine palmitoyl transferase-1 (CPT-1) and uncoupling protein 2 (UCP2), as well as lipolytic genes such as hormone sensitive lipase (HSL) and adipose triglyceride lipase (ATGL), were significantly increased ... These results suggest that green tea EGCG effectively reduces adipose tissue mass and ameliorates plasma lipid profiles in high-fat diet-induced obese mice. These effects might be at least partially mediated via regulation of the expression of multiple genes involved in adipogenesis, lipolysis, beta-oxidation and thermogenesis in white adipose tissue" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Low Glycemic Breakfast May Increase Benefits Of Working Out - Science Daily, 4/15/09 - "Overall, fat oxidation was higher in the LGI treatment than in the HGI treatment (P < 0.05) during the post-breakfast and exercise periods. Following lunch, fullness scores were higher in the LGI trial than in the HGI trial (P < 0.05). The authors concluded that consuming a LGI breakfast increases fat oxidation during subsequent exercise and improved satiety during recovery in sedentary females. As such, individuals trying to shed fat may consider choosing LGI foods eaten prior to when they exercise"
• Beverage Consumption A Bigger Factor In Weight, Study Shows - Science Daily, 4/2/09
• Grape polyphenols may protect against obesity: Study - Nutra USA, 3/18/09 - "animals fed a high-fat diet but supplemented with the grape seed extract had adiponectin levels 61 per cent higher than animals only fed the high fat diet. Adiponectin is a protein hormone linked to various metabolic processes, and levels are inversely related to body fat levels" - [Abstract] - See grape seed extract at Amazon.com.
• Chardonnay grape seed procyanidin extract supplementation prevents high-fat diet-induced obesity in hamsters by improving adipokine imbalance and oxidative stress markers - Mol Nutr Food Res. 2008 Nov 26 - "GSE prevented in part these effects, reducing insulinemia and leptinemia by 16.5 and 45%, respectively, whereas adiponectin level increased by 61% compared with obese controls. GSE lowered glycemia and HOMA-IR and strongly prevented cardiac production of superoxide by 74% and NAD(P)H oxidase expression by 30%. This is the first time that chronic consumption of grape phenolics is shown to reduce obesity development and related metabolic pathways including adipokine secretion and oxidative stress" - See grape seed extract at Amazon.com.
• Scientists Discover Why A Low GI Meal Makes You Feel Full - Science Daily, 3/18/09 - "Eating a meal with a low GI (glycaemic index) increases gut hormone production which leads to suppression of appetite and the feeling of fullness"
• Not Enough Vitamin D In The Diet Could Mean Too Much Fat On Adolescents - Science Daily, 3/16/09 - "A Medical College of Georgia study of more than 650 teens age 14-19 has found that those who reported higher vitamin D intakes had lower overall body fat and lower amounts of the fat in the abdomen, a type of fat known as visceral fat, which has been associated with health risks such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and hypertension" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Citicoline affects appetite and cortico-limbic responses to images of high-calorie foods - Int J Eat Disord. 2009 Mar 3 - "Cytidine-5'-diphosphocholine (citicoline) has a variety of cognitive enhancing, neuroprotective, and neuroregenerative properties. In cocaine-addicted individuals, citicoline has been shown to increase brain dopamine levels and reduce cravings ... After 6 weeks, there was no significant change in weight status, although significant declines in appetite ratings were observed for the 2,000 mg/day group. The higher dose group also showed significant increases in functional brain responses to food stimuli within the amygdala, insula, and lateral orbitofrontal cortex. Increased activation in these regions correlated with declines in appetite ratings ...These preliminary findings suggest a potential usefulness of citicoline in modulating appetite, but further research is warranted" - See citicholine at Amazon.com.
• Arginine Discovery Could Help Fight Human Obesity - Science Daily, 2/12/09 - "arginine, an amino acid, reduces fat mass in diet-induced obese rats and could help fight human obesity ... dietary arginine supplementation shifts nutrient partitioning to promote skeletal-muscle gain ... The findings were published recently in the Journal of Nutrition ... arginine supplementation for a 12-week period decreased the body fat gains of low-fat and high-fat fed rats by 65 percent and 63 percent, respectively. The long-term arginine treatment did not have any adverse effects on either group ... funded by the American Heart Association" - See L-arginine products at Amazon.com.
• Green tea catechins linked to weight loss: Study - Nutra USA, 1/26/09 - "The subjects were randomly assigned to receive either 500ml per day of a beverage providing 625mg catechins, or a control beverage ... 12-week study period ... people in the catechin group were found to have lost more body weight compared to the control group ... both total abdominal fat area (P = 0.013) and abdominal subcutaneous fat area (P = 0.019) had decreased more in the catechin group" - [Abstract] - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Green tea catechin consumption enhances exercise-induced abdominal fat loss in overweight and obese adults - J Nutr. 2009 Feb;139(2):264-70 - "for 12 wk ... There was a trend (P = 0.079) toward greater loss of body weight in the catechin group compared with the control group ... Percentage changes in fat mass did not differ between the catechin [5.2 (-7.0, -3.4)] and control groups [-3.5 (-5.4, 1.6)] (P = 0.208). However, percentage changes in total abdominal fat area [-7.7 (-11.7, -3.8) vs. -0.3 (-4.4, 3.9); P = 0.013], subcutaneous abdominal fat area [-6.2 (-10.2, -2.2) vs. 0.8 (-3.3, 4.9); P = 0.019], and fasting serum triglycerides (TG) [-11.2 (-18.8, -3.6) vs. 1.9 (-5.9, 9.7); P = 0.023] were greater in the catechin group. These findings suggest that green tea catechin consumption enhances exercise-induced changes in abdominal fat and serum TG" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Mediterranean Diet Reduces Long-term Risk Of Subsequent Weight Gain And Obesity Among Adults - Science Daily, 1/22/09 - "increased fruit and vegetable intake was associated with significantly lower risk of a medium WG (3,41 kg) over 10 years among adults of a Spanish Mediterranean population. Dietary strategies to increase fruit and vegetable intake to prevent and control overweight and obesity should be promoted more vigorously"
• Dietary L-Arginine Supplementation Reduces White Fat Gain and Enhances Skeletal Muscle and Brown Fat Masses in Diet-Induced Obese Rats - J Nutr. 2008 Dec 23 - "l-arginine-HCl ... Despite similar energy intake, absolute weights of white fat pads increased by 98% in control rats over a 12-wk period but only by 35% in arginine-supplemented rats. The arginine treatment reduced the relative weights of white fat pads by 30% and enhanced those of soleus muscle by 13%, extensor digitorum longus muscle by 11%, and brown fat by 34% compared with control rats ... arginine treatment resulted in lower serum concentrations of leptin, glucose, triglycerides, urea, glutamine, and branched-chain amino acids, higher serum concentrations of nitric-oxide metabolites, and improvement in glucose tolerance. Thus, dietary arginine supplementation shifts nutrient partitioning to promote muscle over fat gain and may provide a useful treatment for improving the metabolic profile and reducing body white fat in diet-induced obese rats" - See Jarrow Formulas, Arginine 1000, 1000 mg, 100 Easy-Solv Tablets at iHerb.
• Treatment of white coat hypertension with metformin - Int Heart J. 2008 Nov;49(6):671-9 - "White coat hypertension (WCH) is most likely a disorder associated with metabolic syndrome ... Twenty-five cases (14.7%) stopped metformin therapy due to excessive anorexia. At the end of a 6-month period, there were highly significant differences between the two groups with respect to the prevalences of resolved WCH, hyperbetalipoproteinemia, hypertriglyceridemia, dyslipidemia, overweight and obesity, and decreased fasting plasma glucose below 110 mg/dL ... Thus, the management of WCH should not focus solely on the regulation of blood pressure with antihypertensive medications, but rather on the prevention of future excess weight and various associated disorders, and metformin alone is an effective therapeutic option, most likely due to its powerful inhibitory effect on appetite"
• Low-carb Diets Can Affect Dieters' Cognition Skills - Science Daily, 12/11/08 - "A new study from the psychology department at Tufts University shows that when dieters eliminate carbohydrates from their meals, they performed more poorly on memory-based tasks than when they reduce calories, but maintain carbohydrates. When carbohydrates were reintroduced, cognition skills returned to normal"
• Lack Of Vitamin D Causes Weight Gain And Stunts Growth In Girls - Science Daily, 12/11/08 - "The high prevalence of vitamin D insufficiency in young people living in a sun-rich area was surprising," says study lead author, Richard Kremer, co-director of the Musculoskeletal Axis of the MUHC. "We found young women with vitamin D insufficiency were significantly heavier, with a higher body mass index and increased abdominal fat, than young women with normal levels" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Adiponectin Is A Metabolic Link Between Obesity And Bone Mineral Density - Science Daily, 11/25/08 - "adiponectin, a protein secreted from adipocytes, is a metabolic link that can explain, in part, the known positive relationship between obesity and both bone mineral density and reduced susceptibility to fractures ... In summary, elevated circulating adiponectin was associated with lower bone mass and weaker bones in growing mice compared to control animals" - See my adiponectin page for ways to increase it. - Ben
• Vitamin D Insufficiency Linked to Increased Body Fat - Medscape, 11/10/08 - "The study sample consisted of 90 postpubertal women aged 16 to 22 years and living in California ... Insufficiency of 25(OH)D, defined as a serum level of 29 ng/mL or less, was present in approximately 59% of participants, and the remaining 41% had sufficient 25(OH)D levels, defined as a serum level of 30 ng/mL or more. Serum 25(OH)D levels were strongly negatively related to CT measures of visceral and subcutaneous fat and to DXA values of body fat" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Drug 'tricks body to lose weight' - BBC News, 11/5/08 - "The drug SRT1720 - a chemical cousin of red wine extract resveratrol - targets the protein SIRT1, which is thought to combat ageing ... The French team from the University Louis Pasteur became interested in the SIRT1 protein after earlier studies showing resveratrol countered some effects of a high-calorie diet via SIRT1" - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Chronic Green Tea Consumption Decreases Body Mass, Induces Aromatase Expression, and Changes Proliferation and Apoptosis in Adult Male Rat Adipose Tissue - J Nutr. 2008 Nov;138(11):2156-2163 - "Green tea (GT) ... These results suggest new mechanisms for GT on body weight and highlight its potential benefit to prevent or treat obesity and the metabolic syndrome" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Fructose -- Found In High-fructose Corn Syrup, Sugar -- Sets Table For Weight Gain Without Warning - Science Daily, 10/16/08 - "Eating too much fructose can induce leptin resistance, a condition that can easily lead to becoming overweight when combined with a high-fat, high-calorie diet"
• MSG Use Is Linked to Obesity - New York Times, 8/25/08 - "After controlling for body mass index, smoking, physical activity and almost two dozen measures of daily nutrient intake, they found that the one-third of people who used the most MSG were almost three times as likely to be overweight — that is, to have a body mass index over 25 — as those who used none"
• Fructose May Make You Fatter - WebMD, 7/31/08 - "Fructose gets made into fat more quickly, and when that process is turned on there seems to be a signal that goes to the liver that says store all the other fats you are seeing"
• Metformin May Enhance Weight Loss in Female Adolescents - Medscape, 7/8/08 - "a significant decrease in body mass index was seen in females receiving metformin but not in those taking placebo. Sixty percent of participants who were metformin-adherent and who decreased food portion sizes had a decrease in body mass index of more than 5%" - See metformin at OffshoreRx1.com.
• 'Big Breakfast' Diet Helps Shed Pounds - WebMD, 6/17/08 - "Eating a 600-calorie breakfast rich in carbohydrates and protein helps dieters lose more weight long term than eating a modest breakfast and following a lower-carb eating plan ... In all, members of the big-breakfast group lost more than 21% of their body weight; low-carb group members lost 4.5%"
• Red Wine's Resveratrol May Help Battle Obesity - Science Daily, 6/16/08 - "resveratrol inhibited the pre-fat cells from increasing and prevented them from converting into mature fat cells. Also, resveratrol hindered fat storage. Most interesting, according to Fischer-Posovszky, was that resveratrol reduced production of certain cytokines (interleukins 6 and 8), substances that may be linked to the development of obesity-related disorders, such as diabetes and clogged coronary arteries. Also, resveratrol stimulated formation of a protein known to decrease the risk of heart attack. Obesity decreases this substance, called adiponectin" - [WebMD] - See resveratrol products at Amazon.com.
• Fish-Oil Supplements Plus Regular Aerobic Exercise Benefit Overweight Patients - Medscape, 5/22/08 - "FO [fish oil] supplements and regular exercise both reduce body fat and improve cardiovascular and metabolic health ... Increasing intake of n-3 FAs could be a useful adjunct to exercise programs aimed at improving body composition and decreasing cardiovascular disease risk"
• Role of Metformin for Weight Management in Patients Without Type 2 Diabetes (June) - Ann Pharmacother. 2008 May 13 - "The weight loss effects of metformin in overweight or obese adults and adolescents without diabetes appear promising; however, trials have been limited by small patient populations and weak design. Metformin may also have a positive effect on metabolic parameters such as waist circumference, fasting insulin and glucose levels, and triglycerides" - See metformin at at OffshoreRx1.com.
• Metformin May Delay Onset of Diabetes in At-Risk Subjects - Medscape, 3/24/08 - "Metformin treatment, compared with placebo or no treatment, reduced body mass index by 5.3%, fasting glucose by 4.5%, fasting insulin by 14.4%, and calculated insulin resistance by 22.6% ... Metformin treatment also reduced triglycerides and LDL cholesterol by 5.3% and 5.6%, respectively, and increased HDL cholesterol by 5.0% ... The incidence of new-onset diabetes was reduced by 40% (odds ratio, 0.6), with an absolute risk reduction of 6%, during a mean trial duration of 1.8 years" - I don't have diabetes yet still take 1,000 mg of metformin per day.  I still feel high blood sugar and advanced glycation end products are major causes of aging.  See metformin at OffshoreRx1.com.
• Obese children may benefit from CLA: study - Nutra USA, 2/29/08 - "when these results were compared to those from the placebo tests, CLA improved fat loss at a rate of 0.024 kg per gram of CLA per week" - [Abstract] - Note:  0.024 kg = 0.1 lbs so the normal 3 gram dose would be 0.3 pounds per week. It might not sound like much but 0.3 x 52 = 15.6 pounds per year.  See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.
• Conjugated linoleic acid reduces body fat accretion and lipogenic gene expression in neonatal pigs fed low- or high-fat formulas - J Nutr. 2008 Mar;138(3):449-54 - "CLA reduced body fat accretion regardless of dietary fat content ... Adipose tissue expression of acetyl-CoA carboxylase-alpha and lipoprotein lipase were significantly reduced by CLA treatment" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.
• Effects of conjugated linoleic acid and exercise on bone mass in young male Balb/C mice - Lipids Health Dis. 2006 Mar 23;5:7 - "Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) has been reported to lower body fat mass. However, weight loss is generally associated with negative effects on bone mass, but CLA is reported to have beneficial effects on bone ... a combination therapy of CLA and EX on bone health has not been studied ... although CLA decreased gain in body weight by 35%, it however increased bone mass by both reducing bone resorption and increasing bone formation. EX also decreased gain in body weight by 21% and increased bone mass; but a combination of CLA and EX, however, did not show any further increase in bone mass" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.
• Artificial Sweeteners Linked To Weight Gain - Science Daily, 2/10/08 - "relative to rats that ate yogurt sweetened with glucose (a simple sugar with 15 calories/teaspoon, the same as table sugar), rats given yogurt sweetened with zero-calorie saccharin later consumed more calories, gained more weight, put on more body fat, and didn't make up for it by cutting back later, all at levels of statistical significance"
• Green Tea May Ward Off Weight Gain - WebMD. 1/23/08 - "Here's what those preliminary lab tests in mice show: ... Less weight and fat gain. Among mice with an obesity gene, those that ate chow laced with green tea extract gained less weight and less fat ... Less fat in the liver. There was less sign of "fatty liver" disease in the mice with the obesity gene that ate chow laced with green tea extract ... Lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels in mice with the obesity gene that ate the chow laced with green tea extract, compared to other mice with the same obesity gene" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Lipoic Acid Could Reduce Atherosclerosis, Weight Gain - Science Daily, 1/14/08 - "lipoic acid supplements reduced atherosclerotic lesion formation in two types of mice that are widely used to study cardiovascular disease, by 55 percent and 40 percent, respectively. The supplements were also associated with almost 40 percent less body weight gain, and lower levels of triglycerides in very low-density lipoproteins" - See alpha lipoic acid at Amazon.com.
• Most Effective Weight Loss Diet Revealed, According To New Study - Science Daily, 1/11/08 - "a high protein, low carbohydrate diet is most effective at reducing hunger and promoting weight loss, at least in the short term"
• Metformin, Lifestyle Changes Effective in Antipsychotic-Induced Weight Gain - Medscape, 1/10/08 - "Lifestyle intervention plus metformin had the greatest effect on weight loss, and metformin alone was more effective than lifestyle intervention plus placebo in increasing insulin sensitivity and reversing weight gain in these patients with schizophrenia and significant weight gain from atypical antipsychotic agents"
• More support for omega-3 and weight management - Nutra USA, 12/21/07 - "Laboratory mice fed a high fat diet and supplemented with eight per cent fish oil gained less weight and metabolised more fat than their murine counterparts not receiving the supplement" - [Abstract] - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.
• Kids: Less Sleep May Lead to Overweight - WebMD, 11/5/07
• Effects of milk supplementation with conjugated linoleic acid (isomers cis-9, trans-11 and trans-10, cis-12) on body composition and metabolic syndrome components - Br J Nutr. 2007 Jul 11;:1-8 - "Subjects were randomised to a daily intake of 500 ml milk supplemented with 3 g CLA (using a mixture of the bioactive isomers cis-9, trans-11 and trans-10, cis-12, marketed as Tonalin(R), Naturlinea; Central Lechera Asturiana) or placebo for 12 weeks ... The supplementation of milk with 3 g CLA over 12 weeks results in a significant reduction of fat mass in overweight but not in obese subjects. CLA supplementation was not associated with any adverse effects or biological changes" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.
• Biology Dictates Diet Success - WebMD, 5/15/07 - "The low-glycemic-load diet was effective for a lot of the individuals who were high-insulin secretors and who previously had challenges losing weight and keeping it off"
• Soup First Cuts Calories Later - WebMD, 5/1/07 - "Participants consumed 20% fewer calories when they started their meals with soup"
• Diets Don't Work Long-Term - WebMD, 4/11/07
• Study Examines Calorie Restriction and Glycemic Load - Doctor's Guide, 4/10/07 - "Unlike several other long-term studies, which have reported greater weight loss with low GL diets at six months but no differences by 12 months, our data show no significant short-term or long-term differences"
• Report: Green Tea - Natural Support For Healthy Weight Control - Life Extension Magazine, 4/07 - "Strong scientific evidence suggests that green tea confers critical cardiovascular benefits, may protect against a variety of deadly cancers, reduces the risk of diabetic complications, and may mitigate the effects of various autoimmune disorders ... If these broad-spectrum benefits were not reason enough for health-conscious adults to consider adding green tea to their daily supplement regimen, emerging research that confirms green tea’s effects in facilitating fat burning, weight management, and optimal body composition surely is"
• Obesity Surgery Can Lead To Memory Loss, Other Problems - Science Daily, 3/13/07
• Atkins Diet Tops Others in Study - washingtonpost.com, 3/6/07 - "The study by Stanford University researchers compared the Atkins approach to three others: the standard low-fat, reduced calorie regimen long recommended by physicians and weight loss experts; the Zone, a reduced carbohydrate approach developed by author Barry Sears; and the very low-fat, high-carbohydrate regimen created by physician Dean Ornish ... For all practical purposes the programs all worked about the same ... The extra four pounds lost by the Atkins group are not very meaningful" - Another consideration is that you don't know how much of that four pounds is water loss caused by high protein diets. - Ben
• Get the diet scoop: 6 promising supplements, 6 to avoid - CNN, 2/16/07 - "promising ... Caffeine ... EGCG ... Chromium ... Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) ... 5-HTP ... L-dopa or L-tyrosine"
• Over-the-Counter Weight Loss Pill OK'd - WebMD, 2/7/07 - "FDA approved orlistat capsules -- called "alli" -- as an over-the-counter weight loss aid for overweight adults ... the pill will be available in U.S. stores by this summer ... In studies, most people lost 5-10 pounds over six months"
• Regulator doubts calorie-burning claims of Enviga drink, made by Coke, Nestle - USA Today, 2/5/07
• Long-Term Safety of Diet Drugs Unknown - WebMD, 1/8/07
• An open-label pilot study of the combination therapy of metformin and fluoxetine for weight reduction  - Int J Obes (Lond). 2006 Sep 12 - "In a 6.68-month period, a 7.89 kg decrease in weight (9.32%) and a 3.43 U decrease in BMI (10.14%) were observed in participants of the case group that was statistically significant"
• CLA could cut 'weight creep' during holidays, ageing - Nutra USA, 8.22/06 - "the subjects taking CLA safely reduced their body fat mass by one kilogram (2.2 lbs) and their body weight by 0.6 kg (1.3 lbs). In comparison, those in the placebo group gained 0.7 kg (1.5 lbs) of body fat mass and 1.1 kg (2.4 lbs) of body weight during the months that are especially problematic for overweight people ... the majority of studies that have reported positive results have all been performed with Tonalin CLA… which has a very high concentration of the bioactive isomers cis-9, trans-11, and trans-10, cis-12" - See iHerb and Vitacost CLA products.
• Low Glycemic Index Diet Best For Weight Loss And Cardiovascular Health - Science Daily, 7/26/06 - "Between the two high-carbohydrate diets, lowering the glycemic index doubled fat loss"
• CLA Weight Loss Debate Continues - WebMD, 5/22/06 - "for six months ... Three months into the study, the CLA group had lost an extra 1.5 pounds of body fat, compared to the placebo group ... At the study’s end, the CLA group lost 5.6% more body fat mass than those taking the placebo. The CLA group also lost about 3.3 pounds more than the placebo group" - See iHerb and Vitacost CLA products.
• Exercise Trumps Diet for Weight Loss - WebMD, 4/14/06
• Pine Nut Oil Boosts Appetite Suppressors Up To 60 Percent For 4 Hours - Science Daily, 4/4/06 - "CLA differentially reduces fat mass in men and women in just 3 months ... After six months, there was an average fat mass loss of 2 kilos corresponding to about 6% fat loss. At the same time, "overall body weight loss was 'only' 1.5 kilos because there was a gain in muscle mass,"" - See iHerb and Vitacost CLA products.
• Vegetarian Diet May Help Weight Loss - WebMD, 4/3/06
• Telmisartan But Not Valsartan Increases Caloric Expenditure and Protects Against Weight Gain and Hepatic Steatosis - Hypertension. 2006 Mar 27 - "Telmisartan, but not valsartan, promoted increases in caloric expenditure and protected against dietary-induced weight gain ... Telmisartan reduced the accumulation of visceral fat and decreased adipocyte size to a much greater extent than valsartan and was also associated with a significant reduction in hepatic triglyceride levels"
• About 5% of Long-term Niacin Users Evolve Into HDL Hyperresponders - Doctor's Guide, 3/14/06 - "Overall, these patients lost 4% of body weight while on niacin treatment" - See iHerb or Vitacost niacin products.
• Midnight Snack Won't Pack Fat - WebMD, 2/2/06 - "weight gain depends on how many calories we eat, and not when we eat them"
• Study Could Lead To A Novel Strategy For Treating Obesity - Science Daily, 1/16/06 - "Their results suggest that restoring fatty-acid levels in the brain may be a promising way to treat obesity"
• After Gastric Bypass Surgery, Important to Check Vitamin B1 Deficiency - Doctor's Guide, 12/29/05
• The Perricone Weight Loss Program - Life Extension Magazine, 11/05 - "The reason that traditional low-calorie diets fail is that they lack omega-3s, which are essential for healthy metabolism. If you follow the anti-inflammatory diet and ensure the intake of plenty of omega-3 fatty acids, you will successfully lose weight" - See Mega Twin EPA at iHerb or Vitacost.
• Getting Older Without Adding Extra Weight - WebMD, 10/3/05
• Low-Fat, Vegan Diet May Be Effective for Weight Loss - Medscape, 9/15/05 - "14-week trial reported in the September issue of the American Journal of Medicine ... Mean body weight decreased by 5.8 +/- 3.2 kg in the vegan group and by 3.8 +/- 2.8 kg in the control group" - Note: 5.8 kg is 12.8 pounds, 3.8 kg is 8.4 pounds.  12.8 - 8.4 = 4.4 pounds more weight loss in the vegan group after 14 weeks. [Abstract]
• New Study Shows High-Carb, Vegan Diet Causes Major Weight Loss - Doctor's Guide, 9/9/05 - "A low-fat, plant-based diet is more effective at helping women lose weight and improve insulin sensitivity than an omnivorous diet ... a low-fat, primarily vegan diet may slow the progression of prostate cancer"
• Breakfast Cereal Helps Maintain Healthy Weight - WebMD, 9/1/05 - "In a study of girls followed from age 9 to age 19, regular cereal eaters had fewer weight problems than infrequent cereal eaters"
• Diet Soda Surprise May Not Be So Slimming - CBS 2 Chicago, 8/23/05 - "people who were drinking diet soft drinks two or more per day had a 57 percent chance of becoming overweight by a seven- to eight-year follow-up, which was significantly higher than the people who are drinking regular soft drinks"
• Research May Provide New Link Between Soft Drinks And Weight Gain - Science Daily, 8/2/05 - "Those consuming the fructose-sweetened water showed significant weight gain over the course of the study, with an average final weight of 48 grams—compared with averages below 44 grams for the other groups—and had about 90 percent more body fat than the mice that consumed water only"
• Weight Loss and Other Benefits of Conjugated Linoleic Acid - Life Extension Magazine, 6/05 - "Researchers concluded that a dose of 3.4 grams results in significant body-fat loss compared to placebo, but that greater amounts of CLA do not result in greater fat loss" - See iHerb and Vitacost CLA products.
• Magic Pill? - CBS 2 Chicago, 5/20/05 - "What some people believe is a magic pill to fight fat is a supplement called hoodia, which claims to suppress your appetite"
• Vertical Gastrectomy Suggested as Weight-Loss Procedure of Choice for Older Obese Patients - Doctor's Guide, 5/20/05
• Consumer Reports Rates Diet Plans - WebMD, 5/9/05 - "Weight Watchers got the highest rating. On the 1 to 5 rating scale -- where 5 is best and 1 is worst -- Weight Watchers scored a 4"
• Skipping Exercise Makes Fat a Bigger Problem - WebMD, 4/19/05 - "Just five hours after exercise stopped, the rat's abdominal fat cells started to send off chemical signals that made them start to swell. After two days of no exercise, the fat cells got 19% larger -- and the rats' stomach fat got 48% heavier"
• Low-Carb Diets: More Protein May Not Help - WebMD, 4/15/05
• Supplement Shows Promise for Body Fat Loss - WebMD, 4/1/05 - "The group that had already been taking CLA lost no more weight or body fat, but they maintained the body fat losses seen in the previous year. People who began taking the supplement during year two of the study lost an average of 3.5 pounds and also saw reductions in overall body fat" - See iHerb and Vitacost CLA products.
• Yogurt May Help Burn Fat, Promote Weight Loss - WebMD, 3/17/05 - "obese adults who ate three servings of fat-free yogurt a day as part of a reduced-calorie diet lost 22% more weight and 61% more body fat than those who simply cut calories and didn't bone up on calcium. Yogurt eaters also lost 81% more fat in the stomach area than non-yogurt eaters"
• Hoodia for Weight Loss? - Dr. Weil, 3/11/05
• Green Tea: The Next Performance Enhancer? - WebMD, 1/28/05 - "Ten weeks of green tea supplements plus strenuous exercise made mice swim longer and stronger than mice that swam their laps without performance enhancement ... The mice got stronger because the green tea made them burn fat more efficiently ... the amount of green tea eaten by the mice would work out to about 4 cups of green tea a day for a 165-pound human athlete" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea extracts.
• Think twice about weight-loss surgery - MSNBC, 1/28/05
• Green Tea Fights Fat - WebMD, 1/26/05 - "the first group drank a bottle of oolong tea fortified with green tea extract containing 690 milligrams of catechins, and the other group drank a bottle of oolong tea with 22 milligrams of catechins ... After three months, the study showed that the men who drank the green tea extract lost more weight (5.3 pounds vs. 2.9 pounds) and experienced a significantly greater decrease in BMI, waist size, and total body fat" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea extracts.
• Weight-Loss Supplements: Do They Work? - HealthDay, 1/15/05
• Less Sleep Could Mean More Weight - WebMD, 1/10/05 - "Total sleep times tended to decrease as body weight increased ... The difference in total sleep time between patients who were normal weight and those who weren't was only 16 minutes per day"
• Sleep Loss Feeds Appetite - WebMD, 12/7/04
• Healthy Carbs, Fats for Weight Loss - WebMD, 11/23/04 - "eating a so-called low-glycemic diet may overcome the body's natural tendency to slow metabolism when calories are restricted. A low-glycemic diet emphasizes healthy fats and carbohydrates"
• Water-Rich Diet More Effective Than Low-Fat Regimen for Weight Loss - Medscape, 11/18/04
• Egg Breakfast May Help Weight Loss Diet - WebMD, 11/18/04
• High- and Low-Carb Diets Produce Similar Results - Medscape, 11/17/04 - "A rare head-to-head comparison of a high glycemic index (GI)/high-carbohydrate diet with a low-GI/low-carbohydrate diet resulted in comparable weight loss and increase in insulin sensitivity"
• Low-Fat Diet Best for Lasting Weight Loss - WebMD, 11/16/04
• Sleep More to Fight Obesity - WebMD, 11/16/04
• Study: Low-Fat Diets Better Long-Term - Intelihealth, 11/16/04 - "Regardless of how they shed pounds in the first place, big losers stayed that way by limiting fat rather than carbohydrates"
• Want to Cut Calories? Just Add Water - WebMD, 11/15/04
• Portion Control Pays Off in Weight Loss - WebMD, 10/15/04
• Portion Control Induces Greatest Weight Loss in Obese Patients - Doctor's Guide, 10/14/04 - "Although we saw similar patterns of weight loss related to reduced dietary fat consumption, increased fruit and vegetable consumption, increased physical activity and increased planned exercise, the target behavior that induced the greatest weight loss was portion control"
• Novel Fiber Limits Sugar Absorption - Life Extension Magazine, 9/04 - "Life Extension recommends that people seeking to lose weight consume the following supplements: ... Chromium polynicotinate 600-1000 mcg daily ... Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) 3000-4000 mg daily ... PGX™ highly viscous fiber blend 1000-3000 mg 5-10 minutes before each meal with 8-16 ounces of water ... Consider asking your doctor to prescribe 500 mg two to three times daily of the insulin-normalizing drug metformin"
• Vitamin Supplements May Slow Middle-Age Weight Gain - HealthDay, 9/10/04 - "the people who had taken multivitamins, vitamin B-6, vitamin B-12 and chromium had less weight gain over the previous 10 years than other respondents"
• Low-glycemic-index plan is better than low-fat or low-carb diets, study says - HealthDay, 8/26/04 - "After two to four months, the researchers found that the rats given the high-glycemic-index diet had 71 percent more body fat and 8 percent less lean muscle mass, compared with rats on the low-glycemic-index diet"
• Sick of Low-Carb Diets? Try Low-GI - WebMD, 8/26/04 - "The animals on the high-GI diet were gaining more weight with same amount of food, and we had to cut their food back increasingly over time to keep them at the same weight ... But what was really interesting to us was that even though they maintained the same weight because they got less food, the high-GI group in both rats and mice doubled their body fat and had a reduction ... in muscle mass, which is exactly what you don't want"
• Grapefruit Lowers Weight, Fights Cancer - HealthDay, 8/25/04 - "At the end of 12 weeks the placebo group lost on average just under half a pound, the extract group 2.4 pounds, the grapefruit juice group 3.3 pounds, and the fresh grapefruit group 3.5 pounds ... In this study they had one and a half grapefruits a day"
• Six Patterns for Weight Loss Management - WebMD, 8/4/04
• Whey protein better than meat for reducing body weight - Nutra USA, 6/7/04 - "Increasing the dietary density of whey protein, but not of red meat, reduced body weight gain by 4 per cent, they add, while whey protein also reduced plasma insulin concentration by 40 per cent and increased insulin sensitivity, compared to meat protein" - See iHerb or Vitacost whey protein products.
• CLA: The New Miracle Weight Loss Pill? - WebMD, 5/24/04 - "Both CLA groups lost weight -- about 4 pounds; the placebo group stayed the same ... The CLA syrup group had a 9% body fat loss; the CLA pill group had 7% loss; the placebo group had no body fat loss ... The increased lipoprotein levels may be a byproduct of fat loss, says Gaullier. "The body does show inflammation caused by the process of eliminating fat. We think this is what is happening, but we don't know for certain."" [Abstract] - See iHerb and Vitacost CLA products.
• Weight Watchers Tend To Keep Pounds Off - WebMD, 4/8/04 - "That's not the story with Weight Watchers weight losers. The study shows that after two years, three-fourths of their lost weight stays lost. After five years, half the lost weight was still gone ... people who lose weight and keep it off -- whether they are on Weight Watchers or not -- have several things in common: ... They take in 1,400 calories a day: 56% from carbs, 24% from fat, and 20% from protein"
• A Safer Gastric Bypass Surgery - HealthDay, 4/7/04
• Evidence-based Products - Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals, 4/04 - "The first received Super CitriMax at 2,800mg HCA per day ... After eight weeks, the first group lost 6.2 per cent of body weight and reduced BMI by 6.3 per cent" - See Super CitriMax products at iHerb.
• What makes people fat, why diets don't work, and what triggers appetite? - Dr. Murray's Natural Facts, 3/17/04 - "PGX™ lowers after meal blood sugar levels by approximately 20 to 40% and also lowers insulin secretion by approximately 40% producing a whole body insulin sensitivity index improvement of nearly 50% - a phenomenal accomplishment that is unequalled by any drug or natural health product.10 PGX™ is particularly well-suited for syndrome X" - See Vitacost or PGX at Amazon.com PGX products.
• More Carbs, More Exercise = More Weight Loss - WebMD, 3/5/04 - "The thinnest people eat the most carbs ... Without exception, a high-complex-carbohydrate, high-vegetable-protein diet is associated with low body mass ... High-protein diets were associated with higher body weight"
• Kids Who Eat Too Much Fat, or Too Little, Prone to Weight Gain - HealthDay, 3/4/04
• Green Tea Boosts Metabolism Without Increasing Heart Rate - Clinical Psychiatry News, 3/04 - "Patients took two 375-mg capsules twice daily, for a total daily epigallocatechin gallate dose of 270 mg ... By week 12, body weight decreased by a mean of 4.6% and waist circumference by 4.48%" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea extracts.
• Growth Hormone May Be Fat Fighter - WebMD, 2/13/04 - "the dosage of growth hormone was increased to 400 µg per day in men and 600 µg in women ... those who used growth hormone lost an average of about 5 pounds and kept it off for up to nine months. Researchers say the weight loss was entirely caused by a loss of body fat ... growth hormone improved cholesterol profiles -- increasing the level of "good" HDL cholesterol by 19%" - Maybe my math is off but I calculate 500 micrograms to be 1.5 IU (0.5 mg/5mg = x /15 IU, x = .5 mg * 15 IU/5 mg, x = 1.5 IU) - Ben
• Is Weight Loss Surgery Too Risky? - Dr. Weil, 2/10/04
• HCA, better than ephedra? - Nutra USA, 2/4/04 - "study’s principal investigator, Dr Harry Preuss of Georgetown University Medical Center ... Super CitriMax performed a function not noted in ephedra however - it significantly increased serum serotonin levels (a mechanism of appetite control and eating behavior) and lowered serum leptin levels, a biomarker of the gene that regulates obesity" - See Super CitriMax products at iHerb.
• Dieters Decrease Heart Risk on Moderate Fat Program - Doctor's Guide, 1/29/04 - "Over the course of the study, the low-fat diet group experienced a 12 percent decrease in HDL ("good") cholesterol but the moderate-fat diet group had no change. This indicates that a moderate-fat diet blunts the decrease in HDL ("good") cholesterol during weight loss"
• Study Links High-Carbs And Weight Loss - Intelihealth, 1/27/04
• More Carbs, Less Weight - HealthDay, 1/26/04 - "assigned to one of three 12-week programs ... They were told they could eat as much as they wanted ... Participants in the low-fat, high-carb groups lost weight and those who exercised lost even more. The average weight loss was almost 11 pounds"
• Atkins, South Beach or Dr. Phil? An expert rates the books - USA Today, 1/15/04
• Supplement Solutions For Weight Loss - Natural Foods Merchandiser, 1/04
• Drinking Water May Speed Weight Loss - WebMD, 1/5/04 - "The researchers estimate that over the course of a year, a person who increases his water consumption by 1.5 liters a day would burn an extra 17,400 calories, for a weight loss of approximately five pounds"
• Eating Cereal Helps Kids Control Weight - HealthDay, 12/8/03 - "for children who ate cereal eight or more times during the two weeks of the study, the risk for being overweight was reduced to one in five. For those who ate little cereal, the risk increased to almost one in two"
• Weight Control Doesn't Have to Be a Battle - HealthDay, 11/2/03
• Stomach Pacemaker May Be Low-Risk Option - WebMD, 10/16/03
• Meal Replacement Plans Do Work - HealthDay, 10/13/03 - "People who followed a meal replacement plan for 10 years weighed, on average, about 33 pounds less than people who didn't use a meal replacement plan"
• Moderate Exercise as Effective as Intense Workouts for Dropping Pounds - WebMD, 9/9/03 - "along with dieting, when overweight women started a new exercise routine after years of being inactive, it didn't really matter whether they came out of the gate running or walking briskly. After a year, there was only a total weight-loss difference of 1 1/2 pounds between them"
• Dietary Experts Debate Carbohydrates - Intelihealth, 9/2/03 - "Blood sugar levels may shoot twice as high after a high-GI meal as after a low one, and that unleashes metabolic havoc: The body responds with a surge of insulin, which prompts it to quickly store the sugar in muscle and fat cells. The high sugar also inhibits another hormone, glucagon, which ordinarily tells the body to burn its stored fuel ... Blood sugar plunges. So much is stored so fast that within two or three hours, levels may be lower than they were before the meal. Suddenly, the body needs more fuel. But because glucagon is still in short supply, the body does not tap into its fat supply for energy. The inevitable result? Hunger ... After one year, the low-GI volunteers had dropped seven pounds of pure fat. The others had put on four"
• Eating Breakfast Strengthens Fight Against Obesity - Physician's Weekly, 9/1/03 - "people who regularly skip breakfast are 4.5 times more likely to be overweight and those who eat four or more meals per day are less likely to be overweight. The study also found that Americans who eat later during the day are no more likely to be overweight than those who do not"
• French Secrets to Staying Slim - WebMD, 8/22/03 - "Only 7% of French people are obese, compared with 30% of Americans ... The average portion size in Paris was 25% smaller than in Philly ... Chinese restaurants in Philly served meals that were 72% bigger than Parisian Chinese restaurants"
• New Diet Approach May Fight Child Obesity - WebMD, 8/12/03 - "a reduced-glycemic-load diet that emphasizes foods with a low to moderate glycemic index and allows children to eat until they're full was more effective than a traditional low-fat, calorie-restricted diet in helping obese children shed pounds and slow the progression of insulin resistance, a risk factor for diabetes ... Complex carbohydrates, such as whole-grain bread and cereals, brown rice, and vegetables, are foods with a low to moderate glycemic index"
• Could a Pill Treat Obesity and Lower Cholesterol? - HealthDay, 7/29/03
• Thyroid boost may speed weight loss - USA Today, 7/28/03
• Skip Breakfast, Get Fat - HealthDay, 7/11/03 - "late eaters are no more likely to be overweight than anyone else ... Americans who regularly skip breakfast are 4.5 times more likely to be fat ... those who eat four or more meals a day are actually on the thinner side ... people who ate more than three times a day were about half as likely to be fat as those who ate three or fewer times a day. Ma suspects the difference may have something to do with fewer spikes in blood sugar levels among the frequent eaters"
• Growth Hormone May Help Obesity - HealthDay, 6/27/03 - "gave small doses of growth hormone to 39 people who were about 40 percent overweight. The volunteer participants lost an average of slightly more than 5 pounds ... Growth hormone, they believe, helps control appetite and speeds up the metabolism, which burns calories. When people are obese, the amount of growth hormone in their bodies decreases, which contributes to the accumulation of fat and loss of muscle mass. That, in turn, may sap the person's energy to exercise"
• Obese Individuals Experience Modest Weight Loss with Growth-Hormone Therapy - Doctor's Guide, 6/24/03 - "9-month study ... were encouraged to slowly lose weight by exercising and reducing their daily caloric intake by 500 calories. Twenty-three subjects self-injected growth hormone nightly and 17 self-administered placebo injections ... People who took growth hormone lost an average of 2.4 kg, or 5.25 pounds. This weight loss was all due to loss of body fat; they did not lose any muscle mass ... Most of the fat loss was in the abdominal area. There were also improvements in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol of about 19%"
• Anticonvulsant Might Prevent Recidivism after Weight Loss - Doctor's Guide, 6/17/03
• High Protein Diets More Effective At Maintaining Weight Loss - Doctor's Guide, 6/4/03 - "Despite no differences in attitudes to eating, a protein intake of 18% as energy versus 15% as energy resulted in improved weight maintenance, as well as improved fat distribution based on body waist circumference, and improved substrate oxidation and satiety"
• Epilepsy Drug [topiramate] Has Weight Loss Effect, But Adverse Events Stop Study - Doctor's Guide, 6/3/03 - "Patients on two of three higher doses used in the study (192 mg and 256 mg) had a mean weight loss of 12-13 kg [12.5 kg = 27.5 pounds] when the study was ended. At this time the patients had been taking the drug for between 60 and 76 weeks. By comparison, patients in the placebo arm lost a mean of 2.9 kg. These losses corresponded to a mean decrease of 12% to 13% from baseline for the two highest dose groups ... If further trials also show this [result], topiramate would be the first drug with such a long term weight loss effect ... 19% of patients withdrew because of side effects. Mild to moderate paresthesia was the most common" - See OffshoreRx1.com  or drugstore.com.
• Orlistat Keeps The Weight Off Over Three Years In Metabolic Syndrome Patients - Doctor's Guide, 6/3/03 - See online prescriptions.
• Low-Carbohydrate Diet Better Than Low-Fat for Weight Loss, Insulin Sensitivity, and Triglycerides - Doctor's Guide, 5/29/03
• Red Meat May Be Key to High-Protein Diet - WebMD, 5/9/03 - "100 women were enrolled in the study -- all overweight, with an average body mass index (BMI) of 33. For 12 weeks, half the women ate a high-protein diet of 34% protein, 46% carbohydrate, and 20% fat. The other half ate a high-carbohydrate diet that was 17% protein, 64% carbohydrate, and 20% fat ... Each diet consisted of about 1, 340 calories, and protein in both diets was from lean red meat ... the high-protein-diet women lost substantially more weight ... the high-meat eaters also had 22% lower levels of triglycerides ... Bottom line: Eat fewer refined carbohydrates -- table sugar, baked goods, white bread, pasta -- and more fruits and vegetables ... Eat lots of lean protein -- sirloin steak, flank steak, chicken, eggs, tofu, and fish"
• Shedding Pounds Not as Tough as You Think - HealthDay, 5/9/03
• Had it with High Carbs? - Dr. Weil, 5/2/03
• Low-Carb Diets Work Without Boosting Heart Risk - HealthDay, 4/18/03 - "after six months, the 22 women on the low-carb plan averaged an 18.7-pound loss, while the 20 women on the low-fat plan averaged an 8.5-pound loss ... The low-carbohydrate group, at the three-month mark, was averaging 15 percent of calories from carbohydrates, 28 percent from protein and 57 percent from fat. At the six-month mark, they were eating 30 percent carbs, 23 percent protein and 46 percent fat ... The low-fat group was averaging 54 percent of calories from carbohydrates three months into the study, 18 percent from protein and 28 percent from fat. At six months, the totals were 53 percent carbs, 18 percent protein and 29 percent fat ... Average calorie intake was similar for both groups -- 1,302 a day for the low-carb group after six months and 1,247 for the low-fat group"
• Yogurt May Help Burn Fat - HealthDay, 4/18/03
• The Dairy Calcium in Yogurt Helps People Lose Belly - WebMD, 4/15/03 - "put 34 obese people on a low-cal diet. Sixteen of them got pills with 400 to 500 mg of calcium per day. The other 18 people ate enough yogurt to give them 1100 mg of calcium per day ... After 12 weeks, everybody lost a lot of fat ... Sixty percent of the yogurt eaters' weight loss was belly fat, while only 26% of the comparison group's loss was belly fat"
• Calcium Helps Girls Keep the Weight Off - HealthDay, 4/14/03 - "Whether calcium comes from dairy products or supplements, girls who consume the highest levels weigh less than girls who consume lower levels ... as little as a daily increase of one cup of milk or a small piece of cheese, about 300 milligrams of calcium, resulted in one-half inch less of abdominal fat and as much as two pounds less of body weight. "I have reason to believe that the same effect occurs in boys,""
• Calcium for Weight Loss? - WebMD, 4/14/03
• Commercial Diet Programs Beat Do-It-Yourself Ones - HealthDay, 4/8/03 - "At the end of the first year, the self-help group lost and maintained 2.86 to 3.08 pounds. By the end of the second year, however, the weight was back to what it had been at the beginning of the study ... The Weight Watchers group lost 9.46 to 11 pounds by the end of the first year, and 5.94 to 6.6 pounds overall by the end of the second year"
• You Can Trim Down Online - HealthDay, 4/8/03 - "people in the e-mail counseling group lost more than twice as much weight as those just using the basic Internet weight-loss program. At the end of a year, the people in the e-mail counseling group lost an average of 10 pounds while those in the basic program lost an average of 4 pounds"
• Intermittent and On-Demand Very Low Calorie Diets Bring Significant Weight Loss - Doctor's Guide, 4/3/03 - "All patients started with 16 weeks on a very low calorie diet. Then, patients assigned to an intermittent group were scheduled to use a very low calorie diet for two weeks every third month, while patients in an on-demand group were told to use a very low calorie diet whenever their body weight passed an individualized cut-off level ... Completers in both groups maintained highly significant weight losses after two years. Patients in the intermittent group lost 7.0 [15.43 pounds] +/- 11.0 [24.25 pounds] kg. Patients in the on-demand group lost 9.1 [20.06 pounds] +/- 9.7 [21.38 pounds] kg"
• Meal Replacement Diet Keeps Weight Off - thesandiegochannel.com, 3/28/03 - "The group that lost more used meal replacements"
• Cardiovascular Risk Factors Affected By Diet -  Doctor's Guide, 2/27/03 - "Although patients were advised to maintain an identical energy intake with the different diets, there was significant weight loss on the low glycaemic index diet compared with weight gain on the high sucrose diet"
• Band-Associated Re-Operation Common, But Safe, After Laparoscopic Gastric Banding - Doctor's Guide, 2/19/03
• Light Sleeper, Heavy Gainer - HealthDay, 2/14/03 - "Sleep loss can result in high blood levels of glucose, which causes your body to overproduce insulin and makes it easier to gain weight ... Sleep deprivation can increase production of cortisol, a stress hormone that stimulates the appetite ... Lack of sleep can lead to a growth hormone deficiency, which can cause you to put on fat, rather than muscle"
• The Great Weight Debate - WebMD, 2/6/03
• Diglyceride-Rich Foods May Promote Weight Loss - New Hope Natural Media, 1/30/03 - "79 obese men and women from ages 19 to 75 were assigned to incorporate specific food products that contained high amounts of diglycerides (from rapeseed oil, also known as Canola oil) or triglycerides (from rapeseed, soybean and safflower oils) in their diets for 24 weeks. All participants were put on a low-calorie diet that contained 30% to 35% of energy as fat, 45% to 50% of energy as carbohydrate, and 15% to 20% of energy as protein ... Body weight and total fat mass decreased significantly in the group consuming diglycerides by almost 4% and 8%, respectively, compared with those consuming triglycerides"
• Bupropion May Aid Weight Loss - Clinical Psychiatry News, 1/03 - "Of those in the bupropion group, 52% lost at least 5% of their body weight during the 26-week study, compared with 15% of the placebo group" - Bupropion is available online as Zyban.
• A New Option for Weight Loss Surgery - WebMD, 1/21/03
• Adjustable Gastric Band Safe, Effective in Severe Obesity - Medscape, 1/21/03
• CLA for weight loss and diabetes - Life Extension Magazine, 1/03 - "CLA supplementation has been shown to improve the lean mass to body fat ratio, decreasing fat deposition, especially in the abdomen and enhancing muscle growth" - See iHerb and Vitacost CLA products.
• Acute Fast Does Not Induce Compensatory Energy and Nutrient Intake - Doctor's Guide, 1/2/03
• Dramatic Weight Loss Isn't Risky For Men - WebMD, 12/9/02
• Bariatric Surgery Used On Obese Kids - Intelihealth, 11/4/02
• Weight Loss Surgery Adds Years to Life - WebMD, 10/11/02
• A Weight Loss Pill [phentermine] that Works? - Dr. Weil, 9/24/02
• Topiramate shows promise as weight-loss drug - Doctor's Guide, 9/2/02 - "A six-month trial of the antiepileptic drug topiramate (TOPAMAX, Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc) for the treatment of obesity has found the drug helped reduce body weight between 6 percent and 8 percent ... weight loss continued at the six-month cut-off point. In contrast, he said, the two weight-loss drugs currently on the market, orlistat (Xenical, Roche) and sibutramine (Meridia, Abbott Laboratories) plateau between three and six months ... The most common side effects were parasthesia, memory difficulty, fatigue, somnolence, appetite loss, taste perversion, concentration difficulty and dizziness"
• Dining out without guilt - USA Today, 8/26/02
• Stepping up the weight loss - USA Today, 8/26/02 - "Some of the most intriguing answers have been discovered by studying people in the National Weight Control Registry, a group of more than 3,000 people who have maintained a 30-pound weight loss for a year. Registry members lost weight in different ways, but they generally keep it off by exercising for about an hour a day, eating a relatively low-calorie, low-fat diet, weighing themselves regularly, having breakfast every day and keeping track of what they eat ... Brownell says that if people watch portion sizes, eat fruits and vegetables and less junk, "they'd be 90% of the way toward a healthy diet." And "if anything has become clear over the past 10 years, it's the importance of exercise in weight loss and maintaining.""
• Nutrition watchdog praises fast food giants - USA Today, 8/26/02 - "Low-fat Select Sub sandwiches served at Subway "have helped lead the way to healthier fast food," the center said. The statement singled out the low-fat Honey Mustard Ham, Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki and Red Wine Vinaigrette Club sandwiches as "downright delicious" with calorie counts ranging from 310 to 370 with six grams of fat or less"
• Scientists Discover Hormone [PPY3-36] That Helps Curb People's Appetites - Intelihealth, 8/7/02
• 'Fullness' Hormone Suppresses Appetite - WebMD, 8/7/02
• Low-Carbohydrate, High-Protein Diets Increase Risk Of Kidney Stones And May Raise Bone Loss Risk - Doctor's Guide, 8/1/02 - "acid excretion - a marker for the acid load in the blood - increased as much as 90 percent while subjects were on diets that severely restricted carbohydrates. Levels of urinary citrate, which inhibits kidney stones, fell by almost 25 percent in the group during the six-week study ... People may lose weight on this diet, but this study shows that this is not a healthy way to lose weight ... there was an increased risk of developing kidney stones and a possible increase in the risk of bone loss"
• The Benefits of Carnitine and DHEA for Fat Metabolism - Life Extension Magazine, 8/02 - "Carnitine is an amino acid that's critical for converting fatty acids into fuel. Because of this, it has the potential to help people lose weight ... A lack of DHEA may be one of the primary causes of insulin resistance"
• Reduction of Left Ventricular Hypertrophy After Exercise and Weight Loss in Overweight Patients With Mild Hypertension - Doctor's Guide, 7/15/02 - "Blood pressure fell by 7.0 / 6.0 mmHg in the weight management group and by 3.0 / 4.0 mmHg in the aerobic exercise group"
• New Weight-control Options - Functional Foods & Nutraceuticals, 7/02
• Losing Weight with Peanut Butter? - Dr. Weil, 7/10/02 - "a diet high in monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) with 34-36 percent of calories from fat reduced LDL (“bad”) cholesterol by 16-25 percent without lowering HDL (“good”) cholesterol levels. In contrast, the American Heart Associations diet with 25 percent of calories from fat, resulted in only a 12 percent reduction ... people on a diet including 35 percent of calories from MUFAs as well as those on a traditional low-fat, high carbohydrate diet lost an average of 11 pounds over six months. However, by 18 months, three times as many people on the MUFA diet remained with the program and kept off the lost weight while the others regained an average of five pounds each"
• Designer Weight-Loss Drugs on Horizon - WebMD, 6/10/02 - "In mouse studies, it reduces appetite and makes the body burn fat faster. That's supposed to be impossible ... Kuhajda and colleagues at Baltimore's Johns Hopkins University saw obese mice lose 15% of their body weight after only two weeks on C75. Oh, yes, and there's one more thing about it: C75 also kills cancer cells ... But don't run out to the pharmacy looking for the drug. It's years away from any kind of human trial"
• Weighing in on Low-Fat Processed Foods - WebMD, 6/10/02 - "Many people don't understand that many of these low-fat products are really very calorie-dense ... There is a tendency to think that if something is low in fat you can eat as much as you want ... The key to losing weight and keeping it off is eating smaller portions and increasing physical activity"
• New Hope for Morbid Obesity - Medscape, 5/23/02
• Strength Training, Modest Diet Fight Child Obesity - WebMD, 5/23/02
• Secrets of Successful Weight Loss - WebMD, 5/10/02
• Band constricts the cravings, weight - USA Today, 5/9/02
• Consumer Reports reveals successful diet tips - CNN, 5/6/02 - "an overwhelming majority of "successful losers" took a do-it-yourself approach and credited exercise -- not food deprivation -- as their top strategy"
• Americans' new craving: Diet drugs - USA Today, 4/29/02
• New Evidence That Dietary Soy And Flaxseed Have Positive Effect On Obesity And Diabetes - Intelihealth, 4/22/02 - "These data suggest that diets rich in soy protein and flaxseed have beneficial effects on many aspects of obesity and diabetes"
• Diet Supplement [LipoKinetix] Causes Liver Damage - WebMD, 3/18/02
• High-Protein Beats High-Carbohydrate for Weight Loss in Low-Fat Diets - Doctor's Guide, 2/26/02
• The Skinny on Fat Drugs - WebMD, 2/20/02
• Breakfast Helps Keep Weight Off - kgtv.com, 2/7/02
• Five Tips For Planning And Losing Weight - Intelihealth, 2/6/02
• Insulin Pill Fights Obesity - WebMD, 1/31/02
• Study: Adults Have Obesity Syndrome - Intelihealth, 1/16/02
• Cancer Therapy May Have Application For Treating Obesity - Intelihealth, 1/7/02 - "Rupnick tested five different angiogenesis inhibitors, including TNP-470, angiostatin and endostatin, on ob/ob mice and other obese mice ... The most surprising thing was that not only did the mice stop gaining weight, they also lost a significant amount of weight ... Depending on the dose, "we decreased their body weight by almost half - that's enormous," Rupnick said. The drugs were working far better than any approved obesity drug ever had""
• Diabetes Drug [Glucophage/metformin] May Fight Obesity - WebMD, 12/26/01 - "Pediatricians at the University of Tennessee School of Medicine put 24 obese adolescents on a low-calorie diet: 1,500 calories a day for the girls and 1,800 calories a day for the boys. They also gave half the teens Glucophage and half a placebo ... After eight weeks, dieting teens who took the placebo lost 3.8 % of their body weight. But those taking Glucophage lost 6.5 % of their body weight -- nearly twice as much"
• More Good News on Zyban and Smoking - WebMD, 9/20/01 - "The antidepressant Zyban (also known as Wellbutrin or by its generic name bupropion) has helped many people quit. Now, research shows the drug seems to prevent relapse and even seems to help women lose weight"
• Losing 100, the Healthy Way - WebMD, 9/18/01
• How They Do It: Researchers Study People Who Lost Weight And Keep It Off - Intelihealth, 9/13/01
• Wellbutrin (Bupropion) Effective For Weight Loss in Women - Doctor's Guide, 9/12/01
• Obesity drugs alone won't do it - CNN, 8/22/01
• Research Pipeline Bulging With Obesity Drugs - WebMD, 7/26/01
• How Successful Dieters Keep Weight Off - Intelihealth, 7/18/01
• Wider Use for Obesity Surgery Urged - WebMD, 7/12/01
• Troglitazone Drug Helps non-Diabetic Patients Lose Weight - Doctor's Guide, 6/20/01
• FDA Approves Implanted Stomach Band to Fight Obesity, Device Could Be Helpful, But Users Still Need to Diet and Exercise - WebMD, 6/5/01
• Stomach Pacemaker Zaps Obese Patients Slim, Electrical Gadget Helps Overeaters Feel Full, Eat Less - WebMD, 5/25/01
• Experimental Nasal Spray Could Help Keep the Pounds Off - WebMD, 4/27/01 - "All three agents were inhaled through the nose twice a day for six weeks ... At the end of the study, body fat had decreased by an average of nearly 4 lb and body weight by an average of less than 2 lb in the individuals treated with MSH/ACTH"
• For Severely Obese Teens, Surgery, Stomach Bypass an Option When All Else Fails - WebMD, 4/17/01
• Eat all you want and still lose pounds — someday - USA Today, 3/30/01
• Moderate Exercise Better Than Hard-Core Workouts - Intelihealth, 3/28/01 - "A new study suggests moderately paced, sustained activities promote weight loss more effectively than brief, high-intensity health club workouts"
• Weight Loss expert Jenny Craig - CNN, 3/15/01
• New Fat-Loss Drug Resets Brain's Weight Setpoint - WebMD, 3/20/01 - "The drug, called Axokine, is a genetically engineered version of a natural brain chemical, called CNTF, that makes new brain cells grow ... [A] remarkable property that distinguishes ... A human trial reported at a medical meeting last month showed that obese people who got the most effective dose of Axokine lost nearly 10 pounds over 12 weeks of treatment. Unlike previous weight loss drugs, these patients did not immediately regain the weight -- in fact, they lost another pound during the first six weeks they were off the drug, and they kept their lost weight off for a minimum of six weeks after discontinuing the medication ... the drug works a lot like leptin ... Leptin would make a great weight loss drug -- except that when a person becomes obese, he becomes resistant to it the same way a diabetic person becomes resistant to insulin"
• Virtual weight loss can be a reality - CNN, 3/6/01
• Reducing the Obesity Epidemic: What Works and What Doesn't, When Exercise, Diet, and Pills Don't Work, Surgery May Be the Answer - WebMD, 3/1/01 - "Millions of Americans suffer with life-threatening obesity, and the only proven, effective treatment is surgery," Smith says. "When faced with a life-threatening illness like heart disease, patients readily accept major surgery -- including its risks -- as the necessary step to treat their heart disease. The same is true for obesity."
• Big losers, and proud of it - USA Today, 2/15/01
• Improving Dopamine May Help Obese - Doctor's Guide, 2/5/01
• Elizabeth Cohen - CNN, 2/2/01 - "What this new study seems to say is that obese people don't have the normal amount of dopamine receptors in their brains"
• USDA: Most Popular Diets Flawed - Intelihealth, 1/10/01
• Cellulite-busting workout relies on weightlifting - CNN, 1/3/01
• The Key to Keeping the Pounds Off - WebMD, 12/12/00
• Women gain weight at puberty, pregnancy, menopause - CNN, 11/1/00
• Yo-Yo Dieting Is a No-No, Study Shows the Ups and Downs May Harm the Heart - WebMD, 10/31/00
• Stress is bad, but one expert says it's also fattening - CNN, 10/31/00
• Spare Tire Around the Middle? Maybe Your Life Is Too Hectic - WebMD, 10/24/00
• Skill-Training Method Works for Weight Loss, Study Finds -  WebMD, 10/23/00
• Health Focus: Five Tips For Losing Weight - Intelihealth, 8/30/00
• Experts Find Recipe for Weight Loss Success - WebMD, 8/23/00
• Studies of CLA Have Promising Results - WebMD, 8/20/00 - "But it is important to look for credible brands of CLA, cautions Pariza, whose team used a 'high grade' version that was more than 90% pure: "There's a lot of junk out there."
• Researchers Discover How Cells in the Body Get Fat - WebMD, 8/10/00
• Study Links Diet Pills to Greater Stroke Risk - WebMD, 7/28/00
• Could Licorice Help You Get Lean? - WebMD, 7/14/00
• Flipping the Appetite Switch Off - WebMD, 6/29/00
• Over-the-Counter Drug (phenylpropanolamine) Works to Suppress Appetite - WebMD, 5/29/00
• Diet Shakes Can Help People Control Their Weight - WebMD, 5/29/00
• Fat-Soluble Vitamin Absorption Not Threatened by Fat Cutbacks - WebMD, 5/19/00
• Is Yo-Yo Dieting a No-No for Women? - WebMD, 5/16/00
• A rapid weight-loss diet may help shed fat in a flash - CNN, 4/13/00
• Exercise Trains Fat Cells - Intelihealth, 4/7/00
• Green Tea Could Promote Weight Loss - Nutrition Science News, 4/00
• Diet, Exercise And Gain Weight? - Intelihealth, 4/3/00
• Fiber May Help Prevent Obesity - Intelihealth, 10/27/99
• Group Calls Low-Carb Diet Unhealthy - Intelihealth, 10/18/99
• New hormone may help treat obesity - CNN, 8/30/99
• Exercise Affects Obesity Independently Of Genes, Study Shows - Doctor's Guide, 6/1/99
• Bupropion SR Shows Promise As Weight-Loss Treatment - Doctor's Guide, 5/20/99
• Researchers block hormone that affects eating - CNN, 12/21/98
• Study Confirms That Chromium Picolinate Aids In Body Fat Loss - Doctor's Guide, 6/23/98
• Study: Americans fatter than ever and getting even fatter - CNN, 5/28/98

Abstracts:

• Effect of tea catechins on body fat accumulation in rats fed a normal diet - Biomed Res. 2008 Feb;29(1):27-32 - "The administration of 0.5% catechins decreased the accumulation of body fat and the serum levels of cholesterol and bile acids. These results indicate that tea catechins modulate lipid metabolism not only in obese subjects, but also in the non-obese" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Can EGCG Reduce Abdominal Fat in Obese Subjects? - J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Aug;26(4):396S-402S - "heart rate (HR) ... Moderate consumption of EGCG can improve the health status of overweight individuals undergoing regular exercise by reducing HR and plasma glucose concentrations. Loss of body fat, however, may require a higher intake of EGCG, other catechins or addition of metabolic stimulants" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com, my favorite is green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• The effects of epigallocatechin-3-gallate on thermogenesis and fat oxidation in obese men: a pilot study - J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Aug;26(4):389S-95S - "These findings suggest that EGCG alone has the potential to increase fat oxidation in men and may thereby contribute to the anti-obesity effects of green tea" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com, my favorite is green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• The influence of calcium consumption on weight and fat following 9 months of exercise in men and women - J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Aug;26(4):350-5 - "Average calcium consumption was 987 +/- 389 mg/day for men and 786 +/- 276 mg/day for women. Weight change over the 9 months was -4.6 +/- 4.6 kg for men and 0.2 +/- 3.3 kg for women ... Weight and fat weight loss as a result of nine months of moderate intensity exercise may be improved by increased calcium consumption in men but was not observed in women" - Note:  4.6 kg is 10.14 lbs.
• Overweight Postmenopausal Women Lose Bone With Moderate Weight Reduction and 1 g/day Calcium Intake - J Bone Miner Res. 2005 Mar;20(3):455-63 - "Despite an intake of 1 g Ca/day, bone loss occurred at some sites because of weight loss. Calcium intake of 1.7 g/day will minimize bone loss during weight loss in postmenopausal overweight women"
• Effects of metformin on the body composition in subjects with risk factors for type 2 diabetes - Diabetes Obes Metab. 2005 Mar;7(2):189-92 - "In the metformin group, there was a decrease in fat weight from 25.9 +/- 9.4 to 20.8 +/- 9.2 kg, p < 0.01, an increase in lean weight from 57.05 +/- 13.6 to 61.9 +/- 16.5 kg, p < 0.01, an increase in basal metabolism from 1735 +/- 413 to 1878 +/- 505 calories/day, p < 0.05 and an increase in body water" - See metformin at IAS or OffshoreRx1.com.  Note:  That's a 19.7% decrease in fat (25.9-20.8)/25.9 = 19.7%, a 8.5% increase in lean weight (61.9-57.05)/57.05 = 8.5% and a 8.2% increase in basal metabolism (1878-1735)/1735 = 8.2%. - Ben
• Ingestion of a tea rich in catechins leads to a reduction in body fat and malondialdehyde-modified LDL in men - Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Jan;81(1):122-9 - "Body weight, BMI, waist circumference, body fat mass, and subcutaneous fat area were significantly lower in the green tea extract group than in the control group" - See iHerb or Vitacost green tea extracts.
• Efficacy and Safety of Ephedra and Ephedrine for Weight Loss and Athletic Performance - JAMA, 3/26/03 - "Ephedrine and ephedra promote modest short-term weight loss (0.9 kg/mo more than placebo) in clinical trials. There are no data regarding long-term weight loss, and evidence to support use of ephedra for athletic performance is insufficient. Use of ephedra or ephedrine and caffeine is associated with increased risk of psychiatric, autonomic, or gastrointestinal symptoms, and heart palpitations"
• The conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) isomer, t10c12-CLA, is inversely associated with changes in body weight and serum leptin in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus - J Nutr. 2003 Jan;133(1):257S-260S
• The effect of conjugated linoleic acid supplementation after weight loss on body weight regain, body composition, and resting metabolic rate in overweight subjects - Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2003 Jul;27(7):840-7 - "As a consequence of an increased regain of fat-free mass by CLA, resting metabolic rate was increased by CLA (LD 12.0+/-11.4%, HD 13.7+/-14.4%) compared to placebo ... In conclusion, the regain of fat-free mass was favorably, dose-independently affected by a 13-week consumption of 1.8 or 3.6 g CLA/day and consequently increased the resting metabolic rate. However, it did not result in improved body weight maintenance after weight loss" - See iHerb and Vitacost CLA products.
• How much physical activity is enough to prevent unhealthy weight gain? - Obes Rev 2003 May;4(2):101-14 - "The following consensus statement was accepted unanimously. 'The current physical activity guideline for adults of 30 minutes of moderate intensity activity daily, preferably all days of the week, is of importance for limiting health risks for a number of chronic diseases including coronary heart disease and diabetes. However for preventing weight gain or regain this guideline is likely to be insufficient for many individuals in the current environment. There is compelling evidence that prevention of weight regain in formerly obese individuals requires 60-90 minutes of moderate intensity activity or lesser amounts of vigorous intensity activity. Although definitive data are lacking, it seems likely that moderate intensity activity of approximately 45 to 60 minutes per day, or 1.7 PAL (Physical Activity Level) is required to prevent the transition to overweight or obesity. For children, even more activity time is recommended. A good approach for many individuals to obtain the recommended level of physical activity is to reduce sedentary behaviour by incorporating more incidental and leisure-time activity into the daily routine"

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