Pharmageddon: Can a New Weight Loss Drug Really Save Us

It is a misguided effort at best, and a dangerous one at worst. Mounting evidence proves that the solution to lifestyle and diet-driven obesity-related illnesses including heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and even cancer won't be found at the bottom of a prescription bottle.

By 2020, more than 50 percent of the U.S. adult population will have Type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, with annual costs approaching $500 billion. By 2030, total annual economic costs of cardiovascular disease in the U.S. are predicted to exceed $1 trillion. By 2030, globally we will spend $47 trillion, yes trillion, to address the effects of chronic lifestyle-driven disease.

Prescription medication for lifestyle disease has failed to bend the obesity and disease curve. Statins have been recently found to increase the risk of diabetes in women by 48 percent. And large data reviews by independent international scientists from the Cochrane Collaborative found that statins only work to prevent second heart attacks, not first heart attacks, which means they are not helpful and most likely harmful for 75 percent of those who take them.

Avandia, the No. 1 blockbuster drug for Type 2 diabetes, has caused nearly 200,000 deaths from heart attacks since it was introduced in 1999. The drug was designed to prevent complications of diabetes, yet heart attacks are the very disease that kills most Type 2 diabetics. In 2011, the FDA issued stricter prescribing guidelines for Avandia, but the drug is still on the market.

The large ACCORD trial found in more than 10,000 diabetics that intensive blood-sugar lowering with medication and insulin actually led to more heart attacks and deaths.

Weight loss special offer for SL viewers

We all know the obvious factors for being overweight: wrong foods, overeating, lack of exercise, and genetics. However, we have recently found that there are several scientific reasons why obese people can't lose weight.

Modern medicine has been trying to find a cure for obesity since the turn of the last century. We at Regenesis believe that the answer is in the cell. Now we know the rest of the story. It's the increase of Insulin and Leptin levels in the bloodstream. It appears that most of our patients are either Insulin resistant, meaning they have too much Insulin which spikes causing fat to be increased. Also we found that the powerful hormone called Leptin in excess in the bloodstream will not only cause increased fat cells but also will not allow the brain to shut off the urge to eat.

Is there any help for these resistant people?
Yes, we at Regenesis with the help of two large pharmaceutical companies have formulated supplements to fight Insulin and Leptin resistance. Not only have these products allowed our patients to lose weight and keep it off, but have also lowered dangerously high triglyceride, LDL (bad) cholesterol levels while raising HDL (good ) cholesterol levels, WITHOUT SIDE EFFECTS since these are not chemicals, but natural occurring substances.

Are you still using HCG for weight loss?
Yes, we are, and have improved the formula to include an energy booster which helps with the fatigue associated with the 500 calorie restriction. We call our new product Re Gen. We still think that losing this kind of weight quickly is important and will continue to use Re Gen as an integrated part of our overall program.

In a more serious injury resulting from the Downward Dog

Then, in 2010, he enrolled in a new class and developed “severe spinal stenosis” with debilitating back spasms when the teacher “literally forced me into maintaining an extremely painful Downward Dog.” This is a classic pose in which hands and feet are flat on the floor, knees are straight (though not locked) and the body is bent at the waist at a right angle.

In a more serious injury resulting from the Downward Dog, a woman in Washington, D.C. suffered a spinal cord infarction, a blockage that caused sudden leg paralysis. She has since regained only partial use of her legs.Mr. Broad concluded, based on his research, that the benefits of yoga “unquestionably outweigh the risks. Still, yoga makes sense only if done intelligently so as to limit the degree of personal danger.”

Thus, it is critical to choose your class and teacher carefully. Grace Grochowski, a registered yoga teacher at my local Y who has been teaching for 20 years, recommends that prospective students ask about an instructor’s formal training, tell him or her what they hope to get from the discipline, and report any injury, ache or health condition that might affect their participation.The teacher should be willing to suggest changes in the moves you attempt or even say that the class may not be right for you.

“A good teacher listens and makes appropriate suggestions,” Ms. Grochowski said. Though her popular class is large, she regularly walks among the participants, correcting and modifying their poses and suggesting alternatives.

One of the most important things she learned while working with Carlton was her food options

One of the most important things she learned while working with Carlton was her food options, how to pair proteins with carbs and how to track her food based on quality and calories versus just tracking the number of calories, a poignant issue that haunted her during her bout with anorexia.Now Cacciatore lives by this: "Focus on what you can have and not what you can't.Her positive approach to eating smart and exercising regularly has changed her life in more ways than just the number on the scale.

Cacciatore's first eBook, Indulge Without the Bulge," details how to make healthy cupcakes that taste good. She has sold about 100 copies since October 2011 through her publishing company, Stained Jem Press.She also has a second ebook titled "Culinary Duck Tape" and another one titled "Candy Around the World" coming out before Valentine's Day.

Cacciatore now loves to exercise, challenging herself to try new ways to get fit. She ran the Disney marathon in September 2011 and will run the Disney's Princess Half Marathon this month.Last year, she also began doing triathlons and placed first in her age category at the Baxter Triathlon and second place in her age category in Tri-Ballantyne.The old me would think it's impossible to accomplish what I've done," Cacciatore said.This is why she advises those starting out to not get discouraged.

"Weight loss doesn't always happen quickly, but if you stay with it, it will happen," Cacciatore said. "Make it a part of your everyday life."

Northwood Church members work at weight loss challenge

Northwood Church in Keller will have a community-wide event that will feature health screenings and a presentation by Phil and Amy Parham, authors of the "90-Day Fitness Challenge.The event is a culmination in the church's "Losing It" series. For the month of February, Northwood's Sunday services have featured contestants from "The Biggest Loser" talking about the connection between physical and spiritual health. But perhaps of most interest to the congregation will be the results of a four-week weight loss challenge between two teams of its members, including the senior pastor Bob Roberts.

The genesis of the event was a Bible study-fitness class at the church taught by personal trainer Laurie Graves, a Northwood member.Roberts said he wanted to spread the message to the community, many of whom also are battling weight issues.It's not just a matter of being overweight,he said. "It's what it does to self image, your health. And it translates to other things, even to a skinny person. What do you have in your life that's creating defeat

Graves said the pastor took the program up another notch when he offered to weigh himself during worship services.Graves and Josh Fender, another personal trainer, formed two teams of church members to compete for the biggest percentage weight loss for the team as a whole. Each Sunday during the competition, team members are weighing in. Fender is training four men, including the pastor. Graves is training two couples.Graves has spent much of her life in fitness and weight loss after overcoming her own weight issues.

In her teens, Graves said she battled anorexia and bulimia before heading in the opposite direction and putting on pounds.

Sprint dips to loss under weight of costly iPhone

One of the unanswered questions for U.S. wireless carriers is whether the iPhone is a blessing or a curse.Sprint Nextel Corp. was the latest major service provider to struggle under the weight of providing the iPhone, which it began selling during the recent quarter. Companies like Sprint purchase the iPhone from Apple Inc., then resell it to their customers at steep discounts essentially swallowing the difference. Carriers hope to make an eventual profit from users' monthly subscription fees, but Sprint, AT&T and Verizon have found that big profits from the popular phone are hard to come by.

Sprint saw a net loss of $1.3 billion during the quarter, a big spike from its $929-million loss in the same quarter a year earlier. A major component of its loss was the cost of buying 1.8 million iPhones. Sprint spent about $630 million on iPhones, or 25% of all of its equipment costs a budget that ballooned by 40% over the same period a year earlier, before the company offered the iPhone.We continue to believe the iPhone will bring significant value to Sprint over the long term, and early results are in line with or better than our business case assumptions," said Daniel R. Hesse, Sprint's chief executive.

Sprint's story is becoming a familiar one. Until January of last year, AT&T Inc. was the only carrier to offer the iPhone, and the company found that its profit margins were being squeezed by subsidizing the cost of the device.As far back as 2008, AT&T told investors that its profit would rebound. But in late January, the company's stock dropped when it predicted weaker 2012 profits than analysts expected, largely because it was selling so many iPhones to customers.

Around the same time, Verizon missed analysts' profit expectations, also because of the iPhone's cost.

It would stand to reason that doctors should be held to a higher standard

It would stand to reason that doctors should be held to a higher standard of modeling exemplary lifestyles and to serve as role models for patients, however I am certainly not putting doctors down or judging them. I am also not criticizing overweight doctors, as their lifestyles lend them to being unhealthy. It’s ironic that it’s the long hours, night shifts, stressful life altering decisions to make, hospital cafeteria food, being too exhausted for exercise and being around other ill people, that makes it a greater challenge for them to be fit and healthy themselves.

I remember standing at the head of a patient that was having his chest sawed open for a double bypass cardiac surgery, when above the smell of the burning flesh and bone, was the aroma of cigarette smoke coming from the cardiologist. I was 22 years old at the time, but it was a moment that left an impression that doctors are real people who have real decisions to make about their health just like us.

The fact that even doctors are becoming overweight, having heart attacks and dealing with diabetes personally shows that lifestyle decisions go well above knowledge and involve emotion, habit, beliefs, lifestyle and commitment. Knowing to eat less and exercise more is not enough today. Many factors go into living in a lean body and enjoying ultra-health, including productive physical movement, restful sleep, stress management, superior food quality, hormones and detoxification. The great news is that it’s possible for all of us.

The body is an amazing miracle and at any time will respond to how we treat it – good or bad. It’s the perfect time to begin regenerating health cells, releasing fat, eliminating toxins, getting your heart pumping, boosting energy, building strong sexy muscle and walking in ultimate health. We all have that same opportunity every day and I invite everyone to grab hold of their common sense and exercise habits and thoughts that are in the best interest of the one body they have.

Protica's Protein Ketchup for Weight Loss

Protica's new product, Protein Ketchup is designed to transform what has traditionally been a nutritionally void condiment into a weight loss, nutrition, and diet aid. Protein Ketchup's formulation is designed to help consumers lose weight, speed metabolism, feel full longer, and add healthy nutrients to unhealthy foods like french fries.

Protein Ketchup contains 15 grams of protein, two grams of fiber, and 2 servings of vegetables in every one-ounce cup. This dense combination of nutrients in every serving is designed to encourage a sense of fullness when combined with a meal or snack. The intended result is that Protein Ketchup will help a consumer eat less because they can obtain a high amount of nutrients from each serving. Protein Ketchup's nutritional content will also help a dieter feel full for longer periods of time after eating a meal or snack.

Protica designed Protein Ketchup to supplement meals with healthy nutrients with the goal of stimulating weight loss. The high protein content in each serving is intended to speed metabolism and burn calories more efficiently. It is the goal of Protica founder and president, Jim Duffy that this product will help people lose weight even if they are not always following the healthiest of diets.

Duffy explains that, "When you eat french fries and ketchup, you are consuming fats and sugars, which results in high caloric intake and fat storing. But, if you eat those same fries with ketchup that is low in sugar and high in protein, you are helping to reduce the insulin surge that leads to fat storage, and you're balancing the carbohydrates and fat with high quality protein. The result is that your metabolism speeds up, and your body processes and burns the calories from those french fries more efficiently."

The diet has really worked because I can fit into my clothes

The diet has really worked because I can fit into my clothes, although I didn't measure my weight before I started. But I could gauge with the clothes that I'm fitting in that I was not fitting in before", says Jabulile.Though the mother-daughter pair have nothing but praise for their seven-day juice diet, Lila Bruk, a dietician at the Wanderers Wellness Centre, says it's unlikely that such a diet will provide long-term results

"I think that one needs to realise that there is no such a thing such as a 'quick fix'. Whether it's the case that someone is trying pills, shakes or crash diets, at the end of the day it's not going to work", she says.Bruk says the Mawuanes will probably regain the weight and may very well have negative side-effects like constipation.There is no point to the juice diet because what ends up happening is that you stick to your juice every day, but after that if you go back to your old habits. The weight which you would lose, you put back on", she says.

Bruk says there are dangers attached to "quick fix" diet plans.The dangers are that it puts your body under a lot of strain. Look at the weight loss that the plan promises. A healthy weight loss is half to one kilo a week. So, if it says three kilos per week, then, that's going to be too much of a weight loss. It's potentially dangerous and, probably, an unhealthy way of losing weight", says Bruk.She also warned people to research and find out about the side-effects of a weight loss plan before they get into it.

"If you are taking pills or shakes or other potions that cause you to lose weight, then those products themselves may have dangerous side-effects such as increasing the risk of stroke, heart attack, and it can also have other negative side-effects like insomnia and palpitations", says Bruk.

Weight loss contest begins

A new year brings new goals, and for some people that goal includes weight loss.Thanks to the Uintah Recreation District that goal could become a reality for 10 lucky contestants of the second annual “Let’s Lose It” weight loss contest.Hopeful contestants had to apply, write an essay and complete an interview.

The contest will last six months with the 10 contestants undergoing classes with Jeff Winterton who will help them to exercise in a healthy and safe way. They will also have to attend meetings with Joyce Buhler, the dietitian at Ashley Regional Medical Center.We hope that by offering this program it will motivate people to lose weight in a way they can keep it off,” Buhler said. “I help them assess the behaviors they need to change, what energy and other nutrients there are and how they need to alter them.

“Some people’s behaviors that need to change are eating in front of the TV, eating when they’re bored and it’s important to identify so they can change it,” she said.As hard as it is to lose weight it is even harder to keep it off, Buhler said. It’s important for every individual looking to have a healthy weight to identify their behavior that needs to change and to remember there is no magic bullet to get weight off, she said.Weigh ins will be held each month, and at that time one contestant will be eliminated from the contest.

The one who had lost the least amount of weight and the one who lost the most each month will win a prize, such as a bike that was donated by Altitude Cycle or a Treadmill donated by Basin Sports.The grand prize, for the contestant who loses the most weight by June, will be a resort vacation to Red Mountain Resort near St. George.The weigh ins will be posted publicly on the “Let’s Lose It” Facebook page, and people are asked to participate even if they aren’t in the contest, by going to the Facebook page and posting their own progress.