I've done an extensive survey of all of the information about weight loss that you can find on the shelves of Border's and Barnes & Noble, and here are the results.

It seems as if the best way to lose weight and get in shape is a combo of the following: eating a lot of carbs, eating a lot of fat, cutting carbs out completely, drinking a lot of water, not eating any "white" foods at night like bread, rice, and pasta, eating just grapefruit, eating your meals in a mixed-up fashion (lunch for dinner, breakfast for lunch, etc), not eating after 8pm, eating a lot of soups, cutting out all candy, cakes, and processed foods, avoiding diet drinks, eating a Subway sub a couple of times a week, eating foods according to your blood type, eating foods according to color, eating a lot of fiber, training your brain to think like a thin person, eating like they do in France, eating like they do in China, not counting calories, making sure you count calories, taking vitamins and supplements, become a vegan, eating more meat, eat a lot of apples, eating only raw foods, and joining one of the weight loss organizations such as Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig.

If you follow the above rules, you should get in shape very quickly. You're welcome.

I don't know about you, but even though I love every sunny, poolside moment of summer, I secretly rejoice when the days start to get shorter and the air a little chillier. The end of summer means the beginning of fall, and that means I get to drop kick my bathing suit and body-baring shorts and tanktops. I don't have to be so conscious of what I'm eating. And not eating.

But "dieting" isn't a seasonal activity. People watch what they eat year-round. According to Forbes, "Americans spent an estimated $46 billion on diet products and self-help books in 2004." If that's the case, why is obesity such a problem in the US? Because, as a government review has found, two-thirds of dieters on "diet regimes" will regain all the weight that they lost within a year. Give them five years, and almost everyone will gain it back.

People gain the weight back for a number of reasons, but one of them is that the popular diet programs are very expensive, especially since many health and nutrition experts believe that they are ineffective to begin with. Forbes examined the weekly menus of the ten most popular diets to find out just how expensive they really are. The results are listed below. The first dollar amount is how much the program costs per week for any associated book, membership fees, and food costs, and the second percentage is how much more that is than the average $55.44 a normal person spends on food.

• Jenny Craig - $137.65, 152.8%
• NutriSytem - $113.52, 108.5%
• Atkins - $100.52, 84.6%
• Weight Watchers - $96.64, 77.5%
• Zone Diet - $92.84, 70.5%
• Ornish - $78.75, 44.6%
• South Beach - $78.76, 44.4%
• SlimFast - $77.73, 42.8%
• Sugar Busters - $69.62, 27.9%
• Subway - $68.80, 26%

Whatever happened to good old fashioned "eat less, exercise more?" I think that's free.

After getting stuck under a lawnmower, Des Moines radio personality Van Harden says that he lost his taste for bread completely. Harden said "Doctor's can't explain it," but it could be the case that he experienced a side effect as doctors revived him from anesthesia after his surgery. With no appetite for bread, Harding was essentially living an Atkins-style life, but he did miss the taste pizza even though he didn't actually want to eat the wheat-based crusts.

Necessity is the mother of invention, so Harden came up with a 100% cheese crust pizza, complete with toppings. Think of it as being a stuffed-crust pizza, without the actual crust. Over the weekend, in what appears to be the first release of the product, over 200 were sold at two Des Moines Hy-Vee stores. More store are scheduled to offer the Atkins-friendly, gluten-free pie soon.

The five Campbell brothers, John, 91, Jim, 88, Colin, 85, Sid, 82, and Doug, 78, have gone their entire lives without eating vegetables - hardly one pea has passed onto (or off of) their dinner plates. Their general philosophy, to which they attribute their longevity, is that it doesn't matter what you eat as long as you are active. They say that their parents did not force them to eat the vegetables and they, in turn, did not put that pressure upon their children, at least one of whom is no more interested in eating greens that his father and uncles are.  

Predictably, this has stirred up a bunch of people into proclaiming that vegetables are not a vital part of our diets and are not necessary for good health. This is, by and large, untrue. Vegetables have lots of nutrients that out bodies need. The story of the Campbells is just an example of a handful of people who were lucky enough to go through life without any serious medical conditions.

After all, if something had gone wrong with their health, their veg-less diet would have been blamed.

 

Most diets are about losing weight - high protein, low-carb, low-fat, Mediterranean, South Beach, etc. Most diets also emphasize balance and variety, regardless of what they discourage people from eating. There is a new diet that is not about losing weight, balance or variety, though it may have other health benefits. Researchers at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York have conducted a trial in which patients ate an ultra-high fat diet - over 90% fat - to see if a diet "devoid of protein and carbohydrates might temper symptoms of several neurodegenerative disorders, including Alzheimer's and Lou Gehrig's disease." The results of the original study, published last year in Neurology, were encouraging. Patients with Parkinsons reported a decrease in their symptoms. Since then, additional studies have been done that have shown positive results, as well.

The success of the regimen is credited to the high numbers of ketone bodies that are produced when the body is taking in next to no carbs or protein. Even a very strict Atkins wouldn't produce enough keytones to have a measurable benefit, according to the doctors. A typical diet, which did allow up to 8% protein, for a study participant included butter, cream cheese and heavy cream, with small bits of fish or egg added for flavoring.

The results of all trials are not firmly conclusive, but are promising enough to have prompted another round of testing to see if doctors can devise a diet that is easier to follow. The problems with the diet are obviously things like heart problems, so the next round of testing involves a combination of the ultra-fat diet and the Atkins diet.

Forbes list of the 10 best diets to follow did not include the carb-phobic Atkins diet for a good reason: while people who follow the diet do lose weight, a new case study shows that it could lead to life-threatening health complications.

The study followed the case of a woman who developed a condition known as ketoacidosis while following the diet. Though it is somewhat rare, the disease is caused by a buildup of ketones in the blood-stream. Ketones are produced by the liver when insulin levels fall and more are produced the lower the insulin levels get. An excessive buildup of ketones in the blood can cause patients to fall into a coma, preceded by loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting.

According to WebMD, ketosis, which would precede the onset of the extreme condition of ketoacidosis, can be prevented by eating approximately 100 grams of carbohydrates a day, or about 1 cup of oatmeal. Carb-Counter.org is a good source of information regarding the amount of carbohydrates in various foods.

Last week's Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) published some findings about the effects of long-term weight loss with a low fat diet. The study was done in the context of the popularity of low-carb diet regimens (Atkins, South Beach), which are not necessarily low in fat. Supporters of the low-carb diets have suggested that it is low-fat, high-carb diets that have contributed to the US's obesity problem. The JAMA's conclusion? From the abstract, "A low-fat eating pattern does not result in weight gain."

No. Effin'. Way.

I am not poking fun at the JAMA, because, like, they're doctors and stuff. However, I am poking fun at everyone who 1) finds this information the least bit surprising, and 2) will twist the information and use it as license to reach for a dozen doughnuts with utter abandon.

No, no o ye of little restraint.

 

Before the jump (into 2006) we saw how food trends go from introduction to assimilation into the mainstream. Nicole showed us a few predictions of foods that will take off in 2006, and Sarah Gilbert gave us the ratings on last year's most popular trends.

But there are a few trends that either only started or hung on for dear life through the end of 2005. These are the bottom five food trends (trend, not people) I hope to see completely suffocate and fizzle out in 2006.

2005 has been a banner year for both nutrition awareness and dieting, from carb to calorie counting. New diets and trends are springing to life before our very eyes, but USA Today put together their top five trends in nutrition and diet from the past year

1. Atkins bankruptcy. Dieters moved away from the strict carb counting regimen prescribed by Atkins Nutritionals, opting for more moderate plans, like the South Beach Diet.
2. Non-diet dieting. Eat less to avoid weight gain was the strategy presented to American women by Mireille Guiliano, a very thin French woman who advocated eating for pleasure. In small amounts, of course.
3. A new food pyramid. The USDA's revamped guidelines emphasize making healthier choices in each food group, encouraging people to choose leaner meats, whole grains and low-fat dairy in addition to a variety of fruits and veggies.
4. Attention to kids. Some companies pledged to stop directing marketing at kids, like Kraft Foods, Inc., while other companies were pressured promote healthy options instead of junk foods.
5. Obesity. Can the extra pounds kill you? Scientists seem to think not, though there are many health problems caused and/or exacerbated by obesity, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and heart disease, any of which can contribute to a decrease in life expectancy.