The obesity epidemic in the United States has become a mounting concern, as 44 percent of American's expanding waistlines have triggered health risks such as high cholesterol and pre-diabetic abnormalities. In fact, an excess of abdominal fat has been known to predict a heart attack more effectively than one's weight or body mass.
Other obesity-related risks include cancer, cardiovascular disease, sore joints and snoring.
With all the risks involved, it's surprising that the "geniuses" of modern medicine haven't developed a pill to help people lose weight and keep it off. But wait, they have. According to studies, people who took an experimental weight loss pill (Acomplia), lost weight and kept it off for two years.
Researchers tested the affect of the drug on 3,040 people throughout the United States and Canada. Each subject was advised to cut 600 calories a day from their diet and was given either a high dose of the drug, a low dose of the drug or a placebo.
At the end of a two-year period, researchers found:
Over 62 percent of people in the high dose group lost 5 percent of their body weight, compared to 36.7 percent in the low dose group
Those in the high dose group lost 3.1 inches off their waistlines, compared to 1.9 inches in the low dose group
HDL cholesterol rose 24.5 percent for those in the high dose group, compared to 15.6 in the low dose group
Sound too good to be true? That's because it is. One major drawback of the pill is that those who quit taking it after one year gained most of their weight back. Thus, in order to continue losing weight and keeping it off, one may have to take the pill for the rest of their life.
Some additional negative side effects of this "miracle drug" include:
USA Today November 10, 2004
ABC News November 10, 2004
If you are familiar with my twice-weekly newsletter, then you already know that I have previously posted an article regarding the issue of this "magic" diet pill. It was refreshing to know that the lead researcher on the study admits the drug rimonabant is not a "cure-all" for obesity.
That researcher can't be more right. In fact, a pill won't address the underlying causes of a lifestyle condition like obesity. The only effective way to lose weight and keep it off is to follow a diet that fits your nutritional type and exercise regularly.
In order to eat a diet that best fits your metabolic type, you must first discover what your nutritional type is. You could find out right now by taking my free on-line nutritional type test.
Everyone has his or her own unique nutritional type, so what might be good for your best friend might not be good for you. Once you discover your nutritional type, you will be able to normalize your insulin levels by eating the foods that are right for your body. To learn more about what foods are right for you I recommend reading my book, TOTAL HEALTH Program.
In conjunction with eating right, it is also important to exercise. In fact, exercising is key to losing weight and staying healthy.
For some great exercise guidelines, I suggest reading Paul Chek's book, How to Eat, Move and Be Healthy!, a perfect complement to my book. Chek's book challenges you to take control of your health and gives you the steps to designing your own individual nutrition and exercise program. You will find the many descriptive "how to" illustrations both easy to follow and implement into your exercise routine.
Right now, you can get both my bestselling Total Health book and Paul Chek's book together and receive 25 percent off their regular price!
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