healthy weight loss
by Dr David Ashton
Medical Director of Healthier Weight Centres
Portion control and gastric banding
are here and they work
In a world where the public is bom- no exceptions, even though some of We have to work hard to over-
barded with advice from media
our patients insist they are one! come the widespread and entirely
professionals on how to eat well,
Of course people don’t neces- erroneous assumption that health
look younger, feel fitter and above
sarily want to hear about the need food will somehow make you thin. A
all lose weight, it is unsurprising
to reduce calorie intake or increase classic example of this is the recent
that they are often left dazed and
calorie expenditure through physi- interest in the GI diet. Despite the
confused by the bewildering array
cal activity. They would rather try enormous media interest in GI and
of advice on offer.
another fad diet which looks easy the amazing claims made about it,
Do the people advising them
and promises quick results. And who there is no evidence that it is any
have special expertise or qualifi-
can blame them? It’s human nature more effective than simple low-
cations in nutrition or weight-loss
to look for the easy solution. calorie diets of a more conventional
medicine? In what sense are they
variety (1).
in a position to offering advice on
“It is not very
One of the key issues to address
what to eat and the best way to lose
is that of portion control. There has
been a substantial increase in por-
weight? Furthermore, even if they
have some recognized qualifica-
glamorous
tion sizes over the last decade or so
and peoples’ perception of what
tions, their advice may be translated
into a form which is designed for
to tell OK
a ‘normal’ portion is has now been
utterly distorted. Yet it is actually
entertainment at the expense of ac-
only on rare occasions that we see
curacy.
What the public really needs is
magazine that
this crucial issue addressed in the
media. What we have instead is fast
sound and consistent advice on how
to eat healthily, live healthily and in
the face of the rising obesity epi-
losing weight
food manufacturers promoting their
super-size portions.
An effective way of introducing
demic, how to be a healthy weight. I
commonly hear overweight patients
after giving
portion control into a weight-loss
programme is by the use of meal
saying; “I can’t understand why I
replacements. These allow us to
can’t lose weight”; “I don’t eat very
much”; often followed by “I eat very
birth was a
deliver optimal nutrition, via a low-
calorie, ‘decision-free’ alternative
healthily” or “I’ve tried every diet
under the sun”.
long hard
to the individual’s normal diet. This
method is rarely promoted by the
These comments represent a
media, yet is has been shown in a
genuine confusion on the part of the
individual concerning their inability
struggle”
large body of scientific literature to
be an extremely effective strategy.
to lose weight, yet the equation
In fact recent evidence shows that
actually very simple: if you eat more With a variety of celebrities extolling
patients using portion-controlled
calories than you use you will put on the virtues of pomegranate juice, meal replacements lose up to five
weight and if you eat less, you will goji berries and organic muesli, times more weight than those using
lose weight. This is the First Law of what the public cannot grasp is that conventional diets (2).
Thermodynamics which applies to any food – however healthy – can Ironically it is not just celebrities
biological systems (us), just as it does contribute to obesity if you eat too who are responsible for the diet cul-
to physical systems. And there are much of it. ture and misleading advice on how
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28 NHDmag.com May ‘08 - issue 34
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