Eating Disorders Blog

According to recent statistics, approximately 72 million Americans are currently obese, and this number is expected to skyrocket to 103 million by 2018. Some experts even fear that the average life expectancy for Americans will begin to decline as a result. Scientists are busily investigating the basic mechanisms behind metabolism to identify how and why more Americans are becoming obese.

A recent study supports one recommendation that dieticians have been giving for a long time: establish regular mealtimes. The study, conducted by Satchidananda Panda, an assistant professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, showed that mice on a regular feeding schedule have significantly more efficient metabolisms than mice who are allowed to eat at will. Panda allowed both groups of mice to eat the same amounts of food for two weeks and then performed gene scans to examine activity in their livers.

The mice that ate freely showed chaotic metabolism genes in their livers because they were frequently eating or nibbling. Nearly 3,000 genes involving burning fat and sugar were expressed in their livers. By contrast, the mice that fed on a schedule had a consistent pattern of gene expression; they burned sugar while feeding, but their bodies did not commence burning fat until several hours later. Panda's research also supports the idea that people should abstain from eating for at least eight to 12 hours day in order to trigger fat-burning.

Based on his research, Panda has adopted a policy of eating only between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., and he reports losing weight since beginning the schedule a year ago.

(Source: www.forbes.com)

Labels: obesity, weight-control

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

Young people who follow a vegetarian diet tend to eat healthier foods and weigh less than their meat-eating peers. However, they are also more likely to engage in dangerous weight control measures such as self-induced vomiting, laxatives, and binge-and-purge habits, according to new research from the College of Saint Benedict and Saint John's University, the University of Minnesota, and the University of Texas, Austin. The researchers surveyed 2500 people ages 15 to 23 about their eating and weight control habits.

"What we would be concerned about ... might be that in some instances a [claim of a] vegetarian diet could conceal an underlying decision to lose weight and restrict food intake," said Dr. David Waller, a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas "This might be, for some teenagers, a more acceptable way of restricting their eating rather than being more overt or explicit about it."

Dr. Waller said there are many benefits to a vegetarian diet, but parents should work with their teenagers to create healthy eating patterns through family-shared meals.

This study appears in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.

Labels: weight-control, vegetarians

Posted By: Aspen Education Group 0 Comments

An investigation into British-based pharmacies found that some were selling the powerful weight-loss product Alli online to people who were underage, and in some cases were suffering from eating disorders.

BBC’s Watchdog programme [sic] found [pharmacy company] Boots sold the drug to a schoolgirl online while both Boots and Lloyds Pharmacy sold Alli to a recovering anorexic over the web. When the drug was sold in branches of the chemists, patients’ height, weight and BMI were checked – and if underweight they were refused the tablets. [Source: Daily Mail]

But online, those wishing to buy the product could lie about their weight and BMI. Lloyds has since tightened its process. Alli is considered something close to a “miracle drug” by some, because of its ability to help people lose weight. Opponents, however, warn that the pill interferes with the body’s ability to absorb vitamins and could lead to deficiencies.

 

Labels: weight-control, internet

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