DR FLYER'S MEDICAL BULLETIN
Issue No. 3May 2012
In This Issue
LOSING WEIGHT
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 Greetings! 

 LOSING WEIGHT

 

 

Everyone has advice on this one.  Mine has always been simple; diet and exercise, but the emphasis on exercise.  Do what I do, 70 minutes of cardio four days per week (typically 8 � miles on the elliptical for me), core exercises, so you don't get hurt, pull ups, push ups, and plenty of stretching.  My eating habits are always eat breakfast, bran cereal with yogurt and bananas, eat balanced meals and learn to like fresh fish, complex carbs, and plenty of fruits and vegetables.  Choose water over juices and sodas.

 

But, if it's that easy, why is it so hard for most people and why does the average person keep gaining.  Diets alone don't work, doesn't matter if it's Atkins, Mediterranean, Zone, after 6 months, compliance just drops.  My answer was always, well people don't do enough exercise.  But, some people do plenty of exercise, and still get frustrated with their results.

 

We aren't all alike.  One study gave volunteers an extra 1000 calories a day for two months.  Now, you would think all participants would gain and probably about the same.  But, that's not what happened.  Some gained one to two pounds, while others put on 12.

 

The 'thrifty gene' hypothesis makes sense.  10,000 years ago during great famines, the survivors and progenitors of most people today were the ones with metabolisms that could live on very little.  Today, of course, we live in times of plenty and food is relatively cheap. Those same metabolisms lead to obesity.

 

Exercise is certainly easier for some, than others.  If a person wasn't athletic in high school, it can be daunting not only to learn exercise later, but to master the idea of pushing your body past various levels of pain.  And the way we interpret the pain that comes later from sore muscles is also based on our experience with that effort.

 

I do believe in the role of diet pills, but currently, there are only two that are FDA approved.  One is phentermine or half of the old Fen-Phen diet.  It strictly curbs appetite.  Although one can lose 5 - 8% of body weight, once that level is hit, you just maintain at that new plateau.  And if that bores you and you stop, well, you go right back to where you started.  The other is Topamax, a pill originally utilized as a seizure pill.  Additional uses subsequently approved include prevention of migraines and treatment of bipolar illness.  But, it also works well for binge eating, or eating when you're not actually hungry.  The more overweight you are and the longer you take it, the more you lose.  Complaints about this one usually focus on cost, but there are affordable options.  Some users don't tolerate it as they get a temporary side effect of 'word-finding' difficulties. 

 

Lately, I've seen potential value of one non FDA-approved diet, the so called 'Hollywood diet' that was championed by Oprah.  It utilizes a hormone made from the placenta, HCG, or Human Chorionic Gonadotropin.  HCG has a role in pregnancy to preserve calories for the fetus.  It does this by preferentially utilizing tertiary or stored fat, probably a safeguard against fetal starvation if the mother doesn't consume enough calories.  However, when given to non-pregnant women or even men, dramatic weight and fat loss can follow of 15 - 30 pounds over one to two months.

 

This was described in the 1950s, yet, conventional medicine had dismissed it as a placebo, since it is taken with a very low calorie diet, and such a diet would result in significant weight loss alone.  Yet, the idea of mobilizing inactive fat stores makes sense, and certainly testimonials among users contrasts sharply from those on just a low calorie diet.  Instead of constant hunger and fatigue, individuals speak of loss of appetite and a new found energy. Theoretically, the mobilized fat stores make up for the limited caloric consumption.  It is taken as liquid drops placed under the tongue.  It is also required that a low calorie protein and vegetable diet be followed.  Without compliance with the diet, it doesn't work.  What's interesting to me is that one can take this treatment for only three to six weeks, yet newly discovered weight levels can be highly inspirational for the long term.

 

Certainly, these options require supervision by a trained physician.  It takes substantial commitment to properly manage weight reduction and I have found that most doctors feel more comfortable just treating hypertension and diabetes, instead of curing those conditions with successful weight loss.  If you or anyone you know might be interested in legitimate weight management by a trained and highly motivated physician let me know and I will find the right options available.

 Brian Flyer, MD

1125 S. Beverly Dr. #700

Los Angeles, CA 90035

310-300-1122

[email protected] 

www.flyermd.com