Obesity drug, Reductil (Sibutramine), an appetite suppressant, is being withdrawn from use in UK because of risk of heart attack and stroke

BBC News reports that "the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has told doctors to stop prescribing sibutramine and review its use in patients already taking it." And ""Pharmacists are asked to cease dispensing the medicine."

It has been used by 86,000 people in the past year. Since ALL obesity drugs are harmful and unnecessary, it makes me think things must be really bad for the MHPRA to ban its use.

If you are overweight/obese and wanting to lose some of your excess weight, do not turn to weight loss pills. They are neither safe nor effective. The safe, fast, easy way to lose excess weight is to minimise the amount of salt and salty food you eat, avoid dieting, eat plenty of fruit and unsalted vegetables, and make sure you have dairy calcium, e.g. milk and yoghurt, as part of your food intake.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, boost your lung function and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it!

See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Sodium in foods

Fat retention and fat excretion: the importance of getting enough calcium.

Do you have Cushing Features/Cushing's Syndrome and wonder if there is anything you can do about it?

Do you have Cushing Features/Cushing's Syndrome and wonder if there is anything you can do about it? - There is!

You cannot cure the Cushing problems, but you can certainly reduce them. If you seriously cut down on salt and salty food - permanently - and if you also try to eat plenty of fruit and unsalted vegetables, and if you completely abandon dieting and going hungry and counting calories, you can reduce those Cushing features, lose some of your excess weight, look more like your old self and have lots more energy.

I'm editing this post to make clear that I am not talking about Cushing's Disease, that is why I did not use the term Cushing's Disease in the title of this blog entry. Cushing's Disease is not caused by prescription drugs.

I should have made clear that I am talking only about Drug-induced Cushing's Syndrome, best known of which is Steroid-induced Cushing's Syndrome. i.e. a syndrome caused by taking drugs such as inappropriately-prescribed corticosteroids or certain other classes of prescription drugs. I myself developed Steroid-induced Cushing's many years ago.

People who become morbidly obese in this way, with a host of associated health problems like high blood pressure, thin skin, moonface, enlarged heart, etc. are often described as 'steroid victims'. There are millions of them the world over, wherever these pharmaceutical drugs are prescribed.

Two of the many side-effects of the medication are sodium and water retention and these lead on directly to many of the other problems, for example, the high blood pressure.

I had been on the steroids for nearly ten years unfortunately before I found out by chance about the role of salt in Drug-induced Cushing's. I lost 51 pounds weight by strict sodium reduction, and the other side-effects of the drugs were similarly reduced. For example the high blood pressure returned to normal.

I created my website and my blog to save other people from needless suffering. See my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

Drug-induced Cushing's sufferers lose weight easily by following my sodium reduction advice, e.g. Tara and 'Dee'. See Tara and her problems with prednisolone
and see 'Dee' and her massive weight gain and stretch marks from being prescribed prednisolone in too high dosage

My apologies to people who have actual Cushing's Disease, which is much more complicated than Drug-induced Cushing's Syndrome. I was not writing about Cushing's Disease.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

And see Sodium in foods

prescribed steroids and HRT

amitriptyline

Ed McMahon's Health Story from 2001 Gives Helpful Dietary Advice for Losing Weight and Lowering High Blood Pressure

This Health Story from USATODAY is from 8 years ago, but the dietary advice "decreasing sodium intake, increasing potassium-rich whole foods" is just as helpful today as then. By doing this, Ed McMahon lost 50 pounds weight, lowered his high blood pressure and found he was full of energy.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better! See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers

Children and Obesity

Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

Being bullied or insulted because you're fat?

Here's what to do.
All that any overweight person needs to do to lose a lot of excess weight is to give up dieting and concentrate on reducing the fluid retention that is the cause of overweight/obesity. This entails cutting down on salt/sodium and eating plenty of fruit and unsalted vegetables. In practice, the best way to do this is to avoid ready meals, takeaways and processed food, and instead to cook from fresh. But you don't need to count calories and you don't need to eat low-fat, sugar-free diet junk. - Eat real food, and don't go hungry. - Just avoid salt/sodium and salty food.

Here is a helpful page of information for you: Sodium in foods

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it!

See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

and FAT RETENTION

Australians pay heavily for heavy public servants to lose weight

Article in the Telegraph

It seems that while we in the UK have been paying for our MPs to live lives of luxury and excess, Australian taxpayers have been shelling out for overweight government staff to take part in very expensive Weight Watchers 'slimming' courses. - What a waste! - They'll not even lose weight!

Australians in general, and not just public servants, are getting heavier/more obese.

All that any overweight person needs to do to lose a lot of excess weight is to give up dieting and concentrate on reducing the fluid retention that is the cause of overweight/obesity. This entails cutting down on salt/sodium and eating plenty of fruit and unsalted vegetables.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it!

See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers

Children and Obesity

Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION

Swine flu has now reached Britain

The Telegraph reports that two people are being treated in a hospital isolation unit in Scotland after contracting the disease on holiday in Mexico.

You can boost your immune system by cutting down on salt and salty food and by eating good healthy food with plenty of fruit and vegetables. Dieting should be avoided as inadequate food intake lowers your resistance to infection.

Hypertension may be lowered by a protein in yellow peas.

The Telegraph has an article about the discovery of a protein in peas - a protein that lowers high blood pressure and is of especial benefit when high blood pressure accompanies kidney disease.

In fact all vegetables and fruits, because of their high potassium content, help to lower high blood pressure, though this report about a protein in peas must mean that there is an additional benefit conferred by peas. The reason potassium lowers high blood pressure is that potassium displaces sodium in the body. The fastest way to reduce high blood pressure is to eat less salt/sodium and salty food, so make sure your peas and your other vegetables are not salted.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better! See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods

Potassium lowers blood pressure. New study

http://www.scientistlive.com/European-Science-News/Medical/Potassium_lowers_blood_pressure/21618/

Well I've been telling people for years, both in this blog and on my website (www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk) that potassium lowers blood pressure and that the way in which it does that is by displacing some excess sodium from the bloodstream.

Anyway, the link I have given from the scientistlive.com website gives interesting information from a new study. Obviously the main dietary change necessary to lower high blood pressure is to reduce sodium intake, but when lower sodium is accompanied by plenty of potassium this lowers high blood pressure even more.

I recommend you read the whole article, but here, at any rate, is an extract from it:

"The new study "is a quantum leap in the quality of the data compared to what we have had before," Whelton said.

Whelton was a member of a recent Institute of Medicine panel that set dietary recommendations for salt and potassium. The panel said healthy 19-to-50 year-old adults should consume no more than 2,300 milligrammes of sodium per day -- equivalent to one teaspoon of table salt. More than 95 percent of American men and 75 percent of American women in this age range exceed this amount.

To lower blood pressure and blunt the effects of salt, adults should consume 4.7 grams of potassium per day unless they have a clinical condition or medication need that is a contraindication to increased potassium intake. Most American adults aged 31-to-50 consume only about half as much as recommended in the Institute of Medicine report. Changes in diet and physical activity should be under the supervision of a health care professional.

Good potassium sources include fruits, vegetables, dairy foods and fish. Foods that are especially rich in potassium include potatoes and sweet potatoes, fat-free milk and yogurt, tuna, lima beans, bananas, tomato sauce and orange juice. Potassium also is available in supplements.

Whelton is among the nation's top experts on high blood pressure. He has published more than 400 papers on the subject, and has been the principal investigator on more than $100 million of studies funded by the National Institutes of Health."

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, stroke, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs, hunger or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

And see Sodium in foods and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/socio.html - social and economic considerations

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers

Children and Obesity

Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

My usual message about how best to lose weight is to eat less salt/sodium, but you can also reduce your sodium by eating more potassium-rich foods. -

My usual message about how best to lose weight and reduce high blood pressure is to eat less salt/sodium, but you can also reduce your sodium by eating more potassium-rich foods - like fruit and vegetables. This is because potassium displaces sodium in the body.

See Sodium in foods

Try not to add much salt to the meals you prepare.

If you find it hard to cut down on salt, do it gradually. Your taste will gradually change. Try using pepper, garlic, herbs such as basil, chives, lemon grass, rosemary or coriander, spices such as chilli or ginger, balsamic vinegar or lemon juice, rather than salt, to add flavour to your food.

You can get a lot of flavour from onions too, you know, and I've just been reading about how good shallots are for our health. - As well as being rich in potassium, they are a rich source of vitamin A, B and E and even contain a high level of vitamin C, particularly if eaten raw.

Have a look at this post for some further ideas about how to lower your sodium intake.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, sleep better, improve your concentration and improve your health in many other ways - without drugs, hunger or expense - by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

There are thousands of miles of blood vessels in the human body and every inch becomes a little swollen if they become weakened by dieting/'slimming'

There are many thousands of miles of blood vessels in the human body and every inch becomes a little swollen/distended/dilated if the blood vessels become weakened by dieting/'slimming'/fasting or relaxed by certain prescription drugs, e.g. tricyclic anti-depressants like amitriptyline, cortico-steroids, oestrogen-rich medications, anti-psychotics, certain painkillers, etc. - This means in effect that because of fluid retention with sodium and the water it attracts to itself, increased blood volume will cause you to gain excess weight.

When I googled to find how many miles I found different estimates - 60,000, 62,000 and 100,ooo miles. - You may possibly find other estimates; but it's clearly a helluva lot!

When people whose blood vessels are weaker than the norm eat salt, the result is weight gain and obesity (because of excess sodium and water held in the blood vessels and elsewhere). This condition is also known as sodium retention, water retention, fluid retention, salt sensitivity or oedema. If these people reduce their salt intake they lose some of the excess sodium and water, and so lose weight, and if they eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables they lose weight faster, because the potassium in the fruit and vegetables displaces some of the excess sodium from the body.
Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
Children and Obesity

And see Sodium in food

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

See advice for pregnant mothers
Associated health conditions

and FAT RETENTION

Researchers at the National Institute for Agricultural Botany in Cambridge have produced a GM wheat that releases fewer calories into the body.

New flour means bread could fight obesity
Article in the Telegraph

Extracts:

"Researchers at the National Institute for Agricultural Botany in Cambridge have produced a genetically modified form of wheat that releases fewer calories into the body compared to other varieties currently available.

Food made from the new crop is also digested slower, making people feel fuller and less likely to eat more food. The scientists hope that these qualities could help make staple foods such as bread, pasta and other flour products healthier."

"Scientists at Birmingham University have also discovered a new method to replace fat in food products by using a protein found in mushrooms. The protein creates an air filled capsule that mimics the texture of fat.

The researchers claim that the protein could be used to replace fat in foods such as salad dressings, mayonnaise, sauces and even ice cream where most of the fat is used to provide a rich texture rather than taste.

Dr Phil Cox, one of the researcher on the team, said: "It is hoped that, by making indulgent foods more healthy, the consumer will be able to continue to enjoy those foods that are currently seen as bad for you, without worrying about the fat content.""

Wouldn't it be great if the researchers gave up this misguided research and did something useful instead?! - They could at least check that their research is founded on reliable evidence. - There is no evidence whatsoever that reducing calorie intake reduces obesity. Nor is there evidence that reducing fat intake reduces obesity. - And they've never even tested out these theories to check if they are right...)o:

The facts are that obesity is caused by salt sensitivity/sodium retention/fluid retention and sometimes, additionally fat retention, i.e. obesity is not caused by overeating or by taking too little exercise. - Obese people can easily lose excess weight, i.e. excess fluid and excess fat, by significantly reducing their intake of salt/sodium and by eating plenty of fruit and unsalted vegetables. - Reducing calories or fat intake has no effect on fluid retention so does not result in loss of excess weight. - Slim people do not have the problem of salt sensitivity; THAT IS WHY THEY ARE SLIM! - It isn't that they don't overeat. - Frequently slim people are the ones you see eating like there's no tomorrow and taking no exercise, but nobody tells them they are greedy or lazy. - It's only the fat people that get gratuitously insulted and accused of greed, yet most fat people are counting calories/dieting MOST OF THE TIME and so they are hungry and UNDER-EATING most of the time.

The fattest people - the morbidly obese - are usually the victims of prescribed drugs that cause sodium and water retention. Doctors prescribe these drugs far too readily/carelessly/recklessly, often in high dose, and without the important warning that while taking them the patient should avoid eating salt of salty food.

See Health problems associated with salt sensitivity and fluid retention

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, angina, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods

See also FAT RETENTION

Doctors should start giving statins to children to combat an obesity "epidemic", according to a prestigious American academy. - What folly!

Children 'should be prescribed statins to combat heart disease'
Article in the Telegraph

Extract from the article:

"The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued guidelines recommending wider cholesterol screening for children and more aggressive use of cholesterol-lowering drugs starting as early as the age of 8 in hopes of preventing adult heart problems.

The push to aggressively screen and medicate for high cholesterol in children is certain to create controversy amid a continuing debate about the use of prescription drugs in children as well as the best approaches to ward off heart disease in adults.

But proponents say there is growing evidence that the first signs of heart disease show up in childhood, and with 30 percent of the nation's children overweight or obese, many doctors fear that a rash of early heart attacks and diabetes is on the horizon as these children grow up."

When children become obese and develop heart disease and high cholesterol it is because they are eating salty food. - To prevent/reduce these health problems in children their salt/sodium intake needs to be significantly lowered and they should eat plenty of fruit and (unsalted) vegetables. There is no need for them to reduce calorie intake. They also need to be protected from high doses of prescription drugs that cause fluid retention/obesity/sodium retention/salt/sensitivity.

Medics always seem to want to push more and more drugs. - Drug-pushing of statins onto children is not a good idea. - Deal with the cause of the problem in order to solve/reduce it by minimising salt intake; don't prescribe drugs unnecessarily,, especially as so many people report very unpleasant side-effects from taking statins. - There are only good side-effects from lowering salt intake...(o: - losing weight, lowering high blood pressure, lowering cholesterol, lowering risk of stroke and heart disease and heart attack and type 2 diabetes, etc etc.

See http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/children.html

Broccoli and other green leafy vegetables may protect women from diabetes

An increased intake of green leafy vegetables may reduce the risk of women developing type-2 diabetes, suggests a new study from New Orleans. For every additional serving of green leafy vegetables, the risk of developing diabetes may be reduced by almost 10 per cent, according to results of an epidemiological study published in the journal Diabetes Care. The study, led by Lydia Bazzano from the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, adds to a growing body of science supporting the intake of vegetables for diabetes risk reduction.
Read news report at nutraingredients.com

Reducing salt/sodium intake also reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This applies to both women and men and also children.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, heart attack, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See advice for pregnant mothers

Children and Obesity

And see Sodium in foods and

amitriptyline

prescribed steroids and HRT

Associated health conditions

FAT RETENTION

If you need my further help, I can be contacted from my website. - My help is free.

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay has called for restaurants that serve fruit and vegetables out of season to be fined for not using home-grown produce.

Gordon Ramsay's war on out-of-season vegetables

Extract from the Telegraph:

"Ramsay said he had spoken to the Prime Minister Gordon Brown briefly about the issue and warned that buying food from abroad made cooks lazy.

"If we don't restrict our movements within this industry of seasonal produce only, then the whole thing will spiral out of control," he told the BBC.

He criticised fellow celebrity chef Delia Smith for her support of ready-made food and canned goods.

"I would expect students struggling on £15 a week to survive eating from a can but the nation's favourite, all-time icon reducing us down to using frozen, canned food - it's an insult," he said.

"And it makes our lives, from a chef's point of view, a lot harder. Here we are trying to establish a reputation across the world for this country's food and along comes Delia and tips it out of a can. That hurts."

Here is a list of which vegetables, according to the food website Eat the Seasons, are in season and when:

January - beetroot, brussels sprouts, parsnip, apples

February - cauliflower, chicory, leeks, pears

March - purple sprouting broccoli, rhubarb, spring onions

April - jersey royal new potatoes, radishes, watercress

May - asparagus, spinach, spring onions

June - artichoke, carrots, courgettes, runner beans

July - broad beans, cucumber, onions

August - peas, potatoes, raspberries, plums

September - butternut squash, marrow, blackberries

October - celery, kale, chestnuts, elderberries

November - pumpkin, swede, quince, walnuts

December - turnips, leeks, apples"

Fruit and vegetables can help you lose excess weight and improve your health in many other ways too. - See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions

I watched the first part of tonight's "The Diets That Time Forgot". - What nonsense the programme is!

I couldn't bear to watch more than the first part of the programme - about a quarter of an hour, I suppose. - What nonsense! - What a lousy programme!

Some of the 9 volunteers are trying to lose weight by eating mostly meat. Some are eating what they like but chewing each mouthful 32 times. And some are eating a calorie-controlled diet.

Well a diet that is mostly meat is clearly not a healthy diet. Our bodies do best on a varied food intake, not just animal protein, and including plenty of fruit and vegetables.

And chewing each mouthful 32 times is plain silly.

And there is a wealth of evidence that reducing/restricting/counting calories does not in itself produce weight loss in overweight people. - In fact, weight gain is far more common than weight loss on a calorie reduction diet. Hunger does not make fat people slimmer; it makes them tired, cold and miserable.

The only way that fat people can safely reduce their weight by what they eat, is by eating less salt/sodium and/or more potassium. This reduces fluid retention, the cause of obesity, and to some extent reduces fat retention. - That means in practice, avoiding salt and salty food and making sure you eat plenty of fruit and vegetables. Additionally, if fat retention still is a problem, then extra dairy calcium will help to remove this in the faeces and so further weight is lost.

If the volunteers on this silly programme do lose any weight then it will be because they have eaten less salt and/or more fruit and vegetables and/or more dairy calcium.

It's a shame and a pity that neither ITV nor the BBC ever have a programme with TYPICAL overweight subjects trying to lose weight. - These will be people who keep their appetite in check, keep their calories down, often go hungry and try to take exercise even though they are tired.

Ideally, they would be instructed NOT to go hungry and encouraged to eat far more calories than they have been eating - even TWICE AS MANY - BUT NOT TO EAT ANY SALT OR ANY FOOD THAT HAS HAD SALT ADDED TO IT. AND TO EAT PLENTY OF FRUIT AND UNSALTED VEGETABLES AND PLENTY OF FULL CREAM MILK AND DAIRY YOGURT.

And no diet junk AT ALL, and as far as possible, no weird food additives - just fresh food, not processed stuff.

THEY WOULD LOSE WEIGHT FAST AND SAFELY.

DIETING IS NOT THE WAY TO SLIMNESS OR TO HEALTH.

Obesity is caused by fluid retention, not by gluttony, and is reduced not by dieting and exercise, but by eating less salt.

Lose weight, reduce your risk of most cancers, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, stroke, heart disease, vascular dementia, osteopenia, osteoporosis, hypercholesterolaemia, depression, liver and kidney problems, and improve your health in many other ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

vulnerable groups

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

See FAT RETENTION

Children and Obesity

Fat people will be offered cash incentives to lose weight and take regular exercise under a radical Government strategy to tackle the obesity epidemic

Obesity crisis: get paid to lose weight

Extracts from Telegraph report:

"Fat people will be offered cash incentives to lose weight and take regular exercise under a radical Government strategy announced yesterday to tackle the obesity epidemic.

Leader: Battle of the bulge Your view: Should fat people be paid to lose weight? Employers will be encouraged to set up competitions with money, vouchers and other rewards for people who give up junk food in favour of healthy eating and living. Those losing the most weight would earn the biggest prizes. Ministers believe that by giving people incentives to do something about their weight now, it will help avoid larger costs associated with treating cancer, heart disease and diabetes caused by obesity. Similar schemes have worked well in America and British medical insurance companies already offer discounts for people who go to the gym regularly. Experts say that most of the population will be obese by 2050 unless urgent action is taken and the associated rise in ill health would cost the NHS £50 billion a year. The Government wants Britain to be the first major nation to reverse the rising tide of obesity and said it would focus on reducing within 12 years the proportion of children who are overweight back to the 2000 level of 26 per cent. At present, 30 per cent of children are obese or overweight." "The Government is investing £372 million over three years to implement the strategy and annual progress reports will be published. Dr David Haslam, the clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, said the incentives scheme smacked of "desperation". There was little evidence that payments would work and it would be difficult to check whether people were regularly taking exercise. A recent analysis of nine research studies which used financial incentives found there was no effect on weight after 12 months. Aberdeen University's Health Services Research Unit said eating more fruit and vegetables was more effective than paying for weight loss." The trouble with offering cash incentives to lose weight is that it will encourage people to eat less food/diet, and dieting does not reduce weight; dieting usually causes weight gain and is very harmful to health. The best way to reduce obesity is to tell the truth about how it is caused and how to reduce it safely. - Dieting (reducing calorie intake) does not reduce obesity because obesity is not caused by overeating. Obesity is caused by fluid retention in people who are vulnerable/sensitive to salt. These people can lose weight easily and fast by avoiding salt and salty food. - They can lose excess weight even more rapidly by eating plenty of fruit and vegetables because these foods contain a lot of potassium,and potassium helps to remove excess salt from the body - i.e. potassium displaces sodium in the body. - See vulnerable groups

Health hazards involved in some 'beauty treatments'.

Trust me I’m a junior doctor

Extract from Max Pemberton's article in the Telegraph:

"Tanya didn't need weight-loss tablets and she certainly didn't need their side-effects. Being told to stop taking them was the best tip she'd get all day."

It is not necessary to take drugs or to diet in order to reduce weight. Excess weight can easily, safely and rapidly reduced by minimising intake of salt/sodium, eating good healthy meals and plenty of fruit and unsalted vegetables. (There is no need to restrict calorie intake or fat intake: only sodium intake. - So avoid salt and salty food.)

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! - Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/steroids.html

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection

See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

A good news story about healthy hot meals in some rural schools: - set up by Tim Crabtree and Local Food Links

Recipe for success

Extract from Guardian article:

"As Dorset this week stages a celebration of local food - a reflection of the growing interest in local, organic produce that began with the rise of farmers' markets - the man who helped kick-start this trend has turned to something more significant than catering for the rural rich.

Tim Crabtree set up the West Dorset Food and Land Trust, which initiated the farmers' markets, but now runs Local Food Links, a community-benefit society that cooks and delivers hot meals to schools around Bridport.

Crabtree says the impetus behind Bridport's LFL was that while visitors and retired people could afford to shop at farmers' markets, ordinary working people struggled. "We live in a low-wage economy, and so our remit has been to address the fact that local and organic food has become an expensive niche market."

Almost two years ago, in response to the Jamie's School Dinners series on TV, the government announced that all schools should serve hot meals by September 2008. But amid all the fuss about "scrotum burgers" and Turkey Twizzlers, one fact was overlooked: 25 years ago, under the last Conservative government, all the primary schools in Dorset got rid of their kitchens.

The county council thought microwavable ready meals would be the only option if schools were to reinstate hot lunches, but companies refused to tender for the job, saying they were unable to do it profitably due to the large number of small schools spread across such a rural area.

LFL stepped in, initially offering hot, freshly made soup to two primary schools. Ruth Clench, headmistress of Bridport county primary school, says: "There was a really good take-up, and a superb part of the experiment was that some of the children helped make it. That persuaded other children to try it." Laura Wood, whose daughters attend the school, says: "Before, my kids had only ever eaten Heinz tomato soup, and it encouraged me to make soup at home, too."

Encouraged by the success of the soup kitchen, Crabtree expanded the operation in April to provide hot meals two days a week to eight schools. He hopes that by Easter next year all eight schools will be supplied with hot meals five days a week. The target is 95,000 meals, which would take the area to the current national average of a 40% take-up.

What has helped in getting children to accept a wide range of vegetables is that they get involved in choosing them. LFL holds tasting sessions for the children and their parents, pays close attention to their comments, and also sneaks extra vegetables into their meals - for instance, by pureeing butternut squash and adding it to tomato sauce (a Jamie Oliver recipe)."

Lose weight and improve your health in many ways without drugs or expense by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!

See my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/.html (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)

vulnerable groups

How to Lose weight!

Children and Obesity

Read my Mensa article on Obesity and the Salt Connection
See Sodium in foods and

Associated health conditions and

http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/story.html - my 'political' page

I can be contacted via my website if you need my further help. My help is free.

A new study will investigate possible links between diet and Alzheimer's disease.

Scientists to probe Alzheimer's link to diet - Telegraph

Extract:

"A new study will investigate possible links between diet and Alzheimer's disease.

The Alzheimer's Society will carry out research to look at the side effects of food and drink such as fruit juice, red wine and oily fish on the incidence of the disease.

It will analyse new and existing data to discover if a "Mediterranean style" diet could reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's.

The BBC reports that the charity predicts dementia will affect almost one million people by 2020.

The Mediterranean diet - rich in fruit, vegetables and cereals with some fish and alcohol and very little dairy and meat - has been generally viewed as good for health for some time. "

I invite you to consider the following: - according to the Alzheimer's Society, Alzheimer's disease is multifactorial, and they say, "Research has also shown that people who smoke and those who have high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels increase their risk of developing Alzheimer's." (See page on Alzheimer's Society website)

Now set aside smoking, and consider just "high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels." - Both of these conditions are mainly caused/initiated by salt sensitivity and can easily be lowered by minimising intake of salt and salty food and making sure to eat plenty of food cooked from fresh (as opposed to processed food), including plenty of fruit and vegetables.

Now consider the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer's disease - vascular dementia. The Alzheimer's Society's website tells us: "There are a number of conditions that can cause or increase damage to the vascular system. These include high blood pressure, heart problems, high cholesterol and diabetes. It is therefore important that these conditions are identified and treated at the earliest opportunity. "

Well, all of "high blood pressure, heart problems, high cholesterol and [type 2]diabetes" are principally caused/initiated by salt sensitivity and can easily and swiftly be improved by minimising intake of salt and salty food.

So you can lower your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease or vascular dementia (as well as many other illnesses and degenerative conditions) by restricting the amount of salt and salty food you eat. If you already have these illnesses, you can slow their progress by eating less salt and making sure to eat plenty of food cooked from fresh (as opposed to processed food), including plenty of fruit and vegetables.

The most important thing is the salt reduction.

You can read further and with more explanation and suggestions on my website http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ (The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)
I hope you will also look at some of the other pages on my website, such as conditions often associated with salt sensitivity and my Mensa article Obesity and the Salt Connection

Mediterranean diet reduces risk of lung disease.

Mediterranean diet cuts the risk of lung disease - Independent

It is best to read the whole article because it is very detailed.

Extract:

"Eating a Mediterranean diet rich in fruit and vegetables halves the chances of developing lung disease, researchers have found.

Anti-oxidant vitamins in the foods help to counteract inflammatory processes that damage the lungs, a study shows.

By contrast, nitrites in processed meats, part of the typical Western diet, may contribute to progressive deterioration in lung function with age. Refined foods with a high glycaemic index (such as desserts and sweets) may also promote inflammation.

Serious lung disease is principally caused by smoking and is set to become the third leading cause of death worldwide by 2020, as a result of the rise in smoking in developing nations. It is known by the umbrella term Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), which includes bronchitis, emphysema and related conditions. Not all smokers develop the disease, which has led researchers to look for the genetic and environmental factors that offer protection. One of these is diet."


Lose weight by eating less salt! Go on! - Try it! - You will feel so much better!
See my website www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk
(The site does not sell anything and has no banners or sponsors or adverts - just helpful information.)