Phentermine
Myth: Fad diets are the best way to long-term weight loss
Fact: The marketing behind the latest fad diet books always promise immediate results. That is what advertisers do — promise miracles. But unless diets obey the simple rule of net-loss calorie intake combined with lowered fat consumption and an increase in vegetables, fruits and whole grains, they may produce a short-term loss and actually risk your health in the process. These hyped books are not the best way to lose weight and keep it off.
Let's list the problems that arise from some of these diets:
• diets that strictly limit food choices are hard to follow because most people get tired of them quickly and give up;
• diets that do not provide all of the nutrients your body needs are unhealthy;
• generally losing weight too rapidly, i.e. the diet expects you to lose more than 3lb per week over more than one month, can increase the risk of developing gallstones; and
• aggressive diets that limit you to less than 800 calories per day can cause arrhythmia and other heart problems.
Truth: The clinical research shows that the best long-term results are achieved when people aim to lose about 2lb per week by eating more healthy food, reducing the portion sizes, adding some gentle physical activity into their daily routine and using phentermine to suppress their appetite. Unless there are some urgent health problems because you are overweight or obese, you should be content to reduce your weight gradually. If there is a medical emergency, reduce weight under proper medical supervision.
Myth: High-protein/low-carbohydrate diets are a healthy way to lose weight.
Fact: There is no clinical research into the long-term effects of a person following a high-protein/low-carbohydrate diet. The reason for this lack is research is an ethical problem. To conduct research, the World Medical Association says that the main purpose of the research should be to improve the diagnosis and treatment of a disease. In doing so, the physician's duty is to protect the life and health of all human subjects, assuming that the importance of the research objective outweighs the risks to the volunteers, particularly when they are healthy.
The first raises the contentious issue of whether obesity should be classified as a disease. If the duty of the researcher is to protect the health of every volunteer, feeding a healthy volunteer an exclusive diet of high-protein foods like meat, eggs and cheese is not balanced. Eating too much fat and cholesterol may raise the risk of cardiovascular problems. If you are not eating enough fruit, vegetables and whole grains, the lack of fibre can cause constipation. The diet can also make you feel nauseous, tired and weak.
More generally, any diet that requires you to eat less than 130g of carbohydrate a day can cause ketosis — in turn this can cause gout and kidney stones. Deliberately-induced ketosis for therapeutic purposes is highly controversial, e.g. in the treatment of epilepsy. It is particularly dangerous for pregnant women and anyone with diabetes or kidney disease. Diets that recommend such a course of action without proper medical supervision should be considered dangerous. Which is, of course, why there is no research into the effectiveness and safety of these diets. The benefits do not outweigh the risks when there are other well-proven systems for losing weight safely.
Truth: All diets that limit you to high-protein/low-carbohydrate food choices are low in calories, so you may well lose weight in the short term. But any eating plan that reduces your daily calorie intake will have the same effect. If you achieve a net-loss daily intake but have a balanced mixture of carbohydrate, protein and fat, you will have all the key nutrients you need for health and you are likely to find it easier to stick to the diet because you have a greater variety of food to choose from. If you do find it difficult to eat less, phentermine can help by suppressing your appetite.
Myth: Get rid of starches to lose weight
Fact: Starches are polysaccharides, i.e. complex carbohydrates and they form the basis of the majority of foods we eat, e.g. cereals, beans, roots, tubers and fruit. Cooked foods containing starches include boiled rice, all the various breads, noodles and pasta. Some vegetables like potatoes are low in fat and calories, but they are converted into unhealthy food by eating them in excessive portions or by covering with high-fat sauces based on butter or cream. Starch in the form of cornflour (actually derived from maize) is used in cooking for thickening sauces.
Generally, all food that is rich in carbohydrates represents an important source of energy for your body. The staples of bread, potatoes and pasta are the fastest-burning foods you can eat. The clinical evidence shows that almost none of the carbohydrates you eat is ever converted to fat. For that reason, most nutritionists recommend that you eat carbohydrates as about two-thirds of your daily diet.
Truth: No matter what name you may give it, a healthy diet must contain the following:
• lean meats, poultry and fish;
• fruit, vegetables, beans and whole grains; and
• eggs and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products.
It must also be low in both saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, salt and added sugars. If you find that you still feel hungry after eating a calorie-reduced meal, you should consider using phentermine to control your hunger pangs until your body gets used to eating smaller portions of healthy food.
Myth: Eat nothing but grapefruit and you'll burn fat
Fact: The idea that anyone would be able to eat nothing but a single food, no matter how delicious, as an exclusive diet over any reasonable period of time is unrealistic. Boredom would end the diet and the weight lost through starvation would simply return when your normal diet reasserted itself. Further, this is the kind of claim that can easily fall under the heading of misleading advertising. Scientifically speaking, no food can burn fat. Although caffeine and other natural chemical components can act to speed up your metabolism in the short-term, anything that suggests that the food itself is causing weight loss is deceptive. The metabolic process is well documented. The body burns calories to provide energy to keep your heart beating. If you have a reduced calorie intake, the body must burn fat to provide the energy required.
Truth: A diet supported by the use of phentermine to suppress appetite is most effective not only when you reduce your calorie intake but also when you increase your level of physical activity. It is the increase in energy demands through exercise that actually triggers calorie burn. If you diet but continue an essentially sedentary lifestyle, your weight loss will be significantly slower.
Myth: Dietary supplements are a safe way of losing weight
Fact: Many of the weight loss products that you see in your local pharmacy, supermarket or health store claim to be "natural" or "herbal". You are intended to infer that such products are necessarily safe. Unfortunately, not many governments around the world require manufacturers to have their products scientifically tested before they are launched in the market. The only controls apply to the advertising, i.e. they are not allowed to claim medicinal qualities without supporting evidence. This can create genuine dangers to the public as the problems with those herbal products containing ephedra demonstrate. The fact that the replacement products claim to be "ephedra-free" is no guarantee that they are any safer. Indeed, many do contain ingredients that are similar to ephedra.
Truth: You should always consult your physician before taking any product whether it is prescription or over-the-counter. Many medications can be inappropriate for you to take — so for example, phentermine is not suitable for every person — see the article on Drug combinations to avoid. Similarly, many of the weight-loss products can be dangerous.
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