MORE THAN WEIGHT LOSS DIETING HELPS BE HEALTHIER A VIDEO ON LOW CALORIE RESTRICTION DIET GOOD NUTRITION SUGGESTS PEOPLE MIGHT LIVE TO OLDER AGE

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Most people diet to lose weight. A weight loss diet in an overweight person will lower the weight. People who weigh what they should tend to be healthier and have good blood pressure and fewer medical problems. But some people are on a calorie restriction diet because some studies imply that eating fewer calories makes you healthier and can extend life span. Some medical research suggests that if you get a well balanced nutritional diet and you eat fewer calories the chances are good that you will live longer.



Chronic calorie restriction without nutritional deficiencies increases the length of life. That seems to be the upshot of several reports that have been published over the years. Among studies that suggest chronic calorie restriction was a report that they may have found a gene that explains why calorie restriction may lengthen life.




VIDEO CALORIE RESTRICTION LIVING TO OLDER AGEClick the Arrow to Start the Video









Scientists can "knock out" or shut down the function of various genes in a study animal to see which are important. They are able to selectively turn off a gene in an animal and then see what happens. It is somewhat analogous to going into the electrical equipment room of a large building and removing a part from some machine you see. If the air conditioner stops working you know that part had some relation to the air conditioning. They often use a worm called C. elegans because it is so simple and well understood yet by studying it they can probably learn lessons applicable to higher organisms.

On a related note Read about Natural food diets to lower Cholesterol





A research group found a gene that codes for a protein in C. elegans that is related to longevity and that calorie restriction may be causing increased production of the pha-4 protein and so leading to longer life (at least in C. elegans).

Gene Clue to Longevity Uncovered

DIETING WEIGHT LOSS :LEARN FROM SUCCESS FIND OUT HOW PEOPLE LOST WEIGHT STORIES AND EXPERIENCES OF DIETING SUCCESS

DIETING WEIGHT LOSS :LEARN FROM SUCCESS FIND OUT HOW PEOPLE LOST WEIGHT

STORIES AND EXPERIENCES OF DIETING SUCCESS

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He was six foot two and 425 pounds. The Indiana University undergraduate says it was painful just to walk. And then he had an epiphany.




















There was a Subway sandwich shop in his apartment building. "He used to eat there frequently but one day when he was at his heaviest, he noticed the sign advertising sandwiches with "7 under 6" grams of fat. He ate a 6-inch turkey (no oil, mayo or condiments or cheese) for lunch and a 12-inch veggie (no condiments or cheese) for dinner. He ate the same sandwiches every day. This is what made it so easy." The rest of course is history. Today he is 190 pounds and Jared Fogle travels the country espousing the benefits of dieting and Subway.

Easier to Stay Focused and Succeed at Diet When You Have a Plan and Real Life Examples and Stories to Guide You

When you have a diet plan, especially one that you know has worked for others it makes it that much easier to adhere to your plan. In a moment of temptation you can visualize the picture of the person who has succeeded and the story of their success.

Great Stories,Resources and Pictures of People Who Succeeded at Dieting

You can find great stories and pictures of people dieting successfully at USA Today Weight Loss Challenge and read about more about Jared Fogle at Jared Fogle and His Weight Loss. Another great resource is the Lean Plate Club by Sally Squires at the Washington Post.

RISKS REWARDS OF GASTRIC BYPASS SURGERY VERSUS DIETING: IN WEIGHT LOSS SURGERY EXPERIENCE COUNTS

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Often a topic for comedians, weight is not so funny when you are fighting a long battle, dieting with little to show to control excess weight that colors every part of your existence from your health to your social life. Many people have chosen gastric bypass surgery.










A New England Journal of Medicine research article found that gastric bypass surgery is beneficial. "In fact, the benefit is quite dramatic. The authors studied 9,949 patients who had undergone weight loss surgery, and compared them to a control group of 9,628 severely obese individuals who did not have the surgery".




They wrote an article about weight loss, diets and gastric bypass surgery. One is an economist and the other a writer but as they discussed the pros and cons of weight loss surgery and dieting in their New York Times column "The Stomach Surgery Conundrum", the authors of Freakonomics totally neglected to mention this article,one of the most important New England Journal research paper about weight loss surgery and it's consequences.




As the Freakonomics boys do point out when it comes to doing surgery experience counts. You want a doctor who does many bariatric weight loss procedures. "Technological innovations, especially the use of laparoscopic procedures (using a tube that is inserted through an incision in the abdominal wall so it's less invasive) have made for considerable gains in safety and efficacy. While the operation is still dangerous in some circumstances — one study found that for a surgeon’s first 19 bariatric operations, patients were nearly five times as likely to die than patients that the surgeon later operated on — the overall mortality rate is now in the neighborhood of 1 percent.

The editorial in the New England Journal also points out that the lowest surgical mortality is seen among surgeons who have performed more than 50 operations and preferably more than 100 operations.



After gastric bypass surgery there was a significant reduction particularly from diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. However, the rate from causes other than disease was higher in the surgery group than in the control group".

Study Shows Dramatic Health Benefit From Obesity Surgery






Dubner and Levitt also say that "a significant fraction of postbariatric patients acquire new addictions like gambling, smoking, compulsive shopping or alcoholism once they are no longer addicted to eating". In fact, the New England article does say that "Despite reductions in disease-related deaths after gastric bypass surgery, the risk of non–disease-related death, such as accidents and suicides, increased by a factor of 1.58, as compared with that in the control group. Reports reveal that a substantial number of severely obese persons have unrecognized presurgical mood disorders or post-traumatic stress disorder or have been victims of childhood sexual abuse".

After Weight-Loss Surgery, Some Find New Addictions



"Not only do most patients keep off a significant amount of weight but the other medical problems that accompany obesity are also often assuaged. One recent analysis found that 77 percent of bariatric-surgery patients with Type 2 diabetes experienced “complete resolution” of their diabetes after the procedure; the surgery also helps eliminate hypertension and sleep apnea. From an economic standpoint, research suggests that the operation can pay for itself within a few years because a postbariatric patient now requires less medical care and fewer prescriptions. That’s why some insurance companies cover bariatric surgery — as more do, it will likely lead to a further spike in the volume of operations".

Long-Term Mortality after Gastric Bypass Surgery (this is a pdf)

Freakonomics in the Times Magazine: The Stomach-Surgery Conundrum

Freakonomics The Stomach-Surgery Conundrum

Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Bandings