A Paris-based pharmaceutical company has unveiled an experimental new
drug to combat obesity. The drug is, according to preliminary research
data, a powerful appetite suppressant. Prescribe it to patients, the
thinking goes, and they'll automatically eat less. Sounds good at first,
but here's the real story on appetite suppressants and prescription
drugs.
Appetite suppressants initially seem to be a promising
strategy for weight loss. By taking a prescription drug or an herbal
supplement, the body will theoretically shut down its hunger and
automatically eat less. As a result, the person will drop excess body
fat and experience a steady decline in all the obesity-related risk
factors: diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and so on. It all sounds great
at first, but a closer look at the complex relationship between people
and their foods reveals that this approach is only minimally successful,
at best.
Here's why: appetite is actually stimulated by the
consumption of processed foods and refined carbohydrates. When a person
drinks a soft drink, eats a donut, or consumes refined white sugar, the
resulting swings in blood sugar cause a hunger spike to arise a few
hours later. Hunger signals are further strengthened when a person
suffers from common nutritional deficiencies (virtually all Americans
are deficient in zinc, vitamin D, various B vitamins, magnesium and
other important nutrients). After years of experimentation, and after
spending hundreds of dollars on various appetite suppressants (discussed
below), I have come to the conclusion that the very best way to
control appetite is to avoid refined carbohydrates and get superior
nutrition from whole food supplements. I've tried all the "natural"
appetite suppressants: hoodia, jojoba, green tea, fiber supplements and
so on. None come even close to the appetite suppressing power of simply
avoiding all refined carbohydrates such as white bread, rice, flour,
high fructose corn syrup, sugars, tortillas, cereals and so on.
The
only carbohydrates that don't trigger subsequent hunger are whole grains
such as quinoa or boiled whole grain kamut, for example. Everything else
in the carbohydrate world, including oatmeal and cream of wheat, is a
strong appetite stimulant that will only make you eat more.
The
bottom line here is that you don't need drugs to suppress your
appetite. All you need is the knowledge to make better informed
food choices and avoid all processed carbohydrates. This means
absolutely no cookies, crackers, breads, baked goods, pasta, and so on.
Do this and your appetite will fall on its own. You'll automatically eat
less, lose weight, and save a fortune by avoiding prescription drugs.
It's almost like following a low-carb diet, except you can have all the
fruits and vegetables you want, as long as they're eaten in their raw
form and not processed (orange juice, for example, would be a no-no).
All of this doesn't mean appetite suppressant drugs and diet pills
won't be successful in the marketplace: most people would rather take a
shortcut to losing weight if there's one available. But here's why the
drugs won't work very well: even if your appetite is artificially
reduced by the drugs, your body will keep on craving until it gets
the nutrients it needs. If you don't supplement your diet with
whole food and superfood supplements (like chlorella and spirulina) that
provide superior nutrition, your body will be in a never-ending state of
nutrient deficiency, and turning off the hunger signals will be all but
impossible, no matter how powerful the drug.
So a person on appetite
suppressing drugs will only succeed if they take an active role in their
own nutrition by consuming superfoods and avoiding refined
carbohydrates. And if they do that, they don't need the drugs in the
first place. In effect, the drugs are really just hype, and they don't
represent a reasonable approach to reducing obesity. Or, to summarize
this entire article in one phrase: it's the food choice,
stupid! Choose the wrong foods on a regular basis, and all the
drugs in the world won't make you thin. But choose the right foods at
every meal, and you'll be thin without needing drugs.
About the author: Mike Adams is a consumer health advocate and award-winning journalist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He is a prolific writer and has published thousands of articles, interviews, reports and consumer guides, and he is well known as the creator of popular downloadable preparedness programs on financial collapse, emergency food storage, wilderness survival and home defense skills. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company. In 2010, Adams created TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural living video sharing site featuring thousands of user videos on foods, fitness, green living and more. He also founded an environmentally-friendly online retailer called BetterLifeGoods.com that uses retail profits to help support consumer advocacy programs. He's also the CEO of a highly successful email newsletter software company that develops software used to send permission email campaigns to subscribers. Adams volunteers his time to serve as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and practices nature photography, Capoeira, martial arts and organic gardening. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org
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Sunday, June 13, 2004
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