Weight reduction

IS A DOCTOR NECESSARY? 

Weight reduction on a sound basis calls for the special knowledge of a physician. He will make certain that you do not lose your health while losing excess weight; that you do not reduce too rapidly and thereby put a strain on your heart and circulation; that you do not find yourself with a cosmetic problem because you have lost weight but have not regained skin tone and end up with flabby masses of pendulous skin. He will suggest proper exercise. 

He will also prescribe vitamins, minerals, and other substances, if necessary, to prevent weakening of bones and organs and to maintain resistance to disease. For example, if you use a "no-calorie" salad dressing made of mineral oil, your doctor may want you to take some vitamins, because mineral oil lends to prevent adequate absorption of some of the vitamins your diet would ordinarily provide. Moreover, it helps considerably if you can have your diet suitably adjusted to your eating habits.

You may be one of those who will be miserable if deprived of a bedtime snack. You may prefer a substantial dinner and be willing to cut down on lunch to have it. A physician can help you establish a sound diet and one best suited to your needs. He may, if necessary, prescribe sedatives for your use during the toughest phase of dieting; the psychological aspects of a relationship with a sympathetic, encouraging physician also can be of great importance during dieting and later on in maintaining low weight. A doctor's encouragement and praise of a patient's efforts in reducing, we have found, can be of major value.

PILLS AS PROPS

 Should you take drugs to reduce? Without a doctor's supervision, never. If, in an individual case, a physician feels that an anti-appetite drug as a temporary prop is justifiable, he will prescribe it-and it should be taken exactly as prescribed. Most physicians, however, prefer to have a patient Weight Control / 67 rely on willpower and determination rather than on drugs and to adjust the diet so this is feasible. In the past, medicines for weight reduction generally were based on amphetamine and so stimulated patients that physicians were reluctant to use them. Now, a number of appetite-reducing agents are available, free of the side effect of overstimulation.

These apparently safer agents are available only on prescription. Over-the-counter reducing preparations are big business. At worst, they can be risky business because of the possibility of side effects; at best, the money is foolishly spent because in and of them the medicines are not to be relied upon for effective permanent weight reduction. The problem with even safe reducing agents is that they are only supports that help temporarily. 

It makes much more sense-s-and has far greater chance of permanent success-to regulate your diet by a healthy change in eating habits which, once desired weight reduction is achieved, can be continued with some upward shift in calorie intake, to maintain you at proper weight. 

Heart problems and Sugar intake - Bodily reactions

SUGAR AND THE HEART 

Can consumption of large amounts of sugar be as much of a factor in coronary heart disease as cholesterol? So British investigators led by Dr. John Yudkin of the University of London maintain. They note that over the past 200 years in Great Britain sugar consumption has gone up almost 25-fold, from an average of 5 pounds per person in 1760 to 25 in 1860 and to 120 pounds in 1960. 

A sizable increase in sugar consumption in the United States also has been noted by American investigators. The British workers note that increasing affluence anywhere is accompanied by increased incidence of heart attacks and by diet changes which include greater consumption not only of fat but of sugar.

They point to studies showing that recent Yemeni immigrants to Israel have little coronary thrombosis but those who have been in Israel 20 years or more become prone to the disease-s-and the major change in their diet is increased sugar consumption. 

Among their own studies, Yudkin and his co-workers report one covering three groups of men, aged 45 to 66. Twenty had recently suffered first heart attacks, 25 had hardening of leg arteries, and 25 others had no health problems. The sugar intake of the first two groups customarily had been roughly twice that of the healthy group. 

Not all doctors agree with Dr. Yudkin. Much work remains to be done to identify the mechanism by which sugar in excess may produce artery disease. And a big question to be answered is whether reduction of sugar intake will reduce risk of artery disease. Still, even the possibility that sugar may be involved in this major disease adds another reason why moderation in its use appears warranted. Ordinary refined sugar is what nutritionists call an "empty calorie" substance. 

It provides energy-but no protein, no vitamins, no minerals. It can add to body weight but does not help the body repair itself. Sugar, as contrasted, say, with cereal, puts the body at a nutritional dis- advantage. 

How Vitamins act and their influence in our body care?

VITAMINS

 About $1.5 billion is spent yearly for vitamins, much of it by healthy people convinced by high-powered advertising that they need extra vitamins. While essential, vitamins are required only in minute amounts, and a fully adequate supply is provided by a balanced, varied diet. To be sure, some people, relatively few, may need vitamin supplementation because they do not absorb certain vitamins properly when they are on vigorous reducing diets. In such cases, medical advice is required. 

Vitamins in excess cannot restore the vigor of youth or perform other assorted health miracles. If diet is poor, vitamin-deficiency diseases may result: scurvy, with its gum bleeding, muscle aching, general weakness caused by deficiency of vitamin C; rickets with its bone deformities from deficiency of vitamin D; pellagra with its mental deterioration from deficiency of one of the B vitamins (niacin).

Correction of a deficiency when it exists may produce near-miraculous changes. But unless there is an actual deficiency, increasing vitamin intake with supplements-adding more to what is already adequate---can be useless, needlessly expensive, and in the case of some vitamins such as A and D can be harmful, since these two vitamins can accumulate in the body to poisonous levels. Some interesting, though not definitive, reports on the possible value of large doses of vitamin C taken early during a common cold have appeared recently.

The following table lists excellent sources of principal vitamins: Vitamin E Vegetable greens: beets, kale, chard, mustard, spinach, turnips Yellow vegetables: carrots, yellow squash, sweet potatoes Beef liver Cod-liver oil, halibut-liver oil  Vitamin B (several vitamins, including niacin and thiamine, make up the B family) Liver, pork, beef, salmon Whole-wheat bread, enriched bread, oatmeal and other cereals Peanuts, peanut butter Vitamin C Citrus fruits: oranges, lemons, grapefruits, limes Tomato juice (fresh or canned) Strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries, currants Vitamin D Halibut-liver oil and other refined fish-oil preparations Vitamin D milk Exposure of the skin to sunlight 

WHAT IS A BALANCED DIET?

Understanding Balanced Diet

Nearly 50 nutrients; including amino-acids (the constituents of proteins), carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals are now known to be essential for health. A balanced diet is one that can supply all the essentials. It is almost certain that as time passes still other essential elements in foods will be isolated. This is added reason why a balanced and varied diet makes sense; if it is balanced and varied, it can supply all known requirements and others still unknown. 

The currently known essential nutrients have their specific functions. Briefly, because muscles, heart, liver, kidney, and other organs are composed chiefly of proteins, proteins are needed for development and growth of these organs during childhood and adolescence. After growth is over, body tissues, which are continually being worn out, must be   replaced by new materials, So ample dietary protein is essential at all times. 

Meat, fish, milk, and eggs are among the main sources of protein. Bones are composed chiefly of mineral substances such as calcium and phosphorus which are required both for original bone formation and for maintenance. Milk-fresh, canned, dried, skim, or whole-is a major source. Calcium also is supplied by American and Swiss cheese, molasses, turnip tops, dandelion greens.

And cereals, meat, and fish contain phosphorus. 

The fuel of life-what the body burns for energy-is sugar. Carbohydrates, which include both sugars and starches, provide the fuel most readily, for in the body starches are quickly converted to sugar. Fats and proteins also supply the fuel for metabolism-not as quickly, but they can be stored by the body as reserves, for use as needed. Vitamins help to convert foodstuffs into body tissues-skin, bones, muscles, nerves. Although required only in minute amounts, their role is obviously vital, and it is suspected that trace elements and perhaps still other materials yet to be isolated may perform similar functions.

A well-balanced diet-for young and old, active or sedentary, tall or short-can be supplied daily from four basic food groups: Milk and milk products- 2 servings for adults; 3 to 4 for children; 4 or more for teen-agers. One serving equals an 8-oz. glass of whole or skimmed milk; 1 oz. (1 slice) of hard cheese; or 1/2 cup of cottage cheese.