I could not have said it better myself. I have worked with anti-obesity drugs over the years. Weight loss drugs do not teach anyone anything, they articificially disconnect us from our weight problem, and when we “wake up” after stopping them, we have not changed what drives our weight gain. In the absence of insight and changed behavior, the weight comes back, and then some.
Considering the medical consequences of overweight, one could make a case for giving a patient such a drug (monotherapy) in lieu of numerous others to control the weight-associated chronic conditions. As always, drug safety is key.

Ranveig Elvebakk, MD

The discovery of insulin was indeed a miracle. Now we need to understand the limitations of the miracle. Insulin is the life saver in diabetes type 1. Diabetes type 2 is another story. Too much of a good thing is not good, and chasing sugar with ever increasing insulin type drugs increases insulin resistance, and hastens the inflammation that drives diabetes type 2. Studies confirm this.
The treatment of choice is to lower sugar to reverse this response. The Food Tree teaches you to reverse diabetes type 2 by doing this. Studies confirm this too.

I came across this article on the Huffington Post. It discusses the issue with Low-Fat Diets and how they can be misunderstood.

We are again caught up in the “low-something – high something diet”. Unfortunately we seem to view nutrition in these terms rather than using scientific information to determine what we really need to be in balance. We know what our daily requirements of macronutrients are. Furthermore, know what the major triggers of inflammation are, and meat is not one of them. Our recent problems are traceable to the inflammatory effects of refined sugar and fat. We, as opposed to the historic Inuit, have the luxury of the phytonutrients of plants, which makes for complete balance in our nutrition. Conversely, I have personally seen a number of vegetarians with weight and nutritional deficiency because of their unbalanced approach. Balance remains key.

I recently came across this article on CNN. It only comfirms what research is suggesting: It isn’t red meat that is the problem, it is the amount of fat in the meat. The additives probably do not help either. I also recently commented on President Clinton’s story about how he changed his nutrition to improve his health and lose weight. Plant based nutrition loses to a more balanced approach  with respest to weight loss and effect on chronic illlness.  A plethora of recent research confirms this.  The body does not like extremes. Balance is still key!

That is a tough question. Many people   simply don’t know how to eat.  Maybe you can understand  Natalya, who wrote this: “I now realize that I was punishing, well actually  killing myself with food.   It was slow suicide and I dont really know why I did it. All I know is that I found the Food Tree. I am doing the program,  reading the book and my life has totally changed.  I love my new life and I can’t believe I ever ate the way I did. Never again! If If you are ready to change your life, you can do what she did.    To learn more visit www.FoodTreeMD.com

Most patiens who come to me  tell me they skip breakfast to lose weight because eating breakfast makes them tired and hungry all day long. This like starting your car in the morning with the gas gauge on Empty!  The problem is not eating, it is what they eat:  That pastry does not do it, in fact, it raises insulin and sets   blood sugar on a slalom curve that soars and plummets driving sugar cravings all day long. The dips in blood sugar cause  fatigue and irritability. The first thing we do here is to get patients to include  15 grams of protein for breakfast. One of our protein drinks does just that. No fuss, no excuses, everyone can do this.This simple manouver  stabilizes blood sugar, levels mood and energy,  and sticking to the rest of the program becomes easy.  If you are struggling with breakfast, try it for yourself.

To learn more visit www.FoodTreeMD.com

And what does that have to do with nutrition? A lot more than you think. Testosterone is a determinant of sex drive in men and women both, and overweight can cause hormonal imbalances including low testosterone in both sexes. It  is one of the defining features of Insulin Resistance in men. (See my review article on my web site) and  diabetics often suffer low libido.  The amazing thing is that nutrition will reverse this. Listen to a woman who came to me three years ago:  I have lost 30 lbs, I walk better, breathe better, I am tapering off my medications. Best of all, I have rediscovered my husband!  We have resumed our long lost marriage, and we are both so much happier! I am telling this story to help others who might be in the same kind of  rut we were.   The Food Treee saved me. It can do the same for you.

 Really? And you thought fructose was the root of all dietary evil. Fructose in nothing but the next innocent bystander to the blame game because we dont uderstand  obesity.  It is a naturally occurring sugar in fruits and vegetables,  and has almost double the sweetness of table sugar at a third of the glycemic index (22). Pure fructose was  the sweetener of choice for diabetics before articical sweeteners because small amounts of it does not raise blood sugar and insulin. It is my sugar of choice and I recommend it to my patients. A drawback is exessive browning when used for baking.     Like table sugar, “high fructose corn syrup”  is about half fructose and half glucose, which is the real culprit at glycemic index 100.  Did you know that you eat some 75 lbs of fructose a year in table sugar? You see, the problem is their commercial overuse. There is no medical condition due to fructose, but there is a bad one due to table sugar because of its content of glucose - diabetes type 2.  Bottom line:  The villification of fructose is about  as scientific as that of protein some years back - unfounded.  Use it as your low glycemic index sugar –  in small amounts – in good health.   To learn more visit www.FoodTreeMD.com  

Cookie

 If you want to eat right but miss that cookie, we have just the thing  for your sweet tooth: This little treat packs 15 grams of protein and is a snack or a little meal on the go.  The total carb count is 22grams , 6 of which is low glycemic index sugar and 6 grams of fiber.  The  calorie count is around 170 as opposed to the average cookie at 400 kcal and no  protein. It can be cut in half and toasted for  breakfast, and is delicious with a little butter or just plain. It comes in three flavors and is a favorite here.

The answer is blood sugar, blood sugar and blood sugar. Diabetes type 1 and 2 are two different illnesses, but they are both associated with a mismatch between blood sugar and insulin, resulting in high blood sugar. The most dangerous thing about diabetes is cardiovascular disease (CVD) and here is the real problem:  Blood sugar level is directly related to CVD, and within ten to fifteen years all diabetics have some degree of heart or vessel disease, and this is the most common cause of disability or death. Have you checked your blood sugar lately?  Even within normal ranges and into  pre-diabetes or Insulin Resistance, the statistics are very clear:  The risk for CVD increases linearly with  long term blood sugar levels.  So what about cholesterol ?  That is a complicated story, but the short of it is that cholesterol is made of sugar molecules. So when we take our cholesterol medication and think we are covered, we are missing the point. Statistics confirm that, too.  So does clinical practice:  Diabetes type 1 improves, diabetes type 2 reverses , and cholesterol goes down when we remove refined sugar from our nutrition. To learn more, visit www.foodtreeMD.com.