“Listen, if you’re one hundred pounds overweight at age fifty, you have the same mortality rate as if you have a solid cancer. Would you operate for cancer? Yeah. So if you cannot lose that weight, get one of these procedures.”
USA Today recently reported on Dr. Oz’s advocacy of gastric bypass surgery, and stance that is causing quite a bit of buzz.
The subject of gastric bypass is a sensitive one. It’s risky and it’s not always supported as a wise choice by doctors. In Dr. Oz’s interview he made bold statements in support of bypass surgery. While his take is more bold and direct in it’s delivery than most, is he alone in his beliefs? Experts weigh in.
Dr. James Early, M.D. is the Medical Director of Via Christi Weight Management in Wichita, KS. He also was a collaborator with Dr. Oz on his book You on a Diet. On a daily basis, Dr. Early is dealing with over weight and obese patients and their struggles in health. While he did agree with Dr. Oz’s stance, he was clear to express that, “it’s very important that each patient is individually assessed.”
Read Full Post >
Gastric bypass is the most popular weight loss surgery around. It’s proven to be safe and effective in the vast majority of people who opt for it. However, there’s another weight loss surgery on the scene referred to as duodenal switch that is getting some attention, but not all for good reasons.
According to a new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine the lesser-known surgery offers superior weight loss, but it also is a higher long-term health risk.
Following 60 severely obese patients, researchers had the subjects of the study randomly assigned to have gastric bypass surgery or the more involved procedure known as duodenal switch.
Read Full Post >
There’s been a lot of buzz about probiotics lately, and they seem to be showing up everywhere whether it’s in supplements, yogurt, smoothies or even ice cream! So what’s the big benefit and what do you need to know about them? We put together a question-and-answer guide to give you the 411 on probiotics!
What Are Probiotics?
Probiotics are live organisms, such as bacteria and yeast, most of which are similar to the healthy flora that we naturally have in our guts. Probiotics are naturally found in some foods like yogurt and kefir, along with other foods that are fermented such as miso, tempeh and sauerkraut. You can also buy probiotic supplements.
Why Are Probiotics Helpful?
Although there isn’t a lot of concrete research on this, doctors believe that having the right — or wrong — balance of bacteria in your stomach may play a role in digestive issues, obesity, immunity, eczema, and possibly even help with common childhood ailments such as strep throat, ear infections, colds and diarrhea, along with helping with food allergies.
Read Full Post >
Oprah's Ultimate Weight Loss Challengers shared their weight loss progress along with many other inspired Oprah guests on the May 10, 2011 episode
It is possibly one of the most famous moments in Oprah history. What am I talking about? I’m referring to the time when Oprah wheeled out 67 pounds of fat to represent the amount of weight that she had lost. Now, in her final season, Oprah dedicated her entire May 10 episode to weight loss, food addiction, emotional eating, and the 100 Oprah viewers who have each lost at least 100 pounds.
The first viewer whose story we saw was Sandra, a 5’2″ mother who weighed 240 pounds at her heaviest. Sandra admits to being an emotional eater who used food to comfort her in moments of sadness, frustration, or doubt. When she was 40-years old, she thought she was having a heart attack. The episode turned out to be a panic attack, but her doctor told her that a heart attack was in her near future. Sandra was afraid of working out, but when she saw a sports bra on the Oprah show, she was motivated to try ice-skating as a form of exercise. She has lost 106 pounds since then. Sandra placed third in a skating competition and is much happier and healthier now.
Read Full Post >
A new study examined the two of the most popular weight loss surgeries, Lap-Band and gastric bypass, has come to the conclusion that gastric bypass is the better option. While the rate of complications in both procedures was about the same, gastric bypass surgery patients lost 64 percent of their excess weight after a year, while those who had the Lap-Band device placed only lost 36 percent of their excess weight.
“It’s a dramatic difference,” said Dr. Guilherme Campos of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine in Madison.
Interestingly, previous studies have shown that gastric banding was safer than gastric bypass surgery.
Read Full Post >
