Yoga Helps With Weight Loss

Practicing yoga increases body awareness and leads to mindful eating, and this heightened sensitivity can promote weight loss in people who are overweight and prevent weight gain in individuals of normal weight. These findings were reported in a recent issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association.
According to the Center for Mindful Eating, a nonprofit organization, “mindful eating has the powerful potential to transform people’s relationship to food and eating, to improve overall health, body image, relationships and self-esteem.” People who engage in mindful eating can better achieve weight loss because they can identify mindless eating habits, learn to make choices about their eating based on awareness of hunger and satiety cues, and value quality rather than quantity of food.
The current study, which was conducted by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, was prompted by results from a previous study in which investigators found that people of healthy weight who practiced yoga regularly were able to prevent middle-age spread while those who were overweight were able to achieve some weight loss. Overall, the middle-age participants in the earlier study gained less weight over a decade than those who did not practice yoga. The investigators wanted to find out why this was so.
To discover whether yoga increases mindful eating and leads to less weight gain and even promotes weight loss, the researchers developed a 28-item Mindful Eating Questionnaire that addressed disinhibition (eating when full), awareness, external cues, emotional response, and distraction. More than 300 people were given the questionnaire: more than 40 percent practiced yoga more than one hour per week, 46 percent walked for at least 90 minutes per week, and more than 50 percent engaged in more than 90 minutes of moderate or strenuous physical exercise per week.
Body weight of the participants was within normal range, and the body mass index (BMI) was lower among people who practiced yoga as compared with those who did not. The researchers observed a relationship between higher scores on the mindfulness questionnaire and a lower BMI, which indicates that mindful eating may have an important role in long-term weight maintenance. People who eat mindlessly - those who eat when they are depressed or anxious or when they are not hungry - are likely to weigh more or to gain weight. The researchers discovered a strong association between practicing yoga and mindful eating, but this relationship did not exist between other types of activities, such as running or walking, and mindful eating.
According to Alan Kristal, DrPH and associate head of the Cancer Prevention Program in the Public Health Sciences Division at the Hutchinson Center, “Mindful eating is a skill that augments the usual approaches to weight loss, such as dieting, counting calories and limiting portion sizes. Adding yoga practice to a standard weight-loss program may make it more effective.”
The investigators believe the Mindful Eating Questionnaire, which is the first tool of its kind ever developed to measure mindful eating, may prove helpful for clinicians to better understand and encourage healthy eating habits and weight loss efforts in their patients.

Different Kind Of Weight Control Issue: Keeping Pounds On, Not Off

Halloween candy, Thanksgiving turkey, holiday eggnog, cookies and cake: We’re nearing the time of year that keeping one’s weight under control becomes especially challenging. One group of people faces a different kind of weight management issue and it’s ongoing in nature. For frail elderly with memory impairment, preventing weight loss, not gain, is key.
“What we see is that memory-impaired seniors may forget to eat or they may not be able to sit still long enough to eat a full meal,” said Anne Ellett, senior vice president of health services for Silverado Senior Living, which operates 17 memory-care communities in California, Texas, Utah, and Arizona.
“They may not like the food they are being offered and are not able to express that clearly. They could be having trouble swallowing. Depression, potentially undiagnosed and untreated, could also be the reason they start losing weight.”
Research points to the dangers of an underweight problem among the aged in America. A joint study by the University of California, Irvine and the University of Southern California that appeared in the May 15, 2006 American Journal of Epidemiology associated being underweight with higher mortality rates for those over 80. Study results published in the September 2006 Archives of Neurology show that the average rate of weight loss among the elderly doubles in the year before the first signs of memory impairment are detected.
Because maintaining proper weight is so important, Silverado has designed numerous methods for encouraging its residents to eat. Meals are tailored to individual preferences and food is easily available outside of scheduled dining times. The communities include country kitchens stocked with sandwiches, cookies, and cake that residents may munch on at any time. Residents are also offered foods that are easy to eat while walking, such as fruit, pieces of cheese, and small containers of pudding. Silverado staff are welcome to snack, with just one condition: they are to invite a resident to share whatever they’re having.
“Besides encouraging eating, it’s important to take a comprehensive look at why a frail elder is losing weight,” said Ellett. “At Silverado, we don’t just assume that weight loss is inevitable as part of memory impairment. We examine the entire situation, so that we look at all chronic illnesses, what medications the person is taking, whether there are issues with the ability to swallow, and what kinds of food the person has always liked. Then we design a program that meets specific dietary needs and preferences.”
More than 1, 700 people have started to feed themselves again and over 2,200 have regained the ability to walk while in Silverado’s care.
In addition to its memory-care communities, Silverado offers home care, care management and hospice care through its Silverado at Home and Silverado Hospice service lines in California, Texas, and Utah. Silverado is headquartered in San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

Weight Loss Up, Medication Down - Diabetics Lose Weight On A Plate

Diabetics Lose Weight
Using a portion control plate helps diabetics both lose weight and decrease their reliance on medication.
Type two diabetes is caused in many cases by being overweight. Sufferers often depend on drugs and insulin injections to control their symptoms. Doctors recognise that weight loss would greatly improve patients' diabetes but struggle to find an effective solution. It is known that diabetics find it even harder to lose weight than non-diabetics and yet they can benefit more.
The six month study undertaken by Calgary University Consultant Endocrinologist Dr Sue Pederson used The Diet Plate� � Complete Weight Management System, consisting of a specially designed and calibrated dinner plate and a calorie controlled breakfast cereal bowl that helps users eat normal foods but in healthy portions.
The results showed that users of The Diet Plate� � were:
- More likely to lose weight (avg. 1.75% body weight cf. 0.05% body weight in control group)
- More likely to be able to decrease their reliance on diabetes controlling medication (26% in The Diet Plate� � users cf. 11% of control group) and on injected insulin (decrease by 8 units/day in The Diet Plate� � users cf. an increase in 7 units/day in control group)
- 17% of participants achieved more than 5% body weight loss cf. 4.5% of the control group.
The study has very positive implications for those seeking to control their diabetes through weight management and raises the possibility of decreased reliance on health professional support.
Dr Sue Pederson reporting on her findings said "Our overall results are comparable to similar studies undertaken using expensive weight loss drugs but with The Diet Plate� � there is no need for close medical supervision or the risk of unpleasant side effects".
The Diet Plate creator Kay Illingworth reacted positively to the study. "For years we've been helping people to lose weight, now we've proved that The Diet Plate� � is extremely effective and can help diabetics regain control".

Psychological Acupuncture (EFT) Curbs Food Cravings for Weight Loss

Food cravings are no stranger to anyone trying to lose weight. Research findings show that psychological acupuncture, also known as Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), helps curb food cravings for up to six months.
Psychological acupuncture involves gentle tapping on acupressure points while focusing on emotions and thoughts. Scientists studying the effects of emotional freedom technique say EFT successfully reduces food cravings that could lead to weight loss. The results were almost immediate as well as long lasting.
Tapping on acupressure points can be learned quickly and is promoted as a way to create positive life changing emotions. When it comes to food cravings, researchers say EFT creates changes at a subconscious level, potentially leading to weight loss.
Psychologist Dr Peta Stapleton, an academic title holder in Griffith University's School of Medicine, said the technique was painless and simple for study participants to learn. EFT successfully removed cravings for sweets, salty foods like potato chips, and biscuits, making Emotional Freedom Technique a potential tool for fighting obesity and weight loss.
"Food cravings play a big role in people's food consumption and ultimately their body weight. If we can beat the cravings without the need for willpower or conscious control of behaviour, then weight loss is also possible."
The effect of EFT on weight loss is still being studied, but because psychological acupuncture stopped food cravings for up to six months, the technique is expected to work for weight loss over time.
Individuals studied who were taught psychological acupuncture didn’t lose weight, but they did lose their food cravings. EFT could be an effective way to curb food cravings that ultimately should lead to weight loss. The study findings are scheduled for presentation at the International Congress of Applied Psychology in Melbourne in July.

Food For Diabetes Patients: Weight Loss Helps

According to the Kaiser Permanente study, published online in Diabetes Care of the American Diabetes Association journal, losing weight soon after the diabetes diagnosis helps to better manage the disease and control it. Therefore, it is very important to keep a special diabetes diet and carefully choose the types of foods that the diabetes patient can eat.
The story fromt the American Diabetes Association shows how early weight loss soon after the diabetes diagnosis can help to manage the disease.
People who lose weight soon after being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes are up to twice as likely as those who don’t to achieve blood glucose and blood pressure goals, even if the weight comes back, according to a study published online today in the journal Diabetes Care.
Researchers at Kaiser Permanente’s Center for Health Research (KPCHR) in Portland, OR, found that losing a moderate amount of weight (a mean of 9.8 percent of body weight) within an average of 18 months of diagnosis helped people with type 2 diabetes to achieve blood pressure and blood glucose levels within the target range. Those improvements remained three years later, even if the weight returned.
“What’s critical here is that early weight loss may provide lasting benefits for risk factor control that in turn can reduce diabetes-related complications and mortality,” said the Kaiser Center’s lead researcher, Dr. Adrianne Feldstein. “We’ve known for a long time that weight loss is an important component in diabetes treatment and prevention. Now it appears there may be a critical window of opportunity following diagnosis in which some lasting gains can be achieved if people are willing to take immediate steps toward lifestyle changes.”
Nearly all adults with type 2 diabetes are overweight and more than half are obese, a condition that is associated with poor blood glucose control and other cardiovascular risk factors. Previous research shows that losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight helps people with diabetes improve glycemic control, reduce blood pressure and improve blood lipids.
“These findings suggest that, even in the face of weight regain, losing weight can have long-lasting benefits in type 2 diabetes,” the researchers concluded. “The therapeutic advantage achieved through weight loss is exceedingly important, given the close connection between glycemic and blood pressure control and cardiovascular outcomes.”
Gregory Nichols, another author on the study, said people with type 2 diabetes may also be more motivated to lose weight when they are first diagnosed, and that doctors should encourage them to do so during this important window of opportunity.
However, he said, “We don’t know if the initial weight loss increases the body’s sensitivity to insulin, or if the sustained lifestyle changes are the reason for the long-term health benefits. What we do know is that losing weight reduces the risk factors that often lead to heart disease, blindness, nerve and kidney damage, amputations and death.”
The study, a retrospective cohort, used data from the clinical medical records of 2,574 HMO patients aged 21-75 who had received a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes between 1997 and 2002. Patients were followed over a 48-month period. The study was supported by a grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK).