diets

By Nancy ShuteSince the day in 1972 that cardiologist Robert Atkins first told dieters to swap carbohydrates for steak, cheese and bacon, low-carb, high-fat diets have inspired endless controversy. The latest salvo comes from researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, who reported in November in the New England Journal of Medicine that low-carb diets don't increase the risk of heart Read more...

By Suzy Cohen, R.Ph.QUESTION: I'm trying to lose weight. Are there any safe diet supplements that truly work? ANSWER: Yes, there are. Be careful choosing, because the vast majority of diet supplements can really jack up your heart rate and blood pressure. In an overweight person whose heart is already taxed (from the weight, high cholesterol or clogged arteries), the burden of "speed" Read more...

A University of North Carolina scientist says cardiologists fail to recommend diets to some heart patients in the mistaken belief patients won't comply. A pilot survey of cardiologists revealed most know about the life-saving potential of a low-fat vegetarian diet for heart patients, but don't recommend it despite studies showing patients transition fairly easily to a low-fat diet that Read more...

Dealing with sugar craving is a common problem for folks looking to keep fit, especially when adhering to popular high-protein diets. ThirdAge fitness guru Chad Tackett says be on guard against bingeing on foods with low nutritional value for a start. Sugar is a simple carbohydrate and those who try to avoid "bad foods" as described in the high-protein programs, will consequently Read more...

Medical experts say many of us simply are not getting enough vitamin E in our diets or through supplements and that increases our risk of getting heart disease and cancer. Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention write in the American Journal of Epidemiology that up to 27 percent of adults may be vitamin E deficient. While there was little difference between men and Read more...

Watch those low-calorie diets, advises ThirdAge personal trainer Chad Tackett. He urges gradual, small changes in diet and activity to improve health and well-being. Many Americans view a healthy lifestyle as something difficult to attain -- and something that's not much fun, Tackett says. Traditional diets have taught us that to lose weight, we must count calories, keep track of everything Read more...

By Michael O'Reilly, M.D. ThirdAge Women's Health Expert Q: Why do our metabolisms give in after menopause? Why do we have to work so hard to lose weight at this stage? What's going on with our bodies? And do you have medical suggestions for dealing with this? Diets don't work for me. A: I don't have to tell you that women tend to gain weight after menopause, but for that matter Read more...

Good news regarding the war on cancer: In the last decade, knowledge of the cancer process in humans has "significantly deepened," says Dr. John Potter, Head of the Cancer Prevention Research Program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine at the University of Washington. "Cancer is often a product of Read more...

The days of dreadful fat-reducing diets may be nearing an end. Losing weight and keeping it lost could soon be a simple matter of getting an injection from your doctor. A report in New Scientist magazine says researchers have come up with a new treatment that destroys fat cells. In recent lab tests, rats given the jabs lost about 10 percent of their body weight -- and they didn't Read more...