Could Erectile Dysfunction treatment Viagra also help for slimming?

At Medical Specialists® Pharmacy we know that losing weight can sometimes be a hard task. We know this due to the thousands of patients that come to us for weight loss treatments such as Xenical or Alli, after previously struggling to shed the pounds.

However, according to researchers in China, erectile dysfunction drug Viagra may actually be a radical method of losing weight.

Laboratory and animal studies have discovered that ‘the little blue pill’ – as Viagra is often labelled – produces alterations in body fat, causing calories to be burned for energy as opposed to being stored.
As animals have only been assessed, a trial has now begun to see if the same premise holds true for humans. A group of men will be administered either a Viagra tablet or an ineffective placebo, to be taken three times daily for a duration of seven days, with any possible fluctuations in body-fat analysed.

Public Health England say that two-thirds of British adults and a quarter of children between the ages of two and ten can be classified as overweight or obese. The risks from being obese are well-known and include serious health problems such as heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes, and pressure placed onto the joints, leading to osteoarthritis.

Fat accumulates within the body when we consume more calories than we burn, however not all fats are generated in the same way. Most of the typical adult’s bodily fatty tissue is white fat, linked to the storage of excess calories. The body also has a smaller amount of brown fat, which actually work to burn calories to generate heat, so the body is kept warm.

Brown fat is most prominent in new-borns, as they need to be kept warm but are less capable of regulating body temperature. Unfortunately, we lose most of this brown fat as we get older, except for small amounts (particularly around the neck and shoulders) which are used to keep a constant core body temperature.

As we grow into adults, we lose most of our brown fat. But small amounts – teaspoonfuls – remain, particularly around the neck and shoulders, where it is needed to help maintain a constant core body temperature.

Whilst white fat can comprise of around 20 to 25% of a person’s bodyweight, brown fat only takes up between 3 and 7.5% of bodyweight, however, some scientists are looking at methods of boosting the prowess of brown fat – or even ways of producing more of it.

They discovered that exposure to cold temperatures can help to induce a process called ‘browning’ – the conversion of the unhealthy white fat into energy-burning, heat-generating brown fat, and research would suggest erectile dysfunction treatment Viagra can actually kick-start browning.

Viagra (generic name sildenafil) works in erectile dysfunction patients by helping to relax the smooth muscles of the penis and boosting blood flow. However, trials have shown that mice administered the drug over lengthy periods of time were less prone to obesity, despite having a high-fat diet.
With that in mind, researchers based at the University of Bonn in Germany decided to give mice Viagra for a week to see any potential effects on their fat cells.

Remarkably, the researchers discovered that Viagra manage to change white fat cells into ‘beige’ fat – which, similar to brown fat, burns the energy from food and converts it to heat. Writing in the Journal of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, the researchers say that Viagra basically is able to ‘melt’ away the unhealthy fat, but precisely how it does that is unclear at this moment in time, but it is generally thought that sildenafil increases levels of compound cGMP.  This compound passes signals between cells and is thought to be linked to fat browning and speeding up metabolism.

Weight loss expert Steve Miller says fat doctors should be struck off

Overweight doctors should be forbidden from practising on the NHS as they are setting bad examples to the patients that go to see them, according to a leading weight loss expert.

Birmingham-born hypnotherapist Steve Miller runs his own clinic in his home town, and argues that fat doctors should be struck off and told to lose weight; one of many suggestions he has put forth as drastic measures to tackle Britain’s increasingly problematic obesity crisis.

In a written letter to NHS chief executive Simon Stevens, Mr Miller has argued for a much tougher approach with regards to those GPs found to be obese and setting a bad example to their patients, further suggesting that all NHS doctors should be subject to a yearly medical examination which will comprise of a weigh-in, to ensure they are maintaining a healthy weight.

Moreover, Mr Miller says that any doctor found to have a body mass index (BMI) in the overweight/obese categories should be forced to attend a privately funded boot camp in order to lose the excess weight.

If that wasn’t enough, the hypnotherapist has called for any overweight or obese GP who is not willing to attend the boot camp or agree to a personal training programme (at their own expense), should be held to disciplinary action and maybe even struck off if they don’t shed the weight.

Currently, NHS England already has an aim of decreasing sickness amongst staff, which includes obesity, by a third, which may save up to £550 million. This works out at roughly adding an extra 15,000 staff and 3.3 million extra working days.

One of the ways of achieving this will be through the introduction of voluntary weight management schemes for NHS employees, in addition to urging staff to actively travel to work (i.e. walking or cycling) and the ban of unhealthy, fatty food and drink items on the hospital premises.

As doctors are in a position of responsibility, Mr Miller says there should be tough ramifications for any overweight GP.

He said: “Doctors are role models for their patients and that means setting a good example in their actions as well as their words. But there are far too many overweight and obese doctors sitting behind desks in surgeries across the UK. For a doctor to let themselves turn into a lard bucket sends a terrible message. Fat doctors should be suspended from work until they get into shape and if they refuse to undertake a diet and exercise programme then they should be reported to the General Medical Council and struck off.That might sound harsh but obesity is the single biggest problem facing the NHS over the next 20 years and we have to get tough on it as a nation.

“That means a zero tolerance approach to fat doctors. It is laughable when a patient is told by a GP who looks like a Sumo wrestler that they need to lose a bit of weight. Patients take no notice and laugh away the advice. GP’s are paid out of the public purse and should remember that being in a position of power need to be seen as a role model for health. Fat GP’s are an advert for stuffing in yet more burgers and chips and swilling it down with a bottle of wine. It’s ridiculous that any doctor with a belly overhanging their trousers should think they are fit to dish out medical advice, frankly.”

Those with a good memory may recall 45-year-old Mr Miller presented the Sky1 television weight loss show ‘Fat Families’ back in 2011 and the controversial, and sometimes harshly blunt health guru is no stranger to weight struggles himself.

The outspoken Brummie – who specialises in anxiety, panic attacks, weight loss and confidence building – is now down to a trim 11 stone, but was four stone heavier in his mid-30s, managing to shed the pounds by simple lifestyle changes, such as walking more and eating less.

He added: “Simon Stevens needs to acknowledge the dangers of obesity and its acceptance in this country. We need to take action and I’m willing to step up if he will. The sooner we start speaking out, the sooner we start saving lives. Isn’t that the purpose of the NHS? It needs to start within the medical profession. Once they bring their own house in order then perhaps we have a chance of stemming the ever increasing tide of the obesity epidemic.

“GPs have a responsibility to manage their weight. No patient deserves to be advised by a fat GP who is lazier than they are. Overweight docs need to get their mind over the platter. They need to be hypnotised fast so they can lose weight and be an inspiration to obese patients. Fat GPs are a shockingly bad example to kids. Child obesity is out of control and a fat doctor does nothing to motivate overweight kids to slim down. Every GP needs to look in the mirror. If they see a fat bulge, they need to realise they will be perceived as a joke and their advice ignored.”

Lose weight and achieve a summer beach body

With exactly one month to go until the official beginning of the summer season in the UK, perhaps now is the perfect time to start thinking about achieving that body fit for the beach you have always dreamed about, but not quite done much about!

During winter and even early springtime, it is easier to cover up those extra pounds with a bulky sweater and jeans, but when the temperatures start to soar and it simply becomes too hot to bear, shorts and t-shirt are more appropriate to survive without pouring with sweat. Unfortunately, this means there is just nowhere for the fat to hide.

The thousands of patients Medical Specialists™ Pharmacy help each and every year will already be aware of the fact we have a fantastic range of weight loss treatments such as Alli, XLS-Medical and Xenical, which for suitable patients can work with a healthy diet plan to really shed the pounds and give you your confidence back.

However, there are also a number of alterations to your lifestyle that you can implement today – a month before summer begins – to help you lose weight and achieve a body to be envied on the beach! So when you hear the dreaded words ‘beach season’, you need not book the earliest flight to Siberia, where nobody dares to venture outside unless covered head to toe in thick clothing.

Here Medical Specialists™ run through some useful tips to lose weight and tone up:

. Plan your meals

If you speak to any weight loss expert, they will undoubtedly tell you planning what you are going to eat and when, has been proved to help dieters stick to their goals. By mapping out your meals it will enable you to manage your time more efficiently and make preparing the meals easier. It can be the difference between a stressful week and one which is stress-free. The process of preparing your weekly meals is so important that fitness experts and those involved in fitness competitions, consider it an absolute necessity.

. Don’t skip breakfast

Make sure to fill yourself up at the start of the day with a well-balanced breakfast that consists mainly of carbohydrates and protein. This will help to keep hunger pangs at bay so you don’t gorge on junk food come dinner time. Your metabolic rate is slowed down as a result of you obviously not taking in any food during sleep and by eating breakfast, you will wake up your metabolism and get it revved for the rest of the day.

. Snack smartly

It was previously thought that snacking in-between meals was an absolute no-no, however health experts now state it is far better to satisfy hunger between meals with a healthy snack such as fruit, instead of ignoring the hunger and risking a junk food binge later on. Fruit also contains plenty of water and good carbohydrates, meaning you will feel full for much longer.

. Watch your alcohol intake

Those few beers after work may help you to unwind after a stressful day at the office, but have you considered hitting the gym instead to help distress and release endorphins; aka ‘happy hormones’. There are hundreds of empty calories in alcohol that do no good for your waistline. Did you know that drinking just 5 pints of lager each week equates to around 44,200kcal over the course of a year – roughly the equivalent of eating 221 doughnuts. Alcohol can also induce massive hunger cravings for fatty junk food, which only adds potentially thousands more calories – Have you ever wondered why all those takeaways are packed out after your night out on the town?

. Consider high intensity exercise

Want to get fit and quick? It might be worth engaging in some high intensity interval training (or HIIT for short) exercises. HIIT exercises result in a big calorie burn within a short time period. Don’t be fooled though, HIIT workouts are far from easy and require you to give three or four times more effort in the 20 to 30 second bursts that such exercises are comprised of. The hard work here means your body is unable to bring in sufficient oxygen and a ‘debt’ is built up that must be accommodated for after exercising has finished so normality is resumed. This means your metabolism is boosted for hours after you leave the gym!

Obese mum loses 10 stone by using her house as an assault course

A mother of three lost a staggering 10 stone after using aspects of her home as an assault course to do exercises each day.

Gemma Howden, 28, was desperate to slim down after seeing her weight spiral to 19 stone, with a dress size of 26.

However, Gemma couldn’t afford an expensive gym membership so decided to be creative in her quest to shed the pounds and used the only means she had – her house, and the objects inside it!

She used an old baby gate placed at the foot of her stairs as a hurdle and jumped back and forth over the gate hundreds of times each day. Gemma also used her stairs as a stepping course and even did star jumps in front of the TV in her living room.

Not owning any weights or dumbbells, Gemma simply utilised tins of baked beans and spaghetti hoops as weights and lifted them during her tough daily exercise regime.

This would be have effective as it is important to incorporate strength exercises into cardio to more efficiently lose weight and tone up as well, and Gemma looks incredible after her impressive efforts.
Reminiscing to her heavier days, Gemma says: “I was absolutely enormous, I couldn’t bare to look in the mirror or have my photos taken. I hated the sight of myself so much I wouldn’t pose for pictures with my kids. To curb my unhappiness I’d stuff myself with a Chinese takeaway for four and then tuck into a giant slab of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk.”

Gemma got the motivation to kick-start a weight loss plan and turn her life around after looking through old photo albums and realising she wasn’t actually in many of the pictures with her children.
She says: “I felt so sad and I realised I was too ashamed to be in pictures because I was such a fat blob. I am 28 and I felt 65. I was puffing and panting everywhere.”

Gemma did her punishing exercise regime literally hundreds and hundreds of times to lose weight, beginning by running up and down the stairs. Whilst her children were watching TV in the living she would be jogging on the spot and after putting them to bed she would do hundreds of reps with large tins of beans and spaghetti.

Gemma’s weight loss story should be an inspiration to anyone looking to lose weight and is a shining example that results can be attained with the willpower and motivation to succeed. Weighing at a healthy 9 stone, she has binned her baggy t-shirts and now wears tight fitting dresses.

She added: “I’d pull the curtains to stop the neighbours seeing me in action – it would have been so embarrassing. But the results have paid off and now I’m ten stone lighter. Now I’m no longer the fat mother at the school gates and my kids’ friends don’t make fun of me. I feel absolutely amazing. When I tell people I lost 10 stone after turning my house into a boot camp they don’t believe it. But it’s absolutely true. I’m living proof that you don’t need a gym to shed the weight. A few cans of baked beans and a baby gate will do just the same job.”

If you are motivated by Gemma’s incredible story and want to lose weight, this can be achieved through weight loss aids in addition to adopting a healthy lifestyle. The prescription medication Xenical is suitable for those with a BMI over 27, whereas there are other medications that do not require a prescription such as Alli and XLS-Medical Fat Binder. To be suitable for Alli or XLS-Medical Fat Binder you must have a BMI of over 25. To find out more information on how to obtain them, visit the ‘Obesity’ area of the Medical Specialists Pharmacy website.

96 stone man airlifted to hospital on the orders of a Saudi Arabian king

A man with the weight of two baby elephants was flown to hospital in a specially-equipped plane on the orders of a Saudi Arabian king.

Khalid Mohsin Shaeri, from Saudi Arabia, who officials say weighs an incredible 1,345 lbs (96 stone), had to be evacuated from the second floor of his apartment complex via a forklift truck. Once this was accomplished, the charitable King Abdullah covered the costs of the plane journey to hospital for Mr Shaeri for emergency treatment due to a variety of obesity-related health problems.

Due to his heavy weight, 20-year-old Mr Shaeri has been unable to leave his bedroom for two and a half years, within his apartment on the second floor of a building in the southern Saudi city of Jarzan.
King Abdullah had initially Mr Shaeri to be transported to hospital back in February of this year, however treatment was postponed for six months until a specially made bed could be constructed for him in the United States.

After the king’s orders, Saudi Arabia’s health ministry worked together with the civil defence and the Saudi Red Cross to begin the evacuation process. This resulted in a section of Mr Shaeri’s building being demolished to get him out.

If the reports in Saudia Arabia are correct, Mr Shaeri’s 1,345 lb weight will make him the second heaviest man on record.

Images released from the operation show Mr Shaeri sitting in bed whilst civil defence employees are lifting the bed up onto a forklift truck. One person even holds an umbrella to shield the sun’s rays from Mr Shaeri. Following this, he was taken to the local airport by ambulance and then flown on the specially-equipped plane to the King Fahd Medical City in the Saudi capital of Riyad.

Mr Shaeri’s cousin Naser Makke spoke of the relief that Khalid has finally been able to receive the treatment he required, and thanked the king for his generosity.

He said: “We have been waiting for this moment for a long time, the King, may God protect him and give him the long life, had given his instructions to the ministry of health to do all the arrangements to transfer the patient for treatment in a safe way.”

Saudi health minister Dr Abdullah al Rebeeah commented that King Abdullah had demanded the rescue operation take place as a “humanitarian gesture”, adding: “It is one of the King’s traits that he always demonstrates whenever someone is in need. Once the ministry received the royal order it formed a medical team specialized in intensive care to work out the best plan to transfer the case to Riyadh and handle it as best as possible medically.”

Mr Shaeri’s future and indeed lifespan, now depends on his willingness to begin the long road to recovery and a successful weight loss plan. However, this story highlights how obesity can dramatically affect a person’s life if left untreated and able to spiral out of control, regardless of where in the world they are. This man was left a prisoner in his own home because of his weight and without urgent weight loss will no doubt be a ticking time bomb for a whole range of obesity-related conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancer, skin infections and gallstones.

Weight loss can be achieved through weight loss aids in addition to adopting a healthy lifestyle. The prescription medication Xenical is suitable for those with a BMI over 27, whereas there are other medications that do not require a prescription such as Alli and XLS-Medical Fat Binder. To be suitable for Alli or XLS-Medical Fat Binder you must have a BMI of over 25. To find out more information on how to obtain them, visit the ‘Obesity’ area of the Medical Specialists Pharmacy website.

Almost 80% of adults don’t do enough exercise

Nearly eight out of every 10 adults in England may not be getting enough exercise each week and putting their health at risk.

This worrying statistic comes from a study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and conducted by the University of Bristol, where researchers looked at data from over one million adults in England from the Active People Surveys (APS).  It was discovered that 80% were not adhering to governmental targets of engaging in moderate exercise at least 12 times in a four-week time period.
The APS analyses an individual’s socioeconomic position in addition to factors such as the weather and availability of sports facilities to them.

According to the researchers, the study demonstrates a clear association between a person’s education, household income and local area deprivation in accordance with the amount of physical activity they engage in.

It was found that better educated and wealthier individuals were more likely to exercise, whilst the poorer and less educated were more likely to not bother with much exercise. However on the whole, the majority of adults are seemingly way under the recommended levels of activity required to keep healthy.

Those with a degree apparently only had a 12% chance of being inactive but those without any qualifications were in fact three times more likely to not exercise.

Other findings from the study were the fact 8% of people physically capable of walking had not done this for even a mere five minutes continuously in the previous four weeks. Involvement in the most common activities was found to be ‘very low’.

In addition, researchers said nearly half (46%) had walked for less than 30 minutes continuously during leisure time, whilst 88% had not been swimming and a staggering 90% had not even been to a gym in the last four weeks.

Unsurprisingly, the study findings suggested that warm weather provided people with more motivation to exercise and rain decreased the amount of physical activity.

Carol Propper, professor of economics at the university’s Centre for Market and Public Organisation, said: “Physical inactivity is the most important modifiable health behaviour for chronic disease, so knowing who is physically inactive is important for designing cost-effective policy interventions.”

Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum and honorary chairman of the Child Growth Foundation, hit out at the figures and said: “No-one should be at all surprised by these woeful statistics,” and blamed the government for not  doing enough to use the London 2012 Olympics as a springboard for more participation in grassroots sport.

To stay healthy, NHS guidelines state that adults aged 19-64 should try to be active daily and get at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) of moderate-intensity aerobic activity each week. This can include fast walking, hiking, volleyball, rollerblading or basketball. However, on top of this the NHS recommends to engage in muscle-strengthening exercises on 2 or more days each week. This can include heavy gardening (such as digging and shovelling), lifting weights, yoga and exercises that use your body weight for resistance (such as push-ups and sit-ups).

It is apparent that many of the population are simply not doing enough to stay active and this in conjunction with poor diets are causing more and more people to become overweight or obese. The good news for those overweight or obese is that it is never too late to make positive changes and a healthy, balanced diet in conjunction with exercise and a weight loss aid such as Xenical, Alli, or XLS-Medical will provide you with the tools to live a much healthier life.

Australia’s obesity rates are on the rise

The UK and U.S. are two of the most obvious nations that spring to mind associated with the words: ‘obesity crisis’. However, there are numerous other countries in the developed world that are also apparently fighting a battle against the bulge.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Reform Council has today released its fourth report on the National Healthcare Agreement, showing that although smoking rates appear to be slightly improving, there are a ‘staggering’ number of Australians who are now overweight or obese.

According to statistics within the report, during the period 2011-12, a shocking 63% of Australians were either overweight or obese. This figure had risen by 2% from the four years prior to this. In total, it was determined 35% of the population were overweight and 28% were obese. Moreover, 7.6% of children in Australia were deemed obese, with an extra 17.7% being overweight.

According to NHS definitions, you are overweight if you have a body mass index (BMI) that is between 25 and 29. A BMI of between 30 and 40, results in an ‘obese’ classification.  Obesity levels for the whole of the UK could be comparable after a survey published in 2012 discovered that approximately just over a quarter of all adults (26%) in England are classified as obese. In addition, around 61.3% of adults in England either overweight or obese and 30% of children aged between 2 and 15. All statistics for England appear to roughly match those found in the new Australian report.

The COAG chairman John Brumby, was dismayed by Australia’s weight problem, saying: “It’s concerning to see that so many Australians are overweight or obese.”

The report has also urged the government to start taking the issue of obesity more seriously and take steps to tackle the problem, “but the fact that the situation is getting worse suggests that it needs urgent attention from our governments to prevent flow-on effects across the system. The news here is something that should be of concern to us all and concern to policy makers across Australia. We all know that obesity is contributing to the burden of chronic disease in Australia. It affects individuals, it affects workplaces, it affects productivity,” says Brumby.

The findings were not all doom and gloom however, and Brumby was clearly delighted with what he described as the ‘stand out result’ – a sustained decline in Australia’s national daily smoking rate in 2011-12 to 16.5%.

In 2007-08 this figure stood at 19.1% and in 1989-90 it was 28.4%, so progress is gradually being made and the number is slowly moving towards COAG’s aim of just 10% by the year 2018.

Could obesity and type 2 diabetes be treated with gut bacteria?

A particular type of gut bacteria has been found to help reverse obesity and type 2 diabetes in animal studies; perhaps paving the way for new treatments for both health problems. Type 2 diabetes is most commonly connected to obesity and maintaining a healthy weight is one of the most effective ways of reducing the risk of developing the disease.

The Research, published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, demonstrates how mice were given a broth that contained a single species of bacteria, and there were subsequently huge benefits to their health.

The bacteria studied and which was administered to the mice, was the Akkermansia muciniphila – usually comprising of around 3-5% of gut bacteria. However, these levels are found to decrease in obese individuals.

Professor Patrice Cani and his team at the Catholic University of Louvain, in Belgium, wanted to focus firstly on mice that were eating a lot of fat and were obese and/or had type 2 diabetes. Researchers noted that the mice quickly gained two to three times extra fat compared to the leaner mice that were eating a more ‘normal’ diet.

However, giving the unhealthier mice oligofructose prebiotics – a dietary supplement that boosts the number of beneficial bacteria – this helped restore the Akkermansia muciniphila back to healthy levels.

These mice then gained a quicker metabolism and the rodents found themselves losing excess weight, reduced inflammation and lowered their insulin resistance; a symptom associated with type 2 diabetes.

The bacteria had worked at thickening the gut’s mucus barrier. This prevents some material from being transferred into the blood from the gut. In addition, the Akkermansia muciniphila had managed to alter chemical signals emanating from the digestive system, leading to changes in the processing of fat in other areas of the body.

Interestingly, similar findings were also achieved when researchers included a certain type of fibre in the diet of the mice and levels of Akkermansia muciniphila then increased.

Prof Cani commented on the study findings, saying: “Of course it is an improvement, we did not completely reverse the obesity, but it is a very strong decrease in the fat mass. I don’t think it’s feasible that you can eat cream cakes and chips and sausages all day long and then eat bacteria to reverse all that. It is the first demonstration that there is a direct link between one specific species and improving metabolism.”

Prof Cani said it was ‘surprising’ how merely one species of gut bacteria has such a positive impact when there are actually thousands within the gut, adding that the bacteria-based therapy may hopefully be utilised as a prevention method or as a treatment option for obesity and type 2 diabetes in the near future.

Woman sheds 17st in one year, stunning those who used to bully her

A young mother of two from Chatham, Kent, has without doubt left her high school bullies eating their words, after losing an incredible 17 stone in just one year.

Student Emma Burton, 22, at one time tipped the scales at a massive 27 stone and was a size 32 dress. Emma was even forced to wear custom-made uniform during her school years which further fuelled the cruel taunts from bullies.

She says: “I was verbally and physically bullied for years, all the way through secondary school,’ she added. ‘The whole school had a nickname for me. I was known as “The Burtonator” – because everyone said I was built like the Terminator. I was enormous. I had a specially made man’s blazer, as my mum couldn’t buy one big enough for me. It was a 50-inch chest, the same size as a bodybuilder. But since I’ve lost weight, I’ve seen some of the girls who made my life hell and they didn’t even recognise me. It was the best feeling in the world to go over and introduce myself. Their jaws hit the floor when they realised who I was.”

Despite the satisfaction of being able to flaunt her enviable new figure to her past tormentors, Miss Burton says the primary factor that inspired her weight loss was simply for her children; Liam, three, and Jennifer, 15 months. Seeing pictures of herself holding Liam following his birth also spurred her on as she was horrified at how she looked in the photos, saying she wanted to ‘rip them up’.

Emma could finally begin her mission to shed the pounds after Jennifer’s arrival and she subsequently adopted a strict weight loss plan that restricted her to consuming soups and shakes for a period of time, prior to the slow and measured integration of ‘real’ food back into her diet.

Now a music student at the University of Kent, Emma has completely revamped her previously unhealthy food choices such as pizzas and crisps, and instead enjoys chicken salads and grilled meat. In addition, a staggering eight cans of fizzy drink Vimto per-day has now been replaced by the often-recommended intake of eight glasses of water per-day.

When her daughter Jennifer had reached the age of one, Emma had slimmed down to a much healthier weight of 10st 9lb, and was delighted at now being able to fit into a size 10 dress.

She comments: “I’ve been hugely overweight my whole life and never in a million years did I think I’d be able to go clothes shopping in a normal shop, let alone buy a size 10. I lost weight so quickly, and once it started coming off it was easy to keep going. I used to be so embarrassed to be seen by other people, I’d avoid going out. I did all my shopping online. Now, I love going shopping – especially for new clothes. I love being able to take my baby out for long strolls in her pram and not be out of breath. My family and friends even struggle to recognise me in a crowd sometimes.”

Perhaps upon seeing how amazing Emma looked, it appeared her school bullies were remorseful and she found it in her heart to forgive them, adding: “They couldn’t apologise enough for how they treated me. But I lost the weight for me and my children, not for them.”

Dieters beware of their ‘Fat O’clock’!

If you are trying to stick to a healthy diet to lose excess weight, be cautious of Sunday evenings! According to the findings of a new survey, the three hour time period between 7pm and 10pm is when we are most likely to give-in to our cravings, banish our diets and eat typically high-calorie ‘comfort food’ like biscuits and crisps.

The European food company Forza, quizzed hundreds of customers on their eating habits and found Sunday evenings were the worst times for us to eat food containing high fat and high sugar, with almost half (48%) admitting that they overate most often during that time.

Another dangerous time for healthy eaters appears to be just before many of us finish a typical working day, with 28% of those who completed the survey claiming that the two hours between 3pm and 5pm was when they most ate ‘bad’ foods.

The third most common time when our diets go out the window is later in the afternoon – between 5pm and 7pm – as 13% said that is the point when they will probably cave-in and eat high-calorie treats.

One discovery from the survey will perhaps surprise nobody, but many of us will choose the weekend as our time to comfort eat. In particularly, it is Sundays (selected by 16%) when diets are most often forsaken and junk food is consumed.

It was found that 12% of those surveyed would typically comfort eat on a Monday. This could be either for a sugar-boost after a hectic weekend or simply to get over those Monday blues from being back in work!

Judging from the survey’s answers, the majority of over-eating seemed to be during or after dinner time as respondents said they were more likely to consume more than two units of food extra after a meal. A unit was regarded as a packet of chips, a cookie, a piece of toast, or a chocolate snack.

Dinner time for over-eating was chosen by 6%, followed by supper (22%), lunch (16%) and breakfast (a mere 3%). Clearly not enough of us are taking into account the golden rule of breakfast being the most important meal of the day.

Around a third (34%) of comfort eaters scoff two units after feeling hungry.  Over a fifth (22%) said admitted to consuming three units when hungry and one unit by 17%.

Worryingly, 11% claimed that have between four and five units, and 8% even manage to consume more than five units of ‘bad’ food when they are feeling hungry.

Forza chief executive Lee Smith said: “Fat O’clock is a nightmare for all dieters. It’s that time when you are especially vulnerable and the only thing that is going to stop your cravings is padlock on the pantry. It is useful for everyone to know the exact times of those danger spots so that they can eat more sensibly on those days.”

Being happily married could make you pile on the pounds

We probably all know people who have blamed weight gain on ‘being in love’ or because they are now in a happy relationship when previously single, but the findings of a new study could indeed show this theory has some weight behind it! In particularly, it seems happily married couples are the ones most at risk of expanding waistlines as they will have a much lesser desire or need to attract a new partner.

U.S. researchers recruited 169 newly-wed couples and documented their marital bliss (or lack of) over a period of four years.

The researchers, based at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, say the study findings question the long-standing view that quality relationships were a positive thing for health and weight.
Psychologist Andrea L Meltzer, who led the study, said: “On average, spouses who were more satisfied with their marriage were less likely to consider leaving their marriage, and they gained more weight over time. In contrast, couples who were less satisfied in their relationship tended to gain less weight over time.”

Meltzer states that previous psychological research had linked marriage and weight gain and that weight loss was commonly attributed to going through a divorce and the after-effects. She adds that exactly how marital satisfaction impacts our weight is still undetermined.

“For example, studies have found that satisfied couples are more likely to take medications on time and schedule annual physicals,” Ms Meltzer said. “Yet the role of marital satisfaction and actual health is less clear.”

For the four-year duration that the married couples were monitored, they were regularly asked to rate their marital satisfaction on a scale, while their weight and height was measured to determine their Body Mass Index (BMI).

Meltzer and her team discovered that for each unit increase in satisfaction, on average, men and women gained around one tenth of a BMI unit every six months. This equates to a weight gain of one pound each year for a woman who is 5ft 4 in height and with a weight of 8½ stone.

Those unhappy in their marriage were more likely to leave their partner, Meltzer says, and on average did not put on as much weight. She added: “So these findings suggest that people perhaps are thinking about their weight in terms of appearance rather than health”, and stressed that young couples should be educated to fully understand that weight is a key factor of maintaining their health.

She concluded: “We know that weight gain can be associated with a variety of negative health consequences, for example diabetes and cardiovascular disease. By focusing more on weight in terms of health implications as opposed to appearance implications, satisfied couples may be able to avoid potentially unhealthy weight gain over time in their marriages.”

Healthier people should receive priority healthcare, says think-tank

A think-tank organisation yesterday spoke of their belief that patients who adhere to a healthy lifestyle that is low in dietary fat and engage in regularly exercise should be placed at the top of NHS waiting lists for operations.

Perhaps controversially, the think-tank Demos have stated that people should have the ability to prove they are living a healthy life via supermarket receipts and gym membership forms and therefore have access to priority NHS treatment. Their ideas could also involve moving up professional patients higher up the queue when booking a GP appointment for a non-emergency issue.

In their somewhat contestable report that was published yesterday, a wide range of recommendations are given that seem to urge the British public in to taking responsibility for their own health and wellbeing – instead of purely punishing the ‘lazy’ people consistently who consumed a poor diet. The report was constructed after liaising with experts, policy makers and politicians.

Another recommendation from Demos is that those patients who receive benefits should be rewarded with more money if they are exercising and eating a balanced diet with more fruit and vegetables. Demos want supermarkets to provide feedback on shopping baskets, making shoppers aware of the benefits of fruit and vegetables as well as the dangers of alcohol and saturated fats.

The think-tank argue that the current system needs addressing as patients who leading an unhealthy, sedentary lifestyle are at a much higher chance of requiring the already dwindling resources and funds available to the NHS.

In addition, Demos are trying to coax ministers into exploring the schemes offered by many insurance companies whereby there are incentives to those customers with healthier lifestyles such as reduced rates on gym memberships.  Demos comment: “There is scope for the NHS to provide its non-emergency services in a way that takes account of responsible behaviour.”

The report’s author, Max Wind-Cowie, said: “Obesity, type two diabetes, smoking and the overconsumption of alcohol are things which cost the NHS, which is a pooled resource we all share, huge amounts of money, as well as actually making people’s lives unhappy and reducing their living standards. So we’re arguing that people who take the option of sharing their Tesco club card information, their gym information, with their doctor – it’s up to them whether they want to share it or not – and then allow their doctor to monitor that, we would empower doctors to reward people in a variety of ways.”

As with many disputable ideas put forth by think-tanks such as Demos, there are oppositions to the suggestions who believe there are better methods of tackling such issues, in this case the spiralling obesity crisis in the UK. Katherine Murphy, the chief executive of the Patients Association, said: “Proactive investment in prevention, public campaigns and health literacy can deliver change more constructively than punitive sanctions.”

Although it could be a nice prospect the thought of being rewarded simply for leading a healthy life, not many people will probably enjoy the idea of their private shopping habits being transmitted to the government.

The responsibility of the public to ensure their health is properly maintained is a topic bound to cause divisions. However, there are steps you can take to reduce the risk of developing a disease or health problem such as quitting smoking, engaging in regular exercise and eating a balanced diet.

Channel 4’s Secret Eaters shows how ‘dieters’ pile on the weight

Have you ever begun a ‘diet’ and after a while found you are still not losing the extra weight. More often than not, this failure is blamed on an apparent ‘slow metabolism’ – a mythical logic that has previously been dissected by Medical Specialists Pharmacy.

However, a new Channel 4 show to be aired later this month called ‘Secret Eaters’ has decided to explore the day-to-day eating habits of people complaining of slow or non-existent weight loss in order to find possible reasons why. The results seem to be far more transparent than first thought.
The main problem appears to be when people snack during the course of the day – sometimes even unaware or oblivious to it, often eating a lot more than they think.

Secret Eaters, presented by Anna Richardson, documents every single bite of food taken by the show’s participants via secretly concealed video cameras in their homes. If this wasn’t interesting enough for viewers, when the participants decide to venture out from their house, two private detectives trail them and take photographs of them eating any ‘bad’ calorific food such as takeaways, crisps and fizzy drinks.

After five days of the hidden video cameras recording them and the private detective’s espionage trying to catch them in the act, Anna Richardson leads the dieters into the ‘Incident Room’ in which all their food intake – however good or bad – is laid out before their eyes and demonstrates the damning evidence explaining their lack of successful weight loss.

The Secret Eater’s dietician Lynne Garton explains: “You can see the look of astonishment on their faces when they see the food they’ve actually consumed. They have no idea. Snacks can add up to more than 500 calories a day but too often people get distracted by their busy lives and forget the chocolate bar or biscuit they ate earlier and it soon mounts up. Cutting out those calories can lead to a 1lb loss per week.”

The first episode of the series show Stephanie and Lauren Spearman, sisters who are both struggling to lose weight. Stephanie, 23, lives on a diet of junk food, while Lauren, 28, is in training for the London Marathon despite still consuming alcohol and chocolate.

After cameras had recorded their snacking habits, the sisters realised the shocking reality of their situation that if they had carried on as they were, each would have gained over 2st within just six months.

Stephanie, a sales manager for High Street chain Matalan, tipped the scales at 12st 6lb when she first contacted the show. The hours she worked meant she regularly skipped eating breakfast but would snack on biscuits or cakes prior to lunch.

The work vending machine meant she had easy access to high calorie snacks and fizzy drink. This all added to the calories from takeaways Stephanie often ate, meaning that on some days her daily intake was around 4,000 – incredibly this is double the recommended calorie intake for women.

Dietician Lynne comments: “Millions turn to the latest fad for a quick fix but to lose weight long-term requires a change in eating habits. Eating three meals a day and snacking only on healthy foods such as fruit can be all that’s needed to lose weight.”

Between them the sisters have lost 21lbs since the programme reinvigorated their dietary choices and Stephanie says: “We feel so much better since we’ve replaced sugary drinks with fizzy water, swapped crisps for fruit, and burgers for healthy sandwiches. I’ve managed to save £100 a month by not buying ready-meals and sugary snacks. We’re losing weight and we’re not even on a diet.”

Overweight woman assumed ‘pregnant’ loses half her body weight

A young woman could prove an inspirational role model to millions of overweight Brits after she has now slimmed down from her 16 stone frame to a svelte size 8 exercise enthusiast – training six times a week!

Jodie Driver, 23, had long been referred to as ‘the bubbly and cuddly one’ during school years, however one particularly cruel male masseur at a holiday resort in Turkey left her feeling like action needed to be taken to reduce the size 22 frame being carried on her 5ft 2in stature.

It was back in June 2009, when Jodie accompanied her mother Jo, 45 and a friend on holiday in Bodrum, Turkey, where they decided to sample the local culture by having a traditional Turkish bath and massage.

For 16 stone Jodie however, this would mean exposing the weight being hidden underneath her clothes and she felt reluctance.  After doing so, nasty jibes from the male masseuse soon made her rush to put the clothes back on.

Reminiscing about the life-changing holiday, Jodie says: “The masseur told me to take my clothes off so I stripped down to my underwear. The first thing he did was point to my stomach and said “baby?” I was gob smacked, and told him “no, definitely not”. He then said again “baby?” while making belly shapes with his hands on his own stomach. I was horrified.”

Jodie added: “During the whole massage he was talking and joking to his mates in Turkish and they were all laughing at me, it was really demoralising.”

After this upsetting episode, Jodie stayed covered up for the remainder of her holiday for fear of further insult. Then after arriving back home and browsing through her holiday pictures, she was shocked by her appearance.

“I looked at myself in the photographs and said: “I have to change”. I saw myself smiling, but I didn’t look happy, there was a sadness around me.”

Not wasting any time to make positive changes to her lifestyle, Jodie signed up to a gym the very next day to begin the process of losing weight. Her goal was to complete the 2010 Race for Life and to do this she began going to the gym three times every week and gave up junk food.

Initially, Jodie found it difficult to run 30 seconds, let alone the 5k distance for the Race for Life. However, by banishing takeaway and ready meals and opting for chicken and vegetables, her energy levels soon began to increase and she suddenly found herself being able to run for an hour at the gym.

Six months later and Jodie had lost an incredible four stone and now adheres to a healthy diet that consists of oats with water and a scoop of whey protein for breakfast, Greek yoghurt, white fish with vegetables and chicken with spinach and sweet potatoes.

She eventually ran the Race for Life in just 35 minutes on her 21^st birthday and then aimed to complete a half marathon the following year in April 2011 - which she managed to do and complete in 1 hour and 53 minutes.

Jodie is now a size 8 dress size and looks healthy, toned and happier than ever! “I now train six days a week, doing around one hour cardiovascular exercise plus weight training which targets specific muscle groups. It takes an awful lot of self-discipline…Looking back, I ironically have a lot to thank that Turkish masseur, as he inspired me to change my life. He did me the biggest favour.”

In what is an incredible turnaround and inspiration for those needing the motivation to lose weight – Jodie now plans to compete in the UK Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation’s bikini category later on this year.

If Jodie’s amazing weight loss story has motivated you to drop the excess pounds and reap the benefits, you can achieve similar success by adopting a healthy lifestyle and diet in conjunction with a scientifically proven weight loss aid such as XLS-Medical, Alli, or the prescription medication Xenical. All are available today from Medical Specialists Pharmacy at incredibly low prices.

Gastric bypass patient wins £35,000 after surgical negligence

The dangers of undergoing gastric bypass surgery in order to lose weight, is something Medical Specialists Pharmacy covered in June 2012. For those unaware, a gastric bypass is an operation whereby the surgeon will make your stomach smaller and also reduce the length of small intestine that food travels through.

It is usually performed via keyhole (laparoscopic) surgery. With this method of surgery, small cuts are made are in the abdomen instead of one much bigger cut. The surgeon uses small instruments assisted by the aid of a camera to see the surgical field. However, it is estimated that around 25% of patients who have undergone this type of surgery later require additional treatment because of a post-operative complication.

The dangers of keyhole surgery have been further laid bare this week with the news that a 28 year-old mother of two has won a whopping £35,000 pay-out due to a botched operation.

Rachel Benefer from Cleethorpes, Lincolnshire, decided on weight loss surgery after reaching a weight of 23 stone in 2007. She realised that she urgently needed to do something about it before her health became affected as obesity is a well-known high risk factor for numerous problems such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea and many more.

Unfortunately, Mrs Benefer found it difficult due to shed the excess pounds because of an old back injury hampering her efforts as well as having polycystic ovary syndrome – a condition that interferes with hormones and results in unpleasant symptoms such as acne, irregular periods, hair loss and weight gain.

It was then Mrs Benefer decided to read up on gastric bypass surgery and thought this was the route to take. At a staggering £9,500 – £15,000 for an op, she was rejected for funding on the premise she had to visit a dietician and psychologist for twelve months before being approved for the surgery.

In retrospect, following her 2007 surgery at Hull and East Riding Classic Hospital, perhaps Rachel would have chosen against opting for this method of weight loss. Despite seemingly being a successful operation, problems began to arise after just a few days.

Rachel explains: “Everything seemed fine and I was discharged. But a few days later I was being sick and I was in agony. I was rushed to hospital and ended up in intensive care for two weeks and was later placed in an induced coma.”

The surgeon had not correctly closed a small incision which led to Rachel developing a hernia. This restricted her small bowel and the severe pressure had obliterated the stomach bypass. When doctors realised the serious situation they were dealing with, Rachel had to be rushed into intensive care and then placed in the induced coma.

Because of the complications arising from her botched surgery, Rachel needed to undergo two further operations and had to endure 11 days on a ventilator. She continued: “I spent a total of 11 days on a ventilator and also underwent a tracheotomy. People think having a gastric bypass is an easy way out, but I had thought about it and had tried everything to lose weight, including hypnotherapy. When I was at 23 stone I was just a mess, I was depressed and also stopped working as a carer because I couldn’t get about, I became a recluse. Before I hit puberty I was extremely thin but then the weight just piled on, even though I often only ate one meal a day. I didn’t eat a lot of chocolate, sweets or crisps, I ate normal meals. My husband Chris has been by my side the whole time, we have been married for eight years and he loves me, no matter how much I weigh.”

With Gastric surgery costing up to £15,000, this last resort and potentially dangerous weight loss method is clearly not for everybody, especially in times of financial austerity. If you are obese why not try a clinically proven weight loss aid such as Xenical, Alli or XLS-Medical Fat Binder. Adopting a healthy lifestyle and diet in conjunction with one of these treatments can help you lose weight. All three are available today from Medical Specialists Pharmacy at fantastic prices. Head to the ‘Obesity’ area of the website for more information about how to obtain them.

Scientists say Viagra could help to tackle obesity

Erectile dysfunction (ED) medications such as Viagra and Cialis are obviously known for their potency in helping men to achieve and maintain an erection that is satisfactory for sex. It must worth bearing in mind however that Viagra was initially developed at Pfizer’s Kent research facility many years ago as a treatment therapy for hypertension (high blood pressure) and angina pectoris (a symptom of ischaemic heart disease). It was only following clinical trials it was discovered that Viagra had significant effects of erections, and ironically rather ineffective for angina treatment like first anticipated.

With this in mind, scientists over the years have long wondered if sildenafil citrate (Viagra’s active ingredient) could work at treating any other health conditions, and studies are regularly carried out to determine what other uses it may have.

In 2012 TV gardener David Domoney claimed that simply crushing a 50mg tablet up and placing just a fraction of this into the water, could dramatically increase the life of flowers. Whereas others are adamant that Viagra’s positive impact on blood flow may be taken advantage of for athletes, with evidence to suggest that Viagra can boost performance levels in certain sports.

The latest clinical study into the wonders of Viagra has now unearthed the possibility that its active ingredient may be utilised in the obesity epidemic that is particularly problematic here in the UK and the U.S. too.

Researchers from the University of Bonn and the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Germany were the ones who made the discovery, and now their findings may open up possibilities for the 500 million people around the globe who are classified as either overweight or obese.

Currently, many such people are turning to weight loss aids such as Alli, Xenical, and XLS-Medical, and the German study suggests that their predicament may have been prevented through sildenafil.
Like so many others do, the researchers used mice for study purposes and administered the ED medication to the mice for seven days and monitored the effect (if any) of their fat cells. Amazingly, it was found that the rodents appeared to be resistant to obesity even when fed a diet high in fat.

Sildenafil works by interfering with a signalling chain of the messenger cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP), which allows the inflow of blood and an erection. Alexander Pfeifer, professor of pharmacology and toxicology at the University of Bonn, who led the study, commented why Viagra was chosen in the study, saying: “We have been researching the effect of cGMP on fat cells for quite some time now. This is why sildenafil was a potentially interesting candidate for us.”

Ana Kilic, Pfeifer’s colleague, spoke on their findings after the seven day period, saying: “The effects were quite amazing. Sildenafil increased the conversion of white fat cells, which are found in human ‘problem areas’, into beige ones in the animals. Beige fat cells burn the energy from ingested food and convert it to heat.” As these beige cells also ‘melt the fat’, researchers are now optimistic that Viagra could be used as a powerful weapon against obesity.

If white fat cells are continually getting ‘stuffed’ or experience a build-up of lipids, they become enlarged and can synthesize and release hormones which then results in inflammation and a higher risk of  developing chronic diseases.

These inflammatory responses then accelerate cardiovascular diseases. Heart attacks, strokes, cancer and diabetes are then likely following this. However, Pfeifer continued:  “It seems that sildenafil prevented the fat cells in these mice from getting onto that slippery slope.”

Dieters often disregard the calories contained in alcohol

It may come too late for the millions of people around the world who have over-indulged during Christmas and New Year celebrations, however those watching their weight may be grossly underestimating the impact that alcohol can have on their waistlines and dieters are best to banish the booze if they want to shed the pounds.

The World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) claim that one of the biggest mistakes when dieting is forgetting the hundreds of ‘hidden’ calories within alcoholic drinks and that alcohol is only second to fat in regards to calorie content. Fat contains 9kcal/g, whilst alcohol has 7kcal/g. Even protein and carbohydrates only contain 4kcal/g, whilst fibre contains 2kcal/g.

Due to the fact so many of us are not paying attention to our alcohol calorie intake, the WCRF have now made an online calorie-counter available that lists the calorie content in various commonly consumed alcoholic drinks. Therefore, people are able see how many calories they are taking in and also roughly how much exercise would be required to burn off these ‘empty’ calories that offer no nutritional value.

For instance, just drinking one large glass of wine means you are taking in a whopping 178 calories and this is the equivalent of eating two chocolate digestive biscuits. However, it gets worse – it would take half an hour of brisk walking to burn-off that one glass of wine. Another popular tipple, especially in men, is a pint of lager. This drink though contains an incredible 250 calories. This is roughly the same as three chocolate digestive biscuits and would need 53 minutes of brisk walking to burn this off!

Being overweight or obese is the biggest risk of cancer after smoking, and in reducing alcoholic drinks, people will be more able to lose weight and thus reduce their cancer risk. In fact, it is estimated that even drinking just one pint of beer daily increases a person’s risk of bowel and liver cancer by approximately a fifth. In the UK alone, over 20,000 cases of cancer each year are attributed to alcohol.

Kate Mendoza, head of health information at WCRF, commented: “The calories in alcoholic drinks account for a significant proportion of a drinker’s calorie consumption while providing little, if any, nutritional benefit. Cutting down on drinking can have a big effect on weight loss or maintaining a healthy weight. Recent reports have shown that people are unaware of calories in drinks and don’t include them when calculating their daily consumption. This is important from a cancer perspective because, after smoking, being overweight or obese is the biggest risk factor. There is also strong scientific evidence that alcohol itself is a cancer risk factor, possibly through damaging our DNA, in cancers of the breast, bowel, mouth, oesophagus and liver.”

As we begin 2013, many of the UK will beginning their New Year’s Resolutions, which usually include stopping smoking as we discussed just a few days ago. Another popular resolution is to lose weight. Cancer Research-led research however found that nearly four out of 10 people ditch their New Year’s resolutions within a fortnight and only one in 11 manages to keep their resolution to half a year.

If you want to lose weight it would be recommended to drastically limit your alcoholic drinks in addition to eating healthy.  This healthier lifestyle will be highly effective in conjunction with a medically proven weight loss aid such as XLS-Medical, Alli, or the prescription medication Xenical.  All three weight loss aids are available today from Medical Specialists at incredibly low prices.

TV chef recipes contain more calories than ready meals

If you have ever sat down in front of the TV with a microwave ready meal and felt a degree of guilt watching one of the many celebrity chefs preaching about their ‘healthy’ meals, perhaps you don’t need to be worried anymore. A study featured in the Christmas edition on the British Medical Journal website, even go on to claim that recipes included in TV shows from chefs such as Nigella Lawson and Jamie Oliver show be given to viewers with accompanying health warnings and be aired after the watershed. The study authors also argue for nutritional information to be included on recipes in cookery books.

The UK government and NHS Choices both argue that ready meals are less healthy than meals prepared from scratch, and should be avoided if possible. One of their arguments is that these types of meals usually have a high saturated fat and sugar content, contributing to an ever-increasing number of Britain becoming obese.

Obesity levels are predicted to go through the roof over the next few decades,  with excess weight being responsible for a variety of health conditions such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease and high blood pressure. Men who are overweight also risk suffering from erectile dysfunction problems.
Research that has been conducted in recent times have unearthed evidence to show that consumers can be swayed in their dietary choices by the unhealthy stigma attached to supermarket ready meals and television chef recipes boasting about their suitability within a healthy diet. However until now, there has been no study to be carried out comparing the nutritional content of the two.

With this in mind, NHS Tees and Newcastle University teamed up to compare the nutritional content of 100 ‘own brand’ ready meals from three leading supermarket chains (Tesco, Asda and Sainsbury’s) and 100 recipes for main meals in bestselling books by TV chefs. Recipes were analysed from ‘30 Minute Meals’ and ‘Ministry of Food’ by Jamie Oliver, ‘Baking Made Easy’ by Lorraine Pascale, ‘Kitchen’ by Nigella Lawson and ‘River Cottage Everyday’ by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.

Upon analysis, researchers discovered that recipes by TV chefs were less healthy than ready meals, comprising of ‘significantly more’ energy, protein, fat and saturated fat, and a lower total of fibre per portion than the ready meals. If this wasn’t damaging enough, it was also determined that the recipes from the TV chefs were more likely to achieve ‘red traffic light’ labels according to the Food Standards Agency criteria than ready meals. For those unaware, the traffic light system works by having a postage-stamp sized sticker that states the percentage of a person’s recommended daily allowance contained in each product – red for high, amber for medium and green for low.

It was calculated that on average, the recipes conjured up by the celebrity chefs contained 2,530 calories per portion and the ready meals fared slightly better, with 2,067 per portion. However, it was found that no meal option from either group reached the criteria set by the World Health Organisation for a ‘balanced healthy meal’. In addition, the study authors’ stress that any salt used for seasoning was not considered in their analysis.

In their report, the authors say: “This study shows that neither recipes created by popular television chefs nor ready meals produced by three leading UK supermarket chains meet national or international nutritional standards for a balanced diet. The recipes seemed to be less healthy than the ready meals on several metrics.”

They further add that good nutritional intake ‘is likely to be derived from home cooking of nutritionally balanced recipes primarily using raw ingredients, rather than relying on ready meals or recipes by television chefs’.

Concluding their findings, the authors comment: “Further reformulation of ready meals in line with international nutritional guidelines, and collaboration with television chefs to improve the nutritional quality of their recipes, may also help consumers to achieve a balanced diet.”

Overall, Medical Specialists Pharmacy would argue that not strictly following the recipes from celebrity television chefs is the way to go. Although, neither those nor ready meals appear to be meeting nutritional guidelines and could be hindering attempts to maintain a healthy weight. With Christmas around the corner and the over-indulgence that this period brings, weight concerns are at their highest now more than ever.

If you want to lose weight, this can be achieved by adopting a healthy lifestyle and diet in conjunction with a medically proven weight loss aid such as XLS-Medical, Alli, or the prescription medication Xenical.  All three weight loss aids are available today from Medical Specialists at incredibly low prices.

Great news for dieters as XLS-Medical becomes available

This month sees the release of the fat-binding weight loss aid, XLS-Medical. Many of us will have seen the advertising campaign on TV, however, is XLS-Medical worth considering. Previously XLS-Medical was only available from Boots and Lloyd’s pharmacy; however it has now been made available for general release. This can only be good news for the public because with more companies supplying it, the competition will be sure to bring the price down.

So what exactly is XLS-Medical? What does it contain? How does it work? Is it safe and most importantly does it work? XLS-Medical Fat Binder is a proven weight management aid which comes in tablet form. It can support weight loss efforts as it binds dietary fats in the stomach, preventing that fat from being absorbed by the body. XLS-Medical does this by absorbing the fat molecules to form a fat fibre complex. The fat fibre complex is too large to be absorbed and so is eliminated naturally in your stools when you go to the toilet.

XLS-Medical Fat Binder contains the clinically proven fat binder Litramine and essential fat soluble vitamins A, D and E. These added vitamins help compensate for the loss of fat soluble vitamins from the body. This loss can occur because you are reducing the amount of fat your body absorbs. XLS-Medical Fat Binder has been proven to bind up to 27.4% of fats from food before it replenishes the body with fat soluble vitamins.

The proven weight loss results are compelling in their own right, but it may also be useful to know that XLS-Medical Fat Binder is both gentle on the system, and also has an established safety profile, making it a very helpful weight management tool. It is unusual to experience any side effects. Eleven million packs of XLS-Medical have been sold to date in Europe, with no reported safety issues. Because of the way XLS-Medical works, it does not interfere with the body’s natural workings.

The recommendation for weight loss using XLS-Medical is to adopt a reduced calorie, lower fat diet in addition to regular exercise and to take 2 tablets 3 times a day after meals, with up to 6 tablets taken per day. The NHS suggests that people should aim for sensible weight loss, which is between one and two pounds (0.5 to 1 kilogram) per week. It is also recommended that people monitor their body mass index (BMI) and aim to remain within the healthy range of BMI, which is between 18.5 and 24.9.

XLS-Medical has been clinically proven to aid weight loss. If you consume 500 calories a day fewer than the recommended intake, exercise and take XLS-Medical according to the instructions, you should find that, after 12 weeks, you will have lost significantly more weight than you would have done through dropping calories and increasing exercise alone. This was the result shown in a recent clinical trial under strictly controlled conditions and involving 125 healthy volunteers.

In addition to this XLS-Medical provide an online support programme called ‘123 Hello Me’ which offers:  An interactive weight loss and BMI tracker, which will help you chart your progress and stay motivated, Regular reminders to take your tablets sent straight to your phone and daily hints, tips and encouragement from your personal virtual coach.

The information has been especially designed to be easy to understand and includes meal plans and simple exercise routines. The meal plans are based on those used in the clinical studies. They only contain everyday ingredients, so that they appeal and are useful to as many people as possible.

The 123 Hello Me programme was written by Dietician and Nutritionist Helen Bond who is a consultant dietician. She is the nutrition voice for BBC Radio Derby, a spokesperson for the British Dietetic Association and regularly contributes to the press. Helen is also fully registered with the British Dietetic Association, the Freelance Dieticians Group and the Health Professions Council.

The availability of XLS-Medical certainly looks like it is going to be an important tool in helping people lose weight. Here at Medical Specialists we have been already been helping people achieve weight loss through products such as Xenical and Alli, however now we are pleased to announce that we will be stocking XLS-Medical. Please feel free to ring or place an order online where we will be able to offer competitive prices.

63 stone Georgia Davis is in a stable condition

Georgia Davis, dubbed ‘Britain’s fattest teen’ was last night appearing to be in a much better and stable condition at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales. The 19 year old who is believed to weigh 63 stone, was admitted to hospital on Thursday on the urgent advice of a GP, due to breathing problems and chest pains arising from her obesity. Georgia is currently on a specialist ward where doctors have put her on a strict diet of 2,000 calories per day in an attempt to help the teen lose weight. Her mother and stepfather are also providing her with plenty of fresh fruit in an attempt to further encourage the weight loss. This is a stark contrast to her recent previous diet which consisted of a frightening 13,000 calories each day. She currently has a Body Mass Index of 142.3. People with a BMI over 30 are classed as obese.

Georgia had initially dropped from 33 stone down to a healthier 18 stone back in 2009 during a period of just 9 months, thanks mainly to the efforts of a US boot camp who fed her with plenty of lean buffalo meat and salads. After returning home from boot camp and discovering that her stepfather Arthur had been diagnosed with lung cancer, Georgia returned to her old eating habits and by August 2011 had soared up in weight to an incredible 45 stone. She blamed this on the stress brought on by the lung cancer of Arthur and also poor health of her mum Lesley.

Last year she commented, “I was looking after them all the time. I was feeling so sad that they were both going downhill so fast and I stopped taking care of myself. I’m only managing to get out the house about once a week when I try to go to town on the bus. Of course people stare, but I don’t care what they think any more, I’m used to it. We have fish and chips for lunch quite often and usually I eat two portions. Otherwise, it’s sandwiches with six slices of bread and crisps. I find snacks harder to resist as the day goes on and I often eat two Snickers bars at a time. At night I eat a main meal, then more biscuits, crisps and chocolates as I get bored. Afterwards, I feel terrible as I know I’m letting myself down. But I don’t even care what I look like. I’ll just put on any clothes that fit me.”

Arthur and Lesley are currently staying in a hotel after a team of 50 police officers, firemen engineers and medics were involved in the 8-hour long process of removing the front of the family’s house and the transportation of Georgia to hospital. Arthur, who has blamed himself for Georgia’s huge weight gain, commented on the events that led up to her being hospitalised, “She has been gaining weight steadily ever since she returned from fat camp in America. But over the last two or three weeks she was finding it harder and harder to stay mobile. Most days she would stay in her bedroom watching American Idol on telly or messaging friends on the computer. However, she would manage to come downstairs to eat or chat to us by sliding on her bum. But on Monday she called for her mum and confessed that she could no longer stand up. Georgia had been in terrible pain for a long time but as usual she was trying to protect me and her mum so she kept it from us. But when she couldn’t get downstairs she had to finally confess. She tried so hard to come down on her bum as usual but couldn’t make it because of the pain of the sores and the swelling in her feet.”

He went on to praise the efforts of everybody involved in getting Georgia the medical attention she required, saying, “The emergency services were wonderful and treated her with great respect and dignity but she still needed morphine and an oxygen mask to calm her down. But she was not suffering from a seizure or heart failure as some people have suggested.”