Weight loss tips before the work Christmas party!

From today there are exactly six weeks until Christmas Day. The well-prepared amongst us may have already bought presents for loved ones to save on stress in the fortnight or so before the big day. However, many of us will suffering with some degree of stress about the work office party and trying to slim down to fit into that expensive dress or suit.

Let’s be realistic, as soon as December starts is when the majority of work Christmas parties will be taking place, not to mention being inundated to invites to other festive parties, leaving at the very most just four weeks until you need to shift those extra pounds, and five until you might be feeling your pants have become a little tighter!

For those looking to lose the last 8-10lbs in the next month, it might sound daunting and an impossible task, but it can be done. Although building lean muscle from workouts at the gym will help to a certain degree because muscle speeds up metabolism and burns fat, the majority of the weight loss will inevitably come from dietary improvements and a closer monitor of what is going onto your plate and the calories you are taking in.

Research conducted by XLS-Medical (creators of the popular weight loss aid XLS-Medical Fat Binder) in 2012 suggested that over half (51%) of the population would like to lose weight in the run-up to Christmas.

With this in mind, Medical Specialists® Pharmacy are providing some helpful weight loss tips that should enable people to shed those last few excess pounds before the dreaded Christmas party at work!

. 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 by dinner time. Your metabolic rate is slowed down as a result of not taking in any food during sleep and by eating breakfast, your metabolism will be awoken and revved for the rest of the day.

. Reduce sugar intake

A high sugar intake actually messes around with your blood-sugar levels, meaning the more you have, the more you crave it. Instead try substituting it where possible for natural sweeteners such as honey, maple syrup, xylitol, coconut sugar or agave nectar.

. Drink plenty of water

Many times when we think we are hungry, we are actually thirsty, so it is important to stay hydrated. Numerous studies have been conducted that provide evidence to show that drinking water prior to or during a meal could help with weight loss – in conjunction with a calorie-controlled diet.

. Cut the caffeine

Try and reduce or cut out your caffeine intake. Caffeine can impact your insulin levels, increasing the craving sugar after the initial stimulation has vanished. For those unaware, insulin is the main fat storage hormone in our body.

. Boost protein intake

As most people are aware, protein is an absolute essential component of muscle building, and with more muscle comes more burning of fat. The healthier choices of protein include fish and seafood, lean meats (chicken breast or turkey) and eggs.

. Don’t forget liquid calories

The fact drinks can be quickly and easily taken in means that many people simply forget to consider the sometimes high number of calories in some drinks. For example, there are 139 calories in a 330ml can of coca-cola, which will quickly accumulate after a few cans each day. Consider ditching the sugary fizzy drink for a sparkling water with a slice of lemon and of course always remember about alcohol calories.

. Be more active

It shouldn’t be too difficult to manage to squeeze in one extra walk into your day. Fast walking is especially effective at burning calories. Use the stairs at work instead of the lift, if the weather is nice then go outside for a brisk walk on your lunch break, or even get off the bus one stop earlier than usual and walk the rest of the journey home. You should try to aim for walking at least 10,000 steps per day – not as difficult as it may seem!

. 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!

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.

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.”

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.

‘Weight Loss Ward’ to be featured in ITV1 documentary

One of Britain’s first dedicated obesity hospital units will be shown tomorrow night in an ITV1 documentary fittingly titled ‘Weight Loss Ward’. The hospital featured in the documentary is Sunderland Royal Hospital – in an area where shockingly more than 40% of the adults are overweight and such a ward is needed.

In fact as the national obesity epidemic continues to get worse and the NHS feels the impact of the £500 million it is losing from such problems, it will be no surprise to see more of these ‘weight loss wards’ appearing up and down the country.

Everything on these wards is super-sized. The doors have to be twice their usual width, every wheelchair has been reinforced with extra strength and could even fit two people with a normal ranged body mass index (BMI) and the beds are monstrous in their size.

Staff members at the hospital have been forced to use 50 stone max weight industrial strength scales to determine how much one patient weighed – 29-year-old Terry Gardner who was eventually found to tip the scales at 47 stone after previously being housebound for a year before being admitted to the hospital.

Terry is one of the largest patients ever treated at the Sunderland weight loss unit; too big to fit through his own bathroom door and his weight means he cannot use one of the reinforced ward beds, forcing staff to draft an even stronger one in from elsewhere and costing them £150 each day.

Terry’s story along with that of several others on the ward, will be featured tomorrow in the documentary. Viewers will see Terry pictured in his wedding photo just ten years prior, cutting a more drastically slender figure. He and many other patients are at their last resort at hospital and hoping for surgical intervention to basically save their lives. The documentary will show possible reasons why they have reached the size they are, the harsh truths about gastric surgery and what the weight loss surgery means to them – as well as the massive demands places on the shoulders of all the staff working at the unit.

One of these demands is keeping Terry to adhere to his strict 1,500 calorie per-day diet. They have decided this low calorie intake is essential for him to lose weight initially as he is too unhealthy to go in for a weight loss operation.

Tragically, Terry’s father passed away when just eight years old and he found himself put into care at 12. Now the father of two young children himself, he finds himself too big to wash his own body. He explains: “I feel like my weight is eating my life. There are times I say to my wife, why are you here? I am trapped in my own body.”

In the programme, consultant surgeon Peter Small does not hold back in his honesty of Terry’s situation and initial slow progress in shifting any weight. He says: “There is no medical problem that is causing people to be obese. The vast majority of people are obese because their calorie intake over time has not matched their calorie burn. The usual patient we get has been trying all the diets under the sun and all the medicines under the sun and they’ve failed. And they’re just crying for their life back.”

Regarding Terry, Mr Small explains: “We want him to confront his behaviour. He is almost pathologically obese, but why? Often complex psychological factors cause people to overeat.”
After being admitted on to the ward, Terry is provided with some basic exercises to carry out on his Zimmer frame. Mr Small says: “I have had younger and lighter people than him die on me while they are still on the list. But if we can get a balloon into him, it will help.”

However, in the documentary, Terry’s progress is shown to be minimal at best following three weeks on his 1,500 calorie-a-day diet. In fact, after three weeks he has lost just a single pound and staff suspect he has been allowed to buy crisps and fizzy drinks from the hospital trolley. “He is not cheating me… he is cheating himself. But it costs £100 a day to keep someone here”, says Mr Small, who is also irritated by Terry’s claim of an under-active thyroid being the cause for his weight gain. “Until he’s honest, we can’t help him. If he wants to bite the hand trying to not feed him…”
After a month though, the realisation of his grim situation has finally hit home with Terry and remarkably he has managed to lose a stone. “I think he realised if he didn’t help himself, we wouldn’t,” says Mr Small. Due to Terry’s shift in attitude and continued weight loss, he will soon be able to have a gastric balloon op.

With Gastric surgery costing an incredible £8,000, those who are obese could try clinically proven weight loss medication such as Xenical or XLS-Medical Fat Binder. Adopting a healthy lifestyle and diet in conjunction with one of these scientifically proven weight loss aids can help you lose weight and avoid ever ending up inside a weight loss ward such as the one at Sunderland Royal Hospital. Both Xenical and XLS-Medical are available today from Medical Specialists Pharmacy at incredibly low prices.

Calculator devised that can predict childhood obesity risk at birth

Scientists at Imperial College London claim they have constructed a formula that could predict a new-born baby’s chance of becoming obese as they get older. The calculator is available online for anybody wishing to test it out, with researchers hoping that parents analyse the results seriously and take positive steps now to help avoid weight creeping onto their child in future years.

The need for such a formula could be due to the fact that an alarming 17% of boys and 15% of girls aged between two to 15 in England are currently in the obese category of body mass index (BMI) classification. If your BMI is between 30 and 40, you would be considered obese. Although the online calculator has targeted how babies will develop in the future, a survey published this year unearthed damning statistics showing just over a quarter of all adults (26%) in England are obese.
The Researchers from Imperial College London studied 4,032 Finnish children all born during 1986 and also analysed information extracted from two other studies; one involving 1,503 Italian children and another that included 1,032 U.S. children.

It was initially considered if an obesity risk could be determined by studying genetic profiles. Accurate predictions were not able to be found though using the tests on this theory. In fact it was estimated that only about one in 10 cases of obesity is a direct result of a rare gene mutation that influences a person’s appetite. Instead, it was found that simple non-genetic factors could be used such as if the child’s mother smoked or not and the baby’s birth weight.

Prof Philippe Froguel from Imperial College London, led the study and he and his team managed to refine obesity risk factors to just six pointers which they say together can provide an accurate reading of a child’s chance of becoming obese.

The first question requests both parent’s BMI as many health experts argue that children of overweight adults are more likely to become overweight as well due to picking up bad dietary habits.
Next, the calculator asks for how many people are in the household as it is believed that single-parents have less time to spend properly taking care of their child and thus the child has a higher chance of becoming obese.

Following questions then ask for the mother’s professional category, if the mother smoked during her pregnancy and finally the birth weight (in kg) is required to be entered.
The calculator was used on the children in Finland, Italy and the US, and was found to be a fast and credible method of producing an obesity risk.

Prof Froguel said that prevention methods held the key to tackling the problem as once a child has become obese, they usually find it difficult to drop the extra weight. He said: “The equation is based on data everyone can obtain from a new-born, and we found it can predict around 80% of obese children. Unfortunately, public prevention campaigns have been rather ineffective at preventing obesity in school-age children. Teaching parents about the dangers of overfeeding and bad nutritional habits at a young age would be much more effective. The message is simple. All at-risk children should be identified, monitored and given good advice, but this costs money.”

Publishing their findings in the journal PLoS ONE, the researchers stated they believed parents could be provided with more information about breastfeeding – a factor linked to a reduced risk of a baby becoming obese later in life. They also said the time spent watching television should be greatly reduced and parents should avoid giving their children fizzy drinks. Ironically only two days ago Medical Specialists Pharmacy actually reported on many of the health dangers associated with such drinks.

If you have already become an adult and gained weight though, it is not too late to lose the extra lbs. and feel the benefits. There are so many reasons to lose excess weight if you are overweight or obese. It is absolutely not something you should consider to begin in the future, start today! The health benefits include:

. You will find it easier to breathe.
. The risk of developing type 2 diabetes is greatly reduced.
. Blood pressure decreases.
. Improved mobility, with less aches and pains.
. Lowers cholesterol levels.
. Decreases the risk of sudden death from a stroke or heart disease.
. Weight loss and being in good health promotes better sleep and waking with more energy.
. Weight loss can improve fertility.

As well as countless medical reasons why it is a danger to be overweight or obese, weight loss will improve your confidence levels and boost your wallet as you gain the willpower to give up spending money on expensive fatty meals and treats.
With Christmas rapidly approaching and many of us will probably gain weight over the coming month, now more than ever is the time to act!

Luckily, at Medical Specialists we have proven effective weight loss treatments such as Xenical and the recently introduced XLS-Medical Fat Binder. In conjunction with a healthy diet, they can help you drop the additional pounds and begin to reap the massive rewards from doing so. XLS-Medical can even be obtained today without the need for a prescription or doctor’s consultation. You can find out more information regarding both medications from the obesity section of the Medical Specialists website.

Supermarkets ordered to include more fruit and veg in ready meals

Hearing the words ‘ready meal’ or ‘microwave meal’ would not typically invoke thoughts of healthy eating and have long been associated with a quick option for students. As more and more people are developing hectic, busy lives though, they are worryingly becoming a common choice for meals for those who feel like they don’t have the time to prepare a healthy meal.

Health concerns arise because the freezing process in these ready-made meals usually affects the taste of the food and manufacturers try to compensate for this by using heavily processed production methods and loading the food with extra salt and fat. They are usually always a lot less nutritious than fresh food and the partially hydrogenated vegetable oils that are used by manufacturers to stabilise the food, have been linked to numerous cardiovascular problems.

With obesity levels predicted to surge in the next 18 years, clearly the government believe they need to act quickly and they have decided to target ready meals in their latest attempt to get the nation to eat more healthily.

Estimates show that around 70% of the UK is failing to eat their ‘five-a-day’ recommended intake of fruit and vegetables. Furthermore it has recently been revealed that only one in ten children and a third of adults are hitting the five-a-day target and now the Department of Health (DOH) are calling for food manufacturers to include more fruit and vegetables to their ready meals as part of government’s ‘Responsibility Deal’. This is an initiative in which the DOH works in cooperation with large businesses to try and reform Britain’s public health.

There are currently 16 supermarkets, food manufacturers and trade bodies that have signed up to the pledge of creating healthier ready meals. They are: Aldi, Co-operative Food, Iceland, Lidl, Morrisons, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Waitrose, General Mills, Mars, caterers 3663, Brakes, CH & Co Catering, Subway and the British Frozen Food Federation.

Action could not have come as a better time after a recent survey showed that almost a quarter (25%) of Brits are under the impression that chips count as part of a vegetable intake and nearly half think the same thing regarding roast potatoes. For those unaware, they do not count because they contribute mainly starch to your diet.

Why five-a-day some may ask. Well, as well as being low in calories and fat, fruit and vegetables are the pinnacle of a healthy, balanced diet. Eating plenty of fruit and veg can help you maintain a healthy weight, prevent obesity, in addition to helping to reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers. Because of their high fibre content, fruit and veg can also help with digestive problems, keeping your gut healthy, preventing constipation and even reducing your risk of developing bowel cancer.

Public Health Minister Anna Soubry spoke on the plans to increase fruit and veg in ready meals, saying: “It’s vital that we focus particular attention on encouraging those who currently consume very little to boost their intake.  Research shows that fruit and veg intake ‘tracks’ through childhood and adolescence, so healthy school lunches with at least two portions of fruit or vegetables are really important to give children the opportunity to experience fruit and vegetables from an early age, and to see other children and adults around them enjoying these foods.”

Medical Specialists Pharmacy advise that everybody should at least hit their five-a-day target for fruit and vegetables as there are countless major health benefits from doing so. However, be warned that this does not mean a high intake of sugar and saturated fats can also be maintained. If you are overweight, we would advise adopting a healthy lifestyle and diet in conjunction with a scientifically proven weight loss aid such as XLS-Medical or the prescription medication Xenical. Both are available today from Medical Specialists at incredibly low prices.

Pepsi launch ‘fat blocking’ cola drink in Japan

A ‘special’ version of Pepsi’s cola drink has gone on sale today in Japan, with bold claims of weight loss and lowering ‘bad’ cholesterol coming from the soft drinks giant.
Funnily enough the drink will be named ‘Pepsi Special’, and will be distributed by Suntory International, who is hoping for a similar hit as the Japanese fat-busting drink Mets Cola, released by the beer company Kirin only a few months previously.

Both drinks contain an indigestible form of the light carbohydrate dextrin; occasionally used as a fibre supplement. Dextrin inhibits the body’s ability to absorb fat while eating and also reduces the level of ‘blood triglycerides’ in your bloodstream and bad LDL cholesterol. If that wasn’t enough though, it also manages to help keep HDL, the good cholesterol.

These claims are based on a 2006 study by Japan’s National Institute of Health and Nutrition, conducted on rats that were fed dextrin. The study’s results went some way to showing that dextrin can help in reducing the absorption of fat in the body and also helping to bring down cholesterol levels.
Unfortunately no information has been released in regards to the drink’s sugar or corn-syrup content in the drink in comparison to the regular Pepsi drink  spokesman said it would have a ‘crisp refreshing and unique’ aftertaste.

Pepsi Special will have a unique look, being sold in a ‘luxury’ gold and black bottle with the Pepsi logo on the side of the bottle. The price will be initially set at 150Yen (£1.20), only slightly more than a typical 500ml bottle of regular Pepsi sold in the UK. However, there has been nothing said by either Pepsi or Suntory International regarding a European or U.S. release date.

One thing that is clear though is just who the drink could appeal to, going off the humorous advert that Pepsi have posted on their website. The ad depicts a young businessman who has to make a choice between a woman dressed in a pizza costume and another wearing a burger outfit. Basically it is claimed that the man will not have to discard either, as long as he drinks Pepsi Special. It would seem the soft drink giant is keen to appeal to young, health-conscious men who enjoy such drinks but are also worried about their weight, as well as possibly previous customers who have stopped buying soft drinks for health purposes.

The drink has been met with scepticism though by some people though. Sue Baic, a spokesperson from the British Dietetic Association, questioned just how effective the drink was in its fat-busting claims. She said: “I think this drink is unlikely to make much difference to how much fat you absorb. I can’t see any studies that show dextrin works in people. Even if it has an effect on rats that doesn’t mean it will translate into humans. I suggest a higher fibre diet with fruit, vegetables and whole grains would be a better way to fill you up and make you feel less hungry. Plus then you would get the benefits of all the vitamins and minerals as well.”

It is debatable just how ‘healthy’ though these types of drinks are due to the high volume of additives that are packed inside, many of which are disastrous for teeth. In addition, high sugar content will do nothing good for weight and in the long run can lead to health complications such as diabetes.
From Medical Specialists’ experience, and from contact with our thousands of patients, success comes firstly from factors such as lifestyle improvements such as a healthier diet and more exercise. Help can also be found from clinically proven treatments for obesity such as Xenical or XLS-Medical Fat Binder.

It may be also questionable whether or not a fizzy drink can have a genuine impact on your good and bad cholesterol levels. Luckily, for suitable patients, we can provide cholesterol-lowering statin medications Crestor (Rosuvastatin) and Lipitor (Atorvastatin). Along with diet, they lower ‘bad’ cholesterol (LDL-C), increase ‘good’ cholesterol (HDL-C), and also slow the progression of atherosclerosis in adults with high cholesterol. We are pleased to inform our patients that we now also offer legal generic Atorvastatin, with prices from as little as just £11.25 per pack.

Can the ‘beautific’ drinks from Coca-Cola and Sanofi bring any health benefits?

Soft drink giant Coca-Cola is to join forces with the French multinational pharmaceutical company ‘Sanofi’ to launch a new range of ‘beautific’ drinks. The two powerhouses even claim that the new drinks will boost well-being as well as being able to ‘strengthen hair and nails’.

If that wasn’t enough, those who drink the Beautific Oenobiol brand on a regular basis, will apparently see an improvement to skin in addition to weight loss. Whether all this is true or not is another matter, but they are certainly bold statements from Coca-Cola and Sanofi.

The drinks will be given a launch this autumn primarily in France, before makers look to increase distribution throughout the rest of Europe. A spokesman for the launch said: “This is a small-scale pilot which is currently limited to a number of pharmacies in France.”

The Oenobiol range will come in four different flavours and will consist of mineral water, fruit juice and nutritional additives. The latter are what the manufacturers will help to embellish skin, strengthen hair and nails, lose weight and improve vitality.

Despite the early promise, it does remain to be seen just how successful the project will be between Coca-Cola and Sanofi. Their Oenobiol drinks are following a disastrous precedent laid down in the past after the shambles in 2009 that occurred when the drinks giant teamed with food company Nestlé to produce the green-tea brand, ‘Enviga’, which too claimed various weight-loss benefits.

A marketing war ensued and a lawsuit battle which eventually involved 27 U.S. states. In an embarrassing climb-down for Coca-Cola and Nestlé, all subsequent cans or bottles of Enviga were ordered to have a disclaimer printed that made drinkers aware that the product would not actually cause weight loss and that this would instead be achieved through a healthy diet and exercise.

The news about the latest addition in a long line of health drinks has not been met with excitement by everybody. It is believed that Coca-Cola and Sanofi only even made announcements regarding the new drinks after a leak from Sanofi labour union representatives.  They blasted that workers were irate the drug manufacturer was ‘spouting about beauty drinks’ only a month after plans were made for job losses expected to reach the 900 mark.

Release of drinks such as Enviga and Oenobiol are probably connected to an increasing worldwide obesity epidemic and concerns are growing. In recent years Coca-Cola and Pepsi, the world’s two biggest soft drinks manufacturers, have released ‘zero’ branded low calorie, no-sugar drinks aimed at those who are weight conscious.

However, the true ‘healthiness’ of these types of beverages is debateable due to the high volume of additives that are loaded inside the drinks, many of which are disastrous for teeth. After all, something needs to be put inside the drinks to give them a sweet taste with there being no sugar present.

In addition, it remains to be seen if the new drinks will be able to promote weight loss, strengthen hair, skin and nails, etc. From Medical Specialists’ experience, and from contact with our thousands of patients, success comes firstly from factors such as lifestyle improvements such as a healthier diet and more exercise. Help can also be had from clinically proven treatments for the aforementioned issues such as, obesity: Xenical, XLS-Medical, skin: Dianette, Spironolactone, Retin-A Gel, hair loss: Propecia, Regaine, Regaine for women, Alpecin caffeine shampoo and there are products such as Nizoral shampoo for dandruff and T/Gel for both dandruff and psoriasis. All are available today at incredibly low prices from Medical Specialists Pharmacy.

Obesity is linked to thousands of cancer cases each year

Last week Medical Specialists Pharmacy delivered the fantastic news to everybody around the World that we now have XLS-Medical Fat Binder in stock, available to buy at just £38.99 at this incredibly low introductory price. The news it seems has come at the perfect time as the World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF) has warned that there are over 22,000 cases of cancer in the UK each year that are directly the result of people either being overweight or obese, and they can be avoidable if people remained at a healthy weight.

The WCRF’s information was amassed via a report from the charities own ‘Continuous Update Project’ (CUP), which investigates all the latest cancer prevention research studies. The researchers involved in the project say that 63% of all Brits are either overweight, meaning they have a body mass index (BMI) that is higher than 25 or obese, with a BMI over 30. The BMI reading is an estimate of a person’s body fat based on both their height and weight.

However, according to the WCRF, this extra body weight is massively increasing the risk of a whole host of deadly cancers including: bowel, breast, gall bladder, kidney, oesophagus, pancreatic and womb cancer. Added to the risks of different cancers, there are also numerous other chronic diseases that are connected to excess body weight. Possibilities of coronary disease, heart attack, joint problems and kidney failure are just a few of the serious health risks those overweight or obese people may find themselves experiencing.

According to CUP, around one in five (18%) of the 123,000 weight-related cancer cases in the UK can be avoided with necessary action such as adopting simple healthy lifestyle changes, saving a staggering 22,000 lives each year.

The figure of 22,000 includes 7,752 cases of breast cancer, 5,753 incidents of bowel cancer and 2,978 womb-related cancers. In addition, it is estimated that 1,257 cases of pancreatic cancer may be caused by being overweight.  To give a better insight into the severity of the issue, according to figures from Cancer Research UK, in 2011 there were in excess of 320,400 people diagnosed with cancer. Clearly something needs to be done to halt the trend, and fast.

Professor Alan Jackson, professor of human nutrition at the University of Southampton and chairman of the CUP panel, spoke on the latest report and said, “A significant number of cancer cases could be prevented by people maintaining a healthy body weight. Through keeping levels of body fat low, a lot of people will avoid getting cancer in the first place – forestalling the pain and anguish associated with the disease.”

Last year academics from Oxford University estimated that 134,000 instances of cancer could have been prevented through lifestyle changes. Smoking still seems to be the biggest killer, accounting for a huge 61,000 of the cases, followed by obesity at 17,000. The academics stressed although their calculations were ‘conservative’, there is a good chance that obesity contributes to a number of different cancers.

After the estimates were published by the academics, Dr Rachel Thompson, of the WCRF, said: “We hope this helps to raise awareness that cancer is not simply a question of fate and that people can make changes today that can reduce their risk. Thousands of cases of cancer in the UK could be prevented by maintaining a healthy weight, being regularly physically active and eating a plant-based diet without too much salt, alcohol or red and processed meat.”

Before their latest findings were published, WCRF previously warned that the number of Brits who get any form of cancer is likely to double by the year 2050 unless something is done to stop the problem.

As you saw earlier this year, weight loss surgery such as having a gastric band fitted, is probably not the best option for those carrying a little extra baggage due to the dangerous health risks. Also, many people who go under the knife actually end up piling all the lost weight back on eventually anyway. Perhaps the way forward is by adopting a healthy lifestyle and diet in conjunction with a scientifically proven weight loss aid such as XLS-Medical or the prescription medication Xenical. Both are available today from Medical Specialists at incredibly low prices.