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Spam.  It’s the bane of anyone with an email address.  We all loathe and despise it, but does anyone actually buy the often ridiculous and over-the-top products being shilled?  It  turns out that when it comes to weight loss spam, young adults who think they’re fat swallow it en masse.

Researchers Joshua Fogel of Brooklyn College and Sam Shlivko of New York Law School conducted a survey of 200 New York college students about their experiences with spam email for weight loss products (published here in the January edition of Southern Medical Journal).  Participants were asked, “Do you believe that you have weight problems?”  One-third answered that they did and responses were then compared along those lines.  Keep in mind that the study only asked for a yes-or-no response as to whether someone believed they had a weight problem, meaning that this group could have realistically included both students who are certifiably fat or those who just think themselves the size of a landbarge.  Of those students who reported to have weight problems:

• 85 percent said they had received weight loss spam over the past year, compared to 73 percent of those without weight problems

• 42 percent opened and read spam email advertising weight loss products versus just 18 percent of those without weight problems

• 19 percent said they had bought a weight loss product from spam — as did five percent (!) of those without weight problems.

Researchers also measured participants’ psychological stress according to the Perceived Stress Scale and the Rosenburg Self-Esteem Scale.  Not surprisingly, students who reported weight problems had lower self-esteem and higher perceived stress, which, in part, influenced their proclivity to open, read and purchase weight loss spam.  In all, after adjusting for other factors, students with reported weight problems were about three times more likely to receive and open weight loss spam and to buy the products pitched.

So, what’s the big deal, some might ask.  We’re constantly bombarded with the mantra that “diets don’t work” and the only thing these students have to lose is their money, right?  Wrong.  As Fogel noted in his report, there is no quality control for products advertising in spam emails.  The current law on dietary supplements gives the FDA jurisdiction only after the products go on the market.  And instead of reviewing the supplements and approving them for sale, as the agency does with drugs, the FDA is limited to spot-checking manufacturers and distributors and testing products already on store shelves.  In February, the agency issued warnings for 70 weight loss supplements found to contain unlisted and potentially dangerous ingredients — see the complete list here.  And this list, most of which are imported from China, represents only a teensy tiny fraction of the dangerous and often ineffective diet pills available in what is a $1.7 billion dollar a year market.  The FDA itself admits that it simply does not have the resources to identify what may be hundreds of other drug-contaminated weight-loss supplements for sale. Some spam emails even advertise and sell prescription medications without requiring proof of a valid prescription.  And not addressed in the report is the more alarming consideration that responding to weight loss spam only reveals what may be a larger and more shadowy pattern of disordered eating and fad or yo-yo dieting, all of which take their toll on health and may even ironically lead to even greater weight gain.

Products purchased via weight loss spam can also take a blow to one’s pocketbook and even credit ratings.  Since posting my expose on one acai berry diet scam more than a year ago,  responses — 139 as of this posting — continue to trickle in from duped buyers who report being scammed charged hundreds of dollars in unauthorized expenses for “free” trial offers and when they call to cancel, either find that the customer service number has been disconnected or are put on hold for an ungodly amount of time by agents who often refuse to refund their money and sometimes even to cancel their orders altogether.

Researchers note that the findings indicate that young adults with weight problems are “apparently not seeking or not satisfied with evidence-based treatments available from physicians… or other health care providers.”  And therein lies the problem, for as physicians, scientists, researchers and specialists admit, there is no proven way to make — and keep — fat people thin.  The National Institutes of Health and other studies show that, on average, 95-98 percent of people who lose weight gain it back within five years. Only 2-5 percent of dieters succeed in keeping their weight off while 90 percent of those gain back more weight than they lost.  Even those who undergo weight loss surgery mostly become less fat, with weight regain rates both high and common.

Trust me.  If some virtuoso discovers that enchanted unicorn horn dust will magically whittle our waistlines, he/she would be hailed as a global fat-fighting hero, invited to the White House for a few cold ones (all lite, of course), awarded the Nobel Prize amidst international fanfare and be secretly masturbated to by MeMe Roth.  Insurance companies everywhere would cover these miracle pills in full without reserve; they’d be added to the water supply with fluoride and the government would pass them out like candy.  But as the old adage cautions us, if it’s too good to be true — and it’s peddled by spam-mongers — it probably is.  My advice?  Invest in a good spam filter and save yourself some time, money and sanity.

I shouldn’t complain about the weather, considering that Charlynn is braving subzero Wyoming temps, but the Arctic freeze — and the fact that it gets pitch black now by 5:30 p.m. — really puts a damper on my fitness routine.  During my eating disorder recovery, I made a personal commitment to only engage in physical activities that I enjoy – biking, rollerblading, hiking, powerwalking, gardening, etc.  So far, it’s worked fabulously for me with only one niggling problem: Most, if not all, happen to be outdoors activities.  For me, the benefits of exercise justify the means, so the past few weeks have seen me back at my company’s on-site gym, scaling the Stairclimber to Nowhere while devouring magazine after magazine in an attempt to keep my mind from exploding from the insanely boring monotony.  I was perusing my latest edition of Time the other day when I read this rather ironically amusing tidbit in the mag’s 10 Questions feature with Al Roker.  Roker, as you might recall, is the formerly rotund Today Show weatherman (and new fiction author) who underwent weight loss surgery years ago and unlike other stars (ahem, Star Jones), has been very public about his weight loss struggles.

Looking back, would you go through [gastric bypass surgery] again or try another method to lose weight?

Yes, I would go through it again, because I tried every other method. But I’m not an advocate for gastric bypass. It’s dangerous surgery; 1 in 200 people dies from complications. It’s a very complex decision that people have to make for themselves, not because somebody on TV made that decision.

I should note that I support a person’s informed decision to have weight loss surgery even though I’m wary of the often underplayed serious health risks of such procedures, so I thought Roker’s response to be an appropriate one given that he is one of the most famous of “success” stories.  Then I read the next question…

Any suggestions for the rest of us on keeping the weight off?
It’s an amazing secret: if you eat less and exercise more, you will either maintain your weight or lose weight. It’s crazy. I’ve just discovered this.

So, Al tried “every other method” to lose weight EXCEPT eating less and exercising more?  He just now discovered this “amazing secret” even though it’s been widely regurgitated now since the late nineteenth century?  Really?   I’m sure reducing his stomach to the size of a thumb and amputating and rerouting parts of his digestive tract so that he can’t absorb calories and nutrients has absolutely nothing to do with him maintaining or losing weight.  Nope, just eating less and exercising more.  That’s it.  *Headsmack*

Look.  I’m not saying that eating less and exercising more won’t result in weight loss.  I lost 175 pounds in a year during my eating disorder by following virtually that same recipe, albeit by taking it to extremes.  What I am saying is that for many people, the simplistic calories in/calories burned equation simply doesn’t always parlay into any significant or lasting weight loss.  I maintain an ever-growing list of more than a dozen peer-reviewed studies from the past two decades that show that virtually every attempt to make fat people thin without risky surgery has failed completely and utterly — very few manage to keep it off.   At most, even WLS makes fat people only less fat and even then the weight regain rates among those who go under the knife are high.   Why doesn’t “eat less, move more” work?  Twin studies and adoptive studies show that the overwhelming determinant of your weight is not your willpower; it’s your genes.  Just as people are now taller than ever, so too are people now fatter.  And as Gina Kolata details in Rethinking Thin, studies show that fat people who lose large amounts of weight often see their normal-functioning metabolisms crawl to the point where they are clinically in starvation mode.  There are other forces at play, too.  For example, new studies coming out are finally confirming what so many people who take antidepressants have suspected for years: that many psychiatric medications carry weight gain as a side effect.

I don’t have many regrets from my eating disorder days.  Sure, I would love to have that time back for more constructive goals and I am sorry for the strain my disorder placed on my family, friends and coworkers, but I realize now that I was suffering from a psychiatric illness and so I try to focus on staying well and moving forward.  I do have a few regrets however, one of which are the false hopes I gave to those who sought me out for weight loss tips and advice.  As I dropped size after size, so many family members and colleagues approached me, imploring and begging me to share with them my “secret” for weight loss.  I wasn’t about to tell them that I exercised for hours on end each day and ate nothing for days and even weeks at a time before exploding into an all-out binge fest that left me cradling the toilet and calling Poison Control because the Ipecac hadn’t come back up.  No, instead I chirped brightly, “Oh, I just eat less and exercise more.”  I hated the lies I told them, but I hated the lie I harbored even more.

I’ve since maintained a weight loss of more than 30 percent healthily in the past five-plus years — without amputating my digestive system — and what I have discovered is this:  Maintaining a weight loss is hard and it’s not so easy as eating less and exercising more.  I eat a healthy diet and workout several times a week and yet the specter of weight regain always hovers at the periphery.  Despite doing everything “right,” I’ve still had an unexplained weight gain of about 25-30 pounds in the past four years.  Does it worry me?  Sure, but only because of my lingering psychological hangups about weight and not for my actual physical health, which is stellar, according to my doctor.  There are still times when I will run into someone from my past who knew me at my highest weight and they’ll ask for weight loss suggestions or for my “secret.” I don’t tell them that I eat a healthy, low-glycemic vegetarian diet, make fitness a priority and indulge in chocolate whenever the craving strikes because while that may work for me, there’s no guarantee that it will work for them. My advice, hard-earned and time-tested, is always the same: “Obsess less, enjoy more.”

Recently posted on the-F-word’s Twitter feed…

Eating Disorders

Sam Thomas has launched the first known men-only eating disorder support site in the U.K.: Men Get Eating Disorders Too.  “The website acts as a link between individual men with eating disorders and treatment services,” Thomas said.

On the subject of men and eating disorders… from the Tahoe Daily Tribune comes this poignant and touching story about Brian Bixler, a 39-year-old Californian who’s battling both anorexia and a health insurance bureaucracy.  Bixler, who has a master’s degree, once saw a bright future for himself working in the education department of a zoo or aquarium, but now he subsists on Social Security and the generosity of his family.

A new long-term study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders and British Psychiatry suggests that teenagers with anorexia are at risk for other psychiatric problems and disorders in adulthood.

Hospitalization rates for eating disorders increased 18 percent in the years 1999 – 2006 in the U.S. reports the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.  Of these, the steepest rates came in the hospitalization of children under the age of 12.  Similar hospitalizations for men rose by 37 percent.  And these are just the folks who can afford to be hospitalized…

If you have an eating disorder and live near Denver, you’re in luck.  The area has emerged as a hub for eating disorder treatment facilities and programs, reports the Denver Post… so long as you have the cash to pay for it.  Treatment centers typically cost about $30,000 a month.

In Canada, there’s been a rise in mid-life onset eating disorders while in Australia, a new study indicates that one in 10 women take illicit drugs like cocaine to lose weight.

Carrie at the eating disorder recovery blog ED Bites has added a great Twitter feed where she also posts links to related stories and news.  Check out her latest updates here.

Health & Nutrition

Sarah Rigg reviews Linda Bacon’s new book, “Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight.”

New research finds a link between physical and mental health.  Thomas A. Wright, a Kansas State University researche and study author, says both physical and psychological wellbeing should be considered in terms of efficiency.

The FDA this month approved Symbax for the treatment of treatment-resistant depression, the first drug to be approved for this indication.  Symbax works by combining olanzaprine (Zyprexa) and fluoxetine HCI (Prozac) in one capsule.  It’s manufactured by Eli Lilly and Company.

Sugar is making a comeback.  Amidst health fears about high fructose corn syrup, some of the biggest players in the American food business are replacing it with old-fashioned sugar, including Pizza Hut, Pepsi, ConAgra and Kraft.  The New York Times details more here.

Weighty Issues

Researchers at UCLA have discovered why insomnia puts one at a greater risk for obesity. Chronic insomnia disrupts levels of ghrelin in the body — ghrelin is responsible for appetite stimulation.  “The current study shows that insomnia patients have a dysregulation in energy balance that could explain why these patients gain weight over time,” said the lead researcher.

A British woman who underweight weight loss surgery is speaking out about the procedure that has left her disabled and in dire health.  “If I could turn back the clock I never would have had this operation,” she said.

Have any other related headlines to share?  What’s making news in your corner of the world?  Discuss your thoughts below.

Drug manufacturers Merck and Sanofi-Aventi both discontinued obesity drugs last year after clinical trials showed a host of psychiatric problems, ranging from depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.  But that didn’t keep Arena Pharmaceuticals from searching for the elusive pill of thinness.  The company said this week that its experimental drug to treat obesity, lorcaserin, had “succeeded” in its first late-stage clinical trial, producing results it said would be good enough for regulatory approval.

Before you get your hopes up, let’s first consider the company’s definition of “success.” According to the New York Times:

About 47.5 percent of the patients who took lorcaserin lost at least 5 percent of their weight after one year, compared with 20.3 percent of the patients who received a placebo. That is enough to satisfy the F.D.A. requirements for approval.

But the average weight loss for those taking the drug was 12.7 pounds, or 5.8 percent of body weight, compared with 4.7 pounds, or 2.2 percent for those in the placebo group. The difference between the two groups — 3.6 percent — is lower than the 5 percent requirement of the F.D.A.

Yes, that’s right. Adjusting for the placebo, study participants lost just 3.6 percent of their body weight. And that’s combined with a “moderate diet and exercise program” included in this phase of the study! For a 200-lb person, that’s just 7 pounds in one year; a 300-lb person would see just a 10 pound weight loss in one year — and again, that’s after taking lorcaserin combined with dieting and exercising! That “success” rate is less than the placebo-adjusted weight loss for Meridia, — known as Reductil overseas — a drug already on the market (although it’s been suspended in Italy and Abbott, its manufacturer, is facing scores of lawsuits for both the drug’s side effects and ineffectiveness) and is also no better than what can be achieved through traditional dieting, although it would probably make the extravagantly high costs of NutriSystem and Jenny Craig look like chump change. Meridia, for example, costs about $90 a month, has a very minimal success rate and is often not covered by prescription drug plans.

It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to see that one of the primary reasons why lorcaserin and other diet drugs like it don’t work is because they are myopic in scope. Lorcaserin, Accomplia, and taranbant work in different ways — Taranbant and Accomplia sought to block the same pleasure centers that give marijuana smokers the “munchies,” while lorcaserin stimulates a receptor in the brain that is thought to regulate food intake — but all drugs focus on appetite suppression, suggesting an assumption that fat people are fat because they eat too much, presumably unhealthy foods. This is despite the fact that researchers have identified more than 250 genetic markers for obesity and have concluded that these factors account for at least 67 percent of why one is fat. Focusing solely on appetite suppression is about as likely to “cure” obesity as is amputating a leg when what’s really needed is a hip replacement.

Lorcaserin isn’t a “promising investigative oral treatment for obesity” as touted by the company. At best, it might make obese people only infinitesimally less obese. The only arena in which it appears as if lorcaserin would be effective is in slenderizing a fat wallet.

Antipsychotics like olanzapine (Zyprexa), risperidone (Risperdal) and quetiapine (Seroquel), are commonly used to treat disorders like schizophrenia, manic episodes, bipolar disorder and even behavioral problems related to dementia.  But one of the most alarming side effects of these medications for many people is weight gain.  Some people are so mortified at the possibility that they go off their medications altogether, which is never a good thing.

A new study to be published in the April issue of Biological Psychiatry evaluates an add-on treatment that may potentially reduce treatment-associated weight gain.  Read the rest of this entry »

Another update to share in my ongoing saga to treat my hypothyroidism…

In November, I reported that the new Cytomel regime had ameliorated some of my symptoms. I’m continuing to see improvements — especially after arbitrarily upping my dosage when my endocrinologist refused to do so (my doctor prescribed a half-tablet daily; I began taking the entire tablet daily, in effect, doubling my dosage — I generally don’t recommend dismissing your doctor’s instructions). In addition to her reluctance to increase my Cytomel dosage, my endocrinologist was also unwilling to discuss the possibility of insulin resistance, a condition I was once diagnosed with at my highest weight. In fact, her only advice was to “eat less and move more,” despite the fact that I explained to her on two previous visits that I am already quite active and eat a healthy, vegetarian diet well below the caloric rate estimated to maintain my current weight (a metabolism test I took previously recommended this number to be optimal for me and my doctors agree this to be a healthy number, so no worries of relapse here).

My psychiatrist advised me to seek a second opinion and a doctor preferably associated with a university-type setting. There’s a waiting list weeks-long to see endocrinologists in my area, but I finally got in to see the new doctor yesterday. I’ll call her Dr. Awesome, because that is what she is.
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The government’s list of dangerous diet pills is fast growing. The FDA issued warnings for some 30 diet pills in December. Now that list has grown to nearly 70, as reported by the New York Times.

The FDA has found dozens of weight-loss supplements, most of them imported from China, to contain hidden and potentially harmful drugs. Here’s the kicker: This list represents only a small fraction of the dangerous, often ineffective diet pills available in what is a $1.7 billion dollar a year market. The Times explains:

As the F.D.A. continues to investigate, many questions remain to be answered — including who put the drugs in the pills and who knew about it. But some doctors and other experts say the F.D.A. inquiry raises a larger issue: Whether the regulations governing dietary supplements leave consumers who take so-called natural weight-loss supplements to unknowingly play Russian roulette with their health.

Enacted in 1994, the main law on dietary supplements gives the F.D.A. jurisdiction only after the products go on the market. Rather than reviewing the supplements and approving them for sale, as the agency does with drugs, the F.D.A. is limited to spot-checking manufacturers and distributors, and testing products already on store shelves. Even the F.D.A. acknowledges there may be hundreds of other drug-contaminated weight-loss supplements for sale that the agency does not have the resources to identify.

But even when the agency identifies contaminated products, it does not have the ability to remove the pills from stores, because it is initially up to companies to issue a recall.

Emphasis mine. For a full list of tainted and dangerous pills (to date), click here.

ADD’s a word often casually tossed around. In some circles, I’ve even heard it used as a slang adjective — “I can’t find X; I’m sooo ADD.” With the increasing diagnoses of AD/HD in childhood and the attendant fears that we’re over-medicating kids, I’ve even heard some dismiss the legitimacy of AD/HD altogether, saying that it’s just a fabricated disorder believed to be real by deluded parents of kids who just have a little too much energy.

I was officially diagnosed with ADD (no ‘H’ for me, as is common in girls and women with ADD) several years ago and I’m on daily medication for it (Adderall). Adderall works wonders, but it’s no magic cure-all. Basically, I judge the effectiveness of it by how many times a week my husband has to find my keys. Before medication, it was nearly every day. At my current dose, it’s now only about twice a week on average. (And if you’re wondering why I’m discussing ADD on a site devoted to food, fat and feminism, remember that researchers have found links between ADD and eating disorders.)

So, a humorous perhaps look at a day in the life of an ADD-medicated adult. This was yesterday. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the time of year when cloying New Year’s weight-loss resolutions abound, so this warning by the FDA is an especially timely one. The government is warning consumers to stay far, far away from 30 new weight-loss products that contain unlisted and potentially dangerous ingredients. According to the Associated Press:

The pills are advertised as “natural” fat busters and have intriguing names like Imelda Perfect Slim and Zhen de Shou. Some suggest they are innovative “herbal” remedies from Asia.

But the Food and Drug Administration on Monday said the concoctions contain unlisted ingredients, including powerful appetite-suppressing drugs and a suspected carcinogen. …FDA lab testing found 28 dietary supplements that could land unsuspecting users in the emergency room.

Many of the supplements contain sibutramine, a powerful appetite suppressant described as a “chemical cousin of amphetamines.” Chances are, it probably won’t induce weight loss, the real and lasting kind anyway, but it just might give you a heart attack, stroke, heart palpitations or other health problems. Other supplements contain phenolphyalein, a chemical traditionally used as a laxative, but is now being withdrawn from the market because of cancer risks. Neither of these ingredients are disclosed on diet pill labels.

The FDA is considering criminal charges against some of the below companies, because they have not responded to requests for recalls. No one should be taking diet pills anyway, but if you’re still looking for that mythical and magic weight-loss elixir, be sure to avoid these products at least:

Fatloss Slimming, 2 Day Diet, 3x Slimming Power, 5x Imelda Perfect Slimming, 3 Day Diet Japan Lingzhi, 24 Hours Diet, 7 Diet Day/Night Formula, 7 Day Herbal Slim, 8 Factor Diet, 999 Fitness Essence, Extrim Plus and GMP.

Imelda Perfect Slim, Lida DaiDaihua, Miaozi Slim Capsules, Perfect Slim, Perfect Slim 5x, Phyto Shape, ProSlim Plus, Royal Slimming Formula, Slim 3 in 1, Slim Express 360, Slimtech, Somotrin, Superslim, TripleSlim, Zhen de Shou, Venom Hyperdrive 3.0

I had been on name-brand Wellbutrin XL for three years when my employer altered our prescription health care benefit plan so that if a generic drug is available, you must get it or pay the hefty difference out-of-pocket. In this case, that difference would be an additional $150 a month for name brand Wellbutrin. Alas, generic it is. I received my first batch of generic Wellbutrin last spring and immediately developed debilitating migraines each afternoon that made depression symptoms pale in comparison. My benefits plan is further structured so that I must use mail-order medication delivery. I don’t mind because the meds are often much cheaper than pharmacy co-pays, but you also have no control over which generic medication you will be sent. I’ve received several different generic Wellbutrin brands now and unlike their name-brand equivalent, all have some degree of unpleasant side effects.

I discussed these concerns with my doctor at our thrice-monthly appointment today and what she said surprised me – and maybe it will you, too.
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