Weight Gain And Cancer

How To Control Your Perimenopause Weight Gain And Even Lose It! Although millions of women struggle with weight problems at various periods of their lives, it's particularly after childbirth and as menopause sets in that we are the most vulnerable to weight gain. Perimenopause weight gain can start as early as 40 years old. The average age however for menopause is… By: Maya Uriodain in  Health and Fitness  >  Weight Loss   Jul 25, 2011   0   Likes: 0

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Six Ways to Lose Weight

Ways to Lose Weight Cheaply If You Are In Debt The new health craze has really changed the landscape of the United States in the past few decades. There are so many different ways to lose weight and different diet programs, but many of them are getting more expensive as the craze becomes more lucrative. In order to get the… By: David Schmidt in  Finance  >  Debt Management   Jul 21, 2012   20   Likes: 9

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Losing Weight the South Beach Way

Anyone who knows me can attest to the fact that I have been struggling with weight loss my entire life. I have gained and lost weight throughout the years doing different things such as low-fat diets, no carb diets, diet pills, diet teas and so on and so forth. While these methods worked for a while, I eventually gained all of the weight back.

I have to say that for a short while, I did keep the weight off, until I gave birth to my four year old son. I managed to gain approximately 40 pounds during my pregnancy. My excuse back then was that I was 40 years old and losing weight at 40 is harder than when you are in your twenties.

Once again, I was working out to no avail, drinking diet teas and trying old diets that worked when I was younger. I was beginning to get depressed with the weight gain. At this point, I decided that the best thing I could do was accept that this was the way I would probably look for the rest of my life.

Then, a co-worker of mine decided she wanted to lose weight before her wedding. She introduced me to the South Beach Diet.

The one thing that I should point out is that according to the author, you can lose weight even without exercise. Exercising will increase the number of pounds you can lose, but is not necessary to see results. I tested this out, and did indeed lose weight after I stopped exercising (not that I am suggesting you should not exercise); but thought I would share that piece of information.

Another fun fact that I learned from the book was that fiber taken 15 minutes before a meal, lowered your blood sugar level. This is something to be mindful of if you're eating too many carbs in a day. The theory behind the South Beach diet is that too many bad carbs will cause a surge in your blood sugar level, causing you to gain weight.

So what I would do, fifteen minutes before eating a food such as rice, is to drink a teaspoonful of Metamucil (sugar free) with water 15 minutes before having the rice. As a result, this would lower the amount of carbs in that food. Pretty neat huh!!!! Again, you do not have to do this, this is just a tip that offered by the author.

As a result of learning everything I needed to know and completing all of the phases as outlined in the book, I lost the 40 pounds and continue to drop weight (without trying).

Needless to say, my co-worker who simply searched for the basic information over the Internet is still struggling to lose the weight. P.S. she has been on phase 1 for four months and hit a plateau after the first month.

I think that the most important thing to point out is that I continue to eat healthy and LOVE everything that I consume. Even after I reached my goal, I am still losing a pound a week. I think that's huge considering that I was struggling prior to this

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Weight Loss Surgery Cuts Diabetes Risk

(ABCNEWS.com)

Weight loss surgery is twice as effective as lifestyle changes at preventing type 2 diabetes in people who are obese, a new study found.

The Swedish study followed more than 3,400 obese men and women, roughly half of whom had bariatric surgery, for up to 15 years. It found that bariatric surgery reduced the risk of type 2 diabetes by 78 percent

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The Simple Guide to Eating Clean And Losing Weight

you will find that most gyms will have classes. This is the best way to ensure that you work hard during your time at the gym. Get yourself along to a cardio or spin class. I personally like boxing classes, you work super hard, it doesn't feel like hard work, and you can release the stresses of the day!

Drink Plenty of Water and Supplement Your Diet

This goes without saying! Make sure you’re drinking enough water, but don’t drink too much. You want your urine to still have colour. The aim is for your urine to look like Chardonnay! If it’s clear, then you are likely drinking too much water and over-working your kidneys! Fish Oil tablets are definitely a supplement you can’t miss out on! I also take Vitamin D, E, Magnesium, Zinc and Chromium. Make sure you do your research before taking any supplements as pre-existing conditions might not allow you to take them.

This has pretty much scratched the surface on clean eating, there is so much more to learn. But the basics will give you a pretty good start on some changes to make in your life immediately. Remember that every little change you make will take you one step closer to living a clean and healthy lifestyle.

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Americans gaining more weight than they say

ScienceDaily (Aug. 1, 2012) — Despite the increasing awareness of the problem of obesity in the United States, most Americans don't know whether they are gaining or losing weight, according to new research from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington.

Share This:See Also:Health & MedicineDiet and Weight LossFitnessObesityMind & BrainDieting and Weight ControlMental HealthObstructive Sleep ApneaLiving WellReferenceBody mass indexOverweightHyperglycemiaGeneral fitness training

Obesity increased in the US between 2008 and 2009, but in response to the questions about year-to-year changes in weight that were included in the most widespread public health survey in the country, on average, people said that they lost weight. Men did a worse job estimating their own weight changes than women. And older adults were less attuned to their weight changes than young adults. The findings are being published in the article "In denial: misperceptions of weight change among adults in the United States" in the August edition of Preventive Medicine.

"If people aren't in touch with their weight and changes in their weight over time, they might not be motivated to lose weight," said Dr. Catherine Wetmore, the lead author on the paper. "Misreporting of weight gains and losses also has policy implications. If we had relied on the reported data about weight change between 2008 and 2009, we would have undercounted approximately 4.4 million obese adults in the US."

A range of public health campaigns in recent years have urged Americans to lose weight to lower their chances of developing heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic conditions. To understand whether people in the US are heeding this advice, Dr. Wetmore, a former Post-Graduate Fellow at IHME and now a biostatistician at Children's National Medical Center, and IHME Professor Dr. Ali Mokdad compared self-reported changes in body weight between 2008 and 2009.

They used data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), a yearly cross-sectional survey of adults in the US designed to monitor leading risk factors for morbidity and mortality nationwide. More than 775,000 people were surveyed in the years analyzed, and they were asked multiple questions about their weight, including how much they weighed on the day of their interview and how much they weighed one year prior to their interview.

The researchers found that, on average, American adults gained weight over the study period -- because the reported weights increased between the 2008 and 2009 surveys -- but the 2009 study participants told surveyors that they had lost weight during the previous year. Based on the weights they reported, the prevalence of obesity in the US would have declined from 2008 to 2009. Instead, the prevalence of obesity inched upward from 26% to 26.5%, and average weight increased by about one pound per person between 2008 and 2009.

"We all know on some level that people can be dishonest about their weight," Dr. Mokdad said. "But now we know that they can be misreporting annual changes in their weight, to the extent of more than two pounds per year among adults over the age of 50, or more than four pounds per year among those with diabetes. On average, American adults were off by about a pound, which, over time, can really add up and have a significant health impact."

Not everyone reported losing weight. The researchers found that reports of unintentional weight gain were more common in specific groups:

men and women under the age of 40 those identifying as black, Native American, or Hispanic current and former smokers those consuming less than five servings of fruits and vegetables per day those reporting no physical activity those with diagnosed chronic diseases, frequent poor mental health, and insufficient sleep those lacking health care coverage

"It's very popular right now to talk about the underlying environmental causes of obesity, whether it's too much fast food or not enough parks," Dr. Wetmore said. "While we know that the environment definitely plays a role, these results show that we need to do a better job helping people to be aware of what's going on with their own bodies."

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Many Americans in Denial Over Weight Gain: Study

HealthDay – 2 mins 13 secs ago WEDNESDAY, Aug. 1 (HealthDay News) -- If you've ever stepped on the scales and been shocked at the number you see, you're not alone: A large new study finds that Americans routinely underestimate the amount of extra pounds they pack on.

The finding, from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington, could have real implications for the U.S. obesity epidemic, the researchers said.

"If people aren't in touch with their weight and changes in their weight over time, they might not be motivated to lose weight," the study's lead author, Catherine Wetmore, said in an institute news release. The study was based on national survey data involving 775,000 American adults from 2008 and 2009

Wetmore's team note that many adults thought they had actually lost weight when they hadn't. That's important to note, Wetmore said, because data that underestimate the growing obesity epidemic could have serious public health consequences.

For example, she said, "if we had relied on the reported data about weight change between 2008 and 2009, we would have undercounted approximately 4.4 million obese adults in the U.S."

A nutritionist familiar with the findings said she wasn't surprised.

"I see this in clinic every single day; people think they are a certain weight, and they are totally wrong. There is a disconnect between perception and reality when it comes to weight," said Karen Congro, nutritionist and director of the Wellness for Life Program at the Brooklyn Hospital Center, New York City.

"When it comes to weight, there is a lot of magical thinking going on," she said.

In the surveys used in the study, participants were asked about their weight at the time of the survey, as well as how much they weighed one year ago.

The researchers report that, on average, American adults gained weight in 2008. However, even though the average reported weights rose between the two surveys, Americans polled typically thought they had lost weight in the past year.

Since the prevalence of obesity actually increased slightly between 2008 and 2009 (from 26 to 26.5 percent) and the average weight increased by about 1 pound, the researchers concluded that those surveyed were unclear about the change in their weight over the course of the year.

"We all know on some level that people can be dishonest about their weight," IHME professor Ali Mokdad said in the news release. "But now we know that they can be misreporting annual changes in their weight, to the extent of more than 2 pounds per year among adults over the age of 50, or more than 4 pounds per year among those with diabetes. On average, American adults were off by about a pound, which, over time, can really add up and have a significant health impact."

The researchers noted that women seemed more aware of fluctuations in their weight than men. Younger people were also better at judging fluctuations in their weight compared to older Americans.

The study's authors pointed out that not all participants thought they lost weight. They added that certain groups were more likely to report unintentional weight gain, including people under 40 years of age, smokers, minorities, and people with sedentary lifestyles and/or less-than-ideal diets.

Another nutritionist said Americans underestimate the amount of calories they take in, as well.

"We live in a toxic environment with a plethora of food choices that are high in simple sugars and carbohydrates," said Sharon Zarabi, nutritionist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City."The average person usually underestimates their caloric intake due to the fact that our super size portions have become acceptable. Want to grab a 32-ounce soda at the movie theater with you medium-sized popcorn? Right there you just added almost 900 empty calories."

She added that, "many people are in denial about their weight and as obesity rates rise, larger body frames are becoming more socially acceptable. Citizens are taking less personal responsibility and use the excuse of work hours, stress, and food availability as obstacles to managing their health."

Wetmore agreed that Americans have to get more in tune with what they actually weigh.

"It's very popular right now to talk about the underlying environmental causes of obesity, whether it's too much fast food or not enough parks," said Wetmore, who is a former postgraduate fellow at IHME and now a biostatistician at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C. "While we know that the environment definitely plays a role, these results show that we need to do a better job helping people to be aware of what's going on with their own bodies."

The study was published in the August issue of Preventive Medicine.

More information

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provides statistics on adult obesity.

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Weight Control Can Cut Women's Diabetes Risk, Study Shows

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New drug could help maintain long-term weight loss

ScienceDaily (July 26, 2012) — A new drug could aid in losing weight and keeping it off. The drug, described in the journal Cell Metabolism on July 26, increases sensitivity to the hormone leptin, a natural appetite suppressant found in the body. Although so far the new drug has only been tested on mice, the findings have implications for the development of new treatments for obesity in humans.

See Also:Health & MedicineObesityDiet and Weight LossFitnessPharmacologyDiseases and ConditionsControlled SubstancesReferenceAppetiteAnti-obesity drugDetoxBlood sugar

"By sensitizing the body to naturally occurring leptin, the new drug could not only promote weight loss, but also help maintain it," says senior study author George Kunos of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. "This finding bodes well for the development of a new class of compounds for the treatment of obesity and its metabolic consequences."

Although leptin is an appetite suppressant, leptin supplements alone have not been effective at reducing body weight in humans. It's thought that this is because of desensitization to the hormone; leptin is still there, but our bodies can no longer respond to it. While it is not entirely clear how this desensitization occurs, cannabinoid receptors, which mediate the feelings of hunger produced by marijuana and naturally occurring cannabinoids in the body, are thought to be involved. So blocking these receptors, rather than providing excess leptin, could be more effective at long-term weight loss. Knowing that marijuana use causes the munchies, scientists had developed anti-obesity drugs that target cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1R). One CB1R-binding drug called rimonabant was sold in Europe beginning in 2006, but it was taken off the market a few years later due to serious psychiatric side effects, including anxiety, depression and thoughts of suicide.

To minimize these side effects, Kunos and his team previously developed a CB1R-targeting drug that did not enter the brain as easily as rimonabant. However, the drug was not as effective at reducing weight and improving metabolic health, possibly because of its specific mode of action. In the new study, Kunos tested a new compound, JD5037, that targets CB1R without penetrating the brain. JD5037suppressed the appetite of obese mice, caused weight loss, and even improved metabolic health, in part by resensitizing mice to the appetite-suppressing hormone leptin. Importantly, the mice did not show signs of anxiety or other behavioral side effects.

"Obesity is a growing public health problem, and there is a strong need for new types of medications to treat obesity and its serous metabolic complications, including diabetes and fatty liver disease," says Kunos.

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Simple Measures May Curb Excessive Weight Gain in Pregnancy

HealthDay – 1 hr 23 mins ago FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- Healthy eating and low or moderate levels of exercise during pregnancy can help a woman avoid excessive weight gain and may reduce her infant's risk of being overweight or obese later in life, new research indicates.

The study included 49 women at 16 to 20 weeks of pregnancy who were assigned to either a low- or moderate-intensity walking program. Both groups also followed a meal plan based on guidelines given to expectant mothers with gestational diabetes.

The women were compared with another group of pregnant women who were not assigned to any exercise or diet programs (the "control" group).

All the women in the study were deemed to have a normal, healthy weight before their pregnancy, the researchers noted in the report, which was published in the August issue of the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Compared to the women in the control group, those in the two exercise/healthy-eating groups gained less weight during pregnancy and were less likely to gain excessive weight, the investigators found. Within two months of delivery, 28 percent of women in the moderate-intensity exercise program were within about 4.4 pounds of their pre-pregnancy weight, compared with 7 percent of those in the control group.

Babies born to women in all the groups had similar birth weights, which suggests that preventing excessive weight gain during pregnancy does not influence infant birth weight, the study authors noted in a news release from the American College of Sports Medicine.

The researchers pointed out, however, that pregnancy is an important period in determining a child's health later in life and preventing excessive weight gain in pregnancy may reduce a child's long-term risk for obesity.

"Women benefit greatly from being active throughout their pregnancies and physical activity is strongly recommended by professional organizations," lead author Stephanie-May Ruchat, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, said in the news release. "However, most pregnant women remain inactive and this may be contributing to excessive gestational weight gain, which is associated with an increased risk for future obesity in both the mother and offspring."

"Myths about nutrition in pregnancy can also be misleading. For example, mothers-to-be should be warned that 'eating for two' does not mean they need to eat twice as much, but that they should eat twice as healthy," Ruchat noted. "An increase of only 200 to 500 kilocalories per day in the second and third trimester is recommended, depending on the body-mass index of the women prior to pregnancy. The heavier the woman is, the fewer extra calories per day she will need during pregnancy."

Before beginning any new diet or exercise regimen, experts recommend discussing it with your doctor or other health professional.

More information

The Nemours Foundation offers tips for staying healthy during pregnancy.

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Genes Influence Whether Psych Drugs Lead to Weight Gain

HealthDay – 1 hr 23 mins ago FRIDAY, July 20 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers have discovered two genetic variants associated with substantial, rapid weight gain in people taking antipsychotic medications.

The researchers said the findings could eventually be used by doctors to identify which patients have the variations so they can be treated without the risk of weight gain, which can lead to obesity and health problems including diabetes and heart disease.

"Weight gain occurs in up to 40 percent of patients taking medications called second-generation or atypical antipsychotics, which are used because they're effective in controlling the major symptoms of schizophrenia," Dr. James Kennedy, of the Center for Addiction and Mental Health, in Toronto, said in a center news release.

Kennedy, senior author of a study published online recently in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry, pinpointed a variation near the melanocortin-4 receptor gene, which is known to be linked to obesity.

The study of patients in Europe and the United States being treated with atypical antipsychotics found that those with two copies of the variant gained about three times as much weight as those with one or no copies -- about 13 pounds vs. 4 pounds.

"The weight gain was associated with this genetic variation in all these groups, which included pediatric patients with severe behavior or mood problems, and patients with schizophrenia experiencing a first episode or who did not respond to other antipsychotic treatments," Dr. Daniel Muller, study co-author and Center for Addiction and Mental Health scientist, said in the news release.

"The results from our genetic analysis combined with this diverse set of patients provide compelling evidence for the role of this

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Study Ties Infant Birth Weight to Mothers' Breast Cancer Risk

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US regulators to decide on new weight loss drug

"US regulators decide Tuesday on whether to approve the second new anti-obesity drug in 13 years, Qnexa, which studies have shown may help some people lose up to 10 percent of their body weight. (AFP Photo/Paul Ellis)" title

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Best Weight Loss Tips

Cynthia Ann Leighton   Good information! I had no idea that liquids speed up your metabolism. Nice to know. Good article. Love the chocolate tip best:-)Good information! I had no idea that liquids speed up your metabolism. Nice to know. Good article. Love the chocolate tip best:-)

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Weight gain induced by high-fat diet increases active-period sleep and sleep fragmentation

ScienceDaily (July 10, 2012) — Research presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB) finds that prolonged exposure to a high-fat diet reduces the quality of sleep in rats.

See Also:Health & MedicineSleep Disorder ResearchDiet and Weight LossInsomnia ResearchObesityCholesterolNutritionReferenceCircadian rhythm sleep disorderSleep deprivationSeparation anxiety disorderRapid eye movement

Using radio-telemetry, the authors measured 24-hour sleep and wake states after rats consumed a high fat diet for 8 weeks. Compared to rats that consumed a standard laboratory chow, the rats on the high-fat diet slept more but sleep was fragmented. The increased sleep time of the rats on the high-fat diet occurred mainly during the normally active phase of the day, resembling excessive daytime sleepiness observed in obese humans.

According to lead author, Catherine Kotz, "Studies in humans indicate a relationship between sleep quality and obesity. Our previous work in animals shows a link between good quality sleep, resistance to weight gain and increased sensitivity to orexin, a brain chemical important in stabilizing sleep and wake states. The current studies show that after high-fat diet-induced weight gain in rats, sleep quality is poor and orexin sensitivity is decreased. These findings suggest that poor sleep associated with weight gain due to a high-fat diet may be a consequence of reduced orexin sensitivity."

These studies highlight the impact of weight gain on sleep quality and a potential brain mechanism underlying these diet and weight-gain induced changes in sleep behavior.

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Weight gain after quitting smoking higher than previously thought

ScienceDaily (July 10, 2012) — Giving up smoking is associated with an average weight gain of 4-5 kg after 12 months, most of which occurs within the first three months of quitting, finds a study published on the British Medical Journal website.

See Also:Health & MedicineDiet and Weight LossFitnessObesitySmokingMen's HealthDiseases and ConditionsReferenceLiposuctionGeneral fitness trainingStretch marksOverweight

Although this figure is higher than previously thought, an accompanying editorial argues that the health benefits of quitting far outweigh this modest gain in body weight and should not deter people from quitting.

It is well known that giving up smoking is often followed by an increase in body weight, but estimates vary. Concern about weight gain is also widespread among smokers and it may deter some -- particularly women -- from trying to quit.

So a team of researchers based in France and the UK analysed the results of 62 studies to assess weight change among successful quitters -- with and without the help of nicotine replacement therapy -- after 12 months.

In untreated quitters, the average weight gain was 1.1 kg at one month, 2.3 kg at two months, 2.9 kg at three months, 4.2 kg at six months, and 4.7 kg at 12 months.

This is higher than the typical 2.9 kg often quoted in smoking cessation advice leaflets and more than the 2.3 kg many female smokers report being willing to tolerate, on average, before attempting to quit, say the authors.

However, the changes in body weight varied widely, with around 16% of quitters losing weight and 13% gaining more than 10 kg after 12 months. This, say the authors, indicates that the average value does not reflect the actual weight change of many people who give up smoking.

Estimates of weight gain for people using nicotine replacement therapy were similar, as were estimates from people especially concerned about weight gain.

Previous reports have underestimated the average amount of weight gained when people stop smoking, they conclude. "These data suggest that doctors might usefully give patients a range of expected weight gain."

They suggest that further research is needed to identify the people most at risk of gaining weight and to clarify the best way to prevent continued weight gain after quitting.

In an accompanying editorial, experts from the Catalan Institute of Oncology/University of Barcelona and University of Sydney say that more data is needed to settle this question, and they point out that previous studies have shown that many smokers gain more weight than never smokers for a few years, but then the rate of weight gain falls to that seen in people who have never smoked.

"Although obesity is positively associated with an increased risk of all cause mortality, cohort studies indicate that modest weight gain does not increase the risk of death; smoking does," they conclude.

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Weight loss resulting from a low-fat diet may help eliminate menopausal symptoms

ScienceDaily (July 11, 2012) — Weight loss that occurs in conjunction with a low-fat, high fruit and vegetable diet may help to reduce or eliminate hot flashes and night sweats associated with menopause, according to a Kaiser Permanente Division of Research study that appears in the current issue of Menopause.

See Also:Health & MedicineDiet and Weight LossMenopauseObesityWomen's HealthFitnessNutritionReferenceMenopauseHormone replacement therapyHysterectomySouth Beach diet

This Women's Health Initiative study of 17,473 women found that women on a diet low in fat and high in whole grains, fruit and vegetables, who had menopausal symptoms, who were not taking hormone replacement therapy, and who lost weight (10 or more pounds or 10 or more percent of their baseline body weight), were more likely to reduce or eliminate hot flashes and night sweats after one year, compared to those in a control group who maintained their weight.

Many women experience hot flashes at some point before or after menopause, when their estrogen levels are declining, explain the researchers.

"While the mechanism is not completely understood, hot flashes and night sweats are thought to be caused by a complex interaction that involves fluctuating hormone levels, the hypothalamus region of the brain that regulates body temperature, brain chemicals and receptors, and the body's blood vessels and sweat glands," said Candyce Kroenke, ScD, MPH, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and lead author of the study.

Although previous research has shown that high body weight and weight gain are associated with hot flashes and night sweats associated with menopause, this study is the among the first -- and the largest to date -- to analyze whether weight loss on a diet designed to reduce fat and increase whole grains, fruit and vegetable intake might ameliorate symptoms. It is also among the first to examine the influence of a dietary change on symptoms that include hot flashes and night sweats, said Kroenke.

"Since most women tend to gain weight with age, weight loss or weight gain prevention may offer a viable strategy to help eliminate hot flashes and night sweats associated with menopause," said Bette Caan, DrPH, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Northern California Division of Research and the senior author of the study.

She explained that greater body fat provides insulation that may hinder heat loss, and hot flashes and night sweats provide a way to dissipate that heat.

"Weight loss, especially loss of fat mass but not lean mass, might also help alleviate hot flashes and night sweats," added Kroenke.

The investigators emphasize that further research is needed to better understand the relationship between diet, weight and hot flash/night sweat symptoms. They explain that the beneficial impact of a healthy diet alone (regardless of weight change) may also help ameliorate symptoms.

This study follows a related study published in March in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in which Kaiser Permanente researchers found that preventing weight gain after a breast cancer diagnosis may offer a viable intervention for relief of hot flashes. The researchers noted that intentional weight loss in breast cancer survivors requires further study.

The Women's Health Initiative Dietary Modification trial enrolled a diverse group of 48,835 post-menopausal women between 1993 and 1998 at 40 United States clinical centers to evaluate the effects of a low-fat dietary pattern on heart disease, breast and colorectal cancer, and fracture in post-menopausal women. The dietary intervention was aimed at reducing fat intake and increasing fruit, vegetable and whole grain intake. Although weight loss was not a goal, participants assigned to the intervention group lost on average 4.5 pounds between baseline and year one, compared to the control group.

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Diet, Weight Loss Ease Menopause Symptoms: Study

HealthDay – 1 hr 2 mins ago WEDNESDAY, July 11 (HealthDay News) -- Menopausal women who lose weight eating a low-fat diet rich in fruits and vegetables could reduce or eliminate their hot flashes and night sweats, a large new study suggests.

One reason the researchers looked at weight loss as a way of dealing with menopausal symptoms was because of long-standing research linking hormone-replacement therapy to heart disease and breast cancer.

"We wanted to see if this could be an alternative to hormone therapy," said lead researcher Candyce Kroenke, a research scientist at Kaiser Permanente's Northern California Division of Research in Oakland.

"Indeed, women who lost weight in the context of this healthier diet -- decreasing fat, increasing whole grains, fruits and vegetables -- were significantly more likely to reduce or eliminate symptoms," she added.

Reduced hot flashes and night sweats, the key menopausal symptoms, were seen in both overweight and normal-weight women who lost weight, Kroenke noted.

And the reason for that is fairly simple, she said: Fat tends to retain heat and losing weight helps the body dissipate heat more easily.

The report, which was published July 11 in the online edition of Menopause, involved data on more than 17,000 women who took part in the Women's Health Initiative study.

The women with menopausal symptoms who were on a low-fat diet rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables, who were not taking hormone-replacement therapy and who lost at least 10 pounds in a year were more likely to see night sweats and hot flashes reduced or disappear after a year than did women who maintained their weight (the "control" group), the researchers found.

Dr. Jennifer Wu, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, commented that "this definitely goes along with the idea that good diet and exercise and losing weight contribute to general health."

And, she added, "It's a quick and easy fix for hot flashes and night sweats."

Wu noted that doctors are still reluctant to offer hormone-replacement therapy even though it works. "This is a low-risk fix," she said.

"I think it will work for some patients, and patients may only get a partial relief of their symptoms, but any help is good," Wu pointed out.

"Diet and weight loss is a healthy habit that will hopefully help menopausal symptoms. There is very little downside to doing it," she added.

Another expert agreed.

"Adopting a healthy diet is always a good idea," said Samantha Heller, a nutritionist, exercise physiologist and clinical nutrition coordinator at the Center for Cancer Care at Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn.

"Healthy foods, including vegetables, soy, whole grains, legumes, nuts and fruits, decrease the risk of many chronic diseases and can improve health and well-being considerably. In this case, along with weight loss of 10 pounds or 10 percent of body weight, women who made healthy dietary changes tended to have decreased symptoms of hot flashes and night sweats," Heller noted.

"This study also highlights the positive effect of ongoing nutrition education by registered dietitians," she added. "Women in the intervention group, who were counseled by registered dietitians, were three times more likely to lose weight than women in the control group. A big factor in unsuccessful weight loss attempts is people not knowing how or where to begin. Nutrition counseling takes the guesswork out of creating a healthy lifestyle and helps motivate and empower people to stay on track."

The research was published just days after a coalition of leading medical groups concluded in a joint statement that hormone-replacement therapy can be useful and safe for many women suffering from the symptoms of menopause.

The coalition includes 15 medical groups, including the North American Menopause Society, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, the Endocrine Society and the American Academy of Family Physicians.

More information

For more information on menopause, visit the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

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Successful Weight Loss – Do You Know The Big Secret?

mile markers’ on your journey to lose weight. These mile markers, or goals, will help you track where you are and how far you have to go to reach the final destination, a slimmer, healthier you.

Ask yourself these two questions:

1. How much weight do you want to lose?

2. What is your target date to have that goal reached?

Write it down on a sheet of paper. Writing down your goals is a very good way to remind yourself of what they are and where you are heading. You might even think of putting them on

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Above-normal weight alone does not necessarily increase short-term risk of death, U.S. data suggest

ScienceDaily (July 6, 2012) — An evaluation of national data by UC Davis researchers has found that extra weight is not necessarily linked with a higher risk of death.

See Also:Health & MedicineObesityDiet and Weight LossFitnessDiseases and ConditionsHypertensionChronic IllnessLiving WellReferenceOverweightDiabetes mellitus type 2Body mass indexHypertension

When compared to those with normal weight, people who were overweight or obese had no increased risk of death during a follow-up period of six years. People who were severely obese did have a higher risk, but only if they also had diabetes or hypertension.

The findings, which appear in the July-August issue of The Journal of American Board of Family Medicine, call into question previous studies -- using data collected when obesity was less common -- linking higher short-term mortality with any amount of extra weight.

"There is currently a widespread belief that any degree of overweight or obesity increases the risk of death, however our findings suggest this may not be the case," said Anthony Jerant, professor of family and community medicine and lead author of the study. "In the six-year timeframe of our evaluation, we found that only severe obesity was associated with an increased risk of death, due to co-occurring diabetes and hypertension."

Based on the study, Jerant recommends that doctors' conversations with patients who are overweight or obese, but not severely obese, focus on the known negative effects of these conditions on mental and physical functioning, rather than on an increased short-term risk of death.

By contrast, Jerant added that it is important for doctors to talk with severely obese patients who also have diabetes or hypertension about their increased short-term mortality risk and treatment, including weight loss.

"Our results do not mean that being overweight or obese is not a threat to individual or public health," said Jerant. "These conditions can have a significant impact on quality of life, and for this reason alone weight loss may be advisable."

In conducting the study, Jerant used nationwide data from 2000 to 2005 of nearly 51,000 adults aged 18 to 90 years who participated in the Medical Expenditure Panel Surveys on health-care utilization and costs. The surveys include information on health conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.

Body mass index (BMI), or weight adjusted for height, was calculated for each respondent. The study categorized people as underweight (BMI < 20), normal weight (BMI 20 to < 25), overweight (BMI 25 to < 30), obese (BMI 30 to 35) or severely obese (BMI > 35).

Mortality was assessed using the National Death Index. Of the 50,994 people included in the UC Davis analysis, just over 3 percent (1,683) died during the six years of follow-up.

The investigators found that severely obese people were 1.26 times more likely to die during follow-up than people in the normal weight group. However, if people with diabetes or hypertension were eliminated from the data, those who were overweight, obese or even severely obese had similar or even lower death rates than people of normal weight. Consistent with a number of prior studies, underweight people were nearly twice as likely to die than people with normal weight, regardless of whether diabetes or hypertension was present.

The prevalence of overweight and obesity has increased dramatically in recent decades. An estimated one-third of all U.S. adults over age 20 are obese and another one-third are overweight. In addition to diabetes and hypertension, health problems associated with these conditions include heart disease, osteoarthritis and sleep apnea.

The relationship between weight and mortality is a controversial topic in public health. Although studies based on data collected 30 years ago showed that mortality risk rose as weight increased, analyses of more recently collected data, including the current one, call this assumption into question.

"Our findings indicate that the risk of having an above-normal BMI may be lower than in the past," said Jerant. "While this study cannot explain the reasons, it is possible that as overweight and obesity have become more common, physicians have become more aware of associated health issues like high blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar, and are more aggressive about early detection and treatment of these conditions."

Jerant said that the six-year period of his investigation limits the ability to make assumptions about the link between unhealthy weight and the risk of death over a longer timeframe.

"We hope our findings will trigger studies that re-examine the relationship of being overweight or obese with long-term mortality," said Jerant.

The study co-author was Peter Franks, professor in the UC Davis Department of Family and Community Medicine. Franks and Jerant used public access data in conducting the study, which involved no external funding.

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