Perhaps your weakness is pistachio ice cream, brownies with nuts, or pancakes covered with syrup. Many of us crave sweets—sometimes throughout the day. Some of us may even be addicted to sugar. The problem is, large helpings of sugary foods can lead to substantial weight gain. But eating sugar-free does not necessarily guarantee weight loss.

A food may be sugar-free and still contain a great amount of calories and carbohydrates. You may be thinking that you can lose weight simply by using sugar substitutes. However, this is a naïve way of thinking, since some sugar substitutes increase your intake of both calories and carbs. For instance, the sugar substitute fructose adds calories and carbs to your daily diet. These types of sugar substitutes are often called sugar alcohols or polyols. (more…)

If you love your sugary sodas and oh-so-sweet chocolate cream pies, you know how difficult it is to restrict the amount of sugar in your diet. However, eliminating sugar can be critical to effective weight loss. That, at least, is the theory behind the diet known as Sugar Busters. While some experts consider this diet to be instrumental in helping people shed unwanted pounds, critics contend that it is just another dietary fad.

There are a number of misconceptions about Sugar Busters. It does not consider carbohydrates to be the enemy, and it is not oozing with fat. The Sugar Busters formula is 40/30/30, or 40 percent carbs, 30 percent protein and 30 percent fat. That means that the diet does not ban carbs; it simply urges people to consume nutritious carbs. While dieters may consume a great deal of protein, it is not considered to be strictly a high-protein diet. (more…)

For many of us, fast food is the only food at lunchtime. We’re in a tremendous hurry to get back to our workday, so we choose food based on convenience rather than nutritional value. In recent years, a number of fast food outlets have attempted to add more health-conscious selections to their menu; for the most part, these consist of salads and fruit cups. While they may have fewer calories than standard fast food, they may not be as tasty.

Yet, in many cities, there is an alternative to the regular burger-and-salad fare: Subway, a restaurant which specializes in six inch and foot-long submarine sandwiches. At first glance, you wouldn’t think of Subway as being a dieter’s delight—there is all that carbohydrate-rich bread and fat-filled cheeses. However, to Jared Fogle, Subway is like diet Nirvana. That’s because Jared lost 245 pounds through what he calls the Subway diet. His routine consisted of a six-inch turkey sub, sans mayonnaise and cheese, potato chips, and a diet drink for lunch. Dinner consisted of a foot-long veggie sub, also without condiments, and more diet cola. As a result of his experience, Jared has become a spokesman for Subway. (more…)

Recently, a number of high-profile celebrities, from TV weatherman Al Roker to American Idol’s Randy Jackson, have made headlines as a result of undergoing weight loss surgery. Supporters of such surgery say that it offers hope for people who seem unable to lose weight any other way. They maintain that it is difficult to lose 50 or more pounds without surgical intervention. Critics, however, maintain that surgery—especially stomach surgery—is risky business and should be approached with the utmost caution. They worry that surgery is a quick fix which does not help to resolve an individual’s problem dealing with food.

You might wonder under what conditions surgery would be recommended. Generally speaking, surgery is only an option for those who have suffered from obesity for a protracted period of time (meaning years), have a body mass index or BMI of more than 40, and whose lives could be cut short because of their excessive weight gain. Also, stomach stapling surgery is usually limited to those who have already reached adulthood. (more…)