All Your cola questions answered.

Plus, enter to win a Sodastream (and make your own yummy carbonated drinks with natural ingredients) by leaving a comment below: What’s your healthy drink of choice?

Two weeks ago, we featured Six Reasons to Never Drink Another Diet Soda, in which Vincent Pedre, MD, gave us a pretty compelling argument for ditching Diet Coke. You had quite a bit to say in the comments! Many of you have already given up diet soda, and many more are committed to giving it up now. A few of you agreed with member 1955nurse when she said “OMG – yet one MORE thing that’s going to kill me! It can all be very confusing, and anxiety-producing. It gets to the point where you don’t know WHO or WHAT to believe anymore….”

We hear you, so we combed the comments and took your top questions back to Dr. Pedre. His answers are below. We also added a tip from a reader about her fave soda substitute: carbonated water (with a squeeze of lemon) made in her Sodastream. Clever! Have your own healthy water alternative to share? Share it in the comments below and you’re entered to win your own SodaStream Fountain Jet.

—————————————————————————————————

Question from FOF Cindy:
I’m trying to kick a 64-oz-a-day diet soda habit. I tried 1/2 seltzer water 1/2 diet coke. Not so great. Maybe I should start 25/75 then build up?

Dr. Pedre:
To minimize withdrawal symptoms, reduce your intake by 8 ounces every 3-4 days (about ¾ of a typical can of soda). Substitute the volume with more water or sparkling water with lime. Vitamin C can help reduce cravings and withdrawal symptoms–try 1000mg, 3 times a day. You could be fully weaned in one month. Of course, you can always go cold-turkey, and possibly suffer from headaches, fatigue and general malaise for up to 1 week. Note: When taking high doses of Vitamin C, consult with a health practitioner.

—————————————————————————————————

Question from FOF Diana S:
What about natural soda, such as “Zevia,” sweetened with stevia?

Dr. Pedre:
Stevia is a naturally-derived artificial sweetener that is sweeter than sugar. Like aspartame, It is still confusing your body into thinking it is getting something sweet, and by doing so can alter insulin secretion, spiking your appetite for carbs later in the day. If you want something sweet, treat yourself to some dark chocolate or real sugar, and stay away from the “fake” foods. That said, there is some gray area: in studies with artificially-induced diabetes in rats, stevia extract seemed to have an anti-diabetic effect, helping to lower blood glucose. What happens in an animal model doesn’t necessarily translate into humans, but it is something we need to know. Of the artificial sweeteners, it is probably the lesser of the “evils.”

—————————————————————————————————

Question from FOF Paula:
What about drinks sweetened with agave nectar?

Dr. Pedre:
We have to be careful with agave. Agave nectar is basically refined fructose, and can be just as concentrated as high-fructose corn syrup. Fructose is a sugar derived from fruit (as its name implies). Although agave does not spike insulin levels, in excess it can lead to insulin resistance, weight gain around the middle, and eventually metabolic syndrome with all its disease risks. If you must have agave, chose minimally processed, organic, cold-pressed agave nectar, which is mostly inulin, a dietary fiber and favorable “sugar” that feeds the good bacteria in our guts. And only have it once in a while, not every day.

—————————————————————————————————

Comment from FOF VJ:
A bottle of water costs 10,000 times more than tap water. Seventeen million barrels of oil, enough to run one million vehicles for a full year, are used each year to just make water bottles. And 22% of bottled water contains contaminants at higher than healthy levels. What’s the best alternative to bottled water?

Dr. Pedre:
This is why I got rid of the Poland Spring water cooler at my office, and replaced it with a Nikken Aqua Pour Deluxe gravity water filtration system, which filters regular tap water. We simply fill it up on the top, and the water that comes out the bottom is clean, pH-balanced, and free of drug metabolites or any heavy metals that may be leaching through old pipes. It was my solution for a more sustainably-minded medical office. Think about how much gas/oil would be saved if offices didn’t spend money on importing their water in water bottles!

—————————————————————————————————

Question from FOF MattH:
I drink diet soda for the caffeine since I don’t drink coffee. Are there are types of tea with higher levels of caffeine? I know green tea is very low.

Dr. Pedre:
A typical 16 oz. coffee has anywhere between 100 and 150mg of caffeine. A large green tea with two tea bags steeped for an extended time (15 minutes), will have 48 – 80 mg. If you can wean yourself down from the coffee, you can still gain sustainable energy from green tea without the cortisol/insulin effects of regular coffee that leave you feeling tired several hours after your cup. Green tea leaves have other phytochemicals, such as l-theanine, which help counter the caffeine effect, giving you a more even energy throughout the day.

—————————————————————————————————

Question from FOF jmb0923:
I am desperately trying to kick my diet soda habit. What are your thoughts on flavored waters like Propel?

Dr. Pedre:
Vitamin-enhanced waters are a great marketing ploy.  Add flavor “naturally”– artificial, that is–and why is it still called water? Here are the Ingredients in Propel: Water, Citric Acid, Sodium Hexametaphosphate, Flavor(s) Natural, Potassium Sorbate, Ascorbic Acid, Sucralose,Sodium Citrate, Potassium Citrate, Acesulfame Potassium, Niacinamide (Vitamin aB), Calcium Disodium EDTA,Vitamin E Acetate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin B6 Pyridoxine Hydrochloride

Note that Sucralose (Splenda) is in the ingredients. I have recently diagnosed several patients with moderate to severe reactions to Sucralose. It is not a benign ingredient.

If you want flavored water, add a few lime or lemon wedges or cucumber slices to a pitcher of water for a refreshing spa-like treat. Or add strawberries, orange or mandarin wedges for more flavor. Keep it really natural, and avoid the artificial ingredients above.  Get your vitamins from foods or a whole-foods based multivitamin supplement.

—————————————————————————————————

Question from FOF Debi:
I’ve been drinking decaf coffee for 13 years–is there a study on that too?

Dr. Pedre:
One small study found that decaf coffee, but not caffeinated coffee, may promote heart disease risk factors by raising a certain type of cholesterol in the blood.  So, if you already have high cholesterol, and drink several cups of decaffeinated coffee per day, you might want to think about cutting down.

If you are in good health and exercise regularly, you can burn off any excess cholesterol through exercise, so decaf is probably not harmful in the same way.

Remember, decaf coffee still has some caffeine, so if you’re looking to avoid caffeine, consider an herbal tea instead.  The process of decaffeination sometimes uses chemicals — the least harmful will say “indirect decaffeination” or “naturally decaffeinated.”  If the coffee beans were decaffeinated using the solvent methylene chloride, residual levels of this suspected human carcinogen may stay on the beans and you should consider avoiding this type of decaf.

—————————————————————————————————

Tip: FOF VJ suggests using an at home water-carbonation system (she uses Sodastream) to add a little fizz to your water–then flavor it with natural ingredients such as lemon, lime, strawberry–you get the idea. Enter to win your own SodaStream by answering this question in the comments below:  What’s your healthy drink of choice–besides plain water?

One woman will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes April 4, 2012 at midnight E.S.T.

Jill Escher struggled with what she calls “perma-chub” most of her adult life…that is, until she gave up sugar and finally found sweet success in losing weight.

[Editor’s note: The essay below, by Jill Escher, is part of a series of personal blogs from our readers. Have your own story to tell? Email your idea to geri@faboverfifty.com.]

—————————————————————————————————

It’s hard to believe I spent more than forty years completely oblivious to my raging and debilitating drug addiction. No, not cocaine or heroin, but another potent white crystalline extract…sugar.

Yes, sugar. For four decades, that thing we think of as a fairly benign indulgence had me in its grip. I considered my relentless cravings an ordinary part of human existence, and my lumpish physique just under the bell curve of normal.

It should have been easy to spot. I was exhausted and fuzzy-headed, with bags under my eyes that no makeup could cover. Every day I faced intense and undeniable urges for sweets in order to feed my fix. I’d wake up craving chocolate and would reach for the candy jar around 3 p.m. After dinner I’d succumb to “just a little” ice cream. After each fix, my heart would race, my body would submit to subtle shakes, then my energy would plummet, starting the cycle over bringing another craving for sweets. I had insomnia, numbness in my hands, blotchy skin, receding gums, and in my adult years, I had packed 30 pounds onto my five-foot frame.

When I was at my heaviest weight, 156 pounds, I was stunned to run into an old friend who had lost 70 pounds. Shrugging her (now) well-defined shoulders, she said, “It was easy–the key was giving up sugar and flour.”

Inspired by my friend’s transformation, I attended a local Overeaters Anonymous meeting. The guest speaker discussed his own 150-pound weight loss and uttered the exact words I needed to hear: “I didn’t diet. Instead, I found recovery from my disease.”

After a lifetime feeling stuck in what I called “Club Perma-Chub,” my extra weight melted off within a few months of saying, “Hi, my name is Jill, and I’m a sugar addict.” In all, I lost 34 pounds dropping from a size 12 to a size 6. I felt great, with steady energy and glowing skin.

And the secret is–it wasn’t even hard work! Okay, okay, like any drug addict, I did endure a temporary period of withdrawal with cravings, exhaustion, and distractedness. But, after about three days, my addiction’s head-clouding screams softened into faint whispers. On Halloween, three weeks after I gave up sugar, I was not the least bit tempted to eat my kids’ candy bars–imagine my surprise!

Once I accepted that I had become powerless to the white stuff, I began living a life of abstinence from sugar and its close cousin, starch. Instead, I began eating a nutrient-dense diet: brussels sprouts and eggs for breakfast, chopped salad with chicken for lunch, tangerines and nuts for a snack and grass-fed beef with sauteed kale for dinner. I ate fruit in moderation and used sugar substitutes for a few weeks as my “methadone” to nurse myself through cravings. Now, on occasion, I’ll add a pinch of Stevia (natural sweetener) to lemon water or honey in plain yogurt.

The moment we define ourselves as sugar addicts, we no longer think “everything in moderation,” but instead, “that’s poison to my body.” Accepting the reality enables us to put a mental force field around those foods so dangerous to our delicate, over-fifty metabolisms. Who says there’s no magic bullet for weight loss?

—————————————————————————————————

..
Jill Escher is the author of Farewell, Club Perma-Chub: A Sugar Addict’s Guide to Easy Weight Loss, and founder of www.EndSugarAddiction.com.  A businesswoman, autism philanthropist, and former lawyer, she lives with her husband and three children in Silicon Valley.  Book proceeds are donated to autism charities.

FOFs are seeking treatment for anorexia in increasing numbers. Here, one FOF shares her story to help us figure out… why?

“Are you here to check in your daughter?” the receptionist asked Diane Butrym, 51, and her husband when they arrived at the Renfrew Center for Eating Disorder treatment.

“No, I’m here to check in my wife,” said Diane’s husband.

Clinicians across the country are reporting a rise in the number of FOFs seeking treatment for eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia, according to the February 2012 Harvard Health Watch. “There’s probably a several fold increase in the last decade,” said Dr. David Herzog, director of the Harvard Eating Disorders Program at Mass General Hospital.

Boomers are the first generation to face their 50s in an age when eating disorders have become widely reported and treated in this country. According to Herzog and other experts, a mid-life crises, or the fight against mid-life weight gain can trigger eating disorders. “They may be married or suffered a divorce. They may be have had a recent loss of a parent.”

In fact, there’s no easy explanation for why women in their 50s, 60s and 70s are falling prey to this tricky disease. But our research turned up numerous explanations—everything from menopause and empty-nest syndrome to job loss and illness. So we sat down with FOF Diane, who has been battling anorexia and bulimia for almost 10 years, after first being diagnosed at age 42. Diane has been married to her husband for 27 years and has two children–both in college. Her story is heart-wrenching, and also provides incredible insight into this difficult disease and why FOFs might be at risk.

Read Diane’s story and tell us, have you ever suffered from “disordered eating?” Or do you have a FOfriend you think might have this problem?

How did this start? Had you suffered from eating disorders at a younger age as well?

It started after a traumatic event in my life—I had no previous experience with eating disorders. I was leaving work one day and was hit by a car while walking across the street. I broke my ankle in a few places and ultimately lost about 30 percent of the function of my leg.

That sounds awful.

The accident itself was really traumatic, but the hardest part was that the driver took no responsibility. She said it was my fault. I ended up in court, having to prove that I didn’t ‘walk into her car.’ I was out of work for about seven months for surgery and rehabilitation and also fighting for worker’s comp. At the time, my son was 8 and my daughter was 12. It was very traumatic for them and for my husband, too.

How did this trigger an eating disorder?

I was home and off of work after several surgeries on my leg. I could only move from the bed to the living room–no housework or exercise. Previously, I had been very active. I ran in the Susan G. Komen race; I was an assistant coach for my son’s little league; I had been working full time for 26 years, and then… nothing.

I started thinking, I’m not expending many calories, so I really shouldn’t be eating so much. That was my mindset: calories in = calories out. I started restricting what I ate.

Had you dieted before then?

No. I was always an athletic person. I enjoyed exercising and bike riding and walking—but I was never thinking about burning calories.

When did things get serious?

I remember going to a Christmas party—December 15, 2002—and I had eaten more than I wanted to. I came home and purged for the first time. It gave me a rush. All that frustration of the lawsuit and workers comp and work. It was such a relief, I remember telling myself, I’m only going to do this until the first of the year. But by then, I was addicted. Purging became my new way of dealing with stress and anger.

What did you weigh at your thinnest?

Honestly, I don’t like to talk about numbers, because I feel like there’s a stigma to the numbers. If they don’t sound low enough you can think, I’m not that sick. It’s not about the numbers; it’s more your psychological reasonings for doing the things that you’re doing.

Did your family know what was going on?

Not in the beginning, but my daughter came home from school one day and caught me purging in the bathroom. She was upset, naturally, and opened her health book and pointed to eating disorders. She told me that it was really dangerous. She was taking the parental role. Over the years, that is how the dynamics in my family continued to shift… to where my daughter and my husband were making decisions about me and my problems. And I was really out of it.

Has this continued to be a problem for your family?

Yes. In the past, I’ve really put my eating disorder before my family. It’s like having an affair or a drug addiction. There were times when I went out on a binging spree, and my husband and daughter would be calling me, and I wouldn’t answer the phone, and they didn’t know where I was. I wanted to escape. I didn’t want the stress; I didn’t want people bothering me. I wanted to be numb.

I know they are angry and frustrated. If the roles were reversed, I would be totally destroyed.

How has it affected your career?

I worked in a microbiology lab in a hospital for 26 years, and they let me go after a year of this. My job was a huge part of my life—a lot of my self-esteem was tied into that. They were patient for a while, but once I started leaving work to get treatment, they replaced me. I hadn’t ever explored what I wanted to do in life. That was very anxiety provoking, and I’m still dealing with that. My plan right now is to get my master’s in public health.

You’ve been battling this for 10 years, and you’ve been in treatment programs 6 times. Why do you think it’s been such a struggle to get well?

A few reasons. First, this disease is triggered by stressors, and in the last 10 years, those stressors have just kept coming for me… losing my job, financial struggles, dealing with insurance, family issues. When I get out of treatment, I think, how am I going to deal with all this stuff that’s going on without my eating disorder? It’s like being in an abusive relationship.

What I’ve also had to face is that being sick—having this problem—has gotten me out of a lot of responsibility. I had always been someone who was doing stuff for others–at work, with my family and my children. I always put myself last. As long was sick, I didn’t have to meet expectations that my family—my parents, siblings—were putting on me to do things for them. I’ve realized that’s a big part of it, and I need to set boundaries with people. Right now the guilt is so strong, I’d rather just disappear.

What would you tell another FOF who is secretly struggling with some of these eating issues?

Get help right away. The earlier you get help, the better your chances for recovery. Also, I understand that the eating disorder is helping you disassociate from the bad feelings. It’s like an addiction to alcohol or drugs. But the problem is, you disassociate from the good feelings, too, so you never really feel that true happiness or enjoyment. I know people who have recovered and they are enjoying their lives. They tell me that it’s worth it to feel the good and the bad. I believe them… I have hope.

For more information about eating disorders, or to find help, visit the National Eating Disorders Association website.

Read about this French “secret,” and then comment below to enter to win it! 6 FOFs will win.

Americans are obsessed with the way French women eat. They appear to subsist on butter, cheese, pastries, red meat–not to mention cigarettes and red wine–yet they manage to stay trim and youthful from their berets to their Louboutins. Plus, they have a lower incidence of heart disease and diabetes than American women.

Books such as French Women Don’t Get Fat credit France’s smaller portions, active lifestyle and emphasis on fresh, organic food. These certainly play a role.  But a recent study at Harvard suggests that one finicky little chemical compound–resveratrol–may also deserve credit.

“Resveratrol is found on the skin and vines of red-wine grapes,” says Dr. Heather Hausenblas, PhD., an exercise and diet expert at the University of Florida, and the science advisor to ResVitale, a company that makes resveratrol supplements. “It’s a potent antioxidant that protects the plants against extreme weather, bugs and other environmental stresses.”

In 2006, investigators at Harvard Medical School and the National Institute of Aging found that mice treated with resveratrol lived longer, more active, healthier lives–despite being fed a high-fat, high-calorie diet. They tested three groups of mice: One was fed a standard diet (SD), one was fed a high-calorie, high-fat diet (HC) and one was fed a high-calorie, high-fat diet with resveratrol (HCR). “After six months, resveratrol essentially prevented most of the negative side effects of the high calorie diet in mice,” said Rafael de Cabo, Ph.D., the study’s co-senior investigator. It protected the mice against heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses typically associated with a diet high in red meat, cheese and pastries.

But, don’t run for that bottle of merlot just yet. According to Dr. Hausenblas, the average bottle of red wine has 2-4 milligrams of resveratrol–but studies typically use doses of 250-1000mg. Also, not all wine is equally potent. “We source our resveratrol from organic grapes grown by traditional French methods,” Hausenblas explains. “If the grapes are chemically treated with pesticides and herbicides–as they are in most vineyards–they don’t produce as much resveratrol, because they don’t need to protect themselves.” Hausenblas recommends taking a supplement with 250-500mg of organic resveratrol a day, although studies have shown is that up to 1000 mg a day is “well tolerated in humans.”

In December, we sent a resveratrol supplement to a group of FOF beauty testers to try out for one month.  See their results for yourself, here.

Then, comment below to be one of 6 FOF women who will receive a month’s supply of ResVitale’s Resveratrol 250mg supplements to try for yourself.

(See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes February 29, 2012 at midnight E.S.T.

—————————————————————————————————

FOFs Lynne Gerhards and Lori Mulligan are giving away three bottles (approx. 180 servings) of Pure Inventions, their flavored water enhancer. Enter to win by answering in the comments below: Next to water, what do you drink most?

Anyone who has been on a diet–whether to lose weight or get healthy–knows what the beverage options are: water, water and more water. So healthy! So boring! That’s why FOFs Lynne Gerhards and Lori Mulligan, two nutritionists and friends, created Pure Inventions liquid water enhancer, a calorie-free, chemical-free, sodium-free, nutritious water enhancer. The drops–which are portable and can be added to any flat or carbonated water–range in flavor from vanilla creme and pineapple coconut to peach and chocolate cocoa. And they actually taste delicious…we tried them. “If you replace one 20-ounce sugary beverage a day, you’ll cut 9,000 calories of sugar per month,” says Lynne. We’ll drink to that! Here we chat with Lori and Lynne about Pure Inventions and staying healthy after fifty.

What did you two do before you created Pure Inventions?
Lynne: Lori was raising a family and I was running a country club. We got our certified clinical nutrition degrees and opened up a practice in September 2001.

Lori: We wanted to create something that would get our clients to drink more water.
We worked with scientists–giving them the concept that we wanted–and they figured out how to fit it all in that little bottle. In addition to flavor, the drops also provide antioxidants, fruit extracts, green tea extracts and other nutritional benefits.

Do Pure Inventions extracts contain sweetener?
Lori: Yes. Many of our clients wanted to go off diet soda, but were still looking for something sweet tasting. We use extract from the Lo-han fruit. It’s nicknamed the ‘longevity fruit,’ because it grows in countries that have an unusually high number of residents who live past 100. It’s also low glycemic, has zero calories and is one hundred times sweeter then sugar. It’s used in Chinese medicine for digestion, respiratory problems and regulating blood sugar. The other sweetener we use is Stevia. It’s from the Stevia plant, has no chemicals, and there’s no processing. It’s also great for digestion and blood sugar.

Why is Pure Inventions important for FOFs?
Lori: With menopause, your metabolism slows down, and you gain weight. You can age quicker if you’re not eating well and exercising. This can at least solve the drink issue–to get you off soda, diet soda and sugary drinks.

Do you have a favorite flavor?
Lori and Lynne: The vanilla creme. When you add it to sparkling water, it tastes like cream soda! We also like using our fruit extracts over plain yogurt or oatmeal or as a cocktail mixer.

—————————————————————————————————

Enter to win three bottles of Pure Inventions (approx. 180 servings), flavored liquid water enhancerby answering in the comments below: Next to water, what do you drink most?

 

One FOF will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes February 23, 2012 at midnight E.S.T.

Can’t wait to find out if you won? FOFs receive 35% off all Pure Inventions products when you enter code PUREFAB50 at checkout. Valid from February 16, 2012 to February 23, 2012.

This contest has ended. Thanks for entering.

[Read this article and then comment below to be entered to win one of 3 copies of FOF Marla Heller’s best-selling book, The Dash Diet Action Plan (Grand Central Publishing, 2011)]

This fall, US News and World Report released its annual “Best Diets” issue, ranking the top 25 consumer diets for overall health and weight loss–as rated by an independent panel of health experts. It included the usual suspects: Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, The Zone…even Slim Fast made the cut. The number one ranked diet was The Dash Diet . . .

. . . Wait. What?!

.
Yeah, we’d never heard of it either. What is this US-News-beloved formula, and why isn’t it advertised everywhere like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig?

For answers, we turned to FOF Marla Heller, 62, a registered dietitian and the author of The Dash Diet Action Plan, the New York Times best-seller about the diet.

Marla explained the diet originated from a government funded study in the 1990s: “The original study, titled Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), was intended to take the best components of a vegetarian diet–a diet known to lower blood pressure–and make it doable for most meat-eating Americans,” says Marla. To do this, researchers compared three diets: (1) the typical American diet, (2) the typical American diet with extra fruits and vegetables, and (3) the typical American diet with extra fruits and vegetables and extra low-fat dairy.

They found that the third option was the winner–it lowered blood pressure in as little as 14 days. Subsequent studies showed that the diet also supported weight loss as well as a reduced incidence of breast cancer, diabetes, colorectal cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

“US News and World Report said it’s the best diet for a lot of reasons,” says Marla. “But I think the key is that the goal isn’t just weight loss; it’s health. When you get to your goal weight, you’re going to be healthier.” In fact, a look at the US News article confirms that the diet received average scores when it came to weight loss and long-term weight loss, but outstanding scores when it came to nutrition, safety and heart health.

What are the rules?
“The key to DASH is getting more fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy,” says Marla. Sounds simple enough, but consider that the average American gets just three servings of fruits and vegetables each day, while the DASH diet calls for 4-5 servings of fruit and 4-5 servings of vegetables daily. “The focus of my book is meal plans that show you how to work multiple fruits and vegetables into every meal,” says Marla. “They’re bulky; they fill you up. Once you pair those with the recommended portions of lean proteins (5-7oz. a day), low fat dairy (3-5 servings a day), beans, nuts and seeds, you really don’t have room for much else.”

Marla insists that the focus is on adding foods, not eliminating. “Have a turkey sandwich,” she says. “But load it with as many vegetables as possible–cucumbers, tomatoes, sprouts, peppers….” And in fact, a typical day’s DASH menu, at 2,000, calories looks like a decadent feast.

—————————————————————————————————

A typical day on the Dash Diet:

[portfolio_slideshow]

—————————————————————————————————

The tricky part is that this “typical day” is designed to lower your blood pressure and improve your overall health–not necessarily to help you lose weight. If your goal is weight loss, and you’re an FOF woman, you’ll likely need to opt for a more restricted calorie intake of 1200-1600 calories a day. Marla outlines DASH Diet meal plans at these calorie counts as well, and she insists that the premise remains the same: “We help you figure out what your calorie level should be and how many servings of the key foods you need to get into your day. By the time you’ve gotten all those servings in, you’ve used up your calories, and you’re full. You don’t have time or desire for the junk food.”

So, will I lose weight?
“Yes,” insists Christine Ambrose, 44, who has lost 90 pounds since starting the diet in 2010. At 5’4”, Christine was about 233 pounds when she started the diet at the suggestion of her physician. “My blood pressure was very high. He offered me two options–weight loss surgery or DASH.” Christine started out on a non-restrictive calorie plan and saw her blood pressure go down significantly, but it wasn’t until she cut down to 1500 calories/day that she began to see the weight drop off. She currently weighs 143. “It gave me structure,” Christine explains. “I knew how much I could eat–I focused on eating lots of fruits and vegetables and never going over my sodium limits.” [Note from Marla: “Sodium restriction is not a part of the standard DASH diet, but it is recommended by many doctors who are treating patients with high blood pressure.”] The best part, says Christine, is the improved health. “My skin and hair is better. I look younger. My resting heart rate is 45! That’s a good number for an athlete–a marathon runner!”

Why have so few people heard of it?
“It’s less sexy than a lot of diets out there,” Marla admits. There’s no clever marketing hook for DASH (No carbs! No wheat! Eat cookies and lose weight!) since it’s basically about eating a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in saturated fats. In fact, there’s no real marketing at all. Once the DASH research was published in the late 90s, the NIH released some educational materials exclusively to physicians and dietitians, “but my patients couldn’t understand any of the information,” Marla explains. “My academic advisor was on the committee that studied the diet, so I understood how great it was. I thought, I have to find a way to explain this so people can actually use it.”

In 2000, Marla began work on her own book as a way to explain the diet to her private clients. She self-published in 2005, but it wasn’t until this past summer that she was approached by an agent and publisher interested in republishing the book. Since then, the diet appeared as number one in US News and Marla’s book hit the New York Times bestseller list.

Who would do best on this diet?

According to Marla, the DASH Diet “is  for everyone. It doesn’t restrict any one type of food, and we accommodate for sensitivities to dairy and gluten.” Still, when we searched for women over fifty who had tried and lost weight on the diet, we couldn’t find anyone–despite posting on the DASH Diet Facebook page.

So what do you think…Would you try this diet?  Have you tried it?  Tell us below and you’re automatically entered to win a copy of Marla’s best-selling book, The Dash Diet Action Plan. 3 women will win!

Three FOFs will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes February 16, 2012 at midnight E.S.T.

The internet is buzzing about a controversial weight-loss plan called The hCG Diet. Is this hormone-based protocol a wonder formula, or a dangerous health risk? FOF investigates.

Ask a few different medical professionals about the hCG diet and you’ll get… well, a few different answers. We know, because we asked, and that’s exactly what happened. We know that’s not what you want to hear–after all, your FOFriend just lost, like, a gazillion pounds in 3 weeks and looks great . . . But wait, wasn’t there something you heard about the FDA banning hCG? And why do all those websites that sell hCG drops look so scammy?

We spoke to two doctors who specialize in weight loss–Dr. Caroline Cederquist, MD, who is against the use of hCG for weight loss entirely, and Dr. Benjamin Gonzalez, MD, who uses hCG in his practice and swears by it. We also spoke to two FOFs about their own experiences with hCG. The good news is: there are a few universal truths about hCG–even if opinions differ. Before you buy those drops or get those shots, listen up!

What the heck is hCG anyway?
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) is a protein hormone that female bodies produce in high amounts during pregnancy allowing the fetus to survive. The idea of using hCG in combination with a 500-calorie-a-day diet for weight loss was introduced in a medical journal called The Lancet in the 1954 by Dr. Albert T.W. Simeons. The dieter injects or ingests hCG three times a day and eats a strict 500 to 550 calorie diet. “The idea is that hCG acts as an appetite suppressant and allows the body to tap into and utilize the stored fat as a source of energy and nutrition,” writes Dr. Gonzalez in his own position paper on hCG. Interest in the protocol surged in the 50s after Dr. Simeons’ article was published. In the 1970s, Dr. Simeons died and “the interest in the protocol kind of died off too,” according to Dr. Gonzalez. “However, recently there’s been a resurgence.”

Over-the-counter hCG is illegal.
An abundance of products marketed as hCG are sold over the counter including drops, pellets and shots. The manufacturers of these products claim that when combined with an extremely restrictive, low-calorie diet hCG can “reset your metabolism” or shave off “20-30 pounds in 30-40 days.” In December 2011, the FDA issued a warning to consumers stating “there is no substantial evidence hCG increases weight loss beyond that resulting from the recommended caloric restriction” and that the products “are potentially dangerous even if taken as directed.” Both the FTC and FDA issued a letter to 7 manufacturers of over-the-counter hCG warning the companies that “they are violating federal law by selling drugs that have not been approved, and by making unsupported claims for the substances,” according to a press release issued by the FDA. The 7 manufacturers the FDA chose to target weren’t the only ones in violation of the law. You still may see be able to find products marketed as hCG in stores and online, but according to the FDA there are “no HCG products sold online and in stores approved for weight loss.”

Illegal or not, some women swear by it.
“My whole life, I had never been unhappy with my weight,” says FOF Sherry Ittel from Plano, Texas. Then, recently, she hit menopause and accumulated just a bit of stubborn fat that she struggled to get rid of. A friend had success using over-the-counter hCG, so, a few months ago Sherry decided she would give it a try. She bought some drops on a site called hCGdiet.com for $80. After taking the drops three times daily, combined with a strict 500-550 calorie diet, she lost her goal weight of 10 pounds in about four weeks. “I remember e-mailing my friend and saying ‘celery is not a substitute for popcorn.’ I wanted popcorn so bad,” says Sherry. “I guess a couple times I was hungry, but it wasn’t that much of an issue.”

Another FOF, Barbara Langley, from Independence, Missouri, describes herself as “overweight.” She tried dozens of diets over her lifetime–but none of them gave her the results she wanted. Then, last March, she bought hCG drops off a website called myhcgsystem.com. The diet appealed to Barbara, because, although extreme, it only required a short time commitment. “I can do anything for 23 days,” she says. Barbara lost about 40 pounds in just over three weeks. In December, she got an e-mail from the manufacturer of her hCG drops. “It said something like, ‘if you want to go on this program, you better buy your drops because the FDA will not allow them to be sold after January 1st,’” says Barbara. “It really made me concerned, like ‘what’s in these things?’ But, they offered it for some ridiculous price so I bought two bottles.”
—————————————————————————————————

A sample day on the 500 calorie hCG diet for FOF Barbara Langley:

[portfolio_slideshow] —————————————————————————————————

FDA officials and many medical professionals specializing in weight loss such as Dr. Caroline Cederquist, MD, director of Cederquist Comprehensive Weight Control, say that what concerns them most about this diet is not the hCG itself, but the strict calorie limit it imposes. Manufacturers and supporters of hCG claim that the hormone helps you utilize the stored fat as a source of energy and nutrition, in effect making up for the calories your diet is lacking. Dr. Cederquist disagrees: “Anytime you lower your caloric intake, you are theoretically burning stored fat. But, if you don’t have enough protein in your diet, your body will not allow you to break down fat. It will start breaking down muscle tissue to meet your nutritional needs.” Dr Cederquist says that the muscle could be from your arms and legs, but even more worrisome, “it could be the protein in your heart.”  According to a press release issued by the FDA, “consumers on such restrictive diets are at increased risk for side effects that include gallstone formation, an imbalance of the electrolytes that keep the body’s muscles and nerves functioning properly, and an irregular heartbeat…A very low calorie diet should only be used under proper medical supervision.”

Doctor-administered hCG–is it safe?
Following a 500-calorie diet without guidance from a physician is almost universally frowned upon. But, the safety of using hCG under the supervision of a doctor has fueled the hottest debate yet–with everyone from Dr. Oz to Oprah forming and sharing opinions on the matter.

Dr. Benjamin Gonzalez, MD, says that five years ago, he believed hCG was “crap,” but now he prescribes it to select patients through his practice, Atlantis Medical Wellness Center in Silver Spring, MD. Dr. Gonzales says that after a family member asked him his advice on the diet, he ran trials on his office staff and “basically did a 180,” on his opinion of the drug. “It was eye-opening,” he says. “After treating hundreds of patients successfully, I’m a convert.”

Does Dr. Gonzalez worry about putting his patients on such a restrictive diet? “hCG is medication that helps your body change how it burns your own fat,” says Dr. Gonzales. “If you went on a 500- or 600-calorie-a-day diet without the hCG, it’s absolutely true [you’d be at risk for muscle breakdown], but what the hCG provides is protection from that along with an appetite suppressing type of feeling.” Sounds like a miracle! Could it be? Dr. Cederquist doesn’t think so. She references a study from the “70s or 80s” where one group of patients was restricted to 500 calories with hCG and other group of patients was restricted to 500 calories without it. “There was no significant difference between the two,” says Dr. Cedequist. Dr. Gonzalez agrees that studies on hCG have been published suggesting the effects of hCG are bogus, but calls them “small, not very good studies… No one is going to put a couple million dollars toward studies on something such as hCG that makes them pennies.”

Furthermore, Dr. Gonzalez is adamant about making a distinction between the hCG he prescribes in his office and that which is sold over the counter. “A lot of people will buy the hCG online and you don’t even know if it’s actually hCG or not, and it usually is not,” says Dr. Gonzalez. “I have patients come in here and say ‘I just want the hCG, can’t you just give me the hCG and I’ll do the rest?’ No way. It has to be done by a doctor or nurse who is experienced with the protocol.”  Dr. Gonzalez conducts careful screenings of his patients before prescribing them hCG and checks in with them frequently while they are using it. The whole protocol for 39 days including the initial screening, labs, the shots and weekly follow up appointments done under his supervision costs a patient approximately $900.

He prescribes the hCG “off-label” which means that it is not approved by the FDA for weight loss although it is approved for other uses, such as fertility issues. Prescribing drugs off-label is a fairly common medical practice (read more about off-label prescriptions), but controversial as well, depending on the drug and the problem it’s treating.

“We know it’s very safe since it has been studied for these other conditions,” says Dr. Gonzalez. “They haven’t approved hCG for weight loss but not one single death nor long term side effect has surfaced in the 50 years of use.”

The bottom line:
When it comes to doctor-administered hCG, buyer beware. Past studies on using the hCG hormone paired with a low-calorie diet for weight loss are too limited to be conclusive. There is a lot more research in this area that needs to be done. When it comes to over-the-counter hCG, stay away. These products have been deemed “potentially dangerous” and “illegal” by the FDA.

Over the past year, FOF has investigated dozens of new diets, fat-busting tools and gadgets. The more we learn, the more we see that different people gravitate toward different methods. Essentially, no weight-loss method is ‘one size fits all.’ So how do you choose the one that will work best for you? Here we take the four most popular weight loss methods we featured this year–Coolsculpting, the pH diet, The Wheat Belly Diet and The Dukan Diet–and help you figure out the best one for your very unique FOFigure.

1. How easy would it be to give up pasta and bread tomorrow?
a. Impossible!
b. I’m up for the challenge..er, wait…can I cheat from time to time?
c. I could do it for a period of time but not forever.
d. Difficult, but I’ll do anything for weight loss.

2. Which statement best describes how willing you are to change your eating habits?
a. I don’t want to change my eating habits at all.
b. I want to eat healthier but I don’t want to give up my favorite foods.
c. I’m open to most diet changes but could never go vegetarian–I’d rather indulge in a steak or juicy burger than anything else.
d. I’m willing to make major changes such as taking an entire food group out of my diet.

3. How good are you at suppressing your hunger.
a. Terrible — when I’m hungry, I need to eat.
b. For me, feeling hungry isn’t worth it for weight loss. I just want to be healthy.
c. I’d rather sacrifice variety of food for quantity.
d. I’m willing to make major sacrifices and don’t mind feeling hungry if it means I’ll lose weight.

4. How creative are you when it comes to cooking?
a. Not creative at all!
b. I love to have fun and experiment in the kitchen.
c. I cook but not with much variety, I stick to the few recipes I know.
d. I enjoy try new recipes and cuisines–especially from other cultures.

5. How long are you willing to spend on a diet?
a. I’ve never really been able to stick to a diet for longer than a week.
b. A couple of weeks.
c. 6 months to a year.
d. I want to make a lifestyle change so I’m willing to wait as long as it takes.

6. What physical results do you want?
a. I want to minimize my trouble areas (belly fat, love handles or back fat).
b. It’s more about my health than my weight. I want glowing skin, more energy and less wrinkles. If I lose weight too, then, great, but not necessary.
c. I just want to see the numbers drop on my scale and weight loss–everywhere.
d. Substantial weight loss, especially from the abdomen. I also have some medical issues (ie: diabetes, allergies, heart disease) that I’m hoping will be improved by a new diet.

7. Which best describes your weight?
a. I take care of myself and maintain a healthy weight but have stubborn fat in trouble areas (belly, love handles or back) I can’t get rid of.
b. I could lose a little weight but am mostly satisfied. However, I lack energy.
c. I’m at least fifteen pounds overweight. I’ve especially gained weight after menopause.
d. I’ve struggled with weight my entire life.

8. How much cash are you willing to shell out?
a. I’ll spend any amount of money it takes–hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
b. I’d be willing to invest around $150 initially.
c. I’d be willing to spend about 10% more on my grocery bill each week.
d. Spend more!? I thought a diet meant eating less and spending less!

9.  Which of the following foods could you never give up?
a.  I’m not interested in eliminating anything from my diet completely.
b.  Fruit
c.  Meat
d.  Rice and potatoes

Disclaimer: Always consult with your doctor before you start any diet.

Scoring:
—————————————————————————————————

Mostly A’s — Coolsculpting
If you eat what you like and like what you eat, money is no object when it comes to losing weight and you just have a few trouble areas that need some correcting, Coolsculpting may be the weight loss method for you.
Coolsculpting is a new, non-surgical procedure can “freeze” away your fat cells. No dieting, cutting, anesthesia or recovery time. Just an hour in your doctor’s office, hooked up to a non-invasive “coolsculpting” machine. Within several days of receiving the procedure, cooled fat cells begin a process called apoptosis (natural cell death) and begin to shrink and disappear. Clinical trials showed an average 20-percent reduction in fat in the treated area within 16 weeks. It’ll cost you about about $750 for the belly, and $750 per side for love handles, according to Dr. Debra Jaliman who uses “coolsculpting” on her patients. Read more about Coolsculpting, here.
—————————————————————————————————

Mostly B’s — pH diet
If you care more about your overall energy level and appearance, then you do about weight, the pH diet may be right for you. Perhaps a misnomer, the pH diet doesn’t promise you’ll lose weight (although if you follow it correctly, you probably will) but instead, says you’ll have fewer wrinkles, brighter skin and more energy within 2 weeks of following the plan (and maybe even as soon as 1 day!).  Each day, you test your body’s pH level by putting a strip of special paper under your tongue. If your body is too acidic, you up your intake of alkaline-producing food such as kale, garlic, olive oil, lemon and Brazil nuts. If your body is too alkaline, you up your intake of acidic-producing food such as meat and dairy. “It’s not prison,” says Dr. Graf, a dermatologist who wrote a book, Stop Aging, Start Living about the diet. If one day you mess up and eat too much pasta or down a few margaritas, no sweat, the next day just “beef up your intake of greens and other alkaline-producing food,” according to Dr. Graf. Read more about the pH Diet, here.
—————————————————————————————————

Mostly C’s — Dukan Diet
If you are willing to sacrifice variety for quantity in your diet and you want to lose a significant amount of weight within a year, the Dukan Diet might be for you. The Dukan Diet gained fame when Carole Middleton (mother of Kate Middleton) publicly credited her svelte new physique (she dropped two dress sizes before the royal wedding) to 69-year-old French diet doctor, Pierre Dukan. The diet focuses on high protein, low fat and low carb foods. You can eat any quantity of lean protein you want and you’re also required to eat 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran a day to help you feel full. The diet has four stages–the first is the most restrictive and only lasts two to seven days. The last phase is the least restrictive and designed to last the rest of your life. In this phase you can eat whatever you want as long as you spend one day a week on a pure protein diet, continue to eat your 3 tablespoons of oat bran every day, and take the stairs instead of escalators and elevators. The time you spend in each phase, depends on your starting weight and the weight you want to end up–the diet can last from a few weeks to a year. Read more about the Dukan Diet, here.
—————————————————————————————————

Mostly D’s — Wheat Belly

You want to lose a lot of weight and you have other physical issues–diabetes, heart disease, allergies or arthritis that you hope will be helped by a new diet. You’re willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means giving up *gasp* pasta and bread…forever. In Wheat Belly, Dr. William Davis’ New York Times best-selling book, he attributes many of our nation’s physical problems, including heart disease, diabetes and obesity, to our consumption of wheat. “When you look at the makeup of wheat, it’s almost like a group of evil scientists got together and said, how can we create this god-awful destructive food that will ruin health?” says Dr. Davis. No ifs, ands or buts, to lose weight, Dr. Davis says you need to give up wheat and return to real food: vegetables and nuts, cheese, eggs and meats in all forms, avocados and olives. He warns you may experience “withdrawal-like” symptoms at first because of wheat’s addictive properties, but in the end it will “change your life.”  “When my patients give up wheat, I see that weight loss is substantial, especially from the abdomen. People can lose several inches in the first month.” Maybe it sounds harsh but Dr. Davis promises it’s not a “diet of deprivation.” He says, he’s been practicing it himself for many years and has eaten “cookies and cheesecake, carrot cake, chocolate biscotti,” but only after he recreates these foods using alternate ingredients.
Read more about Wheat Belly, here.
—————————————————————————————————

If you didn’t have a majority of any particular letter
You diet chameleon, you! You can adapt to multiple weight loss methods, you lucky gal! More than one method may be right for you. If you had two letters in a dead heat, read about both diets and pick the one that speaks to you.

The Dukan Diet helped one famous FOF shed the pounds, but is it right for the rest of us? FOF investigates.

When Kate Middleton and her FOF mother, Carole, arrived at the Royal wedding this past April, BBC newscasters couldn’t stop talking about two things: their clothes and their weight loss.

Carole–who had lost 2 dress sizes–publicly credited her svelte new physique to 69-year-old French diet doctor, Pierre Dukan. Kate has never revealed her own diet plan, although rumors swirl that she used Dukan as well.

Since the wedding, Dukan’s book, The Dukan Diet, has sold millions of copies and been translated into 14 languages. “I am a hopeless romantic, so of course I watched the royal wedding,” says FOF Patricia Hancock, a lifelong yo-yo dieter who bought the book in April and has since lost over 30 pounds following Dukan’s advice.

The diet has been touted by celebs including Salma Hayek and Jennifer Lopez.  But it’s also been controversial, with some medical experts alternately calling it everything from “unaffective” to “dangerous” in the press.

What’s the truth? Here, FOF presents the facts and talks to FOF Patricia about her experience.

For a chance to win your own copy of The Dukan Diet, read on, and then tell us in the comments below, would you try this diet? (3 FOFs will win!)

Dr. Pierre Dukan, MD, began his general medical practice over 35 years ago. According to his book, he became interested in nutrition after an overweight patient asked for a diet plan that didn’t restrict meat. Dukan advised the man to consume nothing but lean meat and water for five days. In that time, the patient lost 12 pounds. Encouraged, Dukan began studying nutrition in an attempt to create a diet that would help his overweight patients lose weight permanently–without feeling deprived. He spent the next 35 years perfecting his plan and gaining a reputation as a uniquely effective “diet doctor” in France. Today, his plan is consists of 4 phases:

Phase 1: Dukan calls this “The Attack” phase, during which you jump-start your weight loss by spending anywhere from 2 to 7 days (depending on your start weight) eating only from a group of 68 high-protein foods, including lean meats, fish, tofu, Greek yogurt and eggs. You’re also required to eat 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran a day to help you feel full. Unlike The Atkins Diet, with Dukan “you are not allowed fatty meats and cheese,” says Simone Gloger, a registered nutritionist who recommends the Dukan diet to her own patients. “Saturated fats found in these foods can cause cardiovascular disease. Atkins is high protein and high fat. Dukan is high protein, low fat and low carb.”

During this first phase, you also calculate your “true” weight–a number based on your age, height and dieting history. “This differs for everyone,” says Simone Gloger, “It’s a realistic number that is actually maintainable for life.” (You can calculate your “True Weight,” here.)

FOF Trisha, 57, was about 25 pounds overweight when she started the diet earlier this year. Heavy since she was a young girl, (“I grew up being called ‘Patty Fatty’”) she had tried everything from Weight Watchers to Atkins to aerobics, but was never able to keep the weight off for good. At just 4’11”, Trisha’s top weight was 181. When she started the Dukan diet, she was about 145. Today, 7 months later, she weighs 107.

Trisha’s “phase 1” lasted 5 days, during which she mostly ate eggs, chicken and fish. “I love protein, so that was not a problem,” she says. “And it wasn’t very long–just Monday to Friday.”

Phase 2: During “The Cruise Phase,” you add on 32 different vegetables, including some high-carb options such as carrots, pumpkin and beets.  “You’re on this until you reach your true weight,” says Gloger.  “Typically, that’s about 3 days for every pound you want to lose.”  So if you wanted to lose 30 pounds, you’d be in this phase for about 3 months. According to Dukan, the diet makes up for lack of variety by allowing you to eat as much as you want in any combination you prefer.

This type of high-protein, low-carb eating is especially effective for FOFs, says Gloger. “As you age and enter menopause, your body loses muscle mass, your metabolism slows and you gain weight. Eating protein speeds your metabolism and helps you build muscle. It also helps reduce water retention and improves collagen production–which makes your skin look better.”

“The hardest part for me was not eating cheese,” says Trisha of her Cruise Phase. “But I liked that I could eat as much protein as I wanted. When I did Weight Watchers, I was only allowed 18 points. I was hungry and thinking about food constantly. On Dukan, my husband and I would cook out, and I would eat a humongous, juicy hamburger, and the next morning I would have lost weight.”

Phase 3, “Consolidation,” starts once you’ve reached your “true weight.” It is designed to reintroduce a variety of foods back into your diet without causing the rebound weight gain that typically occurs after losing a lot of weight. You can add 2 slices of bread and 1 portion of fruit and cheese into your daily diet as well as 2 servings of carbs and 2 “celebration” meals per week. You remain in this phase for 5 days for every one pounds you’ve lost. “This phase is about learning how to eat properly,” says Gloger. “You can go out to dinner, enjoy wine and bread and fruit—but all within reason.”

Both Gloger and Trisha point out that they exercised some personal discretion during this phase–not following the rules exactly, but staying within a “safe” zone. “If you’re wheat or gluten intolerant, you can substitute the wheat bread for other grains,” says Gloger.

“I didn’t always give up my wine,” says Trisha. “But I’d have half a glass in the evening instead of a full glass.” It was during this phase that Trisha developed her food routine, a daily menu that she says has worked great for her. “I’m not a very creative person–I don’t come up with fancy recipes. I get up every morning and have Greek yogurt with fruit, followed by an apple or some other snack around 10.  For lunch I’ll have tofu mixed with tuna and some little pita pockets or maybe a hard-boiled egg sandwich. In the evening I might have salmon with lots of salad, some bread and wine.”

Phase 4, the permanent stabilization phase, is designed to last for, well . . . the rest of your life.  And it’s surprisingly non-restrictive. You can eat whatever you want as long as you spend one day a week on a pure protein diet (as in phase 1), continue to eat your 3 tablespoons of oat bran every day, and take the stairs instead of escalators and elevators. So what’s to keep you from eating pizza and ice cream for every meal?  Both Trisha and Gloger insist that just isn’t a problem.

“By the time someone has finished the first three phases, they’ve really changed,” says Gloger. “They’ve learned how to eat so that they feel better and look better and they don’t want to give that up. Also, after they eat indulgent foods, they don’t feel good.”

“I don’t want to go back to not feeling good,” confirms Trisha. “I love being able to go into the store and pick out a size 2–my whole life I was looking at sizes from 13-18. And I find that when I indulge, I really feel it. If I have a cupcake for example, I feel sick afterwards. I don’t want to overeat.”

While both Trisha and Gloger insist the diet could work “for anyone,” Trisha does admit that it was particularly tailored to her: “I love meat. I’d rather have a big juicy steak than a slice of pizza. I’m also patient, and I like to do things slowly and carefully, so I was willing to read the entire book and learn the science behind it. It made sense to me. I would say to anyone who is considering this diet, read the book first. Really read it. If it makes sense to you, it will work for you.”

For a chance to win your own copy of The Dukan Diet, tell us in the comments below, would you try this diet? (3 FOFs will win!)