“The most-popular strategies employed by obese participants who reported trying to lose weight were eating less, exercising more, eating less fat, and switching to lower-calorie foods,” notes a new paper about obese adults who were participants in the 2001–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

“In contrast, only a small proportion used commercial weight loss programs, liquid diets, and prescription weight loss medicines.

“Liquid diets, nonprescription diet pills, and popular diets showed no association with successful weight loss, and those who reported losing 10% body weight [or more] were less likely to report eating diet foods/products, compared with those who did not lose 10%.”

“Liquid diets, nonprescription diet pills, and popular diets showed no association with successful weight loss, and those who reported losing 10% body weight [or more] were less likely to report eating diet foods/products, compared with those who did not lose 10%,” notes a new paper about obese adults who were participants in the 2001–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

“The most-popular strategies employed by obese participants who reported trying to lose weight were eating less, exercising more, eating less fat, and switching to lower-calorie foods.”

“In contrast, only a small proportion used commercial weight loss programs, liquid diets, and prescription weight loss medicines.”

Obese US adults who lost 10% or more of their body weight during the previous year were 105% more likely—2.1 times more likely—to take a prescription diet pill prescribed by a doctor than obese adults who were trying to lose weight but lost less than this according to data from obese adults who were participants in the 2001–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Obese US adults who lost 10% or more of their body weight during the previous year were 52% less likely—only half as likely—to eat diet foods or diet products than obese adults who were trying to lose weight but lost less than this according to data from obese adults who were participants in the 2001–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Obese US adults who ate diet foods and diet products were only half as likely—52% less likely—to lose 10% or more of their body weight during the previous year than obese adults who lost 10% or more during the previous year according to data from obese adults who were participants in the 2001–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

(Note: This is the same information as the previous article, but just stated in a different way.)

Obese US adults who lost 10% or more of their body weight during the previous year were 72% more likely to join a commercial weight loss program than obese adults who were trying to lose weight but lost less than this according to data from obese adults who were participants in the 2001–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Obese US adults who lost 10% or more of their body weight during the previous year were 36% more likely to exercise more than obese adults who were trying to lose weight but lost less than this according to data from obese adults who were participants in the 2001–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Obese US adults who lost 10% or more of their body weight during the previous year were 37% more likely to eat less fat than obese adults who were trying to lose weight but lost less than this according to data from obese adults who were participants in the 2001–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Obese US adults who lost 10% or more of their body weight during the previous year were 27% more likely to skip meals than obese adults who were trying to lose weight but lost less than this according to data from obese adults who were participants in the 2001–2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

Three fruits to eat with less than 5 grams of fructose per 100 grams of fruit as recommended by sugar researcher, Kimber Stanhope, PhD, are:

• strawberries
• peaches
• cantaloupe

Three fruits to avoid because they contain higher levels of fructose are:

• bananas
• apples
• mangos

Kimber Stanhope, PhD is a researcher from the University of California at Davis, who has done studies comparing the effects of consuming glucose vs fructose, and who was interviewed on ReachMD.com.

Fructose and glucose cause the same amount of weight gain and same amount of fat gain notes Kimber Stanhope, PhD, a researcher from the University of California at Davis, who has done studies comparing the effects of consuming glucose vs fructose, who was interviewed on ReachMD.com.

Fructose and glucose cause the same amount of weight gain and same amount of fat gain, however, fructose increases belly fat whereas glucose increases subcutaneous fat (fat under the skin) notes Kimber Stanhope, PhD, a researcher from the University of California at Davis, who has done studies comparing the effects of consuming glucose vs fructose, who was interviewed on ReachMD.com.

Fructose increases fat in the blood following a meal—increased postprandial triglycerides—which increases LDL cholesterol, oxidized LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, and other blood readings notes Kimber Stanhope, PhD, a researcher from the University of California at Davis, who has done studies comparing the effects of consuming glucose vs fructose, who was interviewed on ReachMD.com.

Americans are consuming an average of 477 calories per day from added sugars which is 25% of calories with a diet of 2000 calories per day notes Kimber Stanhope, PhD, a researcher from the University of California at Davis, who has done studies comparing the effects of consuming glucose vs fructose, who was interviewed on ReachMD.com.

Consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks are associated with cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, fatty liver, insulin resistance and an increase in small dense LDL even in children notes Kimber Stanhope, PhD, a researcher from the University of California at Davis, who has done studies comparing the effects of consuming glucose vs fructose, who was interviewed on ReachMD.com.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: If you limit your sugar you decrease your chances of developing cancer?

Lewis Cantley, PhD: Absolutely.

Cantley, a Harvard professor and the head of the Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, says when we eat or drink sugar, it causes a sudden spike in the hormone insulin, which can serve as a catalyst to fuel certain types of cancers.

Lewis Cantley: What we’re beginning to learn is that insulin can cause adverse effects in the various tissues. And of particular concern is cancer.

Why? Nearly a third of some common cancers—including breast and colon cancers—have something called insulin receptors on their surface. Insulin binds to these receptors and signals the tumor to start consuming glucose [which allows it to grow].

Lewis Cantley: Every cell in our body needs glucose to survive. But the trouble is, these cancer cells also use it to grow. So if you happen to have the tumor that has insulin receptors on it then it will get stimulated to take up the glucose that’s in the bloodstream rather than go into fat or muscle, the glucose goes into the tumor. And the tumor uses it to grow.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: So far be it for people to realize this ‘cause sugar is everywhere, but you’re saying this is one of the most addictive substances possibly that we have?

Eric Stice, PhD: It certainly is very good at firing the reward regions in our brain.

Eric Stice says by scanning hundreds of volunteers, he’s learned that people who frequently drink sodas or eat ice cream or other sweet foods may be building up a tolerance, much like drug users do. As strange as it sounds, that means the more you eat, the less you feel the reward. The result: you eat more than ever.

Eric Stice: If you overeat these on a regular basis it causes changes in the brain that basically it blunts your reward region response to the food, so then you eat more and more to achieve the same satisfaction you felt originally.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: The mantra that you hear from most nutritionists is that a calorie is a calorie is a calorie.

Kimber Stanhope, PhD: And I think the results of the study showed clearly that is not true.

Stanhope has found that fructose increase small dense LDL cholesterol as well as other risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Lewis Cantley’s research team is working on developing drugs that will cut off the glucose supply to cancer cells and keep them from growing. But until there’s a breakthrough, Cantley’s advice? Don’t eat sugar. And if you must, keep it to a minimum.

Cantley, a Harvard professor and the head of the Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center, says when we eat or drink sugar, it causes a sudden spike in the hormone insulin, which can serve as a catalyst to fuel certain types of cancers.

Lewis Cantley: What we’re beginning to learn is that insulin can cause adverse effects in the various tissues. And of particular concern is cancer.

Why? Nearly a third of some common cancers—including breast and colon cancers—have something called insulin receptors on their surface. Insulin binds to these receptors and signals the tumor to start consuming glucose [which allows it to grow].

Lewis Cantley: Every cell in our body needs glucose to survive. But the trouble is, these cancer cells also use it to grow. So if you happen to have the tumor that has insulin receptors on it then it will get stimulated to take up the glucose that’s in the bloodstream rather than go into fat or muscle, the glucose goes into the tumor. And the tumor uses it to grow.

Kimber Stanhope, PhD: We found that the subjects who consumed [25% of their calories as] high fructose corn syrup had increased blood levels of LDL cholesterol and other risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: How quickly did these changes occur?

Kimber Stanhope: Within two weeks.

“The chances are good that sugar is a bigger part of your daily diet than you may realize which is why our story tonight is so important,” Dr. Sanjay Gupta noted on the television show ‘60 Minutes’ on April 1, 2012.

“New research coming out of some of America’s most respected institutions is starting to find that sugar, the way many people are eating it today, is a toxin and could be a driving force behind some of this country’s leading killers, including heart disease.”

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: What are all these various diseases that you say are linked to sugar?

Dr. Robert Lustig: Obesity, type II diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease itself.

Lustig says the American lifestyle is killing us.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: And most of it you say is preventable?

Dr. Robert Lustig: Seventy-five percent of it is preventable.

Dr. Sanjay Gupta: Is it worse than just table sugar?

Dr. Robert Lustig: No. ‘Cause it’s the exact same. They are basically equivalent. The problem is they’re both bad. They’re both equally toxic.

Since the 1970s, sugar consumption has gone down nearly 40 percent, but high fructose corn syrup has more than made up the difference. Dr. Lustig says they are both toxic because they both contain fructose—that’s what makes them sweet and irresistible.

Sleeping pills are estimated to cause 320,000 to 507,000 excess deaths per year in US alone according to a recent study by researchers at Scripps Clinic Viterbi Family Sleep Center in La Jolla, California, USA.

“Rough order-of-magnitude estimates at the end of the supplemental files suggest that in 2010, hypnotics may have been associated with 320 000 to 507 000 excess deaths in the USA alone,” the paper notes.

People taking sleeping pills (hypnotics) were 4.6 times more likely to die over an average follow-up of 2.5 years compared to nonusers according to a recent study by researchers at Scripps Clinic Viterbi Family Sleep Center in La Jolla, California, USA.