Glucomannan- Hot or Hype

In this month’s Women’s Health Magazine, its article “The WH Perfect Body Diet” provides a sample diet to lead you on your way to your dream body.  “Watch out ,_________, (insert name of celebrity or person you secretly admire and loathe for their bodacious body), here I come”!  The diet itself is run-of-the-mill, however the author touts a new super-drug called Glucomannan, and the sample diet recommends the consumption of 6 grams a day of this miracle pill.  Glucomannan, according to the article, is a soluble fiber that comes from an Asian plant known as the konjac, or elephant yam.  It is able to expand up to 50 times its own water weight, so it theoretically expands in your digestive tract, making you feel fuller and less likely to binge on those tasty delicious treats in the vending machines.  It is also NOT supposed to make you feel uber bloated and gassy like many other soluble fiber formulas and foods. 

So in an effort to test out its magic, I have recently purchased my $10 bottle  of 180 2 g capsules of NSI Glucomannan from vitacost.com.  The article recommends breaking the capsule and pouring its contents into sauces, salad dressings, oatmeal, hummus, etc. and stirring until it dissolves.  Bon Appetit! 

 Secretly I don’t really know what it means “to expand up to 50 times its own water weight” and how this phenomenon doesn’t cause blockage in the bowels or at the very least that oh-so-wonderful tummy rumble feeling.  In 2 weeks, I will update you on the effects, benefits, and drawbacks of Glucommanan and report as to whether it is the hot new thing or merely just hype. 

Restless Leg Syndrome

Has anyone seen the commercial for Mirapex, a drug that is supposed to alleviate the effects of Restless Leg Syndrome?  At the end of the commercial, the voice over basically tells you to consult your doctor if you experience an increase in gambling and/or sexual urges due to the consumption of Mirapex.  So not only do you have some bum leg disorder, now you run the increased risk of becoming a gambling addict and/or sex fiend.  What in the world?

 I really know nothing about Restless Leg Syndrome, and I am in no way trying to be unsympathetic to anyone who suffers from this disorder.  Of course, we are all accustomed to hearing medicinal disclaimers like “may cause death, destruction, etc.”, but gambling addiction was a new one for me.

Slimmed Down Greek Moussaka

Here’s a recipe from the Food Network for Greek Moussaka.  I love the challenge of taking something TASTY DELICIOUS and creating an equally tasty delicious substitute that is figure friendly.  In order to enjoy the yumminess of this meal while shaving off a few calories, I recommend substituting ground lamb for ground lean turkey, using fat-free feta cheese, using minimal parmesan cheese, and if you are feeling super-motivated, skip the bread crumbs.  I think y’all will enjoy the heartiness of the eggplant and the wonderful explosion of flavors from all the wonderful herbs and ingredients.  Hope you enjoy!!

Corporations offering financial incentives to lose weight

There is this recent trend in the business world to lower health care costs and one way that corporations are trying to do this is through employee programs that pay employees to lose weight.  I personally know of one Fortune 400 company that has instituted this policy, and I know of a couple of its employees who are enrolled in this new program.  So is this a good idea?

Perhaps if you are the individual who knows about fitness and nutrition, and you’ve just needed a little incentive or a little push to get you well on your way, maybe this is a great idea.  Corporations theoretically will have healthier employees that equal lower health care costs and employees have a little extra spending cash to reward him or herself for a job well done.  But what if the Associated Press article “Diet: Thin People May Be Fat Inside” is correct and thin doesn’t equal healthy?  In fact the New England Journal of Medicine indicates that exercise (with a sensible diet) equals healthy.  Also what about the whole population of “thin” people who are excluded from participating?  What if you are a person who is fit, but really could use the extra dough?  What if you are a person who is “thin”, but clearly not healthy?  For instance, my brother-in-law (BL) eats 5 times a day, loses weight if he dips under his 5 meal regimen, and works out.  At first glance, you would think he was an in-shape guy.  What you wouldn’t know is that his cholesterol is through the roof!  What you also wouldn’t know is that he LOVES him some Kentucky Fried Chicken.  After one of his monumental physical exams, the doctor instructed him that his cholesterol was super high, and he needed to adjust his diet to lower it.  The only thing different BL did in one month was stop eating KFC, and his cholesterol went down like 100 points.  Now if that isn’t a public service announcement, I do not know what is.   My point is that while weight can be an indicator of level of health, it isn’t the only indicator.  If weight loss equals amount of calories consumed – amount of calories spent and a calorie is a calorie, I could theoretically adjust my diet to the “right” amount of KFC and lose weight if I just continued to burn more calories, but my arteries would probably clog, and my bowels would hate me. 

I’m also not okay with this idea that providing financial incentives somehow perpetuates this idea that overweight people are overweight simply because they lack motivation.  I have no doubt that there are probably a percentage of people who fall into this category, but living a healthy lifestyle requires practice and knowledge.  I think part of the reason people think that they are knowledgeable about nutrition is because we feed ourselves every day and somehow that gives us merit.  But as the world turns more toward prepared foods, take-out, and dine-ins, our ideas of serving sizes and ingredients are skewed.  Making healthy choices at the food counter and creating quick meals that are balanced and nutritious takes time.  It also takes money.  It seems in today’s day and age, we seem to have less of both. 

So while I understand the method behind the madness, I am increasingly skeptical as to whether we are all better off for it.