Diet Books for a Skinny 2009

Study shows why it's hard to maintain weight loss

(NEWSER) - It's a pattern familiar to many trying to slim down: Go on a diet, shed some pounds, then gain it all back and then some over time. Don't blame weak willpower: A new study shows that hormones in the body throw a temper tantrum of sorts in reaction to weight loss and send an unrelenting message to the brain: We need food. Worse, the hormones keep sending that message for a long time—the Australian study found elevated levels in dieters after a full year, reports the Los Angeles Times . More»

DASH is tops overall; Weight Watchers best for losing pounds: US News

(NEWSER) - The best overall diet is the DASH diet, US News & World Report says in new rankings—but if weight loss is your specific goal, go with Weight Watchers. So what's DASH? It stands for Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension and it's generally meant for adults looking to curb high blood pressure. It's big on "whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low-fat and nonfat dairy foods, lean proteins, nuts and limited amounts of fats and sweets," explains the Los Angeles Times , which writes about it for a different reason: A new study suggests it slows weight gain in teen girls. More»

Painful at first, but by the end...

(NEWSER) - On the first day of her $5,600-per-week stay at a ritzy Malibu detox ranch, Christina Binkley was awakened at 5:30am to do yoga, eat a tiny frittata, and then go on a 12-mile hike. "The scenery was gorgeous," she writes in the Wall Street Journal , but after four hours, she stopped noticing it—and so did her fellow hikers, many of whom spent the trek vomiting. Later in the week, participants "lined up like Pavlov's dogs" for the scant snack of three almonds and two cashews during another many-hour hike. By the fourth day, Binkley "couldn't stop thinking about beef." But then something changed. More»

Broken down fat cells release stored pollutants: study

(NEWSER) - Scientists have uncovered a toxic underside to weight loss: the breaking down of fat cells can release a flood of "pollutants" stored there. Fat stores trap certain toxins such as DDT and PCBs. When significant amounts of fat are broken down, these chemicals are released into the bloodstream, where they may trigger disease, warn the researchers. "The dogma is that weight loss is always good, while weight gain is always bad," but that may not always hold up, warned lead researcher Dr. Duk-Hee Lee. More»

Weight Watchers, Atkins make it in top 5

(NEWSER) - If one of your New Year’s resolutions just so happened to involve dieting, you’re in luck: The Daily Beast does your homework for you, analyzing 10 major diets for overall weight loss, change in BMI, and of course, whether the weight loss actually sticks. The result? A ranking of the most effective diets:

1. Volumetrics: It focuses on foods packed with water, like soup and non-starchy vegetables to make you feel more satisfied. The 6-month mean weight loss is 19.6lbs.
2. Low-fat diet: Pretty simple, really. Stick to a diet in which up to 30% of your calories come from fat and 10% from saturated fat, and eat 1,500 calories a day (women) or 1,800 (men). The 6-month mean weight loss is 12.9lbs.