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February 2007

FDA Approves New "Magic Pill" for Weight-Loss
Critics Call it "Ineffective"

The first nonprescription drug to treat obesity in American adults was approved February 7, 2007 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The drug, brand-named Alli (orlistat), is designed to be used only in tandem with a reduced-calorie, lowfat diet by overweight adults aged 18 and older. According to manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline, the drug helps people lose 50 percent more weight than dieting alone, should cost consumers $12 to $25 a week, and is expected to be available by this summer.

"This is the only FDA-approved, over-the-counter, weight-loss drug product," Dr. Charles J. Ganley, the FDA's director of the Division of Over-The-Counter Drug Products, said during a teleconference.

The company says the drug works by "blocking about 25 percent of the fat in food a person eats. Because of the way it works, Alli must be used in conjunction with a reduced-calorie, lowfat diet containing about 15 grams of fat per meal."  (why not do this in the first place? - AR)

Eating a meal with too much fat while taking the drug can result in bowel changes such as loose stools, according to the FDA.

It's also recommended that users take a multivitamin once a day, at bedtime, because the drug can interfere with the absorption of some vitamins, GlaxoSmithKline says.

"Overall, this drug is likely to be limited in the direct harm it causes, but also in the good it does," says Dr. David L. Katz, an associate professor of public health and director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University School of Medicine.

"It is a relatively ineffective weight-loss aid," he says. "If availability of the drug distracts people from the tried-and-true approach to weight control, eating well and being active, then the FDA decision could prove more harmful than helpful, in spite of good intentions."  (couldn't have said it better, myself! - AR)
 

Menu Labels - A Good Idea?  You Decide

Among other things, menu labeling regulations would require fast-food and other chain restaurants to list calories on menu boards. They apply only to regular menu items, not "specials" or special orders.  Here's an how a McDonald's Menu Board might read:

February 2007

Watchdog Group Sues Coke, Nestlé For
Bogus "Enviga Claims"

Green Tea-Flavored Diet Soda Won't Help You Lose Weight, Despite Claims of "Negative Calories"

WASHINGTON—The nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest filed suit this month against Coca-Cola and Nestlé for making fraudulent claims in marketing and labeling for Enviga, a new artificially sweetened green tea soft drink. Labeled “the calorie burner” on cans, Enviga is marketed as a weight-loss aid, with claims that it has “negative calories” and that it can “keep those extra calories from building up.”  Enviga’s web site also says the drink is “much smarter than following fads, quick fixes, and crash diets.” But according to CSPI scientists who reviewed the studies cited by Coke and Nestlé, Enviga is just a highly caffeinated and over-priced diet soda, and is exactly the kind of faddy, phony diet aid it claims not to be.

Enviga consists of carbonated water, calcium, concentrated green tea extract, various “natural flavors,” and ingredients typically found in diet soda, such as caffeine (three diet colas’ worth), phosphoric acid, and the artificial sweeteners aspartame and acesulfame potassium.

Many of Enviga’s claims are based on a 72-hour Nestlé-funded study of 31 people who were given a drink containing amounts of EGCG and caffeine equivalent to three cans of Enviga. On average, those subjects expended more energy, according to an abstract of the unpublished study. In any event, none of the 31 were overweight or obese—in fact all were quite lean to begin with. In other words, the company’s test may have detected some slight evidence that it increases calorie burning slightly—but only in a short-term test of thin people who were given a strictly controlled diet. And when the study was presented at a conference of the Obesity Society (publishers of the journal Obesity and also known as NAASO), the society disputed the study’s conclusions, insisting “it is improper to state or imply that the results of this study supports any weight loss” claim.

No test of Enviga lasted more than three days. One European study found that EGCG and caffeine did not increase energy expenditure after one month and did not help people lose weight. One longer-term Japanese study did show that a tea fortified with EGCG and caffeine helped people lose more weight than a control tea, but then again, the study was conducted by a tea company and the subjects of the study were 38 of that company’s male employees.

Enviga costs between $1.29 and $1.49 per can, and the company suggests that the maximum effect is gained by drinking three cans a day, or about $1,500 worth of the soda per year.

“There is no clear evidence that what’s in Enviga will help you control your weight,” said CSPI senior nutritionist David Schardt. “You’d be much better off giving up non-diet soda, which costs nothing to do, or by joining a gym, which is typically less expensive than paying for 3 cans of Enviga a day.”

“This deceptive marketing campaign needs to be nipped in the bud before many more millions of Americans get ripped off,” said Cuker. “Enviga burns more money than calories.”

“If the Food and Drug Administration were at all credible, major corporations like Coca-Cola and Nestlé wouldn’t try to take consumers to the cleaners like this,” said CSPI executive director Michael F. Jacobson. “Imagine—two of the companies partly responsible for the general fattening of America are now urging us to pay them $4 a day to slim down with Enviga. The chutzpah!”

The Late Anna Nicole Smith and TrimSpa Sued over Weight-Loss Product

TrimSpa represented by the late Anna Nicole Smith is being sued by a woman who insists the diet product the actress/model endorsed is bogus.

Angry Janey Luna claims she used TrimSpa X32 and expected the "rapid and substantial weight loss" the product promises - but it didn't work for her. 

And, Luna filed suit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging the advertising is "false or misleading." 
(gee...no kidding???   Art)

The lawsuit claims Smith — who shills the pills — and TrimSpa were deceptive in their business practices and violated California’s unfair competition law.

November 2006

U.S. Gets Bad Marks... Again

November 2006 -- Even though Americans are willing to spend money on healthy products, they are less likely than other nationalities to make long lasting behavior changes, according to a new report from Business Insights.

Benefits of Strength Training for Teenagers

Nov. 2006 -- Research has shown that strength training can help overweight adults lower their risk of diabetes. But what about teenagers? A small but promising study found that pudgy boys who lifted weights twice a week for four months lowered their risk for Type 2 diabetes without losing weight, a good sign that has inspired more research.

"We found this exercise to be very appealing because it's easy and kids can succeed at it very quickly. They can see and feel results," said obesity researcher Michael Goran of the University of Southern California, who led the study.
 

Food Facts:  The average American ate at restaurants 209 times last year.

Not me!  AR

The Top 7 Most Misleading Diet Claims

EAS Scores Big with the NBA

Abbott Laboratories parent company of the EAS-Brands nutritional business is hoping to score points with NBA players and other athletes. It inked a deal with the National Basketball Players Association to supply EAS products to NBA players, and has teamed with Chicago Bulls' guard Ben Gordon to endorse the products, sold under the Myoplex name.

Abbott will give $5,000 worth of the products to the association and will provide additional products at a discount, said Abbott spokeswoman Carolyn Valek.

Abbott wouldn't say how much it's paying Gordon in the deal.

(What's so funny is many of these endorsees never use the product they're endorsing.  In fact, many use our products.  This is why we would never go the celebrity/athlete angle.  Most people get it!  They understand the athletes are paid to endorse these products.   - AR)