Scepticism stirred by weight-loss
shakes
February 3, 2005
By Ian Sample
You've read the book, now try the milkshake. John Gray,
the relationship counsellor and author of the 1992 self-help
book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, is back
with a range of milkshakes which he claims work differently
on men's and women's brains, leading to weight loss
and a happier life.
Dr Gray, who launched the MarsVenus Supershake at the
Natural History Museum in London yesterday, believes
most overweight people can blame imbalances in brain
chemicals.
The milkshakes, he said, rebalanced feel-good neurotransmitters
such as serotonin and dopamine, and so helped to suppress
appetite.
"Women use up their stores of serotonin more quickly
than men, and can become depressed or overwhelmed by
their moods and so eat more for comfort," he said.
"And typically, when men get home, they have run
out of dopamine and just want to sit on the couch, so
they eat more to increase their energy."
The ingredients, he said, were tailored to reset the
brain chemicals to healthy levels.
Dr Gray, who teamed up with Brian Newman, a surgeon
and director of the Bolton company Medical Innovations,
to make the milkshakes, said an independent trial showed
that people lost on average more than 15lb (6.8kg) in
30 days when drinking them.
But nutritionists raised a collective eyebrow at the
milkshake's alleged powers.
A spokeswoman for the Medical Research Council's human
nutrition research said: "We thought it was April
Fool's day when we heard of this one."
Others raised doubts about Dr Gray's evidence that the
milkshakes worked.
They said many of those involved were on other weight
loss programmes, and all knew the milkshake was being
marketed as a dietary aid, so any weight loss could
be down to the placebo effect.
Eating to shrink
Caveman diet
Fans say farming practices invented 10,000 years ago
are bad for our health. If our hunter-gatherer ancestors
got by without cereals and dairy products, so should
we. We should eat only fish, lean meat, fruit and raw
vegetables
Cabbage soup diet
Eat as much of this soup as you like. Cabbage being
low in calories, a few days on this diet may lose you
a pound or two, but you will probably be too tired and
hungry to pull on your trousers
Grapefruit diet
Based on an idea that the fruit contains fat-burning
enzymes. Followers of this diet eat half a grapefruit
before each meal and restrict their daily calorie intake
to a dangerously low 800 calories
Creationist diet
God bestowed upon Adam and Eve the best of dietary
advice, universal to the human race. Essentially a diet
rich in fruits, seeds and nuts, accompanied by your
choice of water or wine
CR diet
Prompted by spider and nematode worm studies which
show that severe calorie restriction - eating less -
can boost longevity. Diet of choice for those who plan
to be frozen at death in the hope that a scientist will
one day revive them
Source:http://education.guardian.co.uk
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