Archives: March 2009
Mon Mar 23, 2009
Fantasyland
Why are Americans, given a permissive environment of wealth, so uniquely prone to obesity? because of the complete, comfortable substitution of wishful thinking for real thinking. Consider the following. "All men are created equal", Disneyland, George Bush (either), the Cold War and its iterations, Superman & superheroes and many repetitions, Barbie, movie stars, baseball, drugs, the NRA, Congress, TV ads, Hummers, subprime loans, supersizing, "more for your money", "no child left behind", 1000 religions passionately believed, bariatricians debating whether a 400 calorie or 800 calorie diet is better. Is it any wonder each American generation, growing up here, is less realistic than the preceding generation? Any wonder so many fat Americans think they don't eat too much? Any wonder bariatricians, in general, have so little effect? "The Wizard of Oz" is our national epic, "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" our national song. Think "There's no place like home. There's no place like home."
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Thu Mar 19, 2009
Stop Bustrophedonic Shopping!
You'll know what the word "bustrophedonic" means when I tell you that "bos" in Greek means 'ox' and "strophon" means 'plow'. So bustrophedonic shopping means going up and down every aisle, the way an ox plows a field or a person knits a sweater. Up one row and down the other. Cool word. Egyptian heiroglyphics and some ancient Greek inscriptions were written this way. An efficient way to write, but boy, it takes a mind to write backward and forward with equal facility. More...
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Mon Mar 16, 2009
The Recession
Has the recession affected my weight-loss practice? It sure has. In the following ways... More...
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Thu Mar 12, 2009
Priapism
Some doctors using phentermine add trazadone as a second medicine to (A) make phentermine work better & longer and (B) to help patients sleep. A very rare side-effect of trazadone is priapism (pry'-uh-pizm), i.e. prolonged penile erection. In women, priapism consists of prolonged genital congestion. I have now seen priapism twice. In a woman in January and a different woman yesterday. They had to put cold compresses on their genital area and take Tylenol. More...
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Thu Mar 05, 2009
French Fries
At least one quarter of Americans get a meal at a fast food restaurant every day, based on self-reporting, so I'm sure the real percentage is higher. The worst thing about it is french fries. In my office I have a small sign regarding french fries. It says, "What's wrong with french fries? High starch, high calories, high fat, saturated fat, trans fat, high sodium, no protein, no vitamins, acrylamide linked to cancer. More...
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