Newspaper Page Text
— Griffin Daily News Thursday, April 13,1972
Page 24
Beware of fads and the yo-yo effect
Dieting can be weighty problem
By AILEEN CLAIRE
NEA Food Editor
NEW YORK—(NEA)—The
night a 565-pound man ap
peared at an emergency
room door of the Johns Hop
kins-Osler Medical Service
in Baltimore, Md., and
couldn’t squeeze through
changed the life of the young
intern on duty . . and that
of the desperate, obese male
crying for help
“You might say it was
serendipity," Dr. Neil Solo
mon says now in explaining
how he came to zero in on
endocrinology and problems
of the overly fat man, wom
an, or child.
“The man begged for help.
He told me he was commit
ting suicide from overeating.
He had no money and no
hospital would admit him,”
Dr. Solomon continued.
“We talked and I asked if
he would be willing to be a
research patient for one
year. He agreed."
The patient was started on
a water diet under strict
medical supervision. Al
though he lost 30 pounds in
a week, according to Dr.
Solomon, “we discovered he
was losing proteins from
parts of his body and not
the fat. We set up a special
diet to thwart this.” The
event was Dr. Solomon’s
first experience with the
water diet. The chap eventu
ally dropped to a healthy
222.
Experience with him and
about 2,200 others with obes
ity problems since 1961 led
Dr. Solomon to a firm stand
Banks
make
happen
This week, April 9-15, is Bank Week in Griffin and
all over Georgia.
The Bank of Griffin has free packages of flower
seeds for customers and visitors. It's Spring of
Course, and time to plant flowers for summer color.
The flower seeds, by the way, are a reminder of
the many ways The Bank of Griffin is helping Griffin
and Georgia grow. We provide checking and savings
accounts to help you manage your money more
conveniently. Full Service Banks, like The Bank of
Griffin, do much more to help the entire community
- - like helping new industries and new businesses
get started. Homes, automobiles, vacations and
education are some of the other things banks can
make happen with loans.
Make an extra trip to The Bank of Griffin this
week. Get your free flower seeds, and ask what we
mean when we say "Banks Make It Happen."
of Griffin
Deposits
433 West Taylor Street, Ph: 227-1313
GEORGwI GROWER
BANK WEEK *72 • APRIL 9-1 5
x \\\
O||
against fad diets that sweep
the United States via media
or the bridge table every
week.
"A person doesn’t lose fat
and keep it off permanently
with a fad diet,” he ex
plained. “But he does lose
from vital organs, essenial
minerals, vitamins, carbohy-
d r a t e s and proteins and
these losses threaten health.
Many have died as a result
of excessive, foolish diet
ing."
Unfortunately, most exces
sively overweight persons
suffer from what he termed
the yo-yo syndrome which he
observed in his 565-pound
patient.
This is the vicious circle
so many dieters face when
they lose, for example, 10 to
30 pounds and then regain
the lost weight plus a few
more pounds and continue
the yo-yo pattern year after
year. Usually they diet with
out medical supervision.
Dieting is big business in
the United States, Dr. Solo
mon pointed out in his ques
tion and answer approach to
a dieter’s dilemma in his
book, “The Truth About
Weight Control, How to Lose
Excess Pounds Permanent
ly” (Stein and Day), that
one in five Americans is
obese. This means being
more than 10 per cent over
their ideal weights, with ex
cessive body fat. A Depart
ment of Agriculture survey
of 2,200 homemakers re
vealed that four homemak
ers in 10 made food choices
based on weight watching
for someone in the family.
The lip-s e rvi c e to shed
pounds, primarily to look
more sexy and not for more
realistic health reasons, cre
ated a multibillion industry
that includes low-calorie
foods and beverages, weight
control clubs, reducing or
exercise salons, exercise
equipment and drugs (“rain
bow” pills once freely pre
scribed by some doctors for
dieting are illegal now).
The truth about losing
weight is hard for anyone to
swallow. According to this
Johns Hopkins professor and
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secretary of Health and
Mental Hygiene for the State
of Maryland, those who say
they can’t afford an analysis
of a weight problem from a
specialist really don’t want
to get involved. This can
cost S2OO but he felt it is
worth every cent.
“There is no easy way to
lose weight and keep it off.
There is no magic, instant
solution. A person has to be
emotionally committed.” Dr.
Solomon said, “and decide
upon his priorities. Exces
sive weight is aging, it con
tributes to many diseases
such as diabetes, high blood
pressure and heart condi
tions — all good reasons for
losing weight slowly and
permanently.
The wise approach, he felt,
is to go to a doctor or a
clinic for tests and instruc
tion on how to burn or utilize
the food we eat and learn
what foods “your” body can
handle efficiently and wheth
er there is a true metabolic
problem. The thyroid, he
said, often is blamed when
overeating for psychological
reasons is the culprit.
Once a person has a thor
ough metabolic workup then
a diet club or workshop
could fit into a safe weight
loss program, he said. This
means a person knows his
true medical problem, the
club is under good medical
supervision and nutritional
guidance and there is help
ful reinforcement.
“I’m basically against
clubs where the tactic is to
shame people in front of
others because many are
overweight due to emotional
problems.”
As the father of three chil
dren ranging from age 10 to
14, Dr. Solomon advised par
ents not to nag the over
weight child.
"Children or teen-agers
will only lose weight if they
want to. A good doctor-child
confidential relationship can
help. I’ve discovered that
teens begin to lose weight as
a result of peer pressure.
They don’t want to be differ
ent. Teens lose weight when
they become romantically
inclined in fantasy or in real
life, are embarrassed when
they go to gym class or take
showers with other kids,
start dating, fall in love or
want to participate in
sports."
Crucially important with
the weight-conscious teen
and the adult is to avoid the
damaging fad diets, he con
cluded.
(NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN.)
NEW COMMISSIONER
WASHINGTON (UPI) -Ver
non D. Acree, 52, a career law
enforcement official, has been
named commissioner of the U.
S. Customs Bureau.
A native of Washington,
Acree succeeds Myles J.
Ambrose who was recently
named to head the Office of
Drug Abuse Law Enforcement
in the Justice Department.
id
ARMONK, N.Y.—Dr. Allan Freeze warns the growing
practice of burying toxic wastes deep in the earth to reduce
surface pollution threatens to poison 95 percent of the world’s
fresh water. (UPI)
DR. LAWRBNCC E. LAMB
Cholesterol Absent
In Some Shortening
By Lawrence Lamb, M.D. j
r
Dear Dr. Lamb—l have ,
had a myocardial infarction
and have been particularly ]
interested in the problem of
cholesterol. I am on a low
cholesterol diet. In one of i
your columns you said that i
all shortenings have some i
cholesterol. Since then I i
have obtained the listings of ,
the contents of shortenings |
and some of these do not
contain cholesterol. Can you
explain this to me. It is very I
confusing. >
I
Dear Reader—l doubt very ]
much that I ever said all I
shortenings have cholesterol, ;
because they certainly don’t, <
But all shortenings do con- (
tain fat. Some contain more ;
saturated fat than others. A i
shortening prepared from j
vegetable sources for exam- j
pie will contain no choles- ,
terol since vegetable prod- (
ucts are free of cholesterol, j
The ingestion of lots of fat, ,
coconut oil for example, ,
which is mostly a saturated ,
fat, can cause the body to
produce lots of cholesterol.
Whether the cholesterol
comes from being produced ,
by the body or from the diet,
it can contribute to the in- ,
creased level of cholesterol
in the blood stream which
helps cause atherosclerosis.
Most heart specialists
think it is wise to restrict
saturated fats and this is
why coconut oil is not recom
mended for individuals with
these problems. On the other
hand, safflower oil and corn
oil both have very low
amounts of saturated fats
and larger amounts of poly
unsaturated fats. In the in
terest of restricting the satu
rated fats, both safflower oil
and corn oil are useful prod
ucts. However, like all fats
they contain many calories.
The analysis you enclosed
for a commercial product
shows that 26 per cent of its
BARBS
By PHIL PASTORET
There’s a great difference
between a perfect house
keeper and a beloved home
maker.
0 9 «
Tomcats have nine
wives.
n $ $
«&fii
Plan ahead. Get with it
with the rest of us who are
wrong.
$ $ $
The best thing to recall
when opening your mouth
is the quicket way to shut
it.
EX-MADAM ELECTED
SAUSALITO, Calif. (UPI)—-
Former madam Sally Stanford,
renowned for her plush bordello
in old San Francisco, hit the
height of respectability Tuesday
when voters elected her to this
colorful town’s city council.
“Sinners never give up,”
Miss Stanford, 68, told a victory
party at her waterfront restau
rant.
She has been trying for a
council seat since 1962 and
came in second out of 11
candidates for three posts.
“AU I want to do is get rid of
those planter boxes on the
street and straight up a few
things,” she said. “I’ll be one of
the peoples’ people.”
fat is from saturated fat.
The amount of saturated fat
in corn oil is only about 10
per cent and safflower oil
contains even less.
Dear Dr. Lamb — On a
radio program about natural
foods a man being inter
viewed about potatoes said
they are the best source of
vitamin C. Can you tell me if
this is true?
Dear Reader — According
to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s handbook on
foods you are right. Fresh
potatoes contain about half
the amount of vitamin C of
a similar weight of fresh
commercial oranges. After
three months of storage the
amount of vitamin C in po
tatoes is half its previous
level and after six months it
is only a third. Nevertheless,
fresh potatoes are a good
source of vitamin C. To get
the maximum advantage of
vitamin C, bake freshly dug
potatoes in their skin and eat
the skin, too.
(NEWSPAPER ENTERPRISE ASSN.)
Please send your questions and
comments to Lawrence E. Lamb,
M.D., in care of this paper. While
Dr. Lamb cannot answer individual
letters, he will answer letters of
general interest in future columns.
fIUFFIIWA.
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World Briefs
' BLACKBIRD BLACKOUT
SAN RAFAEL, Calif. (UPI)-
A blackbird blackout left 3,073
persons in the dark Wednesday.
A huge flock of blackbirds
took off from a 12,000 volt
power line simultaneously and
knocked out power to a section
of this Northern California
community, a Pacific Gas and
Electric Co. spokesman said.
“When they all leave en
masse, the weight they have
placed on the wire is released,”
he said. “The line flips up and
touches the one above it,
causing a short.”
...
\\ 'X *
here now /
IS THE CUSHIONY J
EASE OF TODAY'S
GENUINE PATENT PICTURE
FROM FLORSHEIM.
\jF~- iRIFFIIUHA.
Power was restored within
half hour.
SOME PROCRASTINATE
WASHINGTON (UPD-l
Internal Revenue Service e(
mates that about 25 per cent
the nation’s 75 million incoi
tax returns still have not be
filed, even though the deadli
is next Monday.
The service also announcec
would expand its free t
preparation service at offic
around the country betwe
now and deadline day to h(
handle the crush.