Dessert made with artificial sweeteners? Not for indulging.

You know that advertisement? The one for an artificial sweetener where a dessert tries to tempt a man into eating it? As ad makers believe in using the feminine gender in every advertisement (irrespective of the gender`s significance to the product), the dessert is depicted as enticing the man using a lilting feminine voice. In the background is his watchful wife, the barrier between him and the dessert.

Its one of the many sexist ads' floating around. But lets discuss that angle someother day.

To continue... caught in the middle of the wife and the dessert, what`s the man to do? The ad tells you the- WHAT.

Enter a chef who convinces the wife to use the brand of sweetener he endorses. If she does, then her dessert starved husband neednt be dessert starved again.

Next time this commercial is on TV, change the channel. 

Why? ... Because its misleading.

One, a chef is not a dietician. Chefs are culinary experts but its a dietician who is the last word in all matters concerning nutrition and diet. Dieticians have to fulfill certain fixed academic (e.g. obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Dietetics, or Dietetics) and training requirements (e.g. predetermined hours of supervised internship in hospitals) and often have to write an exam to obtain a license or registration to practice (varies as per the country they are practicing in). Thus chefs are not in a position by virtue of this difference to speak for or against an artificial sweetener, unless its presented as a personal opinion and not an authoritative one.

Two, a dessert e.g. icecream, pastries, and other similar species, or even traditional Indian sweets made using an artificial sweetener instead of sugar are popularly called `Low Calorie' or `Sugar Free' or 'Diet' when sold commercially. And, these days we have commercials encouraging preparation and consumption of home made Indian sweets, like halwa, kheer and so on, to be made using a Y brand of artificial sweetener. `Eat away, as it has no sugar, so no calories', the advertisements' say.

If you are a diabetic or a weight watcher, who has bought the ad`s sweet lie and gleefully consumes plenty of desserts made with artificial sweeteners, rethink.

For a diabetic, absence of sugar in a sweet is not a green signal to start indulging. Ditto for a weight watcher. Here's why. And, its not the age old (and very incorrect) argument of artificial sweeteners causing cancer. For the entire deal on artificial sweeteners, read my popular article published in Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle in Jan 2010.

Diabetics are always at risk for developing cardio-vascular disorders like high blood cholesterol, so even if a sweet doesnt have sugar it will almost always have plenty of fat (ghee, butter, oil), or milk. Both are excellent sources of cholesterol. For weight watchers, just because a sweet doesnt have sugar, doesnt make it `zero calorie'. A dessert/sweet still has other calorie supplying ingredients like milk, oil/butter/ghee, dried fruits, condensed milk...you get the drift. Thus, no dessert can be a weight watchers friend. Containing sugar or not.

So, while one can always enjoy creative advertisements (I always do) do put some thought before literally buying an advertisements health claim.

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The Nutrition Omnibus and A Fistful of Nutrition © Raksha Changappa. Contents of this blog post (excluding images) are the exclusive copyright and intellectual property (IP) of Raksha Changappa. This post is solely for knowledge and information of the reader and not to be construed as medical advice. If you want to use the post contents, kindly do so by acknowledging the source, namely this blog and the author, via hyperlinks or credits. If not, no content will be copied, reproduced, republished, transmitted or distributed, in any form or means, including print and electronic media. Copyright and IP infringements will be taken seriously. For queries contact nutrewise@gmail.com

Bariatric or Weight Loss Surgery: When Is It Alright To Go Under The Knife?

My client clears his throat, avoids eye contact and says, "Madam, I need to lose 10 kilos in one month. Please give me a diet to make me lose weight fast, or else...I will...I will go for weight loss operation".

Of course, I wasnt going to give him a diet plan to make him lose 10 kilos (20 pounds!) in one month. Diet plans inducing rapid weight loss are against my professional and personal ethics. In case you are curious, a drop in body weight in the range of 2 kilos (4.4 pounds) to a maximum of 5 kilos (11 pounds) per month is the permissible rate of weight loss. Any technique causing a faster rate of weight loss is best abandoned.

Now, what my client meant by `operation' was Bariatric Surgery (BS), a surgical procedure performed with the motive of making an individual lose weight. Bariatric surgery is of many types but lets save that discussion for a later date.

Bariatric Surgery is the last line of treatment for obesity, but is mostly marketed as a weight loss option which is effective, simple and for everyone. Why, if a layperson were to read a promotional material on bariatric surgery, it would make them believe that its just a simple nip and tuck and that the only side effect is permanent happiness!

And, this is precisely the impression this client and many other clients of mine are under. Under, until I use my 'Dietitian Voice' and elaborate on all aspects of the procedure. Here is what I tell them in form of FAQs (frequently asked questions).


Q 1. When can you consider bariatric surgery as an option for losing weight?

Bariatric surgery is your option for weight loss only if-

a) you are morbidly obese i.e. your Body Mass Index (BMI) is greater than 40, or,

b) you have a BMI of 35 and above, accompanied with serious and/or life threatening comorbidities (diseases) e.g. diabetes mellitus, hypertension.

But, that still does not qualify you as a candidate for surgery...

Even if you fulfill one of the above two criteria for `eligibility', it still has to concluded by a team of specialists that the first line of treatment has failed with you. In other words, all other options of making you lose weight namely calorie restriction, lifestyle modification, exercise, medication, psychological counselling and family involvement have failed.

Q 2. What should I know before undergoing the procedure?

If its been concluded by the team that nothing but surgery will work for you, then your surgeon needs to discuss the following with you, prior to the surgery-

a) Risks of the actual procedure. However non-invasive, all surgeries carry some amount of risk.

b) Physiological and medical side effects of the procedure which are for life e.g. malabsorption of nutrients, gastric dumping syndrome and more.

c) Access to life long postoperative followups.

d) Approximate cost involved, of not just the procedure, but also the postoperative care and followups.

Q 3. How does bariatric surgery make me lose weight?

There are many types of bariatric surgery and they aim to bring about weight loss in you by decreasing the amount of either-

a) food entering your gastrointestinal tract, or,

b) food absorbed in your gastrointestinal tract.

Q 4. What happens after the surgery? The good.

Yes, you lose weight. It not surprising considering your food intake and/or absorption, has been made to drop by a big percent. This loss in weight sees improvement in the symptoms of comorbidities like hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia etc. 

Q 5. What happens after the surgery? The uncomfy and the bad.

There are side effects for life and no one should tell you otherwise. The only thing is these side effects will vary depending on the type of surgery performed.

Lets take some of the side effects of of a common type of bariatric surgery called Gastric Restriction (where a portion of the stomach is surgically removed or stapled)-

Side effect 1: Since the procedure has made your stomach smaller than normal, you will feel full after eating even small quantities of food, with symptoms like nausea and vomiting. You can never eat even normal amounts of food in one sitting again.

Side effect 2: Your stomach produces HCl (Hydrocholoric acid), a germicidal agent, amongst other things. Removing a portion of your stomach surgically, reduces HCl production, thus lowering your stomach and small intestines resistance to bacterial action. Result? Increased risk of gastritis and bacterial overgrowth in your small intestine.

This apart, you have to definitely go for postoperative followups which involves appointments with your specialists and consultations with a dietitian (as you cannot eat the same food you did before the surgery and you definitely cannot eat anything that you feel like).

As I finish my narration on Bariatric Surgery to my captive audience, I normally leave them with an increased determination to lose weight the way its best suited for most-by eating mindfully. And, that was the idea to begin with.

If you liked this post, you might also like:

Whats A Size Zero? How To Be A Size Zero? The Myth. The Truth. The Stupidity. 

Weight Loss Friend Or Foe? How Does Your Plate Measure Up?

Weight Related Bullying and Bullycide 

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The Nutrition Omnibus and A Fistful of Nutrition ©Raksha Changappa. Contents of this blog post (excluding images) are the exclusive copyright and intellectual property (IP) of Raksha Changappa. This post is solely for knowledge and information of the reader. If you want to use the post contents, kindly do so by acknowledging the source, namely this blog and the author, via hyperlinks or credits. If not, no content will be copied, reproduced, republished, transmitted or distributed, in any form or means, including print and electronic media. Copyright and IP infringements will be taken seriously. For queries contact nutrewise@yahoo.com

Weight Loss Friend Or Foe? How Does Your Plate Measure Up?

We all have a favorite plate or thaali or khumcha. Big. Small. A robust steel or a pretty melamine. Even those who dont have a favorite, are habituated to eating out of a particular one. When it comes to controlling how much you eat, your plate can be a friend or a foe. Here`s how.

 
The Illusion

While serving ourselves food or while being served, we try to judge if the food on our plate is enough or not, visually. These visual calculations of sufficiency of plated food, or using our eyes to judge the amount of food on our plate, are always inaccurate. Our eyes can fool us. To elaborate, people tend to gauge the adequacy of the food on their plate, by how it looks in proportion to the rest of the plate. That is, if the plate size is big, they will go on serving themselves until the food amount on the plate looks adequate or proportionate, in comparison to the rest of the plate. In other words, bigger plate sizes make people over serve food and thus over eat. Which means more calories being consumed.

An Illustration

Imagine you were offered 100 g rice on two plates-one, a smaller, 10 inch diameter (width) plate and another a 12 inch diameter one. The same 100 g of rice will look more, visually, on the smaller 10 inch plate, making you feel like you have enough to eat. On the bigger 12 inch plate, the very same 100 g of rice will look less, making you feel like you need more and goading you into adding more rice, until you get a `visual-proportion match’ between your plate and the rice. Thus, your plate is powerful.

A Bit Of Mathematics

A mere increase of 2 inches in diameter between the 10 inch plate and the 12 inch plate translates into a increased area of 44% (do the math) i.e the 12 inch plate has 44% more surface area than the 10 inch one. You will thus eat 44% percent more esp if you have a tendency to completely fill your plate, with no spaces and eat it clean.

Make Your Plate, A Weight Loss Ally

So, how do you outwit your plate? Change over to a smaller one. A steel or melamine or vitrelle, round plate, 9” or 10” in diameter should be good. In the Indian market, steel plates or thaalis go upto a whopping 15” inch in diameter. Thats a lot of surface area! If you are fond of partitioned plates (plates which mimic a thaali and have partitions for putting rice, gravy and other foods), migrate to those with a smaller diameter and smaller partitions. Remember on migrating to a smaller plate, if you were to miss your fav’ big ol’ plate, dont try to make up for its absence by loading your new plate from rim to rim or by piling food high so that everything fits! If you dont want to change your plate size and yet want to exert portion control or you hate round plates, then its best you serve your food e.g. rice, dal/beans, gravy, vegetables into small bowls (or, katoris) instead of directly on your plate and then stick to the amounts you have in those bowls, by not going for a refill. This will also work if you are a man who thinks its sissy to give up your massive plate for a smaller one (but isnt compromising on ones health sissy?). So when you grab your plate today, look at it in a new light.

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The Nutrition Omnibus and A Fistful of Nutrition ©Raksha Changappa. Contents of this blog post (excluding images) are the exclusive copyright and intellectual property (IP) of Raksha Changappa. This post is solely for knowledge and information of the reader. If you want to use the post contents, kindly do so by acknowledging the source, namely this blog and the author, via hyperlinks or credits. If not, no content will be copied, reproduced, republished, transmitted or distributed, in any form or means, including print and electronic media. Copyright and IP infringements will be taken seriously. For queries contact nutrewise@yahoo.com