Obesity, Overweight, Fat pregnancy Risks Low IQ Baby

Despite the headlines health and nutrition consultant and fertility expert from Foods for Life, Yvonne Bishop-Weston in Harley Street London said today "It's fine for mothers to eat for two if they eat whole food rather than half food. If mother's focus on a diet rich in low GL plant foods such as vegetables, beans, fuit, berries, nuts and seeds, it's much harder to overeat and much easier to get a full complement of the fibre, vitamins, minerals, amino acids, omega 3 essential fatty acids and anti oxidants to ensure the optimum health of mother and baby. There's no maternal nutritional need in a coffee and a doughnut, your body will likely crave another in half an hour, not because "baby wants one" but because your body's requirements for nutrients are still unfulfilled"

From Daily Telegraph

Research, published in international journal Obesity Reviews, examined findings from across across the world on the impact of maternal weight on child development.

One study found that every increased unit in the pregnant woman's Body Mass Index (BMI) - calculated as her weight in kilograms divided by the square of her height in metres - was associated with a "significantly" reduced IQ in the child.

Overall, the average IQ of children of obese mothers was five points lower than those born to mothers of healthy weight, according to the study, one of 12 examined by researchers in psychiatry and behavioural neuroscience from McMaster University, in Ontario Canada.

Research from Sweden found children born of overweight mothers were more likely to suffer from attention deficit problems, while findings from Japan found every extra BMI point added in early pregnancy increased the offspring's chance of developing schizophrenia in adulthood by 24 per cent.

A study of Australian teenagers suggested their chance of having an eating disorder increased by 11 per cent for every extra BMI point gained by their mothers during the pregnancy.

Research has found that one in six women in this country are obese by the time they are three months into pregnancy - a proportion which has more than doubled in two decades, amid an obesity epidemic.

A study, led by Teeside University, found massive variations in levels of obesity among expectant mothers cross the country. In London, 13 per cent of mothers-to-be were obese, while in the West Midlands, the figure was 22 per cent. The study suggested more than 100,000 babies a year were at risk of dying or suffering serious problems because of the risks from obesity, which puts a woman's body under extra strain, when it is working to nurture new life.

Obesity in pregnancy increases the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, blood clots, miscarriages and still-births, while layers of fat can mean serious defects can be missed in scans.

Earlier this year, a study found that rates of foetal and infant death are twice as high among those born to obese mothers.The study found that 16 in 1,000 babies suffered fetal or infant death if their mothers had a BMI greater than 30 in early pregnancy, compared with 9 deaths per 1,000 babies among those with a healthy BMI.

Big babies - those weighing more than 10 lbs - are around twice as likely as other babies to end up obese as adults.

Separate studies have found increased dangers of developmental problems like spina bifida and neural tube defects in infants of obese mothers.

Jane Munro, from the Royal College of Midwives, said more research was needed to establish whether the apparent risks highlighted in the latest study were a direct result of maternal obesity.She said: "There are some clear risks from obesity that we already know about- hypertension, pre-eclampsia, larger babies, an increased risk of having a baby born by Caesarean section, and that the child is more likely to become obese. "

Nutritionist London Yvonne Bishop-Weston said "Most of the headlines are focused on too many calories, the dangers of eating for two. Whats more important is eating whole food rather than half food. It's far easier to overeat on food that has vital nutrients refined, processed and bred out of it for the sake of a longer shelf life. So much of the food that is ubiquitously available has little or no positive nutritional benefit to offer us. Mothers and babies in particular need omega 3 essential fats not highly processed vegetable and saturated animal fats. Eating processed fats, saturated animal fats and too much omega 6 found in meat and products with sunflower oil will make it much harder for the mother to process essential omega 3 fats into the DHA fats needed to build baby's brain, heart, eyes and other vital organs."

Diabetes epidemic affecting 350m

Diabetes epidemic affecting 350m – and western fast food is to blame | Society | The Observer: "More than 350 million people in the world now have diabetes"

Nutritionist and Health Consultant in London Yvonne Bishop-Weston from Foods for Life said

"I don't mean to be cynical but this sudden media interest in Diabetes does sound like the start of a global PR campaign and I wouldn't be at all surprised if next month we hear there is a new wonder drug for sale"

"Type 2 diabetes can be quite efficiently controlled by diet, and in a number of recent studies Diabetic symptoms have been reversed, just through a high fibre, low fat , low GL plant based Plantarian or healthy vegan diet"

The article in the Guardian reveals

"Diabetes is one of the biggest causes of mortality worldwide, and our study has shown that it is becoming more common almost everywhere. It is set to become the single largest burden on world health care systems," one of the study's main authors, Professor Majid Ezzati, of Imperial College London, told the Observer. "Many nations are going to find it very difficult to cope with the consequences."

This point was backed by Martin Tobias of the ministry of health in New Zealand in an accompanying editorial for the Lancet. As he states, there is "no worldwide surveillance network for diabetes, as there is for communicable diseases such as influenza". Given the inexorable rise in case numbers that is now occurring, there was now "an urgent need" to establish proper monitoring of the disease, he added.

The study – funded by the World Health Organisation and the Gates Foundation – analysed blood from 2.7 million participants aged 25 and over from across the world over a three-year period. Doctors measured levels of glucose in their blood after they had fasted for 12 to 14 hours – blood sugar rises after a meal.

Changes in Specific Dietary Factors May Have Big Impact on Long-Term Weight Gain - June 22, 2011 -2011 Releases - Press Releases - Harvard School of Public Health

Changes in Specific Dietary Factors May Have Big Impact on Long-Term Weight Gain - June 22, 2011 -2011 Releases - Press Releases - Harvard School of Public Health:

In a series of three separate studies looking at how changes in multiple dietary and other lifestyle factors relate to long-term weight gain, Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers found that modest changes in specific foods and beverages, physical activity, TV-watching, and sleep duration were strongly linked with long-term weight gain. Changes in diet, in particular, had the strongest associations with differences in weight gain.

London Nutritionist from Foods for Life Nutrition and Health Consultancy Yvonne Bishop-Weston said today

"It's marvelous to finally see another piece of solid research to add more scientific weight to what nutritionists have known for years but can't prove because we can't afford a double blind placebo trial of thousands of people and then subject it to meta analysis. We know because we see dramatic results in our clinics where others have failed. There needs to be more scientific study and solid research on preventative medicine to silence the whinging critics of the quackology obscessed Dr Do-Littles.

The status quo of over-simplistic rhetoric of calories in = calories out isn't even bio-chemically logical. Of course 100kcal of vegetables full of vitamins, minerals, fibre, protein, antioxidants and essential fats is going to have a different consequence on the body than 100kcal of doughnut or chips fried in partially hydrogenated trans fat. It's not rocket science, it's common sense - that's sadly something lacking in some of the high profile media vigilante nutritionist bashers.

The study appears in the June 23, 2011, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. Read the study.

"For example, the foods associated with the greatest weight gain over the 20-year study period included potato chips (for each one increased daily serving, +1.69 lb more weight gain every 4 years), other potatoes (1.28 lb), sugar-sweetened beverages (1.00 lb), unprocessed meats (0.95 lb), and processed meats (0.93 lb). Of note, several foods associated with less weight gain when their consumption was actually increased, including vegetables (−0.22 lb), whole grains (−0.37 lb), fruits (−0.49 lb), nuts (−0.57 lb) and yogurt (−0.82 lb). Evaluating all changes in diet together, participants in the lower 20% of dietary changes gained nearly 4 lbs more each 4 years than those in the top 20% —an amount equivalent to the average weight gain in the population overall.

For diet, focusing only on total calories may not be the most useful way to consume fewer calories than one expends, say the researchers. Other yardsticks, such as content of total fat, energy density, or sugars, could also be misleading. Rather, they found that eating more healthful foods and beverages—focusing on overall dietary quality—was most important.

The most useful dietary metrics for preventing long-term weight gain appeared to be:

Focus on improving carbohydrate quality by eating less liquid sugars (e.g. soda) and other sweets, as well as fewer starches (e.g. potatoes) and refined grains (e.g. white bread, white rice, breakfast cereals low in fiber, other refined carbohydrates).
Focus on eating more minimally processed foods (e.g. fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, yogurt) and fewer highly processed foods (e.g. white breads, processed meats, sugary beverages).

We look forward to more studies like this such as PCRM Research on Nutrition

What The World Eats - Shocking Photos

What The World Eats - Shocking Photos: Very interesting look in photos at typical weekly shopping for families around the world

These images are from the book 'Hungry Planet: What the World Eats' by Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluision. It's an inspired idea, to better understand the human diet, explore what culturally diverse families eat for a week. Their portraits feature pictures of each family with a week's worth of food purchases. We soon learn that diet is determined by largely uncontrollable forces like poverty, conflict and globalization, which can bring change with startling speed. Thus cultures can move, sometimes in a single jump, from traditional diets to the vexed plenty of global-food production. People have more to eat and, too often, eat more of nutritionally questionable food. And their health suffers.

Experts vote Vegan Diet Best for Diabetes

Complete Book of Vegan Cooking

A panel of 22 health experts including Doctors, registered nutritionists and specialists in diabetes, heart health, human behavior, and weight loss, reviewed detailed assessments prepared by U.S. News of 20 diets. The experts rated each diet in seven categories, including short- and long-term weight loss, ease of compliance, safety, and nutrition.

A vegan diet was voted as joint second in US News Rankings Best Diets section for Diabetes.

Presumably it fell short of first place due to compliance, despite the science, people are hooked on meat and addictive fatty cheese and are yet to discover the delicious alternatives.

Vegan Cookbook - Vegan Diets

British Heart Foundation Phoney Diet

The British Heart Foundation have lashed out at a diet claiming to be a BHF diet. Some might say a bit rich considering the fairly non-committal dietary advice usually dished out by BHF , but this fake BHF diet is particularly bad and includes items that even the UK govt warns against eating.

BHF senior heart health dietitian, Victoria Taylor, said:

“Apart from being wholly unappetising with the likes of two frankfurters with a cup of cabbage and half a cup of carrots for a meal, this ( bogus BHF ) diet is so restrictive in terms of the range and quantity of food that it lacks a number of nutrients we need to stay healthy.

“The lack of fibre means followers could develop constipation while long-term use could also leave you deficient in calcium and iron, which can result in fragile bones and teeth and feeling constantly tired and lethargic if left unchecked.

“Most people are likely to lose largely water and some muscle, rather than the fat they really want to shed on this kind of crash diet. Over time, the muscle loss can be bad news as it means that the rate your body burns calories, whether active or resting, can actually slow down – the last thing dieters want.

Yvonne Bishop-Weston Leading UK Nutritionist and Health Consultant claims the trouble is most dieters suddenly reach a crisis point and want quick fix solutions and don't dare think about the consequences.

Yvonne says;

"Most diet products are trying to tie you in for ever in a catch 22 situation of carry on or gain weight again.

"Vary rarely is there any scientific basis for these diets, or if there is it is short term and completely forgetting that it defies the individual body's inbuilt natural instincts and can often increase risks of chronic diseases"

"Low Fat products are often full of cheap sugar or artificial sweeteners, Low Carb products are often full of cheap fat and devoid of natural soluble fibre, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants."

The Dukan diet tries to skip round the failings of The Atkins diet with spoonfuls of oatbran (hmm.. Yum Yum) but still fails to reach the eight a day portions of fruit and vegetables shown in a recent major study by Oxford University that you need to dramatically reduce the fatal risks of heart disease."

It seems the best way of achieving a long term solution for a weight loss diet that is sustainable, practical and healthy is to visit a qualified, experienced, competent nutritionist who can work out exactly what your body needs to be optimally fit and healthy and how to fit that into your normal busy working schedule.

The harsh truth there is no simple, easy, yet to be discovered, quick fix solution to years of nutritional abuse of your body, if it sounds too good to be true, that's because it is. Your body needs real food, complete food, natural food, not the latest patented gimmicks. You also need to exercise to build muscle and yes that requires protein but not the sort of protein that is processed and comes free with spoonfuls of saturated animal fat and dietary cholesterol. Most importantly you need to deal with stress and the effects of stress on your hormones and immune system a positive outlook and motivation is the first hurdle to sustained weight-loss" warns Yvonne

To book an appointment with top UK nutritionists visit Nutritionist London, Nutritionist Hampshire

Vitamins and Minerals under Attack

Most 'wasting money on health supplements' finds NHS report - Telegraph

Be prepared to see much more of this!

The government should be be very wary about joining the pharmaceutical industry lobbiests led hypocritical war on nutritionists, supplements and herbal remedies whilst they sit by and do relatively nothing to quell the nations dependency on nutrient depleted processed foods. They clearly think people are stupid, and will trust an institution that condones catering by Burger King in Hospitals and spends an annual fortune on laxatives over and above personal recommendation and succesful personal experience. One look at hospital food is enough to verify the extent of the NHS practical expertise and competance in the field of applied nutrition.

This phoney criticism of the dangers of vitamins, minerals anti-oxidants and essential fats will eventually backfire on the perpetrators of this media onslaught as eventually, enevitably someone will ask the question of how it is that so many ineffective and detrimental drugs end up costing the taxpayer so much money for so little relief whilst so many people have experience of simple, practical and far more effective nutritional solutions to their health problems.

It's no wonder Pharmaceutical companies are running scared and on the offensive, Doctors are increasingly in charge of their own budgets so are now far less likely to be swayed by all expenses paid foreign trips and new computers in exchange for recommending expensive designer solutions for erectile dysfunction when all their patients really need are more fruit and vegetables in their diet.

Nutritionists are having the tools of their trade taken away, gagged from talking in public about what they do, have goal posts moved every few months, yet still they continue to win patient hearts on merit and by recommendation because they get practical results for so many patients who have previously only experienced failure.

Be scared big pharma, be very very scared, your lies, hypocrisy and political skuldugery are leaving the public ever distrustful of your commitment to public health and seeing your motives exposed as pure naked greed for power and money at any cost.