Low Calorie Diet

If you've tried everything and still haven't had much success losing weight, it may be time for the latest, greatest idea from scientists who study weight loss. Drink two cups of water before meals. That's the recommendation from researchers presenting a study Monday at the annual meeting of the American Chemical Society . Drinking water before meals to limit food intake is not a new idea. However, researchers from Virginia Tech said the study is the first randomized, controlled trial to see if the water strategy works.

Three medical authorities Tuesday questioned the usefulness and safety of "very low-calorie" diet formulas produced by Los Angeles-based Herbalife International as a Senate subcommittee opened hearings into widely used weight-reduction products. Drs. Xavier Pi-Sunyer, a New York weight specialist, and Varro L.

As Americans feasted on plates of Thanksgiving turkey Thursday, U.S. scientists reported they have made progress in understanding how eating less leads to longer life. Studies in rodents, yeast and other organisms have found that drastically cutting calories extends life span, and researchers are striving to find out how that happens. The hope is that drugs may mimic that effect in humans, without making them eat less.

The secret to a very long life may have nothing to do with what you eat, how much exercise you get, or whether you smoke or drink. It may be because you got lucky with your gene pool, a study suggests. Researchers surveyed 477 Ashkenazi Jews who were 95 and older about their lifestyle habits (the participants were actually interviewed at age 70, but researchers figured their habits were already pretty entrenched). That information was compared with surveys from 3,164 people from the general population who were born around the same time as the 95-and-uppers.

As a nation, we are obviously getting fatter and fatter. Not only are we ever more confused about how to lose weight, we're particularly fuzzy on the question of how big a role exercise plays and whether we just have to count calories. So, here's the deal. Yes, you can count calories or weigh yourself every day. If your weight is up today compared with yesterday, you ate more calories than you burned. If it's less, you burned more than you ate -- provided you didn't drink gallons of liquid the day before, which could throw the scale off. It comes down to simple arithmetic, and you've heard it before: Calories in, calories out. You will absolutely, inevitably, sadly, this-could-not-be-clearer gain weight if you eat more calories than you expend in basic metabolism -- breathing, digesting, sleeping, etc. -- plus whatever else you do, such as chasing the kids, walking, vacuuming or going to the gym. But most of us can't, or won't, do the math, probably because it's so depressing.

A Santa Barbara County medical examiner Friday ruled out natural causes as the source of the massive heart attack that killed a 15-year-old Fillmore girl, and is seeking further tests to determine if an over-the-counter energy booster played a role. Rosanna Porras, the Fillmore High School class president who collapsed on the soccer field last week and died three days later, had ingested an herbal supplement called Ripped Fuel in the days before her death.

Orlistat, a weight-loss drug that partially inhibits the body's uptake of dietary fat, is moderately useful for losing weight, according to Swedish researchers. Dr. Lars Sjostrom and his colleagues at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Goteborg studied 688 obese patients who were placed on a low-calorie diet for four weeks, then given either orlistat or a placebo in conjunction with the low-calorie diet for a year.

Promoters of weight-reduction products, including those of Los Angeles-based Herbalife International, often make exaggerated claims for pills and powders that can pose serious health hazards, Senate investigators have concluded. In a study to be released this morning, the staff of the Senate Governmental Affairs permanent investigations subcommittee says that four deaths since last November have been associated with Herbalife products.

Researchers have been looking at the ways lifestyle affects Type 2 diabetes. Here's what they've found: What: In 2002, the National Institutes of Health published results from the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program study in the New England Journal of Medicine. In the trial, 3,234 overweight people at risk of developing Type 2 diabetes were split into three groups to test whether lifestyle changes or the drug metformin could prevent the onset of diabetes. ? Group 1 received extensive training in diet and exercise, with goals of exercising 150 minutes per week and losing and keeping off 7% of their body weight.

Blue Ivy's mom, Beyoncé, is opening up about motherhood, her struggle to lose her baby weight, and specifically, the example she wants to set for her daughter. "I just adore being a mother, hearing her say 'Mama' and call me when she needs something, it makes me feel like I have a real purpose here," the singer said in the April issue of Shape magazine, whose cover she graces. I enjoy all the things people warned me would be tough to handle. " Queen Bey is already a role model to millions of women and proved her star power with her powerhouse performance at this year's Super Bowl.