Reprinted from the article: Keep the Weight Off!

Even if you have moved beyond restricting your intake of certain foods, it’s important to remain diligent about nutrition and balance, says Ann Kulze, MD, author of Eat Right for Life (Wellness Council of America, 2010). The key here is making sure you’re eating enough whole, unprocessed foods. Kulze emphasizes the importance of protein and fiber, because these foods quiet the “hunger-generating” hormones in your body.

“We think fiber is particularly important, especially over time, in regulating appetite, because it helps maintain insulin sensitivity, which is critical for maintaining the activity and function of the body’s chief appetite-quieting hormone, leptin,” says Kulze. Additionally, fiber helps prevent that glucose spike and fall that leads many people to overeat. Good sources of fiber include all beans, vegetables and fruits (especially berries), sweet peas, apples, pumpkin, cauliflower, spinach, asparagus, broccoli, carrots, Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, okra and squash.

“Protein is also essential, because it provides more prolonged satiety relative to carbs and fats,” Kulze adds. She recommends including at least 15 grams of lean protein with every meal, starting at breakfast. Some healthy protein choices include fish, shellfish, poultry, wild game, whole soy foods, eggs, nuts, seeds and Greek-style yogurt.

Michael Gerson, a reporter with the Washington Post, wrote about his challenges with his boring diet. Unfortunately, most people who diet approach it in the wrong manner. Michael is one of them.

Here's an interview that he did with NPR about his weight-loss program. He's on a "low-carb" diet. There-in lies one of the problems. People think in terms of low-fat or low-carb. I do not recommend that as the criteria. 

People also think, Eat Less, Exercise more is part of the plan. It's not. Eating less implies willpower and deprivation. While exercise is important, if you are eating fast-food or even at a fine restaurant, you cannot exercise off a 1,300-calorie meal. It would take about 2-hours. Good luck with that.

I can tell you this, if you are dieting and you still crave (and eat) French fries, mac and cheese, candy, junk food, soda, and other non-health promoting foods, you will fail. Frequently, I see people who have lost weight eating these types of foods.

If you are approaching a lifestyle change properly, you will identify food that tastes great and has health benefits. It's not that difficult.

However, most people are addicted to the American food system. You must be willing to leave the Western diet. It can be done. Millions have done it. However, many millions more have not.

Otis Brawley, M.D., is the American Cancer Society's chief medical and scientific officer. He spoke eloquently about how the health system doesn't provide incentives for the best care, pointing out that the "system isn't failing; failure is the system."

One of his initial statements: "The second leading cause of cancer is the combination of very little physical activity, bad diet, which usually means high caloric intake, and obesity."

You can watch his entire presentation here.

The American food supply, we've come to realize, is really a disaster. 
– Dr. Walter Willett (Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy)

Advertising Age asked that question. Interesting. That's the first time I have heard that comparison. It's a powerful visual. Let the war on junk food begin!

When Dr. Marion Nestle speaks, I listen. In this excellent interview, she discusses a broad range of issues about the food we eat. She's one of the few people who dismisses High Fructose Corn Syrup as evil. It doesn't matter where the sugar comes from, in excess, it's not good for us.

Dr. Kessler (The End of Overeating) and Eric Schlosser (Fast Food Nation) hit home runs while describing the problem with our food system.

After I studied the American food system, which basically causes a tremendous amount of disease, I changed my lifestyle. I was so mad at the American food system that the original title of my book was: The Pissed-Off Diet. In retrospect, I should have kept that title.

Sad, but true, most, not all, people are addicted to the American food system. 

It's an interesting video. However, my bias is toward lifestyle changes and not the use of statins.

It's a fascinating story. Watch the video below.