Research Article: Yet Another Fad Diet ‘WebMD had an article about a new fad diet, the Morning Banana Diet and its popularity. In fact itis so popular in Japan that there is a banana shortage. For the diet, you eat bananas and drink lukewarm water for breakfast and nothing else. Then you can eat anything you want for lunch and dinner. No eating after 8:00 PM. There is no exercise required. ‘This reminds me so much of all of the fad diets that I have been on. Eat a magic food, followed by eating anything you want and no exercise, how prefect is that? Remember the grapefruit diet, the cabbage soup diet and the pineapple diet? Could there be a magic food such as bananas that holds the key to weight loss success? The answer sno. Yet I would blindly follow those diets, lose weight and then eventually regain the weight and more We are the product of calories in versus calories used, plain and simple. I know that, but when I heard about this diet, was intrigued. Itis so easy to fall into old patterns. If you do want to read the article, I ope it is only for amusement and not because you want to follow the diet. ‘At any rate, you can find it here:_ http:/iwww.web ci jing-bar iat 2ec din 1 “Reprinted from Barbara Thompson's free e-newsletter featuring helpful information and research material to help ‘patients succeed following weight loss surgery. Subscribe at http:/swn, barbarathompsonnewsleter.com ” ae Excuse Me, Is That Seat Taken? - How grateful would you feel if you were disabled by your weight and allowed to have a free second seat when you flew on an airplane? But say you are of normal, weight or at least not disabled by your morbid obesity; would you be resentful having to pay a little bit every time you flew to support that extra seat? Or what if you were flying standby and that extra empty seat given to the person who is disabled by weight would be your seat home? That is what the debate was on Fox and Friends this past Tuesday. The Canadian Government has ruled that the Canadian airlines must give those who are so large they are disabled by their weight an extra seat. It is an issue that will be hotly debated. I was asked by the news program Fox and Friends to appear on network TV and debate the side in favor of the extra seat. Debating me was Kate Hanni of the Coalition for a Passenger Bill of Rights. ‘Acdisability caused by weight is as valid as any other disability. And we as a society have chosen to help the disabled and hopefully not look at them with judgment or disgust. Read the article cited below about the ruling and let me know your thoughts. For a link to the article, go to http://www.canada.com/theprovince/story. html ?id=977633 “Reprinted from Barbara Thompson's free e-newsletter featuring helpful information and research material to help ‘patients succeed following weight loss surgery. Subscribe at http://www.barbarathompsonnewsletter.com Dr. Laura Riley of the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston reported that she often sees women who are morbidly obese and want to start a family. They say they will lose weight so their pregnancy will be healthier, but never do and just come back pregnant and still morbidly obese Obese women have a higher rate of complications than women of normal weight. With this data, she recommends to them that they have weight loss surgery first, lose 100 pounds and then get pregnant. The report says that 2 areas of concern remain. The first is how effective oral contraceptives are after weight loss surgery because of uaknown absorption. The second is how long patients should wait after surgery before getting pregnant. The consensus still seems to be to wait approximately a year. For the Nov. 20", 2008 New York Times article, go to: htp:/Avww.nytimes,com/2008/1 1/20/health/research/20bariatric.html?_r=1L&Sbr=&pagewanted=print “Reprinted from Barbara Thompson's free e-newsleter featuring helpful information and research material fo help patients succeed following weight loss surgery. Subscribe at http://eww.barbarathompsonnenslettercom ” Page 4 Research Article: Pregnancy Following Surgery ‘Women often write to me wondering, 'If I have weight loss surgery, ‘will I be able to have children?” The answer is a resounding, “Yes.” ‘Areview of 75 studies has concluded that women who have had weight loss surgery have very low O rates of complications and deliver very healthier babies.