From: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Newsgroups: sci.med
Subject: Re: Adiposity 101
Date: 5 Jan 93 15:42:55 GMT
Reply-To: geb@cs.pitt.edu (Gordon Banks)
Organization: Univ. of Pittsburgh Computer Science

In article <1992Dec29.024354.0201957@locus.com> yazz@locus.com (Bob Yazz) writes:
>
>| I don't know how to fix the metabolic processing (other
>| than by exercising more) of what's eaten, and neither do you.
>
>I won't presume I can pursuade you, but I DO know a few things about
>changing the metabolic processing.  And the "metabolic processing"
>stuff that Chuck talks a lot about in Adiposity 101 is, for me, the
>most interesting part.  Repartitioning agents, beta3-agonists, lipase
>inhibitors, and so on are all related to the metabolic processing side,
>not the eating side, of the equation.
>
So if you're so smart, why ain't you thin?  Sorry, I couldn't pass
that one by.  These are promising research topics, none of which
have yet had any substantial results reported.

>| And I never insisted that dieting was *the* solution
>| to obesity.
>
>If you say so then perhaps not, but I've certainly come away with that
>impression repeatedly -- even when possible future medical interventions
>are part of the discussion.
>
It's not my fault that you let your preconceived notions color what
you read.  I've never had any discussions about possible future
medical interventions in which I was negative about them, other
than saying they are future and thus only hypothetical.

>So Gordon, how do you feel about the various metabolic processing areas
>of research discussed in Adiposity 101?

Too broad to comment.  As I said, I think the pharmacologic approach
is promising.  I do not believe in the theory Chuck has that cycling
ruins the metabolism or that obese people are more efficient.  I think
that they are obese because they eat more than they burn.  Either
they are not exercising enough, or they are eating too much.  THis
is not a character flaw, but a brain flaw (although in conditions
of repeated famine, it would have survival potential, and so is
probably only a flaw in our current society).  I think the brain
in these people (such as myself) is set to eat more to ensure large
fat stores.  The best approach I can think of is to find out what
the regulatory substances are in the brain and either block (if
excitatory) or enhance (if inhibitory) these.  I know the most
about one person, me.  I can eat just about anyone under the table,
and in a couple of hours be ready to go again.  I think many, if
not most, obese, underestimate their intake.  Last week's NEJM
had an article that confirmed that.  

As to the Atkins Diet, as I said, I tried it, and was unable
to stay on it more than a month.  You do lose weight, but I
felt pretty punk and my exercise tolerance suffered.  After
a month I felt like puking at the thought of another steak.
I'd rather have a balanced diet and lose more slowly.

-- 
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Gordon Banks  N3JXP      | "I have given you an argument; I am not obliged
geb@cadre.dsl.pitt.edu   |  to supply you with an understanding." -S.Johnson
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Newsgroups: sci.med