Hunger Genes

An informative look at recent Holistic Fitness News

DR KAPLAN'S WEEKLY NEWSLETTER

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Okay, everyone wants to be thin. To be fat is to be unhealthy, unattractive and even embarrassing to others. Well that is the fashion these days in the First World. In other times women with 'full bodies' were considered attractive and sexy and today's 'stick insects' did not exist.

So bad luck girls. You were born in the wrong century. If you want to feel attractive and sexy, you cannot also enjoy too much food! But hey, some girls (and boys) seem to stay thin without trying. Why?

'HUNGER GENES'

Modern genetics seems to have come up with an interesting answer. There are genes which predispose some of us to feeling more hungry than others. This explains why some people are fat from a very young age. Their genes make them feel more hungry more of the time. In other words some people are fatter than others, not because they are more greedy than the rest of us, but because they feel physically more hungry than most.

In a new book, The Hunger Gene, Prof. Ruppel Shell describes 200 genes that affect our appetite. So what can we do about this?

Here's my advice:

1. Forget diet pills. Although it's big business for some, they seldom work in the long term.
2. Exercise: good for your health and losing weight.
3. NB: Repeat this to yourself: "When I'm feeling hungry and I don't eat, I lose weight." This is the only sensible way to lose weight. When you reach a sensible weight, you then eat only when you are hungry.
4. If you restrict yourself to healthy foods which you eat slowly and with great relish only when you are really hungry, you will remain at a healthy weight. You can even 'pig out' every now and then on this sort of diet, as Dr Deana Jepson has described in Eat orgasmically and still lose weight which I've written about before in this column.

Homeopathic Tip of the Week

I'm starting to see a lot of colds and 'flu these days as the winter starts to bite. It's best to consult a homeopathic doctor but here are some general tips:

PREVENTION: Homeopathy can be used to strengthen your immune system in general but your Constitutional Remedy will need to be chosen for you, by a professional homeopath. Some vitamins and herbs have a reputation in preventing colds.

Vitamin C: 500mg to 1000mg a day of a good quality natural Vitamin C is useful as the body doesn't store this vitamin and many think that it boosts the immune system. Fizzy vitamin C drinks are an expensive way of taking Vitamin C but if you like fizzy drinks.

Echinacea: This is the fashionable herb for the immune system. Nothing much proven, but it doesn't do much harm to take some of it when 'there is a cold going round'. I take about 8 drops twice a day and reckon it works, but maybe for psychological reasons!

Dr Kaplan's personal website is: www.drkaplan.co.uk and his practice website is www.140harleystreet.co.uk and he can be contacted on (020) 7487 3416