Heaviest man eyes slimming record
Thursday, 31 July 2008
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By Duncan Kennedy
BBC News, Mexico
Losing 185kg (29 stones) in body weight might seem like an extreme way to get into the record books.
But that is what Manuel Uribe from Monterrey, Northern Mexico, has done.
Manuel says reading The Bible has encouraged him during his diet
Now the world’s heaviest man is on track to become the planet’s most successful slimmer.
Put another way, his weight loss in one year is the equivalent of shedding two fully grown adult males from his body.
Manuel is already in the latest edition of the Guinness World Records as the heaviest living person.
That’s because, not long ago he weighed 560kg (88 stones), or half a tonne.
Supervised diet
Supersized by nature, he has now downsized through diet and willpower.
A demonstration of how much weight Manuel Uribe lost
And that will put him in the record books again.
“Look at my face,” he says. “I have lost a lot.”
Manuel puts it all down to something called the Zone Diet.
The diet, supervised by a team of scientists and nutritionists, consists of a strict formula of carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
It’s about controlling hormone levels in the body, particularly insulin and glucagons.
Those behind the diet say that when these are at the correct levels through the right intake of food, anti inflammatory chemicals are released to keep the body’s weight in check.
They say the body then uses its stored fat for energy, thereby causing weight loss.
Manuel cannot leave his reinforced bed
“Life is good now because food is medicine,” said Manuel. “If you have the right food your body gets what it needs. If I can lose weight, anyone can.”
Manuel certainly doesn’t starve himself to achieve his weight loss.
He eats roughly five times a day.
His lunch was a plate of chicken cooked in olive oil with broccoli, tomatoes and slices of raw red pepper.
Mother ‘proud’
He can eat fish, chicken, some meat, many types of fruit and pretty much any vegetables, but all in strictly controlled portions called ‘blocks’.
He is even allowed one fizzy drink a day - sugar-free, of course.
“He likes his food,” said his mother, Otilia. “But I am very proud for what he has achieved in the past year.”
The Zone Diet is controversial.
Manuel’s mother says she is proud of her son’s achievement
The American Heart Association doesn’t recommend diets high in proteins. It also says there is not enough evidence about the long-term effects of being on the diet.
The Zone Diet’s backers say they have a lot of evidence to prove it is safe and that it is not ‘high protein’, as such.
They say that the amount of protein a person absorbs depends on their height and build. They say that goes for carbohydrate and fat intake as well.
Manuel’s weight problems are partly genetic, partly down to overeating.
His scale of morbid obesity puts him in the top half of one percent of overweight people.
Extreme case
Dr Roberto Rumbaut, a surgeon in Mexico who specialises in obesity, puts Manuel’s case in perspective.
“Manuel Uribe is an extreme case,” he said. “Where the obesity crisis lies is in people who are 13 to 31kg (30 to 70lb) overweight.”
Dr Rumbaut said there were 1.6 billion overweight people in the world, of which about 450 million are obese, according to figures from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Dr Roberto Rumbaut says obesity puts pressure on health services
“It’s these people who are putting pressure on health services everywhere,” he said.
Dr Rumbaut says it’s not just diet that will resolve what has been called the world’s “globesity” problem.
“It’s the old fashioned stuff like exercise and lifestyle changes,” he said.
Back at the house, Manuel sits on the reinforced steel bed that he has not left in six years.
Next to it is a massage machine that he uses to draw the circulation along his limbs. His only movement is to use his hips to swing himself from the lying down position to sitting upright.
New girlfriend
It is a dream of his to walk.
It’s a dream shared by his new girlfriend, Claudia, who has helped to wash, feed and encourage him through this last year or so of dramatic weight loss.
“We are very happy for the effort he has been making recently,” she said.
“Sometimes he is sad and cries because he cannot get off his bed. But he is an example for other obese people to move forward. As he says: ‘If I can, you can’.”
Manuel’s girlfriend, Claudia, has encouraged him
Alongside his copy of the Guinness World Records lies another text, The Bible.
“I have Claudia, my mother and God to thank,” said Manuel. “I am happy.”
Still larger than life, but now, the incredible, shrinking, Manuel Uribe.
______________________________________________http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7510018.stm - the full article and a video can be found at this link
60 Minutes
Sunday, April 20, 2008
The Bypass Effect: Stopping Diabetes?
Gastric bypass surgery has long been an effective weapon in the battle against obesity, but could it also force type 2 diabetes into almost instant remission? If so, why aren’t more people eligible for the operation? Lesley Stahl went looking for answers.
http://60minutes.yahoo.com/segment/160/the_bypass_effect
This link will take you to 60 minutes where you can read the article and view several videos about the research. It’s a fascinating & informative look at the connections between diabetes & weightloss surgery!
Dr. Rumbaut - Testimonios (Español)
Parte 1:
Parte 2:
http://www.gastricband.com/blog/?p=24 - English Testimonies
Dr. Rumbaut - Testimonies
Part 1:
Part 2:
http://www.gastricband.com/blog/?p=25 - Spanish Testimonies
Platinum Television Program
Dr. Rumbaut in the news…
Mexico Builds Hospitals to Lure Medical Tourists From America
By [bn:PRSN=1] Thomas Black []
March 27 (Bloomberg) — The only way Bridget Flanagan, a 21-year-old college student from Olympia, Washington, could afford the obesity surgery she needed was to go to Mexico. Her health insurance didn’t cover the treatment.
Traveling 2,000 miles for gastric banding surgery at Hospital San Jose in Monterrey, Mexico, saved her $6,600, making it affordable. The procedure was a success, allowing five-foot- tall Bridget to drop 45 pounds so far off her peak weight of 275.
Health-care companies and investors see a new market in patients like Flanagan. Tecnologico de Monterrey, the private university that owns San Jose Hospital, plans a $100 million medical center in Monterrey. Continue Reading »
Study: Gastric band works better than 500-calorie diet
By Nanci Hellmich, USA TODAY
Adjustable gastric banding is much more effective long-term than a very low-calorie diet for people who are about 50 pounds overweight, a study shows.
Medical guidelines support this surgical procedure — which puts a band around the top of stomach to create a feeling of fullness — in patients who are extremely obese, about 100 or more pounds over a healthy weight, or those who are almost as overweight and have serious medical conditions, such as type 2 diabetes.
Researchers at Monash University Medical School in Melbourne, Australia, recruited 80 patients who were on average 52 pounds over a healthy weight. Half had the laparoscopic adjustable gastric band surgery.
The other half followed a medical program that included a variety of strategies such as a very-low-calorie diet (500 calories a day) with liquid meal replacements, prescription weight-loss medication and behavioral therapies.
Findings in today’s Annals of Internal Medicine: Continue Reading »
Sweet Potato & Red Pepper Soup
- 2 red bell peppers - seeded & chopped
- heaping 4 cups diced sweet potatoes
- 1 onion - chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves - chopped
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
- hot-pepper sauce, salt, & pepper to taste
Put the sweet potatoes, red peppers, onions, garlic, and broth into a large pot. Bring to a boil. Lower the heat & let it simmer until all the vegetables are soft - about 30 minutes.
Once the soup is finished put it in a food processer, a blender, or use a stick blender & completely Continue Reading »
Gastric Lap-Band Surgery Can Send Diabetes Into Remission
TUESDAY, Jan. 22 (HealthDay News) — New research suggests that gastric lap-band surgery isn’t only for the most obese; it can also combat diabetes in people who aren’t severely fat.
Still, the surgery is extremely expensive and carries risks. However, the findings show promise for people with diabetes who need alternative ways to shed pounds, said study author John Dixon, a obesity researcher at
“It doesn’t seem to matter how you lose it,”
Gastric weight-loss surgery has rapidly grown in popularity in the
Meanwhile, cases of diabetes continue to skyrocket as Americans get heavier and heavier.
Previous studies have shown that gastric-bypass operations can reduce the incidence of diabetes in patients,
Dementia
Another reason to get rid of the belly fat: Dementia
Thursday, March 27, 2008
(03-26) 13:02 PDT SAN FRANCISCO — Middle-aged people with excess visceral fat - usually apparent in the thick waist or pot belly of an apple-shaped body - are nearly three times more likely to suffer from dementia in their 70s and 80s than people with little to no belly fat, according to a study of Kaiser Permanente patients. Researchers have long connected obesity, diabetes and heart disease to dementia. The new study - published today in Neurology, the journal of the American Academy of Neurology - suggests that the effect of fat on the body is more complicated than just a number on a scale. “People need to think not just about weight, but where they carry their weight,” said Rachel Whitmer, a research scientist at Kaiser’s Division of Research in Oakland and lead author of the study. “They need to know if they’re apples or pears.” People with pear-shaped bodies tend to carry most of their weight below the waist, in the hips, buttocks and thighs. People with apple-shaped bodies are at greater risk of Continue Reading »