Weight Loss Wisdom: Hormonal Balance by Marilyn Green Exercise plays an average 25% role in weight loss, with food supplying 75% of the results. However, with maintenance exercise has a much more essential influence. n Hormonal Balance Atlanta, GA-based Dr. Scott Isaacs states that balancing your hormones will bring additional energy, deep, restful, rejuvenating sleep, a sharp mind and elevated mood … and a lean body. Dr. Isaacs came to weight loss issues when he was being educated as an endocrinologist. “Obesity and metabolism were big parts of my training,” he said. “ But what they taught us were the problems they produce, not how to deal with it. I was frustrated and took it upon myself to look into this. I joined some associations and with Health Management Resources and the programs for weight loss, in the clinic, by telephone and self directed with a manual. I’d have to say that it has been most gratifying to help people overcome obesity, seeing them return to health and stop taking so many medications. When I see them before and after weight loss, they are completely different people. “One of the reasons people fail to keep weight off, according to Dr. Isaacs, is that they may have been willing to endure hunger during the weight loss process, but the prospect of being miserably hungry lifelong is too much to contemplate.” Judy lost 90 pounds on HMR Healthy Solutions Program (testimonial) The best decision I made in 2005 was to attend the orientation class at Intelligent Health Center and start Healthy Solutions! Since May 18, 2005 I have lost 77 pounds. It has been the best thing I have done for myself, health-wise in my entire life. My blood pressure was elevated and I weighed 242 ½ pounds, the most I had ever weighed in 54 years! At the beginning I went on blood pressure medicine but because of my weight loss and exercise regimen, my Primary Care doctor has taken me off the medicine completely. She said I was a walking testimony that eating right and exercise can make a big difference in your blood pressure. Dr. Isaacs and the staff at IHC have been so supportive and informative in this process. I am changing my lifestyle and with their help each eek, I understand why it is necessary to make those changes. I like the disciplined approach in Healthy Solutions. Keeping a food journal and keeping up with calories earned in physical activity will be a part of my life from now on. The accountability of the program, the support of family, fellow classmates and staff and the knowledge that I am doing the best thing I can do for myself makes this an exciting new year to look forward to! Scott Isaacs, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.E. Medical Director, Intelligent Health Center Clinical Instructor of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine 775 Johnson Ferry Road Atlanta, GA 30342 voice (404) 531-0350 fax (404) 531-4095 www.intelligenthealthcenter.com At Intelligent Health Center, our mission is to provide superior medical care in the fields of endocrinology, diabetes, metabolism, nutrition and weight loss with a focus on improving overall health and wellbeing. Our multidisciplinary team endeavors to understand and treat the whole person with the most up-to-date and proven medical and nutritional practices. We recognize the challenges faced by our patients and are committed to giving care with integrity, compassion and respect. “A lot of people are very quick to want to take a pill,” he added. “So much can be treated with a healthy, balanced diet and exercise.” Exercise, he says, plays an average 25% role in weight loss, with food supplying 75% of the results. However, with maintenance exercise has a much more essential influence. “Taking off weight and not being able to keep it off is not a successful diet or food plan,” he stated. “To keep it off the hormones need to be balanced and that means permanent lifestyle changes. The National Weight Control, Registry tracks people who have lost weight and, generally speaking, people who keep the weight off for two years are likely to keep it off in the long run.” One of the reasons people fail to keep weight off, according to Dr. Isaacs, is that they may have been willing to endure hunger during the weight loss process, but the prospect of being miserably hungry lifelong is too much to contemplate. “You really can’t be hungry and hope to lose weight permanently,” he said. “You have to eat large quantities of fruit and vegetables to keep the comfort of healthy fullness.” By large quantities he means large quantities. “I encourage you to consume at least five servings of vegetables and five servings of fruits each day,” he says. “I consider these numbers minimums.” He adds that people should eat fresh vegetables and fruits, although frozen or canned fruit in unsweetened juices are acceptable. “Where hormones are concerned,” he adds, “You are what you eat.” His book, which examines a different hormone in each chapter, includes practical advice on diet and even a full diet plan. Since hormones are central to health and weight loss, what about post-menopausal women? Dr. Isaacs says first that you have to determine what is normal. “It’s not really considered normal now for a 60-year-old woman to have hormonal levels like those of a 20-year-old,” he added. “Everyone is different, but most specialists now use hormones only to get the patient through menopause and for the shortest length of time and the lightest possible dosage, given the health risks, which include heart attack and breast cancer. There are other medications even for excessive bone loss.” The current epidemic of obesity, he says, has spread worldwide, with the U.S. unfortunately the leader, due to a combination of a high calorie culture heavily involved with sugar and fat and with huge food portions the standard and still growing. The other significant factor is a sharp drop in what is considered normal exercise, with the norm formerly at least six to eight hours a week and now often not even an hour. “The gene pool hasn’t changed,” he added, “and we are seeing these problems arise in Europe and Asia with the influx of American culture and fast food, and with the first American born generation of immigrants.” Dr. Isaacs find the future of weight loss very exciting. “We have learned that fat cells are the hormonal bad guys, not just a neutral bystander in the body, “ he said. “We know now that fat is a dynamic glandular organ and that it produces hormones.” Leptin is one of the first hormones discovered to be produced by fat cells. It has enormous impact on satiety and hunger and he foresees a whole new generation of weight loss medications focused on the “hunger hormones.” Hormonal Balance, 2nd edition, 2007, is available in bookstores and online at: www.bullpub.com. For more information about Dr. Isaacs’ work and the Intelligent Health Center, go to: www.intelligenthealthcenter.com.