16 Jan Weight Loss Programs & Drugs Fail Repeatedly
Paul A. Goldberg MPH, DC, DACBN, DCBCN
Founder and Consultant to The Goldberg Tener Clinic
Chronic Disease Reversal
The eight most common health issues patients at the Goldberg Tener Clinic request us to address are:
- Autoimmune Disorders e.g. Rheumatoid and Psoriatic Arthritis, Ankylosing Spondylitis, etc.
- Chronic Fatigue
- Overweight Conditions/Obesity
- Dysglycemia (Metabolic Syndrome, Pre-Diabetses, Diabetes Types 1,2 and 3)
- Irritable Bowel and Inflammatory Bowel Disease (Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s)
- Poor digestion e.g. gas, bloating, diarrhea, constipation
- Skin disorders e.g. psoriasis, eczema, hives, acne
- Endocrine Imbalances e.g. Thyroid, Adrenals and Ovaries
Weight loss/overweight/ obesity is the third most frequent issue patients request assistance for… yet we never put patients on weight loss programs. Their successful weight normalization occurs by identifying and addressing their disease issues and bringing their biochemistry into balance.
Weight Loss Programs Fail Repeatedly
In a meta-analysis of 29 long-term weight loss studies, more than half of the lost weight was regained within two years, and by five years more than 80% of lost weight was regained. Previous failed attempts at achieving durable weight loss may have contributed to the recent decrease in the percentage of people with obesity trying to lose weight as many now believe that weight loss is a futile endeavor. [1]
Bariatric Surgery
Complications are common for these expensive surgical procedures and are limited to those with extreme obesity. Bariatric surgery risks include excessive bleeding, infection, reactions to anesthesia, blood clots, breathing issues, complications of the GI tract, fatality, bowel obstruction, gallstones, hernias, long term malnutrition, vomiting, ulcers, hypoglycemia, acid reflux [2] and other long term side effects. I’ve repeatedly seen the devastating effect on people who have undergone bariatric surgery which commonly involves shortening / bypassing vital intestinal tissues to purposely decrease the absorptive capacity of the gut to effect weight loss. This is considered by us to be a form of voluntary mutilation. Rationales are given for performing this procedure but this destructive act violates the Hippocratic Oath.
Gimmicks
The number of weight loss gimmicks are innumerable. Eating tapeworm segments to grow a parasite in one’s gut to lose weight was employed up into the 1960’s. Pharmaceuticals to deliberately cause malabsorption of nutrients, innumerable weight loss diets, hormones such as HCG… the list goes on. Each harmful action ignores cause and reason, presents with dangers and fails to accomplish what needs to be accomplished i.e., a return to health.
Weight loss centers across our nation have proliferated for decades. “Lose weight now, ask me how” …” Weight Loss Guaranteed” … “Lose twenty pounds in time for the pool season” … “Fast, fast weight loss” …” Lose weight and eat what you want”. The sad fact is that even when weight loss occurs, a return to the prior weight, or more, is the rule not the exception.
Most people, as they repeatedly try to lose weight, end up like yo-yos. They lose weight and then gain back more, lose weight and gain back more. In time they find they can no longer lose weight and are more obese than ever. This is due to a phenomenon called the “Set Point”, a survival mechanism the body uses when it feels threatened by a lack of nutrients and retains calories/nutrients to avoid depletion. This leads to the frequent lament, “I used to be able to lose weight and now I can’t anymore. I seem to retain every bite I eat no matter what I eat or how much I exercise.” Seeking gimmicks in health care frequently brings about frustrating results.
Just Eat Less and Exercise More
This is not bad advice expect for the “Just” part and the fact that this rarely works alone. Our bodies are more than just receptacles for food. Our weight reflects numerous components of our lives and our biology, including these inter-related factors.
- Genetics
- Lifestyle Habits
- Blood sugar regulation
- Cultural Upbringing
- Mentality
- Hormones
- Emotional status
- Our relationship with food
- Activity levels and occupation
- Social patterns and relationships
- Eating behaviors and eating disorders
- The pleasure trap i.e. using food as a reward system or as an escape mechanism
- The status of the gastrointestinal tract / digestive function
- Food allergies
- Exposure to environmental toxins including endocrine disruptors. This is often overlooked by most practitioners as a contributing factor to weight gain and other metabolic disturbances. At the Goldberg Tener Clinic, we employ advanced Toxicology Testing to identify toxic accumulations contributing to disease including weight gain and work to facilitate their safe removal from the body.
All these affect our weight and our health. Any person who is overweight deserves a comprehensive evaluation to effectively address the causal factors involved.
Drugs
This is the route many take, which, like bariatric surgery, carries significant risks and a high long term failure rate by ignoring the causes of obesity. The list of prescription drugs for weight loss that have come and gone, in addition to those currently marketed, is a long one. Amphetamines were once widely employed for their appetite suppressing effects until their addictive potential prompted the FDA to ban their use as a weight loss aid in 1979. The mid 1990’s saw the surge in popularity of Fen Phen – a combination of two anorectics, fenfluramine and phentermine – before it was pulled from the market due to concerns over serious heart valve problems. More recent attempts have not fared better: Meridia, Acomplia and Ephedra all had to be yanked from pharmacy shelves due to spotty safety records. [3]
Shown below is a recent interview with a patient from our clinic that came to see us after taking Tenuate, a medical weight loss drug used as an appetite suppressant. She is no longer taking drugs and lost over 35 pounds while under our care.
Most recently, the diabetes drug Ozempic has been investigated by The US Food and Drug Administration for reports of side effects e.g. hair loss and suicidal thoughts in people taking Ozempic. These drugs, known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, are “approved” to treat diabetes or weight loss. They include semaglutide, branded as Ozempic, Rybelsus and Wegovy; liraglutide, branded as Saxenda and Victoza; and tirzepatide, branded as Mounjaro and Zepbound. They mimic GLP-1, a hormone made in the body whose roles include slowing the passage of food through the stomach.
“The FDA is “evaluating the need for regulatory action” after its FDA Adverse Event Reporting System or FAERS received reports of alopecia, or hair loss; aspiration, accidentally breathing in things like food or liquid; and suicidal ideation in people using these medications.”[4]
How Our Patients Lose Excess Weight Without Focusing on Losing Weight: The Bio-Hygienic Re-Creation System™
In fifty years of clinical practice, I’ve never “treated obesity” yet, almost without exception, our overweight / obese patients lost their excess weight while overcoming a myriad of health issues and gaining back their health and vitality.
Obesity is a disease with causal factors behind it. Those causes, whether they be physical/biochemical, behavioral or a combination of factors, differ from person to person. When the causal factors behind a patient’s obesity/overweight/poor health are addressed in a comprehensive manner, their weight normalizes as their health returns. This is the same as when a patient with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s disease, chronic fatigue, erectile dysfunction, chronic indigestion, depression, psoriasis, migraine headaches, allergies, or any other symptom of poor health consults us. We do not treat their disease; we build and restore the patient’s health and their “disease” dissipates.
It takes the “Will Get Well” ™ but the results are not only increased well-being but the ability to take control of one’s destiny and have dependable health.
The proof is in the pudding. Examples of the many patients who have restored their health through a Bio-Hygienic Re-Creation Program™ and in doing so normalized their weight are shown below.
Achieving healthy weight comes down to creating the right conditions for each person to enhance their vitality and restore their energies. To get healthy. Addressing the numerous factors that make each of us unique results in a person that not only normalizes their weight but one that also exudes radiant well-being.
Related Articles:
1) Reversing Autoimmune Disease: Addressing Causes and Building Health
2) Overcoming Rheumatoid Arthritis and other Autoimune Disorders
3) Environmental Toxins and their Role in Chronic Disease
4) Blood Sugar: Beyond Diabetes and Hypoglycemia Part I
5) Blood Sugar: Beyond Diabetes and Hypoglycemia Part II
6) An Effective Causal Based Approach to Digestive Disorders
7) Click here for a full list of articles from the Goldberg Tener Clinic
References
- Med Clin North Am. 2018 Jan; 102(1): 183–197.Kevin D. Hall, Ph.D.1 and Scott Kahan, M.D., MPH
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bariatric-surgery/about/pac-20394258
- https://www.nature.com/articles/nm0612-843.pdf
- FDA looking into reports of hair loss, suicidal thoughts in people using popular drugs for diabetes and weight loss https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/03/health/glp1-agonist-side-effects-fda/index.html
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5764193/#R5
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