Healthy Living

Take an Ayurvedic approach. Classic Ayurvedic medicine valued heaviness (a trait of the Kapha dosha or constitutional type) over thinness (an attribute of the Vata dosha). Heaviness implied affluence and plenty to eat, explains David Frawley, O.M.D.

But despite this cultural bias in favor of a certain girth, Ayurvedic physicians recognize that too many extra pounds can become a problem. Specifically, being overweight can lead to a buildup of toxins that contribute to heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and arthritis.

To stimulate weight loss, Ayurvedic physicians generally prescribe a light diet, fasting, spicy herbs to stimulate digestion, mild laxatives, and tonic herbs such as guggul. Dr. Frawley suggests taking a teaspoon of guggul two or three times a day, mixed with ginger and honey. You may be able to buy guggul in a health food store. If not, consult an Ayurvedic practitioner.

Medical Measures

The vast majority of mainstream physicians urge weight loss by the methods described above-a lifelong commitment to low-fat, low-calorie eating and regular exercise. Remarkably, as little as 5 minutes of counseling from a doctor often inspires people to make these weight-reducing life changes.

Weight-loss specialists offer two other treatments-drugs and surgery-that often produce disappointing results. The history of diet drugs, in particular, is a cautionary tale about quick-and-easy solutions.

In the 1930s, doctors discovered that amphetamines suppress appetite and boost BMR. Amphetamines became the first diet drugs. They worked, but the fat loss they produced was modest and almost always temporary. Meanwhile, amphetamines caused potentially serious side effects including severe insomnia, extreme irritability, and addiction.

In the mid-1990s, doctors began combining two diet drugs-fenfluramine and phentermine-into a treatment that became known as fen-phen. Eventually, more than 18 million Americans used it. Then in 1997, the drug combination was linked to potentially fatal complications, and the maker of the “fen” drug withdrew it at the request of the Food and Drug Administration.

Despite the fen-phen scandal, many doctors maintain that the other, safer weight ­loss drugs can help. But they must be used as part of a comprehensive, long-term, physician-supervised program that includes a low-fat diet, regular exercise, and emotional support.

For people who are seriously obese, doctors sometimes recommend surgical procedures to shrink or bypass the stomach. The bypass is the more popular operation, and it’s more effective at reducing weight and high blood pressure and controlling diabetes. But many complications are possible, including persistent nausea and nutrient deficiencies. And some people who have a stomach bypass operation eventually regain the weight they have lost.