14 SPORTS January 19, 2009 • www.thequill.

ca

The Dos and Don’ts of Dieting We Are Looking

Tips on how to lose some of that holiday weight
Anna Rocoski | The Fulcrum (University of Ottawa)
OTTAWA (CUP) – After taking
advantage of their parents’ fridges
over the holidays, many students
come back to university looking to
lose some weight. While for some
this may mean visiting a health
food store or hitting the gym, for
others it means going on a diet.
Dieting is seen as a quick and con-
venient way to lose weight, but does
it actually work?
Diets can include drastic changes
in food intake, or the ingestion of
special dietary supplements. Diets
often lead to large, sudden changes
in weight.
What many people don’t know
is that dieting can sometimes be
dangerous.
An April 2007 CBC article in-
vestigating dieting, notably citing
a study by University of Califor-
For Great People,
Just Like YOU!
We offer:
Midwest Telecomunications International Above average wages STARTING
at $8.50
Call Bonnie at: PLUS: attendance bonus, loyalty
bonus, site dividends and so
725-4800 much more!
1610 Rosser Ave Flexible hours for part time positions.
Brandon Full or part time available.
Marriage LSAT MCAT
Commissioner
GMAT GRE
Preparation Seminars
Small or large weddings
Pills may appear to speed up the process, but according to scientists their full effect on our bodies is still unknown. ! Complete 30-Hour Seminars
Casual or formal
!"Convenient Weekend Schedule
stores is seemingly endless and lates around nutrition and dieting. Location of your choice ! Proven Test-Taking Strategies
includes appetite suppressants and “The academic community has Student Discount ! Experienced Course Instructors
cleansers, all in the form of pills, told people that they should do
! Comprehensive Study Materials
powders, and teas, among other one thing – say, avoid eggs or eat
things. lots of margarine – when the evi- Marlene ! Simulated Practice Exams
Appetite suppressants work to dence was really very minimal, in
Brichon
!"Limited Class Size
restrain the urge to overeat, or in fact, almost non-existent in some ! Free Repeat Policy

nia social psychology professor
Traci Mann, shows that dieting
can actually lead to a weight-loss
and weight-gain cycle that can be
harmful to the body. Mann led a
team of researchers who looked at
about 30 long-term studies of di-
ets.
“We concluded most of them
would have been better off not go-
ing on the diet at all,” Mann said
in the article. “Their weight would
be pretty much the same, and their
bodies would not suffer the wear
and tear from losing weight and
gaining it all back.”
A few well-known diets such as
the Atkins diet can lead to this
weight-loss and weight-gain cycle.
These diets all encourage high in-
takes of protein (meat products,
nuts, dairy products, etc.) and low
intakes of carbohydrates (bread,
fruit, cereal, etc.). The American
Heart Association does not recom-
mend low-carb diets as they can
restrict foods needed for a healthy
diet.
To speed the dieting process,
many people turn to weight-loss
supplements. The number of sup-
plements available at health-food
extreme cases, eat at all, while a
cleanser is a form of detox that –
according to their manufacturers –
works to flush harmful toxins from
the body. Unfortunately, the effects
of many of these supplements are
unknown due to a lack of long-
term studies.
It is always important to research
health products carefully before
consuming them, as they can often
have these unknown side-effects.
A drug called ephedrine has been
linked to serious health problems
and death when used as a weight-
loss aid, and can only legally be
sold in Canada for use as a nasal
decongestant. However, a recent
study published in the University
of Western Ontario Medical Jour-
nal found that while the partial
ban has reduced ephedrine’s usage,
it is still easily obtainable in many
products.
The trouble with many diets is
that there is a lot of conflicting in-
formation available. In a 2004 in-
terview with Walter Willett, a Har-
vard Medical School epidemiology
and nutrition professor, conducted
by PBS’s Frontline, Willett com-
ments on the confusion that circu-
 728-1910
situations,” Willett said in the in- ! Personal Tutoring Available
terview. ! Thousands of Satisfied Students
“But, yet it was presented as The Quill Graphics Depot, 2008.
though this was the absolute truth. ambrichon@ OXFORD SEMINARS
Then when science does move
forward [and] gets some concrete westman.wave.ca 1-800-269-6719
evidence, sometimes it doesn’t
604-683-3430
www.oxfordseminars.ca
confirm what people are told, and
there’s obviously going to be some
confusion generating out of that.”
To avoid confusion, it’s a good idea
to research nutritional informa-
tion using reputable sources. The
Canada Food Guide, available
on Health Canada’s website, is an
excellent source of information
on health and nutrition. As well,
Medicine Net, an online health
portal run by U.S. physicians, has
a comparison of numerous popu-
lar diet programs available.
The best thing you can do is
visit a doctor or nutritionist, and
ask them to help you discover what
nutritional plan is best for you.
Generally, following the Canada
Food Guide and exercising regu-
larly is the best way to maintain a
healthy body weight, and visiting
a professional can help you refine
this approach to make it even more
effective.