Dr. Fitness says “Beware” of your intake of Sorbitol and do not go on a “Sorbitol Diet.”  An article in this week’s  (BMJ) warns of the dangers of excess sorbitol intake. The warning comes after doctors came across two patients who had chronic diarrhea, abdominal pain and dangerously excessive weight loss. After lengthy investigations which could not identify why the patients were losing so much weight and had chronic diarrhea and pains, a detailed analysis of eating habits put the problem down to eating too much chewing gum with Sorbitol.

Sorbitol is a laxative which is poorly absorbed by the small intestine. Sorbitol, or glucitol, is a sugar alcohol which our bodies metabolize slowly. Sorbitol can be found in cough syrups, sugar free mints, chewing gum, diet foods, diet drinks and ice creams. Sorbitol occurs naturally in some stone fruits and berries from trees of the Sorbus genus. Apples and pears also have natural amounts of sorbitol.

One of the patients, a 21-year-old woman, had been eating the equivalent of 18-20g of sorbitol each day. The average stick of gum has about 1.25g sorbitol - so, she was chewing through 15-18 sticks of gum each day. The other patient, a 46-year-old man, was chewing about 20 sticks of sorbitol-containing gum plus approximately 200g of sweets (candy) each day - his total sorbitol daily intake was about 30g, the authors wrote. As soon as sorbitol intake was stopped, both patients started having normal bowel movements (diarrhea subsided) and normal weight gain was achieved.

After sitting on the results of a study that could cause a negative impact on stock prices, Merck and Schering-Plough Pharmaceuticals, finally released data for the ENHANCE trial, testing the effect of Vytorin (ezetimibe and simvastatin combined) against an older drug, now available in generic form, Zocor (simvastatin alone). Unfortunately, the data showed that the combination drug Vytorin, which is quite expensive, was no better at reducing artery clogging than the older and cheaper statin.

720 patients with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (inherited high cholesterol from one of their biological parents) participated in the ENHANCE study. Over the two years of the study, there was no significant difference in the ability of the two drugs to slow the growth of plaque in carotid arteries supplying blood to the brain.

The American College of Cardiology said patients should not stop taking the drug on the basis of these results, the situation is not urgent, and they should talk to their doctor about any concerns they have. More research is needed before firm conclusions can be made about the risks and benefits of statin alone versus statin plus ezetimibe, said the ACC. The American College of Cardiology said in a press release that “major clinical decisions not be made on the basis of the ENHANCE study alone”.

What I find interesting is the fact that the two year drug study ended in April 2006. January 16, 2008 we receive the results? In the words of John McEnroe “You cannot be serious!!!!!” According to a report by Reuters news agency, Congress is planning to investigate how the two companies handled the release of the study’s results, calling the delay a “suspiciously long time”.

Tim is today’s big winner. Congratulations on being the latest member of Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy’s Partner Power Online Weight Loss Program to win an exercise dvd. Tim has won Men’s Health 15 Minute Workout.

Members of the Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy’s online weight loss support community are automatically entered to win prizes for logging their food, logging their exercises, posting on the message boards, etc. A lot of the great weight loss experts and fitness superstars that have appeared on the Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy radio show have kindly donated books, dvds and gadgets for us to giveaway to our members in order to keep them motivated, inspired and compliant on their exercise program. So keep posting everybody and you might be the next winner. We will be giving away prizes every day.

Mary is a winner. Congratulations on being the latest member of Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy’s Partner Power Online Weight Loss Program to win an exercise dvd. Mary has won The Seasons of Fitness dvd from Sue West.

Members of the Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy’s online weight loss support community are automatically entered to win prizes for logging their food, logging their exercises, posting on the message boards, etc. A lot of the great weight loss experts and fitness superstars that have appeared on the Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy radio show have kindly donated books, dvds and gadgets for us to giveaway to our members in order to keep them motivated, inspired and compliant on their exercise program. So keep posting everybody and you might be the next winner. We will be giving away prizes every day.

Abbey is today’s winner. Congratulations on being the latest member of Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy’s Partner Power Online Weight Loss Program to win a great prize. You have won Jennifer Kries’ Hot Body Cool Mind exercise dvd. Jennifer is a great friend of the Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy Radio Show and she has been kind enough to donate a bunch of dvds for our members. So enjoy.

Members of the Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy’s online weight loss support community are automatically entered to win prizes for logging their food, logging their exercises, posting on the message boards, etc. A lot of the great weight loss experts and fitness superstars that have appeared on the Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy radio show have kindly donated books, dvds and gadgets for us to giveaway to our members in order to keep them motivated, inspired and compliant on their exercise program. So keep posting everybody and you might be the next winner. We will be giving away prizes every day.

Picking the right tunes to exercise can be just as important as wearing the right clothes!!! I found this great article about picking the right tempo to match the type of exercise you are performing. Since I am a runner, I need hardriving up-tempo songs like AC/DC “Shoot To Thrill” or Springsteen’s “Ramrod,” or “Born to Run.” These songs match 140 - 160 heart beats/minute. Now when I swim and even though my heart rate is elevated to the same degree, swimming is a slower rythmnic movement with the arms and the legs in the water so I don’t need the same hard-driving tempo. Read the rest of this artice which I found fascinating!!!

Generally speaking there is a science to choosing an effective exercise soundtrack, said Dr. Costas Karageorghis, an associate professor of sport psychology at Brunel University in England, who has studied the effects of music on physical performance for 20 years. Dr. Karageorghis created the Brunel Music Rating Inventory, a questionnaire that is used to rate the motivational qualities of music in the context of sport and exercise. For nearly a decade, he has been administering the questionnaire to panels representing different demographics, who listen to 90 seconds of a song and rate its motivational qualities for various physical activities.

Nance is today’s big winner. Congratulations on being the latest member of Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy’s Partner Power Online Weight Loss Program to win a great prize. Nance has won Tamilee Webb’s Tight on Time dvd. Tamilee was on our radio show talking about life after Buns of Steel.

Members of the Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy’s online weight loss support community are automatically entered to win prizes for logging their food, logging their exercises, posting on the message boards, etc. A lot of the great weight loss experts and fitness superstars that have appeared on the Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy radio show have kindly donated books, dvds and gadgets for us to giveaway to our members in order to keep them motivated, inspired and compliant on their exercise program. So keep posting everybody and you might be the next winner. We will be giving away prizes every day.

Another member of Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy’s Partner Power Online Weight Loss Program has won a prize. Yael from California has won Jonny Bowden’s DietCamp DVD. Jonny Bowden was a great guest a while back you can hear the show by clicking on this link. The PLAY BUTTON is at the bottom of the post

As you might not know members of the Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy’s online weight loss support community are automatically entered to win prizes for logging their food, logging their exercises, posting on the message boards, etc. A lot of the great weight loss experts and fitness superstars that have appeared on the Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy radio show have kindly donated books, dvds and gadgets for us to giveaway to our members in order to keep them motivated, inspired and compliant on their exercise program. So keep posting everybody and you might be the next winner. We will be giving away prizes everyday in January and until we run out and that won’t be for a long, long time. So join now and you might be a winner like Yael!

As a loyal member of Dr Fitness and the Fat Guy’s Partner Power Online Weight Loss Program, and for sharing his weight loss success, Blake from FL has won an exercise DVD donated by our friends from Cheeracise - Dance Fitness Aerobics with Pro Cheerleaders. Keep up the good work Blake.

As you might not know members of our online weight loss support community are automatically entered to win prizes for logging their food, logging their exercises, posting on the message boards, etc. A lot of the hundreds of great weight loss experts and fitness superstars have kindly donated books, dvds and gadgets for us to giveaway to our members. So keep posting everybody and you might be the next winner.