With weight loss a hot new years topic, a new study from the journal of the American Medical Association is receiving widespread attention for its insight into the effects of protein, fat, and calories on weight loss and fat gain. But Dr. Daniel Heller of www.pmscomfort.com, a holistic doctor and nutritional expert, points out how misunderstandings of this complex study could lead to more health problems.

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) January 06, 2012

A study published in the January 4th 2012 issue of Journal of the American Medical Association is receiving widespread attention for its implications for weight loss. Paradoxically, different media reports are spinning the results in dramatically different ways, according to Dr. Daniel Heller of www.pmscomfort.com, a website dedicated to helping educate and empower women with PMS and PMDD. Dr. Heller is a holistic doctor and nutritional expert with a special interest in the Mediterranean Diet and the acid-base effects of diet, both areas of great relevance to the current study.

One instance of the differing interpretations of the study is found in The Atlantic, where Marion Nestle, the famous nutritionist, writes that the study shows that only calories count for weight loss, not the specific composition of your diet. The Wall Street Journal has a similar headline.

Reporting on the exact same study, the Orlando Sentinel leads with a headline that suggests nearly the opposite conclusion, that a high-protein diet aids weight loss and increases metabolism; CNN reports that too little protein could lead to too much body fat.

Dr. Heller points out that all of these differing interpretations are partially correct, but they fail to show the whole picture revealed by this fascinating but complex study. He goes on to say Each of these sources has chosen to focus on one narrow part of this important scientific study. Unfortunately, the attention-grabbing headlines dont serve the public, because the real insights from this study cant be captured in overly simplified soundbites.

This study looked at the weight gain of 25 individuals who lived full time in a laboratory designed to take metabolic measurements over the course of 10-12 weeks. For part of that time, the study participants engaged in a weight gain diet with varying amounts of protein and fat. While their exact calorie amounts differed during the weight gain part of the study, all ate approximately 40% more calories than they needed to maintain their weight.

Dr. Heller remarks that there actually was a significant difference in weight gain in the groups, as the low protein group gained almost 50% less weight than the two higher protein groups. However, this low protein group lost muscle mass during the study, a decidedly undesirable result. He commented, Headlines that trumpet that only calories matter for weight loss are glossing over a major finding of the study: Losing muscle mass and weight as a result of a low protein diet will result in decreased strength, and in the long run would probably result in more unhealthy body fat. (During this short study, all three diet groups had a consistent amount of body fat.)

Headlines trumpeting the increase in calories burned while resting, and increased lean body mass in the higher protein groups as a pure benefit are also misguided, according to Dr. Heller, who points to research showing that higher protein diets, which may result in rapid weight loss, can cause serious medical consequences.

For instance, a higher protein diet, especially when the source of the protein is from animals, results in an acidic metabolism that actually weakens bone, and leads to loss of muscle mass in old age. Thus, he says, one irony here is that too much protein over the long term can have the exact opposite effect of what was revealed in this study. He also pointed out that excessive acidity from overconsumption of protein; acidic foods like soda and coffee; and dietary salt may also lead to hypertension (Zhang, Hypertension, 2009), age-related decline in kidney function, and kidney stones.

Dr. Hellers position as the founder of the leading online source for information on, and natural relief from, PMS and PMDD led him to suggest that the current focus on weight loss unfortunately ignores the effect of womens hormones and emotions on weight loss efforts. PMS and PMDD are a monthly disturbance to any womans attempt to make healthy diet and lifestyle changes. From 25-50% of women experience PMS and PMDD severe enough to interfere with their life, including impairment at work, home, school, and in social relationships and general enjoyment of life, and this gets in the way of healthy diet and lifestyle changes.

PMS Comfort offers rational guidance on healthy diet for women with PMS and PMDD including specific guidance when PMS and PMDD are complicated by hypoglycemia and food allergy.

About: PMS Comfort is a womens health organization dedicated to educating, informing, and empowering women on the subject of PMS and PMDD, as well as to providing natural alternatives for the relief of premenstrual symptoms. Dr. Daniel Heller is a holistic doctor and nutritional expert, and the founder of PMS Comfort.

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For the original version on PRWeb visit: www.prweb.com/releases/prwebProtein-Calorie-Weight/pms-pmdd-comfort/prweb9085241.htm

Tags: Media Reports

BERLIN (Reuters) – German Chancellor Angela Merkels spokesman denied media reports Saturday that said she was discussing with coalition partners potential replacements for the countrys scandal-hit president.

The move came as new allegations emerged that President Christian Wulff had threatened publishers with war if they ran a story on a favourable home loan he received from the wife of a millionaire friend.

The scandal could damage Merkel, who nominated Wulff for the presidency in 2010, at a sensitive point in her efforts to resolve Europes debt crisis, the next chapter of which opens on Monday when French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrives in Berlin.

She sees no reason to discuss a successor to the President, Merkels spokesman Steffen Seibert told Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, in response to the newspapers claim that she had talked about a replacement with Vice-Chancellor Philipp Roesler.

News reports focusing on talk of a successor, which dominated news coverage Saturday, increase pressure on Wulff, who last week went on television to try to defuse the scandal.

Der Spiegel magazine also reported Saturday that Wulff threatened publishers with a drawn-out conflict and legal action before they published the loan story last December.

Wulff had asserted on TV that he regretted phone messages he had left, but that he was only trying to protect his family and was asking for a delay in the storys publication.

(Reporting by Brian Rohan; editing by Andrew Roche)

Tags: Media Reports