IMMUNE POWER DIET: AMINO ACID TIPSThere are two key rules to help your amino acid supplements do the most good:Take all amino acid supplements with plenty of fluid.Don’t take them directly before or after a heavy meal; the protein you eat will block the absorption of amino acids. Amino acids should always be taken on an empty stomach one hour before meals or at bedtime.”DOUBLE A” CELL BUILDERSWe’ve seen how amino acids can smooth out your moods and regulate your energy thermostat. Now, I want to look very briefly at yet another way these amazing building blocks affect immune power.Amino acids directly strengthen your immune fighters. This research is so new, at the very edge of the scientific frontier, that most studies have only been done on animals. Still, those studies show over and over that a strong amino acid balance increases antibodies, strengthens immune tissues, and helps the body fight infection.A very promising amino acid for immune power is arginine. Preliminary studies indicate that it stimulates the immune tissues, and on-going research is seeking to define arginine’s role as a potential amino acid immune booster.We are now on the brink of understanding how and why amino acids improve our immunity. The complete story of amino acids and the immune system simply can’t be written yet—it is a story only time will finish.*63\242\2*

THE BEVERLY HILLS DIET: WEEKS ONE THROUGH THREEEvery fat person is seriously undernourished in some foods and overnourished in others. So in these first few weeks, you will burn, feed, and wash your body to bring it back to its natural nutritional balance. You will bum up your fat by using highly intensive enzymatic fruits, you will feed your body concentrated doses of vitamins and minerals to replace what former eating habits have destroyed, and through washing you will push out the extra water and, once and for all, get rid of the bloating that is an unavoidable adjunct to fat.If you’re overweight you’re getting too much of some things and not enough of others. It is the “others” you are about to experience.Some of these foods you will taste for the first time. For the first week, you will eat a lot of fruit, fresh and organic, if possible. And you can literally eat your heart out—from the time you open your eyes to the time you close mem—anytime, anywhere. There is no calorie counting, no food weighing, and unless specified, no portion control. You will not lose more if you eat less. It’s exactly the opposite!*62\251\8*

In fact, one important reason to exercise more once you start losing weight and assimilating less fat, is that your body is carrying less of a burden and so actually doing less work. That could result in its burning fewer calories—and in your not losing further weight, even with Chitosan.

So, you do need to do at least enough extra exercise to compensate. And it would be nice to do just a little more than that.

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Phentermine alters blood flow, heartbeat, and other body functions by making more dopamine and norepinephrine available to brain cells, which reduces appetite. Fenfluramine increases the amount of a neurotransmitter called serotonin, which plays a role in regulating appetite and mood, so appetite is further reduced. The 2 drugs, which showed limited promise in treating obesity when used separately, did much better when combined.

Like all drugs, these 2 can have side effects, including dry mouth, jitteriness, drowsiness, diarrhea, nausea, headaches, high blood pressure, insomnia, and sexual dysfunction. There’s also the risk of pulmonary hypertension and heart failure, as well as the potential for subtle brain damage. If you use these two drugs, you must be monitored carefully by a knowledgeable, nutritionally minded physician, and you should not take them for longer than 3 months.

Redux (dexfenfluramine) is the newest weight-loss drug. Its use must be monitored by a knowledgeable physician, for it has appreciable side effects similar to those seen with Phen-Fen. It must not be used for more than 3 months, and should be accompanied by nutritional and behavioral training.

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Water also plays a major role in the Quick Weight Loss Diet. Eight glasses of water per day, plus additional quantities of coffee, tea, and diet soda are prescribed in order to wash the ketones (the residue created by incomplete fat burning) out of the body. Because of this, many people call this plan the Water Diet.

You can lose weight on the Stillman Diet. You can also harm your health, for the protein and fat-heavy regimen is nutritionally unbalanced and very bad for your heart. As with most fad diets, once you go off the diet you will, undoubtedly, regain the weight you lost. I’ve treated many patients who have plugged up their arteries with fat and cholesterol from this type of diet. Remember: The high protein you get from these diets is accompanied by high fat—a potentially lethal combination. However, in one respect I agree with Dr. Stillman: You should drink 8 glasses of water a day.

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The Fat Blocker Program is different. You don’t have to give up decent, tasty food. Certainly, you will want to eat less of the fatty foods. And by correctly cooking and measuring, you will want to balance your food properly and cut down on fat you don’t need. But you don’t have to cut out all the fat you crave to make the food taste good. You don’t have to stick to unadorned fish or chicken. You don’t have to become a vegetarian unless you wish to. Instead, you can eat sensibly, in reasonable quantities, enjoying your food—but losing weight because you are eating less while also exercising and, additionally, blocking part of the fat you consume with Chitosan.