Is it possible that the medications you are taking are causing you to gain weight?

Unfortunately the answer is yes.

There are quite a few medications that can cause you to gain weight.

For your information, these drugs, and the drug classes they belong to, are listed in the table below. Some of these classes of drugs are more notorious for weight gain than others.

But please note, you must not cease these medications without consulting your doctor.

The medications you are taking have been prescribed for you for a specific medical reason and it could be detrimental to your health if you suddenly stop taking them.

You should always ask your doctor's advice about stopping any medication or even decreasing the dosage of a prescribed medication.

On the other hand, it may be worthwhile to ask your doctor if there is an alternative medication in the same class that is less likely to cause weight gain.

On the following page is a list of medications, together with a description of their drug class and the medical conditions that they are used for, that are known to have the potential to cause weight gain.

Those of you who reside in Australia would have seen the television advertisement that promotes meat eating with the slogan: “Feed the man meat”. The question we need to ask is whether this recommendation to eat more meat is a good idea in the first place? And, the question that follows next: is eating meat a healthy food choice?

Meat is often promoted as a food that is an excellent source of protein, iron, zinc and vitamin B12. This is basically correct. Meat does contain high concentrations of these nutrients.

Does it mean, however, that there are no other ways, or even better ways, of getting these nutrients? No. I don’t think it means that at all.

Does it mean that because meat has high levels of these nutrients, it is healthy and good for you? No, it does not mean anything of the sort.

There are many other sources of these nutrients in the food that we eat. Iron, for example, can be found in high concentrations in many other sources of animal proteins. Examples include: liver, eggs, salmon, tuna and oysters.

White meat also contains some iron but, admittedly, not nearly as much as red meat.

Most people immediately think of beef or lamb when considering red meat; however kangaroo meat is a much better source of iron, zinc and vitamin B12 than either lamb or beef.

Iron can also be found in many non-animal sources, such as lentils, grains, beans, soy and green leafy vegetables like spinach and broccoli.

Other excellent sources of iron include whole wheat bread and soy products such as tofu, as well as dried fruit.

What are the adverse health effects of red meat?

The World Cancer Research Fund released a very important report in 1997. That report said: “Diets containing substantial amounts of red meat probably increase the risk of colorectal cancer”.

The report went on to say that there is a possibility that such diets also increase the risk of other cancers, such as cancer of the pancreas, breast, prostate and kidney.

The World Cancer Research Fund released a further report in 2007. This report was even more damning of red meat. The report stated the following: “The evidence is now convincing that red meats and processed meats are a cause of bowel cancer”.

The report also recommended avoiding processed meat. It stated that there was no level of intake of processed meat that could be confidently shown not to increase risk.

What constitutes red meat?

According to the World Cancer Research Fund the following are classified as red meat: Lamb, beef, pork or goat meat.

The World Cancer Research Fund defines processed meat as: Any meat that is preserved by: salting, curing, smoking or adding chemical preservatives Examples include: ham, bacon, hot dogs and sausages.

There is even more bad news for red meat eaters who are concerned about its impact on health. Recent studies show that eating red meat increases mortality rates. The increase in mortality was mainly due to an increase in heart disease and cardiovascular risk, but cancers were not far behind.

It is important to emphasise that these problems have not been found with white meats such as chicken and fish.

How much red meat is too much?

It appears that the body can cope with small quantities of red meat, and most health authorities have not recommended that you have to give up red meat all together.

The current Australian healthy eating guidelines recommend 3-4 servings per week of red meat. But it is important to note that the size of these servings is quite small. The recommended amount is 65–100 gm, after cooking. Personally, I would recommend less.

The popular CSIRO weight loss diet recommends 200 gm portions of red meat, 4-5 times per week for dinner, and allows even more processed red meat for lunch, up to 4 times per week. I believe that these are dangerous and excessive levels of red meat intake.

Red Meat and weight loss

When considering red meat intake for a weight loss diet, it is important to take into account the energy density of the meal. Red meat has a very high energy density.

A high energy density means that there are a lot of calories in a small piece of the food concerned. For example, a 120 gm serving of red meat contains 340 Calories, or 1420 Kilojoules. That is an enormous amount of energy when you consider that the average male would easily consume a 375-500 gm steak in one sitting.

That is one reason why, in my BMI Boost Metabolism System, I highly recommend a significant decrease in the intake of red meat for anyone trying to lose weight.

I was interviewed on Dr Ross Walker’s program, on radio station 2UE in Sydney, a few weeks ago and they asked me a few interesting questions that I thought I would share with you.

The first question I was asked was about the current statistics on overweight and obesity in Australia. And, I suspect, you will find the statistics quite astounding. So here they are, for your information:

The percentage of overweight females in Australia is 55% and the percentage of overweight males is a staggering 67%. It is also worth making a note of the fact that this year Australia has had the unique privilege of overtaking the USA as the fattest country in the world. There goes the image of the athletic, bronzed, Australian male.

Another question was: Why do we have such a problem with the obesity in our country?

I believe that there is not one simple answer to that question. There are many reasons why obesity has become such a problem, not only in Australia, but all across the Western World. The three main reasons are:

1. We have become a very inactive society. We walk less, we have too many labour saving devices and we exercise less. In the last 100 years the daily energy output by the average office worker has decreased by about 60%.
2. Our energy intake, that is the number of calories we consume in the food we eat, has not dropped at all; and in many cases it has probably increased. This has caused an energy imbalance that has created a tendency towards weight gain and obesity.
3. We eat the wrong foods. We eat too much fast-food and junk food. Too many of the foods we eat are high in fat and energy density. The food is too highly processed and the quality of the ingredients in our food has diminished.

Another question related to why most weight loss programs are initially effective but after following most people for up to three years, they are either the same weight or are even heavier.

The short answer to this is that most diets go for the quick fix and focus on only one minor aspect of a very complex problem. Many people are given a very simple diet to follow for a short period of time. They either cut portion size or they provide some meal substitutes, such as protein powders, to eat instead of a meal.

These techniques result in short term weight loss but they are always doomed to failure in the long term. No one has taken the time to learn what they were doing wrong in the first place or to determine their underlying metabolic profile and any metabolic problems. The end result is that when the majority of people stop following the written instructions or stop drinking the meal substitutes, they go back to their old eating habits.