A Paris-based pharmaceutical company has unveiled an experimental new drug to combat obesity. The drug is, according to preliminary research data, a powerful appetite suppressant. Prescribe it to patients, the thinking goes, and they'll automatically eat less. Sounds good at first, but here's the real story on appetite suppressants and prescription drugs.

Appetite suppressants initially seem to be a promising strategy for weight loss. By taking a prescription drug or an herbal supplement, the body will theoretically shut down its hunger and automatically eat less. As a result, the person will drop excess body fat and experience a steady decline in all the obesity-related risk factors: diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and so on. It all sounds great at first, but a closer look at the complex relationship between people and their foods reveals that this approach is only minimally successful, at best.

Here's why: appetite is actually stimulated by the consumption of processed foods and refined carbohydrates. When a person drinks a soft drink, eats a donut, or consumes refined white sugar, the resulting swings in blood sugar cause a hunger spike to arise a few hours later. Hunger signals are further strengthened when a person suffers from common nutritional deficiencies (virtually all Americans are deficient in zinc, vitamin D, various B vitamins, magnesium and other important nutrients). After years of experimentation, and after spending hundreds of dollars on various appetite suppressants (discussed below), I have come to the conclusion that the very best way to control appetite is to avoid refined carbohydrates and get superior nutrition from whole food supplements. I've tried all the "natural" appetite suppressants: hoodia, jojoba, green tea, fiber supplements and so on. None come even close to the appetite suppressing power of simply avoiding all refined carbohydrates such as white bread, rice, flour, high fructose corn syrup, sugars, tortillas, cereals and so on.

The only carbohydrates that don't trigger subsequent hunger are whole grains such as quinoa or boiled whole grain kamut, for example. Everything else in the carbohydrate world, including oatmeal and Cream of Wheat, is a strong appetite stimulant that will only make you eat more.

The bottom line here is that you don't need drugs to suppress your appetite. All you need is the knowledge to make better informed food choices and avoid all processed carbohydrates. This means absolutely no cookies, crackers, breads, baked goods, pasta, and so on. Do this and your appetite will fall on its own. You'll automatically eat less, lose weight, and save a fortune by avoiding prescription drugs. It's almost like following a low-carb diet, except you can have all the fruits and vegetables you want, as long as they're eaten in their raw form and not processed (orange juice, for example, would be a no-no).

All of this doesn't mean appetite suppressant drugs and diet pills won't be successful in the marketplace: most people would rather take a shortcut to losing weight if there's one available. But here's why the drugs won't work very well: even if your appetite is artificially reduced by the drugs, your body will keep on craving until it gets the nutrients it needs. If you don't supplement your diet with whole food and superfood supplements (like chlorella and spirulina) that provide superior nutrition, your body will be in a never-ending state of nutrient deficiency, and turning off the hunger signals will be all but impossible, no matter how powerful the drug.

So a person on appetite suppressing drugs will only succeed if they take an active role in their own nutrition by consuming superfoods and avoiding refined carbohydrates. And if they do that, they don't need the drugs in the first place. In effect, the drugs are really just hype, and they don't represent a reasonable approach to reducing obesity. Or, to summarize this entire article in one phrase: it's the food choice, stupid! Choose the wrong foods on a regular basis, and all the drugs in the world won't make you thin. But choose the right foods at every meal, and you'll be thin without needing drugs.

Copyright 2006 Truth Publishing

Mike Adams, "The Health Ranger," is chief contributor and editor of the NewsTarget Network, a leading independent news source for natural health, nutrition, medicine and other wellness topics. NewsTarget and Webseed.com are leading information resources for consumers seeking independent information on natural health and nutrition. More than 12,000 searchable articles are available at http://www.newstarget.com.