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TV PREVIEWS
10 Things You Need To Know About Losing Weight, BBC1, 8pm 
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At any one time in Britain, around 10 million people are trying to lose weight – and sadly, most of them fail miserably. This programme, fronted by doctor-turned-journalist Michael Mosley, investigates the latest scientific breakthroughs in slimming, uncovering 10 of the simplest ways to shed those pounds.
It starts off rather unpromisingly, with the voiceover stating the blinkin' obvious: "Choose low-calorie options of all your favourite foods…" (yawn), "Change your plate size from 12 inches to 10 inches…" (double yawn). Meanwhile, the lo-tech graphics reminded us of one of those 1970s public information films.
Then, about 20 minutes in, we got to the good stuff. Did you know, for example, that protein is better at staving off hunger pangs than any other food type? So, if you're trying to lose weight, you'll feel fuller for longer if you start the day with ham and eggs, rather than muesli and orange juice. This, an affable egghead explains, is because protein triggers the production of a special hormone that tells the brain we're full.
By far the most intriguing revelation, however, is the fact that a diet high in low-fat dairy products (skimmed milk, cottage cheese, crème fraiche, etc.) can help you excrete more fat. Now concentrate, here's the science bit: the calcium in dairy products binds to fat molecules in our small intestine, forming a soap-like substance that we can't absorb – so the fat and calcium pass straight through you. This means that, rather than sitting on your hips, the fat ends up in the toilet. Brilliant!
To prove it, Blur guitarist-turned-farmer Alex James sportingly agreed to follow a high-dairy diet for one week, while sending off regular poo samples to a lab in Holland. He followed this with a week-long low-dairy diet, which contained exactly the same number of calories. Amazingly, Alex excreted more than double the amount of fat on the high-dairy diet.
See ya! We’re off to buy shares in Dairylea…
by Liberty Jones, Wednesday 27 May 2009
Picture: BBC
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