APPENDIX C

HUNGER FREE FOREVER PROGRAM

THIS IS A NEARLY effortless program for safe, effective, lifelong weight control; it was developed from major scientific discoveries regarding appetite regulation. The book Hunger Free Forever, which I cowrote with Michael Lyon, M.D., provides an extensive discussion of the program. My goal here is to provide some of the basic principles so you can begin to achieve your weight loss goals.

One key to the success of our program is that it promotes satiety—the state of being full or gratified to the point of satisfaction. Research has shown that humans eat to achieve satiety and those who are overweight have more frequent food cravings and a resistance to satiety after eating adequate amounts of food. Our program uncovers the reasons for cravings and resistance to satiety, and offers ways to restore normal appetite control—whether you want to lose five pounds or 200 pounds.

The Hunger Free Forever program is simple, easy to follow, and highly effective. It promotes weight loss because it is based on achieving several important goals:

  • image Decreasing appetite and calories consumed.
  • image Normalizing and stabilizing blood glucose levels.
  • image Increasing metabolism and the burning of fat, while preserving muscle mass—without the use of hazardous stimulants.
  • image Resetting the mechanisms that control the size of individual fat cells and body weight.
  • image Adjusting food and lifestyle choices to promote ideal body weight and create a healthier relationship with food.

PGX—THE SUPER-SOLUBLE FIBER

To lose weight safely, effectively, and permanently, you should greatly increase your consumption of dietary fiber. Unfortunately, to fully achieve the appetite-stabilizing effects of fiber, very large quantities of fiber must be consumed—higher quantities than most people would ever eat. Most North Americans consume 5 to 15 grams (g) of fiber per day. The USDA recommends at least 30 g per day. In reality, 75 to 100 g or more of conventional dietary fiber per day would probably be required in order to have highly significant effects on satiety in overweight individuals.

The effectiveness of fiber in reducing appetite, blood sugar, and cholesterol is directly proportional to the amount of water the fiber can absorb (its water holding capacity) and the degree of thickness or viscosity it imparts when it is in the stomach and intestine. For instance, this solubility is why oat bran lowers cholesterol and controls blood sugar better, gram for gram, than wheat bran does. With this in mind, researchers have been seeking to identify and isolate dietary fibers with the highest viscosity and water holding capacity in order to make them available as food ingredients or nutritional supplements. They have found that certain fibers, when combined, synergize and multiply one another’s effects. Thus, specific fiber combinations, gram for gram, may exert health effects equivalent to larger gram quantities of similar fibers consumed alone.

Although there are many varieties of soluble fiber, a completely novel blend of soluble fibers, PolyGlycoPlex (PGX®), is the most viscous and soluble fiber ever discovered so far. The fibers in PGX work synergistically to produce a higher level of viscosity, gel-forming properties, and expansion with water than the same quantity of any other fiber alone. The blend can bind roughly hundreds of times its weight in water, resulting in a volume and viscosity three to five times greater than that of other highly soluble fibers, such as psyllium or oat beta-glucan. To put this in perspective, 5 g of PGX in a meal replacement formula or taken on its own produces a volume and viscosity that would be equal to as much as four bowls of oat bran. Thus small quantities of PGX added to foods or taken in a drink before meals will have an impact on appetite and blood sugar control equivalent to eating impractically enormous quantities of any other form of fiber.

The development of PGX is the result of intense scientific research at the University of Toronto led by Dr. David Jenkins, Dr. Tom Wolever, Dr. Alexandra Jenkins, and Dr. Vladimir Vuksan, discoverers of the now popular glycemic index (GI). My coauthor, Dr. Michael Lyon, director of the Canadian Center for Functional Medicine, then led a team of scientists for two years of exhaustive research to create the processes and formulas that led to the patent-pending ingredient PGX. Dr. Lyon continues to collaborate with the University of Toronto on PGX research. Recent studies have shown that when added to virtually any food, PGX can reduce its GI by 50 to 70 percent.

Detailed clinical studies published in major medical journals and presented at the world’s major diabetes conferences have shown that PGX has the following benefits:

  • image Reduces appetite and promotes effective weight loss, even in the morbidly obese.
  • image Increases the level of compounds that block the appetite and promote satiety.
  • image Decreases the level of compounds that stimulate overeating.
  • image Reduces postprandial (after-meal) blood glucose levels when added to or taken with foods.
  • image Reduces the glycemic index of any food or beverage.
  • image Increases insulin sensitivity and decreases blood insulin levels better than any drug.
  • image Improves diabetes control and dramatically reduces the need for medications or insulin in diabetics.
  • image Stabilizes blood sugar control in the overweight and obese.
  • image Lowers blood cholesterol and triglycerides.

PGX—AN ABSOLUTE MUST FOR EFFECTIVE AND PERMANENT WEIGHT LOSS

In our clinical experience, we discovered a very important fact—the key to successful weight loss is the ingestion of 2.5 to 5 g of PGX at major meals and perhaps at least twice more daily for those with an appetite more difficult to tame. Initially, we spent a lot of time in the clinic educating our patients on the importance of planning diets and menus, but then we found out that we actually got better results with our patients when we simply stressed using PGX along with becoming more conscious of what and how much they were eating.

There are various forms of PGX: capsules (either hard or soft gelatin); a zero-calorie drink mix; granules to be added to food and beverages; and a sophisticated low-carbohydrate, very low-GI meal replacement drink containing undenatured whey protein, natural flavors, and sweeteners along with vitamins and minerals. The primary supplier of PGX is Natural Factors, which offers PGX in its SlimStyles family of products for weight loss. These products can be found in health food stores throughout North America or from a number of e-tailers on the Internet. To find a store near you, please go to www.slimstyles.com. For more information about the science behind PGX go to www.PGX.com. Here is a quick checklist of how to use PGX in your daily diet:
  • image Take SlimStyles Weight Loss Drink Mix with PGX at least once per day as a meal replacement. (Note: In Canada this product is called SlimStyles Weight Loss Meal Replacement Drink Mix with PGX.)
  • image Before meals, when you are not using SlimStyles Weight Loss Drink Mix with PGX as a meal replacement, you must take PGX. If you are using PGX granules, take 2.5 to 5 g in a glass of water. (Note: SlimStyx from Natural Factors provides 2.5 g of PGX in a convenient small tube-shaped packet that is excellent to bring along with you when you are eating out. If you are using PGX in soft gelatin capsules, less PGX is required in this form. Take 2 or 3 soft gelatin capsules with a glass of water before meals.)
  • image Use PGX granules or in soft gel capsules when you are hungry between meals.
  • image Follow the menu suggestions.
  • image Drink water! It is always wise to drink at least 48 ounces of water daily, and it is vital to do so when you are taking PGX.