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The Rosedale Diet

Chapter One

Get Slim, Live Longer, Be Healthier

Want a slim, sculpted body and a longer life? There's a tried and true way to achieve both. Eating less ... a lot less. Decades ago, researchers discovered that if you put laboratory animals on a very low calorie diet -- about one-third fewer calories than normal -- they can live up to two times longer than well-fed animals. Not surprisingly, food-restricted animals retain their sleek, youthful figures. What is truly amazing, however, is that their bodies not only appear younger, but by every objective laboratory measure, they are younger. Levels of key hormones that normally fluctuate with age, and other important markers of aging remain remarkably stable. Nor do food-restricted animals suffer as often from the chronic diseases associated with "normal" aging, such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.

Slim for life. Healthy for life. A longer life in a "younger" body. Despite these wonderful results, no one is seriously suggesting that humans should follow such a punishing diet. Who wants to starve? Who willingly can?

The fact is, you don't have to starve to be in great shape or to enjoy the prospect of a longer, disease-free life. Thanks to the Rosedale Diet, you can have all the benefits of a strict, low calorie diet -- a great body, great health, and the promise of longevity -- without ever having to feel a hunger pang.

The even better news is that you can lose weight and get healthy while still eating delicious meals and snacks such as chicken tortillas, wraps, guacamole, nuts (even so-called fattening nuts like macadamia nuts), lobster salad, raspberry cheesecake, and eggs Benedict. No starving. No hunger. The best part of all is that you will be back in control of your hunger, your weight, and your life.

My program has worked for thousands of my patients, and it can work for you. By following the Rosedale Diet, my patients have not only successfully lost weight, but have rejuvenated their bodies and reclaimed their health. The once obese are now trim and fit, in an amazingly short period of time. Remarkably, the same biomarkers of longevity seen in calorie-restricted animals are seen in my patients. In fact, by every objective laboratory measure, my patients have "de-aged" their bodies:

• High blood sugar levels, a hallmark of aging, fall to normal, healthy levels.
• Body temperature stays lower in my patients, a sign that their bodies are running more efficiently.
• Key hormones are restored to more youthful levels.
• High blood lipid levels (triglycerides) plummet to a healthy range.

The so-called diseases of aging, such as type 2 diabetes, a veritable epidemic among people over forty, and heart disease, the number one killer of both men and women, are vastly improved. In fact, after following my program for a few weeks, my patients are able to throw out most of their prescription medicines.

My patients not only look great, but they tell me that they feel great too, and have a huge amount of energy. The best news is, unlike calorierestricted animals who are kept in cages and starved to enjoy these bene fits, my patients feel full and satisfied. It's too early to say whether my patients will live longer -- we need to wait another thirty or forty years for that data -- but all indications are that they will. I can say with certainty that the quality of their lives is significantly better. (My patients can speak for themselves, and they do. They tell their own stories in their own words, throughout this book.)

Within this book, you will find the tools that you need to take back control of your weight, and ultimately, your life. You will be empowered with the latest scientific information on how to lose weight safely, quickly, and permanently. Once you start the Rosedale Diet, you, too, can experience the same spectacular success in terms of both weight loss and better health enjoyed by my patients.

Getting To The Heart of Obesity

The Rosedale Diet works because it corrects the underlying metabolic aberration at the root cause of both obesity and premature aging: hormonal dysfunction. Hormones are chemical messengers that direct all body activities, including how much you eat, and ultimately, whether you are fat or fit. Your hormones can work for you or against you. The wrong diet creates hormonal imbalances that trigger hunger and food cravings, the main problems that prevent people from losing weight and keeping it off. The right diet -- the Rosedale Diet -- almost magically controls hunger and eliminates food cravings. That is why it works so well.

Hunger is a powerful force. As I tell my patients, following a diet while trying to fight hunger is like trying to hold on to the edge of a cliff and hoping that gravity will go away. Eventually, you're going to let go. If you're hungry, eventually you're going to eat and chances are, you'll overeat to make up for lost time.

How does my diet curb hunger? The Rosedale Diet is specially designed to control the key hormone that regulates both appetite and weight loss. That hormone is leptin. Leptin is produced by your fat cells. It tells your brain when to eat, how much to eat and most important, when to stop eating. Leptin is also critical for many of the body's most important functions, including the regulation of blood circulation, the prevention of blood clots, making new bone, regulation of body temperature, and reproduction. In fact, if a woman produces too little leptin, she will stop menstruating, and therefore will be unable to conceive. Very recently, leptin amazed the scientific community when it was found to be able to rewire critical and central portions of the brain to better do its bidding. The more scientists research leptin, the more they learn about how vital it is to life ...

The Rosedale Diet. Copyright © by Ron Rosedale. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.