Obesity is not a disease. Obesity is a sign of toxicity,” said Dr. Eileen C. Comia, integrative medicine specialist and medical director of Advance Biomedical Treatment Center based in Bloomfield, Connecticut.
She was in the country recently to see patients and introduce the center’s medical weight-loss program that’s said to be more effective than diet and exercise alone. It is scientifically proven, she said, to reverse heart disease and diabetes risk in 12 weeks.
“Obesity means you are full of toxins because toxins make fat cells. Fat cells attract toxins or toxins are attracted to fat cells, because the toxins we imbibe from the environment are mostly fat-soluble. There are many toxins that are called obesogens because they cause fatty cells to develop,” Comia said in an interview with Lifestyle.
Often called “invisible” because it is hard to actually identify them, obesogens are everywhere—from food and drinks to synthetic manmade products like toys. So while it is true that that Big Mac meal is making you fat, obesogens are making it even worse for you.
That’s why, said Comia, she always puts her patient on a metabolic detoxification before putting them on a weight-loss program.
“This is highly scientific. I don’t think there’s any other weight-loss program that’s as scientific as this. It’s not just about exercising. It’s not just about the calories. It’s what you’re eating and how you detoxify,” Comia said.
Comia said colon cleansing is not detoxification; it’s just removing the junk accumulated in your gut. Detoxification must involve the liver, she said. When you involve the liver, you improve your whole body.
The medical diet puts patients on a modified, gluten- and dairy-free Mediterranean diet. In six weeks, patients lost up to 20 lbs of fat and gained up to 14 lbs of muscle.
No drugs
There are no drugs, no blood types to consider. The package includes a special protein powder packed with sulfates that bind to toxins, making them more water-soluble, and a supplement that helps flush them out.
In their studies, a patient on the medical diet plus exercise program saw his cholesterol drop by 36 mg, while another person that used the traditional diet-and-exercise program dropped his cholesterol by 16 mg only; triglycerides were also down 89 mg, compared to 30 for those not on the medical diet.
“BMI is passé. What people need right now is body fat analysis. You need to talk about body fat, about body composition. The weight is really the ratio of the muscle mass to the body fat,” she said.
Two of her patients have the same, average BMI, both look slim, but one has much higher body fat compared to the other. In other words, she said, one is a “tofi”—tough on the outside, soft on the inside. These are usually the vegetarians and vegans.
“Vegetarians and vegans are usually high in body fat because they don’t have enough protein in their diet to make muscle. So they still develop all these diseases because their arteries are still clogged, or they have significant amount of visceral fat. They eat a lot of carbs. Soy nuts and beans are not enough, especially if you exercise a lot. There are 14 essential amino acids that don’t come from anything else but meat,” Comia said.
Comia uses the latest BIA (bioimpedance analysis) technology to analyze fat: it measures not only the muscle and fat lost or gained, but also if the body water content is intracellular or extracellular, or if you’re manas (bloated) because you’re not drinking enough water.
People jump from one diet to the next because the emphasis, she said, is always on the weight loss. That is wrong, she said. There should be clear-cut goals. Their medical diet’s primary goal is weight loss, followed by achieving ideal body composition (body fat and muscle ratio), and then reduced health risk.
“To all of you, what you care about is how you look. It’s not about how you look; it’s about whether or not you are healthy,” she said.
Ridiculously small
Many of the diets on the market today fail, she said, because they’re not practical. The food portions are ridiculously small so that when you travel, all bets are off.
With their medical diet, Comia said it’s okay if you fail and cheat on some days; as long as you keep on taking the protein powder, you’ll still lose weight.
The enriched protein powder is what she calls the medical food. It contains selective kinase response modulators (SKRMs) that decrease the inflammation. SKRMs, continued Comia, are enzymes that help the liver do the right thing and function at its optimal level.
“I have seen many children since I got here. Filipino kids, as young as eight, have fatty livers. That means the liver is full of toxins already. It is no longer healthy,” she said.
When you see low-fat products, that means it has more sugar, she said. The more you consume them, the more you get fat because it’s all sugar. Anything that says “sugar-free” means it is using artificial sugar—that means your body cannot digest it because you do not have the enzyme to break down something artificial.
Products containing high fructose corn syrup, like those found in sandwiches and fries in fast-food restaurants, she said, inhibit leptins, the neurotransmitters in your brain that suppress the appetite. So what actually happens, Comia said, is it makes you want to eat more.
Eat only natural food. And do not eat oatmeal, wheat and dairy. Oatmeal and gluten are hyperallergenic. If you’re somebody who is always sick with runny nose or congestion, avoid dairy and watch your allergies disappear. That’s because you now have a body that is not preoccupied with having to fight something every day.
“Don’t consume anything packaged. Eat only natural food. It’s simple. Our program is supervised by me, no one else. You speak to me, we go on Skype. My goal is to make you healthy for life,” Comia said.