The US weight-loss supplement industry made $3.9 billion in sales last year. With this information The Diet Channel took a good, hard look at the safety and efficacy of diet pills, both over the counter and prescription.

Prescription weight loss pills are heavily regulated and over the counter are not. Some of the prescriptions meds reviewed include: fen-phen, Meridia, and Orlistat. Prescription meds are qualified by their ability to induce 10-20% weight loss in a year. However, both prescription and over-the-counter provisions state you must follow a healthy diet and exercise. To expect a change in your body without changing your lifestyle is nearly irrational.

Over the counter products tend to evade heavy regulation. However this lack of regulation comes at the cost of potentially harmful side effects. The article continues to mention other over the counter weight loss supplements including: green tea, caffeine, hoodia and alli. The billion dollar question is: if any of these pills truly worked, why is the obesity epidemic getting worse? Stay tuned for an upcoming article on the newest supplement alli. No, it wasn't named after me.

Unless public health takes urgent measures, the Institute of Medicine warned in a report one in five children in the United States will be obese by the year 2010.

In response to this alarming message, Just Different Specialty Tea Company now offers Captain Teao's organic Tea for Kids - a calorie and caffeine free kid-friendly beverage. The tea is a refreshing drink that provides a healthy beverage option in the fight against childhood obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. It is made with organic rooibos and is available in several flavors, such as: Very Vanilla, Orangie Orange, Lip Licking Lemon, Mango Madness and Peachy Keen Peach.

Captain Teao is the first character of his kind. He is a fictional, fun loving superhero who's on a mission to help kids fight the effects of childhood obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes. While on his mission Captain Teao invented Tea for Kids as a great tasting, healthy and refreshing alternative to high calorie sodas and fruit juices. Unlike sodas and juices -- Tea for Kids contains no sugar or caffeine and is loaded with antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. Cheers to Captain Teao for brewing such a socially responsible message. Here here!

A new survey reveals that most people prefer to treat diabetes by changing their diets, rather than using medicines.

According to a survey of 1,022 adults (515 women and 507 men), 69% of Americans would prefer to try a dietary approach, whereas only 21% preferred treating diabetes with medicines. The survey reinforces results from clinical research on diabetes, which has consistently found that people with diabetes adapt well to low-fat vegetarian diets and gain important health benefits. A dietary approach to diabetes based on scientific research shows that a low-fat vegan diet can lower high blood sugar levels three times more effectively than oral medications.

Among the results: women are even more likely than men to prefer food changes over pills. People with more education and higher incomes were especially likely to favor a diet approach. For the financially savvy - this makes a lot of sense. You MUST buy food. You might as well buy healthier foods and curtail your Rx costs. Furthermore, Americans aged 45 to 64 were more enthusiastic about diet changes, compared with older Americans. I'll bet it's the convenience factor. A little less medication, a little more supper, please. The most pill-happy generation was the 18- to 24-year-olds. Don't look at me like that - I'm 28 and favor the flavor over medication, any day. Bon appetit!

Realizing how influential carbohydrates can be on blood sugars, I swore myself to celibacy from baked goods long ago. However, my closed-door policy underwent peace talks after I had the pleasure of speaking with Ramsey Makar, founder of Miracle Muffins. Miracle Muffins are diabetic friendly premium muffin mixes with a plethora of wholesome goodness. Fresh baked, every time -- all you have to do is add water!

Miracle is a strong word. However, when you see the impact these muffins have on blood sugar -- you'll agree it's miraculous. Ramsey wanted to create a muffin that his diabetic mother could enjoy without the rise in her sugar. He concocted a recipe that contains generous amounts of fiber, healthy soy protein, low-glycemic sweeteners, and is very low in fat. Another fact for good measure -- the muffins fit comfortably into the diet programs of Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, LA Weight Loss, Nutra System and Zone.

I saved the best part for last -- the flavors! Each muffin is fresh-baked so you spare nothing on taste. The flavors available are: banana, blueberry, black cherry, chai spiced black tea, cinnamon green tea, chocolate black cherry and gingerbread. The muffin mixes have two versions based on the sweeteners used -- Spnenda or Xylitol. It says something profound about a product that actually helped an Olympic athlete lose weight! When you visit the Miracle Muffin site, take a peek at the You Tube video, read the mesmerizing nutrition details, and indulge yourself in the Miracle Muffin experience. You'll be a believer, too!

Back in April I blogged a post about a Japanese study, the results of which suggested that regular drinkers of coffee and green tea had a lower risk for Type 2 diabetes. Backing up those conclusions are the results of another study, this time conducted by researchers in Finland. The word, according to these guys, is that people who are inactive and overweight but who drink seven or more cups of coffee a day were half as likely to develop Type 2 diabetes as those who drank less coffee.

I'm floored. When the Japanese study came out I thought to myself, "Aha, perhaps the coffee and tea drinkers were at lower risk anyway just because they were fitter and healthier. Maybe it's just a lifestyle thing" These results blow that theory out of the water. They suggest instead that coffee is providing some specific, but yet to be identified, health benefit that protects the body from diabetes.

A new study just published in the Annals of Internal Medicine (144, 8:544-62, 2006) looks at a possible relationship between caffeine consumption and Type 2 diabetes. Yes, coffee lovers, there's finally some good news coming your way. As for you green tea lovers, well, you don't need any encouraging words since green tea has such a trendy and healthful image - bah! Anyway, the study found that Japanese adults who consumed caffeine via drinking coffee or green tea were less likely than others to develop Type 2 diabetes. Oddly, black and oolong teas did not have the same effect. This study looks like a pretty major deal, involving over 17,000 participants. Also, the occasional drink of the favored beverages will not do much for you. The people who benefited the most drank more than six cups of green tea or more than three cups of coffee a day, reducing their risk for Type 2 by thirty-three percent and forty-two percent, respectively. Now, the thing to bear in mind about studies like this (and the reason I'm not gulping down cups of green tea as I write this) is that they are not suggesting a direct relationship between drinking coffee or green tea and reducing your risk for Type 2. No, no, no.  Rather, they are saying there is some connection and they have to work out what it is. For instance, maybe it's not the drinks themselves that are healthy, but the fact that people guzzling tea and coffee all day don't tend to eat the junk that puts you at risk for Type 2 diabetes.

St. Louis-based Danforth Plant Science Center recently published groundbreaking research in which compounds found in green tea plants could be a therapy for a rare and typically fatal insulin disorder in children. Specifically, the polyphenol compounds found in the plant -- epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and epicatechin gallate (ECG) -- can play a significant role in modulating human insulin production. The team determined that the polyphenols are responsible for regulating the production of the enzyme glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH), which plays a regulatory role in the process of insulin secretion by pancreatic cells. Children with this disorder don't have the ability to turn off this enzyme and this can lead to fatal results. The next phase of this study will focus on developing new plant varieties that contain enhanced nutritional and other compounds that will address chronic diseases such as diabetes.