NOP World survey finds Dieticians need help: A new NOP World survey, commissioned by Cambridge Health & Weight Plan, has found that there is a low awareness of dieticians and their services. NOP World also found that commercial slimming clubs, self help groups and weight management programmes offering one-to-one support were recommended by more than half of those questioned. - NOP World, 2005

The prevalence of obesity in adults and children has increased in recent decades and is now classed as a chronic disease that has become one of the most serious health problems in Western society.

As obesity levels continue to increase so to does the enormous financial burder that the disease inevitably brings.

Being on of the most common problems relating to lifestyle today, obesity has become a key risk factor in the development and progression of a vast majority of chronic diseases. Health consequences in association with being overweight / obese include: Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, certain forms of cancer, osteoarthritis and respiratory diseases.

The Commercial sector has been increasing at a rapid rate over the last decade as the niche for selling weight loss products to an ever-expanding popultion increases daily.

This provides the public with an everlasting supply of dietary advice and recommendations stating success through testimonials by members of the public and celebrities, yet lacks somewhat in solid scientific evidence. This also provides the opportunity for a vast amount of money to be generated from a vulnerable and misinformed public.

Therefore it is in the interest of the commercial sector and the public that those who deem their products to be safe and effective, rise to the challenge and be independently assessed.

The Perfect Food

Tens of thousands of people around the world take their 'Cambridge' every day, either for weight management or as a healthy, nutritional supplement. Cambridge is a food product as acceptable as cornflakes or an apple.

For those who are overweight and following the Cambridge ‘Sole Source’ programme, complete nutrition is obtainable in just over 400 kcal. The major ingredients are natural and each Cambridge meal consists of common foodstuffs, fortified with synthetic vitamins, minerals and trace elements. We consider that Cambridge is the perfect food for many of us, from a nutritional point of view. There is no food obtainable that contains all known nutrients in so few calories.

Much of our knowledge about the importance of many nutrients in our diet arises from agricultural research. A great deal of money has been spent on the nutrition of farm animals than on that of human being. For many years, animal feeds have been supplemented and fortified with additional vitamins and minerals. As a result, the animals are fitter and healthier, milk yields are larger and the carcasses contain more protein.

Over the years, many dietary regimes devised by doctors have been written about in books which have become best sellers. Among the most popular and successful and the Low Carb Diet and the Atkins Diet, which are based on the principle of a low carbohydrate intake. The idea behind these diets is that consuming carbohydrate makes you hungry and by drastically reducing carbohydrate you can stick to your diet better because you are not hungry. The problem is that the above mentioned diets do not contain all the nutrients – the vitamins, minerals and trace elements – you need and in the long term will lead to serious nutritional deficiencies. This is one of the reasons leading nutritionists have advised against them.

The Cambridge Diet SoyaSlim® is low in carbohydrate and is successful for exactly the same reason: loss of hunger. However, because it is nutritionally complete, it ensures that over the long term it will not cause the nutritional complications from using a low calorie diet of food only.

Cambridge has devised a programme of just over 800 kcal per day (see Step 2), consisting of fish or meat and low carbohydrate vegetables in addition to 2 servings of Cambridge Diet SoyaSlim®. This programme is an excellent and more balanced substitute for the above mentioned diets. Moreover, it allows for the pleasure of eating and enjoying a highly palatable and healthy meal at least once a day. (see also Q&A).

In the Health Professionals section, we provide information on diet formulation, nutrition information, medical conditions and more.