文登考研英语钻石卡VIP外报阅读.docx

1、文登考研英语钻石卡VIP外报阅读文登考研英语钻石卡（VIP）外报阅读第15期Passage 1: HCG Diet Dangers: Is Fast Weight Loss Worth the Risk?Its dubious. Theres no good evidence it works. But hCG dieters insist theyre dropping pounds, fastBy Angela Haupt Posted: March 14, 2011Thousands of people are latching onto a diet that promises rap

2、id weight lossup to 30 pounds a monthand, judging by its recent surge in popularity, actually delivers. But the so-called hCG diet is either a weight-loss miracle or a dangerous fraud, depending on whos talking. The plan combines drops or injections of hCG, a pregnancy hormone, with just 500 calorie

3、s a day. While some believers are so convinced of its power theyll willingly stick themselves with a syringe, the government and mainstream medical community say its a scam that carries too many health risks and doesnt lead to long-term weight loss.Its reckless, irresponsible, and completely irratio

4、nal, says Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Can you lose weight on it? Of course, but thats mainly because youre hardly consuming any calories. And any benefit is not going to last.HCG is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to treat infertility

5、 in both men and women. But its weight-loss roots trace back to the 1950s, when British endocrinologist A.T.W. Simeons realized that giving obese patients small, regular doses of the hormone helped them lose stubborn clumps of fat. It only worked, however, when coupled with a near-starvation diet. S

6、imeons began touting hCG as a potent appetite suppressant that would make anything more than 500 daily calories unbearable. And he claimed the hormone could blast fat in key trouble spots like the upper arms, stomach, thighs, and buttocks, while preserving muscle. Save for a few tweaks, the modern-d

7、ay incarnation is largely as Simeons presented it: Dieters supplement an extremely low-calorie meal plan with daily injections prescribed off-label by medical professionals, or take diluted, homeopathic hCG typically in drop formsold online, in drugstores, and at nutritional supplement stores.Exactl

8、y why the hCG diet is experiencing a revival now is unclear, but the hype has sparked a response from the FDA. In January, the agency warned that homeopathic hCG is fraudulent and illegal when sold for weight-loss purposes. Though the FDA said such products arent necessarily dangerous, their sale is

9、 deceptive, since theres no good evidence theyre effective for weight loss. Whats more, all hCG products, including injections prescribed by a doctor, must carry a warning stating theres no proof they accelerate weight loss, redistribute fat, or numb the hunger and discomfort typical of a low-calori

10、e diet.Nonetheless, doctors are still doling out prescriptions for the daily injections, typically inserted into the thigh. At New Beginnings Weight Loss Clinic in Florida, for example, an in-house physician has prescribed injections to 3,000 clients since 2008, and clinical director Jo Lynn Hansen

11、has recently observed a marked jump in interest. There, clients can opt for either a 23-day plan ($495) or a 40-day regimen ($595). After taking a six week break and eating normallyto prevent the body from becoming hCG-immunemany resume the process, completing multiple cycles. We have people flying

12、in from all over the country, Hansen says. Its just a tiny little needle that pricks the skin. Anyone can do it.Though hCG dieters have some leeway in how they spend their 500 daily calories, theyre urged to choose organic meats, vegetables, and fish. Dairy, carbs, alcohol, and sugar are all off lim

13、its. A days meals might consist of coffee and an orange for breakfast; a little tilapia and raw asparagus for lunch; a piece of fruit in the afternoon; and crab, spinach, Melba toast, and tea for dinner. If dieters slip up, theyre encouraged to compensate by drinking only water and eating nothing bu

14、t six apples for 24 hours. Thats thought to help squeeze out water weight, a psychological boost to help them get back on track.It wasnt that hard to pull off, and Id do it again in a heartbeat, raved London-based fashion stylist Alison Edmond in Februarys Marie Claire. In the end, I lost a total of

15、 25 pounds, ending up at a weight I hadnt been in 10 years. Despite success stories like hers, scientific evidence on the plan is shaky at best. In 1995, researchers analyzed 14 clinical trials on the hCG diet. Only two concluded hCG was any more effective than a placebo at helping people lose weigh

16、t. And nearly 10 years earlier, a report in the Canadian Medical Association Journal stated hCG has no value as a means of managing obesity, and that the diet has been thoroughly discredited and thus rejected by the majority of the medical community.Detractors say the hormone isnt some miracle ingre

17、dient to weight lossthe restrictive diet is. If you dont eat, you lose weight, Cohen says. If hCG truly diminished hunger, it would be a wonderful drug. But if that were the case, why couldnt you just modestly reduce your intake while using it? Why would you have to simultaneously starve yourself? B

18、ut believers insist that, thanks to hCG, they can stick to a low-calorie diet without hunger pangs, while losing unwanted fat. Theyre adamant that hCG is essential to the diets success. People are strongly convinced that this hormone will keep them on a 500-calorie diet. And the power of suggestion

19、can be a very strong force, says Cohen.Of course, the regimen isnt without risks. The hormone is known to cause headaches, blood clots, leg cramps, temporary hair thinning, constipation, and breast tenderness. The FDA has received at least one recent report of an HCG dieter developing a pulmonary em

20、bolism, a potentially fatal blood clot in the lung, says agency spokesperson Shelly Burgess. Yet, the hormones full risk profile is unknown. HCG was studied briefly for weight loss and found to be ineffective, so we have no idea what its potential risks are, Cohen says. Do I have data that it causes

21、 heart attacks, stroke, or cancer? No, I dont, because we just dont know at this point. While hCG may be safe on its ownthe FDA says its safe as an infertility treatmentpairing it with an extremely low-calorie diet could have unexpected side effects.Two years ago, Lori Hill, 40, of Salt Lake City, U

22、tah, began a 28-day hCG diet cycle. She says she lost about 26 pounds, including thigh fat, largely without hunger. But she felt ill almost immediately, and by the last week of the diet, Hilla fit and active soccer refereecouldnt climb a flight of stairs without gasping for breath. The effort made h

23、er muscles burn and shake, too. After completing the cycle, Hill regained all the weight she had lost, plus an additional 15 pounds. I starved myself and threw all my nutrients out of whack, she says. Youre tricking your body into letting you starve, without feeling any major hunger. What youre doin

24、g to your body just isnt worth it.Theres no question that 500 calories a day is tantamount to malnutritiondieters should never dip below 1,200, say expertsand federal dietary guidelines recommend more than three times the amount of calories the diet prescribes for women ages 19 to 30. Moreover, extr

25、emely low-calorie diets can cause severe bone and muscle loss, electrolyte imbalances, gallstones, and even death. Ive heard a lot of people say the side effects of this diet are overwhelming, says registered dietitian Keri Gans, a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. And they could s

26、tart as soon as one day inyoull start feeling irritated and tired.To Gans, the regimen is nothing more than a crash dietand an expensive one at that. A more sensible route to weight loss, she says, is no more mysterious than choosing healthy foods, limiting portion sizes, and exercising. This is ano

27、ther approach for people who believe theres a silver bullet, but there is no such thing. All this diet does is show you how to restrict, and a person can only do that for so long without returning to old habits.Passage 2：Does Drinking Water Before Meals Help You Lose Weight?Two glasses before meals

28、may help you shed pounds permanentlyBy Hanna Dubansky Drinking two 8-ounce glasses of water before breakfast, lunch, and dinner may be just the backstop your willpower needs to help you shed pounds permanently in 2011, according to a recent study published in Obesity. Researchers instructed two grou

29、ps of overweight or obese men and women to follow a low-calorie diet, asking one group to also drink two cups of water before meals. After 12 weeks, the water drinkers had lost an average of 15 pounds, compared with 11 pounds for the control group. Those who continued the habit for a year lost an ad

30、ditional 1 pounds on average. I would never promote this as a get-slim-quick scheme, says senior study author Brenda Davy, an associate professor in the department of human nutrition, foods, and exercise at Virginia Tech University, who notes that the practice slows the emptying of the stomach. This

31、 is simply an additional strategy that could help people manage their hunger.The study examined the effect only on middle-age and older adults, but Liwei Chen, an assistant professor of epidemiology at Louisiana State University Health Science Center School of Public Health, thinks its a smart strat

32、egy for everybody, particularly if it causes them to cut back on soda. American adults average 28 ounces of sugar-sweetened beverages per day, says Chen, who led a study published in May that found even a small reduction in sugar intake significantly lowered blood pressure. Aim to avoid sugar-sweetened beverages altogether, she advises. That way, you battle two risk factors at once.Passage3: TV Watching Is Bad for Babies BrainsBy Nancy Shute Babies who watch TV are more likely to have delayed cognitive development and language