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Curbs on the promotion and use of very low calorie slimming diets will be called for by government scientific advisers in a report due out soon.

The diets have taken off hugely in the last five years and have been sold to more than half a million Britons. Now a working group of the government’s Committee on Medical Aspects of Food Policy (Coma) warns that they could be harmful.

But the criticism was rejected yesterday by Dr John Marks, medical adviser to the Cambridge Diet, one of the best-known and most controversial of the very low calorie diets. He says that new evidence to be presented to the health department will challenge the basis on which Coma decided the diets may be hazardous.

In its report, the Coma working group advises that those using the diets for more than a few weeks, or taking repeated courses at short intervals, should only do so under medical supervision. They should also be used only as a last resort, after less drastic slimming methods have failed.

Even then, the report states, ‘there is no evidence that very low calorie regimes are more likely to achieve enduring weight loss than conventional weight-reducing diets (that is, calorie-counting ones).

The findings of the working group, chaired by Harry Keen, professor of human metabolism at Guy’s Hospital, London, have been broadly approved by the main committee and are expected to be published in the next few weeks.

The very low calorie diets are defined in the report as commercially-produced nutrient preparations with an energy value of less than 600 calories a day, and marketed for use as a total food substitute. They come as flavoured powders, which are mixed with water.

The Cambridge Diet includes the total daily needs of the body for vitamins, minerals and trace elements, and a supply of essential amino acids and fatty acids. Yet three cups a day of this meal-substitute give a total of only 330 calories.

The Coma group says that when the diets include 100% of the recommended daily allowances of vitamins and minerals and other vital substances, immediate risks to health are negligible.

However, the lower the calories in the diets, the greater are the penalty paid for the accelerated weight loss: as well as burning off stored fat, there are increased losses of other tissues, including muscle and possibly body organs and bone. If such damage does occur, it could lead to problems such as a weakened heart.

This view is rejected by Marks, the adviser to the Cambridge diet. He says new evidence will show that the method used to measure the loss of non-fat body tissues is fundamentally flawed. Rather than indicating loss of muscle or vital organs, he said, the extra losses seen on very low calorie diets were nothing than fluid.

Cod-liver oil, whether provided by the welfare services or handed out by matron at a British prep school, became part of the diet of children and reached the peak of its popularity as a preventive health measure during the Second World War.

The discovery of vitamins A and D in fish oil in the first quarter of the 20th century provides the scientific explanation for many of the advantages which seem to arise from its use, particularly its power to prevent rickets and improve the condition of the skin and nails. It was assumed that these vitamins accounted for the observation by the Victorian dermatologist, Dr T.Fox, that “if eczema be present cod-liver oil must be given”. In fact, the full story now seems more complicated.

In the research workers became fascinated by the fact that although Eskimos had a diet high in fat, and low in vitamin C and fibre, they had little coronary heart disease, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis or psoriasis, an inflammatory skin condition. Scientists soon discovered that as well as providing vitamins A and D, fish oil was rich in the essential fatty acids of the Omega 3 group, which included the fat, EPA, found in oily fish, mackerel, salmon, herrings and trout. It has now been established that, provided a diet is not overladen with saturated fats, such as the bacon and eggs of the British breakfast, supplements of EPA taken in the form of concentrated fish oil, has a cardio-protective effect.

This is partly achieved by the lowering of the amount of the lower density cholesterol in the body and increasing the proportion of the helpful higher density cholesterol, and partly by its ability to inhibit the stickiness of the small blood cells, the platelets, thereby reducing the tendency of blood to clot and hence form a thrombosis, which can cause a heart attack. EPA also lowers the triglycerides, another potentially dangerous blood fat. A diet rich in fish oil even seems to reduce the number of attacks, and their severity, of angina in a patient with coronary heart disease.

Read articles at site http://beginhealthnow.com for additional information on how wartrol can be good for the skin and prevent unwanted skin problems like warts from occurring.

Medical interest is now extending to the effect of fish oil on the skin. Doctors are heeding the advice given by Dr Fox 112 years ago, but they have found that it is not only the vitamins in cod-liver oil which are beneficial to the skin, but also the EPA in the fish oil. The amount of vitamins A and D which can be taken has to be carefully controlled, whereas it seems the more fish oil consumed the better. Several studies have shown a modest improvement in cases of psoriasis treated with fish oil, but the most striking effect has recently been reported by American workers in the British Journal of Dermatology. They showed that when fish oil was combined with exposure to UBV treatment, the skin lesions shrank appreciably.

Feet have never been so pampered or so on show, says Jan Masters

It had to happen. Fast running out of body parts to thrust into the glare of the cameras, celebrities have taken to flashing their feet -especially since many of this season’s sandals have the teeniest, tiniest straps and skyscraper heels. Heat magazine’s recent lowdown on celebrity feet was mesmerizing  not least because it revealed that even Gwyneth Paltrow and Catherine Zeta-Jones have bits of their bodies that are far from ideal -unlike Rachel Weisz, whose feet score a perfect ten after using Easy Feet.

A transfixing array of what amounted to bondage wear for toes tottered down the red carpet at the recent British Soap Awards. The prize for the most festooned feet in the Street went to Tracy Shaw, who not only strutted her stuff in sex-kitten sandals but added a silver ankle bracelet and matching toe ring for good measure.

But even when the flatties are out in force, celebs are refusing to look down at heel. Madonna is mad on upmarket mules, while Jerry Hall adores her jewel-encrusted flip-flops. (Although Billie Piper’s decision to marry in slip-sloppy sandals rather than click-clack heels is unlikely to set a trend for dress-down weddings.) In New York, of course, they are several steps ahead -the latest feet treatments include having fat injected into the foot pads to make the wearing of heels less excruciating. We may not have reached that level of obsession, but the result of this summer’s fetish for fancy feet has been a stampede to nail bars for pedicures. Helen Harvey, the head of operations at Nails Inc, reports that bright Barbie pinks are the hottest shades this season. “Women are becoming so toe-conscious; they’re getting our therapists to match shade to shoe.” For the more adventurous, Harvey says that nail art is a growing trend – a very fine brush is used to paint on delicate butterflies and flowers. But for nail enamel that really goes the distance, ask for the Everlasting Polish -a colored gel is applied and then bonded to the nail under a UV lamp, making it batter-resistant for up to six weeks.

For more peel-me-a-grape pampering, try the Easy Foot, which includes a salt scrub to exfoliate dry skin and a marine mask to soothe and smooth -all so your tootsies will look better in your Jimmy Choos. Which is ironic really, because it is stilettos and open-toed wedges that make your feet feel like hell in the first place. High heels force the feet forward, increasing pressure on the toes, which can lead to calluses and corns. “We don’t take foot care seriously enough,” says Michael Keet, a Covent Garden podiatrist who treats a lot of ballerinas. For DIY care, Keet recommends gently buffing with medium-grade sandpaper (seriously) before massaging cream well into your skin. “Almost any cream will do -it’s the massage that works the magic.”

The latest massage tool from the aroma therapist Judith White is the crystal wand. After soaking your feet in a bowl of warm water laced with essential oils of peppermint and lime, you work the wand into the arches and stroke it over the soles. The point? The instant stimulation of your body’s chakras.

Click here for more helpful information on how to take care of your feet even if you do this at home. Foot spa your own way is the best way!