The idea that starch or fat can be blocked from digestion appears to be an appealing idea. For the past thirty or more years, these products have come to the forefront periodically with promises for a new generation of overweight people. Each time they come on the market, they offer up suggestions that you can eat what you want so long as you take their product. The product, so goes the promise, will protect you from the consequences of eating the blocked food group.

The combination of ephedrine, caffeine, and aspirin is commonly referred to as the "E-C-A Stack" or just the "Stack". Many of the herbal products on the market contain ma-huang in combination with willow bark, a naturally-occurring source of a chemical similar to aspirin, and with guarana or kola nuts, sources of caffeine. There are also products that mix chemical sources of caffeine and actual aspirin in the mix with the ma-huang. Some people who take the Stack prefer using ephedrine/ma-huang alone, and accompanying it with a caffeine-containing beverage and a half an aspirin.

For the past several months, I've been writing articles about the history of diets and dieting. Eventually, I would have written about Dr. Atkins. 'Eventually' came too soon.

We've been talking about diet medications, and most recently, about Fen/phen. There seems to be a constant hunt for chemicals that will make one slim. Today we'll take a look at some of the herbal preparations for obesity that are vying for our consumer dollars.

In my last article, I discussed the development of the diet pill phenomenon. This brilliant marketing strategy changed the course of the medical treatment for obesity by grouping together different kinds of drugs that might (or might not, for that matter) have some relation to weight loss, and then selling the patient all the drugs at once. The plan was enormously lucrative for the drug companies who manufactured the chemicals, and also for the so-called "fat doctors" who prescribed them. But before we put all the blame on the drug companies and the doctors, we must face a certain reality. The public was very willing to hear the message that overweight can be treated with chemicals.

In this series of articles, I've been talking about diets and dieting. We've looked at plans and paraphernalia, machines, food combination diets, calorie counting, meals in cans, and weight loss clubs. The easy answer to losing weight continues to evade discovery.

Weight Loss In Clubs & By Drugs: Scams & Gimmicks. We have been talking in the previous half dozen or so articles about diets and dieting. We've looked at plans and paraphernalia, machines and food combination diets, calorie counting and meals in cans. Then came weight loss clubs.

We are continuing our discussions of diets, dieting, and the various ways people have attempted to lose weight. In the last article we looked at the phenomenon of women's magazines as a huge factor in the return of calorie counting after World War II. And we saw the rise of meals in a can, which are still with us today.

During World War II, there was not a lot of focus on dieting. People had other things to worry about, and there was rationing of many items, including food. There was less time to think about personal weight issues. Many women worked in factories and industry while the men were overseas. But when the war ended, things changed quickly. Large numbers of women left the workforce and returned to their homes, many as newly-wed housewives.

Last time we continued our discussion of the history of diets and dieting by talking about the first low calorie diet plan, and about the beginnings of counting calories. We also looked at diets that were based on 'magic pairs' and on special food combinations said to promote weight loss because of some supposedly long-forgotten-but-now-rediscovered chemical connection between the two foods. These connections were said to somehow fool the body into absorbing less nutrients than the individual foods, eaten separately, would provide.

We've been discussing the history of diets and dieting. It may seem obvious to you that the idea of the calorie, at least as it pertains to dieting, must have been with us since the beginning of dieting. However, such is not the case. As we discussed last time, it wasn't until the 1890s and early 1900s that chemists Wilbur Atwater and Russell Chittenden did the initial work of measuring food as units of heat that could be produced by burning it. But from the get-go, the calorie concept has never been nearly as scientific as it may appear.

Our low carbohydrate way of life is not new, dear readers. Last time I told you that the world's very first diet book was a low carbohydrate plan written in the mid 1800s by William Banting. Banting was told about this approach to obesity control by his ear doctor, Dr. William Harvey. Dr. Harvey said that he had heard about healthful advantages from a diet low in sugar and starch while he was in Germany and Paris. He related that he had traveled to attend a lecture given at Stuttgart by a celebrated physician and professor, Dr. Niemeyer. Dr. Harvey had also gone to Paris to hear a certain Doctor Bernard report on using the diet plan for treatment of diabetes.