One after another of these young people talked about finding not just a community of understanding at Mindstream, but a new family. They reported finding confidence they never had, self-esteem they had lost. They found self-respect, and purpose, and passion.

Many patients experience a "honeymoon period" following their surgery, during which it seems pretty easy. However, unless there is a fundamental change in the relationship with food, bariatric surgery can feel like a permanent diet that continues to consume their life.

I can't say, on the basis of evidence, that NIH is misdirecting vast fortunes from where they could do the most good within our lifetimes. But I certainly do believe it. What I can say is that biomedical research dollars are subject to the same myopia that tends to dominate our personal lives.

There is no surgery, no drug, nor herbal remedies or diets that surrender total control of our eating to the stomach. Surgery to make the stomach look like a banana rather than an apple will be the answer to permanent weight loss only when we understand why we are overeating.

By now, you've probably heard about Al Roker's unfortunate bathroom-related incident at -- of all places -- the White House. Perhaps almost as surpris...

Given the findings of a few recent studies, it is thought that raspberry ketone might increase metabolism in humans by helping to accelerate breakdown of fat.

Clearly, celebrity interviews provide no shortage of encouraging words. But if you're in the market for reliable information, there are surely better sources -- so I chose a scientist over a celebrity to debunk some of the body-image myths that Hollywood helps perpetuate.

The way we respond to obesity and related chronic disease in the U.S. is like waiting to send every adult to night school to learn English -- painfully, poorly, expensively, and late -- rather than having them grow up speaking fluently all along.

Bariatric surgery, whether a stomach bypass operation or sewing together bits of a stomach lining, is not sufficient to prevent emotional overeating or the failure to accept a permanent commitment to health eating and exercise.

There are choices for almost everything these days. Call the customer service department of your cell provider or cable company and you will be offered (in a maddeningly slow computerized voice) at least a half a dozen options from which to choose.

Agreed, as a nation we most certainly need intelligent HealthCare and Health Insurance reform, but what we are in just as much need of is SelfCare Reform.

The more readily we learn from the past and update our understanding of the complex nature and causes of obesity, the more quickly we can successfully move into a healthy future.