If a Diet Worked, the (Diet) Industry Would Collapse

As if it was the first time I heard this statement, "if a diet worked, the industry would collapse", a light went on in my head when I read an article by Kira Cochrane from the Guardian. The article is entitled, "I won't let the weight-loss industry crush my confidence".

In her article, she talks about how the diet industry is using or manipulating images to instill a self-loathing image among overweight people.

She mentions an example of the before-and-after photos - on DVDs she was browsing - in which one picture shows a glum woman with no makeup, dressed in an ill-fitting outfit beneath lights that accentuate every spare ripple of flesh, and another shows a smiling woman with tons of makeup, in an expertly styled outfit, beneath studio lights primed to lengthen and flatter.

Just to add to her example, I have noticed some weight-loss advertisements using models who are not overweight at all. And how in one ad, the so-called overweight girl is stressing out that her partner is not attracted to her anymore because of her condition. She will go on discovering the great whatever-they-are-selling and miraculously everything is fine again. I can imagine an overweight (even if so slightly) person watching this ad and saying, "well, if that's fat then I'm obese!".

I personally have never been overweight in my life. But I have noticed how impressionable we, human beings can be with the slightest idea that something is wrong with us.

We have been underestimating the power of suggestion and those who have not, have been taking advantage of this to their fullest benefit.

• I won't let the weight-loss industry crush my confidence [Guardian]
  

Improve Your Sex Life on Heels

Can wearing high heels improves your sex life? Dr. Maria Cerruto, an Italian urologist, thinks you certainly can. BBC News reports, in her letter to European Urology, Dr. Cerruto said, her study of 66 women under 50 found that those who held their foot at a 15 degree angle to the ground - the equivalent of a two inch heel - had as good posture as those who wore flat shoes, and crucially showed less electrical activity in their pelvic muscles.

The report further explains that the muscles are at an optimum position, which could well improve their strength and ability to contract.

The pelvic floor muscles, says the report, are an essential component of the female body. As well as assisting sexual performance and satisfaction, they provide vital support to the pelvic organs, which include the bladder, bowels and uterus.

But they often weaken after pregnancy and childbirth, and as the woman gets older. There are exercises to strengthen them, but Dr Cerruto hopes her findings may eliminate the need for these.

I am not sure what she means by "less electrical activity" but a study of 66 women is hardly conclusive evidence. I am sure these findings are only preliminary but I can't help smelling a little bit of hype in this. Just like the "you can become slimmer by laughing". It is not entirely a false statement since energy burns fat, but how long do you have to laugh to slim down from 500 kg to 50 kg?

• High heels 'may improve sex life' [BBC News]