Welbutrin has been used for years as an anti-depressant and Naltrexone is used to treat various addictions. With an almost combined 20 years of every day use by patients, I began to wonder if Contrave was anything to get excited about, at all. It occurred to me that if someone was so inclined that they could go to their doctor and get a prescription for both Welbutrin and Naltrexone bypassing that whole messy FDA phase three study thing we’ve all been hearing about.

So then why bother re-branding two drugs that have been available for a combined two decades? First, the FDA approves drugs for a specific purpose, and anything else is considered off label. Even if Topamax does help a lot of people lose weight, it is still a migraine/anti-seizure medication according to the FDA. If doctors prescribe you a drug for an off-label use, and it kills you your doctor could be in serious trouble. Second, a new weight-loss drug (especially one that won’t make your heart beat so fast that it kills you, or cause ‘leakage’) is sure to be a “blockbuster drug” just like Viagra or Cialis is which means an incredible amount of money for the Orexigen (and their investors).

It seems odd to me that research money was spent trying different combinations of drugs rather than trying to come up with a new and more effective way to treat obesity. Weight loss is a potential side effect of many drugs, but there are very few drugs (according to the FDA) which actually help people lose weight, and keep it off. If Contrave is approved for the treatment of obesity, then shouldn’t the treatment of obesity then be applied as label usages of both Welbutrin and Naltrexone? Make no doubt about it, Orexigen will be going to great lengths to make sure this doesn’t happen, and that is the problem with this entire situation.

I am all for anything that will make people lead healthier lives, at the same time Contrave seems like taking half of a Ford Mustang, and Half of a Dodge Challenger, combining them and calling it a Chalstang. You’re still taking two things that have exited for a really long time and blending them together. Could Contrave help a great number of people, lose weight? YES! Will it do a better job than just taking the sum of its parts (and at much much cheaper prices)?

I don’t see how it could.

Andrew

Experts say that the $40 bottle of vitamins offer no greater benefits over the $10 bottle of vitamins and the highest rated vitamins I could find were (surprise) One-a-day multi-vitamins.

A 250 count bottle of One-A-Day Men’s Multivitamin is around $20 so that is around eight cents a day. The One-a-day women’s multivitamin is the same price.

So for eight cents a day you can have the peace of mind that comes with knowing your body is getting all it needs.

-Drew

Click Here to take advantage of this offer.

-Drew

Health experts have long held a theory that the ritual of eating is almost as important as what you eat when it comes to controlling weight. A healthy eating ritual, for example would consist of preparing a meal, sitting down at the table to eat, and then going on to the next part of your day. In America many times our eating ritual is similar to: Grab fast food, eat it while [watching tv/surfing the web/working] etc, Healthy Choice’s new Fresh Mixer puts the cooking back into corporate lunch, or even a quick dinner.

The idea is simple you cook the pasta yourself, strain the pasta yourself, apply the sauce yourself and (hopefully) eat it, yourself. Compared to other Healthy Choice products which include “put tray in microwave for 2 minutes” this makes you feel like a real chef. The packaging is unique and includes everything (except for water) you need to cook your meal including a strainer, a bowl for the pasta, a bowl for the sauce and very easy instructions.

Preparing the meal is trivial, you simply remove the label on the straining lid, remove the lid, add water, put the lid back on and microwave for 3 minutes. Then you microwave the sauce for 30 seconds and combine the two in the bowl. No Muss, No Fuss.

For being a pre-packaged product I must say that the taste and texture of both the sauce and the pasta impressed me very much. The pasta was not watery and the meat sauce had (surprise) actual meat in it. The meat sauce also didn’t taste like watered down Ragu like so many other quick heat and eat meals provide. At 7 ounces coming in at just 340 calories and 6 grams of fat, this is a great lunch or main entree for any healthy dinner.

All in all the product is easy to cook, healthy, filling, and hard to resist. I would highly recommend the Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers Ziti & Meat Sauce. The best news is that it doesn’t set off the Alli atom-bomb.

Note: Most supermarkets only carry single containers of this, you can use the link below to order a 6 pack from Amazon for a little more than $20

-Drew

Heart Rate Monitors 30% off at Amazon.com

-Drew