Clearly this reader did not have a bad reaction to ephedra, used a moderate amount of it and had good results. I'd be lying if I said that wasn't possible. But I'm nervous about giving it a blanket green light for all the reasons mentioned above.

Remember that weight loss is one thing, but weight loss with optimal health is another. There are lots of ways to get weight off. The trick is to get it off and keep it off and to do it while promoting health. This reader did not use exercise to lose weight. However, exercising regularly would improve her health and longevity and contribute significantly to her overall well-being. It's about time we considered the benefits of exercise independently from its effect on weight loss.

In the long run, there are really only three ways to effectively decrease the amount of food you eat. The first is with weight loss drugs or their herbal equivalent, which suppresses appetite but frankly have too many problems to make them a first-choice recommendation for most people. The second is "will power," and we all know what happens with that. The third way is to maintain even blood-sugar levels with a diet rich in protein and good fats and balanced with a limited amount of high-quality carbohydrates. Get off the "low fat" bandwagon, stop eating junk carbohydrates and eat small frequent meals that contain adequate amounts of protein and fat. That's a strategy that will benefit just about anyone and is a natural way of managing appetite that should certainly be tried before reaching for the drugs.