Low-Carb Diets At Work Get Tony Ferguson Thumbs Up

Media Release

18th August 2008

Low-Carb Diets At Work Get The Tony Ferguson Thumbs Up

Australian diet king Tony Ferguson devised the best selling weight management plan across the Tasman and he's in New Zealand to talk about losing weight while you work. The latest medical research shows that low carb diets in a group setting, such as lunchtime at work are the best way to tackle obesity. So Tony has developed an entirely new programme for companies to adopt through their workplace in partnership with their local Life Pharmacy.

Background

The principles underpinning Life Pharmacy’s Tony Ferguson Weight Management Programme have been given the seal of approval by a major study published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine.

The two year study of more than 300 moderately obese people found that diet management plans such as Tony Ferguson were better at helping with weight loss than low fat diets and better at boosting the healthy kind of cholesterol than a Mediterranean style diet.

The study authors also found that work-based diet programmes might be helpful. They say that the use of dietary group sessions, spousal support, food labels and monthly weighing at the workplace within the framework of a health promotion campaign might yield weight reduction and long-term health benefits.

Tony Ferguson explains: `We have been encouraged by what is one of the longest and largest studies to compare different weight-loss techniques. It’s remarkable not only because it lasted two years, much longer than most, but also because of the huge proportion of people who stuck with the diets - 85 percent, which bears out our own experience in New Zealand with Life Pharmacy’s Tony Ferguson Programme.’

The study mirrored Life Pharmacy’s Tony Ferguson Programme with dieters being counselled on how to stick to their eating plans. Life Pharmacy stores throughout New Zealand offer a proactive, preventive health check alongside the weight management system, featuring BMI assessments, waist circumference measurement and blood pressure readings.

Tony Ferguson will be visiting Life Pharmacies throughout New Zealand from 18th to 26th August meeting customers and staff who have successfully incorporated his weight management programme into their healthier lifestyles.

The latest study is not the first to endorse a Tony Ferguson style diet. Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last year found overweight women on low carbohydrate plans had better blood pressure and cholesterol readings than those on the low-carb Zone diet, the low-fat Ornish diet and a low-fat diet that followed U.S. government guidelines.

ENDS

About Life Pharmacy:

Life Pharmacy is a franchise and brand retail business comprising 23 pharmacies. The operating company has an ownership interest in 17 associate pharmacy companies (operating 16 Life Pharmacies, 1 Supa Chem and 1 Unichem branded pharmacy licensed annually under the Medicines Act 1981).

Established in 1995, the Life Pharmacy brand is defined as a retailer of prestige brands in health, beauty and fragrance. Life Pharmacies are large format pharmacies (over 400 sqm) providing full pharmacy services including prescription services (25% of turnover) and retail sales (75% of turnover). Life Pharmacies are generally located in major shopping malls in major metropolitan areas (Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Mt Maunganui, Rotorua, Wellington and Christchurch).

© Scoop Media