'Lean lifestyle' a goal for Davis
The Cape Codder

Nutritionist Margaret "Maggie" Davis has been known to send e-mails to companies chastising them about misleading claims, and to call major pharmacies pressuring them to start carrying products her clients need.
Most of what she does is focused on those who come into her Brewster office, and her new food supplement is no exception.
In the last four years Davis has been seeing more and more overweight and obese people who tell her they had tried "everything" to lose weight without success. Seeing obesity is an enormous health risk, she and Vladimiro Giua, a Chatham doctor, designed a "Want to Be Lean? Lifestyle Treatment Program."
In addition to the program that assesses individuals and uses a team approach for nutritional and medical treatments, Davis and Giua came up with a complementary food product, that is currently in medical trials.
Many of the overweight clients the two were seeing couldn't exercise and the product helps them get to that point, Davis explained.
"I've also done a children's vitamin and a food bar," Davis said. "It's usually driven by my patients."
She added that in the initial studies the supplement has been effective in promoting lean body mass, reducing fat and decreasing food cravings.
A final study is being started in March and, if all goes well, they will apply for a patent. Davis said the supplement will be available without a prescription and is excited about its possibilities.
"We are dedicated to improving the treatment of obesity with our medical and nutritional expertise. It is very rewarding to see our patients succeed - sometimes for the first time in their life," she noted.
Close to 80 million Americans are insulin insensitive, according to Davis, and that makes it difficult to lose weight. "Want to be Lean" is based on diagnosing insulin resistance, which is genetic, and causes carbohydrates to convert to fat, and then combating it through individually tailored treatment plans.
The regime does help patients lose weight, but also works to lower cholesterol, hypertension and the likelihood of developing diabetes. A large number of people coming in recently have a lot of abdominal fat, Davis explained, which is a huge health risk.
The product contains compounds that occur naturally in food but they are more easily absorbed.