Since going to a largely raw, largely Paleo diet, I've been doing some reading and pondering. There are a few things that puzzle me, and I'd appreciate some 'educated speculation' from those who care to comment. What I'll get at is the possibility that some weight gain just might be immune-related. That's been mentioned, I think possibly on this list *or one like it*. Though some of this might sound off topic, I'm just trying to figure out how pieces of a Paleo lifestyle fit. I believe the immunity-related weight gain idea went that things seep into the gut which shouldn't, particularly chunks of proteins recognized as invaders. The body tries to engulf these substances and escorts them out of the body. Except when for some reason maybe it would be ill-advised to, and instead floats them, via the lymph, over to fat cells in which toxins and whatever offending substances are cordoned off. The detox process, then, more or less involves gradually (one would hope) coaxing the fat cells to open and the lymph to escort bad things out of the body. If one buys into that at all, then here's the crux of my question - there are drugs that seem to greatly affect weight, and I'm interested in theories about what might be going on with the toxins issues in that event. Phentermine, for one (the less evil part of the fenphen combo). While it speeds up metabolism a bit and purports to lower hunger, I've heard firsthand from users that it's really like they can eat anything and the weight drops off of them. The rules of calorie physics just don't seem to apply. The owner of one somewhat research-oriented weight loss Website also claims her allergies (of what kind I don't know, I presume breathing allergies) went away entirely on phentermine. When I used it for a little while, a skin allergy I've traced to corn stopped showing up. Glucophage is another drug that's somewhat interesting. It's accounted for weight loss in people with diabetes and PCOS (an infertility thing). The drug itself is a biguanide, that is, it's in the same family as popular swimming pool cleaners. I'm somewhat puzzled by how these drugs prompt weight loss, and I think the 'experts' are as well. I realize that suggesting maybe they interact as immune modulators or toxin cleaners (or storers) is a little far-reaching. But if anyone's pondered this kind of thing, I'd be interested to hear what you think. If there is a connection, I'll assume it could be good or bad. For an example of the latter, I suppose the phentermine could turn off recognition that something's an allergen. While it might cause the cushioning (water etc.) to drain out of the body, upon stopping the drug, the body might have a larger load of toxins to then deal with. For that matter, I've wondered why some asthma drugs are said to cause weight gain. C.B. _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com