Health News Blog provides coverage of current health news.

posted by admin on May 12

The Fat-Soluble Vitamins, A, D, E, and K, which are moved through your system by fat, can build up and be stored in your body. Water-soluble vitamins pass right through.

In today’s adulterated food world, because so much of our food is overrefined and devoid of vitamins, it is nearly impossible to overdose on vitamins when we obtain them directly from the food we eat, fat-soluble vitamins included.

Vitamin toxicity, or vitamin poisoning, can only happen when you take too many fat-soluble vitamins in pill form.

Although your body will pass all excess water-soluble vitamins through your body, it still has to deal with them. Too many water-soluble vitamins won’t cause any harm. But your system still has to divert energy from other sources in deciding what to do about them.

B VITAMINS There’s always an exception. Although you are probably getting plenty of vitamins A and C and the other necessary vitamins from your food (or you will be when you combine foods properly), one group of vitamins we can use in supplement form is the B-complex. B vitamins are destroyed by processed food, especially white sugar and flour. Plus, because they are focused primarily in your nervous system, stress and tension deplete them as well.

Thus, the B vitamins are one of the vitamin supplements I recommend you add to your diet, and it will be in the form of nutritional yeast.

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Wight loss

posted by admin on May 8

The modem focus of eating plans for sustainable fat loss is a decrease in total dietary fat and an increase in the proportion of complex carbohydrates, followed in importance by a decrease in total energy intake. When assessing diet plans, these basic criteria need to be kept in mind. It is also important for health professionals providing advice to those seeking fat loss to know just how this is best achieved and to have an understanding of how popular diet plans manipulate the facts. The following is a review of some general diet plans.

Low-energy diets. These diets aim to provide 800-1200 kcal/day which is substantially lower than the resting metabolic rate of even very lean adults. The associated risks of the diet will decrease as the energy intake increases, but one of the main problems is dealing with hunger on these diets. The use of appropriately advised physical activity programs to support these diets is highly recommended.

When these reduced-calorie diets are based on regularly available foods rather than fortified products, there is a small risk of micronutrient inadequacy. Supplementation may be recommended, which would seem to defeat the purpose of creating a lifelong achievable plan that is nutritionally adequate. The needs of pre-menopausal women for iron and all women for calcium may not be met by these diets.

Many of the commercial weight loss organisations base their programs on this type of diet and include interventions in the form of a client attending a centre, a group meeting in community settings or home-delivered meals. The ready availability of frozen, pre-packaged meals for dieters in the supermarket is an area of concern, as these have little relevance to an overall rat loss strategy and are not concerned with nutritional adequacy.

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posted by admin on Apr 22

In the first stage the patient’s main goal is to return to a pattern of regular eating. We want to establish a routine whereby she plans to eat three or four meals per day and possiblyó two planned snacks. .

The key here is planning. A patient should know w due to eat next. She shouldn’t skip meals, nor should she re ó on her appetite to tell her when to eat. If her plan calls for her to eat lunch at one o’clock, then she should do so, eating everything she planned to eat whether she feels hungry or not. She shouldn’t snack unless the snack is part of the plan. Of course, the woman should not go for long periods without food. She shouldn’t skip breakfast, for example.

Sticking to the plan takes priority over other activities. It’s okay to accept dates, for example, but the patient must structure her social life around her meal plan. Her schedule may change on weekends, but she needs to plan those changes carefully.

The content of meals is less important than the regular pattern of meals during this phase. I urge the patient not to count calories, for instance. Instead she should eat average-size portions. She should wear loose clothing when she eats, since feeling constricted can lead to feelings of fullness. Here are some other helpful hints on controlling eating:

Tips for controlling eating

• Don’t engage in other activities while eating: Don’t watch TV, read, talk on the phone, do

homework and so on

• Restrict eating to one room of the house

• Limit food available when eating. Discard leftovers. Practice leaving some food on the plate.

Limit supplies of binge foods in the house; keep “safe” foods around instead

• Plan food-shopping expeditions. Make a shopping list and stick to it. Don’t shop when hungry.

Carry just a little money when shopping, especially if you feel you aren’t in good control

• Buy foods that need a lot of preparation, rather than those that can be eaten immediately

• Get rid of laxatives and diuretics

• Discard clothes that are too small

• Make adequate plans for your time – too much or too little unstructured time increases the

possibility of bingeing

If a patient eats too rapidly, she needs to slow down. Satiety signals need a little time to take effect. One tip: Put the fork down between mouthfuls and swallow before taking the next bite. It helps to savor food, pausing once in a while to decide whether or not to keep eating. I ask patients not to drink a lot of fluids during the meal, since doing so can exaggerate the feeling of fullness.

At first a patient may feel full after eating very little. Such feelings may trigger the urge to vomit. We work together to create a list of alternative activities so that she can distract herself and counteract these urges. One such list might include the following:

• Make a list of friends’ names and telephone numbers and call them when urges strike

• Visit friends

• Exercise (moderately)

• Go to a movie

• Take a bath or shower

• Write a letter

• Garden

• Knit or sew

• Read

• Listen to music

During this first stage the patient needs to keep checking on her progress. She should evaluate her eating daily. If she is successful, she needs to praise herself. On the other hand, she shouldn’t overreact to failure. She needs to avoid turning a small slipup into a major catastrophe.

Once regular eating patterns return, her binge frequency should drop. The patient can then begin to examine the causes of her bingeing. Does she eat to relieve anxiety or depression? Is she bored? Does eating bring on sleep? Is she trying to compensate for something (perhaps even a monotonous diet)? Is purging self-punishment, or a way of expressing anger that she should direct at other people?

We also talk about situations that may contribute to the problem. Does she keep too much food in the house? Does her home environment interfere-is there too much stress or chaos?

One way of keeping track of these elements is through the food diary. The patient uses these sheets to record her feelings and actions connected with food. The food diary is a crucial element in therapy, offering a window on the patient’s behavior. The vital information on these sheets becomes the raw material for our therapy sessions.

During the first stage of therapy, we work out a plan for keeping track of the patient’s weight. Weighing too often can lead to anxiety and obsessions about weight. As I mentioned, everyone has day-to-day fluctuations in weight. For a patient, a slight rise can trigger panic and a sense of failure. These feelings may cause her to give up, leading her back down the path of bingeing and purging. On the other hand, if she never weighs herself, she just continues to feed her phobia about doing so. We have to strike the right balance-usually about once a week is enough.

I encourage the patient to discuss her disorder openly with friends and family. Removing some of the secrecy helps alleviate guilt and shame. It also lets other people take a more active role. Knowing that a family member is having trouble helps others to understand her behavior and offer emotional support.

By the end of this first stage we usually see a lot of improvement. The patient’s mood is better, and the frequency of her bingeing drops. If not, though, I will consider adding medication or admitting her to the hospital.

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posted by admin on Apr 22

Jill Scoggins was on her way to weight-loss success. Then, a new job, a new home, and a family wedding nearly derailed her efforts. But she managed to get back on track, eventually losing 37 stubborn pounds.

Her secret? She concentrated on her accomplishments rather than dwelled on her defeats.

Jill, age 41, says that she never worried much about her weight, not even as her dress size got bigger. “I suppose that I was in denial,” she explains. “It was a very gradual gain, so it was easy for me to ignore.” But when her size-14 clothes—what she calls her fat clothes—started feeling tight, she decided that she had to slim down. And as a health-care communications professional, she knew exactly what to do: Eat better, drink lots of water, and, for the first time in her life, exercise.

Jill launched her weight-loss program in September 1998. She concentrated on making healthier food choices while phasing out late-night snacking. She also joined a gym and consulted a personal trainer, who helped her develop an exercise program that included aerobic workouts and strength training.

Jill’s plan worked perfectly. Within 1 month, she lost 8 pounds. “That convinced me that I could lose even more,” she says. “So I kept at it, and the more I lost, the more I wanted to stick with it.”

She managed to stick with it for 4 months, taking off another27 pounds. Then, her life turned upside down. Both she and her husband landed new jobs farther away from home. When they weren’t commuting, they were house hunting, hoping to find a home closer to their respective workplaces. In what little spare time she had left, Jill was helping her stepdaughter plan her wedding.

With her schedule crammed, Jill’s weight-loss program stalled. “I didn’t have time to go to the gym or even to pack my lunch,” she says. “I found myself in the drive-thru at Jack in the Box more often than I care to admit.”

Jill could feel herself getting discouraged. “I was still losing weight, but at a much slower rate,” she explains. But then, she remembered how faithfully she had followed her program and how easily the pounds had been coming off. “I told myself, ‘You’ve proven that you can lose weight. Just do what you have to do,’ she says.

Her personal pep talk paid off. Within a year of starting her weight-loss program, Jill dropped 37 pounds and four dress sizes. She has maintained her weight at 120 pounds ever since. She and her husband eventually found a new home, and her stepdaughter’s wedding went off without a hitch. “Many of the guests commented on my weight loss,” she says. “That made me feel great!”

WINNING A C T I O N

Remember your victories. Revel in your successes, no matter how small they may seem. Today, you may be only I pound lighter. In 6 months, that 1 pound could be 50! Acknowledge every step that you make toward weight-loss success. Knowing that you can slim down will keep you motivated when your determination starts to wane.

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