Anti-Obesity Drugs
Everyone is searching for the magic pill that still lets them eat excessively and lead sedentary lives. In the past decade, there have been a number of drug products on the market that either...
Your Health. Your Lifestyle. Vitamins and Minerals
Current Non-Surgical Treatment Options for Obesity
Obesity is the second-most preventable death group with 400,000 preventable deaths annually, behind only tobacco-related deaths. But does the fact that it is preventable make it avoidable? Less than 5% of the morbidly obese...
Facts you must know to minimize your heart attack risks?
Heart disease is the nation’s number-one killer and will claim the lives of more than 230,000 women this year, nearly six times the death toll of breast cancer. Yet doctors still underestimate women’s heart...
Quantifying the prevalence and risk of obesity co-morbidities
Figure below shows the prevalence of co-morbidities in men and women of varying BMI ranges. Notice that for men with a BMI from 30-34.9, the prevalence of heart disease is 16.1%. This is nearly...
Genetically Modified Organisms
GMOs – you’ve probably heard of them. But what you may not have heard is that according to industry estimates, GMOs are in 80 percent of the food products sold in conventional supermarkets. GMOs...
Cancer: excess weight leads to increased risk
Perhaps even more disturbing is the current trends linking obesity to 20 different types of cancer. Leading experts in public heath are even predicting that obesity will soon replace smoking as the primary cause...
Cardiovascular disease and metabolic syndrome
The hypertrophy (increase in size) of the adipocytes (fat cells) and the addition of visceral fat can be a dreaded combination that accelerates metabolic and immune responses, which promote type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and...
Dark Chocolates
Chocolate Musings Chocolate on Valentine’ Day doesn’t have to be a trite ritual. Invigorate a classic pairing with these luscious finds: Nicobella: Nichole Dandrea, nutritionist, registered dietician, and yoga instructor, always envisioned dark chocolate...
Psychological disorders: an emotional link to food
The extreme size of the obese carries a devastating social stigma. Often individuals are ostracized and self-esteem suffers as a result. Long-term depression is a common byproduct of obesity and can worsen the eating...
Foot Yoga
Exercise is essential for maintaining the mobility and flexibility of your feet. Foot exercises may also relieve soreness. Naturally, see a podiatrist where warranted. Here are a few exercises that can be done anytime:...
Conscious Care for Your Feet
Our feet keep us grounded to the earth’s energies while also taking us where we want to go. Ah, what faithful servants our feet are! It’s only fitting that we treat them with the...
Clinical Complications: How FAT Destroys The Body From the Inside Out
There is little mystery as to how a person accumulates excessive amounts of fat, and in many cases, it is controllable and preventable. Weight gain is a simple imbalance of caloric intake being higher...
Nature is a factor: Obesity includes a genetic element
There is an increasing amount of evidence supporting the genetic predisposition for weight gain. Twin and adoption studies have demonstrated that genetic factors do play a role in determining which individuals are more susceptible...
The GI Tract: Understanding The Basic Plumbing
The gastrointestinal tract (GI) is responsible for processing food for absorption and expelling excess waste. Digestion first starts in the mouth where food is mechanically broken down and mixed with saliva, which begins the...
Fat Facts: How Excess Fat Storage Can Grow A Deadly Organ
Adipose tissue, or body fat, can be stored either subcutaneously (under the skin) or viscerally (surrounding the internal organs). The location on the body where fat is stored varies depending on gender, race, and...
February is All About Your Heart Health
It can flutter with love, race in anxiety, or pound with excitement. Whatever it’s doing, your beating heart’s health must be protected so that you can keep living the crazy adventure that is your...
The Large Intestine (aka the Colon)
The large intestine is the last organ through which food passes, and its job is to absorb water and nutrients that were not absorbed in the small intestine and to form feces from the...
Why is the Gut so Important?
The gastrointestinal tract is technically outside the body. Similar to the way the skin protects the body from the external environment, so too does the lining of the intestinal tract, providing a barrier to...
CHRONIC HEALTH CONDITIONS Leaky Gut
Leaky gut is the root cause of many chronic health conditions—including food allergies and autoimmune disease—as it allows unwanted organisms and larger antigenic moieties into the bloodstream. This causes the immune system to “react”...
Obesity: An Expanding Clinical Crisis
400 million obese people worldwide and growing. In recent decades, the consequences of obesity have drastically shifted from a social and cosmetic issue to a serious epidemiological and clinical concern. The World Health Organization...
Chew Your Food
The purpose of chewing is to masticate (liquefy) food, the first step in breaking foodstuffs down to the molecular level. Most people put food in their mouths, chew a few times and swallow. But...
Digestive Wellness
The road to optimal health begins with a strong, healthy digestive system and your body’s ability to detoxify itself from harmful substances. There is truth in the old saying, “You are what you eat,”...
About Conn’s disease
Conn’s disease, also known as Primary Aldosteronism (PA), is an illness of the adrenal glands. It occurs when one or both glands produce too much of the hormone aldosterone, which causes patients to retain...
Caring for someone with diabetes
My partner has diabetes. How will this affect our relationship? Your partner may want you to be closely involved with his or her diabetes care, or may want to manage it alone. Discuss with...
Solving the Calcium Conundrum
Every once in a while, new research findings seem to fly in the face of conventional nutrition wisdom, leaving health-conscious consumers scratching their heads or throwing up their hands. One of the most recent...
For Your Health – What is anemia
IT’S A COLD, dreary winter’s morning after the holidays, and it takes all your strength just to get out of bed, but it’s not just today— you’ve been feeling tired and run-down for more...
For Your Health – Magnesium
THE NATIONAL INSTITUTES of Health compiled results from multiple studies that conclude that higher intake of magnesium is associated not only with decreased risk of coronary heart disease, but with decreased risk of stroke...
Common heart-health myths exposed
HEART DISEASE IS the leading cause of death in the United States, so it’s crucial that people understand the facts. All too often conventional wisdom is way off the mark, say many doctors, and...
Myth or Truth – Diabetes
Myth “I am less likely to get pregnant because I have Type 2 diabetes” Truth Type 2 diabetes doesn’t affect fertility so if you are not yet menopausal, you are just as likely to...
Fish oil is your secret health weapon
When Maria was pregnant, her doctor put her on fish oil supplements to boost her baby’s developing brain and nervous system. But Maria didn’t realize how much she herself would benefit from the supplement....