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Lose Weight And Not Be Hungry With Low Carbohydrate Approach

Posted by newhealt on June 13th, 2011

Low Carbohydrate approach to successful weight loss
Robert G Carlson, MD, FACS
Patients often ask me for a dietary recommendation. I believe that a change of habits is better than a “new diet”, and my preference is a low carbohydrate approach. The low fat diet is just forcing large amounts of sugar into your system, making you fatter and increasing you risk of developing diabetes. Let me give you an example of a daily low carbohydrate approach:

Goal is to keep your total carbohydrate intake to 20 grams of carbohydrates a day for two weeks and then increase to 30 grams. You can’t eat bread, pasta, rice, ice cream or candy. For instance one can of mountain dew has 46 grams of carbohydrates or over two days worth of carbohydrates. A two ounce serving of pasta, has 42 grams of carbohydrates!

Alright here we go:

Breakfast- Coffee/Tea with/without cream, no sugar but can have splenda or estevia or even better Erythritol.
Two egg omelet with bacon and cheese using only water to mix eggs. (no carbohydrates or maybe 1 total for breakfast. Avoid low fat cheese, because that means high sugar cheese No bread

Snacks: Macadamia nuts, almonds (8 nuts is about 2 grams carbohydrates), avoid cashews
Lunch- Roll-ups Go to your favorite deli and get the thicker slice cheese and meats. Roll the cheese and meat together and use mayonnaise or mustard… I even take lunch meat and put cream cheese into the roll-up…no carbs! You can eat these all day long and there are essentially no carbohydrates in a roll-up.

Dinner- Go to Publix and get a lemon pepper chicken, or to sonny’s BBQ ( or your local favorite) and eat the chicken, beef etc, but avoid too much red sauce as they sneak sugar into that. And of course NO sweetened tea. I also eat steak, seafood, turkey as well. No ketchup.

Also at dinner I recommend a salad, and this has some carbohydrates in it. I like spinach, with cucumbers, olives, and some tomatoes. The tomatoes have some carbs in them. Putting blue cheese dressing/most Ranch dressings, balsamic vingarette on your salad and cover it with sharp cheddar cheese. There is very few carbs in this meal, with the exception of the tomatoes. Onions are ok as well, but I just don’t eat them very often. Avoid Garbanzo beans as well

At bedtime you should try another roll-up or eat some more nuts as it is important to have some protein at bedtime.
An evening snack when craving sweets is my favorite. I take two or even three containers of sugar free jello, my favorite is the cherry, and cover it generously with whip cream, you can even use the heavy whipping cream. There are absolutely no carbohydrates in this and you can even go back for seconds or sneak a shot of whipping cream from your own personal can. In the past I have eaten popcorn, but I would definitely avoid it as it is a source of carbohydrates. Fruits I like are strawberries, blackberries, and blueberries, but you need to avoid bananas and oranges (very high glycemic index).

I hope this gives you some direction. When you go shopping look at the labels for how much carbohydrate is present per serving.

Source:

http://andlos.blogspot.com/2010/09/lose-weight-and-not-be-hungry-with-low.html

C-reactive Protein Blood Test

Posted by newhealt on June 13th, 2011

C-reactive protein or CRP is a blood protein that is produced by the liver in your body. When inflammation is detected in the body, the CRP level rises. In order to measure the general levels of inflammation found in the body, the CRP test is conducted. This helps determine those who are suffering from chronic diseases or infections due to the increase of the CRP levels. Although the CRP test cannot distinctively diagnose a specific disease, it can indicate or confirm the presence of an infection. This in turn can alert medical professionals for any necessary treatments.

The C-reactive protein blood test is administered in order for the medical professional to ensure a patient’s physical response especially after a surgical operation. The CRP test is also ordered when acute inflammation becomes a possible risk due to the symptoms that is being experienced by the patient or from an infection after a surgery.

The CRP test is also useful when it comes to evaluating patients with autoimmune disease; inflammatory bowel disease, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and some forms of arthritis. CRP is also applied to examine wound healing as well as to observe patients who have burns, organ transplants or surgical cuts (incisions) as a means to detect any possible infections that may occur.

If the C-reactive protein blood test indicates a positive result, this means that you may possibly have inflammation in your body. This can be caused by several medical conditions which may include cancer, connective tissue disease, inflammatory bowel syndrome, infection, heart attack, lupus, pneumococcal pneumonia, rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatic fever, tuberculosis and so on. The patient might need to undergo treatment after which he or she will need to have another CRP test get an update with regards to the success of the treatment.

At this time, there is no definite conclusion as to when the test should be ordered and who should take the CRP test; although it is presently being used to check a healthy individual’s risk for strokes, heart attacks, cardiovascular disease and coronary heart disease (CHD). In short, this can determine your risk for developing heart diseases.

To date, the C-reactive protein blood test is one of the four essential blood tests that you must include as a regular part of your check-up to ensure that you do not have high levels of CRP in your bloodstream as well as to prevent heart conditions (if any) from developing further. Apart from your usually check-up to the doctor, make sure to take in fish oil supplements which is known to promote a healthy heart.

Causes and Treatments for High Triglycerides

Posted by newhealt on June 13th, 2011

Triglycerides are the main form of fat found in the blood which is important in keeping you in good condition – this is because its main function is to give the body energy. However, high triglyceride levels might be a sign of metabolic syndrome which could increase a person’s risk when it comes to diabetes, heart diseases and stroke. Metabolic syndrome is a combination of medical disorders that includes high blood pressure; high blood sugar, high triglycerides, low HDL (“good”) cholesterol and too much fat around the waist.

In order to measure your triglycerides, a blood test must be conducted. To get an overview on your triglycerides level, the normal level would be less than 150 while borderline-high is 150 – 199. High triglycerides level is 200 – 499, and very high would be 500 above.

Causes of High Triglycerides

The various causes of high triglycerides are usually attributed to conditions relating to age; an underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism), drinking too much alcohol, eating food that is high in fat, heredity, kidney disease, obesity (or weight gain), poorly controlled diabetes and regularly eating more calories than you can burn.

Certain medications may also contribute to increasing the triglycerides to an unhealthy level. These include beta-blockers; birth control pills, diuretics (water pills), estrogen, steroids and tamoxifen.

Symptoms of High Triglycerides

High triglycerides symptoms are virtually non-existent; although those due to genetic conditions may find fatty deposits under the skin. These are called xanthomas.

However, there are very few cases in which people with high triglyceride levels experience inflammation of the pancreas (pancreatitis). This may result to fever; loss of appetite, nausea, severe abdominal pain and vomiting. Apart from that, a person might develop conditions such as liver and spleen enlargement as well as having visible fatty deposits in the skin. This can possibly increase the risk of having a heart attack or stroke.

How to Lower Triglyceride Levels

A healthy diet as well as lifestyle changes can lower your triglyceride levels. This means that you should try to be more active; limit your alcohol intake, limit fats and sugars in your diet, quit smoking and consistently maintain a healthy weight.

In lowering your cholesterol, you will also reduce your triglyceride level in the process. You may include certain supplements that can help you lose weight. The ingredients of these supplements should include some of the following: Omega 3 fatty acids (Fish Oil), Guggul, Policosanol, Red Yeast Rice, Green Tea, L-Carnitine, and Niacin. These can all help normalize and reduce your triglyceride levels which leaves you feeling healthier and better about yourself. So with the combination of exercise, proper diet and using the right supplements, you are on your way to improving your lifestyle and well being.

The Best Sleep You’ll Ever Have….is in your grasp and so simple

Posted by newhealt on May 20th, 2011

The Best Sleep You’ll Ever Have…….is in your grasp and so simple.

Robert G Carlson, MD, Sarasota, FL

Do you have trouble falling asleep? Or perhaps you’re able to fall asleep, but then plagued by constantly waking up throughout the night, resulting in a broken, restless sleep that leaves you feeling like a zombie the next morning?

Have you been given sleeping pills to help with your sleep, pills that leave you spaced out, like you’re moving in slow motion and not fully rested? Not being able to sleep is critical, resulting in loss of memory, ineffective work habits, and increasing irritability. Starting in their early 40’s, women are in commonly plagued with sleeping problems. The answer is really quite simple. About ten years before menopause, ladies progesterone levels start to plummet. This sets them up for sleepless nights. Progesterone, natural progesterone that is soy-based, not the peanut oil pharmaceutical progesterone Prometrium, provides improvement in sleep, dramatic reduction in irritability (who wouldn’t be irritable if you can’t sleep and remain exhausted), reduction in headaches and the reduction in the signs of estrogen dominance. Besides natural progesterone, NOT synthetic progestins like Prempro or Provera, has now been shown to reduce breast and uterine cancer, reduce cholesterol and reduce heart disease. And it also makes you feel better!

Sleep medicines don’t deal with the real underlying causes of why women are having trouble sleeping as they get older. The major reason is because progesterone levels are so low. Progesterone is like nature’s valium, it is the Feng-Shui of hormones providing calmness and relaxation, factors critical in falling asleep.

With women who are either perimenopausal(which can be up to 10 years before menopause), menopausal, or suffering from surgically induced menopause (hysterectomy), the progesterone levels can drop to such low , immeasurable level that ladies simply can’t sleep. It often takes women an hour or more to get to sleep or they find themselves waking up throughout the night.

So how does bio-identical hormone replacement therapy help? When natural progesterone is taken as a pill, versus in the cream, it travels to the brain and interacts with the GABA receptors. These receptors when activated naturally promote sleep and help patients reach the restorative sleep (REM sleep) more quickly.

How does hormone replacement with progesterone differ from taking sleeping pills when it comes to the quality of sleep a woman might expect? Sleeping pills are synthetic, not natural. There is nothing natural about them, and because of that the natural restorative REM sleep is never achieved. Oh yes, sleeping pills will help you get to sleep, but they don’t get the quality of sleep achieved naturally. When I treat women struggling with sleep issues in their 40’s and 50’s, sleep undoubtedly affected by progesterone levels, one of the most common response I hear after starting progesteroneis ‘This is the best sleep I’ve ever had’.

How quickly can patients expect results? I have seen patients experience results very quickly. Sometimes within the first one or two doses. They often can’t believe how rested they are when they wake up and want to get rid of their sleeping pills as soon as possible.

One patient of mine, Erika is a perfect example of the difference a good night’s sleep can make. In her early fifties, I met Erika with major concerns of “I just can’t sleep”. She had been experiencing “on and off sleep” – waking up frequently throughout the night for years. Essentially sleep deprived. The lack of sleep was making her feel older than her years, and mentally and physically exhausted. She told me, “It was horrible and very hard to function.”

After only a few weeks of hormone replacement however Erika reported to me with excitement in her voice, “I can sleep now. I can think clearly now. It’s unbelievable.” Though still dealing with the stresses and pressures of before, she finds it easier to deal with now she has the benefit of a full and restful night’s sleep. “I really do feel like this very huge dark cloud has been lifted, thanks to you, Dr. Carlson.” She said fighting off tears of joy. “I see everything in a different view.” Her words of encouragement to ladies struggling with menopause and sleeping problems are: “I’m sleeping through the night and feeling like I’m back in my twenties or thirties. It’s amazing.”

Source: http://andlos.blogspot.com/2010/08/best-sleep-youll-ever-haveis-in-your.html

DHA – The Importance of Omega 3

Posted by newhealt on May 20th, 2011

DHA – The Importance of Omega 3
A video on Omega 3 fatty acids.
Robert G Carlson, MD, FACS

DHA is a major structural and functional component of our central nervous system, accounting for over 30 % of the total fatty acid content of the human brain. It is essential for the growth and development of brain tissues in infants and children. In adults, it helps assist in supporting normal brain function, including memory and, learning. Horrocks in 1999 described the associated increase risk of Alzheimer’s disease in patients with low DHA levels. In concert with phosphatidylserine, researchers at the NIH revealed that DHA supports energy production in brain cells, and is critical in healthy brain function.

A large number of studies have shown that omega-3 oils can improve brain function, decrease inflammation, reduce the incidence of lethal heart attacks and ischemic strokes,, improve the outcome of autoimmune diseases, and improve vision, reducing the development of macular degeneration.

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Hey don’t forget to check out the video about the Omega-3′s on you tube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uIFoc8roxdk.
Other videos about your thyroid and vitamin d as well.

Source: http://andlos.blogspot.com/2010/08/dha-importance-of-omega-3-video-on.html