Health News

Depo Provera and Weight Gain

A recent study has shown that the method of birth control where you get a shot in the arm about once every three months, known best by the brand name of Depo Provera, may cause a weight gain in specific women who are susceptible to it, that may be very hard to shed once it is put on, potentially putting them at risk for all those headaches that are associated with a higher weight like difficulty breathing, diabetes and the like.

Depo Provera is already not without it’s critics.  Many believe that it causes a higher risk of strokes and other health problems that make it not even worth the convenience it offers to women who want to use a birth control method.

The weird part about the weight gain experienced on Depo Provera is that women who were already mothers and of a normal weight were at the highest risk of early weight gain while on the contraceptive, most of them citing an almost immediate increase in their appetite after getting the injection.  The larger appetite may be explained by the alteration of hormones that are involved in hunger and satiety in the body, caused by the contraceptive method.

The study to see which women were at higher risk involved women of quite a few ethnic backgrounds, so it should have been a pretty good study outcome.  The women who gained about 5% of their current body weight within six months of getting the injections were the most likely to also continue on with the weight gain trend throughout the years.  The interesting part is that the women who gain weight early on and quickly with Depo Provera were identified as much  more likely to continue that trend than the women who were on it and gained weight at a slower pace from the onset.

For that reason, Doctors should recommend that patients who see this high increase in weight very early on the shot should seriously consider going on something different as an option so that they do not put on weight and jeopardize their health. My personal opinion on the shot is that there are better options.  I think that it causes too many complications in my opinion to be a viable birth control option that minimally interferes with a woman’s health.

The Joys of Growing Your Own Food

More and more people, especially with the economy these days, as well as the new awareness that is spreading about the benefits of locally grown produce, are actually making their first foray into the gardening market. I’ve tried my hand at gardening, with some degree of success, and some degree of miserable failure as well, but I’ve learned along the way, and I’ve also learned how fulfilling it is to see something grow into a vegetable from a plant, and how much better it tastes. It’s almost a world of difference between a home grown tomato and a store bought tomato, for instance. Rarely will a home grown, fresh and un radiated tomato taste grainy or flavorless.

There is something to be gained from that. The less flavor and texture a piece of fruit of a veggie has, the less nutrients it most likely has, so you know you are getting a double bang for your buck when you grow your own fruits and veggies, because not only are you getting excellent flavor, but the fruit or veggie is also retaining a lot of it’s texture and flavor and makes for much better cooking and eating. Cucumbers are another one that I love fresh and home grown. They are so tender, so flavorful, compared to the bland, tough ones you buy at the grocery store, and you can just put a touch of olive oil and seasoning on them and eat them right up.

Remembering back to when my grandma and grandpa first introduced me to gardening, I didn’t appreciate the difference between store bought fruits and veggies and what they had grown in their own back yard, but I always knew that the foods that my grandma cooked, especially in the summer, seemed to be brimming with life and flavor. As an adult, I fully appreciate the money savings that gardening offers, as well as the health benefits.

Just for the nutrient benefits alone, gardening is immensely healthful. Not only that, I think that there is something inherently healthy and fulfilling about having your own garden. I know that pulling up after I get off work and seeing that some more of my tomatoes have ripened and are ready to be sliced up for a salad is immensely rewarding. Or picking some cilantro for a fresh salsa. There is something very instinctually rewarding and “right” about gardening and I’d encourage everyone to at least try your hand at it.

Food Supply to be Under Stricter Control

It seems like there is always some sort of outbreak in the news that is usually linked to one of our food sources, perhaps a plant that has been producing food that is tainted with salmonella, or maybe e. coli, two of the most popular and easy to breed and catch, and two of the most popular ones that are in the news regarding food safety. Sometimes it’s more serious, such as the news story I heard recently where people actually died (I believe it was in India) because they had drank wine that was made illegally and was contaminated with something that was almost instantly lethal.

Now, the Obama administration, under increasing pressure from consumer advocacy groups and lobbyists, has decided to crack down on our food sources, giving the FDA, or Food and Drug Administration, a higher authority to be able to crack down on factories and their parent corporations that are producing food in unsanitary conditions or not adhering to control efforts to reduce the likelihood of contamination of bacterias and pathogens of different kinds.

The food safety bill is being hailed as a big step in the right direction toward tighter restriction and steeper punishments for those that put out food that is unsafe, so that we may hear less of these scary stories in the news about spinach leaves or peanuts being contaminated with something deadly. My hope is that they would put some sort of steeper restriction on the pet food industry as well, since there have been a few cases of pet food being contaminated so bad that it has literally killed hundreds of family pets.

The new bill would also give the Administration the authority to enforce recalls of foods that are deemed unsafe or suspected of being unsafe or the cause of some sort of outbreak. This new bill would also require food companies to provide detailed plans for providing safe, edible food, as sort of a show of good faith that they are following a certain protocol. Most think that the rash of outbreaks in the news finally gave those politicians that were pushing for food safety and tighter restrictions more ground, after all, what better than negative publicity to spur our lawmakers to take action sooner rather than later?

I actually think the push for food safety is good, however, I don’t want this all to go too far and interfere with our right to seeking out alternative medicines for our ills, since the FDA may tread where they aren’t needed or wanted if some in the pharmaceutical industry have it their way.

Grapefruit : Too Much of a Good Thing?

Remember back in the eighties and the early nineties, when grapefruit diets were all the rage, and grapefruit was thought to be some sort of a super weight loss facilitator, much like the acai berry is now (which by the way, I don’t think helps a lick in weight loss, it’s a super antioxidant which is great, but weight loss supplement – no).  I enjoy the occasional grapefruit, and although I love the flavor and texture and I think it’s a super healthy fruit to eat, I don’t think that you are going to lose a lot more weight if you eat grapefruit every day.  That’s just my personal opinion.

Well, recently in the news, a woman almost died from eating too much of this citrus fruit that’s commonly eaten for breakfast.  Grapefruit was supposedly a good addition to a diet because of it’s supposed fat burning properties, however I suspect that it’s just a healthy food and the other items eaten on a sensible diet and caloric intake are still to take credit for any resultant weight loss.  There are also crazy grapefruit only diets that I believe can be dangerous in some situations, as they did for one women who almost lost a limb because she was on a grapefruit only diet for three days and was also on the birth control pill.

The problem was that the grapefruit, especially since it was the only thing this woman was consuming for three days, blocks an enzyme when consumed in large quantities, which blocks the enzyme that breaks down drugs in the human body.  Because of this, her birth control pills were not being broken down in her body.  Not only that, but the hormone estrogen cannot be broken down and since birth control pills contain estrogen, she was in danger of forming serious blood clots,and hence that is why she almost lost her legs.

So, I guess it’s useful to know this about grapefruit!

Peanut Products to Still Be Wary Of

With the ever expanding recall of peanut related food products, it’s no wonder that I got so paranoid last week that I threw out of a couple glass jars of Planters roasted peanuts.  I remember my boyfriend complaining that he had eaten a few handfulls of them a couple of times and though it was odd that he had gastrointestinal discomfort and his belly got enormous and uncomfortable for hours afterwards, but we didn’t think anything of it at the time because it was about a month ago and none of the salmonella warnings had taken place yet.

I thought maybe he had developed a peanut allergy of some sort, because he said it happened to him both times he ate peanuts, and that still may be true, but I find it strange that it never happened when he ate peanuts before, especially since we practically subsisted off of them when we were doing the low carb diet thing a couple years back and he didn’t have any issues.

Well, there are tons of products now on the salmonella peanut recall list, including candy bars, diet and nutrition bars, peanut butter, and most any other product that even has traces of the nuts in them.  So far, six people have died, and an untold number of people have been affected with salmonella poisoning, and the peanut plant that is blamed for the outbreak has apparently laid off most of it’s workers which made a peanut paste and manufactured the peanuts and shut down production.

It’s too bad this had to happen.  Salmonella usually does not affect those that are in good health, but it can attack those that are younger and have not developed strong immune systems yet, and it can be particularly dangerous to the elderly.

Football Snacks That Don’t Add Up Too Much

Football Sundays are upon us, and if you’re like me and have a man in the house that loves his Sunday football, and also has friends over every week (don’t get me wrong, I love it, it’s nostalgic to have people over and snack on wings and other goodies all day), then you definitely know how hard it can be to avoid the snacks that inevitably add up with the beer calories when you’re in the swing of watching football. 

It just seems that pizza, beer, wings and other salty, fatty foods go best with this favorite American pastime, so it’s no wonder that we may pack in as many as 3,000 to 4,000 calories on these days.  However, are there some smarter snacks you can be setting out, so that you won’t be stuffing your face with fattening, salty and sugary snacks all day on football watching days?

Well, you can definitely cut calories little by little, but it’s also important not to just keep absent mindedly eating when you’re not even really hungry, even if you are in fact cutting the calories by watching what you eat on these days as far as the healthfulness of the actual foods you choose to put out. 

One way you can cut back a little (every little bit helps), is to buy low fat or baked chips instead of the full on fried, fatty chips that populate the store’s shelves.  You can also buy pretzels instead of chips, which have little to no fat and other than sodium, aren’t all that bad for you.  Try buying some fat free dips too – they don’t taste half bad now.  Or you can buy fat free or low fat sour cream and make your own.

Try putting out a turkey summer sausage instead of the fattening beef version. 

Is Soy Good or Bad for Us?

Well, I used to, like everyone else, think that soy-based products were fine. In fact, I thought they were so fine, and actually good for you, that I would eat them in plentiful abundance some days when I didn’t feel like eating meat. I love the flavor of most soy based processed products, but I do have one complaint about them, and that is they seem to make my breath really bad, and bad for hours too, after I eat them, so it hangs on.

Diabetes On the Rise

Diabetes, or an increased blood sugar level, is on the rise in the U. S. at an alarming rate.   One of the reasons cited for this rapid rise is that more people are being diagnosed with this medical condition.  Actually, the worst case scenario is if you are diabetic and are not aware of it since you would not be taking measures to control your blood glucose.
Are there things you can do to try to avoid being part of this grim statistic?  Absolutely, you can work with your physician to control some of the risk factors associated with diabetes.
Have your blood glucose levels checked regularly to see if you are at a high risk.  If your blood sugar levels become higher than normal but not high enough to be considered diabetic you would be classified as pre- diabetic.
At this point, you could take natural steps to avoid beconing diabetic.  Of utmost importance is attaining and maintaining a healthy weight.  Other important measures you should take are eating healthy and exercising.  These changes should be complete lifestyle changes and not just a crash diet and exercising for several weeks or months.
When approaching the weight loss issue, set a goal and a realistic time frame to achieve it.  Even a small amount of weight loss will help you to better control your blood glucose.
Keep your dietary intake high in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, fat free milk, lean meats, poultry and fish.  Avoid foods high in saturated fats, cholesterol, trans fats or foods with added salt or sugar.
Reasons for the increase, besides better diagnosis of diabetes, are more people being overweight and sedentary and having high blood pressure and high cholesterol.  Raising awareness of the diabetes increase will hopefully help to curb incidence of this disease.
Diabetes, when uncontrolled, can lead to vision problems, circulatory problems and often kidney problems and failure.  It is imperative that, if you are diabetic or pre-diabetic, you make lifestyle changes to control your blood sugar for your overall health and longevity.

McDonald’s Changes to Healthy Fat for Fries

WOW!  I have to say, it’s a relief that McDonald’s, who has my personal favorite in the realms of greasy, good but oh so bad french fries to pig out on, has made the switch over to trans fat free oil to fry their little golden fries that are one of their signatures in.  Following suit after several other high profile fast food places have made the healthier switch to a better, less addictive and side effect riddled fat, McDonald’s says the flavor of their famous fries should not be changed too much.

Which brings me to a point that I forgot about until now.  I had a teacher back in highschool (it was a long time ago, don’t ask), who had told me that it was way too long ago for me to remember because I was so young when it happened, or may not have even been born yet, but McDonald’s used to fry their french fries in an even worse fat than the trans fat oil they used up until now.

And,…….drum roll please!  It used to be that they fried their french fries in BEEF FAT!!!  Yes, a highly cholesterol heightening, artery clogging fat was what they used to fry their beloved french fries in.  And guess what – it was delicious, according to my high school teacher.  She said that, although I couldnt’ believe my McDonald’s fries could have been any better than they already were back then, they used to be the most delightful thing she had ever eaten. 

So, I guess after Mickey D’s must’ve taken a lot of heat for frying their stuff in this high fat oil they switched to what it is today, and now they are switching again.   I have to wonder, are they going to say in another ten years or even twenty years that whatever they’ve switched to now is no good too? 

I think we all understand that most oils are not good, and some are good for us only when used in moderation, so I’m wondering how good one oil can be when compared to another when you are literally dunking a whole carton of french fries in it.  But oh well, I guess as long as it’s a healthier fat, every little bit helps, right? 

Reducing Red Meat Always a Good Idea

Dietitians have long been discouraging the consumption fo large amounts of red meat and processed red meats.  Consumption of large quantities of red or processed meats has been linked to high cholesterol levels and a higher chance of obesity.  Red meats include beef, pork and lamb.  Processed red meats include cold cuts, ham, sausage, bacon and hot dogs.
Cancer experts from the American Institute for Cancer Research have been studying the effect of diet as it relates to cancer occurrence.  This Institute concluded the risk of developing colon cancer increases by 42% for every 3.5 oz. of processed red meat eaten per day.  The American Institute for Cancer Research recommends avoiding all processed red meat except on rare special occasions.
The recommendations by cancer experts, after reviewing red meat consumption and it’s link to colon cancer, is to limit red meat consumption to 18 oz. or less per week.  In the United States, we eat far more red meat than 18 oz.per week.  As an alternative to red meat or processed red meat, it is recommended that we substitute poultry or fish as our source of protein for main entrees at lunch or dinner.  Meatless meals, made with soy or vegetables can also be hearty and filling.
For decades now, Americans have been shifting away from their peak consumption of red and processed meats.  According to the United States Department of Agriculture’s Economic Reasearch Service, we have dropped our annual consumption of red meat by an average of 14 pounds per year per person. 
While this is definitely progress away from a meat that although it has some nutritional value, it is still very difficult to digest and also has a bad reputation for increasing cancer risks, and must be reduced even further to be of a true health benefit.  Still, according to cancer experts, we need to drop that statistic further. Consuming more fish and poultry and fruits and vegetables and further decreasing our red meat and processed red meat will decrease our risk of developing colon cancer.