DON’T IGNORE YOUR CHILD’S OR TEEN’S WEIGHT PROBLEM June 11, 2009

Children that are overweight probably know better than anyone else that they have a weight problem. As parents we should always be on the lookout for signs of excessive eating or inadequate amounts of exercise in our children. Kids feelings about themselves are often based on how they think their parents feel about them.

The study confirms that parents’ excess body weight is a strong and positive predictor of child overweight and obesity. Obese adolescents have a 70% chance of becoming overweight adults and they have an increased risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, obstructive sleep apnea (interrupted breathing while asleep that can result in daytime lethargy or even death), reduced lifespan and some forms of cancer.

Though parents love their children equally, it’s not unusual for them to discover they need to soothe hurt feelings and rebuild damaged self-esteem more often in their overweight children. As parents we want the best for our kids .

Overweight children and teens may feel uncomfortable about participating in certain activities. They might experience significant social discrimination, which can lead to poor self- esteem, depression and a diminished ability to function well in school. Overweight children and teen’s struggle in school, have lowered expectations for their future, have troubling relationships with peers and adults, exhibit more high-risk behavior, and are even more misunderstood by their own families. Many obese teens use food to numb their pain, remember, in order to get healthy they need to confront what’s hurting them.

In most cases, overweight children are probably affected by a number of factors including genetics, lifestyle habits, and food choices. By helping overweight children to limit weight gain as they grow taller, parents can prevent their kids from developing some very serious health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure. Sometimes, instead of losing weight, it’s easier for overweight children to stop gaining weight while they allow their bodies to “grow into” their weight, the goal is to reduce their rate of weight gain.

Many overweight children already show abnormal levels of liver enzymes, and fully one-third suffer from fatty liver, a condition in which the organ becomes streaked with fat. If parents do not control, this number of childhood obesity, teen obesity and overweight children will grow significantly in near future. Poor nutrition, the abundance and popularity of packaged and fast foods, availability of indoor entertainment, social and environmental pressures, and a lack of physical activity and fewer organized outdoor sports all contribute to tendencies in overweight children.

Doctors and other health care professionals often use a measurement called body mass index (BMI) to determine if someone is overweight. Doctors consider a teen obese when his or her BMI number is higher than the BMI numbers of 95% of other teens the same age and gender

Healthy eating tips:

Encourage your children to eat when hungry and to eat slowly. Depending on your child’s BMI, age, and health, the doctor may refer you to a registered dietitian for additional advice and, possibly, may recommend a comprehensive weight management program.

Get your kids involved by letting them help you plan and prepare healthy meals, and take them along when you go grocery shopping so they can learn how to make good food choices. Serve a variety of healthy foods and eat meals together as often as possible. Eating too much and exercising too little may lead to overweight and related health problems that may follow children into their adult years.

Don’t let your child skip breakfast. Skipping breakfast can leave your child hungry, tired, and looking for less healthy foods later in the day. It is up to you to provide your child with healthy meals and snacks, but your child should be allowed to choose how much food he or she will eat. Encourage her to quench her thirst with water or sugar free squash.

Remember not too restrict calories and instead, offer a healthy diet with 3 healthy meals (don’t skip meals, especially breakfast) and a few snacks, and allow occasional treats.

Artificial Sweetener “Aspartame” Controversy May 25, 2009

Aspartame was first approved by the FDA in 1981 as a tabletop sweetener, and for use in gum, breakfast cereal, and other dry products.  The sugar like taste of aspartame was discovered accidentally by James Schlatter, an American drug researcher.

Aspartame is the technical name for the brand names, NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, and Equal-Measure.  It is an artificial sweetener composed of two amino acids: Aspartic acid and Phenylalanine.  Aspartame is commonly used in sugar-free soft drinks, gum, and candy. It is synthetic, genetically engineered sweetener,that is now found in everything from Coke and Pepsi diet drinks, sugarless chewing gum and products to common drugs and dietary supplements available at your local pharmacy and “health food” shop.

Aspartame used in thousands of diet food and drinks has been linked to more than 90 adverse reactions.  It has been one of the most widely investigated food poisons in the past 50 years.

Aspartame has been documented as causing headaches, numbness, fatigue, blurred vision and blindness, heart palpitations, brain lesions and tumors, memory loss, dizziness, muscle spasms, miscarriages, sexual dysfunction, irritability, anxiety attacks, vertigo, epileptic seizures, rashes, tachycardia, tinnitus, joint pain, nausea, mood alterations and depression, hearing loss, slurred speech, loss of taste, and insomnia, as well as eroding intelligence and short-term memory.

Some aspartame critics, particularly those in weight loss communities, claim that aspartame contributes to weight gain and obesity due to purported spikes in the insulin level. The argument holds that aspartame causes the body to secrete excess insulin even though aspartame is non-caloric.  However, recent studies have shown that aspartame does not increase glucose nor insulin blood levels and cannot be directly linked to insulin resistance or diabetes

The sources and claims of many alleged aspartame dangers and conspiracies have been the subject of critical examination. A 2007 safety evaluation found that the weight of existing scientific evidence indicates that aspartame is safe at current levels of consumption as a non-nutritive sweetener.  The researchers then computed daily consumption of aspartame, taking into account aspartame content, portion size, and consumption frequency of each beverage.  A 12 ounce can of diet soda contains 180 mg of aspartame, and one liter of aspartame-sweetened soda contains 600 mg aspartame.  For a 75 kilograms (165 lb) adult, it takes approximately 21 cans of diet soda to consume the 3,750 mg of aspartame that would surpass the FDA’s 50 mg/kg ADI of aspartame.

In the Philippines, the small political party Alliance for Rural Concerns introduced House Bill 4747 in 2008 with the aim of having aspartame banned from the food supply. The US state of New Mexico introduced a bill to ban aspartame in 2007, and in the UK supermarket chains Sainsbury’s and Wal-Mart subsidiary announced that they would no longer use aspartame in their own label products.

Considering possible connections between aspartame and diseases such as brain tumors, brain lesions and lymphoma, and taking into account alleged conflicts of interest during the approval process, you owe it to yourself to learn the facts, not just what the lobbyists and manufacturer want you to know.  If you see someone with a diet drink, ask if they have had any of the typical aspartame side effects.  If the claim of a general population effect is true, and that the effect is cumulative (builds up over time), then aspartame would affect older people more than younger people.

There are other users of aspartame who appear not to be suffering immediate reactions to aspartame.  If you are using Aspartame and you suffer from “Fibromyalgia” symptoms such as spasms, shooting pains, numbness in your legs, cramps, vertigo, dizziness, headaches, tinnitus, joint pain, depression, anxiety attacks, slurred speech, blurred vision, or memory loss, you probably do not have “Fibromyalgia”, you very likely have Aspartame Poisoning.  Unfortunately, many diabetics who have used Aspartame have died.  They said that diabetic patients who used Aspartame presented memory loss, confusion, and severe vision loss”.  If you drink aspartame and have experienced health problems, then cease your consumption of it (and its cousin MSG) for 60 days and see if your symptoms disappear.

Please contact your doctor with any questions or concerns about using or consuming Aspartame.  In addition, foods that contain aspartame must be labelled with a warning ‘contains a source of phenylalanine’.

Halitosis caused by dieting! March 26, 2008

Did you know that you can develop halitosis while you are on a diet. Well, it depends on what diet you have chosen. They said that when you’re on a low carbohydrate diet you will certainly acquire halitosis.

Halitosis is the medical term for bad breath. There are many factors that causes halitosis, these are gum problem, tooth decay, digestive problems, kidney problem, lung problem, cirrhosis of the liver and sinus infection.

When halitosis occur during dieting this is a condition called Ketosis. Ketosis is caused by low carbohydrate diet, this is a process in which our body converts fats into energy and this occurs normally during starvation. Normally, our body utilized glucose to meet its energy needs. Glucose comes mostly from the carbohydrate in our diet. A healthy, balanced diet should provide us with all the glucose our body needs, so that ketosis will not take place. If we starved ourselves during diet ,ketone bodies are produced, it increases in the blood stream and this give your breath a sweet, fruity smell that most of the time may be mistaken for alcohol. Health Proffessionals never recommend ketogenic diet more than 14 days. Prolonged severe ketosis can be serious as it can change the acidity of your blood, which may will eventually lead to severe damage to your liver and kidneys.

So, when choosing a diet plan, check on glycemic index, as it will tell you the categories where your food belongs. Does it belongs to low, medium or high carbohydrates. There are ways you can limit the effect of ketones on your breath. One approach they say is to drink plenty of water as it dilutes ketones in the body but that remains a controversy. Just to be sure seeking treatment to your doctor is the best option. 

Are Diet Pills Effective? March 6, 2008

Diet pills are very tempting things if you want to lose weight, especially if you have tried several conventional weight loss diets without success. Yes, diet pills are not the best way to lose weight, but if you choose the right ones and not use them forever, You will be fine, just remember while taking the pills follow a proper diet and exercise program.

Diet pills got a bad name in the ’70s, when doctors prescribed amphetamines. These drugs suppressed appetite and disturbed your sleeping pattern so you’ll end up awake the whole night.
It would definitely make you lose weight but gives you a haggard looked. It is best to consult your doctor prior to taking any weight loss pills especially when you are taking other medications.

Among the many reasons why diet pills aren’t a good idea are the horrible side effects, which include gas (farting), oily discharge, and diarrhea just to name a few. Many diet pills also contain mild diuretics, such as caffeine, to assist in the elimination of excess fluid.

Have you ever heard of Hoodia Diet Pills?
I search on the information about this weight loss pill and here is what I found:
They say that Hoodia is an amazing element when it comes to weight loss. Hoodia Gordonii is a cactus plant which grows in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa, that are regarded as the safest, most effective and powerful appetite suppressant in history. Infact, its potential has been featured on various independent and trusted news reports from CBS, NBC, MSN, CNN, and BBC.

The natural active ingredient in Hoodia is the P57 appetite suppressant molecule. By combining Hoodia Gordonii with a sensible diet and regular exercise you will start losing weight and help keep it off for good. If you tend to over eat, try using Hoodia Gordonii to help suppress your appetite until you become used to eating less.
Hoodia helps you stop craving for food.Asa further enhancement to the Hoodia Gordonii Pills, other carefully select ingredients have been balanced and blended to help you diet safely and enjoy permanent weight loss. The ingredients in Hoodia Gordonii are all 100 % natural, so there are no known side effects.

The best way to lose weight is really a combination of Exercise, Proper food to eat but the sometimes the problem is motivation, then most probably Diet pills will help.

Detox Diets explained! February 25, 2008

Detox diets are nothing new, having been used in the traditional healing systems of India and other cultures for thousands of years. It is a dietary regimen used in an attempt to remove toxic substances and other contaminants from the bloodstream. These are dietary nutritious plans that use Detox, that assists you lose weight by cleansing out Ones body and improving Ones metabolism. Detox diets are very popular and usually advocate a restricted diet including a lot of fruit and veg, and often body brushing and saunas. Detox diets are short-term diet plans designed to help your body shed built-up toxins. These are popular after the holiday season when people tends to eat a lot .

In addition, many of the supplements used during detox diets are actually laxatives, which are designed to make people go to the bathroom more often. Most people who are supporting detox diets are saying that dehydration or emotional stress is the cause why toxins do not leave the body properly during wastes elimination. There are still many questions as to whether detox diets are good for the human body with doctors on both sides of the fence in the argument.

Disadvantage:

• Detox diets are very unwise for people who are undergoing growth and development such as children and adolescents, pregnant or breastfeeding women, older adults who have impaired renal (kidney) or hepatic (liver) function, those with diabetes or heart disease, and people with irritable or functional bowel disease.

• The problem is most detox diets are so restrictive that they’re ineffective for long-term use.

• You should know…Detox Diets are quite restrictive and once you start a detox diet, you should follow it strictly

• Detox diets are also not recommended for people with diabetes, low blood sugar and eating disorders
  

• Last but not least, keep in mind that detox diets are good particularly in the warm months and ideally not more frequently than three times a year.

Therefore, Detox diets are not necessary for achieving toxin elimination or good health and can be dangerous for some, but provided you don’t fit into one of the groups mentioned earlier and are only going to follow a detox program for a few days, they are probably safe.