The Last Frontier In the “Last Frontier” of Medicine, as my Trekkie friends would say, scientists and physicians are exploring how the Microbiome and probiotics play a much larger and more vital role in our health. This role is larger than we could ever have imagined. What is the Human Microbiome? The human gastrointestinal tract […]
I read an article a couple of days ago that was written by a medical colleague of mine. It reminded me of my life story and what I have done to change it. A follower of his blog wrote:”… my father has heart disease, his father did too, and I’m obviously concerned about my own […]
What are essential fatty acids? There are three essential fatty acids. They are called essential to human health because the body cannot make them. They are the Omega-3s, the Omega-6s and the Omega-7s. Another fatty acid is called Omega-9. It is not essential since the body can make it. Omega-7s are relatively new, but have […]
If you listen to the television ads, America runs on high fructose corn syrup drinks, like Coca-Cola or Pepsi. Maybe that’s why one-third of Americans are obese or at least, overweight. Gone are the days when most people drink nothing but water, the original no-calorie, sugar-free, no-cholesterol beverage. So can you lose weight by just […]
Leptin and Insulin While the Energizer Bunny runs on batteries, our bodies run on hormones. Hormones tell our bodies to burn fat and lose weight or to store fat and gain weight or to keep our weights the same. There are two key hormones that regulate food intake and energy balance in our bodies. […]
The Skinny on Fats Fats and oils are part of a healthy diet and play many important roles in the body. Fat provides energy and is a carrier of important nutrients such as vitamins A, D, E, and K and carotenoids derived from vitamin A. But fat can impact the health of our hearts and arteries […]
What is inflammation? More and more today, research and scientific papers are written talking about inflammation. How often have we seen something criticized as “inflammatory”? From Omega-6 fats to stress to sugar to diet, everything bad seems to cause inflammation. But what exactly is inflammation and why is it such a problem? If it’s so […]
Lethal Impact of Obesity (Surplus Body Fat) As I mentioned in an earlier blog, fat cells in obese people behave differently than fat cells in lean individuals. This year it’s expected that 400,000 Americans will die from the effects of excess body fat1. That’s almost the same number of those who have tobacco-related deaths. Excess […]
Chronic stress, combined with positive energy balance (accumulation of body fat because energy is stored as fat), may cause an increased risk of obesity and other metabolic diseases like diabetes. The prevalence of obesity has increased dramatically in the US in the last several decades. The American Medical Association and the US Federal Drug Administration […]
In medical school, future doctors are taught that obesity is simply an imbalance of calories consumed and calories burned. In other words, if we don’t burn the same or more calories than we consume, the better becomes our chances of gaining weight. If this imbalance continues for a long time, we may become obese. This […]