TheWellnessLiving Health Tips

Health Advice at your Fingertips

The effect of obesity on chronic kidney disease

July 18th, 2011 by admin

Overweightness and obesity are associated with many hemodynamic, structural, and histopathologic alterations in the kidney and with metabolic and biochemical changes that predispose to these abnormalities. Consequent to these disorders, these individuals are more likely to develop chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal failure. Overweight and obese people are more prone to develop albuminuria and, for at least some types of kidney disease, a greater amount of albuminuria and more rapid progression of renal failure. These individuals are more likely to develop diabetes mellitus and hypertension. Diabetic nephropathy, hypertensive nephrosclerosis, focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis, renal cell carcinoma, and urate and calcium oxalate urolithiasis are the more common kidney and urological diseases reported in obese people. Preliminary data indicate that many of the clinical and nephropathologic manifestations associated with obesity can be reversed or ameliorated with reductions in body fat induced by dietary energy restriction or surgical procedures that reduce intake and gastrointestinal absorption of calories.

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Category: Cholesterol, Diabetes, Endocrinology, Gastric health, Hypertension, Nutrition, Obesity | No Comments »

Healthy habits for a healthy heart

January 5th, 2011 by admin

Various fruits, vegetables, nuts, and grains; ...
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Eating healthy and exercising are the most important habits to keep your heart in shape – Your heart health is in direct connection with the food you eat. Diversification of healthy eating following the tips below:

  • Choose from the vast range of food products that are based on wheat germ.
  • Choose different fruits and vegetables .
  • Choose a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
  • Choose natural juices and nutritional biscuits to quench your need for sweet.
  • If you consume alcoholic beverages, should do it moderately.
  • Struggling to achieve an appropriate body weight by height and age you have.
  • Do not let one day pass without doing exercise.

If you have problems with high cholesterol or if you’re prone to hypertension is advisable to consult a nutritionist. Prepare a nutritional diet, with a reasonable calorie level. Thus, you will eat healthy, preventing cardiovascular diseases which are prone. Nutritionist will follow your progress, encouraging you to not give up.

Get rid of salt! – You can prevent and control blood pressure, giving up at all salt and sodium-based compounds. Here are some tips on how to gradual eliminate the salt:

Use foods with a small amount of sodium or unsalted like vegetables and cereals.
Cooking “spicy” and not “salty”! Use spicy seasonings, herbs ( dill, parsley, celery, thyme, basil, oregano ), lemon, wine and vinegar. Be creative!

Opt for fresh lean meats and, giving up the canned smoked meat.
Unsubscribe processed meat ( like ham and ribs ) salt foods ( such as olives and pickles ) and spices such as mustard, ketch-up and barbecue sauce. Limit yourself to variants lower in sodium soy sauce. To eliminate the amount of sodium, rinse thoroughly with water the canned food. Salt substitutes are rich in potassium, which can hurt people facing health problems. Before replacing salt, ask the advice from a specialist.

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Category: Cardio, Cholesterol, Diabetes, Fitness, General health, Obesity, Wellness | No Comments »

The evolutionary roots of the human ‘sweet tooth’

April 14th, 2008 by admin

take your own sweet time
Image by Ryan Wolf via Flickr

Humans love the taste of sugar so much that the word “sweet” refers not only to this basic taste quality but also something that is highly desirable or pleasurable. This attraction goes so far that sugar (and sugar-rich foods) overconsumption is probably the main factor driving the current obesity epidemic.

But why are we so fond of sugar, when other animals appear to be so ‘self-restrained’ when it comes to diet and nutrition? The answer seems to lie on our evolutionary history. Refined sugars (e.g., sucrose, fructose) were absent in the diet of most people until very recently in human history. Biologists speculate that the human attraction for intense sweetness results from an inborn hypersensitivity to sweet tastants (molecules that taste sweet). In most mammals, including rats and humans, sweet receptors evolved in ancestral environments poor in sugars. Being able to detect carbohydrate-rich nutrients constituted an advantage that was selected favourably as it allowed to choose foods more effective in providing energy. However, natural foods are usually sugar-poor, so our ancestors were not not adapted to the high concentrations of sweet tastants present in our present-day products that contain refined sugar or corn syrup.

Proactol

Overconsumption of sugar-dense foods or beverages is initially motivated by the pleasure of sweet taste and is often compared to drug addiction. French investigators attempted to explore this relationship by using rats that were offered either sweetened water or highly addictive doses of cocaine. The results were stunning: the vast majority of the rats (94%) preferred the sweet treat over the drug, demonstrating that intense sweetness can surpass cocaine reward, even in drug-sensitized and -addicted individuals.

A plausible explanation for the addictive power of sugar is that the supranormal stimulation of the sweet receptors by sugar-rich diets, such as those now widely available in modern societies, would generate a supranormal reward signal in the brain, with the potential to override self-control mechanisms and thus to lead to addiction.

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Category: Addictions, Biology, Diabetes, General health, Medicine, Obesity, Weightloss | No Comments »

Good drinks and bad drinks: a ranking of healthy beverages

April 10th, 2008 by admin

Soft drinks on shelves in a Woolworths superma...
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Thanks to her teacher’s efforts, my daughter is very interested in learning what foods or beverages are healthy for her and which ones are not. She usually asks whether this snack or that drink are good or bad. Even though I’m usually pretty sure I’m telling the right answer, it’s only common sense, but a little of actual knowledge would be fine to support my advice.

The National Institute of Public Health of Mexico has recently put together “Beverage Consumption  Recommendations” aimed to serve as a guideline for consumers, health professionals, and government officials. One of the main reasons that encouraged this work is the alarming increase in overweight, obesity and diabetes in Mexico. It is thought that beverages contribute a fifth of all calories consumed by Mexicans, and many studies found that caloric beverages increase the risk of obesity. After considering all these evidences, it is clear that educating people and professionals on the benefits and risks associated to the most common drinks is of prime importance to improve the public health conditions.

Slimming.com

The committee classified beverages into six levels regarding their health benefits and risks. Some aspects taken into account were caloric content, nutritional value, and health risks associated with the consumption of each type of beverage. The beverages were ranked from the healthier (level 1) to least healthy (level 6):

Level 1: water

Level 2: skim or low fat (1%) milk and sugar free soy beverages

Level 3: coffee and tea without sugar

Level 4: non-caloric beverages with artificial sweeteners

Level 5: beverages with high caloric content and limited health benefits (fruit juices, whole milk, and fruit smoothies with sugar or honey; alcoholic and sports drinks)

Level 6: beverages high in sugar and with low nutritional value (soft drinks and other beverages with significant amounts of added sugar like juices, flavored waters, coffee and tea).

As a conclusion, the panel advices that water should constitute the first choice, followed by no or low-calorie drinks, and skim milk. People should prefer these beverages over others with high caloric value or sweetened beverages, including those containing artificial sweeteners.

Some parts of this ranking agree more or less with our perception, water is obviously a ‘healthy’ option, but it may surprise many people to find out that some beverages, heavily advertised as healthy stuff go quite low in the list, such as fruit juices and fruit smoothies. Time to reconsider what we take in our lunch-bags!

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Category: Children, Diabetes, Education, General health, Nutrition, Obesity, Weightloss, Wellness | No Comments »

Hoodia

September 24th, 2007 by admin

Bushman's Hat, Queen of the Namib, Hoodia gord...
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Hoodia Gordonii looks very much like a cactus, it is actually a leafless succulent with cactus like spikes. Whenever the early African tribesmen traveled on long hunting expeditions, they used to consume the Hoodia Gordonii cactus to help stave-off hunger on their prolong trips. As its natural ability to safely curb the appetite has become well known in the recent past. Hoodia Gordonii’s popularity has exploded. A certified pure Hoodia Gordonii diet pills are available now in the market.

Hoodia Curbs Hunger and Cravings

Hoodia Gordonii, nature’s most effective appetite suppressant is now available. Hoodia helps you achieve weight loss by curbing your hunger and cravings. Hoodia is richly formulated with Royal Jelly, 5-HTP, B-12 and additional key nutrients which will enable you to take control of your eating habits and reach your slimming goals.

60 MINUTES on CBS news featured Hoodia, reporting “Hoodia is very different from other diet stimulants like Ephedra and Phenfen that are now banned because of dangerous side effects. Hoodia does not stimulate the body. In fact, scientists say it fools the brain by making you think you’re full, even if you’ve just eaten a morsel.”

What enables the San Bushmen of the Kalahari Desert of South Africa, one of the world’s oldest and most primitive tribes, to stave off hunger during long hunting trips?

They consume Hoodia Gordonii cactus! It is quickly becoming known as the greatest natural appetite suppressant of all time. This cactus has an incredible virtue. The Hoodia cactus contains the highly active molecules P-57 that directly influences the hypothalamus, the part of the brain that controls satiation or the sense of being completely full. P-57 extract ” misleads” the brain and body by allowing you to believe you have just eaten. Furthermore, It works by imitating the effect that glucose has on nerve cells in the brain, which is to fool the body into thinking it is full, even when it is not, thus curbing the appetite.

We have been involved in the health and wellness industry for a number of years. We are charter members of Goldshield Elite and supply cutting edge, scientifically backed nutritional products.

Hoodia Gordonii can hold back your appetite while boosting energy, helping you feel satisfied and full. It is the most effective way to control appetite, and is used when wishing to lose weight. If appetite suppression is a quality you desire in a weight loss supplement, Hoodia Gordonii is an excellent ingredient to look for.

The extract of the plant Hoodia Gordonii is emerging as the greatest weight-reducing diet pill with no known side effects. Hoodia Gordonii diet pill also has a natural feel-good quality. All studies performed to date show no ill effects among subjects supplementing their diet with Hoodia Product.

There are various species of hoodia, but the Gordonii variation is the only one that contains the all-natural appetite suppressant. Tbis type of hoodia contains a molecule that has similar effects on nerve cells as glucose, and tricks the brain into the sensation of fullness. Results of human clinical trials in Britain suggest that hoodia may reduce the appetite by hundreds of calories a day or more.

In a BBC interview, Phytopharm’s Dr. Richard Dixey explained how P57 works:

There is a part of your brain, the hypothalamus. Within that mid-brain there are nerve cells that sense glucose sugar. When you eat, blood sugar goes up because of the food, these cells start firing and now you are full. What the Hoodia seems to contain is a molecule that is about 10,000 times as active as glucose. It goes to the mid-brain and actually makes those nerve cells fire as if you were full. But you have not eaten. Nor do you want to.

Unlike anything that has been on the market before, Hoodia is not only an empty promise. Hoodia can help you to loose weight, and to keep it down in the long term.

UniqueHoodia

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Category: General health, Obesity, Weightloss | No Comments »