Diet, Weight Control and Food Safety
Artificial Sweeteners: Are They Helping You Lose Weight or Gain it?
Artificial sweeteners have become popular weight loss tools. However, research suggests that low-calorie sweeteners may not actually help people lose weight. Learn why diet soda isn’t necessarily helping your diet. Read More
Are Bisphenol A (BPA) Plastic Products Safe?
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical used to make plastics. It is frequently used in sports equipment, water bottles, medical devices, as a coating or lining in food and beverage cans, and in credit card receipts. It leaches out of plastic into liquids and foods, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found measurable amounts of BPA in the bodies of 93% of the U.S. population studied. While early concerns about BPA’s health effects were based primarily on animal studies and research on cells, there is increasing evidence from studies in humans that BPA can cause serious harm, such as increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and sexual dysfunction. Read More
Red Meat: The News is Not Good
Red meat has been found to increase cholesterol and risk of cardiovascular disease, but now new research is linking it to cancer and increased mortality. Read More
Statins (cholesterol-lowering drugs) and the New Safety Warnings: What It Means for You
The FDA issued new safety warnings for statins in February 2012 about the increased risk for diabetes, memory loss and muscle pain, symptoms that we have been warning patients about for some time. Read More
Arsenic and Lead in our juice (and you thought poisoned apples were only in fairy tales!)
Learn how much arsenic has been found in common foods and drinks (too much!)–and what laws are in place to protect your family from this known carcinogen (not many!). Read More
Laser Liposuction—Weight Loss Tool or Scam?
As American waistlines have expanded, the attraction of a quick weight loss fix has increased. Diet and exercise are the key to safe weight loss, but for many of us, the results are discouraging. As a result, liposuction is the third most commonly performed cosmetic procedure in the United States, after breast augmentation and nose reshaping. However, the procedure can result in severe though rare complications including infection, cardiac arrest, blood clots, excessive fluid loss, fluid accumulation, damage to the skin or nerves, seizures, bruising, swelling, and damage to vital organs. Plastic surgeons often present laser liposuction as a safer, effective alternative which works by inserting a laser beneath the skin and liquifying fat. But does it work and is it really safe? Read More
My Plate: A New Alternative to the Food Pyramid
The new USDA model, MyPlate, replaces the familiar “food pyramid” diagram that underwent several changes in the 19 years since it was first introduced. The MyPlate model shows the five food groups (fruits, vegetables, proteins, grains, and dairy) in a place setting. It is designed to be easier to understand in the context of a single meal than the more confusing pyramid. Read More
Not-Quite-Everything you Need to Know about Lap-Bands
Lap-Bands help many people lose weight rather dramatically – some lose 50-100 pounds in the first 6 months or year. Are Lap-Bands a lasting solution to obesity? Not necessarily. Are they safe? Often they aren’t Read More
Kids Talk about Healthy Eating
Find out what kids have to say about eating healthy! Read More
Guide to Healthy Eating: The New Food Pyramid
The new USDA Food Pyramid, which helps provide a guide to healthy eating, looks different from previous models. The old “building block” approach (see below on the right) has been replaced with stripes going from the base to the top, emphasizing the goal of including all types of foods in our meals. Read More