Below there are 6 healthy habit changes anyone can apply to begin losing excess body fat weight. Once aware of the unhealthy habits causing the excess body weight…, to reverse the course requires acknowledgement of the unhealthy habit and changing it. Thereafter the unhealthy body fat will come off naturally without increasing health risk.
Identify the Unhealthy Habit Keeping You Overweight and Unfit and then make change.
Last Year’s Resolution to Lose Weight Failed You know why you failed your weight loss program. You did not resolve or change the habit(s) and behavior(s) keeping you overweight. Consuming more than one needs is often caused by daily stress at work and/or within the home environment, and/or unhealthy relationship(s), and/or sedentary habits. Also caused by bad behavioral and addictive food selection. Once you target the cause of your stress, anxiety, addiction, obsession and/or depression… remove yourself from the unhealthy environment, or relationship, or situation or obsession.
Thereafter, personal goals like weight loss and healthy fitness levels become easier to achieve and sustain long-term.
Waterproof Health Tracker, MorePro Fitness Tracker Color Screen Sport Smart Watch, Activity Tracker with Heart Rate Blood Pressure Calories Pedometer Sleep…
Pain Factor All pain is causally related to mental and physical illness, disease and/or injury. And with pain comes more sedentary activities and often increased food consumption and associated weight gain. It is for this reason, if you can not manage the pain, it is advised to see a pain specialist.
Request a referral to see a physiatrist [pain management specialist]. A physiatrist specializes in all pain modalities and treats the patient holistically. Don not let pain keep you in a sedentary and out-of-control weight gain hurt locker.
Pain Relief Hemp Cream – Made in USA – Natural Hemp Extract Cream for Back & Muscle Pain Relief – Efficient Inflammation Cream & Carpal Tunnel…
Party on Some carry the end of year festivities into the New Year. This behavior can last for months, or the entire year. This perpetual party habit will not help you lose weight. First and foremost, you must understand this is occurring and break the habit. A referral to see a behavioral therapist can help target the cause of unhealthy eating and drinking habit or bad behavior(s) and help you change it if you do not have the will power to do it on your own.
Fast foods after the Holidays – Too many Americans consume fast foods especially during the Holidays and End of Sports Season. Here lies the crux for much of Americas diabetes and obesity problems. Processed foods, especially those you find in colorful and attractive packaging almost always contain chemical substances known to cause unhealthy weight gain. When looking at labels, it is those food ingredients you can not pronounce or recognize… they are food chemical additives, preservatives and taste intensifiers that are also known to cause illness and disease and out-of-control weight gain. Choose more whole foods and avoid processed foods as much as possible.
SlimFast Advanced Nutrition Vanilla Cream Shake – Ready To Drink Meal Replacement – 20g of Protein – 11 Fl. Oz. Bottle – 12 Count – Pantry Friendly
Learn how to differentiate between healthy and processed foods through food label ingredient awareness. Organic, or mostly organic products on the other hand such as meat from the butcher, fruits and vegetables and desserts from a store baker who displays those consumables ready to eat within days is often a better food selection. This is not to say, those products are not free of unhealthy weight gaining food ingredients and chemicals. But one thing is almost sure, those foods have not been chemically processed to sit on a shelf for 6-12 months. Buy fresh whole foods as often as possible and stay away from highly processed foods to reduce total body fat weight and sustain good health.
Omaha Steaks – Aged Angus Top Sirloin and Premium Ground Beef Patties by Nebraska Star Beef – All Natural Hand Cut and Trimmed and Includes Seasoning – Gourmet Package…
Love of Baking I know the kids love your homemade cookies, cakes and pies. Remember moderation with deserts. Too much sugar, fat and salt is not good for anyone, even children with fast metabolisms. Try serving healthier desserts, i.e., fresh fruits, jello, pudding and peanut, oatmeal and pumpkin treats, etc.
Blunon’s snack bag variety for Adults – Healthy Snack Bag Care Package – Bulk Assortment (34 pack) – See More Snack varieties now.
Empty Nester’s Bake for an Army – Regardless of season, there are many who continue to cook for an entire family after the children have left home. Modify home recipes for one or two to reduce leftovers and temptation to eat more than an average serving size.
Bare Baked Crunchy Banana Chips, Simply, Gluten Free, 2.7 Ounce, Pack of 6 – See More Bare Baked Crunchy snacks.
Once you make healthier lifestyle choices – your fitness levels and health and well-being will also improve as you achieve ideal body weight. Learn how author Marc Woodard’s Ageless MirrorAthlete book, “Overweight and Unfit No More” and how it can help you achieve your weight loss goals naturally and live the lifestyle you need, want and deserve now!
Learn how to live the lifestyle you need, want and deserve now!
Good health to you and your family!
Author: Marc T. Woodard, MBA, BS Exercise Science, ARNG, CPT, RET. 2019-21 Copyright. All rights reserved, Mirror Athlete Publishing @: www.mirrorathlete.org, Sign up for your Free eNewsletter.
Many don’t realize some foods can interact badly with prescription drugs when consumed together. Those that fail to read the dietary warning’s listed on specific pharmaceutical labels, or disregard the prescription use instructions can cause increased health risk.
Listed below are 7 common prescription drugs and foods that when consumed together can increase health risk and/or cause severe ill-health side effects. There are many chemical reactions that occur within the body to keep the metabolism and overall physiology balanced. And when using pharmaceuticals it is important to understand, even the most benign appearing foods can cause an unhealthy chemical reaction.
What medications don’t interact well with certain foods?
Which whole foods are incompatible with what pharmaceuticals?
One only needs to understand everything we put into our bodies causes some kind of chemical reaction. Therefore it is important to realize, if you take any pharmaceutical, ask your doctor and/or pharmacist if there is any food that would cause an ill-health affect or risk to overall health when taken together.
Ageless MirrorAthlete shows you how to live the lifestyle you need, want and deserve now through hard to find fitness and health information, including consumer safety and dietary truths, etc.
Listed are commonly prescribed medications & foods that don’t interact well.
1. Anti-depressants SSRI’s (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors) Lexapro, Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, etc. MAOI’s (Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors)– Isocarboxazid, Phenelzine, Selegiline, Tranylcypromine, etc. Their related generic counterparts are: Marplan, Nardil, (Emsam, Eldepryl, Zelapar) and Parnate.
Drug treatment purpose: Anti-depressants are effective in treating depression, panic and other anxiety disorders. They also require special considerations with regard to diet. MAOI’s are normally used when other anti-depressants fail. When used as prescribed they will boost mood by improving brain cell communication.
Side effects: Diarrhea, dry mouth, sleepiness, lightheadedness, dizziness, low blood pressure, nervousness, muscle aches, insomnia, weight gain, sense of taste, hampered sexual drive, erectile dysfunction, difficult urinating, tingling, or prickling sensation on skin. If removed from anti-depressants too fast the following withdrawal effects are likely: insomnia, flu-like symptoms, fatigue, irritability and anxiety may follow.
Non-compatible foods: Aged cheeses, pickled, or fermented sausages (pepperoni, salami), luncheon meats, beef liver, chicken liver, yeast-containing foods and beverages that have the compound tyramine [protein containing foods] in them. This compound has an effect on blood pressure. If the bodies MAO (Monoamine Oxidase) enzyme is inhibited by MAOI medication, it is necessary to avoid the foods that contain this compound. If this diet restriction is not followed, then blood pressure can increase towards critically unhealthy levels.
Health risk when prescription and non-compatible foods are taken together: High levels of tyramine in the body can lead to high blood pressure, heart arrhythmia and brain hemorrhage.
2. Anti-anxiety – Benzodiazepines are the most common anti-anxiety drugs, e.g., Ativan, Klonopin, Valium, Xanax, etc., and Generic: lorazepam, clonazepam, diazepam and alprazolam are all sedatives and bind with the brains natural sedatives to calm you down.
Drug treatment purpose: To help relax and reduce anxiety. Anti-anxiety drugs are also known as tranquilizers. Anti-anxiety medications work by slowing down the central nervous system [reduced brain activity] and have a relaxing effect on the mind and body. They are also prescribed for sleeping and muscle spasm disorders. Often antidepressants will be prescribed to relieve symptoms of anxiety.
Known side effects: Addiction, inability to focus-learn, uncoordinated, clumsiness, confusion, disorientation, blurred vision, upset stomach, lightheadedness, sleepy, impaired judgment, nausea, memory loss. Long term users of these medications also experience depression. High dosages and long term use will likely increase suicidal thoughts and feelings. Benzodiazepines can also cause the opposite of a calming effect like mania, aggressive behavior, or hostility, rage and even hallucinations.
Non-compatible foods: Alcohol. When these drugs are mixed with alcoholthe sedative properties on the brain and body is amplified. Not only do you feel more drunk, but more tired and forgetful. Coffee and drinks with caffeine in them affects anti-anxiety and asthma medications.
Health risk when prescription and non-compatible foods are taken together: Your breathing rate is significantly slowed down and risk of respiratory failure increases.
3. Antibiotics – Monodox, Dynacin, Sumycin, Cipro, Levaquin, etc. Generics: minocycline, tetracycline and doxycycline, etc. This listing represents a few of many antibiotics that could be prescribed.
Drug treatment purpose: Antibiotics are used to kill bacterial infections. They are not effective against fungal (ringworm or vaginal yeast infection), flu, or the common cold.
Side effects – Antibiotics are relatively safe when used appropriately. However, like any medication unwanted side effects do occur. If you experience any skin rash, hives, wheezing, anaphylaxis (shortage of breath), swelling of lips, tongue or face seek medical attention immediately.
Non-compatible foods:Dairy products have calcium in them. Calcium tends to bind with the antibiotics if a dairy product is consumed within a two hour window after taking the medication. Vitamins and Antacids can also decrease the efficiency of antibiotics. For example, ciprofloxacin an antibiotic used to treat urinary tract and abdominal infections among other things; when mixed with antacids becomes less effective when it binds to magnesium and calcium.
Health risk when prescription and non-compatible foods are taken together: This binding prevents the antibiotic from absorbing into the body to fight an infection rendering various antibiotics useless. When this happens the medication stays in the intestine and leaves the body at the next bowel movement. Yet there are other antibiotics used for strep throat and ear infections where dairy products have no impact on those medications.
4. High blood pressure, or anti-hypertension medications – Univasc, Zestril and Monopril can raise your potassium levels. Common generics: Hygroton, Lozol, Mykrox, Diuril, Lasix, Esidrix, etc. There are many specialized medications that are designed to treat both diuretic and high blood pressure cases.
Drug treatment purpose: To lower blood pressure and reduce blood clotting risk. Many classes of blood pressure medications include a diuretic treatment component. These medications help to rid the body of excess water and sodium and help to control blood pressure. Diuretics are often used in combination with other medications like anti-clotting prevention treatment that use aspirin and Plavix. When patients are at high risk of stroke or heart attack, doctors often prescribe Plavix as an anti-platelet drug for blood clotting prevention. The first line of attack is aspirin. Both anti-clotting and blood pressure medications may likely be prescribed together, but not always.
Known side effects: Gout, increased blood sugar levels, leg cramps, weakness, impotence may occur.
Non-compatible foods: Limit foods high in potassium like bananas, salt substitutes with potassium, spinach, leafy greens and sweet potatoes. Eating a banana once a day, or leafy green the next should be ok. But you’ll want to confirm diet and frequency of consumption with your prescribing physician.
Health risk when prescription and non-compatible foods are taken together: Too much potassium in the body can cause your heart to beat irregularly and in severe cases can cause cardiac arrest. Also, two foods that can keep blood clotting medications from working are garlic and ginger. They can cause excessive bleeding as they both have high doses of blood thinning agents in them.
5. High cholesterol – Statin drugs (blood cholesterol lowering medications) include: Lipex, Mevacor, Zocor, Crestor, Vytorin or Lipitor, to include generics like simvastatin, lovastatin, or atorvastatin, etc.
Drug treatment purpose: Lower High Blood Cholesterol.
Known side effects and health risk: As of recent studies, the following health risks are possible; memory loss, diabetes and muscle pain. The food and drug administration has officially linked statin drugs with forgetfulness, confusion and increased blood sugar levels that would be of concern for diabetics. Liver injury is also possible and is rare.
Non-compatible foods: Some cholesterol medications can be affected by grape fruit juice or the fruit. It is the inhibiting properties of this fruit that keeps the intestine and/or liver from breaking down the drug and increases the risk that the drug will accumulate in the body and become toxic. It is the citrus that blocks the enzyme in the intestines and prevents the metabolism of these drugs. The active component in this fruit is not yet known. Check with your prescribing doctor about grapefruit products in the diet. There are some statin medications that are not influenced by this fruit. It is also true some immune drugs and allergy drugs like Allegra are affected by grapefruit.
Health risk when prescription and non-compatible foods are taken together: Grapefruit and its juice should be avoided when using heart medicines and a number of other prescriptive drugs for cardio and immunological health related problems. Be sure to consult with the prescribing physician with foods you should consume when on these medications.
Drug treatment purpose: The job of blood thinners is to thin the blood for patients that are high risk of heart attack, or developing blood clots.
Known side effects: Each medication listed can cause a combination of the following side effects; Nausea, irritated stomach, abdominal pain, diarrhea, headache, dizziness and indigestion. Coumadin and Heparin can cause serious bleeding inside the eye and intestine, or cause bruising, blood in the urine, nose bleeds. Other problems include kidney function, difficulty breathing and muscle aches.
Non-compatible foods: Since Vitamin K (thickens blood) is found abundantly in leafy greens, they can block the effects of the blood thinners. Leafy greens that can affect of blood thinners are Brussels sprouts, collard greens, spinach, cabbage, lettuce, alfalfa sprouts, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, parsley, kale, Swiss chard and Green tea. Other foods that may impact blood thinner medications include: cranberries, as well as the juice, garlic and ginger. They can actually increase the blood thinning properties of the blood thinners that could amplify their effect.
Health risk when prescription and non-compatible foods are taken together: Increased risk of stroke and heart attack.
7. Thyroid – Synthroid, Armour thyroid, Levoxyl, Cytomel, etc. Generic:Levothyroxin, thyroid desiccated, levothyroxine, liothyronine, etc.
Drug treatment purpose: Used to regulate the thyroid glands to normalize hormone functions throughout the body when they fail to produce enough thyroid hormone. Effective treatment can increase energy, mood disposition and body weight regulation. To include supports male and female characteristic traits.
Known side effects: Thyroid medications do not cause side effects if taken in the correct dose.
Non-compatible foods: Tofu, soymilk (soy products) and walnuts can prevent your body from absorbing the thyroid medication. It may not be necessary to give up these foods, but let your physician know about your dietary preferences. It is very possible your soy diet preference can be resolved with a modification of dose.
Health risk when prescription and non-compatible foods are taken together: Weight gain, obesity and other ill-health and disease complications.
References,
American Heart Association. Types of Blood Pressure Medications.
Ankrom, Sheryl. Dietary Precautions While Taking MAOIs. Former About.com Guide, updated June 17, 2009.
Club Red. Some Foods and Medications Just Don’t Mix. January 2012.
Drugs.com. Common Side Effects, Allergies and Reactions to Antibiotics.
Harris, Gardiner. Safety Alerts Cite Cholesterol Drugs Side Effects. The New York Times. February 28, 2012.
Helpguide.org. Anxiety Medication.
Rodgers, Linda. Foods and Medications that Don’t Mix. Grand Parents.com
Mayo Clinic Staff. Depression (major depression). Monomine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs).
NBCNews.com. Foods to Avoid When You’re Taking Meds. 26 October 2006.
Vega, Jose M.D., Ph.D. Side Effects of Coumadin, Plavix and Other Blood Thinners. About.com.
WebMD.com. Hypothryroidism.
Woodard, Marc. 41 Drugs to Die For. Mirror Athlete Fitness Secrets. 24 October 2010.
Woodard, Marc. Defeat Anxiety and Panic Attacks. Mirror Athlete Fitness Secrets. 24 November 2010.
Woodard, Marc. How to Deal with Depression. Mirror Athlete Fitness Secrets. 25 August 2008.
Woodard, Marc. The Thyroid is a Powerful Weight Regulating Gland. Mirror Athlete Fitness Secrets. 21 May 2012.
Author: Marc T. Woodard, MBA, BS Exercise Science, ARNG, CPT, RET. 2013-20 Copyright. All rights reserved, Mirror Athlete Inc., www.mirrorathlete.org, Sign up for your Free eNewsletter.
In order to understand how unhealthy Trans Fats are it is necessary to first define and relate to them and how this unhealthy fat got into our food in the first place. And why the FDA agrees it’s not fit for human consumption.
Hydrogenated Trans fats were invented in the 1890s. What took the FDA so long to put a ban on the hydrogenation of vegetable oils?And even with a ban does this keep Trans Fats out of our diet?
Much of the hydrogenated Trans Fat story has to do with low product cost and hyper palatable fat that addict consumers to purchase those products repeatedly. Which in turn generates huge profits for the food processing companies. These basic facts explain the longevity of Trans Fats in the marketplace.
The FDA ban of trans fats occurred after decades of studying the effects of it on human health.
“Although saturated fat is the main dietary culprit that raises LDL (Low Density LipoProtein), added Trans Fat and dietary cholesterol also contribute significantly to increased LDL’s [which represent unhealthy blood chemistry and related cause to cardiovascular disease]. Trans fat can often be found in processed foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils such as vegetable shortenings, some margarines (especially margarines that are harder), crackers, candies, cookies, snack foods, fried foods, and baked goods (FDA 2017).”
In the past consumers sought low cost, tasty and convenient processed foods and praised the hydrogenation process because of cost and exceptional flavor. But now the FDA agrees with consumer safety advocates – banning this fat completely over the next few years would be best for consumer health and health care industry.
To learn why the FDA is now taking action it is necessary to define Trans Fats, hydrogenation, poly hydrogenated oil and how this man made fat causes disease.
Adding more hydrogen to oil is simply the process of man infusing more hydrogen atoms (hydrogenation) to a vegetable oil(s) mono-poly unsaturated fatty carbon molecule chain. The vegetable oil than becomes a partial or fully hydrogenated (fat saturated) Trans Fat, i.e., Listed on food labels as Partial hydrogenated and/or Trans Fats are the same thing of varying atomic degree.
But not obvious to most consumers… through hydrogenation the oil becomes a more solid Trans hard fat that’s very unhealthy for us. That is vegetable oils are artificially hardened to achieve firm convenience soft spreads with long shelf life e.g., margarine, cooking oils and shortening.
To identify Trans Fats in food products, manufacturers list these values on ingredient labels. Note the words Partially Hydrogenated soybean Oil (PHO) on margarine and butter labels below. This is code for Trans Fats. You can find PHO listed as an ingredient in many snack, dessert foods, vegetable oils and even health supplemental products, etc. And when you see 0g Trans Fats on the label, food manufacturers are allowed up to .5grams Trans Fats per serving and can list this value as zero while simultaneously displaying PHO.
The good news for consumers as previously stated, the FDA now requires food manufactures to follow more stringent Trans Fat label laws. For instance if a food product has .5g Trans Fats or more, that value has to be listed on the label (FDA 2017).
This means all Trans Fats in foods must be identified. Even if the words Trans Fat equals 0 grams, the food product is allowed up to .499grams per serving when PHO is listed. Many don’t know Trans Fats are also in organic wholefoods. Ever wonder how they get into animal and vegetable products?
Live stock graze on vegetation which contain a certain amount of poly unsaturated oil in them. Through animal grazing PHO’s (Poly Unsaturated Oil) are digested and some of this oil is stored in saturated fat cells. Hence all products have varying amounts of naturally stored PHO or Trans Fats in them. Just like humans.
Unlike organic dietary fats, hydrogenated Trans fats are not essential to the diet and significantly increase health risk when consuming too many of them.
I know conscientious consumers remove animal fat before eating a steak, or ladle the fat from broth to reduce fat intake calories. This is easy to do because it is easily seen. However Tran’s fats blend into processed baked and convenience foods and can’t be seen or removed. This is why it’s important to understand where Trans Fats come from and how to identify them in the foods eaten daily. This knowledge becomes even more important if you now suffer from obesity, diabetes or heart disease.
Over consumption of fatty foods in general is bad. But far worse when too many deceptive Trans-fats are mixed into baked goods.
In the past hydrogenation of cooking oils was used excessively by food industries until it was determined Trans fats were worse for you than natural occurring organic fats. Early 2006, companies began removing the Trans fat hydrogenation processes from foods and labeling amounts of Trans Fats as required by the FDA. But as you now know “0” does not mean “0 Trans Fats and theres a connection to organic food PHO chemistry.
In 2015 the “U.S. Food and Drug Administration finalized its determination that partially hydrogenated oils (PHOs), the primary dietary source of artificial trans fat in processed foods, are not generally recognized as safe or GRAS for use in human food. Food manufacturers will have three years to remove PHOs from products (FDA 2015).”
Even though the FDA recently determined Trans Fats are not safe for humans the end to man-made Trans Fats won’t end until 2017-18… this will not ban all Trans Fats from all foods because of the natural occurring PHO found in livestock and plants. But food manufacturers will be required to continue listing Trans Fats, mono-poly and saturated fat values.
Is this a win for everyone? I guess it depends on individual and company perspective.
For the health conscious consumer and those suffering from obesity, diabetes and other related illness and disease these changes could be of great dietary health benefit. For those on fixed and low incomes it may cost more and limit choice of healthy foods in the marketplace. For a manufacturer it may increase the cost of doing business. Unfortunately his increase in cost is usually passed onto the consumer.
There will be winners and losers no matter how you look at this thing.
Reference
US Department of Health and Human Resources. FDA Food and Drug Administration (FDA 2015-2017).
Author: Marc T. Woodard, MBA, BS Exercise Science, USA Medical Services Officer, CPT, RET.2018 Copyright. All rights reserved, Mirror Athlete Publishing @: www.mirrorathlete.org, Sign up for your Free eNewsletter.
