Summit Total Health

Being Overweight is Expensive

A reason many people give for not eating healthy is simply the cost. A double cheeseburger from a fast food place just seems to be cheaper than buying the ingredients for a healthy meal. While this might seem true on a day to day basis it isn’t true in the long run. Cheeseburgers might be cheap when you buy them but they are expensive on your body and eventually this will come out of your wallet. Health problems like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke, diabetes, and heart conditions are very expensive to treat and the price keeps going up.

Eat Your Green Vegetables to Prevent Diabetes

Vitamin K has been known as the clotting vitamin for years. It causes the blood to clot in a wound so we don’t bleed continuously, which is extremely important. But in recent years, a new purpose for the vitamin has been found. In a three-year study at the Tufts University, it was found that men taking a high dose of Vitamin K had lower blood insulin levels. Insulin resistance, a precursor to diabetes, was slowed down by the supplement of Vitamin K.

Can the Swine Flu Be Prevented with Vitamin D?

In an effort to discover new ways to fight the swine flu, the Public Health Agency of Canada intends to test the blood of people contracting the ailment to check their vitamin D levels.

The agency is taking the unconventional action to try to find out whether those with mild cases of the flu have more of the sunshine vitamin circulating in their bodies than those who develop severe or even deadly reactions to the H1N1 virus.

The Keys to Losing Weight

Not so very long ago, in a place not so far away there was a study done by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The results were shocking. They found that 32% of American men are obese and 34 million American women are obese. An estimated 300,000 deaths a year in the U.S. are directly related to obesity. This is not good news.

Beans: A Dieter’s Best Friend

Did you know that a 1/4 pound of beans takes up more room in your stomach than a 1/4 pound of hamburger? But the fat content is much, much less. That is why beans can be such an important tool in weight loss. But beans don’t just fill you up they give you lots of things that your body needs.

The Fat Hormone

Imagine you have a warehouse inside your body, a fat warehouse. In this warehouse are workers who are in charge of storing the fat that comes in. Once all the fat is stored, they give a call to your brain telling it how much fat was stored and how you should change the way you eat to compensate. But you decide that instead of eating less fat you will eat the same amount or even more. So the next day the warehouse is filled with fat without any place to store it. So there is only one thing that can be done, expand the warehouse. The warehouse is expanded and extra workers are hired. This cycle goes on for some time until the brain has learned to completely ignore the worker’s calls for eating less. The result is a huge warehouse of fat that seems to be unquenchable. This condition is known of as leptin resistance. But the real problem is lack of moderation in the diet.

How is Your Gut Feeling?

A lot of people have gastrointestinal (GI) problems. Around 70 million people in the US alone suffer from some form of GI disorder. But the problem continues because people treat the symptoms rather than the root problem. For instance, antacids are bought by the millions to relieve the burning that the acid in the stomach causes. But what people forget is that this is just a symptom of a problem they’re not curing. Stomach acid is there to kill the bad bacteria getting in your stomach. It’s also necessary for breaking down the nutrients in the food you eat. Just stopping the acid doesn’t solve the problem, plus antacid taken over time is bad for your GI tract. The reason your digestive system isn’t working is because there is an imbalance. So what is the problem?

Your Skin Needs a Diet

We hear about lots of diets that help you lose weight, but what about your skin? Do acne and skin problems have anything to do with your diet?

In 2002, some dermatologists did some studies in New Guinea and Paraguay (non-Westernized populations) and found that there were no cases of acne. Since then it seemed very probable that acne could be caused by what we’re eating or not eating in the Western culture. What do New Guinea and Paraguay have in common? They are eating mostly plant-based diets which are un-processed and un-refined. A diet which is high in fiber and low in sugar.

Antibiotics: The Abused Drug

We have a culture addicted to drugs, over the counter drugs. At least half of all Americans take one prescription drug. One in six Americans are taking three or more medications (according to the Department of Health and Human Services). When patients go to a doctor they expect to get some sort of drug to solve their health problem. Some times this is necessary, but most of the time it is not. Drugs are abused. Antibiotics are one of those abused drugs.

The Importance of Senior Fitness

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), exercise and physical activity are some of the best things older adults can do to stay healthy. Even moderate exercise can improve the health of those who are frail or who have age-related diseases.

Some seniors are concerned that physical activity or exercise may be too strenuous or may do them more harm than good. In fact, it’s an inactive lifestyle that proves to do more harm than exercise does