by Anisha Shukla | Feb 5, 2020 | Articles
A cannabis plant contains 400 chemical compounds and there are 70-120 chemicals and 21 carbons that have many medicinal properties. The plant is a rich source of compounds that can benefit patients in different ways. A lot of research in cannabis has been studied over the years in animals. This page is for educational purposes only. Please check the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s website on Marijuana as Medicine.
by Anisha Shukla | Dec 28, 2019 | Articles
The following information is for education purposes only. If you fall in the high or low BMI or WC range, please contact your physician to discuss your concerns. The medical provider is the right person to advise you on the next steps. Awareness is the key to the healthy body.
Body mass index (BMI) is an approximate measure of your best weight for health. It is calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared (m2).
BMI is intended for adults only, as children and adolescents are constantly growing. This makes it difficult to have set values for BMI cut-offs for young people. However, in adults who have stopped growing, an increase in BMI is usually caused by an increase in body fat. You can calculate your BMI using the CDC Adult BMI calculator here.
Your BMI will classify you as ‘underweight’, ‘healthy weight’, ‘overweight’ or ‘obese’, as defined by the World Health Organization. If your BMI is:
- under 18.5kg/m2 – you are considered underweight and possibly malnourished
- 18.5 to 24.9kg/m2 – you are within a healthy weight range for young and middle-aged adults
- 25.0 to 29.9kg/m2 – you are considered overweight
- over 30kg/m2 – you are considered obese.
Risks of being overweight (high BMI) and physically inactive
If you are overweight (with a BMI over 25kg/m2) and physically inactive, you may develop:
- cardiovascular (heart and blood circulation) disease
- gallbladder disease
- high blood pressure (hypertension)
- type 2 diabetes
- osteoarthritis
- certain types of cancer, such as colon and breast cancer
- depression and other mental health disorders.
Risks of being underweight (low BMI)
If you are underweight (BMI less than 18.5kg/m2), you may be malnourished and develop:
- compromised immune function
- respiratory disease
- digestive diseases
- cancer
- osteoporosis.
Imp: BMI calculations will overestimate the amount of body fat for:
- body builders
- some high-performance athletes
- pregnant women.
IMP: BMI calculations will underestimate the amount of body fat for:
- the elderly
- people with a physical disability, who are unable to walk and may have muscle wasting.
BMI is also not an accurate indicator for people with:
- eating disorders like anorexia nervosa
- extreme obesity.
Waist circumference is a better indicator of increased disease risk
Waist circumference can be used to indicate health risk for chronic diseases.
For men:
- 94 cm or more – increased risk
- 102 cm or more – substantially increased risk.
For women:
- 80 cm or more – increased risk
- 88 cm or more – substantially increased risk.
Although the tendency to deposit fat around the middle is influenced by a person’s genes, you can still take this genetic tendency into account and do something about it.
Being physically active, avoiding smoking, and eating unsaturated fat instead of saturated fat have been shown to decrease the risk of developing abdominal obesity.
Source: Better Health
by Anisha Shukla | Dec 28, 2019 | Cooking Tips
Are you hosting an event? Do some of your guests have special dietary restrictions? No worries, here are a list of some special diets to help you prepare the menu.
These are the special diets some event guests may follow because of personal and moral beliefs, or for health reasons.
1. Vegetarian:
A primarily plant-based diet. Vegetarians don’t eat meat, seafood (fish) or poultry (chicken), but may eat food eggs, dairy, or honey. Vegetarian varieties include those who eat eggs and dairy, although some may not eat eggs but eat dairy.
- Char-grilled Brussel sprouts. roasted vegetables with lemon zest, olive oil
- Portabella mushroom street tacos
- pasta with vegetables and marinara sauce
- bruschetta, perogies, cheese platter,
- avocado eggrolls, tofu with noodles, quesadillas, pizza
2. Vegan
A completely plant-based diet. Vegans don’t eat any meat, seafood, poultry, or eggs, dairy, and gelatin. Honey consumption is controversial among vegans.
- Tomato, red onion salad with balsamic vinaigrette grilled tofu and vegetable stir-fry, burrito
- Roasted Cauliflower, fruits with non-dairy cream, vegan cookies, soy ice-cream
3. Pescetarian
A mostly vegetarian diet that includes seafood.
- Blackened salmon with scalloped zucchini
- Eggplant rollatini
- Wild mushroom risotto
4. Keto
A low-carbohydrate, high-fat diet meant to cause ketosis, in which the body burns fat instead of sugar for energy. People on keto diets eat nuts, avocados, tofu, lean and high-fat proteins, as well as saturated fats, such as butter and coconut oil. Carbohydrates are kept between 20 and 50 grams per day.
- Shrimp scampi
- BBQ baby back ribs, veggie burgers
- Pancetta frittata with fanned avocado slices, greek yogurt with fruit
5. Paleo
Based on the diet of our Paleolithic, hunter-gatherer ancestors, the paleo diet consists primarily of lean meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds. Dairy, beans, and grains—all of which became widespread with the advent of farming—are off the menu for paleo guests.
- Filet mignon and sauteed spinach
- Vegetable-stuffed roasted chicken breast
- Pulled pork with butter lettuce wraps
6. Raw food
Mostly uncooked, unprocessed foods free from additives. Because the foods are uncooked and unprocessed, the raw food diet is typically plant-based.
- Salad with lime-avocado dressing
- Zucchini / Squash noodle pasta salad
- Cauliflower ‘non-fried’ rice
7. Clean eating
Fresh, minimally processed foods prepared without additives. May include cooked meats that are not processed—roasted chicken, yes; salami, no.
- Arugula, beet, goat cheese, and walnut salad
- Shrimp tacos with pickled red onions
- Roasted herb-crusted chicken breast
8. DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension)
This is a diet designed to lower blood pressure, with a focus on low-sodium foods and foods that contain calcium, magnesium, and calcium.
- Low-sodium spicy seared swordfish
- Low-sodium Tuscan bean soup
- Bananas foster
9. The Mediterranean –
The traditional diet of the Mediterranean region, with healthy oils and seafood, and a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.
- Grape leaves, spanakopita, kabob, falafel, tabouli, eggplant, hummus, tahini, baklava, Greek yogurt, feta cheese, olive oil
Source: Social Tables
by functionalmedicine | Dec 13, 2019 | Recipes
This post comes from Nutritional Twins.com
If you’re like our friends and our clients, you’re wondering if cutting out lectins from your diet will help you with weight loss and make you healthier, or if it’s just another fad diet. If you’re thinking about trying it, here’s the scoop, including what foods to eat on a lectin-free diet as well as which foods are highest in lectins.
What exactly is the lectin free diet? And what is the thinking behind cutting out foods with lectins?
If you’ve been looking for a healthy and satisfying homemade protein bar that’s easy to make, packed with wholesome, anti-inflammatory ingredients and fiber and –that you can grab for a sweet tasting snack on-the-go, these No-Bake Chocolate Protein Bars are about to be your new bestie. We’re pretty psyched about these–they turned out really well and were so easy to make and kind of taste like a hot chocolate flavored Rx bar (the texture reminds us of Rx bars a little, dare we say a tastier, less expensive Copy Cat RX bar! 😉 ). We love that the ingredients are super simple (vegan & gluten-free too!), and the method is too — basically just mix and press into a pan! Not bad for a protein-packed, fiber-filled protein bar that you can make part of your everyday healthy snack routine.
We wanted to make sure that our delicious and healthy homemade snack bar creation was a far cry from our early day protein bar experiences (and from many of the bars on the market), which we falsely believed were healthy on-the-go fuel. When we were in high school we relied on our daily snack routine (an apple and peanut butter) to boost our energy and tide us over between school soccer practice and club team practice. The idea of a bar that we could grab on the go and that was purported to fuel workouts and to help muscles to repair with protein—and that tasted like a candy bar (score for our sweet tooth!) had us sold! The only issue… the “healthy snack” was the nutritional equivalent of a candy bar –full of artery-clogging saturated fat, sugar and not too much else.
Find out more about this recipe
by functionalmedicine | Dec 13, 2019 | Articles
This post comes from Nutritional Twins.com
If you’re like our friends and our clients, you’re wondering if cutting out lectins from your diet will help you with weight loss and make you healthier, or if it’s just another fad diet. If you’re thinking about trying it, here’s the scoop, including what foods to eat on a lectin-free diet as well as which foods are highest in lectins.
What exactly is the lectin free diet? And what is the thinking behind cutting out foods with lectins?
Lectins are a type of protein that exist in most plants and in dairy foods. In plants, lectins protect the plant as they grow from bugs and insects. Lectins are highest in foods like nightshade vegetables (bell peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, cayenne and chili pepper), legumes, grains, nuts and dairy products. The goal of the lectin-free diet is to cut back or completely eliminate lectins from your diet. Lectins have both good and bad properties when it comes to health, and although the lectin-free diet is controversial and more research is needed, the diet is super trendy and that’s why everyone has been asking us about it. It was developed by a cardiologist named Steven Gundry who feels that cutting back on lectins and taking the supplements that he sells will improve health and help with weight loss.
Find out more about this recipe
