Weight loss and Weight Chat Blog

Two major pieces of news for people afflicted by fibromyalgia have appeared in the past few weeks; namely, the FDA approval of Savella (milnacipran), the third drug to receive federal backing for fibromyalgia, and the publication of a major meta-analysis in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which confirmed that antidepressant medications (including Savella) can improve pain, depression, fatigue, sleep disturbances, and quality of life. Of note, however, is that the JAMA report also concluded that older medications, called tricyclic antidepressants, are most effective for treating fibromyalgia, even though they are not FDA approved for such use. It is often the case that older and now generic medications, such as the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline, can be effective but lack pharmaceutical company sponsors willing to spend the time and money necessary to obtain FDA approval. Physicians are free to prescribe medications, regardless of FDA approval status, as they […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

I’ve long held that most bottled water is a scam either because it’s simply way overpriced or because it’s falsely and/or misleadingly advertised as being good for you thanks to some added ingredient gimmick its marketers came up with. In fact, I previously wrote Water: A scambuster report, which deals with the issues of cost, the amount of water you need to drink each day, and safety (as in which is safer, tap or bottled water?). So it came as no surprise to me, and with a resounding “here, here” when I learned that the Center for Science in the Public Interest  (CSPI) had sued the Coca-Cola company for “deceptive and unsubstantiated claims” on its vitaminwater line of beverages.  The vitaminwater products are made by a company Coke owns called “glacéau,” which, according to the Coca Cola website is never capitalized, even at the beginning of a sentence (and neither […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

A friend of mine recently asked what I thought of Evercleanse, the colon cleansing product-du-jour that’s being aggressively marketed to help you: “Lose the Waste. Lose the Weight.” I told him that all colon cleansing products are basically the same; namely, scams. The reason is that colon cleansing is wholly unnecessary and a complete waste of time, money and effort. Regardless of marketing hype, regardless of ingredients, regardless of method, regardless of testimonials, colon cleansing is quite purely and simply medical quackery. The one exception to this is when it’s prescribed medically as in preparation for an examination such as colonoscopy.
It is quite amazing how many websites there are devoted to colon cleansing and how many such products are being offered for sale. As a long-time opponent of the Master Cleanse regimen I’m somewhat familiar with this marketplace, but even I was surprised by the sheer number of different products, […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

According to the American Optometric Association, even if you have perfect vision it’s still a good idea to have your eyes examined every two years if you’re under 60 and annually if you’re over. That’s because there are a number of diseases without symptoms, which can be identified during an eye exam. And at least one of these, which can cause blindness, can only be found by an eye doctor. In this regard, I’m talking about an optometrist. Unless you’ve got some eye-related medical symptoms there’s no need to see an ophthalmologist (a medical doctor specializing in diseases of the eye) for a routine eye exam.
The most important eye disorder that can only be identified by an eye doctor is glaucoma. Even if your regular physician looks in your eyes with an ophthalmoscope, he or she won’t be able to tell if you have glaucoma unless it’s far advanced. […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

It’s the first full week of January and for many people that means starting a new diet. And for many of them the next week, the second week of January, will be when they “blow” their diet and go back to square one (and if not that week, shortly thereafter). That’s why the Healthy Weight Network sponsors Healthy Weight Week during the third week in January, which this year is January 18-24. The Network was started by Francis M. “Francie” Berg, MS, a licensed nutritionist, family wellness specialist and adjunct professor at the University of North Dakota some 16 years ago and they’ve been sponsoring this annual event ever since.
According to their website, Healthy Weight Week “is a time to celebrate healthy living habits that last a lifetime and prevent eating and weight problems, rather than intensifying them, as diets do. Healthy Weight Week promotes […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

New research has found that gardening is an effective way to exercise. Researchers at Kansas State University determined that gardening is a form of “moderate intensity” exercise that can easily contribute to the exercise recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which advises at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity on most days of the week in order to maintain and improve optimal health. This recommendation is especially important for older Americans, who can be less likely to fulfill this requirement, yet are more at risk for chronic diseases associated with aging. Moderate intensity exercise is physical activity that causes an increase in breathing or heart rate and is typified by such things as walking, cycling, swimming or even dancing.
It is well-known that older adults often tend toward a sedentary lifestyle, and that this is one of the factors leading to a decline in […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

On New Year’s Eve many people party like there’s no tomorrow, and when New Year’s Day rolls in they often wish it hadn’t. Head pounding, cotton-mouthed, nauseated, sensitive to light and sound, they are suffering from the classic, but poorly understood, syndrome called hangover. Neither the cause nor the treatment of hangover is fully known. Some people suffer the ill effects of alcohol after only one or two drinks while others can drink like a fish without incident. And so-called hangover cures abound. Just ask anyone you know, everyone’s got their favorite (that they no doubt heard from someone else like in a game of telephone where the original message gets distorted the more times it’s repeated - but in this case even the initial recommendation is something someone made up in the distant past). Truth be told, no hangover treatment has ever been […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

It’s been a wild and wooly holiday season in the greater Seattle area this year with temperatures below freezing and lots of snow on the ground - both distinctly unusual phenomena in this neck of the woods. The roads have often been impassable and there’ve been widespread power outages, which have caused us to spend a lot of time at home, hunkered down by the fire and the Christmas tree. This in turn led me to recall a piece I wrote a year ago about Christmas trees and allergies, which I thought I’d reprise for today, December 25.
Both real and artificial Christmas trees can cause problems for some people with allergies. It’s not known how many people suffer from Christmas tree-related allergies. But if you find yourself with a runny nose, itchy eyes or maybe even increased asthma symptoms around the holidays, it may be due to allergies […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

Tis the season to be jolly, but not everyone feels that way. For some, the onset of winter, with its short days, brings on symptoms of depression. In fact, however, by the time winter officially begins on December 21 the days have already been getting progressively shorter and shorter for months culminating in the solstice, the shortest day of the year. So although it’s often referred to as winter blues, seasonal depression actually has a fall onset that coincides with the beginning of the inexorable loss of daylight that occurs in northern latitudes between November and February.
For some people, symptoms of depression predictably recur every year when the days grow short in fall and winter and the definition of seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is just that; namely, recurring depression with a seasonal onset and remission. While it has this unique pattern of occurrence, SAD is […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com

I’ve been so busy getting ready for the holidays that I missed National Hand Washing Awareness Week, which was December 7-13. No matter. Hand washing, as we say here in the Pacific Northwest, is an evergreen topic that doesn’t go out of season. And with cold and flu season hard upon us, reminders, and even extra reminders, on hand washing are especially appropriate. Hand washing is simple to do and is the best way to prevent infection and its spread because your hands are constantly coming into contact with germ-laden surfaces and transferring those germs to your eyes, nose and mouth. According to the Centers for Disease Control, here’s when to wash your hands:

Before preparing or eating food
After going to the bathroom
After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has gone to the bathroom
Before and after tending to someone who is sick
After blowing your […]

Original post by natalieb and weightlossopinions.com