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Child’s Health Suffers Because Of Fast Food Diet

Every once in a while, I get on my soapbox about children’s health and the terrible diet of most children nowdays.

As more and more people slip into a fast food diet, the children really suffer nutritionally. Actually, whether it is a child’s diet or your own
this article will apply.

Resources:

Stop Your Sugar Cravings & Food Cravings To Feel Good Again.

Most people eat 360 lb. of white sugar and white flour per year. All this adding up without them realizing it.

The problem is that the results of this kind of diet leads to many nutritional deficiencies. Then many major illnesses are caused by these nutritional deficiencies and imbalances – Diabetes, Fatigue, Fatty Liver, Allergies and even Cancer have this in common.

This is one reason why having Diabetes in children is on the rise.

Clinical Complications: How FAT Destroys The Body From the Inside Out

There is little mystery as to how a person accumulates excessive amounts of fat, and in many cases, it is controllable and preventable. Weight gain is a simple imbalance of caloric intake being higher than caloric expenditure (we eat too much and move too little). So what is wrong with being big? While the debate goes on as to whether or not obesity is an actual “disease” itself, there is no debate as to the implications on patients’ overall health.

The long list of health consequences associated with being obese is the result of two independent factors: 1) the increase in the mass of the adipose tissue or number of fat cells, or 2) the secretion of pathogenic products or metabolic effects from the enlargement of fat cells. The figure below highlights the various and numerous risks associated with obesity.

Problems linked to the increased mass of fat cells

Obstructive sleep apnea: the fat can literally choke you
The respiratory complications clinically linked to excess abdominal and upper body fat focus on sleep disorders. Air passageways and lungs become constricted by excess adipose tissue temporarily blocking the passage of air, making it difficult to breathe. Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is defined as episodes of cessation in breathing for at least 10 seconds during sleep.

Typically the symptoms are vague, such as fatigue, irritability, snoring, and morning headache. The lack of REM (rapid eye movement) sleep can lead to emotional and behavioral problems, including overeating which exacerbates the problem.

Complications due to OSA mostly lie within the cardiovascular system. When the bloodstream is deprived of oxygen (oxygen desaturation), patients will typical become hypertensive. This low-oxygen, high-blood-pressure state can bring on cardiac events, especially in cases where there is preexisting heart disease.

The first line of defense that physicians prescribe to these patients is lifestyle changes:

• Weight loss program to relieve constriction of the throat. Medical and surgical studies have shown that as little as a 10% decrease in weight is associated with a 50% reduction in sleep apnea severity. Even very moderate weight reduction in obese patients can lead to significant improvement in oxygenation and blood pressure.
• Avoid consuming alcohol, sleeping pills, and any medication that will promote the relaxation of the muscles in the back of the throat.
• Sleeping on your side or stomach to prevent the tongue and soft palate form resting against the back of the throat, blocking the airway.
• Use of saline nasal spray, decongestants, or antihistamines to keep nasal passages open at night.

Moderate to severe cases are addressed with non-surgical devices:

• Oral devices can be prescribed and work by bringing the jaw forward, helping keep the throat opening and prevent obstruction. These products are easy to use and can be purchased from dentists.
• Supplemental oxygen can also be supplied ruing sleep. Simply increasing the oxygen content in the blood can relieve many of the OSA symptoms.
• Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has patients wear a face mask that applies constant positive air pressure during sleep. These devices keep the upper air passages open, preventing snoring and apnea.
• Bilevel positive airway pressure (BiPAP) is similar to CPAP but increases pressure during inhalation and decreases during exhalation.

For extreme cases, a surgical procedure is the only sure fix:

• The Pillar Procedure by Restore Medical places polyester implants into the soft palate. These implants add support to and stiffen the soft palate, helping reduce obstruction in the upper airway.
• Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP) is a procedure that removes obstructive tissue from the rear of the mouth and back of the throat (tonsils and adenoids).
• The maxillomandibular advancement procedure brings the jaw forward, away form the face. The effect is similar to the oral device.

For Your Health – What is anemia

IT’S A COLD, dreary winter’s morning after the holidays, and it takes all your strength just to get out of bed, but it’s not just today— you’ve been feeling tired and run-down for more than a month. Unfortunately, fatigue is a nonspecific symptom that can occur for any number of reasons. One common cause is anemia. Here are a few things you should know about it.

What is anemia exactly, and how does it affect the body?

Anemia is a general term that refers to various conditions that affect red blood cells in a way that prevents the body from getting all the oxygen it needs, resulting in fatigue. This occurs any time there aren’t enough red blood cells with enough hemoglobin, a protein-based component of red blood cells that can properly hold on to oxygen. Symptoms of the common forms of anemia include tiredness, pale skin, trouble sleeping, dizziness, shortness of breath and fast heartbeat.

What are some common causes of the different types of anemia?

Red blood cells can be lost when a person has bleeding due to an undetected stomach ulcer, hemorrhoids, childbirth, heavy menstruation or some surgical procedures. One type of anemia is iron-deficiency anemia, where the body doesn’t have enough iron to make hemoglobin. The body also needs folic acid and vitamin B12 to make hemoglobin. Those who do not get enough meat or vegetables in their diet can sometimes be low in one or more of these three things.

If my doctor advises me to take iron supplements, what should I know about them?

The first thing to know is that iron is a metal and can be toxic at doses higher than recommended. Iron supplements come in different salt forms that each contain a different amount of elemental (actual) iron and are most easily taken orally as tablets. It is important that your doctor tell you how much elemental iron is being recommended so that when you go to the pharmacy counter your pharmacist can help you choose the right one for you.

Often, a doctor may recommend taking iron at a higher dose for three to six months to get the total body levels corrected, and then at a much lower regular dose or discontinued altogether based on blood-test results.

Iron supplements are absorbed into the body best on an empty stomach accompanied by some acidic juice, such as orange juice. Most stomach upset can be reduced by increasing the dose slowly to the prescribed dose and constipation can be managed by drinking plenty of water.

Where can I learn more?

In addition to whatever information your doctor, primary physican or pharmacist can provide, there are a number of valuable sources on the Internet. Two good ones are:
• National Anemia Action Council, www.anemia.org
• Keep Kids Healthy, www.keepkidshealthy.com

Recognizing the Overtraining Syndrome

The same internal drive that athletes demonstrate by training hard and performing well can also get them into trouble. By working too hard over a period of time, they risk an overtraining syndrome that can diminish their performance and make them sick.

Technically, overtraining is an imbalance between exercise and recovery in which the stress of a person’s training program exceeds the body’s limits. Although overtraining is often associated with elite athletes, the condition can affect serious exercisers in any sport. Overtraining is well documented among swimmers, runners, cyclists, gymnasts, weight lifters, tennis players, and team sports participants.

Leading exercise physiologists warn that the problem can be devastating. Many good athletes are destroyed in this country because they are never able to match their training load with their ability to adapt to those stresses. Keep in mind that overtraining for one athlete may be insufficient training for another.

There is no test to diagnose overtraining, but there are plenty of warning signs. The overriding symptom is a state of prolonged fatigue and underperformance, but overtraining signals can fall into the three areas listed below.

Psychological Symptoms

Fatigue
Apathy
Insomnia
Reduced concentration
Irritability
Depression
Physiological Symptoms

Elevated morning resting pulse rate
Increase in injuries
Chronic muscle soreness
Weight loss
Frequent minor infections
Loss of appetite
Performance Symptoms

Decreased performance
Delayed recovery from training
Intolerance to training

Prevention and treatment of overtraining falls into the “less is more” category. Study found that over a four year period, swimmers who trained every day for three hours improved their times by exactly the same amount as those who swam half the time and half the distance. Double training sessions prepare you for more double training sessions, not for the specific adaptations needed for your event. Many coaches require that their athletes take at least one day off a week.

For those diagnosed with the overtraining syndrome, a gradual approach to recovery works best. Five weeks of rest have been shown to improve both performance and mood, but there is a growing body of evidence indicating that low levels of exercise during that period will speed the recovery process. Total recovery can take 6-12 weeks and should involve proper nutrition, removing as much stress as possible, and active rest.

Don’t make the mistake of returning to normal training levels too soon. Consider cross training (playing another sport) to avoid the temptation of increasing workout intensities before you’re ready.

Dangerous Dieting: Fad Diets

Have you tried to lose weight cutting carbohydrates, protein or fat? With America in the throes of an obesity crisis, the diet industry has taken off. But fad diets can hurt your health.

If you’re like most women, you’ve tried at least one of the fad diets to hit the market. Two years ago Mariana Morris went on a high protein diet. “It was a thing that would make you lose all the weight you wanted in one week, and I was in a hurry,” she says.

She lost weight, but that’s not all. “I looked at my hand and the ring that’s usually very big on me was so tight it was almost cutting into my skin.” Morris’s kidneys were being taxed from eating too much protein, causing her body to store water. Many fad diets rob the body of the nutrients it needs and can cause kidney stones, osteoperosis, low blood sugar, heart disease and muscle loss.

Dietician Helen Battisti says eating is actually the body’s best defense against weight gain. “If you find you’re an individual who gets up in the morning and goes all day without eating — trying to either curb your calories for the day, or just so busy that you forget to eat — then you’re pretty much guaranteed that come night time you’re going to start eating and not be able to finish. That’s not the time to fuel your body.”

That’s why diets that starve the body are dangerous. The Atkins Diet calls for serious restriction of carbohydrates, which Battisti says can cause kidney problems and fatigue. She says The Zone Diet is low in carbohydrates as well, robbing your body of fiber, vitamins and minerals. Battisti says The Three-Day Diet, which restricts calorie intake to 1,000 for 72 hours, tends to just loose water — it’s not a long term solution.

Morris says, “I will not try another fad diet that focuses on just one food group. There obviously is something unnatural about it.” Medication fixed Mariana’s kidney problem, and now she knows quick fixes don’t work. A balanced diet and exercise do.

A quick fix diet is just that; 95 percent of dieters regain the weight they’ve lost. Some healthy weight loss tips from Battisti are to stay active, eat breakfast, and never take diet pills, even ones sold over the counter. Never eliminate entire food groups from your diet, unless you have an allergy.