YourDoctorsOrders.com – 100 Calorie packs are still FAT! from TweetMeTV on Vimeo.

The 100 calorie snack food has come in just about everything from Oreo’s to Rice Krispie treats. These appear to be a great alternative for those who want a little something, but not over indulge.

There is a central problem with these foods. If you are trying to lose weight, then you want to have foods that will be used as fuel and not stored as fat. With highly processed foods- like these snack treats -they are quickly stored as fat – and not used by the body as fuel.

This has to do with something called the Glycemic Index. The Glycemic Index is a measure of how fast a particular item raises blood sugar. The faster a food raises blood sugar the more likely it will be stored as fat, and not used as fuel.

Take an apple– it will slowly digest, with a minimal rise in blood sugar. This allows the body to use the apple as fuel over time, instead of getting a BURST of sugar in the bloodstream. The apple has fiber – or bulk – which means it will suppress the appetite for a longer period of time.

When you eat something like an Oreo- even if it is a few with 100 calories- the blood sugar will rapidly rise. The pancreas produces insulin to move the sugar into the fat cells. If the pancreas over produces insulin, it can cause the blood sugar to drop. And if your blood sugar drops, it doesn’t feel well — so the next thing to make you feel better— another cookie. There is a reason it is called “junk food junkie.”

So instead of those highly processed 100 calorie snacks– look to something that is just as portable, but doesn’t cause that rapid rise in blood sugar– think of a fruit– like an apple. Your body is more likely to use it as fuel, and it will keep your appetite satisfied much longer than a cookie or other treat.

If you want to lose weight– start by changing from highly processed foods and moving snacks to fruits and vegetables.

Three amigos - Diego, Ernie, and Bert

There is no doubt that I love dogs – and think that they are a wonderful addition to families – and in my case, the office.

I have always enjoyed the company of dogs– and my house has three doggie doors. My last dog I took to the office daily, and my patients loved the little guy.

There have been plenty of articles written about the value of having a pet. But let me give a few simple tips:

If you have a dog– walk them. It does not matter if you have a big back yard, or if you have a dog door– the dogs need to be walked – -a lot. The larger the dog, the more exercise they need.

So, I am ready for a dog in my life again – -but to honor the dogs I have had recently – I am showing photos. I miss my guys – and have missed walking with you. Two of them – Bert and Ernie- died after 16 years of great service. Diego is gone after five. But love them all, and am looking forward to the next member of my family – who will also get to greet patients in my office, and will become a therapy dog for our patients in the hospital.

For those of you who don’t like dogs, I am sorry – sometimes I can’t help myself here.

YourDoctorsOrders.com – the Juice and what it’s full of! from TweetMeTV on Vimeo.

Today in the supermarket there is a wide variety of juices available. Great combinations of just about any juice you could imagine. And, if you wanted even fresher juices, there are machines that will do it for you. One of my favorite devices is a juice press that I use for making fresh squeezed orange juice from the trees in my back yard.

But what about using juices for weight loss? For weight loss you want to have a lot of volume in your stomach of bulky high fiber items that are low in calories. For that, vegetables and fruits work well. But if you juice those fruits and vegetables, then the stomach doesn’t register the bulk with the brain.

Everytime you eat something, especially something with bulk – the brain registers that sensation through a complex nerve network that begins in the top of the stomach. As bulky food goes through this area, your brain gets the sensation and when it reaches a certain amount it will hold off on sending out those hormones cause you to be hungry.

For example, if you eat a cup of broccoli you will have a lot of bulky foods, but only 12 calories! Your brain will sense that you have eaten a lot and as a result you will not feel hungry for hours. But if you juice all that broccoli you will drink about a cup of juice, and in two hours you will start to feel hungry again.

So while juicing allows you to concentrate a lot of good vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients, the juice doesn’t provide the bulk that the stomach needs to keep you from being hungry.

The other caution with juicing is this: don’t store the juice too long, and be sure to keep your juicer clean. There are a lot of bacteria that grow in juices – like salmonella and E. Coli, that can cause severe food poisoning. So, keep your juicer clean — and if you store the juice, be sure to drink it within a day or two — and keep it refrigerated.

So if you want weight loss– eat the vegetables and the fruits– they have plenty of bulk to keep you from being hungry – and provide a lot of nutrients for your body.

YourDoctorsOrders.com – Salads are the Enemy! from TweetMeTV on Vimeo.

If you ever look over the calorie counts of the salads in most restaurants you might be astonished at how many calories they contain.  The Apple-Walnut-Chicken salad at Appleebee’s is 1160 calories. The Chicken Club salad from Arby’s is 810 calories. The Caesar salad with chicken at Chili’s is 1010 calories.  Compare that with a quarter pound burger from McDonald’s that is 410 calories and you can see how many people get fooled into ordering a tasty salad that contains a lot of calories, and a lot of fat.

The nutritional value of lettuce is low– in fact, almost nothing. The bulk and fiber value of lettuce is also low.

What is the problem – usually the dressings in salads are the problem- many salad dressings containing over 100 calories per tablespoon- and few people ever use a single tablespoon of dressing in their salad. Even the low fat dressings contain a lot of calories.

We see this with our weight loss surgery patients– they eat a lot of salads, and once they give up their salads and instead enjoy more cooked vegetables- they begin to lose weight.

So if you are serious about weight loss- increase your vegetables- give up the salads.  Salads may be the enemy

YourDoctorsOrders.com – Raw vs. Cooked Veggies from McMedia ProducerGirl on Vimeo.

You cannot protect yourself against the way the food was prepared. If you are preparing the food there are a few tips for you:

(a) Do not cross contaminate your foods. If you use a knife or a cutting board for raw meats or  chicken, or vegetables- wash it completely before you use it again. Do not put cooked meat back on the cutting board you used when it was raw.

(b) Wash your hands after you handle raw meat, or raw chicken (or other poultry like turkey, duck, or geese). Consider the raw meats to be contaminated with bacteria- and you must wash countertops, utensils, and all surfaces those foods touch or they will contaminate other foods. The bacteria on those meats, poultries, and fish can be deadly. So wash carefully after you handle them. Do not forget to wipe down the handles of the sinks after you have washed your hands.

(c) Wash produce in running water. Get rid of the dirt, and throw out the outer layers of the food. Once you have washed the outside of the fruits and vegetables- then place them on a clean cutting board and use a clean knife to cut them.  Consider the outside of all fruits and vegetables to be contaminated with bacteria.

(c) Cook your meats completely. Egg yolks should be firm, not runny- as they can harbor  bacteria. Ground beef should be cooked to an internal temperature of 160 degrees.

When cooking- the ability to be careful with preparing foods is essential.  It is impossible to  know how foods are prepared from someone else’s kitchen.

Here are a few things to watch out for:

Unpasteurized juices. Pasteurization (after the famous French scientist) heats the juice to kill bacteria. Some health food stores will try to say that there are more vitamins in the non-pasteurized form of the juice — but there are also bacteria.  In fact, it was a large outbreak of E.coli from these juices that led to the recommendation that pregnant women should avoid unpasteurized juices altogether.

Salads

Salads are the enemy in most holiday buffets. There is no good way to protect yourself if you choose to eat salads.  Many of the latest food borne illness have come from salads– spinach, tomatoes, peppers, or lettuce. Often the salads are coming in a ready/ pre-mix bag – so there is no easy or practical way to wash them. Home grown are always the best – but if you are going out- think of the salad bar or the vegetable table as a place to avoid – unless they are cooked.

Fruits and Vegetables

Most of the recent outbreaks of food borne illness have occurred with fruits and vegetables that were washed in unsanitary conditions.  Sprouts are a particular concern. Eating fruits and vegetables raw can lead to food poisoning. While many people think that eating raw fruits and vegetables has more vitamins and minerals– just the opposite is true.  For humans, cooking the fruits and vegetables allows the human body to get at the vitamins and minerals. Raw has less bio-available vitamins and minerals than cooked– and cooked is safer.

Raw Meats:

Undercooked meats can harbor bacteria. Hamburger cooked to less than 160 degrees (brown center) can harbor E. coli, or other bacteria. The same with almost any meat or poultry.

Restaurants have periodic inspections – so check out the health food score of your favorite places to eat. Often these are published on the internet- if not, ask the local health department for their latest scores. Simple hygiene at restaurants can prevent many problems.

The Future:

Pasteurization of milk dramatically decreased the problems of food borne illness in milk and new methods are on the horizon. In shell pasteurization of eggs, and irradiation of meat will diminish food borne illness. There is still no substitute for good hygiene and no substitution for cooking.

Thinking of skipping meals? Think Again! from McMedia ProducerGirl on Vimeo.

The habit of eating all the calories at one meal. Many people do this for the sake of simplicity in life. They will eat nothing for breakfast, have minimal for lunch, then have several thousand calories for supper.

When the body is given excess calories – it stores them. Storage is done in fat– and getting energy out of fat is – well, difficult.

For most of the day your body is in a “starvation” mode — and thus you are telling your brain that you need to preserve your fat stores because of the famine. Then you flood your body with food– and the body says– hey — we got food, lets store it.

You have two bad problems– your body wants to store fat, and you set your body up to store fat.

Instead, split your calories up in two or three meals. Do not make dinner (supper) your main calorie meal– but just another meal. This is different than a lot of people– but if you watch skinny people you will see that dinner isn’t a big meal for them.

Some have advocated six small meals a day– but this often results in eating far too many calories – and encourages grazing.

You want to stimulate your brain – so that it sees bulk in your stomach a couple of times a day. Bulk is fiber- such as vegetables (remember one cup of broccoli is 12 calories).

If you eat two to three meals a day– or two meals and a snack- your body will think it is in a “time of plenty.” It will make it easier for you to utilize your fat stores for energy. This is a hormonal process that is regulated from the hypothalamus (a part of your brain). If your body thinks you are starving it makes it much harder to utilize your fat stores– trying to save your life.

So, quickest way to lose weight – eat two to three meals a day- and divide your calories up evenly. Avoid the highly processed foods, like potatoes, corn, breads, pastas. Have a lot of vegetables –
and have a good Thanksgiving!

When Olympic athletes need to get extra calories– they graze — they eat continually for hours– and in that time they are able to get in thousands of calories. While that might be ok if you are going to swim 300 laps at a time- most of us don’t do that. The point is- the constant grazing of holiday food is the source of many of calories we don’t need.

Start with a plan this holiday season – plan your snacks.  First plan where you eat them:

Do not eat in front of the television.

Do not eat in front of the computer

When you get a snack- put it on a plate- sit down at the table, and eat it. This avoids the random grazing.

Plan what you are going to eat

If you are going to want something sweet- combine it with something substantial. This avoids the rapid rise in glucose- followed by the rapid fall in glucose– that leaves you hungry again – wanting another bit of sweetness.

Plan when you are going to eat

Think of your body as needing fuel, and if you put in excess fuel it will store it as fat. So plan the times you will have your snack. This also means do not have huge meals between.

Lunch at noon is light- have a light snack later – about four hours later- have a small dinner.

Eat smart. Don’t graze. Plan your meals. Plan where you eat. Set your holiday up for success