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Category: Nutrition And Fitness

health benefits of apple cider vinegar | weight loss los angeles
5Feb

Does drinking apple cider vinegar or taking supplements that contain it help with weight loss? 

Do you know someone who swears by apple cider vinegar (ACV), for suppressing their appetite when they’re on a diet? What about you? Have you ever given it a try? 

If you have tried it as a diet aid, you would certainly not be alone. The popularity of using ACV for weight loss rises and falls but never seems to go away. This is true, whether talking about its traditional liquid form or one of the newer supplements, like the gummies that are currently being advertised on TV. 

What Exactly Is Apple Cider Vinegar?

 

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Apple cider vinegar is apple juice that has been fermented by adding yeast. It then converts the sugar in the fruit into alcohol. Bacteria then interact with the alcohol to form acetic acid. This is where we get the unique sourness and pungent odor associated with vinegar. 

The U.S. does not specify what constitutes ACV, so, depending upon the process and the manufacturer. Thus, it can be difficult to know the exact makeup and amounts of components contained in commercial products. That said, most from reputable sources will contain some amount of pectin, which is fiber from the apples, and may have various vitamins and minerals added.

What Are the Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar?

Other than having the power to spice up a salad dressing, what is ACV used for? It would seem that there are quite a few ways that people make use of it and have been for a very long time.

For thousands of years, many different cultures have believed that apple cider vinegar possessed a variety of healing properties. Therefore, it has been used as an antibiotic, detoxifier, strength enhancer and to treat scurvy. The ancient Greeks thought it beneficial for aiding in the treatment of wounds. Lastly, even Hippocrates, known as “the father of modern medicine”, was said to have used it, as well as honey, to treat a wide range of ailments. 

Today, the list of applications for ACV is long. From topical uses for sunburn, mosquito bites, acne and dandruff to serious conditions like osteoarthritis, diabetes and even cancer. There are those who believe that it is an effective treatment. It should be noted, especially with serious issues like diabetes and cancer, almost all evidence is anecdotal: very little science-based research has been done. 

Apple Cider Vinegar and Weight Loss

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The one area where you most hear about apple cider vinegar is weight loss. Once again, the research on this is negligible. That said, from the research that has been done it is believed that there is a possibility that it may help stabilize blood sugar levels. This would be significant because it’s those fluctuations that so often lead to sugary snack cravings. 

There are also those who feel that ACV may cause you to want to eat less. What isn’t understood, however, is whether this is due to any intrinsic appetite suppressing quality. Conversely, is this just because the taste of the vinegar turns you against wanting any sort of food for the rest of the day? The latter would likely not be a viable long-term solution for weight control.

Conclusion

So, what’s the verdict on apple cider vinegar? Lack of research does not mean that it doesn’t have potential, and, for the most part, as long as used properly and in moderation, it is likely to do no harm. As for whether it is some sort of miracle cure or if it will actually help you lose weight, the verdict is still out. 

For now, the best way to take care of your health, including finding a weight loss program that works for you, is to find an experienced healthcare professional that you trust. 

The Southern California Center for Anti-Aging in Torrance, CA focuses on the practice of advanced, preventive and regenerative medicine. Serving all of Los Angeles county, we strongly believe correcting imbalances and deficiencies in nutrition. Further more, we believe that along with improving fitness and balancing and restoring hormones with Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, can help with creating the foundation for a healthier and happier life. To learn more about our holistic approach or if you have questions about any of our services, take advantage of our Free Consultation by clicking here to use our convenient online form.  

health benefits of apple cider vinegar

eating as an emotional coping aid los angeles
5Aug

How worried should we be about the extra pounds we’re putting on while stuck at home? 

With the effects of the pandemic stretching on far longer than most people had any idea that it would, a lot of us have begun to worry about the extra pounds that we are putting on. It was kind of fun to joke about a common experience in the beginning. Some were playfully calling it the COVID-5 or referring to COVID curves, but, as the months have gone by, COVID-15 doesn’t seem quite as amusing. 

Should we be worried? Have we stepped out on a slippery slope that there may be no getting off of? How important is it to try and stick to healthier food choices or even dive into a full-fledged weight loss regimen?

First of all, give yourself a break. This is not a situation in which any of us have the benefit of training or experience. Whatever your life was like before, it’s very different now. And not just for you. For everyone. Stress levels are off the charts. People are afraid. And isolated. No one really knows what to do or how long this is going to last. 

eating as an emotional coping aid los angeles

 

Eating As An Emotional Coping Aid in Los Angeles during Covid-19

Is a little emotional eating such a terrible way to cope? No, but…

Science tells us that when anxiety and stress levels go up, so does the production of the hormone cortisol, which has the effect of increasing our appetite. This has us reaching for cake, cookies, bread and other high sugar or high carb foods. Not just because they are our go-to comfort foods, but because they trigger the release of dopamine, which makes us feel better, at least temporarily. 

In normal times, if this is a common occurrence, it can certainly be a problem. In a global crisis, it helps to keep some perspective.  According to Mary Anne Cohen, a psychotherapist and the director of the New York Center for Eating Disorders, “This is not a normal time that we’re in. Your eating will not look normal. And we need to cultivate some humor about our foibles and a lot of self compassion.”

Perhaps the best approach is one that generally serves us well; balance. This would mean not beating ourselves up for reaching for a cookie while watching the evening news and, at the same time, developing other ways of dealing with our stress and anxiety.

Suggestions for Reducing Overeating During the Pandemic

  • Make sure you are eating enough so that you aren’t hungry and anxious at the same time
  • Practice being kind to yourself and avoid negative “self-talk”
  • Try to consistently get enough sleep
  • Do something physical every day, if only a walk around your neighborhood
  • Meditate
  • Find a new hobby or take an online class
  • Lessen feelings of isolation by staying connected to family, friends and co-workers with email, text, phone and internet-based technologies
  • Take advantage of the super-popular Zoom for sharing mealtime, having a book club, poker game or other types of group activity 

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The more you stay engaged and connected, the less likely you will be to rely solely on food to cope with the current situation. And remember that “this too shall pass”. If you do end up with a few extra pounds, the Southern California Center for Anti-Aging is here to help with a weight loss program designed specifically for you.   

The Southern California Center for Anti-Aging focuses on the practice of advanced, preventive and regenerative medicine. We strongly believe correcting imbalances and deficiencies in nutrition, along with improving fitness and balancing and restoring hormones with Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, can help with creating the foundation for a healthier and happier life. To learn more about our holistic approach or if you have questions about any of our services, take advantage of our Free Consultation by clicking here to use our convenient online form. 

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5May

Oral hygiene is essential for your overall wellbeing, not just your oral health. In fact, gum disease is a major risk factor for developing certain dangerous health conditions, such as diabetes and heart disease. Brushing regularly is one of the best methods for keeping your teeth and gums healthy. However, how do you know which toothbrush is best to use?

22Jan

If fad diets do not work, why are there so many people willing to keep trying them? 
Several years ago, we were inundated with articles and programs that made the pronouncement that “diet” was a bad word and that we should stop using it. We were told that no one should ever go on a weight loss diet and, instead, we should simply change the way we think about food.
Honestly, that was really good advice. Practically, however, it has not seemed all that successful. A Google search of the word “diet” returned 1,680,000,000 results in just over half a second. An awful lot of people are still highly concerned about the concept of diet. Even more concerning is the amount of ink and airtime devoted to the dangers of fad diets that seem to have done little to discourage people from trying the countless new iterations appearing all the time.
Whether you start a new year off by committing to the latest and greatest new diet of the moment or read about one that your favorite celebrity claims to use to stay looking camera-ready, fad diets inevitably have the same things in common. They may cause weight loss, initially, but it will be temporary and almost always at the expense of sound nutrition. In addition, most of us know by now that these are programs that cannot be maintained for any length of time, and, when abandoned, any pounds that were lost quickly return and often bring several friends with them. 

Fad Diets to Especially Avoid

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Prevention magazine published a list of fad diets that nutritionists recommend staying away from in 2020. Many of them are the more popular ones being actively promoted today, such as Keto, Paleo, Zero Sugar, Lectin-Free, Atkins, etc. Some of the more interesting and less well-known diets on the list include:

  • The Werewolf Diet – This really is the name of this diet, and it advises you to eat as werewolves do by doing a juice fast for 24 hours when there is a full moon and other restrictions based on the various other phases of the moon. 
  • The Five Bite Diet – The first step is to skip breakfast altogether and then only eat five bites of whatever you have for lunch and for dinner. Chances are you will lose weight eating only ten bites of food every day but what are the odds of staying on this long term? Or of consuming enough of the nutrients your body requires?
  • The Baby Food Diet – This one has you replacing two meals a day with baby food, up to 10 or 15 jars per meal. Whether it works are not, it hardly needs saying that this would not be sustainable or healthy for an adult. 

The reason that all of these diets continue to attract followers is that we want a quick fix to what is usually a lifelong problem. There wouldn’t be anything wrong with that if there was one that actually worked for the long term and also managed to promote good health. Unfortunately, if one that does that exists, no one has found it yet. 
What is true is that it really is important to reach and remain at a body weight that is healthy. Instead of throwing money away and sacrificing nutrition, consider finding a healthcare professional who can guide you through the process with a program that is designed for you specifically. There will never be a better time to find a permanent solution and take control of your health and well-being, once and for all. 
The Southern California Center for Anti-Aging focuses on the practice of advanced, preventive and regenerative medicine. We strongly believe correcting imbalances and deficiencies in nutrition, along with improving fitness and balancing and restoring hormones with Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, can help with creating the foundation for a healthier and happier life. To learn more about our holistic approach or if you have questions about any of our services, take advantage of our Free Consultation by clicking here to use our convenient online form.

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Is Clean Eating Always the Best Choice Los Angeles
9Sep

It’s hard to find specific guidelines on clean eating so how do I know if I’m doing it correctly? 
What do you believe would be the result of polling a dozen individuals on the correct makeup of a healthy diet? You might think that it would depend on their age, country of origin, educational level or some other factor that traditionally informs the opinions of groups of people. That is becoming less and less the case. Today, if you want to predict how someone will respond, check their online history, especially social media habits. 
In the past, when we were introduced to a new type of diet, the process was much slower. We might hear about it from a friend or read an article in a magazine or see it introduced on TV. Before giving it a try we would ask the opinion of people we actually knew. Not so today, and one of the best examples of that may be that of “clean eating”. In a world where stores are stuffed with sugary, salty, over-processed foods and obesity, diabetes, cancer and a long list of other serious health conditions are on the rise, is it any surprise that the hashtag #cleaneating caught on like wildfire? 
Self-proclaimed clean eating experts became internet stars and attracted thousands of followers practically overnight. Without research or science to provide structure, this latest cadre of diet gurus defined clean eating as eating only foods that are whole or unprocessed. Despite the ambiguity of those terms, the principle was extremely appealing. For years, one diet expert after another has come out with “the” answer, each negating the findings of the other. People were confused and losing trust in experts and institutions to actually have any answers. They were hungry (no pun intended!) for a simple, common-sense approach and clean eating sounded like exactly what they were looking for.   
In principle and, in general, people who practice clean eating by attempting to eat foods in their natural form, without artificial ingredients, preservatives, sugars, salt, and other additives are choosing a healthy diet. Not everyone can eat raw vegetables and fruits and some people will have other restrictions based on individual issues, but overall, less processing and artificial anything is a better choice. What isn’t healthy is the obsession in the clean eating movement with only consuming foods that qualify as “pure”. 

Orthorexia Nervosa: The Fixation on Righteous Eating

The Fixation on Righteous Eating Los Angeles

While this is, of course, not the case for everyone committed to eating locally-sourced produce and other accepted types of “clean” food, for some people, finding the purest and cleanest foods has become an obsession. In fact, there is even a medical designation for it, orthorexia nervosa, which, when translated becomes “a fixation on righteous eating”. The foods that are consumed may be healthy but the obsession is definitely not. It can cause feelings of guilt, unworthiness and even result in negative social behavior, including isolating from others. 
There is currently a move to push back against the more radical claims of clean eating, with many medical professionals and scientists talking about the lack of research and proof to back up its claims. For long-term results that are healthy, not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally, it is important to be able to rely on solid advice. It is highly unlikely that the answer will ever be “one diet for all. Every individual is different and a healthy diet should be based on that person’s health and metabolic profile.
The Southern California Center for Anti-Aging focuses on the practice of advanced, preventive and regenerative medicine. We can customize an eating plan, just for you, based on your individual needs and body chemistry. We strongly believe correcting imbalances and deficiencies in nutrition, along with improving fitness and balancing and restoring hormones with Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy, can help with creating the foundation for a healthier and happier life. To learn more about memory loss and or if you have questions about any of our services, take advantage of our Free Consultation by clicking here to use our convenient online form.

Los Angeles Healthy Diet

Vitamin b deficiency treatment Los Angeles
8Jun

Are vegetarians and vegans at risk of having a vitamin B deficiency?

Everyone wants to be healthier, right? If wanting to look and feel our best were the only requirement, then the massive industry devoted to health, fitness and diet would quickly fade away. Unfortunately, it takes quite a bit more than desire. Having the willpower to stick to a diet or exercise program has, no doubt, sprung to mind, but that is not what this is about. The fallacy of the “all it takes is willpower” advocacy has been argued quite successfully elsewhere. It takes more than desire and it certainly takes more than willpower: it takes knowledge.

Despite what you may read in the headlines staring you in the face while waiting to checkout at the grocery store or see on TV or in a pop-up ad online, there really isn’t a one-size-fits-all program for optimum health. We are all unique. Nutritional requirements can vary greatly from one individual to another and that does not even begin to take into account likes and dislikes. Whatever your path, vegetarian, vegan, paleo or somewhere in between, there are some basics that apply to everyone, and that may well be the place to start when making the commitment for good health. And, when it comes to those basics, a natural place to start would be with one of the most essential vitamins; vitamin B.

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What Are B Vitamins?

Vitamins are organic compounds that are required for normal growth and function. Most are not produced in the body and must come from our diet or through supplementation.  Vitamin B is actually a family or group of vitamins. While the B vitamins often function together, each is unique and a deficiency in one cannot be compensated with another. Some members of the vitamin B family are better recognized by name than by their assigned number. Niacin (B3), pantothenic acid (B5), biotin (B7) and folate (B9) are good examples.

What differentiate each group of B Vitamins?

Each of the B group of vitamins has an important function in maintaining good health. Vitamin B12 is one that is currently receiving a lot of attention. Most people know that a lack of sufficient B12 can be responsible for low energy, which is why we see all sorts of energy drinks and supplement concoctions popping up wherever we look. While care should be taken with fad products that may have more of a budget devoted to aggressive marketing than quality control, B12 is important for energy. It plays a significant role in red blood cell formation and function, is vital to the protection of the nervous system and in the synthesis of DNA.
Because vitamin B12 is found almost entirely in foods that come from animals, like beef, chicken, fish, eggs and milk, it can be problematic for vegetarians and vegans to consume adequate amounts of this important nutrient. Vegetarian diets have a wide range and can usually be structured with enough dairy, eggs and fish to meet B12 requirements, but it is much more difficult for vegans. Plants do not contain B12 so it will be necessary to find alternate sources, typically in fortified grain products or through consistent supplementation.

This brings us back to our original premise: the key to attaining and maintaining good health lies in knowledge. This is not always easy to do on our own when there is so much conflicting information to wade through. Partnering with a trusted coach can be the missing step that finally gets you on the road to looking and feeling your very best.

At the Southern California Center for Anti-Aging, we believe vitamins are a crucial factor to feeling energetic, maintaining a strong immune system and decreasing risk factors for many diseases, while also helping to create the foundation for a healthier and happier life.

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