Category: Weight Loss

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

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.

Can weight loss help to prevent cancer?
Smoking causes cancer. Everyone knows that. For the last half a century, tobacco products have carried labels stating this in no uncertain terms:
“Smoking Is Dangerous to Health and May Cause Death from Cancer and Other Diseases”
In fact, smoking has long been the number one cause of cancer. That is about to change due to the rise in levels of obesity.
There are a lot of other known and believed contributors to the development of cancer, like asbestos and industrial pollution. None of those, however, are poised to topple smoking and take over the number one spot for causing cancer. In fact, you may be part of the 50 percent of Americans that do not even know that there is a connection between cancer and obesity. But there is and it is a deadly one.

Obesity Soon to Be the #1 Cause of Cancer

Even though the use of tobacco products has decreased significantly over the years, either due to the recognition of the health risks or because it has become far less socially acceptable, there are still a half a million cancer deaths each year attributed to smoking. That obesity is about to supplant smoking as the top cause of cancer speaks volumes about the crisis level of obesity in the U.S.
If the link between obesity and cancer is news to you, that is understandable. Even healthcare professionals are struggling to figure out exactly how one relates to the other. The precise connection remains a mystery, but research is currently focused on the layer of fat that surrounds our internal organs. Unlike ordinary fat, this layer is referred to as visceral, which means that it is active metabolically, and its function is to produce estrogen. Because estrogen is believed to be a factor in increasing the potential of certain types of cancer, such as breast cancer, this is thought to be a promising focus for researchers.
In addition to estrogen production, this layer of fat is also known to secrete proteins which, in turn, raise the levels of insulin. This may be a factor in the abnormal cell growth rate that is a characteristic of cancer cells, as well as contributing to an increase in chronic inflammation.

Obesity Rate is Soaring

The likelihood that obesity increases the risk of developing cancer is particularly troubling due to the alarming increase in the percentage of people who fall into the obesity range. From the 50 years between 1960 and 2016, the obesity rate of men went from 11 percent to 38 percent and 16 percent to 41 percent for women.
Men and women who are obese double their chances of liver and kidney cancer and the risk of developing pancreatic cancer increases about 1.5 times over those who fall within the normal weight range. But these are not the only types of cancer that obesity is believed to be linked to. Others include:

• Gastric cardia cancer
• Esophageal adenocarcinoma
• Multiple myeloma
• Meningioma
• Gallbladder cancer
• Thyroid cancer
• Colorectal cancer
• Breast cancer
• Ovarian cancer
• Endometrial cancer

There has always been a long list of reasons to maintain a healthy body weight. The connection between obesity and cancer only makes that more compelling. There isn’t a lot that we, as individuals, can do to control the carcinogens in our air and water, but we can take control of the state of our own health when it comes to weight loss. The first step may be to consult with a trusted health professional who can help set you up on a plan that will work for you.
At the Southern California Center for Anti-Aging, we know how important weight control is to health and well-being, and we believe that safe and life changing weight loss can be attained and maintained when properly supervised. Weight control is extremely important, but our bodies must also be well-nourished in order to function properly and keep our immune systems at the ready. Once we have diagnosed your particular case through carefully administered tests, we prescribe a diet, or combination of diets, as well as a lifestyle program that we know will work for you. To learn more about our weight loss programs 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.

Does caffeine speed up the metabolism and help with weight loss?

There are few topics that get more attention, with wildly varying opinions, than the benefits of weight loss and the detrimental effects of caffeine. Obviously, there is no argument about the importance of reaching and maintaining a healthy body weight, but is it possible that caffeine is not as bad as we have been led to believe?
It has been suggested by some studies that caffeine boosts energy and is depleted during physical exertion, possibly the reason for increased calorie burning by those who have consumed caffeine. With the addition of catchins, a type of phenolic compound that is found in green tea, the process of fat oxidation is significantly increased.

This all sounds promising, but, as is often the case, there is a flip side to caffeine, which is currently our most popular drug here in the U.S., as well as the least regulated one. Caffeine is a natural component of 60 different species of plants, the most familiar being coffee, tea and cocoa. While caffeine has been added to soft drinks for a very long time, first the natural kind and now the synthetic, it has only been a little over 20 years since energy drinks and supplements, loaded with high levels of caffeine started flooding the market.

Caffeine has been credited with an increased sense of well-being, energy, happiness and alertness. It can enhance feelings of sociability. We rely on it to help us stay awake when driving at night. It wakes us up in the morning and helps us face the challenges of our work day. There are those who believe caffeine may reduce the risk of developing conditions like gall stones and even Parkinson’s disease. The military has explored the benefits of using caffeine as a supplement for service members in locations and situations where they may not get sufficient sleep but still need to be as alert as possible.

On that flip side, however, caffeine may be an FDA approved pharmacological substance, but it is also a highly addictive drug. Anyone who uses it regularly is familiar with the withdrawal effects; severe headache, extreme fatigue, mental fuzziness and drowsiness. What most people are not aware of, though, is that it only takes about a week of daily consumption of caffeine to be at this level of addiction. It may help some stay awake when needed, but for many others it actually interferes with a normal, healthy sleep cycle. Caffeine can also contribute to the worsening of urinary incontinence.

Caffeine and Metabolism: Effective Partners or Not?

As with many things, the verdict on caffeine is not a unanimous one. Used in moderation and with a little common sense, it probably isn’t as harmful as many like to say. The fact that it is so easily addictive does make the moderation part problematic. There is some evidence of the weight loss benefits of appetite suppression and the increased calorie-burning potential of thermogenesis, which is the process your body uses to extract heat and energy from food digestion. That said, while caffeine may supply a slight boost to weight loss, there is presently no evidence that it is more than temporary.

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. We use a wide range of advanced testing and analysis, including food allergy testing, to ensure the best results for our clients.

To learn more about our weight loss programs 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.

Holistic Health Services in Los Angeles With Dr. Judi Goldstone

• Functional Medicine Home
• Chronic Fatigue
• Adrenal Fatigue
• Brain Fog / Cognitive Function
• Anxiety Disorders
• Menopause Treatment
• Thyroid Treatment (Hypo & Hyperthyroidism; Hashimotos)
• Leaky Gut