Blog - Susan B. Dopart M.S., R.D.

Entries in weight loss (4)

Sunday

Jun132010

Can We Compare the American Diet to the European Diet?

Sunday, June 13, 2010 at 3:34PM

One of my readers posed this question for a blog:

“I just got back from Greece and noticed the locals are passionate about their bread, rice pasta and potatoes. They have been eating these foods for over 5000 years. Your recommendations are that these foods be minimized. To be fair, many of the Greeks are obese. Your recommendations seem to go against that history – please help!”

For years I’ve always wondered why my clients go to Europe and lose weight. I thought it was due to all the walking and activity one does on a European vacation but over the last several years I changed my mind.

When I go to Europe I am able to eat bread, and more carbs than my body could ever handle at home in the United States. How can this be? The food supply in Europe is worlds apart from ours. Not only do they have fresher food but the food supply has fewer additives, preservatives and processing than the US. In addition, their animals are fed differently which affects how our bodies accept and process the meats, cheese, eggs, etc.

When genetically modified foods came out in the US, they were in Europe for a short time. However, when studies showing the dangers of GMO foods were released, Europe did away with GMO’s in ONE week!

Europeans shop for their food on the way home from work, and usually for only one or two days only which is why they have small refrigerators. Fresh unprocessed food is readily accepted and used by the body – causing less disease, weight issues and health concerns.

So in answer to the question our diet cannot be compared to the European diet. I believe many cases of food intolerances, carbohydrate sensitivity and insulin resistance are not only due to our genetics but our food supply. If our foods were fresh and less processed my recommendations might be much different.

Next time you travel to Europe think about the food you are served, look at food if you happen to find yourself in the grocery store. Notice how many fresh open air markets they have to pick up food on your travels. The US may be advanced in many ways but hopefully food is on the way back to its roots – real, fresh and whole without alterations.

Susan Dopart |

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Tuesday

Apr132010

Shrink your Waist with Sleep and Protein

Tuesday, April 13, 2010 at 9:00PM

“I’m hungry Mother, I really am,” said the little puppy Rolly on 101 Dalmatians.

I often hear “I’m always hungry; I don’t feel full after a meal; I still want something after I eat but I can’t put my finger on it.”

Appetite is affected by both physiological and psychological issues. Since the psychological may be a whole research paper in itself let’s stick to the physiological things you can do to keep your appetite normal and healthy.

Two hormones affecting appetite are Leptin and Ghrelin. An easy way to remember them is leptin lowers your appetite and ghrelin grows your appetite. When they are in sync your appetite is in line with your metabolism. Things that can throw them off are lack of sleep and imbalances in the diet.

If your sleep is compromised it affects your hunger levels. Eve Van Cauter at the University of Chicago has done 25 years of research on how hormones affect sleep. Her research shows that when you are sleep deprived your leptin levels are 18% lower and your Ghrelin levels are 28 percent higher.

Her subjects also reported they were much hungrier than usual and craved salty, sweet food when they lacked sleep. Think of late night pizza and nachos when you stayed up too long. Craving salty, sweet food and increasing leptin and lowering ghrelin are the perfect combination for weight gain.

Appetite can also be thrown off by the wrong combination of carbohydrate, protein and fat. David Cummings, M.D. at the University School of Medicine in Seattle found that protein was the best suppressor of appetite. Fats seemed to have a neutral affect.

Carbohydrates initially lowered the appetite, but then rebounded later with a vengeance. I still remember my days of eating a “healthy” bowl of cereal for breakfast only to be famished 2 hours later – unaware that it was due to a lack of protein at the most important meal of the day.

Good sources of protein include:

lean meats, poultry, fish
eggs
plain yogurt, cottage cheese, hard cheeses
nuts/seeds and nut butters

Take home message? Getting your rest and making sure you eat some sort of protein at each meal and snack will keep your appetite even keeled. So maybe a good idea is to eat your protein and get some rest with Rolly. What have you got to lose…besides weight?

This piece is part of Prevention not Prescriptions

Susan Dopart |

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Thursday

Nov262009

The End of Overeating

Thursday, November 26, 2009 at 2:22PM

David Kessler’s new book is a great read on how overeating in America came to be, how the food industry combines fat, salt and sugar in a way to lure you into eating more than you need and how to overcome this phenomenon.

Dr. Kessler coins the term “conditioned hypereating” which describes the abundant amount of food available, the constant food stimuli of salt, sweet, and sugar combinations, and how the brain reacts to these cues. The limbic or memory part of the brain remembers pleasure of all forms, including memories from food.

If you are ever in a stressful or painful situation and eat some type of food that numbs or helps the stress, the brain stores this in the memory. The next time a stressful situation arises the brain prompts you to do whatever you did the last time. If food helped the situation, then the brain will prompt you to eat before you even realize it. Before long, this pattern could lead to many unwanted health and weight issues.

Having a road map is necessary to break the stimulus and response pattern to food. Having a definite guide in place is key to achieving weight loss and health goals. So many people look to weight loss drugs or surgeries as a quick fix solution. Weight loss may occur with these therapies. However, since the cause is not dealt with, the weight will be regained, compounding the problem and having to restart the process all over again. Drugs are not a permanent fix for a weight issue. They may treat the symptom for a while but never get to the root cause.

This year look for the cause of your health and/or weight issues. Find a road map or lifestyle you can start with and stick with for the long run. Retraining the limbic system of your brain is catching yourself once a cue is there and making the decision that your goals are more important than the food in front of you. It is so easy to say “I don’t care.” If you hear yourself saying this, counter with “I will care in an hour and will care even more when I get on the scale or hear the results of my next blood work.” Look to the future earned reward and know it is in sight – and let leave the lure of food cues behind for good. Remember that it's prevention - not prescription.

Susan Dopart |

Vitamin D: The Wonder Vitamin?

Sunday, July 12, 2009 at 6:12PM

This fat-soluble “sunshine vitamin” has recently re-emerged as the wonder vitamin with numerous research studies coming out monthly on its health benefits.

Until very recently, it was thought that the RDA for Vitamin D (400 IU/day) was sufficient to prevent disease and to maintain bone health. We have recently seen an epidemic of vitamin D deficiency in this country, which is thought to be responsible for many autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Multiple Sclerosis, cancers and even cardiovascular disease.

What are the recent findings on Vitamin D?

In January 2009 researchers from the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan Peninsula Medical School revealed that compared to those with optimum Vitamin D levels, those with the lowest levels were more than twice as likely to be cognitively impaired – i.e. have dementia

In February 2009 the Archives of Internal Medicine studied 19,000 adults and adolescents. People with the lowest average levels of Vitamin D were 40% more likely to have a recent respiratory infection compared to those with higher Vitamin D levels

In March 2009 the Journal of Nutrition published research showing that high intakes of both calcium and Vitamin D helped protect against diabetes. C-peptide (a measure that determines if diabetes is in the works) was 20% lower in those with higher blood levels of Vitamin D

In April 2009 the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published research showing that a daily supplement of 83 mcg. of Vitamin D per day (or 3320 IU) significantly boosted heart health by lowering triglyceride levels (storage form of fat) and markers of inflammation in the blood that indicate heart disease

In June 2009 the National Institutes of Health funded a study that showed that higher blood levels of Vitamin D were linked to increased loss of abdominal fat

Benefits of vitamin D are more important than we all knew – lowering risk of heart disease, respiratory infections, dementia, and diabetes and helping with weight loss!

A great way to get your vitamin D, besides food, is exposure to daylight or sunshine three times per week for about 10-15 minutes, since your skin has the ability to manufacture it after being exposed to sunlight. Since many of us try to stay out of sun due to skin cancer, we are deficient in natural vitamin D. However, it is still important to wear your sunscreen.

Some researchers are now calling Vitamin D the antibiotic vitamin since it boosts protection in the white blood cells of antimicrobial compounds that defends the body against germs. Many physicians are recommending intakes of 1000-2000 IU of Vitamin D per day to help with already low tissue levels and increasing the tissue levels to help prevent disease.

Next time you visit your physician ask to have your Vitamin D levels checked to know if you are in need of supplementation – it could save you more than just a cold!