Chronic kidney disease
October 8, 2008 by Liz Harper · Leave a Comment
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(Today another guest post by Dr Andrew Weissenberger. Read more about Dr Weissenberger here)
Chronic kidney disease (CKD), commonly also known as chronic renal disease, is a progressive, and generally permanent, loss of kidney function over a period of months or years.
If a permanent loss of more the one-third of kidney function occurs, this is defined as chronic kidney disease.
Chronic kidney disease if often associated with, or linked as a secondary condition to, heart diseases and diabetes.
Chronic kidney disease can lead to chronic kidney failure. An increased risk of developing chronic kidney disease is found with those who: Read more
Osteoporosis risk factors
October 8, 2008 by Liz Harper · 1 Comment
(Today comes a guest post by Dr Andrew Weissenberger. Dr Weissenberger is a fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), a general practice supervisor and an examiner for the RACGP.)
Osteoporosis means “porous bones” and is a disease where bone density (the thickness of the bone) and structural quality deteriorate, leading to fragile and brittle bones causing an increased risk of fracture than in normal bone.
The bone density and structural quality deterioration occurs from the loss of minerals, such as calcium, from a persons bones more quickly then the body is able to replace them. Read more
Deciphering Food Labels
June 4, 2008 by Liz Harper · Leave a Comment
Reading food labels can be confusing…sometimes manufacturers can disguise saturated fats by calling various names, and ‘Reduced Fat’ doesn’t necessarily mean low fat and ‘Lite’ or ‘Light’ can mean anything.
With all these marketing smoke screens…its easy to fool yourself into thinking you’ve made some healthy food choices.
So here’s some information that might help you make better food choices on your next grocery shop…
Marketing/Labelling…
- Cholesterol Free: This doesn’t mean that the food has to be healthy, low in fat or kilojoules, or low in saturated fat. It just means it’s free from dietary cholesterol. Some foods might be cholesterol free, but it doesn’t mean they aren’t high in saturated fat…e.g coconut and palm oil fit into this category. Commercial biscuits and cakes often contain coconut and palm oil which as usually listed on the ingredients as ‘vegetable fat’ or ‘vegetable oil’.
- Lite or Light: This can refer to anything. They might have less salt, fat or sugar. It doesn’t necessarily mean low in kilojoules (or calories) or low in fat. In some cases ‘Lite’ is used to say something about flavour. E.g olive oil that is lite in flavour.
What is cholesterol?
May 21, 2008 by Liz Harper · 1 Comment
Cholesterol and triglycerides are fatty substances that can be found in the blood. There are 2 types of cholesterol:
(1) Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol which is sometimes referred to as BAD cholesterol because it increases your risk of coronary heart disease
(2) High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, which is the GOOD cholesterol because it protects you against coronary heart disease
Triglycerides travel through your blood and are also stored as fat deposits in your body. High levels of triglycerides are common in people with high cholesterol, and in people who are overweight and have heart disease and/or diabetes.
LDL cholesterol accumulates along your artery walls, forming plaque and narrowing your arteries. HDL cholesterol then comes along and tries to clean it up.
So usually when you get a blood test the doctors will check both your total cholesterol and your HDL cholesterol levels and then sometimes they will calculate a ratio by dividing the total cholesterol by the HDL cholesterol. The lower this ratio…the better off you are when it comes to heart disease. Read more
Weight Watchers Recipes
April 22, 2008 by Liz Harper · Comments Off
Nutrition is just as important as exercise when it comes to weight loss…in fact, it’s probably more important….but more on that later this week.
One of the hardest things we find as a family at meal time, is coming up with a delicious meal that won’t ruin our daily calorie intake, a meal that is quick and easy to prepare….and further more, looks appetizing.
Earlier today I came across Gina’s blog…filled with loads of Weight Watchers recipes….points and all.
Gina has put together an excellent collection of low calorie meals and snacks that should help solve your daily “What to eat” dilemmas.
There’s the Weight Watchers Chicken Milanese with Arugula Salad and Tomatoes or the Juicy Grilled Chicken Spinach Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette & my personal favorite “Spanish Chicken & Rice” …I’m a sucker for a rice dish…espiecially when it’s spicy…this one is worth all 5 points.
Here are some more recipes worth checking out -
Weight Watchers Italian Chicken Rollups
Weight Watchers Vegetable-Peanut Stir-Fry - 5 Points
Weight Watchers Recipes - the good, the bad and the…
Chicken and White Bean Stew Recipe
Keep your resolution with healthy recipes
Weight Watchers Mexican Zero Points Soup Recipe
Bon Appetite:)
Gym Junkie: It’s ok to miss a workout
April 20, 2008 by Kel · Leave a Comment
Feeling guilty because you missed your gym appointment today?
Beating yourself up because you couldn’t be bothered cooking dinner last night - so you ordered a pizza?
It’s OK!
You have to look at things realistically and accept that there are going to be days like these…..it’s called living in the real world. Read more
6 Solutions to help you through your “Feeling Fat” days
April 14, 2008 by Kel · 2 Comments
When was your last “I Feel fat day?”
Did you run to your wardrobe and pick out the baggiest sweater you could find and match it with a nice pair of loose fit 501’s?
Did I hear you say something like “So help me God if I hear one petite little blonde complaining about their figure today I’m holding her hostage in the stationery closet and force feeding her a bagel!”
Oh dear…apologies for that….a little over reaction…won’t happen again.
When you’re in the process of losing weight you will still get the odd “Fat Day”….don’t stress….there are some solutions that will help you feel all “Posh spice” again in no time.
Caffeine & It’s Adverse Health Effects
March 25, 2008 by Liz Harper · 3 Comments
When I read Kel’s article about the caffeine I decided I wanted to write a post about adverse health effects of caffeine. So I quickly set to work, reading and researching. (i.e. trying to come up with heaps of evidence to support my dislike for caffeine).
I consulted books such as “The Great American Detox Diet
As you probably already know, caffeine is a natural substance found in the leaves or seeds or fruits of some plants. It is present in coffee, tea, chocolate, energy drinks, some soft drinks and some medications. The caffeine stimulates our central nervous system and that acts on our brains like adrenalin, increasing alertness, heart rate, respiration, basal metabolic rate and the production of stomach acids and urine. Even though it doesn’t get stored by the body (it is metabolized by the liver and excreted in urine), the effects of caffeine can last for up to 6hrs.
As Kel mentioned, excess caffeine can cause nausea, dizziness, headaches, muscle tension, sleep disturbances and irregular heartbeats. The latter is probably why the heart foundation only suggests 1-2 cups of caffeinated drinks per day and has a statement on a page in their site saying “Too much caffeine can cause problems if you tend to get abnormal heart rhythms and it can raise your heart rate and blood pressure.”
Could Caffeine Kill you?
March 21, 2008 by Kel · 2 Comments
How much caffeine have you had today?
Experts say that too much caffeine is harmful to our health - but surely it wouldn’t kill us? Would it?
Pouring that first cup of coffee in the morning is like lifting the roof off a foggy head. Liz is always trying to get me to convert over to Green Tea…(No thanks) But Coffee lovers, you’ll be happy to know I stand firm and reply with “A couple cups of coffee a day isn’t going to kill me”.
True. But how many cups of coffee in a day will in fact…kill me? I went to Death by Caffeine to find out.
Time to get specific….. Now when you head over to “Death By Caffeine” you need to “Enter your Poison”…well, I really like Starbucks Grande Cappuccino…so in she goes. Next I added my weight and Bang!
Pretty cool huh?
So check this out - A 16 ounce cup of Starbucks Grande Cappuccino contains 150 milligrams of caffeine. Mix in a bit of sugar and frothy milk and look out - your heart is doing cartwheels. Read more
7 Really Amazing Heart Facts
How much do you Really know about your heart?
1. Put your hand on your heart. Did you place your hand on the left side of your chest? Many people do, but your heart is actually located almost in the centre of the chest, between the lungs. It is tipped slightly so that part of it sticks out and taps against the left side of the chest, which is what makes it seem as though it is located there.
2. Make a fist with your hand. If you’re a child, your heart is about the same size as your fist, and if you’re an adult, it is about the size of two hands made into a fist (ie wrap your other hand around the hand that is already in a fist).
3. Your heart beats about 100,000 times in one day and about 35 million times in a year. During an average lifetime, the human heart will beat more than 2.5 billion times.
