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Showing posts from September, 2008

Why we need fats

Nothing else can stimulate the taste buds quite like the smell of fat. The human body comes adapted with a special affinity for this resource, according to evolutionary nutrition researchers S. Boyd Eaton, MD, and Stanley B. Eaton III (a father-son duo) (1998). Dr. Eaton and Eaton suggest early hominids eventually ate a greater amount of nuts and seeds and later, around 2.5 million years ago, humans on a hunter-gatherer diet might have preferred animal fat, specifically supplied in the brain and marrow—an alteration of diet that may have been a factor in supporting a larger brain (1998). This history of fat in the diet helps shape understanding of how vital fat is for the diet. The body needs fat for various functions as well as other fat-related substances in the family of lipids. Most lipids in the body are of a type called triglycerides—three fatty acids with a glycerol backbone—which act as concentrated sources of energy stored in greater amounts in adipose tissue cells (Tortora &a

Brittle Bones of a Jedi Master

After leading the fight against the Galactic Alliance, Luke Skywalker might have found himself with a developed case of osteoporosis and kidney stones. That's because space travel diminishes bone loss and a rise of calcium in the blood, according to NASA researchers (Hullander & Barry, 2001). The reason for the bone loss is weightlessness. When the body is weightless (or immobile), bone cells act differently. The International Osteoporosis Foundation states that astronauts and bedridden patients share a state in which they "can lose up to 15% of mineral density within three months" (Sochaczewski, 2006). According to NASA, the weightlessness upsets the balance of bone-building to bone destroying (Hullander & Barry, 2001.) Thirty million people on Earth who suffer from osteoporosis in the U.S.A. happen to be going through the same demineralization of the bone, although slower (Tortora & Derrikson, 2006, p. 189). The key to prevent osteoporosis on land and in spa

Health Hazards From Use of Technology

In today’s modern world, technology plays a predominant role in the lives of people. The computer is used for work and play. For many people, more time is spent in front of the monitor than anywhere else as a place to conduct business, go shopping, go to school, answer e-mails, converse with friends, and play video games. In conjunction to computer use, other technologies frequently used are digital phones, TV, and MP3 players. While all these facets of technology are seemingly advantageous, they do come with a downside. The body can show resistance to conforming to a technology-centered lifestyle by exhibiting signs of poor health and fitness. Depending on how technology is used daily, the body’s anatomy and/or internal organs are at risk of becoming distressed and the distress may eventually result in damage. These risks can come from lack of movement entirely due to little exercise or simple movements such as using a mouse or typing on a keyboard. Finally, distress may result simply

Even a Caveman Can Eat Low-Carb

With good reason carbohydrates (carbs) are the staple fuel source for most diets in the world. Not only are they plentiful and cheap to produce—created by plant photosynthesis—but also utilized easily by the body. The body’s process, in fact, according to Staci Nix, MS, RD, CD, is “far more efficient than any man-made machine (2005, p.16). There are different types of carbs: the simple, which are quickly absorbed by the body, and the complex, which are more slowly absorbed. Simple carbs have one sugar molecule such as monosaccharides such as glucose, fructose and galactose, or disaccharides such as sucrose, lactose and maltose (Nix, 2005, pp. 16-17). The complex carbs (polysaccharides) include starches, glycogen, dietary fiber, cellulose, noncellulose polysaccharides and lignins. With the exception of dietary fiber and noncellulose polysaccharides, the body breaks down these carb types, turns them into glucose and distributes the glucose through blood circulation to all the cells that

Yes, I live in Arizona so I have a higher risk of melanoma

Of the three types of skin cancer, melanoma is the most serious. It affects the melanocytes, which produce the pigment melanin that gives skin its color. The cancerous melanocytes do not die when they should (apoptosis) and form a cancerous mass. Melanoma can show up in a mole or other pigmented tissues such as the eye or intestines. According to the U.S. National Cancer Institute, more than 53,600 people find out they have melanoma each year. It is a figure that grows annually. The estimated amount of deaths is 8,420. Those at risk that have many moles, fair skin, personal history of skin cancer, family history of skin cancer, weakened immune system or have had at least one severe, blistering sunburn. To help prevent melanoma people should avoid midday sun, wear long sleeves, long pants and a wide-brim hat when outside, protect themselves from UV rays that penetrate clothing, windshields and windows, as well as those that are reflected by sand, water, snow and ice. Skin lotions, crea

Man can't live by bread and water alone

Imagine you have been on a "bread and water" diet for three weeks and have noticed that a cut on your shin won't heal and bleeds easily. Why? The inability to heal would largely be due to lack of vitamin C. Proper maintenance and repair of tissue depends on this essential nutrient (Tortora & Derrikson, 2006). Once confirming a deficiency of vitamin C, assume signs of scurvy. According to Medline, along with skin hemmorrhages, general weakness, anemia, and gum disease. Just an orange a day is sufficient for preventing scurvy, according to researchers from University of Toronto (Weinstein, Babyn & Zlotkin, 2001). The vitamin C in the citrus fruit serve as the right treatment. My body would also need protein to produce healing. Nutrition consultant James Collier says the amino acids, along with vitamin C and zinc, are essential for the production of collagen and even a short duration of lack of protein can significantly slow healing (n.d.). Collier also suggests B vi

What fluids should I use before my marathon?

Marathon runners can become dehydrated due to the extreme physical activity. What types of fluids should they consume in order to rehydrate their cells? When you’re dehydrated, water is the hypotonic solution of choice for speedily moving via osmosis from blood directly into body cells that need rehydration (Tortora & Derrickson, 2006). Marathon runners, however, may need a little more solutes in the solution. The physical exertion of running can create need of other nutrients for these athletes. Regular sweating and using up of glycogen calls for needs of carbohydrates to maintain blood glucose and salts for proper balance of plasma osmalility (Chen & Zimmerman, 1978). Sports drinks can offer an answer for proper running, but too many solutes in a drink would stop its hydration ability. A good sports drink should remaining effective as a hypotonic solution, but still provide steady electrolytes, carbohydrates and possibly even vitamins. The extra sodium, according to British r

Should I see a nutritionist or stick to dietary guidelines?

We may all be made of flesh and blood, but each one of us has a body with unique differences. These varying individual distinctions can call for custom measures when it comes to needs for health. For these reasons good clinicians can accept established dietary guidelines as a general route for a population to make sensible eating choices, but, when appropriate, offer a tailored alternative to provide best results for a patient. A suitable deviance from normal recommendations, for example, may be to take milk and cheese off the menu for patients of Native American and African ancestry. Lactose intolerance has been found by Cambridge researchers to affect these populations indiscriminately, which should lead clinicians to diverge from the US Department of Agriculture’s guidelines of dairy intake when caring for such affected patients (Scrimshaw & Murray, 1988). For others increasing dietary intake of dairy may be useful. An athletic patient seeking nutritional advice may find herself

A&P? Can't I just memorize my vitamins?

If you just read the side panel of a Wheaties box while eating breakfast in the morning you'll already know you need vitamins A, Bs, C, and E. The milk carton next to the cereal you know is a good source of calcium and vitamin D. Why should you know about anatomy and physiology? Understanding the whole picture is, of course, why we break down a complex anything into its parts, including an organism. Cut the body apart into sagittal or transverse sections to discover its cavities and viscera and you learn quite a bit about how a little morsel of might end up in the mouth and through the gastrointestinal tract. As you read these words, you begin to understand the direction of the point of this paragraph. Just as it is the job of a writer to understand how words can be used for impactful sentences that create powerful paragraphs, the nutritionist can use the alphabet of nutritional elements for supporting his or her patient's body at optimal levels. The anatomy-physiology nutriti