RedScrubs
The Resource for Medical Professionals

A wide range of products claiming to lower blood sugar are marketed to the public. Individuals with diabetes are 1.6 times more likely to use complementary and alternative medicine than those without diabetes according to a recent study published in the April, 2008 supplement to the Journal of the American Dietetic Association (JADA). Reasons for using alternative medicine have been reported to include:
• Troublesome side-effects from conventional drug therapy
• A need for more personal control over one’s care plan
• The increasing cost of prescription drugs
• Dissatisfaction with conventional health care providers
• The ability to spend quality time with alternative practitioners, i.e. doctors do not spend enough time educating and talking to their patients so patients choose to go to those who will spend the time.
Several problematic areas may come up with the use of alternative therapies and pharmacists and Registered Dietitians are uniquely poised to address issues such as potential side-effects, drug interactions, lack of product standardization and the need for evidence-based information on the supplements being used.

When children eat quality foods, i.e fruits, vegetables, whole grains, instead of fat laden foods and empty calorie foods, i.e. luncheon meats, cookies, fruit snacks, they are much less likely to have a weight problem regardless of the amount of exercise that they get.

A story outlined in the Washington Post recently outlined the health travesty awaiting our country in just one generation. With one in three children now overweight or obese, the clock is ticking on irreversible health consequences. Doctors are seeing children in elementary schools with gallstones, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes.

Green tea is sold on the internet for its proposed ability to increase thermogenesis and to promote the loss of weight in overweight/obese individuals. The studies have been controversial. In this study, done at the Community Research Center in Taiwan, the researchers examined the effects of green tea extracts (GTE) on overweight women and looked also at the effects of GTE on obesity related hormone peptides.

The study was a randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled trial that looked at 78 women with a BMI >27 who had not received any other weight control programs in the preceding 3 months before the trial. Supplementation of GTE contained one 400 mg capsule taken three times per day in the study group while the control group received placebo pills.

Are organic foods more nutritious? The number of studies addressing this question has more than doubled since the year 2000 and the quality of the studies has also improved as has the sensitivity of the analytical methods used to measure the nutrients contained in foods.

“Despite the fact that I jog 2 miles on 4 days every week, I’m just not losing weight,” is a common complaint that I hear from exercising individuals. This conversation quickly turns to a description of specificity and overload, and how these principles determine the achievement of fitness goals.

This article focuses on a report released in the May journal of Pediatrics, 2008, on the limited indications and contraindications of soy formula. The article also reviews the potential harmful effects of soy protein-based formulas and the phytoestrogens and isoflavones contained in these formulas. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is committed to the use of human milk as the ideal source of nutrition for infants. Despite this stance, soy formulas account for 20% of the formula market in the US. What do we need to know about this potentially harmful infant feeding choice?

Women who eat a diet low in animal protein, moderate in low-fat dairy products and high in plant proteins, fruits and vegetables, or a typical DASH diet, tend to show a lower rate of coronary heart disease and stroke according to a recent JAMA article. The DASH diet stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The DASH diet has formed the basis for the new Food Pyramid and is supported by The National Heart, Lung, Blood, Institute, the American Heart Association, US guidelines for the treatment of high blood pressure and the USDA MyPyramid.

About one in four people who take prescription medication also use such products as vitamins, minerals, amino acids, herbs and/or related ingredients. Despite the therapeutic nature of some of these supplements, they may also either enhance or antagonize the effects of prescription drugs.