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Statin Side Effects Slowing You Down? Why your doctor may not be able to help.

Sep 17th, 2011
by Dr. Cate.
6 comments

If you ask about statin side effects, your doctor may be distracted

A new plan unveiled this week by the Department of Health and Human Services will make it more difficult for a patient to have an open and frank discussion with his doctor about the potential side effects of statin medications.

It’s no secret that statins, taken to reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke, can have serious side effects; simply read the package insert. It’s not unusual that, when reviewing a new patient’s previous charts, I see they have experienced symptoms potentially attributable to their statin prescription(s). Sometimes the nurses’ notes even document that the patient expressed concern that their symptoms might be the side effects of their statin medication(s). Often, however, the record shows that their doctor’s response was to simply scribble out another prescription to treat the new symptoms.

When you talk “privately” with your doctor, is someone else in the room with you? (more…)

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Posted in: Medical News, rants and insights and etc..

Heart Attack Proof Diet: A Recipe for Heart Disease?

Sep 4th, 2011
by Dr. Cate.
29 comments

Does this story really have a happy ending?

CNN keeps airing “The Last Heart Attack,” in which Dr. Sanjay Gupta tells the story of how and why President Bill Clinton was put on a vegan diet by Dr. Dean Ornish, and how Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn’s #1 selling book Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease echos the same dietary advice. As you know, reversing disease is something I care a lot about, but I’m not convinced Dr. Essylstyn’s heart attack proof diet is delivering what he promises.

Early in the show Dr. Gupta discusses Clinton’s strict vegan diet and defines its underlying philosophy: “No more meat. No more eggs. No more dairy. Almost no oil. The mantra is, eat nothing that has a mother or a face.”

(I have to agree with Dr. Gupta’s implication: If your olive oil has either a mother or a face, it’s probably best to leave it on the shelf.) (more…)

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Posted in: Medical News, Rants.

When Martians Attack Carbo-loading Could Spell Your Doom!

Aug 27th, 2011
by Dr. Cate.
25 comments
Ketogenic Diets Outperform Typical High-Carb Diets

Ketogenic Diets Outperform Typical High-Carb Diets

If you are on a ketogenic diet (50gm carb per day or less), your metabolism is adept at burning fat for energy and so your energy reserves are only limited by they amount of body fat you have. This means, if you are a 150 lb man with 20% body fat, you could (assuming you replenish all the electrolytes, fluids, etc., and that your joints hold up) burn through 49,000 kcals before you hit “the wall.”

This is in comparison to the measly 2000 kcals you have access to (from muscle glycogen) if you are not keto-adapted and follow a typical, high-carb diet including carbo-loading the night before a big event. (more…)

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Posted in: Fitness, Nutrition.

Here’s How to Cook Grass-Fed (aka Pasture-raised) Steak

Aug 24th, 2011
by Luke.
4 comments

The number one rule to cooking grass-fed steak is be gentle.

Alot of people get turned off by their first taste of grass-fed steak. That’s because its so easy to overcook, which gives it a gamey flavor.

But worse, heat destroys nutrients and can even cause reactions between otherwise healthy components of food, fusing them together and generating carcinogens. This is one reason we say chefs are the original nutritionists because typically they also say that cooking a steak past medium ruins its flavor. It also ruins the nutrients.

Cooking Grass-Fed Steak

A "well done" steak is an overdone steak

The less you cook your steak, the more nutrients remain and the better it is for you.

(more…)

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Posted in: My Favorite Things, Nutrition.

Anthony Bourdain Calls Fellow Celeb Chef “Dangerous”

Aug 19th, 2011
by Luke.
14 comments

Chefs are the Original Nutritionists, But Not All Deserve the Title

It’s fun to to call yourself a chef. Even better when someone else calls you one. I’m just a serious home cook. But that hasn’t kept me from playing along when, for a webcast or radio interview, someone has been generous enough to call me “Chef Luke” while I walked their audience through the basics of knife care or beef stock preparation.

A chef, loosely defined, is someone who cooks for a living. But the more accurate term for that is “line cook,” or “professional cook” or just plain “cook.”

“Chef,” used properly, refers to “a highly skilled professional proficient in all aspects of food preparation.” As my Culinary Institute of America cookbook says, a chef is “a lifelong student, a teacher, a craftsman….[with] an appreciation of and dedication to quality and excellence, and a sense of responsibility to self and the community.”
(more…)

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Posted in: Nutrition, rants and insights and etc..

Foods Bad for Pregnant Women: French Fries

Aug 17th, 2011
by Dr. Cate.
20 comments

The cigarette versus the French fry:

Fries Contain Oxidized Fats, Cigarettes Oxidize Your Tissues: Who Wins the Prize for Harming Babies? (Artwork by Dan Shanahan)

Which is worse while pregnant?

If you’re an expecting mom, you probably already know not to smoke. But did you know that eating French fries from a fast food restaurant are dangerous for baby too?

(more…)
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Posted in: Healthy Child, Nutrition.

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