{Health} The REAL Reason French Women Don’t Get Fat?

LEAVE A COMMENT 2012 February 23

Read about this French “secret,” and then comment below to enter to win it! 6 FOFs will win.

Americans are obsessed with the way French women eat. They appear to subsist on butter, cheese, pastries, red meat–not to mention cigarettes and red wine–yet they manage to stay trim and youthful from their berets to their Louboutins. Plus, they have a lower incidence of heart disease and diabetes than American women.

Books such as French Women Don’t Get Fat credit France’s smaller portions, active lifestyle and emphasis on fresh, organic food. These certainly play a role.  But a recent study at Harvard suggests that one finicky little chemical compound–resveratrol–may also deserve credit.

“Resveratrol is found on the skin and vines of red-wine grapes,” says Dr. Heather Hausenblas, PhD., an exercise and diet expert at the University of Florida, and the science advisor to ResVitale, a company that makes resveratrol supplements. “It’s a potent antioxidant that protects the plants against extreme weather, bugs and other environmental stresses.”

In 2006, investigators at Harvard Medical School and the National Institute of Aging found that mice treated with resveratrol lived longer, more active, healthier lives–despite being fed a high-fat, high-calorie diet. They tested three groups of mice: One was fed a standard diet (SD), one was fed a high-calorie, high-fat diet (HC) and one was fed a high-calorie, high-fat diet with resveratrol (HCR). “After six months, resveratrol essentially prevented most of the negative side effects of the high calorie diet in mice,” said Rafael de Cabo, Ph.D., the study’s co-senior investigator. It protected the mice against heart disease, diabetes and other illnesses typically associated with a diet high in red meat, cheese and pastries.

But, don’t run for that bottle of merlot just yet. According to Dr. Hausenblas, the average bottle of red wine has 2-4 milligrams of resveratrol–but studies typically use doses of 250-1000mg. Also, not all wine is equally potent. “We source our resveratrol from organic grapes grown by traditional French methods,” Hausenblas explains. “If the grapes are chemically treated with pesticides and herbicides–as they are in most vineyards–they don’t produce as much resveratrol, because they don’t need to protect themselves.” Hausenblas recommends taking a supplement with 250-500mg of organic resveratrol a day, although studies have shown is that up to 1000 mg a day is “well tolerated in humans.”

In December, we sent a resveratrol supplement to a group of FOF beauty testers to try out for one month.  See their results for yourself, here.

Then, comment below to be one of 6 FOF women who will receive a month’s supply of ResVitale’s Resveratrol 250mg supplements to try for yourself.

(See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes February 29, 2012 at midnight E.S.T.

{Giveaway} Pure Inventions Trio

LEAVE A COMMENT 2012 February 15

—————————————————————————————————

FOFs Lynne Gerhards and Lori Mulligan are giving away three bottles (approx. 180 servings) of Pure Inventions, their flavored water enhancer. Enter to win by answering in the comments below: Next to water, what do you drink most?


Anyone who has been on a diet–whether to lose weight or get healthy–knows what the beverage options are: water, water and more water. So healthy! So boring! That’s why FOFs Lynne Gerhards and Lori Mulligan, two nutritionists and friends, created Pure Inventions liquid water enhancer, a calorie-free, chemical-free, sodium-free, nutritious water enhancer. The drops–which are portable and can be added to any flat or carbonated water–range in flavor from vanilla creme and pineapple coconut to peach and chocolate cocoa. And they actually taste delicious…we tried them. “If you replace one 20-ounce sugary beverage a day, you’ll cut 9,000 calories of sugar per month,” says Lynne. We’ll drink to that! Here we chat with Lori and Lynne about Pure Inventions and staying healthy after fifty.

What did you two do before you created Pure Inventions?
Lynne: Lori was raising a family and I was running a country club. We got our certified clinical nutrition degrees and opened up a practice in September 2001.

Lori: We wanted to create something that would get our clients to drink more water.
We worked with scientists–giving them the concept that we wanted–and they figured out how to fit it all in that little bottle. In addition to flavor, the drops also provide antioxidants, fruit extracts, green tea extracts and other nutritional benefits.

Do Pure Inventions extracts contain sweetener?
Lori: Yes. Many of our clients wanted to go off diet soda, but were still looking for something sweet tasting. We use extract from the Lo-han fruit. It’s nicknamed the ‘longevity fruit,’ because it grows in countries that have an unusually high number of residents who live past 100. It’s also low glycemic, has zero calories and is one hundred times sweeter then sugar. It’s used in Chinese medicine for digestion, respiratory problems and regulating blood sugar. The other sweetener we use is Stevia. It’s from the Stevia plant, has no chemicals, and there’s no processing. It’s also great for digestion and blood sugar.

Why is Pure Inventions important for FOFs?
Lori: With menopause, your metabolism slows down, and you gain weight. You can age quicker if you’re not eating well and exercising. This can at least solve the drink issue–to get you off soda, diet soda and sugary drinks.

Do you have a favorite flavor?
Lori and Lynne: The vanilla creme. When you add it to sparkling water, it tastes like cream soda! We also like using our fruit extracts over plain yogurt or oatmeal or as a cocktail mixer.

—————————————————————————————————

Enter to win three bottles of Pure Inventions (approx. 180 servings), flavored liquid water enhancer by answering in the comments below: Next to water, what do you drink most?

One FOF will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes February 23, 2012 at midnight E.S.T.

Can’t wait to find out if you won? FOFs receive 35% off all Pure Inventions products when you enter code PUREFAB50 at checkout. Valid from February 16, 2012 to February 23, 2012.

Thank you for entering. This contest is now closed.

from →  , , ,

{Health} The Greatest Diet You’ve Never Heard Of

LEAVE A COMMENT 2012 February 8

[Read this article and then comment below to be entered to win one of 3 copies of FOF Marla Heller’s best-selling book, The Dash Diet Action Plan (Grand Central Publishing, 2011)]

This fall, US News and World Report released its annual “Best Diets” issue, ranking the top 25 consumer diets for overall health and weight loss–as rated by an independent panel of health experts. It included the usual suspects: Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, The Zone…even Slim Fast made the cut. The number one ranked diet was The Dash Diet . . .

. . . Wait. What?!

.
Yeah, we’d never heard of it either. What is this US-News-beloved formula, and why isn’t it advertised everywhere like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig?

For answers, we turned to FOF Marla Heller, 62, a registered dietitian and the author of The Dash Diet Action Plan, the New York Times best-seller about the diet.

Marla explained the diet originated from a government funded study in the 1990s: “The original study, titled Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH), was intended to take the best components of a vegetarian diet–a diet known to lower blood pressure–and make it doable for most meat-eating Americans,” says Marla. To do this, researchers compared three diets: (1) the typical American diet, (2) the typical American diet with extra fruits and vegetables, and (3) the typical American diet with extra fruits and vegetables and extra low-fat dairy.

They found that the third option was the winner–it lowered blood pressure in as little as 14 days. Subsequent studies showed that the diet also supported weight loss as well as a reduced incidence of breast cancer, diabetes, colorectal cancer, heart disease, and stroke.

“US News and World Report said it’s the best diet for a lot of reasons,” says Marla. “But I think the key is that the goal isn’t just weight loss; it’s health. When you get to your goal weight, you’re going to be healthier.” In fact, a look at the US News article confirms that the diet received average scores when it came to weight loss and long-term weight loss, but outstanding scores when it came to nutrition, safety and heart health.

What are the rules?
“The key to DASH is getting more fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy,” says Marla. Sounds simple enough, but consider that the average American gets just three servings of fruits and vegetables each day, while the DASH diet calls for 4-5 servings of fruit and 4-5 servings of vegetables daily. “The focus of my book is meal plans that show you how to work multiple fruits and vegetables into every meal,” says Marla. “They’re bulky; they fill you up. Once you pair those with the recommended portions of lean proteins (5-7oz. a day), low fat dairy (3-5 servings a day), beans, nuts and seeds, you really don’t have room for much else.”

Marla insists that the focus is on adding foods, not eliminating. “Have a turkey sandwich,” she says. “But load it with as many vegetables as possible–cucumbers, tomatoes, sprouts, peppers….” And in fact, a typical day’s DASH menu, at 2,000, calories looks like a decadent feast.

—————————————————————————————————

A typical day on the Dash Diet:

[portfolio_slideshow]

—————————————————————————————————

The tricky part is that this “typical day” is designed to lower your blood pressure and improve your overall health–not necessarily to help you lose weight. If your goal is weight loss, and you’re an FOF woman, you’ll likely need to opt for a more restricted calorie intake of 1200-1600 calories a day. Marla outlines DASH Diet meal plans at these calorie counts as well, and she insists that the premise remains the same: “We help you figure out what your calorie level should be and how many servings of the key foods you need to get into your day. By the time you’ve gotten all those servings in, you’ve used up your calories, and you’re full. You don’t have time or desire for the junk food.”

So, will I lose weight?
“Yes,” insists Christine Ambrose, 44, who has lost 90 pounds since starting the diet in 2010. At 5’4”, Christine was about 233 pounds when she started the diet at the suggestion of her physician. “My blood pressure was very high. He offered me two options–weight loss surgery or DASH.” Christine started out on a non-restrictive calorie plan and saw her blood pressure go down significantly, but it wasn’t until she cut down to 1500 calories/day that she began to see the weight drop off. She currently weighs 143. “It gave me structure,” Christine explains. “I knew how much I could eat–I focused on eating lots of fruits and vegetables and never going over my sodium limits.” [Note from Marla: “Sodium restriction is not a part of the standard DASH diet, but it is recommended by many doctors who are treating patients with high blood pressure.”] The best part, says Christine, is the improved health. “My skin and hair is better. I look younger. My resting heart rate is 45! That’s a good number for an athlete–a marathon runner!”

Why have so few people heard of it?
“It’s less sexy than a lot of diets out there,” Marla admits. There’s no clever marketing hook for DASH (No carbs! No wheat! Eat cookies and lose weight!) since it’s basically about eating a balanced diet rich in fruits and vegetables and low in saturated fats. In fact, there’s no real marketing at all. Once the DASH research was published in the late 90s, the NIH released some educational materials exclusively to physicians and dietitians, “but my patients couldn’t understand any of the information,” Marla explains. “My academic advisor was on the committee that studied the diet, so I understood how great it was. I thought, I have to find a way to explain this so people can actually use it.”

In 2000, Marla began work on her own book as a way to explain the diet to her private clients. She self-published in 2005, but it wasn’t until this past summer that she was approached by an agent and publisher interested in republishing the book. Since then, the diet appeared as number one in US News and Marla’s book hit the New York Times bestseller list.

Who would do best on this diet?

According to Marla, the DASH Diet “is  for everyone. It doesn’t restrict any one type of food, and we accommodate for sensitivities to dairy and gluten.” Still, when we searched for women over fifty who had tried and lost weight on the diet, we couldn’t find anyone–despite posting on the DASH Diet Facebook page.

So what do you think…Would you try this diet?  Have you tried it?  Tell us below and you’re automatically entered to win a copy of Marla’s best-selling book, The Dash Diet Action Plan. 3 women will win!

Three FOFs will win. (See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes February 16, 2012 at midnight E.S.T.

{Beauty} The Home Beauty Remedies that FOFs Swear By

LEAVE A COMMENT 2012 February 2

What did FOFs do before there were fancy-shmancy lotions and potions? They treated their wrinkles and imperfections with things they found from the earth–raw herbs, plant and animal oils.


Now, some FOFs are nixing modern anti-aging treatments and creams loaded with chemicals and other unidentifiable ingredients in favor of the all-natural remedies used by our FOForemothers. “Recently, my nutritionist encouraged me to get as far away from manufactured creams as possible,” says FOF Trish Perry. But, do these natural remedies actually work? We spoke to FOFs who swear they do and dermatologist Dr. Jessica Krant about what the current research says about these age-old beauty secrets.

Tell us: What natural home beauty treatments do you use?

—————————————————————————————————
[portfolio_slideshow] —————————————————————————————————

{Health} Dropping Pounds

LEAVE A COMMENT 2012 January 26

The internet is buzzing about a controversial weight-loss plan called The hCG Diet. Is this hormone-based protocol a wonder formula, or a dangerous health risk? FOF investigates.

Ask a few different medical professionals about the hCG diet and you’ll get… well, a few different answers. We know, because we asked, and that’s exactly what happened. We know that’s not what you want to hear–after all, your FOFriend just lost, like, a gazillion pounds in 3 weeks and looks great . . . But wait, wasn’t there something you heard about the FDA banning hCG? And why do all those websites that sell hCG drops look so scammy?

We spoke to two doctors who specialize in weight loss–Dr. Caroline Cederquist, MD, who is against the use of hCG for weight loss entirely, and Dr. Benjamin Gonzalez, MD, who uses hCG in his practice and swears by it. We also spoke to two FOFs about their own experiences with hCG. The good news is: there are a few universal truths about hCG–even if opinions differ. Before you buy those drops or get those shots, listen up!


What the heck is hCG anyway?
Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (hCG) is a protein hormone that female bodies produce in high amounts during pregnancy allowing the fetus to survive. The idea of using hCG in combination with a 500-calorie-a-day diet for weight loss was introduced in a medical journal called The Lancet in the 1954 by Dr. Albert T.W. Simeons. The dieter injects or ingests hCG three times a day and eats a strict 500 to 550 calorie diet. “The idea is that hCG acts as an appetite suppressant and allows the body to tap into and utilize the stored fat as a source of energy and nutrition,” writes Dr. Gonzalez in his own position paper on hCG. Interest in the protocol surged in the 50s after Dr. Simeons’ article was published. In the 1970s, Dr. Simeons died and “the interest in the protocol kind of died off too,” according to Dr. Gonzalez. “However, recently there’s been a resurgence.”

Over-the-counter hCG is illegal.
An abundance of products marketed as hCG are sold over the counter including drops, pellets and shots. The manufacturers of these products claim that when combined with an extremely restrictive, low-calorie diet hCG can “reset your metabolism” or shave off “20-30 pounds in 30-40 days.” In December 2011, the FDA issued a warning to consumers stating “there is no substantial evidence hCG increases weight loss beyond that resulting from the recommended caloric restriction” and that the products “are potentially dangerous even if taken as directed.” Both the FTC and FDA issued a letter to 7 manufacturers of over-the-counter hCG warning the companies that “they are violating federal law by selling drugs that have not been approved, and by making unsupported claims for the substances,” according to a press release issued by the FDA. The 7 manufacturers the FDA chose to target weren’t the only ones in violation of the law. You still may see be able to find products marketed as hCG in stores and online, but according to the FDA there are “no HCG products sold online and in stores approved for weight loss.”

Illegal or not, some women swear by it.
“My whole life, I had never been unhappy with my weight,” says FOF Sherry Ittel from Plano, Texas. Then, recently, she hit menopause and accumulated just a bit of stubborn fat that she struggled to get rid of. A friend had success using over-the-counter hCG, so, a few months ago Sherry decided she would give it a try. She bought some drops on a site called hCGdiet.com for $80. After taking the drops three times daily, combined with a strict 500-550 calorie diet, she lost her goal weight of 10 pounds in about four weeks. “I remember e-mailing my friend and saying ‘celery is not a substitute for popcorn.’ I wanted popcorn so bad,” says Sherry. “I guess a couple times I was hungry, but it wasn’t that much of an issue.”

Another FOF, Barbara Langley, from Independence, Missouri, describes herself as “overweight.” She tried dozens of diets over her lifetime–but none of them gave her the results she wanted. Then, last March, she bought hCG drops off a website called myhcgsystem.com. The diet appealed to Barbara, because, although extreme, it only required a short time commitment. “I can do anything for 23 days,” she says. Barbara lost about 40 pounds in just over three weeks. In December, she got an e-mail from the manufacturer of her hCG drops. “It said something like, ‘if you want to go on this program, you better buy your drops because the FDA will not allow them to be sold after January 1st,’” says Barbara. “It really made me concerned, like ‘what’s in these things?’ But, they offered it for some ridiculous price so I bought two bottles.”
—————————————————————————————————

A sample day on the 500 calorie hCG diet for FOF Barbara Langley:

[portfolio_slideshow] —————————————————————————————————

FDA officials and many medical professionals specializing in weight loss such as Dr. Caroline Cederquist, MD, director of Cederquist Comprehensive Weight Control, say that what concerns them most about this diet is not the hCG itself, but the strict calorie limit it imposes. Manufacturers and supporters of hCG claim that the hormone helps you utilize the stored fat as a source of energy and nutrition, in effect making up for the calories your diet is lacking. Dr. Cederquist disagrees: “Anytime you lower your caloric intake, you are theoretically burning stored fat. But, if you don’t have enough protein in your diet, your body will not allow you to break down fat. It will start breaking down muscle tissue to meet your nutritional needs.” Dr Cederquist says that the muscle could be from your arms and legs, but even more worrisome, “it could be the protein in your heart.”  According to a press release issued by the FDA, “consumers on such restrictive diets are at increased risk for side effects that include gallstone formation, an imbalance of the electrolytes that keep the body’s muscles and nerves functioning properly, and an irregular heartbeat…A very low calorie diet should only be used under proper medical supervision.”

Doctor-administered hCG–is it safe?
Following a 500-calorie diet without guidance from a physician is almost universally frowned upon. But, the safety of using hCG under the supervision of a doctor has fueled the hottest debate yet–with everyone from Dr. Oz to Oprah forming and sharing opinions on the matter.

Dr. Benjamin Gonzalez, MD, says that five years ago, he believed hCG was “crap,” but now he prescribes it to select patients through his practice, Atlantis Medical Wellness Center in Silver Spring, MD. Dr. Gonzales says that after a family member asked him his advice on the diet, he ran trials on his office staff and “basically did a 180,” on his opinion of the drug. “It was eye-opening,” he says. “After treating hundreds of patients successfully, I’m a convert.”

Does Dr. Gonzalez worry about putting his patients on such a restrictive diet? “hCG is medication that helps your body change how it burns your own fat,” says Dr. Gonzales. “If you went on a 500- or 600-calorie-a-day diet without the hCG, it’s absolutely true [you’d be at risk for muscle breakdown], but what the hCG provides is protection from that along with an appetite suppressing type of feeling.” Sounds like a miracle! Could it be? Dr. Cederquist doesn’t think so. She references a study from the “70s or 80s” where one group of patients was restricted to 500 calories with hCG and other group of patients was restricted to 500 calories without it. “There was no significant difference between the two,” says Dr. Cedequist. Dr. Gonzalez agrees that studies on hCG have been published suggesting the effects of hCG are bogus, but calls them “small, not very good studies… No one is going to put a couple million dollars toward studies on something such as hCG that makes them pennies.”

Furthermore, Dr. Gonzalez is adamant about making a distinction between the hCG he prescribes in his office and that which is sold over the counter. “A lot of people will buy the hCG online and you don’t even know if it’s actually hCG or not, and it usually is not,” says Dr. Gonzalez. “I have patients come in here and say ‘I just want the hCG, can’t you just give me the hCG and I’ll do the rest?’ No way. It has to be done by a doctor or nurse who is experienced with the protocol.”  Dr. Gonzalez conducts careful screenings of his patients before prescribing them hCG and checks in with them frequently while they are using it. The whole protocol for 39 days including the initial screening, labs, the shots and weekly follow up appointments done under his supervision costs a patient approximately $900.

He prescribes the hCG “off-label” which means that it is not approved by the FDA for weight loss although it is approved for other uses, such as fertility issues. Prescribing drugs off-label is a fairly common medical practice (read more about off-label prescriptions), but controversial as well, depending on the drug and the problem it’s treating.

“We know it’s very safe since it has been studied for these other conditions,” says Dr. Gonzalez. “They haven’t approved hCG for weight loss but not one single death nor long term side effect has surfaced in the 50 years of use.”

The bottom line:
When it comes to doctor-administered hCG, buyer beware. Past studies on using the hCG hormone paired with a low-calorie diet for weight loss are too limited to be conclusive. There is a lot more research in this area that needs to be done. When it comes to over-the-counter hCG, stay away. These products have been deemed “potentially dangerous” and “illegal” by the FDA.

{My Story} “I was nervous, tired, flushed . . . but I never expected this diagnosis.”

LEAVE A COMMENT 2012 January 25

FOF Linda McCoy reveals why every FOF should know the warning signs of Atrial Fibrillation

[Editor’s note: The essay below, by FOF Linda McCoy, is part of a series of personal blogs from our readers. Have your own story to tell? Email your idea to geri@faboverfifty.com.]

It started out as a routine visit to the doctor’s office. I was scheduled for lab work and a refill on my prescription for high blood pressure, which has been under control for years. The doctor quietly listened to my heart and asked the nurse to take a cardiogram. I wasn’t alarmed; I’d had Rheumatic Fever as a kid and been through many electrocardiograms.

When the doctor came back, she looked at me seriously and told me I had Atrial Fibrillation and that I needed to see a cardiologist right away. When I asked her to explain exactly what that meant, she told me my heart was not pumping correctly, and that blood was sitting in my heart chamber, which could cause it to form a blood clot.

I learned that during Atrial Fibrillation, the the upper chambers of the heart beat very rapidly and irregularly–“quivering” instead of contracting normally. By  itself, AF isn’t life threatening, but it can cause uncomfortable symptoms like palpitations, fatigue, dizziness, and nausea. It can also lead to other rhythm problems and congestive heart failure. The most serious complication is stroke: AF increases a person’s risk of having a stroke by five times the normal level.

My doctor arranged an appointment with a cardiologist for the next day. Meanwhile, I was sent home with a prescription for blood thinners and a heart drug. Of course, I had to find out what Dr. Google said, which made me more apprehensive. I spent a restless night worried about the next day’s visit.

My visit to the cardiologist confirmed my family doctor’s diagnosis. He explained that they don’t know what causes AF, but many people have it. He said I would have to remain on blood thinners and advised a procedure called cardio-version, during which an electrical shock is applied to your heart to regulate your heartbeat. A week later I got the cardioversion, but my “a-fib” came back. A month later, I got another cardio-version, but it didn’t work either.

Next, the doctor recommended ablation, a procedure where they cauterize the heart cells that are miss-firing. The decision to have it done wasn’t an easy one. Ablation is a long procedure, carries some risk, and there are no guarantees it will work. Sometimes it has to be done more than once. It took me a year to muster up the courage to go forward with it.

I arrived at the hospital pretty calm. I trusted my doctor, and, after all, I was going to be under anesthesia. They sent a young male orderly in to shave my groin area, since this is where the catheters are inserted into your legs. I sent him packing! ‘Can’t I please have a female nurse do that?’ When the nurse arrived with a razor in hand she told me what a wonderful young man the orderly was and that he had been there for years, surely trying to make me feel guilty. She did the deed with efficiency. Having the catheter put in wasn’t nearly as bad as I imagined it would be. Thank God!

Before they wheeled me into the operating room, my husband and daughter came in to say goodbye. There I was, in tears (is this normal?),  “bye then, see you later.” Next I found myself in a room that looked like the bridge of the “Starship Enterprise”–more computers than anyone could imagine. I was put completely out. I woke up seven hours later; I don’t remember being taken back to my room.  I was advised to lay flat for six hours and that the catheters (three in each leg) would come out when my blood reached a certain level. They allowed me to eat raspberry sorbet. I told my husband and daughter it was the best thing I ever ate. What was I thinking?  The blood level they were after was not obtained until seven the next morning.

They asked if I wanted a pain killer before they took the catheters in my veins and arteries out. The nurse said they sometimes make people sick,  so I declined. This REALLY hurt, and I regretted saying no. (Note to self: When the hospital staff offers a pain killer, take the drug and say “thank you!”) As soon as I was disconnected from the Foley catheter and intravenous fluids I was allowed to go home under strict instructions. The numbness and soreness in my legs bothered me.

My recovery is still in process, my left leg is still quite numb, which I am told will fade. My bruises, a dark bluish purple, will eventually disappear.  The most difficult part of the recovery is fatigue, which lasts about three months, until my heart heals completely. On the upside, my heart is now in normal rhythm and hopefully it will stay that way.  My sleep is undisturbed, my family wonders why I am so calm (is this the new me?), and importantly, I should be able to go off blood thinners in the near future.

Many people walk around with undiagnosed atrial fibrillation. Some of the symptoms I missed? I was nervous, tired, agitated, my face was flushed, I had sleepless nights, and loud noises made me jump out of my skin. I am 64 and past menopause, so I should not have ignored these symptoms. I could feel my heart jumping around, although like many people I didn’t want to think it might be something serious, and I attributed it to my penchant for coffee. This is an incredibly common medical issue. Millions of people have it, doctors don’t know what causes it, but one thing is for sure: if you find yourself with these symptoms, you owe it to yourself to make a visit to your doctor. It can be managed. Heads up on this one FOFs!

{Health} You may be at risk for a gallbladder attack, and not even know it.

LEAVE A COMMENT 2012 January 19

In 2001, FOF Teresa Gordon, 53, experienced “excruciating” stomach pains one day while at work. “It’s was like a knife cutting me from my stomach to my back,” says the Utah resident. She began having sudden attacks like these almost weekly, and for six months doctors couldn’t figure out what was causing the pain. An MRI finally determined the source of her agony–“sand-like” particles in her gallbladder.

Gallstones occur in nearly 25% of American women by age 60, and as many as 50% by age 75, according to a research report published by the University of Maryland Medical Center. The good news: You can prevent gallstones from ever becoming a painful attack, like Teresa’s did. The bad news: If you ignore the signs, it can lead to a serious infection or in rare cases, be deadly.

Here, two Harvard-trained gall-bladder experts, Dr. Dixie Mills and Dr. Chung-Jyi Tsai, explain why FOFs are especially at risk for this painful problem and what we can do to prevent it.

Dr. Dixie Mills describes the gallbladder as “a cute little sack, like a cloth jewelery bag, that collects extra bile from our liver.” Sounds important… is it? “It’s more essential than the appendix, but it’s not critical–you can live without it,” she explains.

Gallstones occur when bits of hardened bile accumulate in the gallbladder “over years,” according to Dr. Mills. Dr. Tsai approximates that 80% of people with gallstones don’t even know they have them. The stones becomes a problem only when they begin to irritate and inflame the gallbladder tissue–as with Teresa’s gallstones. In other cases, “gallstones get so big, they can block the entrance or exit to the gallbladder, which also causes a painful attack,” says Dr. Mills.

Gallbladder Disease in FOFs
“I have several friends who’ve had gallbladder problems, including my best friend who is 5 years younger than I am,” says Teresa.

Teresa’s observation reflects a larger trend: Studies have shown that peri-menopausal and menopausal women are at greater risk for gallbladder stones and attacks than the general population. “Women have more estrogen then men, which is why they are more prone to gallbladder disease,” says Dr. Mills. “In the simplest terms, estrogen is broken down or metabolized in the liver, which makes the liver work harder. This, in turn, produces more bile and puts stress on the gallbladder. During peri-menopause, estrogen levels are a bit higher than normal which is why we may see an increased risk for gallbladder attacks to women in this group.”

As for women who have undergone menopause, “body-weight change is the most common risk factor for gall bladder problems,” says to Dr. Tsai, and as we already know weight gain is very common during and post-menopause.

The major risk factors for gall bladder are summarized by Dr. Mills as “the 5 F’s:”

  • Female, Forty. (addressed above)
  • Fair. “It seems to be related to people of Scandinavian background which may be genetic or may be based on their diet, we don’t really know,” says Dr. Mills.
  • Fertile. “Because estrogen is elevated during pregnancy, some women get gallbladder attacks or gallstones during this time,” says Dr. Mills.
  • Fat. “Being overweight can increase the risk of gallbladder problems,” says Dr. Mills. “Fat tissue contains estrogen or cholesterol, which influence how the liver metabolizes lipids.” One study published by Dr. Tsai, found that women with a larger abdominal circumference had a higher risk of gallbladder problems that required surgery.

Diet also plays a role.  “Consumption of higher glycemic index food carries a high risk of gallbladder problems including a gallbladder attack,” says Dr. Tsai. (Read: List of 100 foods and their glycemic indexes.) A diet which consists of too much saturated fat may also lead to gallbladder trouble. “Saturated fats are more difficult to break down,” says Dr. Mills. Weight fluctuation or “yo-yo dieting” can also increase your risk.

Symptoms of a gallbladder attack
“An attack can bring a wide spectrum of symptoms, from vague nausea to sharp, debilitating pain.” says Dr. Mills. “Some people have even likened the pain to appendicitis or an ulcer. It can be hard to differentiate, but the pain from a gallbladder attack is usually on the right side and may radiate to the back. It can often come on after a fatty meal.”

“It seems like food had a lot to do with my attacks,” says FOF Teresa. “Spicy food, citrusy food, greasy food, and milk products tended to bring them [attacks] on. We went to dinner one night and I had a steak and a margarita. I woke up in the middle of the night in excruciating pain.”

To operate or not?
After multiple attacks, Teresa had laparoscopic surgery to remove her gallbladder, a minimally-invasive procedure requiring only small keyhole incisions. “90 percent of gallbladder surgeries are now done this way,” says Dr. Mills. Teresa was able to go home the same of she was operated on and says it was neither invasive nor painful.

But surgery is not always necessary. “It depends on how many attacks you have and how severe they are,” says Dr Mills. “A patient with gallbladder attacks may not need surgery, especially if she is willing to implement some lifestyle changes including changing their diet, increasing their exercise, losing weight and maintaining their weight.”

Prevention
Dr. Tsai recommends focusing on “low-cost,” “low-risk” methods, including “eating healthy and maintaining a healthy weight.” One of Dr. Tsai’s studies indicated that “higher consumption of polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids could prevent the occurrence of gallbladder disease.” Monounsaturated fatty acids include olive oil, peanut oil, avocados and nuts. Polyunsaturated fatty acids are mainly found in vegetable oils (safflower, corn, canola) and fatty fish such as salmon and tuna. Dr. Mills says detox cleanses done under the guidance of a healthcare provider could “help your digestive system a lot and cool down the gall bladder.”

Since Teresa’s surgery, she has implemented her own dietary changes. “I’m Hispanic, so we eat a lot of Mexican food…it was a big change to eat food that was less spicy and not as fried. I’m more conscious about what I eat now.”

—
Dixie Mills, MD, FACS is a Harvard-trained general surgeon and women’s health expert. She is currently a surgeon with the Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates. She is a former practitioner at the Women to Women Healthcare Clinic and a co-founder of Women to Women’s Personal Program. She formerly served as Medical Director at the Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation in California.
—
Dr. Chung-Jyi Tsai, M.D., Ph.D. is a gastroenterologist with the Cleveland Clinic. Dr. Tsai has a doctorate from Harvard Medical School where he and his colleagues have done extensive research on gallstones and gallbladder disease. These studies have been published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the American Journal of Gastroenterology and other leading medical publications.

{Quiz} “Which weight loss method will work best for me?”

LEAVE A COMMENT 2012 January 11

Over the past year, FOF has investigated dozens of new diets, fat-busting tools and gadgets. The more we learn, the more we see that different people gravitate toward different methods. Essentially, no weight-loss method is ‘one size fits all.’ So how do you choose the one that will work best for you? Here we take the four most popular weight loss methods we featured this year–Coolsculpting, the pH diet, The Wheat Belly Diet and The Dukan Diet–and help you figure out the best one for your very unique FOFigure.

1. How easy would it be to give up pasta and bread tomorrow?
a. Impossible!
b. I’m up for the challenge..er, wait…can I cheat from time to time?
c. I could do it for a period of time but not forever.
d. Difficult, but I’ll do anything for weight loss.

2. Which statement best describes how willing you are to change your eating habits?
a. I don’t want to change my eating habits at all.
b. I want to eat healthier but I don’t want to give up my favorite foods.
c. I’m open to most diet changes but could never go vegetarian–I’d rather indulge in a steak or juicy burger than anything else.
d. I’m willing to make major changes such as taking an entire food group out of my diet.

3. How good are you at suppressing your hunger.
a. Terrible — when I’m hungry, I need to eat.
b. For me, feeling hungry isn’t worth it for weight loss. I just want to be healthy.
c. I’d rather sacrifice variety of food for quantity.
d. I’m willing to make major sacrifices and don’t mind feeling hungry if it means I’ll lose weight.

4. How creative are you when it comes to cooking?
a. Not creative at all!
b. I love to have fun and experiment in the kitchen.
c. I cook but not with much variety, I stick to the few recipes I know.
d. I enjoy try new recipes and cuisines–especially from other cultures.

5. How long are you willing to spend on a diet?
a. I’ve never really been able to stick to a diet for longer than a week.
b. A couple of weeks.
c. 6 months to a year.
d. I want to make a lifestyle change so I’m willing to wait as long as it takes.

6. What physical results do you want?
a. I want to minimize my trouble areas (belly fat, love handles or back fat).
b. It’s more about my health than my weight. I want glowing skin, more energy and less wrinkles. If I lose weight too, then, great, but not necessary.
c. I just want to see the numbers drop on my scale and weight loss–everywhere.
d. Substantial weight loss, especially from the abdomen. I also have some medical issues (ie: diabetes, allergies, heart disease) that I’m hoping will be improved by a new diet.

7. Which best describes your weight?
a. I take care of myself and maintain a healthy weight but have stubborn fat in trouble areas (belly, love handles or back) I can’t get rid of.
b. I could lose a little weight but am mostly satisfied. However, I lack energy.
c. I’m at least fifteen pounds overweight. I’ve especially gained weight after menopause.
d. I’ve struggled with weight my entire life.

8. How much cash are you willing to shell out?
a. I’ll spend any amount of money it takes–hundreds or even thousands of dollars.
b. I’d be willing to invest around $150 initially.
c. I’d be willing to spend about 10% more on my grocery bill each week.
d. Spend more!? I thought a diet meant eating less and spending less!

9.  Which of the following foods could you never give up?
a.  I’m not interested in eliminating anything from my diet completely.
b.  Fruit
c.  Meat
d.  Rice and potatoes

Disclaimer: Always consult with your doctor before you start any diet.

Scoring:
—————————————————————————————————

Mostly A’s — Coolsculpting
If you eat what you like and like what you eat, money is no object when it comes to losing weight and you just have a few trouble areas that need some correcting, Coolsculpting may be the weight loss method for you.
Coolsculpting is a new, non-surgical procedure can “freeze” away your fat cells. No dieting, cutting, anesthesia or recovery time. Just an hour in your doctor’s office, hooked up to a non-invasive “coolsculpting” machine. Within several days of receiving the procedure, cooled fat cells begin a process called apoptosis (natural cell death) and begin to shrink and disappear. Clinical trials showed an average 20-percent reduction in fat in the treated area within 16 weeks. It’ll cost you about about $750 for the belly, and $750 per side for love handles, according to Dr. Debra Jaliman who uses “coolsculpting” on her patients. Read more about Coolsculpting, here.
—————————————————————————————————

Mostly B’s — pH diet
If you care more about your overall energy level and appearance, then you do about weight, the pH diet may be right for you. Perhaps a misnomer, the pH diet doesn’t promise you’ll lose weight (although if you follow it correctly, you probably will) but instead, says you’ll have fewer wrinkles, brighter skin and more energy within 2 weeks of following the plan (and maybe even as soon as 1 day!).  Each day, you test your body’s pH level by putting a strip of special paper under your tongue. If your body is too acidic, you up your intake of alkaline-producing food such as kale, garlic, olive oil, lemon and Brazil nuts. If your body is too alkaline, you up your intake of acidic-producing food such as meat and dairy. “It’s not prison,” says Dr. Graf, a dermatologist who wrote a book, Stop Aging, Start Living about the diet. If one day you mess up and eat too much pasta or down a few margaritas, no sweat, the next day just “beef up your intake of greens and other alkaline-producing food,” according to Dr. Graf. Read more about the pH Diet, here.
—————————————————————————————————

Mostly C’s — Dukan Diet
If you are willing to sacrifice variety for quantity in your diet and you want to lose a significant amount of weight within a year, the Dukan Diet might be for you. The Dukan Diet gained fame when Carole Middleton (mother of Kate Middleton) publicly credited her svelte new physique (she dropped two dress sizes before the royal wedding) to 69-year-old French diet doctor, Pierre Dukan. The diet focuses on high protein, low fat and low carb foods. You can eat any quantity of lean protein you want and you’re also required to eat 1.5 tablespoons of oat bran a day to help you feel full. The diet has four stages–the first is the most restrictive and only lasts two to seven days. The last phase is the least restrictive and designed to last the rest of your life. In this phase you can eat whatever you want as long as you spend one day a week on a pure protein diet, continue to eat your 3 tablespoons of oat bran every day, and take the stairs instead of escalators and elevators. The time you spend in each phase, depends on your starting weight and the weight you want to end up–the diet can last from a few weeks to a year. Read more about the Dukan Diet, here.
—————————————————————————————————

Mostly D’s — Wheat Belly

You want to lose a lot of weight and you have other physical issues–diabetes, heart disease, allergies or arthritis that you hope will be helped by a new diet. You’re willing to do whatever it takes, even if it means giving up *gasp* pasta and bread…forever. In Wheat Belly, Dr. William Davis’ New York Times best-selling book, he attributes many of our nation’s physical problems, including heart disease, diabetes and obesity, to our consumption of wheat. “When you look at the makeup of wheat, it’s almost like a group of evil scientists got together and said, how can we create this god-awful destructive food that will ruin health?” says Dr. Davis. No ifs, ands or buts, to lose weight, Dr. Davis says you need to give up wheat and return to real food: vegetables and nuts, cheese, eggs and meats in all forms, avocados and olives. He warns you may experience “withdrawal-like” symptoms at first because of wheat’s addictive properties, but in the end it will “change your life.”  “When my patients give up wheat, I see that weight loss is substantial, especially from the abdomen. People can lose several inches in the first month.” Maybe it sounds harsh but Dr. Davis promises it’s not a “diet of deprivation.” He says, he’s been practicing it himself for many years and has eaten “cookies and cheesecake, carrot cake, chocolate biscotti,” but only after he recreates these foods using alternate ingredients.
Read more about Wheat Belly, here.
 —————————————————————————————————

If you didn’t have a majority of any particular letter
You diet chameleon, you! You can adapt to multiple weight loss methods, you lucky gal! More than one method may be right for you. If you had two letters in a dead heat, read about both diets and pick the one that speaks to you.

{Beauty} A Cancer-Survivor Comes “Clean” About her Beauty Products

LEAVE A COMMENT 2012 January 4

A year ago, FOF Tracey Brown was willing to put just about anything on her skin. As the founder of the popular beauty blog Blinging Beauty, and a former Sephora executive, she received mountains of sample products. Creamy foundations, luxe lipsticks, smoothing peels and hydrating lotions–Tracey tested every one. She admits to especially loving super-powered cosmeceuticals: “If something burned me to death or turned my skin red–that was my thing,” she says. “I liked to feel it working.”

Then, in 2010, she was diagnosed with cancer.

Specifically, chronic lymphocytic leukemia–the very blood disease that had killed her mother at 67 and her grandmother at 98.

Suddenly, she saw beauty products differently. “Having cancer made me want to use less chemicals on my skin. Period.” she explains. “Your skin is your largest organ, and what you put on it is absorbed into your bloodstream. It also made me think about my own daughters and what they use.”

According to a report from The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a nonprofit that lobbies to keep dangerous chemicals out of consumer products, “more than 1 in 5 personal care products contain chemicals linked to cancer and 56 percent contain penetration enhancers that help deliver ingredients deeper into the skin.” While the chemicals in any one product are unlikely to cause cancer in an individual, there’s simply no definitive research on the cumulative effects of being exposed to multiple products every day.

For Tracey, finding products that were safe, but also effective, became a priority. “When it comes to skincare, I’ve gone 100% to clean products,” she says. “There’s no easy way to know what’s safe. A product labeled ‘natural’ can have some pretty scary ingredients. I look at the labels, at all the ingredients (not just the active ones), and compare them to the list of chemicals that we know are dangerous.”

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics recommends checking against this list of the 12 most harmful chemicals found in cosmetics, which includes pthalates, parabens, fragrance, petroleum and sulfates.

The good news: “The new generation of ‘clean’ products, as I call them, is amazing,” says Tracey. “I use them now because I actually prefer them to the products I used to use.”

Check out Tracey’s favorite products, below, and tell us in the comments, is there any ingredient you avoid when buying cosmetics or skincare products?

[portfolio_slideshow]

Tracey Brown and her staff try out all sorts of products for her fab blog, Blinging Beauty. (But she uses the products above “day in and day out” she says.)

{Sleep} ‘Twas the week before Christmas…and you’re not sleeping enough!

LEAVE A COMMENT 2011 December 22

Win a “nap sack,” including sheets, pillows, and iPod clock radio and eye pillow, to help you sleep better this holiday season, by answering in the comments below: What holiday-related tasks will you sacrifice shuteye for this week?

‘Twas the week before Christmas… and you’re not sleeping enough, says a recent study published by Sleepy’s and conducted by Toluna, an independent research service. The study shows that the “most wonderful time of the year,” is also the most sleep-deprived. Women, especially FOFs, push physical limits, sacrificing sleep for holiday chores. This past week, FOF Julianne Shannon tells us she pulled an “all-nighter” in order to turn her California home “into a  winter wonderland with faux snow and reindeer–a kind-of Santa’s Workshop motif. Then, I took my son to school and came home to have a morning nap before work.”

Julianne is not alone. More than half of women queried in the study expect to spend between one and four hours a night in December performing holiday-related tasks, cutting into crucial sleep time. The study reports that men will forfeit some sleep too, yet (no surprise here) they devote much less time to holiday chores.

According to sleep expert Robert deStefano, a woman over 50 should be getting seven to eight hours of sleep to function properly. “Throughout the year, women suffer stress-induced insomnia at a 2:1 ratio to men. That skyrockets over the holidays.”

“Many women over 50 have lower sleep efficiency, meaning that their quality of sleep is much poorer,” adds Dr. Steven Y. Park, M.D. an otorhinolaryngologist and Integrative Sleep Surgeon at Montefiore Medical Center.

“If her sleep is fragmented, the central nervous system is taxed and little stressors become magnified,” says Robert. “Stress is a primary contributor to heart disease, the number one cause of death to women in the U.S.”

“Lack of sleep (quantity or quality) is known to promote weight gain by increasing your physiologic stress levels,” says Dr. Park. “It causes cravings of sugary or carbohydrate-laden foods, and metabolically makes you put on weight.”

Seven to eight hours of sleep before the holidays?! Fat chance! Here’s what the study shows that FOFs are doing instead of sleeping.

  • 46% sacrifice sleep for making or wrapping gifts

“I spent last night from midnight to 4 a.m. wrapping gifts for my 4 kids and making a dozen intricate holiday garlands for a fundraiser for our local museum,” says FOF Teri Miceli.

“I woke up from a dead sleep at midnight last night because I forgot I still had a dozen individual scrapbooks to finish and wrap for my co-workers… Was up until dawn on that one!” says FOF Tina Mulheisen.

96% put in extra hours baking, cooking, decorating or cleaning

Every year, FOF Francesca Kranzberg has a “cheesecake party” for 120 to 250 neighbors. She bakes 15 different varieties of the dessert–and non-cheesecake treats, too. “The last few days before our party I usually stay up until 2:30 or 3 a.m. finishing the baking, cleaning, etc., and arise at my usual 7 a.m. to get to work. While I always hope to get some sleep before the party, I am simply too nervous.”

“Sleepless nights start before Thanksgiving, with bread baking and prepping pie crusts,” says FOF Cathy Barrow of the cooking blog Mrs. Wheelbarrow’s Kitchen. “As soon as that holiday is wrapped up, the holiday confections and cookies start. It takes two weeks to make twenty varieties (about 120 dozen) for my holiday cookie box. Lots of baking well past midnight. Plenty of mornings that start at 4 a.m., with cookies in the oven before the coffee is brewed. I mailed off all the treats on Monday, and now my holiday begins.”

“In addition to my normal crazy party schedule, this year I volunteered to make 700 gift boxes of white chocolate dipped and decorate pretzels, oreos and rice crispy treats–up all night with that,” says Alison Mesrop of Alison Mesrop Catering.  “Also made 20 flourless chocolate cakes complete with ganache frosting and glaceed fruit decor. In a sleep-deprived stupor at 3 a.m. I possessed the patience to separate prosciutto slices, painstakingly fitting into cups, baking them to make 500 crispy prosciutto cups.”

45% are shopping online during hours they normally sleep.
.

“I stay up to 11:30 p.m. shopping for clients last minute..not for myself,” says FOF style guru Sherrie Mathieson, author of Steal This Style and Forever Cool. “Then it’s hard to unwind, as the computer light affects melatonin cycles. They say that sleep  between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. is most important, and I have sabotaged that rest time.”

—
Win a “nap sack,” including sheets, pillows, an iPod clock radio and eye pillow, to help you sleep better this holiday season, by answering in the comments below: What holiday-related tasks will you sacrifice shuteye for this week?

One FOF will win.(See all our past winners, here.) (See official rules, here.) Contest closes December 29, 2011 at midnight E.S.T.