What's Wrong With Dr. Phil's Food Plan?Written by Dale Reynolds
I really like Dr. Phil, so I wanted to like his new book on weight loss. And I do like some of it, however, there’s a big problem with chapter on what to eat. Dr. Phil proposes exactly same eating plan for everyone. This will NOT work!His plan may include too many calories for some people, mostly small-framed people. I was actually eating a very similar amount of food at one time, watching my fat intake carefully, eating plenty of fiber, and my weight wouldn’t budge. When I joined Weight Watchers, I learned that I was eating too much (for someone my size) to lose weight. After following their suggestions, I eventually lost 40 pounds and have maintained a healthy weight for almost 5 years. Dr. Phil’s plan also actually provides too few calories for many people to be successful. Sound impossible? Let me explain. Your body needs a certain number of calories to sustain normal functions like pumping blood, breathing, and digesting food (called your basal metabolic rate, or BMR.) This need actually depends on your current weight. The heavier you are, more calories your body needs just to function, even at rest. There are several websites to visit for a BMR calculator and more information on this subject. You also burn calories during exercise; your adjusted caloric needs including your activity level is called AMR (active metabolic rate). Some of sites you’ll find will calculate both your BMR and AMR, so keep looking if you don’t see AMR on first one you hit. As you lose weight, your BMR and AMR will drop. We all know that if we eat too much, we gain weight. We also all know that if we eat way too little, we can starve to death. But somewhere in between, we can lose weight healthfully. Our bodies are smart enough to know where that range is and to protect us if we eat too little. (It also tries to protect us from eating too much. That’s what feeling uncomfortably stuffed is all about!) If you eat a little below your AMR, you can lose weight healthfully. If you eat farther below, your body will protect you by reducing your BMR (and AMR) to conserve energy, and you’ll stop losing weight. Eat too far below, and you’ll start losing again-but you’re starving yourself.
| | Milk Soy Protein Intolerance: A Mother's PerspectiveWritten by Tamara Field
I first learned of Milk Soy Protein Intolerance (MSPI) in office of a pediatric gastroenterologist's office with my seven-week-old son, Max. After first week of his life Max lost weight and was labeled "failure to thrive." As an educated mother and nurse I was devastated that this could happen. That day in GI specialist's office, he performed a proctosigmoidoscopy and biopsy on Max. He sat me where I could see him perform test and told me what I would see. He said that lining of bowel would be red, swollen and bleeding, and it was. I just sat there and cried. After test was over and I could hold Max, Dr. Mack told me that MSPI was indeed what Max had and that I should stop breastfeeding right away and put him on a special formula. He told me that there was a diet I could follow if I wanted to continue breastfeeding, but that it was very stringent and difficult. Wanting to make best choice for my son, I stopped breastfeeding that day and started him on Alimentum. The results were dramatic. After one bottle of Alimentum he slept for 2 and 1/2 hours straight; longest he had ever slept. After learning all about MSPI with my first son, I was more determined that ever that I would 'master' MSPI diet and breastfeed my second child. So, I set out to grocery store with a list of forbidden ingredients in my hand. Gradually, after many hours spent standing in aisles of grocery store reading labels, I began to find dairy-free, soy-free substitutes for foods I might normally eat. All information I collected and recipes I tried, with my husband's encouragement, were compiled into a book: The Milk Soy Protein Intolerance (MSPI) Guidebook /Cookbook which was published in fall of 2001. We also have an informational website for MSPI: http://www.MSPIGuide.org. Milk Soy Protein Intolerance is diagnosed by pediatricians, family physicians and specialists in pediatric gastroenterology. It seems to be more highly prevalent in midwest, but throughout country it is given different names, such as: protein intolerance, food protein-induced colitis or eosinophilic gastroenteritis. MSPI is diagnosed through history of an irritable infant, or colic-like behavior, poor growth and abnormal (blood streaked) stools. Some infants will exhibit frank blood in their stools. Confirmation of diagnosis is often made with a biopsy of intestinal lining which would show an increased amount of eosinophilic cells, eroded intestinal villi and presence of hemorrhagic tissue. It is thought that intestinal lining cannot properly digest proteins (milk and soy) therefore they are taken up into blood stream where body treats them like an antigen and produces antibodies mimicking an allergic response. The intestinal tract then recognizes ingested proteins as it would an allergen and intestinal lining reacts by becoming inflamed, often shedding blood into stool. Some blood may be visible in stools and other blood detected by occult blood testing. The lining of intestine, then, becomes further damaged as it is continuously exposed to these proteins. No one really knows why occurrence of MSPI is prevalent in United States and especially more prevalent in midwest region, but one of theories has to do with our more 'sterile environment.' We, in United States are so preoccupied with keeping our environment clean and free of germs. In other countries, especially those of third world, infants and children are exposed to so many other more serious bacteria, toxins and allergens that their tolerance may become greater due to increased exposure. It also seems that occurrence of MSPI is congenital; if one child has it, chances are very high that subsequent children will have MSPI and that it may be more severe.
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