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Weight Gain From Poor Digestion And Mal-absorption

January 7, 2015

Weight Gain: A Symptom of Poor Digestion and Mal-Absorption

When you start adding extra pounds, there are several things that come to your mind. Besides thinking about what could be causing the sudden weight gain, you will also be wondering about ways to facilitate weight loss. The first thing that comes to our mind when faced with this situation is that our diet is the source of the extra ponds.

We therefore cut out foods we suspect could be causing the weight gain. Most of the time these foods include; sugars, carbohydrates and fats. To most of us these are the main causatives of weight gain.

In cutting out these foods, we deprive our body of essential nutrients that can only come from such foods.

However there are other factors that cause weight gain. Lack of exercise is one of them. When you eat without exercising, then you will certainly add weight.

Some health conditions such as allergies, bacteria over growth, yeast infections, thyroid disease and insulin resistance among others can also cause weight gain. Mal-absorption and poor digestion can as well contribute to weight gain.

fat-malabsorption

Absorption disorders

They are also referred to as mal-absorption syndromes. It occurs when food is not properly digested and nutrients from the diet are not absorbed into the blood stream as they should. These nutrients include among others, minerals, proteins, vitamins, fats and carbohydrates in form of starch and sugars.

Mal-absorption syndrome is not in particular a disease but it results from other health conditions. Digestion involves the breakdown of food so that it can be in a form that can easily be absorbed into the blood for the overall wellness of the body. It takes place in the gastrointestinal tract.

During the break down of food, the nutrients are absorbed in the small bowel. The mucosa, which is the small intestine lining, facilitates absorption of nutrients due to the villi and micro villi that provide a large surface area for this absorption. There are also specialized cells that are used to enhance this absorption of nutrients.

Mal-Absorption and Digestive Disorders and Weight Gain

It is common knowledge that if you want to lose weight, then you have to burn more calories than what you take in your diet. One of the main reasons why weight gain is common among a number of folks is the fact that people eat a lot and refuse to exercise. Your diet contributes to most of the weight you add. Following that up with exercises will ensure that the more calories you eat the more are lost. Due to this, adding weight will not be a part of you.

As seen however, conditions such as poor digestion and mal-absorption can lead to weight gain. How does this happen?

Poor digestion means that food is not being digested properly. This is followed by poor absorption of nutrients from the food into the blood.

Body wellness depends on the general condition of the body. Nutrients are essential for the health of a person. You have heard that lack of nutrients can lead to weight gain. What most people believe is that lack of nutrients will make you thin. This is not the case.

Nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats and vitamins are necessary in the body. If there is poor absorption of these nutrients, they end up accumulating in the body and this causes you to gain weight.

Carbohydrates in particular are converted into fats which are deposited in the tissues. When combined with fats in the body, they end up causing immense weight gain. So as you see, mal-absorption will not necessarily make you lose weight.

weight gain

Poor Digestion and Mal-Absorption Natural Treatment for Weight Loss

When food is not properly being digested, it means that it will not be broken down into essential nutrients. This means that the body will not get the necessary nutrients form the diet. This results in weight gain.

In the same way mal-absorption disorders results in malnutrition and the result is weight gain. So how do you manage this?

The best way to induce weight loss is to do lots and lots of exercise. Don’t just eat. Eat and engage in plenty of exercises.

Also reduce your intake of carbohydrates and fats. Normally carbohydrates are broken down into sugars. When there is poor digestion and absorption, carbohydrates are converted into fats and these are deposited in the body. This leads to weight gain. So therefore why don’t you reduce the amount of carbs and fats you take into the diet?

This information can be found at www.awaremednetwork.com for free. Dr. Dalal Akoury will provide more information about absorption and digestive disorders and how they contribute to weight gain. She has for many years provided wise counsel to patients who bear testimony to her amazing works. Just visit AwareMed for more wellness and awareness tips.

Weight Gain: A Symptom of Poor Digestion and Mal-Absorption

 

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Understanding Leaky Gut Syndrome

December 22, 2014

Leaky Gut Syndrome

Leaky gut syndrome is a term that is used to describe an abnormally hyperpermeable intestinal walls. This is a condition in which the intestines become more porous therefore leaking the undigested food particles into the blood stream. This creates very many holes that are allowing too much of undigested food particles into the bloodstream causing myriads of problems. Apart from undigested food particles toxins, yeast and other wastes find their way into the blood stream therefore overwhelming the liver which is supposed to be sieving all the unwanted content from the blood.

The biggest problem that is presented by this condition is that the intestine should function as the first sieve as it keeps the unwanted materials from getting into the blood stream but since holes have been created on the lining of the intestines everything finds their way in the blood stream and the body may react by inflaming.

Symptoms of Leaky Gut Syndrome

Food Sensitivities – food sensitivities has been closely linked to leaky gut syndrome. This sis because of the high toxins that are accumulated in the blood, this will force the body to produce very many antibodies which makes them more susceptible to some kind of foods.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease – Researchers from Hungary have recently uncovered that elevated gut permeability is often times localized to the colon in people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis.

Thyroid Problems – leaky gut syndrome causes thyroid problems so if you are experiencing thyroid problems, the leaky gut syndrome may be the culprit.

Malabsorption – the leaky gut syndrome causes poor absorption of food, this is because it causes nutritional deficiencies especially of vitamins and minerals such as magnesium and vitamin B12 that help in digestion of food.

Leaky Gut Syndrome

Causes of Leaky Gut Syndrome

Unhealthy diet- when you eat lots of processed foods, refined sugars and preservatives, they cause high chemical amounts in the body which are considered toxins. The body will begin to fight these toxins but since you are taking more and more of these toxins the system may be overwhelmed and this may cause inflammations. Accumulation of these toxins will cause corrosion on the intestinal walls causing the leaky gut syndrome.

Medications- some medication has Aspirin or Acetaminophen as part of their content. Aspirin and Acetaminophen irritate the intestinal lining and decrease the mucosal levels .this affects the protection offered by the mucus on the walls of the intestine. It may also encourage inflammation which increases permeability of the intestinal wall.

Lack of Zinc- Zinc is a vitamin that is good in maintaining the strength of intestinal walls.  A deficiency of the vitamin can lead to the mucosal lining losing strength and becoming more permeable.  There are studies that show that supplementing with Zinc when it is deficient can dramatically improve intestinal lining integrity. Therefore eating meals that are rich in zinc such as nuts may help prevent against leaky gut syndrome.

Yeast- too much yeast causes candida that may grow roots in the intestinal lining, this results in their tentacles making holes on the lining of the stomach creating entry for non-digested food into the blood stream.

Chronic Stress-Chronic stress almost always results in a suppressed immune system.  A weakened immune system cannot handle doing it’s normal job and gets easily overwhelmed with pathogens very.  This increases overall gut inflammation leading to increased permeability of the intestinal lining.

Inflammation-Any type of inflammation in the gut can lead to leaky gut.  This can be brought on by low stomach acid. Low stomach acid passes undigested food into the small intestine which then causes myriads of digestive problems that may in turn cause the leaky gut syndrome.

Treatment for Leaky Gut Syndrome

Leaky gut syndrome is a mysterious condition that is up to now still not fully understood by the medical fraternity probably because it is not taught as a diagnosable disease. However it is a multifaceted condition that must be tackled by joining really several dots to form a line. Here are some of the approaches that can be used to treat this disease.

Watch what you eat- it is very important to keep away from foods that may lead to accumulation of toxins in your body. Foods that are over processed, high in sugar content should be avoided to alleviate inflammations that make the intestine lining more permeable. When you stop eating these kinds of foods the toxin levels will go down and the yeast will be starved and overgrowth stopped, this will enable the walls to repair and regain normal permeability.

Leaky gut syndrome

Using nutritional supplements- leaky gut syndrome causes nutritional deficiencies therefore the body needs to be supplemented with these nutrients. Some nutrients like zinc are also important in strengthening the intestine lining and hence boost recovery.

Digestive Enzymes– eating foods that are rich in digestive enzymes can help you a great lot in fighting leaky gut syndrome. The digestive enzymes are naturally found in the foods that we eat the whole foods that are not over processed. Fruits and vegetables are rich in these digestive enzymes, they work in the intestines helping to break food into finnier particles before they are absorbed to the blood stream. They also remove toxins, bad bacteria and even worn out cells of the intestine lining creating a clean environmental for absorption of digested food particles.

Leaky gut syndrome is a complicated, debilitating condition. But you aren’t on your own: please contact Dr. Dalal Akoury (MD) on 843-213-1480 and tap into her wealth of knowledge and experience.

Understanding Leaky Gut Syndrome

 

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Blood Pressure and Weight Management during and after Holiday

December 2, 2014

Blood Pressure and Weight Management during and after Holiday – Health Solutions of Blood Pressure

Blood pressure

Blood Pressure and Weight Management during and after Holiday is not only essential but very paramount for everyone. Keep checking your blood pressure from time to time.

Life is very precious and it takes great effort to keep that life in perfect health. This is not just an assignment for anyone but the responsibility of keeping this life primarily rest on the holder of that life. In other words, each person has a duty to take good care of his or her life. Some of the duties we must do to keep the good health include maintaining healthy weight levels, having the correct blood pressure, general body cleanliness among many other essential things that must be done to keep the most valuable asset (life) in motion. In this article, we are going to be discussing two aspects which when not taken care of well can have adverse health complication to human life. Our focus is going to be blood pressure and weight management during and after the holidays. We have chosen the holiday season because it is during this time that many people often forget some of the things they have tirelessly worked on to keep the good health they have and begin to deteriorate all over sudden.

Being overweight has very grave consequences as opposed to maintaining a healthy weight which will provides many health benefits. Therefore if you are overweight, losing even as little as five to ten pounds may help lower your blood pressure. Losing weight and maintaining it is not easy. Many people take the challenge but they fall on the way before realizing their goals. It is very important that when you have made that very important decision of losing weight, you need to get the backing of a qualified weight lose professional to take you through the process. If you’re looking for one, then you need not to look any further. At AWAREmed Health and Wellness Resource Center under Doctor Akoury’s care you will get the real experts who are well trained and have had several decades of work experience in offering weight lose solutions to people across the globe. For instance at this facility, doctor Akoury and her team focuses on Neuroendocrine Restoration (NER) to reinstate normality through realization of the oneness of Spirit, Mind, and Body, Unifying the threesome into ONE. This is the place to be for any weight loss concerns but in the meantime here are some of the great reasons why you should manage your weight:

A little weight loss can bring a lot of health gains

Did you know you may experience health benefits from losing as little as 10 pounds? Even a small weight loss can reduce blood pressure and prevent hypertension in many overweight people. BMI stands for Body Mass Index, which is a numerical value of your weight in relation to your height. BMIs are good indicators of healthy or unhealthy weights for adult men and women, regardless of body frame size.

Weight loss reduces the strain on the heart.

It goes without saying that you should strive to maintain a healthy weight. Blood pressure is one such element that strains the heart and doctor Akoury will be able to help you get on the right weight lose track. Therefore people who are gradually acquiring weight can either progressively increase the level of physical activity or reduce caloric intake, or both, until their weight is stable. The stability of their weight will go a long way in settling the blood pressure problem. The two essentials to maintaining a healthy weight are:

  • Eating well
  • Moving often

How Can I Prevent High Blood Pressure?

You can prevent high blood pressure by:

  • Maintaining a healthy weight; lose weight if you are overweight.
  • Exercising more
  • Eating foods low in salt
  • Eating healthy foods like fruits and vegetables
  • Drinking alcoholic beverages in moderation, if you have to drink otherwise it would be better if you don’t at all.

These changes are also recommended for treating high blood pressure, although medicine is often added as part of the treatment.

How Is Blood Pressure Related to Weight?

As your body weight increases, your blood pressure can rise. In fact, being overweight can make you more likely to develop high blood pressure than if you are at your appropriate weight. You can reduce your risk of high blood pressure by losing weight. Even small amounts of weight loss can make a big difference in helping to prevent and treat high blood pressure. Therefore take heed of all the weight lose routines with you on your holiday less you crumble down. And even if you relapse you can still pick up the pieces and overcome the giant called weight gain.

How Can I Reduce My Intake of Salt?

Consumption of too much salt and other kinds of sodium can be a trigger to blood pressure. Restraining on such stuff will be necessary to cut on the occurrences of high blood pressure. Practically it’s not possible to tell who will be affected by consumption or sodium or salt. Therefore it is only sensible that everyone to limit intake of salt to help prevent high blood pressure. Studies have established that you can reduce your blood pressure by eating foods rich in grains, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products.

Alcohol and High Blood Pressure

Ideally drinking alcohol is never good for whatever reason. It is actually the source of very many health complications we have today. Take for instance the celebrations we attend during the holidays or otherwise. There are always lots of alcoholic drinks. High blood pressure has nor relationship with alcohol. So to help prevent high blood pressure where emanating from the activities of the holiday or not, drinking alcohol is not right. However, if you have to then, limit how much you take preferably not more than two drinks a day if you are male and one for female.

Finally high blood Pressure and Weight Management during and after Holiday is not just necessary but a must. It is so because the consequences of overweight is life threatening. It will do you good to seek for professional help from doctor Akoury today by scheduling for an appointment with her.

Blood Pressure and Weight Management during and after Holiday – Health Solutions of Blood Pressure

 

 

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Kidney Health and Blood Sugar

November 30, 2014

Kidney Health and Blood Sugar

The connection between hypertension and blood glucose is even more insidious than it seems. When you think of hypertension the organs that come into your mind are probably the kidney, then the heart. The kidney refused to regulate the amount of blood sugar. A lot of it got deposited on the walls of blood tissue resulting in some unregulated pressure for this life fluid.

Hypertension often accompanies diabetes in the event of chronic hyperglycemia. Clearly then, the relationship between elevated blood glucose, hyperinsulinemia and kidney health is a complicated one. You probably understand how crucial the kidneys are in maintaining the balance in the body system. The organ plays an essential regulatory role in creating the body’s equilibrium through osmoregulation.

With diabetes, the kidneys are at risk. Yes they often help in releasing of glucose into the blood circulation via a process known as gluconeogenesis, lead the uptake of glucose from the circulation to satisfy the body’s energy needs, and then help reabsorb blood sugar at the point of the proximal tubule. But diabetes can often cause this vital osmoregulatory system to break down.

This happens when the high levels of blood sugar damages the kidneys rendering them dysfunctional. When the kidneys fail they are not able to filter out waste from the blood any more. This may often lead to kidney disease (nephropathy) with time.

Kidney-Health

Where does the sugar come from?

The diet! Organ failure. Related disorders. Genetics. Lifestyle choices such as exercise and lack of it. All these factors bring the excess sugar into your blood. Any of these factors may be responsible for a diabetic condition. This path is however a long one. One does not simply wake up one morning and have diabetes.

Of all these factors, the diet is the major root cause of diabetes. Statistics show that the contemporary world populations take a lot of sugar in their diet. Try to imagine how much soda you take in a week, how much peanut butter you consume, yoghurt, crackers, ketchup…and the list may go on and on.

America alone was last estimated to have its population consume 156 pounds of sugar every year each person. Among these ponds of sugar consumed, soft drinks alone was found to take up 33 percent of the total sugar intake.

Depending with which type of diabetes is in question, the causes are different. Diabetes type 1, for instance is caused by the presence of insufficient insulin in the victim’s body. This involves a condition where for some reason the pancreas failed to produce insulin. Most likely this is caused by some hereditary condition. It may be a case of autoimmunity.

Insulin resistance on the other hand results into the diabetes type 2. This takes time. You take that sugar of yours over time. You are warned about it. Even the doctor tries to prescribe for you a healthier alternative but you remain adamant on the soda and ice-cream routine. So as time goes by, you develop an addiction to sugar. You sometimes see the syndromes coming but you just cannot quit the wrong path.

What happens in the end is the presence of too much sugar in your blood that the organs responsible for its regulation can no longer control it for you. Your kidneys’ nephrons get overworked by having to filter too much blood due to the presence of excess glucose in the bloodstream. So with time, this added work exerts a lot of pressure on these kidney tubules forcing them to lose that filtering ability. As a result, no reabsorption of glucose takes place at the proximal tubule resulting in a very high blood sugar level.

The endocrine mechanism

This blood sugar regulation process involves a complex system of hormone balance. Insulin and Glucagon are the two major hormones involved here. In fact diabetes can more accurately be viewed not as a sugar disease, but rather an insulin disorder. Insulin is responsible for promoting the absorption of glucose from the blood to skeletal muscles and fat tissue. The hormone also causes the fat to be stored in that form instead of being hydrolyzed for energy production. This way hormone insulin regulates the metabolism of carbohydrates and fats.

Insulin is a peptide hormone made by the pancreatic beta cells. It allows the body therefore to use sugar/glucose contained in carbohydrates in the diet to synthesize energy. Alternatively it helps to store glucose for future use in inert form. As such, Insulin helps keep the blood sugar levels from getting too high, a condition referred to as hyperglycemia, or low; a condition known as hypoglycemia.

Diabetes-AwarenessBlood sugar is root-controlled by 3 major organs; pancreas, liver and the adrenal glands, given the fact that adrenaline, thyroxin and cortisol are also involved.

Hypoglycemic conditions stimulate the adrenals and the liver to produce a counter effect with the help of their respective hormones. The adrenal glands increase the production of hormone cortisol which prompts the liver to raise blood sugar levels. In this process of trying to arrest the situation, the increased cortisol eventually leads to weight gain by cortisol mobilizing fat in the body. This causes the fat to settle in the abdomen making it fatter.

Problems posed by the sugar

With the increased sugar levels, diabetes is not the only adversary you are facing. There is more than just the diabetes. Rather, you are faced with an increased cardiovascular disease, obesity, nutrient deficiencies including a reduced level of the essential B vitamins. Dysfunctions related to blood sugar dysregulation are also common. You may also encounter strokes, metabolic syndrome, oxidative stress and a possible adrenal or pancreatic dysfunction.

Physical signs for the blood sugar issue?

Rising blood pressure may be a sign of a cardiovascular problem. You may also experience adult acne, slow healing of wounds, white patches on inside of your cheek, cataracts and sometimes chronic bladder infections.

The good news is that there is a relatively simple way of improving all these conditions at the same time. AwareMed recommends that you follow a reduced-carbohydrate diet that includes plenty of fresh, potassium-rich vegetables, low-glycemic fruits and healthy fats—the latter of which have virtually no effect on glucose and insulin levels.

Kidney Health and Blood Sugar

 

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Hibiscus for Kidney Support And Beyond

November 12, 2014

Hibiscus for Kidney Support And Beyond

The kidney is one of the most essential organs in every animal. The double-bean-shaped organ performs the crucial role of filtering toxins from the human blood ensuring a healthy life fluid flowing through the blood vessels.

In addition to its filtration function the kidney is also responsible for the production of certain essential hormones that support blood pressure and the blood cells production.

Its working mechanism involves accumulating waste matter into urine through several microscopic filtering units. The organ is interconnected to the rest of the body by blood vessels and directly to the major organs in the human body such as the liver, lungs and the heart.

A number of disorders may often affect the working of the kidney and this poses a severe threat to the entire body. Kidney cancer or the renal cell carcinoma is just one of the most serious diseases that may affect the kidney and render them ineffective. The cancer of the kidney involves development of tumor or cancer cells at a very fast speed that the body’s immunity mechanism cannot fight.

As a result, the cancer cells can always spread to the rest of the body via the respective blood vessels, a common symptom of this condition being the appearance of blood traces in the urine.

Hibiscus

With an ineffective set of kidneys, the body becomes vulnerable. Cases of diabetes may result as the kidney can no longer filter excess water or excess sugars and salt from the blood.  The patient is faced with two dangerous possibilities, either diabetes insipidus of diabetes mellitus. This essentially means that the patient is faced with the possibility of rising blood pressure either way.

With excess water levels in the blood, the normal blood vessel sizes will appear smaller for the excess resultant fluid causing a build-up of pressure as the blood fluid forces its way through the narrow vessels.

Another scenario involves the blood containing excess amounts of blood sugars that end up getting deposited on the walls of the blood vessels. This results in a network of constricted blood vessels. As the normal blood volumes flow through the vessels, a level of pressure builds up in the process.

The Value of Hibiscus

Originally valued by certain nations as being good for tea- sour tea, Hibiscus has of late gained immense attention of scientists who are currently investing a lot in studies to establish the extent of its medical usefulness.

Various nations within the tropical region as well as the sub-tropical expanse have traditionally used the herb to treat various ailments and control certain known disorders, with each nation using it in their different unique ways.

Sudanese and the Egyptians for instance have for years used Hibiscus to maintain a normal body temperature, encourage body fluid balance as well as in heart health support.

In North Africa the herb has been used to manage respiratory health, including care for the throat and skin maintenance. Beyond the seas in Europe, the herb has popularly been in use in almost the same ways as their neighboring North Africans. They have however had additional uses including alleviation of constipation and for the promotion of proper blood circulation.

hibiscus

From all the nations that have used Hibiscus in traditional fashion, a major line of use that features commonly among all the nations and groups of people is the maintenance of normal blood pressure.

And science now has a backing on this. Recent studies have provided evidence of how hibiscus helps with cases of blood pressure. The plant is made up of a lot of plant acids such as citric, malic, allo-hydroxycitric and tartaric acids.

It also has several other chemical constituents including alkanoids, quercetin and anthocyanins which put together are useful in the maintenance of cholesterol and a normal blood pressure and ensures a holistic health of the major organs in the body. It most particularly offers a big support to the kidneys.

Hibiscus for Kidney Support And Beyond

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