How to Enjoy Holiday Parties and Not Feel Guilty About Indulging

December 17, 2011 by admin
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From now until New Year’s, you will be tempted and titillated to taste the bountiful treats of pastries, drinks, and lavish meals put before you at parties, family gatherings, and other social events. So how do you come up with a plan to indulge during the holidays but not regret your mischievous oral delights?

Prepare for the party. The best way to prepare to indulge yourself at a party, but not overdo it, is to never go to a party hungry or thirsty.

Be sure to drink plenty of water before you attend an event. This will help you handle whatever alcohol you may consume, and staying well hydrated will boost your metabolism by up to 3% to handle the extra calories.
In addition, have a small meal that is well balanced with green leafy veggies, good fats, good protein, and complex carbs several hours before the event. This will allow you to indulge at the party but not succumb to gluttony.

Practice the new exercise called “Push-Aways.” This means to enjoy the food while at the party but “push-away” from the table before overeating.

A lot of us eat, not because we’re hungry, but because someone puts another dish before us. Just “push-a-way” slowly from the table …

Stay true to portion control. Decide before you attend an event that you’re going to eat only one-quarter, one-half, or two-thirds of what you’re served – no matter what! That is, of course, unless you’re served a whole gallon of ice cream.

For example, decide to yourself before the event that you’re going to enjoy the heck out of a single slice of pie – but no more!

Savor the food and drinks. Eat every piece of delectable goodness and drink each enticing beverage slowly and purposefully. Take the time to feel the richness of the food and drink in your mouth before swallowing.

By practicing this method, you will allow your brain a chance to notice that you are full and avoid overeating. Sometimes we eat so fast that our brain can’t keep up and let us know when the body is replenished.

Stay the same weight. Trying to lose weight around the holidays is hard and sometimes impossible; so weigh yourself today, and make this your goal: “I may not lose any weight during this time, but I will not gain any weight over the holidays.”

There is only one way not to gain any weight over the holidays if you’re indulging in new food adventures – you must adjust your calorie intake.
For example, if you know you’re going to go to a party in the evening and you plan to have a few drinks, you should adjust your calorie intake during the day by not drinking those two sodas and having water instead.
Another example is if you know you’re going to a dinner party later in the evening, don’t overdo it at lunch.
Finally, if you know you may consume an extra 500 calories, for example, at a holiday party, then add this to your workout regimen so you burn an extra 500 calories before the event. It’s just that simple; think about calories in and calories out.

The bottom line here is to enjoy yourself during the holidays by “tasting” a lot of food that you normally would not eat, but don’t become your own worst Cookie Monster, or Cake Monster, or Pie Monster, or whatever, which you will surely regret in the new year.

Peace, love, and long living from your doctor in the family,

Dr. Jeff Brown

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Untreated Depression May Be the Real Reason Someone You Know Still Smokes

December 8, 2011 by admin
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It is hard to imagine how anyone who lives in America today is unaware of the myriad of health problems associated with smoking cigarettes — from developing lung cancer to colon cancer to even breast cancer. You know the ol’ saying that “ignorance is bliss,” but when it comes to the dangers of smoking, I highly doubt that anyone can claim ignorance as a defense for continuing to smoke.

So the question remains: How could anyone continue to do something that is so obviously unhealthy and associated with very few, if any, social benefits? The answer to this question, I think, lies in the fact that any human behavior acting in direct contradiction to common public knowledge and well-known social norms almost always points to some underlying and hidden pathology.

It turns out that up to 30% of people who smoke cigarettes actually smoke because they’re depressed. The nicotine they’re consuming acts in the brain in a way similar to how some antidepressant medications act. Yes, the nicotine found in cigarettes literally improves the mood of some people. The fact of the matter is that approximately 30% of people who smoke are likely not smoking for the ‘joy’ of smoking; they’re actually smoking in an effort to self-medicate their depression.

This insight was first revealed in the U.S. while researchers were conducting clinical trials on an antidepressant drug called Wellbutrin. During the trial to determine if Wellbutrin was effective for treating depression, a substantial number of patients in the study suddenly stopped smoking. Wellbutrin was repackaged and renamed Zyban, which was marketed as a non-nicotine treatment to help stop smoking.

So what’s the bottom line? The bottom line is that your spouse, your loved one, or even you may be smoking in an effort to self-medicate depression, and if the depression was appropriately addressed and treated, you or a loved one could lose the desire to smoke altogether! So if you need (or someone you know needs) to stop smoking, think about and discuss with your healthcare provider how your mood may be playing a role.

Frank Talk About HIV/AIDS with Black Men

December 8, 2011 by admin
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Depression Explained

December 4, 2011 by admin
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Facts About Depression

Depression is a common health condition—5-20 percent of people will experience significant depression at some time in their lives.
True depression or clinical depression is not the same as just feeling down or depressed about something.
Most people find it hard to determine whether they are just feeling down or depressed about something or if they have true clinical depression. Feeling down or depressed about something is an emotional state thatcomes and goes whereas clinical depression is a disease. As a result, clinical depression stays with us until it is treated.
Some people like to refer to the depression of feeling down as depression spelled with a “little d” and the depression from true clinical depression as depression spelled with a “big D.”
The bottom line is “little d” depression is a normal part of life and it usually fixes itself, but “big D” depression is not normal and should be treated like any other disease. You shouldn’t expect to be able to fix “big D” depression by yourself; you will need help.

Causes and Triggers of Clinical Depression
There are many causes or triggers for clinical depression. Some common causes are:

Life stresses
Losses
Learned behaviors
Genetics (just runs in your family)

Whatever the cause or trigger is for clinical depression, the end result is the same. In clinical depression, the brain has low levels of certain neurotransmitters.

Neurotransmitters are chemicals made by nerves. The most common neurotransmitters that are too low in clinical depression are serotonin (ser-raton-in) and norepinephrine (nor-epi-nef-rin). Nerve cells use neurotransmitters to communicate with each other. Without these neurotransmitters nerve cells cannot communicate and do their job.

Some of the nerve cells in your brain are responsible for keeping your emotions stable and they need normal levels of neurotransmitters to do this. Remember, in clinical depression the neurotransmitter levels are too low. As a result, the nerve cells in the brain that are responsible for keeping emotions stable are not able to do their job.

Therefore, your emotions cannot be kept stable and remain low or depressed. Think about it, it is impossible to truly feel good or normal when your emotions are depressed because your brain cannot do its job.

By looking at the list of the common causes of depression, you will probably notice that only one is totally out of your control. If depression runs in your family, there is nothing you can do about that. But life stresses, losses, and learned behaviors, although all are realities of life, must be dealt with properly before they lead to clinical depression.

It’s important to understand that there are some common diseases that can cause depression as a secondary effect. Here are the most common:

Hypothyroid (low thyroid) or hyperthyroid (high thyroid) diseases
Organic brain diseases—like brain damage
Diabetes
Certain vitamin deficiencies: Vitamin B12, niacin
Medication side effects
Alcohol abuse

All of these diseases should be considered as a reversible cause of depression— which means if you fix the primary problem, the secondary problem (depression) goes away on its own.

Symptoms of Clinical Depression

Clinical depression is characterized by a depressed mood and/or a decreased interest in things that used to give pleasure. These symptoms are present for a minimum of two weeks or more. Furthermore, they are seen with at least four of the following additional symptoms:

Change in appetite—weight loss or weight gain
Sleep disturbance—either can’t sleep (insomnia) or sleeping too much (hypersomnia)
Fatigue—tiredness that is out of proportion to the amount of energy expended
Physical or mental agitation—restlessness, irritability, or withdrawal
Poor self-image
Poor memory, difficulty in concentrating, unable to make decisions
Thoughts of suicide

How Is Depression Diagnosed?

Clinical depression is a clinical diagnosis, meaning that there are no blood tests or scans to make the diagnosis. A health care provider (clinician) makes the diagnosis based on the patient’s history and symptoms.

Tests are only done to rule out other conditions, such as those previously mentioned that can cause depression as a secondary effect. Tests that should be considered by your health care provider to rule out these other conditions if depression is suspected are:

EEG—only done if other brain diseases are suspected like brain damage
Brain CAT scan or MRI—only done if other brain diseases are suspected like a brain mass.
Thyroid blood test [thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)] —to rule out low or high thyroid states
Vitamin B12 and niacin blood test

Treatment for Depression

Treatment for depression usually involves taking certain medications that increase the levels of neurotransmitters in the brain. If the problem in clinical depression is low levels of these neurotransmitters, then the treatment should be to give a medication that increases their levels.
Support groups, counseling, and psychotherapy are sometimes used along with medication to treat this disease.
For some people, prayer is helpful, when included along with other methods of treatment.

Depression and African Americans
According to a National Mental Health Association survey on attitudes and beliefs about depression:

Approximately 63% of African Americans believe that depression is a “personal weakness.”
Only 31 % of African Americans said they believed depression is a “health” problem.
Close to 30% of African Americans said they would “handle it’ (depression) themselves if they were depressed, while close to 20% said they would seek help for depression from friends and family.
Only 25% African Americans recognize that a change in eating habits and sleeping patterns are as symptoms of depression; only 16% recognize irritability as a sign.
Only 33% of African Americans said they would take medication for depression, if prescribed by a doctor, compared to 69% of the general population.
Almost 66% of respondents said they believe prayer and faith alone will successfully treat depression “almost all of the time” or “some of the time.”

So what’s the bottom line about depression for African American? The bottom line is that depression and other mental illness still carry a heavy stigma in the black community, but it is passed time that we accept depression and treat it like any other disease of the body to that more minds can be healed and lives saved!

For more helpful information on depression, and to take the Mayo Clinic Self-Assessment Quiz click the link below

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