Friday, August 21, 2009

BASICS: Brain Is a Co-Conspirator in a Vicious Stress Loop

An interesting article from The New York Times entitled, "BASICS: Brain Is a Co-Conspirator in a Vicious Stress Loop"
By NATALIE ANGIER

Chronic stress changes the brain, but relaxation can change it

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/18/science/18angier.html

Look forward to your feedback.

Have a great weekend!

Dr. Blotner

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Help with Losing Weight & Improving Health

This past weekend on Book TV on C-Span-2, I watched David Kessler, MD speak for 1 hour to an audience at a bookstore about his new book, “The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite.”

http://bit.ly/1aMHez

Dr. Kessler served as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from 1990 to 1997 & is a former Dean of Yale University Medical School.

For this book, he spoke with several scientists, physicians, and food industry insiders, and reviewed scientific evidence that suggests that American bodies and minds have been “reprogrammed” by too much sugar, salt and junk.

He also revealed his own seemingly endless struggle with losing and gaining weight over many years.

In his book, Dr. Kessler suggests that our bodies and minds are changed when we consume foods that contain high content of sugar, fat, and salt, resulting in profound biological impact on brain’s pleasure centers, and contributing to serious long-term health problems.

He suggests that the high levels of these ingredients, certain food industry practices, advertising, and lifestyle changes combine to impact core brain self-regulating biological mechanisms of a large percentage of Americans of all ages.

He suggests that food manufacturers manipulate sugar, fat, and salt content to stimulate the brain mechanisms that control craving and consumption of food, resulting in patterns of uncontrolled irrational eating, and (ultimately) obesity and other serious health problems.

When these unhealthy foods are associated with advertising, some individuals develop a “conditioned” behavioral response. This means that the brain’s biological craving for these foods is triggered by reminders contained in advertising, leading to “conditioned hyper-eating,” which Kessler believes is a disease rather than a failure of willpower.

This also provides an explanation as to why it is so difficult for so many to resist these unhealthy foods, despite knowing that these foods contribute to their health problems.

Dr. Kessler then suggests ways individuals regain control over their eating habits, supported by his review of scientific research.

He presents a simple food rehab program that help us identify cues that trigger overeating, changing the way we perceive these foods, and reducing the impact that advertising has on craving and consumption. For example, one person in one of the studies stated, "I think of the French fries as my friend. I know if I'm feeling bad, [fast food restaurant] French fries make me feel better."Dr. Kessler suggests that we begin to think about the French fries differently. He suggests that we think of French fries as a combination of sugar, fat, and salt designed to turn on pleasure centers in the brain and to cause craving, not unlike addictive substances such as alcohol, habit-forming medications, and illegal drugs. By thinking of unhealthy foods as we would think of addictive substances, we become more aware of the potential for harm, reducing our craving, making it easier to reduce the consumption of these unhealthy foods. For example, most people know that small amounts of alcohol on a few days per week does not seem to cause significant harm, but large amounts of alcohol on a frequent basis can quite harmful. So, most people are wary of the potentially addictive nature of alcohol. Regarding public policy, he suggests that the public’s health would be best served by adopting some of the same changes that have occurred with tobacco over the past 15 years.

He states that tobacco has been marginalized in the culture due to public policy changes and educational campaigns, and that similar tactics would have a positive impact on reduction of craving & consumption of foods that contain high content of sugar, fat, and salt, with resulting benefits to the health of individuals and the public at large.

Sunday, August 9, 2009

How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neurocientist

I found this article and video quite interesting. Look forward to your feedback:

"How God Changes Your Brain: Breakthrough Findings from a Leading Neurocientist by Andrew Newberg."
Click Here: http://bit.ly/d4Av2