Is it safe to lose a lot of weight quickly?

Low Section Of Woman Standing On Weighing Scale“Lose 10 pounds in 10 days!” While fad diets over-promise and underdeliver weight loss and health benefits, losing a lot of weight quickly can strain your system and put your health at risk. But there are situations where fast, managed weight loss is important.

In these cases, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of the goal and the reasons for rapid weight loss. What’s essential here is a clear, medically derived plan for weight loss.

Start with evaluation

The managed plan starts with a complete evaluation of your body composition. The first step is up to you: bringing in a food diary that documents everything you eat for at least a week. Your doctor will review it to provide you with guidance toward an eating plan that works for you and your weight loss goals.

We then go to the InBody 520 evaluation from BIOSPACE. This gives us a complete understanding of your body composition. We’ll repeat this every two weeks over a 90-day period to monitor your progress.

Lab tests will inform the evaluation.

The evaluation takes into account factors that could contribute to your body’s resistance to weight loss:

  • depressed metabolism
  • hypothyroidism, or reduced activity of the thyroid gland
  • insulin resistance
  • high cortisol levels
  • food allergies and sensitivities
  • toxic burden
  • chronic sleep deprivation
  • neurotransmitter imbalances
  • hormone imbalances.

Treatment plan

With a complete picture of your current health and a clear goal, we can work out a 12-week weight loss plan together. This includes:

  • eating or diet plan, including sample meal plans and nutritional supplements
  • exercise and activity plan
  • educational materials.

All of these are organized into a binder so you can easily find the information you need, when you need it.

Ongoing monitoring

Achieving an ambitious weight-loss goal takes more than planning. As our name suggests, at Proactive Wellness Centers we focus on action. We give you the guidance, knowledge and the tools you’ll need to achieve your healthy weight, and we follow up with regular email and phone support with your assigned physician.

You’ll also be coming into the clinic every two weeks — six times over the three month period. This way, your physician will be able to track your progress and make any necessary adjustments to your diet plan, nutritional supplements, hormonal balance and other prescriptions.

We’ll work together to help you get to your optimal health. Call or email us today to set up a meeting to find you how you can take charge of your health now.

Prevent heart attack and stroke

closeup of hands holding red heart with familyHeart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States today — causing as many as one in four of all deaths. And this applies equally to every group, whether on the basis of ethnicity, gender or walk of life.

Ironically, or perhaps fortunately, many of the underlying causes of heart disease can be avoided with intervention and treatment. In other words, we know how to solve this problem.

Prevalence of heart disease

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heart disease is responsible for about 610,000 deaths in the United States every year. That’s one in every four deaths.

According to the American Heart Association, nearly half of the population of the United States has some kind of cardio-vascular disease. The most common type is coronary heart disease, which is caused by the buildup of plaque on the walls of the arteries that supply blood to the heart. This narrows the arteries, reducing the flow of blood and ultimately can lead to a heart attack.

Every year, 735,000 Americans have a heart attack. About a third of these are second or subsequent heart attacks — they happen to people who have already had a heart attack.

Risk factors for heart disease

The key risk factors linked to heart disease are high blood pressure or hypertension, high LDL cholesterol, and smoking. However, the latest data shows that 60 percent of people who have a heart attack have normal levels of cholesterol in their blood. This means that standard cholesterol tests are not useful for predicting who is at risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

Other factors that increase the risk of developing heart disease include:

  • overweight and obesity
  • diabetes
  • poor diet
  • lack of exercise or physical activity
  • excessive alcohol use.

Heart attack and stroke prevention

At Proactive Wellness Centers, we have developed programs targeting cardiovascular disease.

Advanced Cardiac Evaluation (ACE) begins with advanced testing using True Health Lab’s (TH) advanced testing. This has been proven to provide better information in identifying the presence of cardiovascular disease.

Advanced carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) imaging combined with emerging, scientifically validated biomarkers, uses simple blood tests to identify cardiovascular and cerebrovascular disease formations that can lead to heart attacks and strokes.

CIMT is a non-invasive diagnostic tool that uses ultrasound imaging to measure the intima-media, the innermost two layers of the wall of an artery. We use it to measure the thickness of the carotid artery, the big artery in the neck that carries blood to the head. This test allows us to quickly find the presence of atherosclerosis, the narrowing of the artery due to plaque build-up. It’s a major predictor of heart disease and heart attack.

Next, the HeartSmartIMTplus test evaluates the characteristics of plaque build-up. Softer plaque is more likely to break off, which can lead to a blockage and heart attack or stroke.

Once we have identified the presence of risk factors for cardiovascular disease, we can move on to the Advanced Cardiac Treatment (ACT) program to prevent, mitigate and reverse the progress of the disease.

Prevention strategies

There are steps we can all take to help prevent the onset of heart disease.

  • Know your risk factors: get the tests to measure inflammation, plaque and other risk factors, as well as your family history of heart disease.
  • CIMT: the non-invasive tests that detects the presence of plaque build-up in your arteries, and determine its characteristics as described above.
  • Eat a healthy diet high in fresh vegetables and fruits, reduced in sodium and moderate in total caloric content.
  • Exercise regularly: at least 150 minutes of moderate physical activity every week. This does not have to be extreme. Just 25 minutes of walking each day can be enough.
  • Get enough sleep: Recent research has found a link between insufficient sleep and higher risk of heart disease. The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Society recommend at least seven and a half hours of sleep per night for adults, and more for children and adolescents.
  • Maintain a healthy weight. Overweight and obesity are major risk factors for developing heart disease. The previous two steps, a healthy diet and regular exercise, are the two most important components of life-long weight control. Research also finds a link between insufficient sleep and excess weight.
  • Get the right vitamin supplements, particularly COQ10. This is an enzyme crucial to energy creation at the cellular level, especially in cardiac or heart tissues. We recommend at least 200 mg daily, and up to 400 mg for patients at higher risk of heart disease.
  • Work with your preventative medicine specialist for controlling other risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, genetic factors and other risks.

Find your cholesterol profile

Don’t put your health off any longer. You can get your full cardiac risk profile with an Advanced Cardiac Evaluation — just call us at 703-822-5003, or use our online contact form to set up your appointment.

Or, if you know your status and just want your CIMT score, you can schedule just a CIMT scan and a 30-minute follow-up visit.

Be proactive — take charge of your health today.

Heart disease: The silent killer

31053823 - senior man relaxing in autumn landscapeThanks to advances in modern medicine and disease prevention, Americans are living longer, healthier lives than ever. But a silent killer still stalks us. Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States and worldwide.

The good news? Proactive Wellness Centers is a preventive medicine specialist that is able to help you minimize and mitigate your risk factors including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, susceptible genetics and other key risk factors. We also offer Advanced Cardiac Evaluation (ACE) and Advanced Cardiac Treatment (ACT) programs to help patients prevent, reverse and mitigate cardiovascular disease.

Knowing your risk is extremely important. We have the Carotid Intima Media Thickness (CIMT) with HeartSmartIMTplus™, a non-invasive and cost-effective diagnostic tool that uses ultrasound imaging to provide the earliest detection of cardiovascular disease. The test takes only 10 minutes and is done in our office. Specifically, HeartSmartIMTplus™ measures the intima media thickness of the carotid artery to determine the presence of sub-clinical atherosclerosis (cardiovascular disease that is undetected by other tests).

Here are some other ways to reduce your risk of heart disease:

Take plenty of COQ10. This is a critical enzyme that is at the root of energy creation at the cellular level, especially in the cardiac tissues. For patients at higher risk, we recommend 400 mg daily and for patients at lower risk, we recommend 200 mg daily. A recent long-term study supports the use of CoQ10 in combination with Selenium.

Controlling your blood pressure. High blood pressure is a major risk factor for heart disease. It is important to get your blood pressure checked regularly.

Maintaining a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese can increase your risk for heart disease.

Getting enough exercise. Aim for at least 30 minutes per day. Walking is great exercise.

Eating a healthy diet. Eat plenty of fresh fruit, vegetables, and whole grains. Limit saturated fats and high levels of sodium and sugar.

Getting regular cholesterol checks. Work with your physician to keep your cholesterol and triglyceride levels under control. High cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease.

Quitting smoking. If you smoke, stop.

Limit alcohol. Excessive alcohol consumption is linked to heart disease.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, heart disease is often not diagnosed until an individual experiences signs or symptoms of a heart attack, heart failure, or an arrhythmia. The symptoms for each:

Heart attack: Chest pain or discomfort, upper back or neck pain, indigestion, heartburn, nausea or vomiting, extreme fatigue, upper body discomfort, dizziness, and shortness of breath.

Arrhythmia: Fluttering feelings in the chest (palpitations).

Heart failure: Shortness of breath, fatigue, or swelling of the feet, ankles, legs, abdomen, or neck veins.

Even if you have no symptoms, you may still be at risk for heart disease. Learn more about our CIMT test and other ways we can help you prevent and manage heart disease by visiting our website: http://proactivewellness.com

 

What are antioxidants and why do you need them?

Medical capsule with fruit. Vitamins and supplements. DifferentYou may have heard of antioxidants, and how eating things like berries can absorb free radicals, boosting your health. It sounds good, and who would turn down berries?

What are antioxidants? What are free radicals? What do they do to your body? And how do they affect your health?

Free radicals

At every moment of our lives, our body’s cells are busy converting sugar into energy. This allows us to move, to digest food, to breathe; it allows our hearts to pump blood, our brains to process the input of our senses into a conception of our natural environment — in short, life.

As this happens, the chemical reactions at the cellular level produce, among other things, free radicals. These are chemicals, atoms or molecules that each have a single unpaired valence electron. Chemically, this makes them highly reactive.

While many free radicals are generated by processing food and converting sugar to energy, others can be absorbed from the air we breathe, and some are created by the interaction of sunlight on our skin.

As they move through the bloodstream and other body systems, free radicals interact with other molecules and cells in a process called oxidation. Chemically, oxidation is the same as combustion, burning or rusting.

Free radicals are essential to a number of essential life processes, such as fighting off infection. However, when the body has an imbalance in the amount of free radicals, it can experience a state called oxidative stress.

Research has associated oxidative stress with a range of diseases, including cancer, atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, among many others.

Other symptoms of oxidative stress can range from arthritis pain to eczema and migraines. One sign can be a build-up of lipid peroxides.

Antioxidants to the rescue

Fortunately, we’re not helpless against free radicals. Our bodies also produce chemicals called antioxidants. As their name implies, they tend to produce chemical reactions that work against oxidation.

We can also get antioxidants from food, especially unprocessed fruits and vegetables and other plants. Vitamins C and E are antioxidants. Berries are also high in other antioxidants.

The way forward

Experiencing a range of symptoms with unclear causes can be a sign of oxidative stress and excess lipid peroxides. A simple urine test can measure these markers.

From there, we can perform a blood analysis to identify food sensitivities and allergies that could be associated with health symptoms. An IgG Food Antibody Profile, for instance, tests for sensitivity to 30 common food antigens.

With this information in hand, we can develop a program tailored to your specific metabolic needs. It would include food, nutrition and supplements designed to bring your body into balance.

Contact us about working up your comprehensive metabolic profile and take charge of your health.