iHeart Radio Health and Wellness Expo 2016

Last Saturday, I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel along with Dr. Oz, Jeanette Jenkins, Carlo Filippone, Autumn Calabrese, Dr. Mike, and Mike Woods at the iHeartRadio Health and Wellness Expo in New York City.  

 

I wanted to share one of the questions that I was asked by our commentator, Shelli Sonstein of Q104.3:

"What is one thing you would tell someone that wants to lose weight?"

Loaded question. But the one thing I would tell anyone who wants to lose weight is DO NOT DIET. Do not follow the latest fad diet or the meal plan in your favorite magazine. Here's why:

Diets are temporary ways of eating that yield temporary results. They always backfire.

Even if someone loses some weight in the beginning, they gain it back (and then some!). Dieting makes us forget what normal eating is and puts us out of touch with our innate ability to regulate food intake. Think about when you were a child. You ate when you were hungry, and stopped when you were full. Amazing, right?

Diets make us question ourselves. Diets make us categorize food as "good" or "bad". Diets ultimately destroy our relationship with food.

Everyone has that friend that eats whatever he or she wants, but still stays thin. I can bet that that person has never dieted. They eat when they want when they want it, so their body feels satisfied. They don't feel guilty after eating. They eat for fuel and move on with their lives. When we deprive ourselves because we are trying to follow a diet, it's hard to feel satisfied. So we keep looking for more food. This may cause us to binge, or eat more than we would have if we just ate what we truly felt our body wanted.

The major thing that I think people don't realize is that you don't have to drastically cut your intake or limit your food options to lose weight. In fact, it's not healthy to do that. The main goal is to lose weight while keeping your intake up as high as you can. For example, for someone that usually eats 2700 calories a day, it would be totally unnecessary and unhealthy to cut back to 1200 calories a day.

For anyone that wants to lose weight, I would tell them to assess where you're at. Be honest with yourself. Keep a three day food record. Ask your self how you can modify things to cut your intake a bit (Midday fancy coffee drink? Office candy?). Choose to to change something that feels realistic. Make a new goal for yourself each week. Be patient and kind to your body. It's the only one you've got!

And of course, if you're totally unsure where to start, ask a dietitian for help. At Brown and Medina Nutrition, we offer one on one counseling in office or through Skype!

 

 

Hair, Nails, and Skin Supplements: Do They Actually Work?

I was at a beauty event for Fashion Week recently. On the way out, I was given a goody bag that included a bottle of Nature’s Made Hair, Skin, and Nails Gummies. It’s a pretty pink bottle that claims to provide “the vital nutrients your body needs to support your natural beauty from within"...

It’s no secret that everyone wants beautiful hair, nails, and skin. The idea of getting this by chewing a gummy sounds like a dream come true. But does it actually work….

OK, so let’s assume that you have brittle nails and thinning hair. Your skin looks tired and dry.  Let’s also assume that there are not underlying medical conditions contributing to any of these things. And let’s consider the following:

Brittle Nails: Cause by exposure to harsh solvents (nail polish remover, cleaners) and/or constant wetting and drying of the nails/hands and lifestyle choices such as smoking and poor diet.

Thinning, Dry Hair: Caused by excessive heat or harsh styling products, tight updo’s, coloring and perms, emotional or physical stress and poor diet.

Dry, Blemished Skin: Poor hygiene, tanning, smoking and poor diet.

Notice a trend here? Let’s say you don’t use harsh cleaners, you don’t wear heavy make-up, and you don’t color your hair. Then what we’re left with is nutrition. And guess what? A SUPPLEMENT WILL NOT MAKE UP FOR A POOR DIET. 

In case you still want to consider this supplement because you think your nutrition is on point, let’s take a closer look at Nature’s Bounty Hair, Skin, and Nails gummies. Here is the ingredient list:

Other Ingredients: Corn Syrup, Sugar, Dicalcium Phosphate, Grape Juice Color Concentrate, Gelatin, Modified Food Starch, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid, Natural Strawberry Flavor, Black Carrot Juice Color Concentrate, Maltodextrin, Fractionated Coconut Oil (Contains one or more of the following: Carnauba Wax, Beeswax), Silica. 

So the gummy is mostly made of corn syrup and sugar. Awesome. 

Two gummies provide the following:

Currently, there are VERY WEAK, and VERY FEW quality studies on biotin and its ability to improve the health of our hair, nails and skin. And unless you are taking certain medications or have a medical condition that makes it hard to absorb nutrients, it is VERY RARE to be deficient in biotin. 

Instead of wasting your money on supplements, buy some high quality food. Not getting enough iron-rich protein could be a huge reason why your nails and hair are not as healthy as they could be. Some examples of iron-rich protein would be:

Chicken, turkey, lean red meat, tofu, eggs

If you’re vegetarian or vegan, you’ll want to assess your intake of zinc and iron since they are both essential to keratin formation. They are both naturally found in meats and some seafood, but as a vegetarian or vegan you can find sources of these nutrients in beans. 

Other things to consider: Decrease the amount of added sugar in your diet, mind your alcohol, drink plenty of water, and EAT ENOUGH. Malnutrition is the sure way to make everything look and feel like crap.