Suthin Liptawat

Water Filter

Water is basically what we and everything around us is made from. Our planet is 80% H2O. Our atmosphere is made of billions of droplets of this fluid and therefore the sky is full of it and water comes to us from there. Our oceans and lakes outnumber our land by a great vast amount.

Our bodies are 70%-90% water.

We abuse everything on our planet and mostly our wet resources. Since everything around us including our bodies are mainly H2O based we use it to clean ourselves and our clothes and surroundings.

My basic thoughts are I need to have a water filter rather than be a one. Think about it. If I consume the junk that is called our water system without thoroughly cleaning it I become the filter and my body suffers the consequences. Remember it is life and we want to live a healthy lifestyle.

How To Fight Childhood Obesity | A New Team Concept Borrowed From Diabetes Care

Today's post is about childhood obesity. There is an alarming trend. It can be called an epidemic
for which if we do not control, it may decrease the life-expectancy of the American people. I also
compile a few important findings from  recent scientific researches.

According to a survey of top health and fitness trends released by the American College of
Sports Medicine (ACSM) published in the November/December 2006 issue of ACSM's Health &
Fitness® Journal, Childhood Obesity ranks number 1.  It is  predicted that schools are unlikely
to increase time devoted to physical education or nutrition education. Providing physical
activity for kids may fall in the hands of the health/fitness industry along with fitness professionals.

About 80% of obese children become obese adult. Only 20% of obese adults were obese as children.
The above-mentioned trend and statistics should alert every family, school, teacher, physical-fitness educator, nutrition educator and physician to collaborate to buck this trend. It is a national priority.

I believe that the best starting point to combat this epidemic is at home. The parents must be educated about the danger of childhood obesity and then do something about it. How? Read on.

High Fructose Corn Syrup | Obesity | Diabetes

Currently there is a raging debate whether High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) is a major cause of the obesity epidemic in the United States today.

I am not going to get into this controversy.

I recommend my patients, my family and my friends to stay away from HFCS as much as humanly possible. We all know that most soft drinks contain High Fructose Corn Syrup.

I have a 35-year-old patient who developed diabetes mellitus recently. He denied over eating his meals. After further questioning, he admitted that he consumed about 2 to 3 Liters of regular soda-pops daily. I advised him to stop drinking soda-pops immediately. Initially he weighed about 360 lbs. He lost 30 lbs. in 4 months by just eliminating one drink item. He still have a long way to go.

This patient also was told to learn to read all food labels and avoid HFCS because it a sweetener and too much sweetener will make people gain weight.

A diabetic friend of our family showed me her supplies of snacks. They were an unopened big box of cookies and an open smaller box of milk chocolates. Immediately, I told her to dump the milk chocolates and give the cookies to the homeless people. I also recommend her to snack with nuts, such as almonds, the calories of which must be considered to be within the daily allowance for her condition.

In summary, High Fructose Corn Syrup is sweetener in many foods and drinks. Any one can unknowingly consume too much of this sweetener. According to the US government statistics, the American children consume less and less milk. They drink soda-pops instead.         

Coffee: Is it good for you?

We have heard or read conflicting reports about coffee whether it is good or bad for your health.

I have good news for you.

The following is an excerpt from my favorite wellness newsletter: www.WellnessLetter.com. It is the newsletter of nutrition, fitness and and self-care, from the School of Public Health, University of California,Berkeley.

How can coffee be good for you?  Read on.

Kiwi and Your Heart

I used to hate the fruit called kiwi. The  book,SuperFoods HealthStyles, by Steven G. Pratt,M.D. and Kathy Matthews,converted me.

One of the beauty of this book is that it lists the so-called Superfoods. Kiwi is one of them.  It mentions the benefits of this fruit with reliable reference. Besides lowering the blood triglycerides level,it also has an antiplatelet activities. The book cited a good study to back up these claims.

Kiwi also is a source of Vitamin C,Vitamin E,Folate,Fiber,Carotenoids,Polyphenols and more.

Did I tried kiwi yet? Of course yes,and I love it now. My wife used to buy it in the past but I always brushed it aside. Besides teasing me for being a convert,she mentions that it is quite difficult to eat the kiwi fruit at the right time. After being bought from the store,she let it get ripened. When it feels slightly soft to a very light squeeze,it's time to eat it.

There are many,many more useful information about other SuperFoods listed by the authors.

I highly recommend this book. Together with the other book,The Sonoma Diet,it will guide anyone to eat healthily and not gaining weight.

My First Weblog

As a physician,I was asked this questiobn by my patients quite often "what diet book would you recommend"  This question compelled me to read  a few diet books on the market. Six months ago I recommend some of my patients to read and follow the Southbeach Diet Book,under my supervision. A couple of my patients are having good result.

I don't like the low-carb type of diet.

I did not have time to read another diet book until last weekend. I bought and read The Sonoma Diet and finished it within one day. It is like reading a page-turner novel. 

It's very well written. It's also well researched. It makes a lot of sense and seems very practical.

On the Sunday evening when my wife and I were having dinner at a restaurant,instead of ordering baked potato, I chose broccoli which is very rich in antioxidant.

My son,my daughter and her husband live in the Bay area. They are frequent visitors to the Sonoma-Napa areas. We had recently visited this so-called American Mediterranean region mainly for wine-tasting not long ago. When I was reading The Sonoma Diet book,I had the vivid picture of the region as the author's description.

Those who does not need to lose weight will also benefit tremendously by following the Wave 3 Lifestyle.

Finally,before ending my first post of my first ever blog, I strongly recommend this book to any one who wants to live a healty lifestyle whether you need to lose weight or not. But,as a disclaimer,consult your physician before following the advices in this Sonoma Diet or any other diet book.