Better Health: Smart Health Commentary Better Health (TM): smart health commentary

Latest Posts

Consider Medical Conditions Before Jumping On The New Year’s Resolution Diet-And-Exercise Bandwagon

The first week of January was full of news reports of giving advice on your new diet and exercise program to help you lose the weight you’ve always wanted to. In a previous post and video I talk about some do’s and don’ts when planning for your weight loss New Year’s resolution.

In the video below, I talk about some medical issues to keep in mind before starting your program. For example, do you have a family history of medical problems like high blood pressure or diabetes? If so, you may want to schedule an appointment with your personal physician before jumping on the diet and exercise bandwagon.

If you find this video helpful, I invite you to check out other TV interviews at MikeSevilla.TV. Enjoy!

*This blog post was originally published at Doctor Anonymous*

Obesity Epidemic Solved: The “Second Stomach”

Dr. Steve Brule (aka John C. Reilly) makes medical history by solving America’s obesity epidemic with a groundbreaking new operation. Dr. Oz, step aside — Brules rules!

*This blog post was originally published at tbtam*

How To Lose Weight Eating Pizza And Oreos

I’ve been waiting for this soup for weeks. Eleven weeks, to be exact. That’s how long I was enrolled in a research diet study, and unable to eat anything other than the food they provided me, which was nowhere near as delicious as this soup.

The study is designed to compare the effects of three different diets — the American Diet, the Mediterrnean Diet, and a high-protein diet — on weight loss and cardiovascular disease risk. 

I randomized to the American Diet, meaning that Thursday’s lunch was a slice of pizza with potato chips and an afternoon snack of Oreos and chocolate pudding, Saturday’s lunch was hamburger and fries, and the most veggies I ever saw at one sitting was a measly stalk of broccoli.

Despite this, I lost 30 pounds over the 11 weeks of the study, primarily because my caloric intake was only 1,200 calories per day, carefully calculated based on my basal metabolic rate. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at The Blog that Ate Manhattan*

How Are Dieters Like Congress?

I am mad at congress.

I don’t care if they are Democrats or Republicans, I am sick of healthcare being treated as a political football.  How much more of a crisis do we need before we actually start working on a solution?  Why does each party have to sit on its side of the aisle shooting spitballs at the other?  Each side has its pet issues that are tied to contributors, supporters, and lobbyists.  Each side will work to see the other side fail even if the other side is right.  Each side seems unable to do anything unless there is political value in it.  Power is more important than service, and power is a short-term project. Read more »

*This blog post was originally published at Musings of a Distractible Mind*

Latest Interviews

IDEA Labs: Medical Students Take The Lead In Healthcare Innovation

It’s no secret that doctors are disappointed with the way that the U.S. healthcare system is evolving. Most feel helpless about improving their work conditions or solving technical problems in patient care. Fortunately one young medical student was undeterred by the mountain of disappointment carried by his senior clinician mentors…

Read more »

How To Be A Successful Patient: Young Doctors Offer Some Advice

I am proud to be a part of the American Resident Project an initiative that promotes the writing of medical students residents and new physicians as they explore ideas for transforming American health care delivery. I recently had the opportunity to interview three of the writing fellows about how to…

Read more »

See all interviews »

Latest Cartoon

See all cartoons »

Latest Book Reviews

Book Review: Is Empathy Learned By Faking It Till It’s Real?

I m often asked to do book reviews on my blog and I rarely agree to them. This is because it takes me a long time to read a book and then if I don t enjoy it I figure the author would rather me remain silent than publish my…

Read more »

The Spirit Of The Place: Samuel Shem’s New Book May Depress You

When I was in medical school I read Samuel Shem s House Of God as a right of passage. At the time I found it to be a cynical yet eerily accurate portrayal of the underbelly of academic medicine. I gained comfort from its gallows humor and it made me…

Read more »

Eat To Save Your Life: Another Half-True Diet Book

I am hesitant to review diet books because they are so often a tangled mess of fact and fiction. Teasing out their truth from falsehood is about as exhausting as delousing a long-haired elementary school student. However after being approached by the authors’ PR agency with the promise of a…

Read more »

See all book reviews »

Commented - Most Popular Articles