Diet Soda; Plantar Fasciitis; Cauliflower Bites
Health Tip:
Do you have heel or arch pain, especially when you stand after sitting awhile? You may have plantar fasciitis. Adhesions (scar tissue) form in the ligament supporting the foot and cause pain. Here’s a stretch: while seated, roll a golf ball on the floor using the bottom of your foot. This will help stretch your foot and get rid of the adhesions. If this isn’t enough, consider chiropractic or other less invasive treatments first!
Monthly Article:
The article below is one that I was sent but I cannot find a source but since it is such a good article I wanted to share it. – Dr. Smith
Here's Today's Tip... Diet Soda.
In the early 1960s, a new kind of beverage took the stage. It wasn't a new shape, or color, or flavor. No, this was diet soda. And It. Was. Awesome.
With zero calories and no added sugar, diet soda promised to be a healthier alternative to regular soda. But like most promises in life that sound too good to be true, it probably is.
Can you tell the difference between a glass of regular and diet soda? Turns out, neither can your body. And that's where the trouble starts.
Until recently, everything we ate contained some amount of calories. When we ate something sweet, for example, the brain sent signals to the pancreas, which produces insulin, a hormone that essentially serves as a conductor of sorts, telling the body what to do with the sugar. For example, insulin can help shuttle sugar into cells to be burned for energy or stored for later use.
So, when we drink diet soda, the sweetness tricks our body into thinking it's real sugar. But when those energy-packed calories don't arrive, the insulin has nothing to store.
Scientists think that repeatedly tricking our bodies this way could explain why study after study keeps finding the same thing: that drinking diet soda is associated with metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a mix of conditions that includes increased blood pressure, high blood sugar, and weight gain, which can increase the risk of diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.
In fact, one study found that diet soda drinkers had a higher risk of stroke and dementia than regular soda drinkers. And for another 8-year-long study between 1979-1988, participants who started out at a normal weight and drank an average of 21 diet beverages a week faced DOUBLE the risk of becoming overweight or obese by the end of the study compared to people who avoided diet beverages completely.
And while drinking diet soda with a meal may sound like a tasty, calorie-free alternative to plain water, a growing body of research is starting to find that this may be the WORST time to drink it. On one hand, the excessive sweetness of the artificial sweeteners may cause insulin to “overshoot”, potentially resulting in ingested calories to be stored as fat. On the other hand, artificial sweeteners seem to have adverse effects on gut bacteria, which play an important role in carbohydrate metabolism, energy harvesting, and more.
Another issue could be the fact that artificial sweeteners in diet sodas can be tens to hundreds of times sweeter than sugar. So when we taste it, our brains anticipate even more calories than what we give it. It's like when you go to a party expecting loads of food and you end up with a handful of veggies and vegan cheese. You're left unsatisfied and hangry. In the same way, artificial sweeteners can leave our brains wanting more, which studies have shown leads to increased appetite, and potential weight gain, in fruit flies, mice, and humans.
Even though diet sodas seemed to be a good idea in theory, in practice, it just hasn’t seemed to work out. Susan E. Swithers, a professor of psychological sciences and a behavioral neuroscientist at my alma mater Purdue University, says, “Although it seems like common sense that diet sodas would not be problematic, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Findings from a variety of studies show that routine consumption of diet sodas—even one per day—can be connected to higher likelihood of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and high blood pressure, in addition to contributing to weight gain.”
“’Are diet sodas worse for you than regular sugar-sweetened sodas?’ I think that’s the wrong question,” says Swithers. The real question: “What good are [diet] sodas for you in the first place?”
And if the reason you're drinking diet soda is to drop a few pounds, maybe stick to water.
Recipe of the Month:
The recipe this month comes from our very own Denise! She has been asked repeatedly for her recipe for Cauliflower Bites, so here they are!
Cauliflower Bites
Ingredients:
Riced cauliflower (2 bags frozen works great) about 4 cups
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup cooked quinoa (optional)
4 eggs (if you do not use quinoa 2 eggs will be fine)
1/2 cup onion minced (optional)
Salt, pepper, garlic powder and any other spices to taste you would like
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350
Mix all ingredients together
Spoon mixture in mini muffin pan and cook until golden brown, about 20-30 mins.
Upcoming Activities and Announcements:
Roots to Health talk Saturday May 20 at 10am & Tuesday June 13 at 6:15. Please sign up at the front desk. Bring a friend and write a question! This is a casual time to learn about the real Roots to Health!
A note on same day appointments: as Dr. Smith is getting busier, same day appointments are getting harder to accommodate. Remember that our goal is for you to have WELLNESS and to do so, regular check-ups are recommended so that you don’t get into crisis. As a quote on the internet says, “If you don’t make time for your health today, you will have to make time for your sickness later.”
Are you happy with your care and progress? Please tell others! We love getting online reviews to spread the word. Not happy? Please tell us so we can fix it!