Aided by a high-powered brain scanner and a 3D printer, NIH researchers peered inside the brains of hundreds of multiple sclerosis patients and found that dark rimmed spots representing ongoing, “smoldering” inflammation, called chronic active lesions, may be a hallmark of more aggressive and disabling forms of the disease.

The two drugs, Orkambi and Symkevi, had been described as “life-changing” by campaigners.

Don’t be too hard on yourself! Sometimes losing weight has nothing to do with your willpower or your personality. Experts say that 95% of all diets fail because we’re under the impression that what works for our friends will also work for us.

Dr Yael Joffe, Chief Science Officer at 3×4 Genetics and world-renowned specialist in nutrition and genetics, says there is a better and more efficient way to get the right answers for you, and that’s through examining your genes.

So how do genetics affect your weight?

According to Dr Joffe, at least 50% of what drives your weight comes from your genes, with the rest as a result of diet and lifestyle choices. “Genetics has a big influence on how our bodies function at a cellular level, affecting how our bodies store and burn energy or fat. But it’s not just about our metabolic rate; our genes also impact how we experience hunger and fullness. They also affect how we respond to exercise, how much energy we use when not exercising, and if inflammation in our body will make it difficult to lose weight”.

A recent UK study published in the PLOS Genetics journal, compared the DNA of 1 622 thin volunteers, 1 985 severely obese people, and a normal-weight control group of 10 433. The results showed that the thinner control group had genetics on their side. Based on the study, researchers concluded that by “using genome-wide genotype data, we can show that persistent healthy thinness, similar to severe obesity, is a heritable trait”.

“Because we each have a unique genetic profile, what’s good for one person may not be good for you,” Joffe stresses.

READ MORE: 5 Serious Health Conditions That Can Be Passed Down Through Your Genes

It could explain why you’re always hungry.

“The way we experience hunger differs from person to person, which is why one person may feel ravenous after not eating for a few hours while others barely have an appetite,” says Dr Joffe. In addition, our genes also ensure that after eating, some of us feel fuller than others. Some people may experience a high appetite and a low level of satisfaction after eating, which will leave them feeling hungry all the time and this can make dieting especially hard.

If you know for a fact (through genetic testing) that you have these genes, Dr Joffe says, your chances of success could be improved by a diet with more appropriate and substantial types of foods and targeted supplements.

Genetics do play a role in how your body converts energy.

Some of us easily convert our energy into fat, which is an evolutionary trait, while others burn through it quickly. Our ancestors, living on the plains of Africa, where hunting was infrequent, survived longer if they could convert their energy into fat. This means that their chances of surviving the lean times were higher than those that burned energy quicker.

Storing energy as fat is not a problem if you burn energy efficiently — some people burn up energy very well, both at the gym and while sitting at their desks. But others can train for a marathon and still not lose weight, even though they’ve been hitting the gym hard for weeks on end.

Inflammation and weight gain are linked.

Chronic inflammation and excess body fat go hand-in-hand and can stall your attempts at weight loss. There is a direct correlation between excess weight and inflammation; as you gain more fat stores, your low-grade inflammation will increase. “The more overweight you are, the more inflammation you will have in your body,” Dr Joffe explains.

“We know that when your body is inflamed, you’re very unlikely to lose weight because inflammation holds on to body fat. When we are treating patients who are overweight, we always want to manage inflammation as well,” she says.

READ MORE: Here’s How To Tell If A Genetic Testing Service Is Legit

Popular diet plans might not work for you.

“Most dietitians will tell you that to lose weight, you need to decrease your calorie intake and increase your energy output. This approach, along with any diet in the media, is fundamentally flawed because it assumes one diet will work for everyone. If we all gain and lose weight differently, then it makes sense that there’s a different plan for everyone to lose weight,” Dr Joffe explains.

The only way to find the diet that will work for you is to build it around your gene profile with a nutritional professional who knows how to interpret a genetic test, according to Dr Joffe.

Bottom line: The truth is that you didn’t ‘fail’ at sticking to your diet — you just might have been working against your genes this whole time.

^{This article was originally published on www.womenshealthsa.co.za}

Image credit: iStock

Viwe Myburgh

If you’re like me, you try your best to eat a healthy, whole foods-based diet, which includes whole-grain bread (because avocado toast is life), frozen meals here and there (some of them are organic!), and sushi Fridays (salmon rolls, FTW).

But even though I’m packing in all the good stuff into my diet — like fruits and veggies and lean proteins — I’m probably eating way too much salt. Most people are. The recommended intake is 1 500 mg per day, but most people are consuming more than double that amount.

After a salty binge, you might feel — and look — like you went overboard on the stuff. Here’s what’s happening and how to fix it.

What are the signs you’ve eaten way too much salt?

One of sodium’s important roles in the body is to help balance fluids — but consume too much and you set yourself up for water retention. You know that “why-are-my-pants-suddenly-tighter?” feeling.

“One of the biggest short-term consequences of eating a lot of sodium is bloating and puffiness,” says Amy Gorin, dietician and owner of Amy Gorin Nutrition in the New York City area. She points out that your weight may even jump up a few grams the night after a sushi meal spent dunking your rolls in (super-salty) soy sauce.

READ MORE: 9 Disturbing Signs You’re Actually Not Eating Enough Salt

What are some hints that your diet regularly features too much sodium?

It’s all about the longer-term consequences here. “Excess sodium intake can put you at risk for a plethora of health problems,” says Gorin. Frequent headaches or kidney stones are just a few examples. Over time, though, high blood pressure can be the most pronounced symptom — and it’s one that you should pay attention to, even if you consider yourself healthy. “High blood pressure is the leading cause of death for women in the United States,” warns Gorin.

What can you do if you’ve eaten too much salt?

To bring your bod back in balance, hydrate with water. And eat foods that are good sources of potassium, a strategy that will help in the long-run when it comes to maintaining healthy blood pressure levels, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Potassium acts as an opposing force to sodium, and lowers your blood pressure.

That doesn’t mean plying yourself with bananas or watermelon — though both offer stellar sources of the mineral — but simply planning to eat more produce (of whatever variety you’re feeling that day). And commit to cooking your next meal at home. As Gorin points out, just 11 percent of the sodium you eat in the day comes from the salt shaker. Now’s the time to make that healthy recipe you’ve been wanting to try from your fave IG-er.

READ MORE: 7 Ways Consuming Too Much Salt Can Affect Your Body

What are some smart ways to cut back on salt?

The good news here is that you’re not going to have to stress about counting every milligram of sodium — or eat bland food. The truth is that sodium is something that your body needs for proper muscle and nerve function and it’s also a seasoning that boosts the flavour of foods. (It’s what makes those Brussels sprouts to-die-for, after all.)

But it’s not the only way to make meals tasty. When cooking, Gorin recommends turning to other high-flavour seasonings, like garlic and onion powder, and bringing the heat with cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes if you like things spicy. Lemon juice and vinegars will add brightness to foods without salt.

When you’re at a restaurant, you’re probably going to have a meal higher in salt — even if you order well. “If you order the fish and fresh veggies at a restaurant, you can bet the chef is adding more salt than you’d add if you were cooking at home,” Gorin says. When you’re out, she recommends asking that the chef go light on the added salt and ask for sauces on the side, which you can then use to taste.

Finally, eat fresh food when you can. The CDC points out that more than 40 percent of the sodium consumed each day comes from 10 types of food, including breads, pizza, soups, bagged snacks (like pretzels or crackers), and cheese. (Heck, a single sandwich can easily exceed 1,500 mg of sodium, they point out.) Many of these foods are of the ultra-processed variety that nutrition experts advise limiting anyway.

Convenience foods are also awesome when you come home from work and want to practically gnaw your arm off. But even organic frozen meals can pack in more than 700 mg of sodium. She advises looking for the low-sodium varieties, which are just as tasty and satisfying.

And no matter what foods you buy, read the labels to understand how much you’re getting, says Gorin. Your heart (and jeans) will thank you tomorrow.

^{This article was originally published on www.womenshealthsa.co.za} 

^{Image credit: iStock}

Jessica Migala

Boris Johnson’s estranged wife, who was diagnosed with cervical cancer in May, says she is “cancer-free”.

With UK supplies of hormone replacement therapy running low, women tell the BBC how it has affected them.

Losing a bunch of weight — whether it’s through diet and exercise, surgery, or a combination of different approaches — isn’t all glitter and smiling “after” photos. If you shed a significant number of kilos, having loose skin is normal — and extremely common. Also normal? Feeling a little bummed about it.

“This is a legitimate concern that patients have when seeking obesity surgery,” says Dr Vivek Prachand, a bariatric surgeon and associate professor of surgery at The University of Chicago Medicine.

Why does loose skin after major weight loss happen? The maybe-a-little-downer (but real talk) truth: If you were in a larger body previously, excess fat likely stretched out your skin. Couple that with the fact that collagen and elastin (an elastic protein) in the skin naturally decrease as you age, and you’ve got a recipe for excess skin, explains Dr Manish Shah, a board-certified plastic surgeon in Denver.

“There may not be sufficient elasticity for the skin to contract back down to your new, smaller body size,” says Dr Constance Chen, a board-certified plastic surgeon in New York City.

Stretch marks are one sign of skin being, well, stretched past the point of no return: Once you see them, “it’s much more likely that significant weight loss will result in loose, hanging skin,” says Dr Chen.

Does everyone have loose skin after major weight loss?

Nope — it’s not inevitable, says Dr Prachand. But it’s also not easy to predict who is going to experience it, he says. He’s had some patients who have lost 90 kilos in a year after obesity surgery and have very little excess skin. On the other hand, some have lost as little as 27 kilos and have more.

“The magnitude of weight loss doesn’t predict how much excess skin you may have,” he says. Other factors, like genetics, smoking (which degrades collagen and elastin), and sun exposure also play a role in your skin’s springiness.

It’s also normal to assume that losing weight quickly could cause sagging skin, but that’s not necessarily the case, either. “Sometimes, patients will consider doing surgery that doesn’t allow them to lose weight as quickly because of the fear of excess skin,” says Dr Prachand. “I understand these concerns, but there’s no strong evidence that how quickly you lose plays a role.”

READ MORE: “I Had Gastric Bypass Surgery To Stop Myself Abusing Food — Here’s How It Works”

Will loose skin ever go away on its own?

It might, but that can take a long time.

“In general, it can take anywhere from weeks to months — even years,” says Dr Chen. If after one to two years skin is still loose, it may not get any tighter, she says.

Is it possible to tighten loose skin without surgery?

Sadly, probably not. “Nonsurgical methods that help tighten the skin will generally not be effective enough to tighten the amount of loose skin that occurs with massive weight loss,” says Dr Chen.

For instance, abdominal binders can help relieve back pain but do nada for skin. Compression garments can be worn to hold in excess skin, but they also won’t do anything to effect more long-term change.

Dr Shah says that if you have small amounts of loose skin, then devices like Bodytite and Renuvion, both of which are minimally invasive body-contouring technologies, may help. “The best results come from surgery by far,” he says.

READ MORE: 5 Questions That Tell You If You’re a Good Candidate For Weight-Loss Surgery

What is surgery for loose skin like?

Body-contouring surgery often involves a “tummy tuck” with arm, breast, face, lower body, or thigh lifts, per the American Society of Plastic Surgery.

Dr Prachand and Dr Chen say there are certain indicators they look for before recommending loose skin-removal surgery to patients:

• Patients have to be at least two years out from their weight-loss surgery.
• Their weight has to have remained stable for at least six months.
• Their BMI should ideally be under 30.
• Patients can’t smoke.
• Patients with diabetes need stable blood-glucose levels.

Oh, and if you’ve had bariatric surgery to lose the weight, here’s a surprise: surgery to remove excess skin is tougher to recover from.

“Body contouring requires more overall body healing than obesity surgery itself, which is a minimally invasive procedure,” says Dr Prachand. It’s important not to brush off the seriousness of the surgery thinking that it’s “cosmetic,” because it’s much more than that.

Indeed, you’ll likely need two to four weeks to recover, with full recovery taking as long as six months after surgery, says Dr Shah. (That means you might not see the results you’re looking for aesthetically until that point, either.)

“The pain for surgery is relative and only moderate in intensity,” he adds. Still, you probably will be too exhausted to go to work: During the first couple of weeks, a simpler daily routine is a must, says Dr Shah.

You should also know going in that you may need touch-up surgery. “Scars need to be finessed, some skin loosens and needs to be retightened, and there may be asymmetries to perfect,” he says.

Long-term, this surgery may actually help you keep the weight off. Research in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery found that patients who received body-contouring surgery were more likely to maintain their weight loss, compared to those who had bariatric surgery alone.

“After body contouring, the improvements in physical and social functioning helps reinforce healthy lifestyle changes,” says Dr Prachand.

^{This article was originally published on www.womenshealthsa.co.za}

Image credit: iStock

Jessica Migala

Whether you’re suffering from a stomach bug or dealing with an irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) flare-up, one thing’s for sure: Your regular diverse diet isn’t going to do you any favours. In fact, it might even worsen your symptoms. Ugh. No, thank you.

Instead, your best bet for remedying symptoms such as nausea and diarrhoea is by sticking to a regime of bland foods — at least until your gut is back in gear. So what foods are the easiest to digest? In general, you want to stock up on bites that are low-fat and low-fibre to ensure that your gastrointestinal tract won’t have to put in even more work to break down food compounds when it’s already a bit out of whack.

Your colon (the large intestine) is the organ that does overtime to process heavier and fibrous foods and eventually dispose of waste product as poop. If it’s inflamed, you don’t want to cause more damage by overdoing it on foods that are hard to digest, like ones that are high in fibre and fat (even something as simple as broccoli sautéed in lots of EVOO).

To make your grocery shopping extra simple, I’ve got a whole list ahead to make it easy for you.

1. White bread and white rice

Compared to their cousins — whole-wheat toast, whole-grain toast, and brown rice — white-flour foods are far easier to digest if you have an upset stomach. White flour is refined and processed, meaning the fibre is stripped out of it.

On a typical, healthy day, you totally want the fibre in whole-wheat carbohydrates, as it takes longer for your body to break down and keeps you fuller longer. However, when your stomach hates you? You’ll have a way easier (and more comfortable) time eating the white stuff.

Also in this category? Saltine crackers. The salt content functions as an electrolyte and can help if you’re dehydrated. Pretzels, too, can be gentle on the tummy, as long as they’re not made with butter or whole grains.

READ MORE: 9 IBS Treatments That Will Free You From The Toilet Seat

2. Watermelon

The juicy fruit, along with honeydew and soft sweet melon, are primarily composed of water. Because of that, they’re light in terms of GI work and do an A+ job of hydrating the body, especially when, err, poo just keeps coming out of you. And because these fruits barely have any fibre, they basically get absorbed along the way, leaving little to end up in the colon to eventually be processed.

If you are a produce lover and are wondering what vegetables are easy to digest, many are tough due to the fibre content. That being said, for all those folks who prefer veggies, feel free to reach for cucumbers, as long as they don’t have skin. Like melon, they are high in water. On a similar note, try to avoid the seeds hiding in all of these foods, since they’re not digestible.

3. Chicken

When it comes to picking proteins, you’re going to want to opt for lean, low-fat options such as chicken, turkey, and/or fish (the latter of which might sound gross when you have the stomach bug, but your choice!).

Your protein of choice should also be prepared in a low-fat manner as well. This means steer clear of frying and sautéing and just stick to baking these bites.

As for fish? A few additional rules: Avoid sushi because of its higher risk of contamination (read: further stomach distress), and it’s also best to avoid oily fishes like mackerel and sardines, as they can be a little too heavy when experiencing GI issues.

4. Bananas

The browner, the better. Yup, you read that right. Under-ripe, greener bananas have more resistant starches, which are similar to prebiotics in that they are hard to digest and feed the bacteria in your gut. And when your tum is having trouble, the last thing you want is for all these bugs to start playing around. But as bananas collect spots (read: ripen) resistant starches turn into sugars, which are no-sweat for your gut. Added bonus? Bananas can be constipating, which is helpful if you have diarrhoea.

5. Cooked cereal

A.k.a. oatmeal. Farina (semolina) or milled wheat and grits work too—as long as they’re cooked using water (read: no dairy milk or nut milk, which may trigger GI issues). When you cook these cereals, you’re helping to break down their components, meaning you’re essentially starting the digestion process before the cereal even enters your mouth. Why not have the stove do the work for you?

One last tip: Some people put toppings like peanut butter in their oatmeal. But when your stomach is acting up, it’s better to avoid this. Peanut butter is easy to digest for some people, but tough for others, and it’s been connected to worsening acid reflux symptoms anecdotally. While your GI tract is angry, it’s safer to hold off on the PB.

READ MORE: What’s The Point Of An Elimination Diet — And Should I Try It?

6. Canned vegetables

More specifically, canned carrots since they (unlike many veggies out there) are not high in fibre, do not have super fibrous skins, and don’t have seeds. Just be careful of canned options filled with preservatives. To avoid this, look for those with the simplest list of ingredients—essentially just water and veggies.

7. Sweet potatoes

By now you know the drill: Skip the skins. But if you’re looking for an easy-to-digest food that has a bit more flavour and nutrition (sweet potatoes are high in potassium!), bake one of these orange guys and scoop out the insides to do away with the skin part.

8. Eggs

Hardboiled are best. That’s because they only require water and are completely cooked through, which is not the case for many other egg preparations such as poached and over easy. Hate hardboiled but love a good scramble? Feel free to eat eggs that way as well, as long as long as you play it safe by using very little butter.

9. Applesauce

Channel your inner child and enjoy some applesauce. Like cooked cereals, applesauce is considered “predigested,” in that its already broken down to make it easy on your tum. (Think of it as the more digestible form of fruit.) Plus, it’s tasty, sweet, and provides a little bit of nutrition in a situation where you’re not really racking up the vitamins otherwise.

10. Chicken soup

Not only is a warm bowl of chicken soup soothing (and, yes, good for the soul), but it is also a safe way to get different ingredients in an easily digestible form. Cooking the veggies, chicken, and broth all together for hours helps break down lots of the components long before they make their way through your digestive tract. And, voilá, little to no work for your body.

If your stomach situation has left you gagging at the idea of chicken and veggies, then consider slurping on just broth; the combo of salt and water can help rehydrate you.

11. Herbal tea

While not really a food, herbal teas can be key if you can’t bear the thought of chewing something but are craving something soothing. Chamomile tea is known to be gentle and stomach-soothing, and fennel tea can help alleviate cramping and constipation. Ginger tea is a wise choice if you’re looking to tame nausea, and peppermint tea may also help remedy stomach pain and diarrhoea.

This article was originally published on www.womenshealthsa.co.za

Image credit: iStock

Dr Samantha Nazareth

Many of the most commonly prescribed forms of hormone replacement therapy are out of stock in pharmacies.