Responsive Health's Official Blog

In recent years it has been widely believed that carbohydrates, commonly referred to as carbs, are to be avoided at all costs. It seems like everywhere you turned, another person was going on a low-carb or no-carb diet and putting a figurative big red “X” on all things with the “C-word”. Dietitians, nutrition experts who have completed a dietitian training program, and Personal Fitness Trainers were bombarded with patients and clients asking whether or not they should join this booming fad diet or not. read more »

It’s summer. While that means a lot of things, it definitely means ROAD TRIP for many Americans.

Something about the summer sun, the open road, the beckoning coast and the pursuit of the best ice cream cone gets our engines going. But gas station grub and fast food along the way can really put a damper on healthy eating habits.

If you are passionate about nutrition and fitness, you should check out the various dietitian programs available or enroll in a personal trainer certification program today!

Don’t worry, there is healthy road trip food! These healthy road trip food ideas will leave your car mates full, happy and healthy. The best road trip snacks will keep you energized for the drive and ready for any twists and turns in the road. Packing these snacks for a road trip will be way better than stopping every couple miles for junk food!

Grab a cooler and fill it with ice and stash these favorites:

• Fruit- Obviously, avoiding the greasy chips and fatty doughnuts at the gas station is a smart idea. Consuming salty foods can easily make you exceed your sodium intake per day. Replace those belly busters with fresh fruits and vegetables. Apples, bananas, oranges, grapefruit…things with a natural covering are ideal for road grub. Pre-cut watermelon slices, strawberries, peaches and nectarines are good road trip foods that are healthy. Also, grapes are great because they are delicious, healthy and easy to pop in your mouths like chips.
• Veggies- Carrot sticks, celery, sliced bell pepper strips and cherry tomatoes are all fantastic options for the long car ride. If the kids won’t eat plain veggies, then fill some celery sticks with peanut butter and put them in a baggie for easy access. Also, bring along some hummus for dipping or mix up an easy veggie dip by mixing low-fat cream cheese, low-fat sour cream and ranch dressing seasoning mix. Be sure to put all of these healthy road trip snacks for kids in the cooler.
• Low-fat Cheese and Whole-Wheat Crackers- Pre-slice some cheese to pair with whole wheat crackers to refuel on the road. These are good road trip snacks because they are very satisfying and the fiber from the crackers will keep your hunger at bay. Healthy road trip snacks should include low-fat dairy, like in cheeses, which provides a good source of calcium.
• Nuts- Although they are high in calories, nuts provide essential vitamins and minerals and healthy fats to keep your heart healthy. Opt for natural, unsalted almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans or peanuts. The healthy fats will provide you with a feeling of satiety and are a yummy treat.
• Low-fat Pudding and Sugar-Free Jello- It’s easy to think that road trip snacks that are healthy are hard to come by, but if you take the time to prepare before the trip, it is super simple! Pack some low-fat pudding cups and sugar-free jello in the cooler for a sweet treat along the way. Word to wise: DON’T FORGET THE SPOONS!
• Beef Jerky- Low in fat and high in protein, this is one of the best healthy road trip snacks. Try to get the reduced sodium kind. Even turkey jerky is really delicious and the protein boost will keep you satisfied.

Chomping on healthy road trip foods will make a big difference in the way you feel in the car which will make your trip a lot more enjoyable! These healthy road trip ideas for snacks and meals will save you time, money and calories! Have fun road trippin’ this summer!

Taking a Look at Painbalance.org

Responsive Health works tirelessly to provide you with reliable information regarding optimal, healthy living. As a part of that endeavor, we invite you to review PainBalance.org for information about pain, chronic pain, and pain management. Whether you’re a patient, or a caregiver, their information about Pain Management and Chronic Pain Relief is sure to prove useful.

PainBalance covers all aspects of pain and pain relief, including both medical and holistic therapies. Their site contains videos that explain how the body generates pain and responds to pain signals. They also offer specific guidelines for clinicians and healthcare professionals involved in the pain management process. Here’s a quick overview of the Painbalance website.

Pain Categories and Treatment

Painbalance refers to pain as “the fifth vital sign” in its introduction to different kinds of pain. Painbalance thoroughly identifies the problem of pain, various types (back pain, joint pain, etc.) and provides information regarding potential treatments.

All of the site’s information is free of charge, though its value delivered to pain relief specialists and patients is high. In well-written, accessible language, a simple analysis and breakdown of the many topics is provided, resulting in a complete understanding of the body’s response to pain.

PainBalance provides a concise summary of the important elements for each type of pain, along with symptom prevention information and practical pain relief treatments.

Nociceptive and Neuropathic Pain

These pages are a great example of PainBalance’s ability to reduce highly detailed and complicated information down to easily digested material. Each of the main stages in the pain process is identified, from Transduction through Perception, and a video is provided to visually illustrate exactly how each of these stages progress.

On the Management of Neuropathic Pain page, the vivid 3-D animations illustrate the impact of pain, along with explaining its effects on the body, and the healing process. These videos serve as introductions to the biological processes behind Neuropathic and Nociceptive Pain.

Educational Animations in 3D

PainBalance’s 3-D animated videos are perhaps the best resource available on the site, especially for the non-clinician. They are engaging and highly informative, as well as entertaining, especially for people interested in understanding the biological underpinnings of pain.

The videos are also focused solely on the types of complex pain. For example, there is a video on neuropathic pain that reveals to its sufferers why their pain symptoms are so difficult to diagnose. Painbalance’s use of multimedia propels them above other sites with similar information. Hopefully we will see this video section grow right along with the ever-growing pursuit of the understanding of pain.

Narrative Scenarios and Treatment Options

These two pages, and their sub-sections, provide remedies for the types of pain listed. A quick summary of all of the basic and holistic treatment options available (Opiods, Clinician tools, etc.) is also provided. It is fairly straightforward and proves to be an integral part of the website.

The narrative scenarios page is helpful in clearing up any confusion in dealing with or identifying the many different types of pain symptoms. The required steps for diagnosis are provided in each scenario, along with treatment and solutions. The scenarios reveal the website’s utility for patients, but also for doctors, medical professionals and scholars, as well. It is a valuable tool for diagnosis of medical symptoms that would be useful for increased perspective, if not for finding a path to a cure.

Chronic Pain Management Guidelines

Chronic Pain Management Guidelines from each of the many pain-related research and advocacy organizations are presented in this section. The guidelines from each organization are slightly different, reflecting PainBalance’s assertion that “there is currently no single, comprehensive, widely accepted set of guidelines for all categories of pain”. This section is mostly targeted to Healthcare industry professionals, but could prove useful for patients or students looking to understand the proper procedures for managing and treating the many different types of pain.

Overall

Along with a series of other interesting and useful pages, including a complete section on REMS (risk assessment) and the Pathophysiology of Pain, the PainBalance website is a solid compliment to our own. It is a comprehensive resource for Pain Patients and Pain Relief Specialists that is offers complex information in an easily accessible way. Our staff highly recommends that you visit PainBalance at www.painbalance.org.

Responsive Health Scores-

Reliability of Information -9/10

Usefulness- 8/10

Ease of Understanding – 7/10

Total Average Score – 8.3/10

Low carb diets, such as the Atkins diets, can be a real killer on someone with a sweet tooth. Fortunately, there are low carb foods out there that are still available during the first two weeks of dieting; check out these twelve sweet low carb treats and see for yourself!

1. Sugar free jello [0 carbs]. You can buy premade sugar free jello cups to take to work or on a trip for sweet low carb snacks, or you can make the jello yourself and add club soda. Add a little whipped cream for extra flavor! Whipped cream is typically 1 carb or less per tablespoon.
2. Cheese [0 carbs]. Most cheeses are 0 carbs per serving. Ralphs had garlic cheese last week for 0 carbs that came with a fantastic kick, and sweeter cheeses are definitely available too. Make sure to check the packaging before purchasing though, because some cheeses may have a smidgen of carbs in them depending on what they’re made of.
3. Sugar free popsicles [4 carbs]. While a popsicle’s 4 carbs might seem a bit extraneous for it’s size, the perks of popsicles as sweet low carb treats are how slowly you can eat them (if you’re not biting!) and the freezing feeling in your mouth after you’re done. You’ll find that you won’t want to get up for seconds.
4. Dill pickles [1 carb per 3 large slices]. Pickles can be eaten alone or added to a lettuce-wrapped burger with cheese for extra flavor!
5. Grapes [7.4 net carbs per 1/2 cup]. Half a cup of grapes might not sound like a lot, but they’re wonderful cool and sweet low carb snacks if you eat them marginally on a hot day. Try freezing them for an hour to make miniature grape popsicles. There’s also added health benefits to eating grapes.
6. Lemons [3.8 net carbs per lemon]. If you’re not interested in biting straight into a lemon, consider taking wedges and squeezing them into your water throughout the day. The more water you drink, the fuller you’ll feel!
7. Strawberries [1.7 net carbs per 1/4 cup]. You’re normally looking at around 1 carb per strawberry. If you cut the strawberry up into smaller pieces, you can enjoy it longer. Like grapes, you have to eat it marginally, but it they’re excellent sweet low carb treats in moderation!
8. Eggs [1/2 carb per egg]. You can cook eggs and add a touch of salsa or low carb ketchup for an amazing snack.
9. Sesame seed crackers [1 net carb per cracker]. This recipe makes cheese sesame crackers that can be eaten by themselves or with a spread. Delicious!
10. Oven-baked cheese crisps [less than 1 carb]. If you’re looking for a substitute for croutons, or want to make a tiny cup to fill with other low carb goodies, try this recipe out!
11. Sugar free dried cranberries [6 carbs per 3 oz]. Another recipe that’s sure to delight, with lots of fiber. Try it with agave instead of sugar to further lower the carb count.
12. Sweet alcohol [0 carbs]. Whiskey, rum, and other 80% proof hard liquors have 0 carbs, though they’re higher in calories. Add a shot to a diet coke when you feel like having a desert cheat. If you go out with friends to a bar, consider a long island ice tea, at roughly one carb per ounce. This is sort of a cheat, since you’re supposed to avoid alcohol, but it’s a good last resort for your sweet low carb snacks.

If you’re unsure of the advantages and disadvantages of a low carb diet, or you’ve heard mixed opinions, check out this article.

How many grapes do you eat every week? Grapes are a wonderful addition to a healthy diet. Responsive Health takes a look at the ten health benefits of eating grapes along with some recipes for incorporating grapes into breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

1. Prevent heart disease. A study from the Journal of Nutrition showed that eating fresh grapes could prevent the accumulation of harmful oxidized cholesterol and atherosclerotic lesions. This means less coronary heart disease from plaque build up on the walls of your arteries. The polyphenol called “resveratrol” in the grape skin breaks down bad cholesterol. It can also be found in grape juice, grape jelly, and wine.
2. Fight illness. Grapes are high in another polyphenol called “tannin.” Canadian scientists discovered that tannin eliminated disease-forming viruses in test tubes; tannins move into the intestinal tract and protect from viruses and tumors alike.
3. Fight  cancer. Grapes have a high level of caffeic acid. Caffeic acid helps fight cancer. Read more about this in Johanna Brandt’s book, The Grape Cure.
4. Prevent brain damage from strokes. Studies from the University of Missouri-Columbia show that grapes prevent brain damage in the event of a stroke.
5. Boost brain activity. Grapes have a significant amount of potassium and increase brain activity.
6. Boost metabolism. Grapes have a light laxative effect that boosts metabolism. A handful of grapes can do wonders for dieting.
7. Increase calorie burning. As grapes clean out your cholesterol and intestines and strengthen your heart, they increase your blood flow and help with calorie burning. They compliment workouts very well.
8. Enhance endurance. Grapes flush the system out and make it more active for longer; don’t worry about exhausting yourself as quickly with your workout when you have grapes on your side!
9. Helps stave off tuberculosis. Patients in the first stage of tuberculosis are told to include a higher amount of grapes in their diet.
10. Grapes are mostly water. Grapes are anywhere from 65-85% water, which means low calories and high hydration.

Of course, it’s fair to mention one cautionary factor about grapes: they’re no good for a mouth with cavities. Make sure to rinse your mouth out with mouth wash after consumption, especially if you have cavities for the grape juice to eat away at.

Try one of these three exciting recipes to add grapes to breakfast, lunch, and dinner:

Breakfast: Lemon Yogurt

Whip 1/2 pound of low fat yogurt with a tablespoon of lemon juice and 1/3 pound of grapes. Enjoy!

Lunch: Grape Pancakes

• Mix 2-3 tablespoons of flour, 1/2 glass of water of water and one egg. Make a few pancakes.
• Wrap the pancakes around 1/4 pound of low fat cottage cheese, 1 tablespoon of mineral water, and 2 oz of grapes.
• Sprinkle cinnamon on top.

Dinner: Rice with Shrimps and Grapes

• Boil 5 tablespoons of rice. Add 1/4 pound of grapes.
• Fry 5-6 shrimps with olive oil and put them on top of rice mixed with grapes.