on Apr 29, 2015 in Healthy Skin, Wellness Seminar
Free Wellness Seminar Friday, May 8, 2015 at 6 to 7 pm If you have wondered how you could look your best no matter your age, then you’ll want to come to this seminar. Kaiser Permanente offers cosmetic services through the Department of Dermatology in San Diego. Dr. Bonilla, a board certified physician specializing in dermatology and cosmetic skin care, will discuss how Botox® differs from fillers, the benefits and negatives, and how to decide what is best for you. You’ll learn about the many non-surgical options available to you to help you maintain a youthful glow and age...
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on Apr 29, 2015 in Nutrition, Weight Loss, Wellness Blog
article pdf When it comes to your health and your weight, it appears that watching out for environmental toxins is even more important than watching calories. In 2005, Dr. Blumberg, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, submitted a grant application for money to explore the connection between environmental toxins and the global obesity epidemic. The response from the grant review board was, “How dare you waste our time with such a ridiculous idea!” However, two years later, Dr. Blumberg and his colleague, Dr. Grun, proved them wrong by publishing their work and giving the name obesogens to a variety of environmental toxins connected with causing obesity in rats and mice. Dr. Bloomberg’s first studies looked at a contaminant often found in drinking water and seafood called Tributyltin (TBT). TBT is a fungicide that was commonly used to treat boat hulls, docks, and fishing nets and also used in water cooling systems at paper, textile, and leather mills. When Dr. Bloomberg’s team fed pregnant mice a single dose of TBT, their offspring were born fatter than the control groups and by 10 weeks of age, the baby mice were 15% fatter than the mice from mothers who had not been exposed. Even more troubling, the next two generations of mice were fatter as well, even though their mothers had not been exposed to TBT during gestation. According to Dr. Bloomberg, “Once it’s in the great-grandchildren — it’s permanent.” The effect, known as epigenetic, refers to the damage done by toxins to maternal DNA that is then passed from one generation to the next long after the original exposure has passed. Dr. Skinner, a reproductive biologist at Washington State University, documented similar results with the pesticide, DDT. In Dr. Skinner’s study, female rats exposed prenatally to DDT did not grow up to be obese, but 50% of their great–grandchildren did, even though they had no direct DDT exposure. Although DDT has been banned in the United States since 1972, it can still be detected in the urine of pregnant woman in many parts of the country. One of the most troubling obesogens is BPA or biphenyl A. Hundreds of studies have shown that exposure to low doses of the...
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on Feb 16, 2015 in Nutrition, Recipes, Weight Loss, Wellness Blog
Did you know that the Positive Choice Integrative Center runs a program to keep the sheriffs of San Diego healthy and strong? The program is called the Sheriff’s Wellness Academy. The video below shows Weight Management Program Coordinator, Chris Heslin, MS, demonstrating one of the power smoothie breakfasts used by our local law enforcement to stay energized. It works for them, why not let it work for you,...
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on Feb 11, 2015 in Healthy Skin, Wellness Blog
FREE SEMINAR Just Say No to Dark Spots, Moles, and Skin Tags — Find Out How You Can Look Refreshed at any Age! February 20th at 6 to 7 p.m. Although not life threatening, the small skin changes that appear as we age can be bothersome. Luckily, there are procedures that can help to gain back some youthfulness. Dr. Rausch will discuss the different laser options available at Cosmetic Services at Kaiser Permanente and how you can safely remove unwanted skin blemishes like moles or skin tags and lighten or remove dark spots. Learn how the art of laser therapy can give you a youthful, clear complexion. Seminar will be held at the Positive Choice Integrative Wellness Center at 7035 Convoy Court, San Diego, CA 92111 Call now to reserve space. (858) 573-0090...
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on Jan 15, 2015 in Patient Testimonials, Wellness Blog
The Positive Choice Integrative Wellness Center would like to congratulate Christy on her new found health! Christy dropped her BMI from 45 to 29 Lost 88 lb.s in 9 months Lost nearly 12 inches from her waist and nearly 13 inches off her hips. Completed her first half-marathon this past weekend....
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on Jan 12, 2015 in Nutrition, Weight Loss, Wellness Blog
SAY NO TO CANNED FOODS WITH BPA – Biphenyl-A or BPA is a powerful environmental toxin that has been shown to alter endocrine function. It disrupts the hormonal balance in our body which regulates body weight. The altered hormonal balance leads to lowered body metabolism, increased fat cell production, increased appetite, and weight gain. BPA has also been clearly linked to cancer and diabetes. The levels of the chemical – used to protect canned food from corrosion and bacteria – are surprisingly high in the canned goods found on our kitchen shelves. To reach this conclusion, 50 different cans of food were collected from pantries in 19 states and Ontario and were analyzed at a top food safety lab in San Francisco. BPA was found in 92 percent of the samples according to a 24-page study called No Silver Lining, which was released today by the National Workgroup for Safe Markets. The highest level of BPA was 1,140 parts per billion – believed to be the highest ever found in the U.S. It was detected in Del Monte French Style Green Beans from a pantry in Wisconsin, the report said. Other high scorers included Walmart’s Great Value Green Peas from a store in Kentucky, and Healthy Choice Old Fashioned Chicken Noodle Soup from a pantry in Montana, said researchers from the coalition of more than 17 public and environmental health organizations . Hundreds of studies – by both government and academic researchers – have shown that exposure of animals to low doses of BPA has been linked to cancer, abnormal behavior, diabetes and heart disease, infertility, developmental and reproductive harm, obesity, and early puberty, and is a known risk factor for breast cancer. Also, BPA exposure is particularly of concern for pregnant women, for babies, and for children. “It takes as little as one serving of canned foods to expose a person to levels of BPA that have been shown to cause harm in laboratory animals. This is especially troublesome if the person eating the canned foods is pregnant, because fetuses are especially vulnerable to BPA’s effects,” reports co-author Bobbi Chase Wilding, organizing director of Clean New York, told AOL News. The researchers warned that in addition to the risk...
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on Jan 8, 2015 in Fitness, Inspiration, Nutrition, Patient Testimonials, Weight Loss, Wellness Blog
When you feel like quitting think about why you started! Kim and her husband lost a total of 230 lbs together in our Full Fasting Program. She continues to eat clean and exercise, way to go...
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on Jan 5, 2015 in Fitness, Nutrition, Weight Loss, Wellness Blog
Healthy Balance – Weight Management and Healthy Living Program Convenient, affordable, and led by experts, the Healthy Balance Program is based on three basic ideas for success: Healthy Eating, Daily Habits, and Physical Activity. Programs are offered weekly. Start whenever you’re ready and stay as long as you want. Program has a $50 one-time materials fee and then the program is $10 a session. Programs typically run in 14-week cycles. Focus is on developing healthy eating habits, healthy lifestyle habits, an active lifestyle, and mindful eating. Programs offered in Clairemont Mesa, La Mesa, Otay Mesa, and San Marcos Kaiser Permanente Medical Office buildings. Call to enroll: (858)...
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on Jan 5, 2015 in Nutrition, Wellness Blog
You have probably heard that you should strive to eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, but what you may not have heard is the average person actually needs about 9 servings a day for optimum health. A serving being about 1/2 to 1 cup of vegetables or about 65 calories worth of fruit. When setting government guidelines for nutrition, researchers concluded the average American consumes about 1 and a half servings of fruits and vegetables a day (and that’s counting the tomato and lettuce on their hamburger!) The guidelines were set low at 5 servings, because they didn’t think people would take the goal of nine servings a day seriously. Every activity we do throughout the day, including activities like concentration and digestion cause oxidative damage in the cells of our body. Only the vitamins and phyto-nutrients in fruits and vegetables can help our body correct this oxidative damage. Most of us woefully underestimate the amount of fruits and vegetables it takes to keep us in balance. Each meal should include 2-3 servings of fruits and or vegetables and each snack at least one...
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on Dec 17, 2014 in Nutrition, Weight Loss, Wellness Blog
How many years have we heard that chicken is a better choice than beef because it is lower in saturated fat? Well it seems that when it comes to chicken things have changed. Studies that track foods to weight gain clearly indicate that meat eaters compared to vegans have higher BMIs (Body Mass Index – an indicator of obesity). When looking specifically at different types of meat, numerous studies indicated that the food most highly connected to elevated BMI was chicken! What happened to chicken? Well for one thing, over the last 30 years chickens have been selectively bred to be intense growers (grow quickly to maturity). Chickens that mature quickly mean improved profits for poultry growers, but the unexpected outcome of selective breeding/feeding is drastic consequences in the nutritional value of chicken. Today’s chickens have a lot more fat and less nutritional value. A serving of chicken in 1940 had 95 calories and 10 grams of fat, a serving of chicken in 2011 contains 200 calories and 23 grams of fat. The selective breeding has also had an impact of how well the chicken is able to make a very important fat called DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid). DHA is an omega-3 fat that is extremely important to brain and eye health for humans. These new breeds of chicken are not able to make DHA in their muscle tissue like old chickens. They are so much lower in DHA that it would take eating 6 current day chickens (about 9000 more calories worth of chicken) to equal the DHA level in one chicken form 1970! Some researchers have theorized that this drastic decrease in omega-3 DHA could be one reason that there has been such a dramatic increase in Alzheimer’s and other mental health disease over the last 20...
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