Dr. Sean Hashmi » General

Week 4 of my 90 Day Transformation Challenge

Dr. Sean — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:34:32 +0000

Lose that gut!

Dr. Sean — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 20:08:51 +0000

I have been talking about the dangers of abdominal obesity for the last 15 years. There is lots of new data emerging and it all states that waist circumference is independently associated with higher mortality. The most recent study is from the Archives of Internal Medicine. In this study, they looked at 48,500 men and 56,343 women age 50 and older. The participants were part of the Cancer Prevention Study II Nutrition Cohort. The study went from 1997 until 2006.
After adjusting for BMI and other risk factors, the authors found that waist circumference of least 47 inches in men and 43 inches in women was associated with about a two fold risk of dying when compared with men with waists 35 inches or women with waists 30 inches or less. In fact, each 4 inch increase in waist size was linked to about a 15 to 25 percent higher risk of death.
Bottom line: Abdominal obesity is a killer. There is tons of data to support it. This doesn’t mean you are doomed if you have it but that you need to change your lifestyle today! No fad diets and no crazy pills. Start by cutting down your calories, avoid sugars and saturated fats, exercise daily and find positive people to keep you stay motivated.

Reference:
Arch Intern Med. 2010;170(15):1293-1301

Advanced Full Body Circuit Training Workout

Dr. Sean — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 19:31:43 +0000

Here is the third workout of our fitness series. This one is sure to burn up some major calories. Enjoy and please subscribe on our YouTube channel so that we can keep bringing you more content.

Green Lemonade for health

Dr. Sean — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 19:58:56 +0000

By: Anna Weiss, P.T.

This is a recipe for “Green Lemonade”. It contains good ingredients for weight loss and immunity. I recommend drinking 8-10 oz/ day if trying to lose weight. All the ingredients can be thrown into a juicer. For an added benefit, you can stir in some Chlorella and Spirulina powder to the drink.

one bunch of kale
one large cucumber
1-2 apples
one small container of blueberries
1/2″ chunk of ginger
juice of one lemon

Glucosamine for back pain?

Dr. Sean — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 17:56:17 +0000

A New research from Oslo University Hospital in Norway looked at 250 adults with chronic low back pain and degenerative osteoarthritis. The study was randomized with half the participants taking 1500mg of glucosamine sulfate daily and the other half taking placebo for six months. Improvement was assessed by participants filling out questionnaires about their pain. No statistical differences were found between the glucosamine group versus the placebo group after 6 months or treatment and again at one-year followup.

Bottom line: Glucosamine may not be effective for chronic back pain based on this small trial. Effective treatments for chronic low back pain include non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ibuprofen, motrin, naprosyn, etc.), opiates (vicodin), acupuncture, and physical therapy. Each therapy has side-effects that must be discussed with your doctor before starting.

Reference:

Wilkens P, Scheel IB, Grundnes O, et al. Effect of glucosamine on pain-related disability in patients with chronic low back pain and degenerative lumbar osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2010 Jul 7;304(1):45-52.

FDA Recall of Slim-30

Dr. Sean — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 00:29:19 +0000

Just a quick announcement. FDA has recalled Slim-30 (lot #032009) because it was found to contain sibutramine. Sibutramine is the active ingredient of Meridia. Sibutramine is a reuptake inhibitor of norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine. Basically it’s a stimulant so common side effects include: fast heart rate, high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, seizures and suicidality.

The reason this is disturbing is that sibutramine is a prescription only medication that needs to be carefully monitored in patients. As always, be very careful about what you put in your body. What may seem like a harmless, natural supplement may contain ingredients that can have a devastating impact on your body.

Reference:

http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/SafetyInformation/SafetyAlertsforHumanMedicalProducts/ucm219463.htm

How obese is your state?

Dr. Sean — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:10:48 +0000

According to the most recent government statistics, two thirds of Americans are now either overweight (BMI > 25) or obese (BMI > 30). In 1980, about 15% of adults were classified as obese but that number increased to 34% by 2008. So here are latest statistics on obesity broken down by States. Where does your State rank?

Mississippi 33.8%
Alabama 31.6%
Tennessee 31.6%
West Virginia 31.3%
Louisiana 31.2%
Oklahoma 30.6%
Kentucky 30.5%
Arkansas 30.1%
South Carolina 29.9%
North Carolina 29.4%
Michigan 29.4%
Missouri 29.3%
Ohio 29.0%
Texas 29.0%
South Dakota 28.5%
Kansas 28.2%
Pennsylvania 28.1%
Georgia 28.1%
Indiana 28.1%
Delaware 27.9%
North Dakota 27.7%
Iowa 27.6%
Nebraska 27.3%
Alaska 26.9%
Wisconsin 26.9%
Illinois 26.6%
Maryland 26.6%
Washington 26.3%
Maine 25.8%
Arizona 25.8%
Nevada 25.6%
Virginia 25.5%
Minnesota 25.5%
New Mexico 25.5%
New Hampshire 25.4%
New York 25.1%
Florida 25.1%
Idaho 25.1%
Oregon 25.0%
Wyoming 25.0%
California 24.4%
ew Jersey 23.9%
Montana 23.5%
Utah 23.2%
Rhode Island 22.9%
Vermont 22.8%
Hawaii 22.6%
Massachusetts 21.7%
D.C. 21.5%
Connecticut 21.4%
Colorado 19.1%

It is interesting to see Mississippi top the list for the sixth year in the row. In fact, according to Adds Marion Nestle, a Professor of Nutrition, at Food Studies and Public health at New York University, “States with highest obesity rates are in rural south where poverty especially rural poverty is a huge problem. The states with lowest rates are in areas with lots of outdoor recreation areas but also where the population is better educated and wealthier.”

So the question is what can we do curb this epidemic. The answer is a complex one but here is my take on it.

First, increase education on the benefits of exercise starting with our children.
Second, add and improve physical education back in schools. Too many school are cutting back on exercise due to budget deficiencies.
Add exercise to the workplace. Given incentives to employees for working out. Have friendly competitions like 10,000 steps a day program where people walking the most steps get a small prize for their department
Regulate marketing of junk foods to kids
Educated physicians on importance of exercise and encourage them to bring it up to their patients on every visit.
Create inexpensive group exercise programs in communities for different age groups.
Teach people simple ways to eat better
There are so many so-called experts out there who have an opinion on every idea but all I have to say is that we need change. Change begins with us so I leave you with this incredible quote from Mahatma Gandhi, “be the change you want to see in the world.”
Do you have an idea on how to change the epidemic, let me know and I will add it to this list. Let’s start the fitness revolution!

Workout with Mike and Sean

Dr. Sean — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:35:43 +0000

We are back by popular demand. Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback on our first workout video. This one is a full body workout that can be performed 3 times per week. Thanks for watching.

Milk and Fat Loss?

Dr. Sean — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 03:14:31 +0000

There is a small study published in the Medicine and Science in Sport and Exercise journal where researchers looked at effects of milk on body composition. The study included 20 women performing a resistance workout consisting of basic push/pull exercises. Upon completion of the workout, the women received either half a liter of fat-free milk or a sugar-based energy drink.

After three months of monitoring, the researchers found that women in the milk group lost more body fat and gained more lean muscle then the control group drinking sugar-based energy drinks. So what is about milk that helped with the body composition change? Previous studies have already shown that calcium and whey protein can help with fat loss and both of these are found in milk.

Bottom line: Milk is a great source of calcium and protein and now there is one more reason to drink it. If you can’t drink milk, there are other sources of calcium such as tofu, soybeans, instant oats. Other protein sources include chicken breast, fish fillets, tuna, egg whites, soy milk, tofu, and nuts.

References:

Josse, A. American College of Sports Medicine, pp 1122-1128.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 86, No. 2, 373-381, August 2007

Low Vitamin D levels and Diabetes

Dr. Sean — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 04:08:26 +0000

I know you guys are probably sick of hearing studies about Vitamin D but I got two more for you. The studies were presented at the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in San Diego. The gist of the studies were that participants with low Vitamin D levels had poorly controlled blood sugars and were at a higher risk for getting metabolic syndrome.

The first study was a retrospective trial reviewing 124 charts of type 2 diabetics between 2003 and 2008. The researcher found that those patients with the lowest levels of vitamin D were more likely to have higher average blood sugar levels.

The second study involved 1,300 Dutch men and women, age 65 and above. They also found that those patients with low vitamin D levels were more likely to have the metabolic syndrome than patients with normal vitamin D levels.

Bottom line: Vitamin D is important and every day we here about more reasons for us to take it. The recommended dose is 1000 IU once a day. As always, please check with your doctor before starting ANY supplement.

Reference:

Endocrine Society, June 19, 2010, news release