BINGE ON THIS – What’s Gut Got To Do With It?

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Gut

Gut? You probably won’t believe it, but Thanksgiving happens to fall on the same week as Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease Awareness Week. (Who in the world even knew such a thing existed?) The gut is the body’s largest hormone-producing organ, releasing more than 20 different peptide hormones. Is there a link between hormones and heaving food uncontrollably into your body? Without question. And how they link up is enough to make you want to give the whole binging thing up. But, of course, who would ever even consider such a thing? Thanksgiving really gets you in the gut in endless ways.

PASS THE GERD, PLEASE

What actually happens to your system when you overeat?

Your entire body goes into hyperdrive the second you get a whiff of the wonders awaiting you. From the first bite of your unable-to-resist regalia, your stomach immediately begins to expand because it knows more food is on the way. That’s when the “hunger hormones” (yes, they’re actually called that—medical fact, not fiction,) kick in. These hormones are leptin and ghrelin. Leptin is a hormone, made by fat cells, that decreases your appetite. (But that you can ignore.) Ghrelin is a hormone that increases appetite, Then there’s insulin. Something to be pretty concerned about as you dig into those sugary desserts, as insulin is the hormone responsible for regulating blood sugar. It could have negative effects on those who aren’t even diabetic. After about 1500 calories in one sitting, the gut releases a hormone that among other post meal malaise and anguish, causes nausea. Not to mention gerd, acid reflux, indigestion, and heartburn. Heartburn, that for some, make them feel like they’re having a heart attack and rush to the hospital. On Thanksgiving, there’s an emergency room overload.

HORMONES AND HOLIDAY BINGING GO TOGETHER LIKE MASHED POTATOES AND GRAVY.

Every bite you binge on travels a complex journey through the body, touching off a simultaneous release of hormones. You might not know it, but gratefully, Dr. Stephen A. Goldstein at Denver Hormone Health is renowned in knowing it all. And more importantly, what to do about it. Hormones are like messengers swimming through our bloodstreams, each with an important chore to achieve. But when the guck in the typical Thanksgiving slows up their journey or sends them in the wrong direction, anything can happen. You feel hungry. You feel full. You feel sick. You want even more. At some point of packing it in, your gorge gauge explodes releasing hormones that can make you nauseous and make your body work harder, the digestive overload requiring the heart to pump more blood to the stomach and intestines. It’s a digestive disaster. You feel as boated as a Macy’s Parade balloon. The real answer to counter all your distress is making an appointment with Dr. Goldstein before you even lift a fork to your face. No one has the expertise and experience in knowing how to help. With simple tests, he can determine your hormone imbalances and get them working in sync again by developing a treatment plan tailored to your problems. Make an appointment now.

Discover what “grateful” truly means.

BINGE ON THIS – The Hungry Games

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Hungry

“Hunger”, “Appetite.” Every Thanksgiving, we target both, hitting them dead and center. But hunger isn’t the same as appetite. Hunger is a physical reaction due to chemical changes in your body because of the need for more food, while appetite is more psychological in nature. Appetite is one reason why you can eat so much when you’re not hungry.(Who never falls into that trap?) And when that happens, you’re on a direct path shooting for real trouble.

CARBO-BLISS

Today, Thanksgiving has become the Superbowl of eating turkey like a horse, unable to ever rein it in. Bet you’d even find “the science of orgiastic gluttony” on YouTube. And “Unbuckle Our Belts” has become the Thanksgiving Day anthem.

Think of it.

We eat before we eat.

The bar flies open.

Appetizers abound. Pigs in a pretzel. Bacon spinach dip, Thanksgiving nachos. Anything poppable or fingerable. And all before we even pull a chair up to the table.

And that’s where the real feast begins; ta-da…the main event. An obscenely huge turkey with its everyone-will-fight-over geasy, crisp turkey skin. Thick, thick creamy gravy; a virtual bacchanalia of butter. Bowls of sugar laden cranberry sauce. Mounds of potatoes. (Oooo those tiny little marshmallows) Gobs of green bean casserole. And usually hot buttery dinner rolls to help scoop it all up. (Excess on the up.)

But wait, oh wait, don’t stop there. Dessert! Pumpkin, pecan, apple, cheesecake. And not just in pie or plain. Try salted caramel apple snickers cake, caramel apple blondie cheesecake or gooey chocolate bourbon pecan pie custard cake. (be still, my stomach.) all topped with endless mounds of whipped cream. (Cool Whip, if mom is looking for the easy way out.). Peruse the net, and you’ll find 40+ Easy Thanksgiving Recipes. 72 best Thanksgiving Dessert Recipes. 100+ Easy Thanksgiving Desserts. It’s a hard-core smorgasbord of gastric misery.

HOW ABOUT A SMORGASBOARD OF HELP?

Hormones can really mess up your gargantuan feast. They can hit you in the middle of the momentous and monstrous meal, or after it. If your hormones are out of balance, they can cause problems you won’t be so thankful for. Problems that can batter any body that’s eating non-stop, until the chairs start to sag. And after the leftovers that will be left and scarfed down the following day, it’s a good chance that you’re going to regret what you shoveled in. That’s why it’s a smart idea to make an appointment ahead of time to see Dr. Stephen A. Goldstein at Denver Hormone Health. No one in the Denver area knows more about the effect unbalanced hormones can have on your body.  His skill and expertise matches his caring and understanding. With simple tests, he can tell where you stand and what exactly you should do about it, creating an integrated treatment plan of hormones, nutrition and exercise, giving you relief no tub of Tums or Maalox cocktail can.

So put him on your list, like right now.

BINGE ON THIS – The Turkey Trot and Other Tales

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Turkey

LOBSTER, SEAL AND SWANS…TURKEY?

O.K., here’s the real Thanksgiving story (according to some…) After a 66-day arduous journey that left them with malnutrition, exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease, the Pilgrims that somehow made it, were grateful just to be alive. Food? Not much available of anything, until the Wampanoag Indians taught them how to cultivate corn. Time to celebrate! The Pilgrims and Wampanoag Indians sat down for three days…but not a turkey to be found. In fact, none of the stuff we stuff ourselves with today. It was a potluck of nothing to get excited about. Beaver, skunk, raccoon and tough, now extinct wild passenger pigeons. Oh, and 5 deer the Indians brought. Feast? Hardly. Well, on the good side, since they didn’t have a lot to gorge on, and no streaming anything to plop themselves down to watch, they probably didn’t get as much gastric distress as we suffer now. Or maybe if they did, burping and flatulence were commonly accepted.

Talking turkey, here are some facts we do know for sure. And they sure are amazing:

Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of the popular women’s magazine Godey’s Lady’s Book, and the woman who wrote the classic song “Mary had a little Lamb”, was a real trendsetter for running a household, and a leading voice in establishing Thanksgiving as an annual event. Beginning in 1827, Hale petitioned 13 presidents, the last of whom was Abraham Lincoln. She pitched her idea to President Lincoln as a way to unite the country in the midst of the Civil War, and, in 1863, he made Thanksgiving a national holiday and without being conscious of it, emancipated the nation’s appetites.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Minnesota is the top turkey-producing state in America, producing more than 46.5 million a year. Six states—Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Missouri, Virginia, and Indiana—account for nearly two-thirds of the 248 million or so, turkeys.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 2,020 pounds and measured just over 12 feet long. It was baked on October 8, 2005, by the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers in Ohio, and included 900 pounds of pumpkin, 62 gallons of evaporated milk, 155 dozen eggs, 300 pounds of sugar, 3.5 pounds of salt, 7 pounds of cinnamon, 2 pounds of pumpkin spice and 250 pounds of crust.

Oh wait, it gets better.

Thanksgiving is the reason for TV dinners! In 1953, Swanson had so much extra turkey (260 tons) that a salesman told them they should package it onto aluminum trays with other sides like sweet potatoes — and the first TV dinner was born!

Campbell’s soup created the green bean casserole for an annual cookbook 50 years ago. It now sells $20 million worth of cream of mushroom soup.

Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird, not the eagle.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s first meal in space after walking on the moon was foil packets with roasted turkey.

And yes, the short, jerky steps of the turkey, did inspire the turkey trot, at that time considered a ballroom dance.

PUT THIS ON THE MENU

Before you pounce on the promise of fat and calories to come, you should make an appointment to see Dr. Stephen A. Goldstein at Denver Hormone Health. He knows everything there is to know about hormones and how certain ones can, with certainty, spoil the binge-o-rama you’ve been dreaming of for 365 days. To you, every tidbit (and who settles for tidbits?) is part of the eating extravaganza. But what you might not know, is that there is a serious link between hormones and holiday binging. What you think is so good, can really set off a not-so-good-for-you hormone imbalance, which in turn can turn wonderful into “whaaat?” “Why do I feel so awful?” Dr. Goldstein can explain it all and with simple tests, determine what’s going on with your hormones before a bite goes into your mouth. Call for an appointment now.

And wait until you see what he cooks up for you.