What to look for when reading the label:

• Provides both UVB and UVA protection. It should say "broad spectrum". UVB rays cause sunburns and UVA rays cause aging and cancer
• Use a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher - please  check with your child's pediatrician for recommendations of the proper SPF for children

New labeling guidelines now restrict the use of the term "waterproof" and now labels will use the term "water-resistant" and are required to note how long the protection will last when wet.

Hints for proper usage:

• Reapply every 2 hours; if you are perspiring heavily or are in and out of water reapply more frequently. Even if your sunscreen says water resistant you should reapply every 40 minutes.
• Using sunscreen is not an excuse to stay in the sun longer or to be out in the hottest part of the day. Use common sense.

The study also showed that women choose their contraception method by first, how effective then by side effects and convenience. This is an interesting dichotomy - to choose by effectiveness then not understand the failure rate! 

This study shows how important the relationship between a woman and her Doctor truly is. If you are not ready to start, or continue growing, your family it is vital that you discuss this with your personal physician at The Woman's Clinic. Make sure that you understand the effectiveness of the contraception you are using and how to maximize the success rate.

The study followed 390 white north European women for 34 years beginning at 48 years of age. They were divided into 2 groups whether or not they had been found to be menopausal before or after the age of  47. When women reached age 77 years, bone density was reassessed to determine the existence of osteoporosis in 198 patients available for follow-up. The findings showed that 56% of the early menopausal women had been diagnosed with osteoporosis compared to only 30% of the other group.

As with any study, we caution you not to read too much into one stand alone headline. But, if you have any risk factors for osteoporosis - including early menopause - please discuss it with your doctor at The Woman's Clinic. They will advice you on the best way to proceed. 

What did they find? In the group with preeclampsia, the women were found to have increased levels of an enzyme associated with increased blood pressure and clot formation.. There was also significantly higher activity of a specific gene associated with this enzyme.

What does this mean? Well, everyone agrees that this is just the beginning of the research. It is too soon to say, conclusively, that this will lead to a real treatment for preeclampsia. There are other medical conditions that also effect the levels of this same enzyme. But, it is a hopeful first step. 

The researchers concluded that the dietary supplement, Folic acid, could help protect against DNA changes in the associated gene. Folic acid is already recommended to women of childbearing age to help prevent certain birth defects. 

What should I do? If you are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant soon, be sure to talk to your Doctor at The Woman's Clinic. Make sure that you take all the recommended vitamins and do not take anything, even herbal and over the counter supplements, that your Doctor hasn't approved. Right now there isn't a quick fix for preeclampsia, but careful monitoring is essential to the health of both mother and baby.

So make plans to attend:

May 7, 2012

5:30–7:30 PM

Baptist for Women Conference Center

Registration is requested for the event by calling 601-948-6262

View Flyer

Sleeping 5 1/2 hours, or less, a day significantly raises your risk for Type 2 Diabetes. The study goes even further to identify how our bodies change with lack of sleep. Blood sugar levels rose after meals and metabolic rates dropped by as much as 8%. Researchers said that a drop of that percentage would account for significant weight gain in a year, as much as 10 -12 pounds in a year.

There are many factors that contribute to lack of sleep. Busy work schedules, raising a family, stress are just a few factors faced by women in our society. If you are suffering from insomnia don't just "live with it" Talk to your Doctor at The Woman's Clinic during your next visit and see what can be done to help you get a good night's sleep.

In the study the differences was in the length of time in the first stage of labor - the stage before pushing begins and only was relevant to women having their first baby. The difference could be on several fronts:

• Contemporary women were far more likely to have an epidural - 55 percent, compared to just four percent of counterparts 50 years ago. 
• 12% had a C-section compared with three percent in the 1960s
•  31 percent were given oxytocin, which stimulates contractions, against 12 percent 50 years ago

Women today are also older when having their first baby, heavier than women 50 years ago and the babies are larger. All of these factors could contribute to the longer labor times. If you are pregnant or are planning to start a family it's important that you spend some time discussing your birth plan with your Doctor at The Woman's Clinic. 

The good news is that women are talking about the problem. No more hiding, thinking that you are the only one with the problem (there wouldn't be million dollar marketing campaigns if you were the only one to buy the product). But, there are more options than just wearing a pad.

If you suffer from urinary incontinence then you need to talk to your Doctor. The options include medication and even robotic surgery that can leave you pad free! The Doctors at The Woman's Clinic are ready to answer your questions and to help you gain control of your life! Need more information?

Simply eating a light, healthy breakfast will turn your metabolism switch on for the day. A healthy breakfast may consist of: 1) one serving of a whole grain cereal or slice of toast, 2) low-fat or fat-free milk or yogurt, 3) one serving of a fresh fruit such as ¾cup blueberries or 1 small apple.

A fun fact: Depending on its function, 1 pound of muscle burns 30-50 calories per day, 1 pound of fat burns only 2 calories per day! To increase your metabolism, simply increase your amount of muscle mass. Many women avoid weight-bearing exercises because they don’t want to become “bulky” or “too muscular”. Most women don’t produce the hormones to become bulky, so pick up those weights! If you don’t want to join a gym, you can purchase all amounts of weights. However, as with any change in your activity, check with your doctor before you begin. It’s very easy to injure yourself if you don’t do exercises correctly. I suggest you make an appointment with an exercise specialist if weight-bearing exercises are new to you.

You’re getting closer to the ideal goal of 30-minutes of cardiovascular exercise each week!

Chop and add your favorite nonstarchy vegetables to a simmering pot of low sodium tomato juice.  Cook to your preference and let cool.  Poor the soup into the muffin cups of a muffin pan and FREEZE.  Pop out the frozen, appropriately sized, soup blocks and put them in freezer bags and back in the freezer.  When you get hungry between meals, pop one in the microwave for a low calorie healthy snack.

I love to keep this in the freezer during the cold months of they year for a warm snack. Also, have you ever noticed how filling a warm liquid is?  Enjoy a bowl of your vegetable soup before a meal to keep you from overeating the higher calorie foods offered.

Nonstarchy vegetables contain very little sugar (only 5 grams per serving compared to 15 grams in a starchy vegetable serving). One serving equals the following:

1/2 cup cooked vegetables (carrots, broccoli, zucchini, eggplant, cabbage, etc.)
1 cup raw vegetables or leafy salad greens
1/2 cup vegetable juice (usually contains a large amount of sodium)

As you shop for vegetables, choose a variety of colors. For example: orange carrots, green spinach, yellow squash, purple eggplant, red tomatoes. Vitamins and minerals give vegetables their color. So, a variety of color means a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Continuing your 64oz. of water/day, 3 servings of fruits/day, and 5 10-minute walks this week, add 2 servings (or more) nonstarchy vegetables.

While grocery shopping and planning your days intake, remember that lots of market fruits will equal at least 2 fruit servings.  One serving of an apple, orange, pear, etc. resembles the size of a tennis ball (about a 2 inch diameter).  Most apples, etc. sold in the grocery are twice that size, equaling 2 servings of fruit.  Four inches of a banana equals 1 serving.  A regular size banana sold in grocery stores is usually twice that size, therefore 1 regular sized banana equals 2 servings of fruit.

A serving of berries, cut melon, and grapes is 1 standard measuring cup.

As fruit is dried, it shrinks in size because of the moisture loss.  1/4th a standard measuring cup or dried fruit such as raisins equals 1 fruit serving.

A 1/2 standard measuring cup of juice equals 1 serving of fruit, but you miss out on the benefits of the skin and membranes of whole fruits. The skin and membranes of fruits are wonderful sources of fiber which our bodies need up to 35 grams of a day.

Continue drinking 64oz. of water each day this week and add your 3 servings of fruits.  You are one step closer to meeting your healthy lifestyle goals!

Water also helps us lose weight by taking up space in your stomach. Drinking 8 oz. of water prior to a meal may help you feel fuller quicker. Also, as you lose body fat, toxins that have been stored in that fat are released into the body. Water helps to flush those toxins out.

If you don’t like water, you may replace up to ½ (32 oz.) of your daily consumption with other nonalcoholic beverages. Gradually work your way to 64 oz. of pure water for best health.

It takes time to change a lifestyle. If you expect yourself to make all necessary changes at once, you’re setting yourself up for failure. Small changes over time will lead you to the healthy lifestyle each of us needs to live. Each week, an easy goal will be posted.

I recommend keeping up with your progress in a small notepad. Begin by recording your current weight and identify if it’s in your healthy weight range. Decide if you need to lose, maintain, or gain weight to achieve your healthy range. Also, record your activity level (sedentary, active in my job, walk 3 days a week, go to the gym 5 days a week, etc.).

I challenge you to log in each week and work your way to better health.

Since most pediatricians are recommending the vaccine to girls ages 11 -12, it may be they are not emotionally mature enough to understand the limits of the vaccine and the serious ramifications of sexually transmitted diseases. We, at The Woman's Clinic, encourage you to talk to your daughters and give them the tools they need to make wise decisions. You will be able to find many tools on our web site to give you the information you need to discuss this sensitive but very important topic.

If you would believe that it is time for your daughter to have their first visit to the gynecologist, use this link to request someone to contact you. We have a Doctor who specialize in dealing with young women, she will sensitive to your daughters needs and make sure that she has a positive first experience.

Even if it doesn't feel true, it is true that weight gain is a slow process. We accumulate excess weight over time and that is exactly how we should plan to lose it...over time.  Dropping pounds quickly leads to muscle loss, since muscles require calories to survive. That is why when you lose weight quickly you tend to gain it back even faster, because you have lost the lean muscle that you need to effectively burn the calories that you take in each day.

The secret to achieving and maintaining a healthy body weight is to find a healthy eating plan that fits your personal life-style and add regular exercise that focuses on increasing muscle. Start with a strategy that you can live with - then do just that - live with it!  You may notice a quick few pounds disappear but you will find that slowly you will achieve your body's ideal weight. If you allow this to become your new normal you can change your personal health and the overall health of your whole family.

If you want to ask questions of our Registered Dietician in formulating your personal eating plan, just fill out the form on our Nutrition Corner and she will get back to you as soon as she can.  Let's make 2012 a new beginning for all of us and resolve to do everything we can to feel our best and be the healthiest we can be.

• "Am I caught in a quick fix cycle?"
• "Am I the healthiest I can be?
• "Do I feel good more days than not?"
• "Am I a slave to my diet routines?"

If you are not happy where you are then now is the time for a change. Call and make an appointment with your Physician at The Woman's Clinic and set a course for a new you in the new year!

1. Use every opportunity to “take more steps”. Park your car further from the door to the office building. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Instead of phoning in-office colleagues, walk to their desk for your discussion.
2. Set up your office to make you stand and move more. Arrange your furniture and equipment so that you must stand up each time you need a file or print something.
3. Have an alarm set for each hour or half hour to remind you to stand and stretch, walk around your desk, maybe even do a few jumping jacks.
4. Wear a pedometer. You can purchase one from a sporting goods store for as little as $10.00 or $15.00. Awareness of how many – or how little – steps one takes usually causes that person to want to add more.
5. Sip water all day. Not only will this help you reach the ultimate goal of 64 ounces of water each day, it may force you to make more trips to the restroom adding more steps to your daily total.

This is just the latest study that touts the benefits of coffee drinking. Previous studies have also linked it with reduced depression, gout, stroke, and certain types of breast cancer. Also, there has been a protective link against brain tumors, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes.

There is a warning though that goes along with all this good news... if you drink your coffee with lots of sugar and milk you could be adding far too many calories to your daily diet.  If you want the overwhelming health benefits of 4 or more cups a day you need to learn to drink it black!

Water is also an easy tool to use to help avoid overeating. Drinking a glass of water 20 minutes prior to your meal helps you feel full faster. Also, when consuming alcoholic beverages, drinking a glass of water in between each drink will help counter the dehydrating effects of alcohol and cut the number of high, empty calorie drinks you consume in an evening.

You don't have to feel deprived during this time of year and still feel good about yourself come January 1.

There are so many dressing options. You don’t have to choose a fat free or low fat one unless you like to use a lot of dressing (more than ¼ cup). I find that if I use regular ingredients, or a regular dressing off the shelf, I use a lot less than I do if I choose a reduced fat variety. Vinaigrettes are typically lower in fat than creamy dressings. A simple oil and vinegar is nice to try for some variety also.

Salads provide a variety of choices and a fantastic punch of nutrition midday. Accompanied with lean protein and a few whole grain crackers, you can include all the food groups in one meal.

•  Don’t set yourself up for failure by forbidding the “good stuff”.  Allow yourself to enjoy your holiday favorites in small quantities.  One-half a cup or a 200-calorie allotment is a safe amount.  If you want more, remind yourself you can have it tomorrow.
•  Give it away.  Divide your goodies into small quantities on disposable plates and share it with family, friends, & neighbors.
• Keep nutritious, low calorie snacks available.  Crunchy fruits & vegetables will satisfy the urge to overindulge.

Janna McIntosh, RD, LD

Here is the information that the National Cancer Institute has issued today in response to Giuliana's diagnosis:

• Breast cancer comprises 22.9 per cent of all cancers in women  
• approximately 81 per cent of cases occur in those over the age of 50.
•  there  were an estimated 232,620 new cases (230,480 female, 2,140 male)
•  and 39,970 deaths (39,520 female and 450 male) in the U.S. in 2011

There are several types of breast cancer - divided into non-invasive and invasive types - which can be diagnosed at different stages of development and can grow at different rates. The best results come from early diagnosis...if you are over 40 call and schedule your mammogram. If you are under 40, discuss your risk with your doctor to see if you should have a baseline mammogram earlier than most women.

The results need further evaluation to determine what the direct links are between the development of asthma and the BMI of the mother. But, we already do know that obesity is linked to many health issues to women across our state. Your physician at The Woman's Clinic can answer your questions about getting your weight under control and being the healthiest you can be.