The Brunette Diaries

Foods that can poison your dog

You want the best for your dog. Many a times you cross the line and cannot resist their drooling ‘please share with me’ look and share foods with them from your plate. Well, this may not always be a good idea. What’s good for you may be toxic for your pooch. Let us look at a few such human foods:

What’s good for you can be toxic for your dog

Chocolate

Just because you love chocolate and your dog eats it too, doesn’t mean you give it to your furry friend just because it is drooling and giving you repeated handshakes in a bid to get you to “treat” them. Chocolate contains caffeine and theobromine, which can cause symptoms like vomiting, excessive thirst, abdominal discomfort, severe agitation, irregular heart rhythm, seizures and even death.

Avocado

What is healthy for you, you may assume is healthy for your dog too. Well, that’s where you can be so wrong! Avocadoes contain persin, which may be toxic to some dogs.

Yeast

A slice of bread is very often given to dogs, thinking, what could possibly go wrong with just a slice of bread. Well, you may be wrong again. Bread contains yeast, which is severely harmful as it causes alcohol intoxication and bloating.

Coffee

Oh, who doesn’t love a cup of coffee? You sure do, but what you may require every morning to energize yourself can be severely harmful to your dog. Caffeine, especially in large quantities, can be fatal for dogs.

Grapes

Research hasn’t proven anything yet, but grapes and raisins have been associated with kidney failure in dogs. Most dogs aren’t really affected by it, but better to be safe than sorry.

Alcohol

All you smart Alecs out there who have fun with your dogs by getting them a bit tipsy, bear in mind that alcohol can be fatal for your dog. They get drunk far sooner and with a lot less booze than we do. And the results are about the same: everything from vomiting and loss of coordination to seizures and even death is on the table.

So the next time you feel the need to be a considerate dog parent and share your delicacy with them, remember what you read today.

These 6 Food Are Directly Linked To Cancer And Everyone Should Be Aware Of It!

You already know that certain foods are bad for your waistline and heart, but recent research confirms that junk food and other culprits may up your risk for cancer, too. There are plenty of reasons to improve the quality of your diet, but researchers have recently confirmed that lowering your risk of developing certain types of cancer may be the best reason of all. Here’s what you need to know.

1) Pickles

Fermented foods have grown popular lately because they’re said to have digestive benefits thanks to their supply of healthy bacteria. But some preliminary research suggests that their high salt content may be linked to stomach cancer.

2) Barbeque

High intake of meat, particularly well-cooked meat, has been associated with increased risk of cancers! The problem seems to be that cooking meat on a grill leads to the production of carcinogenic compounds known as PAHs. Essentially, the mouthwatering char marks on a flame-broiled burger or steak are the sign of chemicals that may not be as good for you as they taste.

3) Alcohol

When it comes to alcohol, it’s more about quantity than quality. There are strong links to increased risk of cancer with moderate to high alcohol intake. That’s why experts recommend no more than one serving of alcohol—the equivalent of a 12-ounce beer, 5-ounce serving of wine, or 1.5-ounce shot of liquor per day for women; men can double those servings on account of their higher body weight.

4) Microwave Popcorn

Often, microwavable popcorn bags are lined with a nonstick coating that contains PFOA, a chemical that has been shown in animal studies to increase the risk of liver, testicular, and pancreatic cancers, among others. Popping your own may take longer but is worth the trouble. Some brands offer alternative liners, too.

5) Canned Tomatoes And Sauce

Manufacturers use bisphenol A (BPA) in certain kinds of plastics and—until recently—the linings of cans used for canned goods. The problem? BPA can interfere with the body’s natural production of sex hormones, upping the risk for breast and prostate cancer. Because of their high acidity, tomatoes tend to leach the chemical from the can lining, making them a much more concentrated source of BPA.

6) Hot Beverages

There’s been a lot of debate over this because coffee and tea have other health advantages. Recently, the World Health Organization removed coffee from its list of potential carcinogens. But there is still evidence suggesting that serving beverages at 149° F or higher could elevate the risk of esophageal cancer, which is deadly.

Things Your Doctor Wishes You Knew About Losing Weight

Consulting a doctor or a dietician is the smartest way of losing weight to achieve the proper and RIGHT guidance towards your goal weight. But often 20-30 minutes of meeting isn’t adequate enough to know everything there’s to know about losing weight. We asked doctors, dietitians, therapists, and other weight loss experts the key facts their clients most often miss. Make sure to master these often misunderstood facts if you’re looking to shed a few pounds.

1) Food that seem healthy may also make you gain weight

Many people think if it’s healthy, you can eat as much as you want, but it’s important to limit ‘recreational’ eating, no matter how healthy the snack is. When you do snack, make sure you’re choosing the right kind.

2) WHEN you eat is as important as WHAT you eat

When you eat is important for weight loss. Starving all day and eating a big meal at the end of the day is counterproductive. No matter how nutritious a meal is, if eaten too late in the day, one does not have the time to burn it off and use it for fuel for the day. It ends up being stored in a body gas tank (the fat cells) you can’t readily access.

3) Reaching your goal end isn’t the end

It takes fewer calories and more energy expenditure to maintain weight loss than it takes to initiate weight loss. So if you let up once you start losing weight, you will gain it all back and then some! The good news is that when you start losing weight, it becomes easier to do more things like spending extra time on the treadmill or doing more resistance training reps. The idea is to continuously challenge yourself.

4) The right thyroid test

If you’re having a hard time losing weight, get a proper thyroid assessment. Most people need a test that goes above the standard medical thyroid profile. A standard thyroid test reads as ‘normal’ in 80 percent of overweight individuals, which is incorrect. A proper thyroid assessment includes checking eight different parameters of thyroid function and comparing them to optimal, not normal, values. Evaluated this way, over 80 percent of overweight individuals will actually be properly identified as being hypothyroid. This is a key contributor to overweight.

5) Alcohol prevents weight loss

Alcohol does not only empty calories but also has a huge effect on the weight loss process. It can interrupt and inhibit fat metabolism, making it harder to lose weight. Alcoholic drinks also contain a lot of added calories and carbs that will make it harder to lose weight even when you’re reducing your caloric intake. At the very least, order something you sip slowly, such as wine, rather than something you may drink larger amounts of such as beer.