Monday 16 September 2013

Peanut Butter Protein Balls: A Quick Healthy Snack

Looking for a healthy alternative snack on the go? One of my most favourite low carb snacks is “Protein balls”. Essentially, I describe them as the healthy version of cookie dough… and we all know everyone is “down with the dough”. They’re simple and quick to make and real kick is- they don't even need to be baked! They’re full of protein, healthy, and can give you that afternoon boost you need. 

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

1 cup chocolate whey protein powder
1 ½ cups of crunchy natural peanut butter
½  cup rolled oats
2 tbs flax seeds
2 packets splenda
½  cup of chopped up mixed nuts
1 tbs ground coffee


Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix as needed. The constancy should be somewhat like cookie dough; depending on the type of protein you use, you may need to adjust the amount of protein or peanut butter.  Roll the protein in to balls (about 2 tbs worth per ball). This makes about 16 balls. You can sprinkle the balls with cinnamon and or flaked coconut for an added delight. For best results, I like let them firm up in the fridge for about an hour.



Enjoy!! 

-Carling

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Keep Your Sleep Clean as a Whistle - Tips on Sleep Hygiene for the Insomniac

More and more patients are coming into the office looking for a quick fix for their "insomnia".

Inability to sleep can be due to many reasons, but medications are not always the only solution or the best solution. 

Here are some lifestyle modifications to try at home when you're having difficulty catching some z's:

1) Only go to bed when you are tired. Don't force it! If 20 minutes has passed and you still aren't sleeping, get out of bed and go to another room.
2) Keep a regular sleep schedule. I.e. if you have to be up at 5am on the weekdays, staying out till all hours of the night on the weekends isn't going to help you.
3) Once you feel rested, get up! Don't sleep your life away. 
4) Quit the bad stuff: don't smoke, drink, or have coffee before bed. Actually, don't even have a coffee after lunch. Also, quit taking naps!
5) Do the good stuff: exercise 20 minutes a day, 4-5 times per week, eat healthy and don't go to bed famished
6) Deal with your worries before bed. Rumination can keep you up all night. 
7) All in all, think of your bed as a sacred space that can only be used for sleep and sex. Don't read, watch tv, look at your phone or do anything else in your extra special sleep zone. 
8) See your doctor if you still can't sleep. 

Sweet dreams everyone!


Lindsey


References: 

Stephanski EJ, Wyatt JK. Use of sleep hygiene in the treatment of insomnia. Sleep Med Rev. 2003; 7(3):215. 
Bootzin RR, Perlis ML. Nonpharmacologic Treatments of insomnia. J Clin Psychiatry. 1992 Jun;53 Suppl:37. 

Friday 6 September 2013

Hey Doc…Get a Job!! Tips on how to find employment in Medicine - by Guest Blogger and #1 Dad, Dr. Peter MacDonald -


In my role as an orthopedic university section chair I frequently get asked for career counseling from fellows, residents, medical students and even pre medical students.
I can remember the same angst that too many medical grads are facing, particularly in our field where there is a recent employment crisis. The most common question from an R4 to R5 resident is “Hey Pete, what can I do to best position myself to someday take your job?”  Having so many people covet your job is flattering but most don’t realize that the road is long and hard with no easy short cuts and at the end of it, my job isn’t as peachy as it looks.  Being a busy surgeon and wearing many hats is onerous and doesn’t leave much free time. Nevertheless, I feel very lucky to have the chosen profession that I am in and look forward to the daily challenges that it brings.

Sooo …here are the tips that I might offer to young budding doctors….

1)   It’s really important that you like your work, so considering employment opportunities is important but you have to do this job for 35 years so make sure your number one priority is to choose something you like!
2)   Identify early on what your life plan is and stick with it. Ambiguity doesn’t help the cause
3)   Been a keener, work hard, try to impress your mentors, but don’t become a pest or be annoying
4)   Demonstrate that you are a team player and a good person with balance in your life including a solid family life and interests outside of medicine.  Be someone that you would want to work with.
5)   Research, publications and awards are important and will enhance your CV to the point where you will be a more attractive hire.
6)   Aspire to train in different places. Medicine is global and the perspective you get from a fellowship elsewhere will help strengthen your training and form lifelong connections outside of your home town.
7)   Shoot for the stars, aspire to work with the very best and their attributes will rub off on you!

If you follow all these tips then it will be more than likely that your dream job will come looking for you, instead of you looking for it.   

Happy job hunting!!!

- Dr. Peter MacDonald 


Pete and his daughters (both authors of Doctor Confidentials) at their white coat ceremonies.





Wednesday 4 September 2013

Odd study fun.

So- I'm in my second year here, and it's my last term on the island before we get to go to the "real world" for clinical's. The importance of this term is essentially to gear us up for studying for the USMLE. It's one of the most important exams in our medical careers.  That being said, we spend a lot of time going crazy in the library (no, we're not always on the beach). The point of this post is to share the odd thing that my friends and I do to add some fun into our daily lives. We essentially have a group where we post study selfie's. Now, study selfies... one may think thats pretty lame and weird, but I think it's actually hilarious. What I'm trying to say here is- having some odd fun in your day really makes a difference when you're stressed out.  

The rules for our group rules are as follows: 
"- You must post at least one selfie a week to remain a member of this group - the whole point is to keep us updated, as close to daily as possible, with how happy or miserable you are.
- Duck faces/head tilts and all other cliche selfie poses are encouraged
- The more tears the better - we all want to laugh at your sorrow - it will help us get through the day"


Happy hump day people, laugh on!

-Carling 





Sunday 1 September 2013

GLUTEN-FREE: a fad diet or a solution to an intolerance?

Patients, friends, acquaintances...lately, it seems everyone is telling me that they are "gluten intolerant".

Now, I don't want to sound distrusting, but I'm sure a lot of these people are making self-diagnoses.
And despite what some people may think, gluten-intolerance is not synonymous with "carb-free diet".

So let me take this opportunity to teach y'all a little bit about gluten.

There is a spectrum "gluten issues". These range from gluten sensitivity to wheat allergy to Celiac disease.

Last year, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study by Fasano and Catassi which highlighted the differences between these three. Here is a chart from their article titled "Celiac Disease" titled that I find very helpful:


















The manifestations of the gastrointestinal symptoms of any of these three include the following:

- diarrhea
- bulky, floating stools
- weight loss
- anemia - related to Vitamin B12 or iron deficiency
- osteopenia - related to calcium and Vitamin D deficiency

Not all people present in the same way and there are non-gastrointestinal signs and symptoms of this disease (such as anxiety and depression), but they are much more rare.

Testing by your doctor will include a blood test which looks for an antibody called anti-tissue transglutaminase (IgA). If this test is negative, but there are unexplainable symptoms such as those present in Celiac disease, the patient should undergo duodenal (small intestine) biopsy. Testing should not be done while the individual is gluten-free. In fact, if negative test results are obtained, some people recommend re-testing once the patient has eaten a gluten-rich diet for a few weeks.

So people, if you have these symptoms, tell your doctor. Have some tests done. See a dietician. Don't diagnose and treat yourself or all us docs will be out of a job...and you may be over-diagnosing yourself, or even worse, you may be missing something more ominous than just a mere intolerance.

That's all for Sunday.