Making Saint John Wort

Is your personality making you overeat?

Could the reason you overeat be caused by the way you think? A new book reveals our brains have a lot to blame in the battle of the bulge.

Ever wondered why your diets aren't working. Well, it may sound controversial but a new book by American neuroscientist and psychiatrist Dr Daniel Amen might just have the answer. Those extra pounds are not down to our calorie count but to the way our brain works.

In his book, The Amen Solution: The Brain Healthy Way to Lose Weight and Keep It Off, Dr Amen argues an insatiable desire for that second helping or those envious glances at other peoples’ plates is because the food we eat doesn't match the type of person we are.

Coming off the back of years of research, the Amen solution looked at why certain people tended to flounder when it came to shedding those pounds and the results were nothing short of startling.

Rather than looking at our metabolisms, Dr Amen focused on identifying food combinations which were more suited to the way we eat and our underlying relationships with the food we put on our plates.

Whilst on the surface this may sound a little new age, the book has been wildly successful in the States with many celebrities rumored to be devotees of the Personality Diet plan. So the question is, who are these personality types and how do food combinations affect their success when it comes to dieting?

Dr Amen writes: 'We looked at the brains of our overweight patients and discovered there was not one brain pattern associated with being overweight: there were at least five different types: compulsive, impulsive, compulsive-impulsive, emotional overeaters and anxious overeaters.'

Having identified these broad personality traits, Dr Amen then went to work researching which food combinations resulted in the most successful diets. If you tend to have trouble sleeping, bear grudges easily and are prone to doing things in excess, the chances are you are a compulsive type and eat accordingly.

Can My Herbal Supplements Harm Me? | Clinical Pharmacist Role

I became interested while talking to my Pharmacist that my son couldn’t take decongestant cold medications with his heart medication. Well, I knew about interactions between two drugs, but when the Pharmacist told me he couldn’t have grapefruit juice, I was stunned. Seems that grapefruit juice increases the blood concentrations of the drug. Basically that means that it greatly enhances the effects of the drug which could result in an overdose of the medication. This is everyday grapefruit juice! It got me wondering about other everyday foods and Herbs we take. Below are a few foods and Herbs that have an effect on your medications.

This list is a basic guide, and is by no means the meant to replace your Doctor or Pharmacist. Consult with them about any prescriptions you are taking and the foods and Herbs that will interact with them. Although I have taken this information from a handout from a local Hospital, Use this information at your own risk.

Again, I am not a Doctor or Pharmacist, and I have had NO medical training, so please consult with yours for more information.

People usually ask if Herbal supplements change the way their prescription drugs work. The answer is YES! Some medications should never be taken with Herbal supplements. Some can cause unwanted side effects or cause the medication to stop working to their full effect.

Another misconception about supplements is that they are completely safe because they are natural. Yes, they may be from plants, but they are not natural to your body. Herbal supplements are not tested or inspected like prescription drugs are tested, so the supplements vary in quality and strength from pill to pill and bottle to bottle.

Just like supplements, foods can change the way your body responds to medications. One example is grapefruits and grapefruit juice. Many people aren’t aware that grapefruit juice can increase the drug levels of certain medications. An increase in the levels will also increase the side effects of the drug.

John Adams

The Power of Pull, How Small Moves, Smartly Made, Can Set Big Things in Motion

Leadership gold, lessons learned from a lifetime of leading

East of Eden

Dear John