Doctor Column

“What’s It All About?” — Calories, Weight Loss, Basal Metabolic Rate

As gasoline fuels cars, calories fuel our bodies. A calorie measures the energy in the food we eat. Today, it seems everyone is counting calories. The human body requires a minimum amount of premium fuel (good calories) to keep the engines of its organs running smoothly. That is to say, the interactions of foods and digestion provide the vital energy needed by the heart, kidneys, lungs and other systems to function well.

Five Herbal-Drug Interactions

Ginkgo biloba is one of the most extensively studied herbs in the U.S. and Europe. Ginkgo is a spectacular tree that has been in existence for millions of years. It can live for more than a thousand years, grow to a height of 122 feet and is considered by some to be one of the wonders of the world — a “living fossil.”

Five Alarming Food-Drug Interactions

Medications have cured many sick people. However, medications when combined with certain foods have made many healthy people sick. Some foods decrease the absorption of drugs in the body and make them less effective, because not enough drugs get into the blood stream. On the other hand, certain foods can interfere with the excretion of drugs increasing the amount of them in the body. The more drugs in the system, the greater the possibility of toxic side reactions.