Short bowel syndrome: what to eat and drink | Columbia Surgery Blog
By Shilpa Ravella
What you choose to eat and drink is crucial for improving symptoms from short bowel syndrome, enhancing absorption of nutrients and preventing dehydration. A few simple guidelines can make a big difference in your health.
(more...) [addtoany]When food is not an option: the basics of small bowel transplant (intestinal transplant) | Columbia Surgery Blog
By Shilpa Ravella
It’s never too early, but it can be too late to refer a patient for a small bowel transplant evaluation. There is a high risk of death among patients waiting for intestinal transplants, so early referral of patients with risk factors is important.
(more...) [addtoany]When the hospital serves McDonald’s | The Atlantic
February 9, 2016
By Shilpa Ravella
When I was a medical student doing my clinical rotations around 10 years ago, I regularly ate frozen, re-fried chicken sandwiches from the hospital cafeteria, often while watching anatomy videos depicting body parts that resembled my food. And the closer I came to being a full-fledged doctor, the worse my diet seemed to become: The daily conferences I attended as part of my residency included catered meals that were loaded with sugar, salt, and cholesterol. My fellow residents and I had no problem prescribing drugs for cardiac patients as they dug into a hospital breakfast of bacon, eggs, and hash browns, because it was the same food available to us during our 30-hour shifts. Soon after I began my gastroenterology fellowship in 2010, a crash course in nutrition, I vowed never to leave the house without packing my meals for the day.
The science linking a poor diet to illnesses like heart disease and cancer is robust. This past October, the World Health Organization released a report placing processed meat in the highest-risk category for carcinogens, and declaring red meat “probably carcinogenic.” Meanwhile, the latest dietary guidelines from the U.S. Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion emphasized the health value of plant foods.
This fact—a plant-based diet is healthier than a meat-heavy one—isn’t exactly new knowledge. But even as medical researchers discover more about the foods that keep our bodies well, many hospitals continue to serve foods that promote disease.
Is wheat sensitivity real?
August 14, 2016
Is non-celiac wheat sensitivity real? Patients often present with a variety of symptoms to wheat and self-diagnose themselves with “wheat sensitivity,” but when labs and endoscopic tests come back negative for celiac disease, they are left wondering what it is they do have or if it was all in their heads.
(more...) [addtoany]Food doesn’t have to wear makeup | Slate
July 7, 2016
By Shilpa Ravella
In Britain, McDonald’s fries have four ingredients: potatoes, vegetable oil, dextrose, and salt. In the U.S., McDonald’s fries have a whopping 19 ingredients—including sodium acid pyrophosphate, which keeps the fries’ color from getting dull. This is strange since you’d think that all we really expect of French fries is for them to at least vaguely mimic the color of a potato. Then there’s McDonald’s strawberry sundae. In Britain’s version, all the color comes from real strawberries. In the U.S., we use Red No. 40. This plays out beyond the fast food chain: For example, Starburst fruit chews are colored with carotenes and chlorophylls across the Atlantic but with Red No. 40 and Yellow No. 6 in the U.S. Many major food companies in the U.S. use artificial food dyes in America—while selling naturally colored or dye-free versions in Europe.
Chemicals like Red No. 40, Yellow No. 5, and Blue No. 1 make American food look better. These additives are the culinary equivalents of lipstick and mascara, and they are often made from the same pigments. Making food pretty has become the status quo in the U.S., but it’s not doing us any good: Not only does it trick us into thinking some foods are healthier than they are, but the dyes themselves may be harmful. So why do we use keep using these dyes when so many other countries manage without them?
Red wine and chocolate for your gut bacteria? | Huffington Post
May 10, 2016
By Shilpa Ravella
For the trillions of bacteria that live inside your gut, what you eat is important, because it is what they eat. We are only beginning to understand that the make-up of gut bacteria can play an important role in preventing or treating disease and is influenced by many factors including food, medications and lifestyle. In two studies published last month in Science, researchers from the Netherlands and Belgium presented the largest microbiome research conducted to date. They evaluated 1,135 Dutch adults and 1,106 Belgians respectively and looked at how hundreds of factors affect the microbiome, with results that overlapped considerably.
(more...) [addtoany]The nutrient deficiency you probably have | PBS Next Avenue
April 25, 2016
By Shilpa Ravella
If you could make only one change to your diet, what would it be? The options are endless. You can cut out specific foods like meat, grains or gluten. You can play with ratios of fat, carbohydrates and protein. You can eat only fruit or go on a juice cleanse. There is one change, however, that provides the biggest health return for the investment.
(more...) [addtoany]Should organ donation be An opt-out? | The Hill
March 3, 2016
By Shilpa Ravella
Most Americans want to donate. Our attention should be focused on making it easier for them to do so with simple changes that can help overcome individual inertia and save lives. An opt-in versus opt-out policy might matter less than improving transplant infrastructure and building public trust. After his transplant, Jobs said, “I wouldn’t be here without such generosity.” David feels the same way. “I was unlucky for awhile…and then I got lucky again,” he said. Not every American awaiting donation is as fortunate, but a change in policy might help make it so.
(more...) [addtoany]Hidden carbs that can hurt your gut | Total Health Magazine
2014
By Shilpa Ravella
When it comes to carbohydrates, opinions abound. They have been both vilified and promoted as essential dietary components. This dichotomy, however, does not reflect the fact that all carbohydrates are not created equal. Gastroenterologists have coined the term FODMAPs to encompass specific carbohydrates found within many different foods that have greater potential for causing gastrointestinal distress. These carbohydrates can contribute to symptom causation in patients with gastrointestinal disorders such as bloating, irritable bowel syndrome and inflammatory bowel disease.
(more...) [addtoany]