FitSugar

What Do You Know About Antibiotics?

Michele Bell — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 07:00:00 PST

If you've never been on antibiotics, consider yourself lucky or a gosh darn miracle! For some of us, it's a seasonal occurrence. Yours truly seems to find a bottle of the prescribed medicine every holiday season. This year I've had more than my fair share of the pills and learned more about them than I ever cared to know. Let's see how much you know about the medicine.

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Weigh In: Do You Reject Your Doc's Medical Advice?

Michele Bell — Mon, 01 Nov 2010 14:30:55 PDT

I'm killing myself for not eating an apple a day. In recent weeks, I've spent entirely too much time at doctors' offices, which have resulted in numerous prescriptions for antibiotics. Thinking I knew my body well enough, I decided to forgo the second Rx and tried to fight my illness with my trusty OTC meds, some saline spray, and some rest. Unfortunately, playing nurse to myself didn't pay off and I went running back to my pharmacy asking for that original prescription to be filled. Now five days later, I'm starting to finally feel better. Final score: Doctor 1, Patient 0.

In this case, my doctor certainly did know best, but I'm not sure he always does. Do you ever reject your doctor's medical advice for your own intuition?

DrSugar: Antibiotics, Probiotics, and Yeast

DrSugar — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 08:00:14 PDT

DrSugar is in the house! And she's answering your health-related questions.

Dear DrSugar,
I am on antibiotics (Clindamycin) to clear up an infected tooth before having a root canal. Good times, I know. I haven’t taken antibiotics in years, but know that they give me a serious yeast infection. I have upped my yogurt intake to twice daily and have been taking a probiotics pill twice a day too. Is that overkill? Should I be doing more? And if so, what do you recommend to keep the secondary yeast problem at bay. Thanks!
- Possibly Over-proactive

First off, I’d like to give you well wishes on a speedy recovery from your recent root canal! I’m really glad you asked this question, because antibiotics are some of the most commonly prescribed medications and for women, taking antibiotics can definitely lead to yeast infections. To see why antibiotics can lead to yeast infections and what you can do to try and prevent it, keep reading.

How Do You Feel About Taking Antibiotics?

FitSugar — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 04:30:00 PST

It seems like everyone I know is coming down with a cold, the flu, or some other Winter sickness. Depending on the illness or how long it's been going on, some doctors may prescribe antibiotics to speed up the recovery even when you are dealing with a viral infection rather than a bacterial one. While a course of these powerful pills can help kick your sick to the curb, you may have to deal with annoying side effects such as nausea, stomach pains, diarrhea, or a yeast infection. So tell me . . .

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Antibiotics Causing Tendon Troubles?

FitSugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:00:00 PDT

I thought antibiotics were beneficial in fighting infection, but it looks like some antibiotics may be causing some harm as well. The FDA is forcing companies to put a black box warning on certain antibiotics because they've been found to lead to tendinitis and ruptured tendons. Yikes! Flouroquinolone drugs, the potent class of antibiotics which include Cipro, Levaquin, Avelox, Proquin, Noroxin, Floxin, and other medications are the drugs in question.

The FDA says that if you are currently taking any of these antibiotics and are suffering from tendon pain or inflammation, you should stop usage and contact your doctor. You want to be able to fight infections, but keep your tendons intact, too.

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Women and Antibiotics

FitSugar — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 02:30:00 PST

When battling a bacterial infection, antibiotics seem like a wonder drug. They do have side effects though, and some of those side effects are woman specific. If you are taking antibiotics and are a woman here are a few things you should know about:

Yeast infections are a possible side effect when taking antibiotics, since the antibiotics can disrupt the good bacteria in your system. Taking probiotics may help prevent this itchy side effect of taking antibiotics.
Some antibiotics can decrease the effectiveness of birth control pills. If you are on the pill taking antibiotics, discuss your options with your doctor. It might be a good idea to use a back up form of birth control until you are finished with your course of antibiotics.
If you are pregnant or nursing, certain antibiotics should be avoided, like streptomycin, quinolones and tetracycline, since they all pose risk to the developing fetus.

Source

Antibiotics for Sinus Infections: Not a Happy Ending

FitSugar — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 02:30:00 PST

To kick off cold and flu season, a new British study found that a placebo works just as well as antibiotics (amoxicillin) in treating sinus infections. That conclusion, at least in my book, is not a happy ending. It seems no matter what treatment the 240 study participants tried – antibiotics, steroid nasal spray, or placebo – their sinus infections cleared up after about two weeks. Antibiotics work on bacterial infections, but the long held belief that green and yellow mucus (gross I know, but a telling symptom of a sinus infection) is not indicative of a bacterial infection, as was once widely believed.

The study concludes that doctors should aim to treat the symptoms, using over the counter pain medication, like ibuprofen, for the throbbing pain (I don't exaggerate – the inflamed sinus can really cause some serious pain) and warm water rinses, like using the good old fashioned neti pot.

Source

Prevent Swimmer's Ear

FitSugar — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 17:15:00 PDT

Your ears are pretty remarkable. Their unique design helps to tip water out of your ear canal, so you can usually bathe, shower, swim, and even walk in the rain with no problems. The ear canal is also acidic which prevents against bacterial and fungal infections.

However, if your ear is exposed to excess moisture (like if you're swimming a lot), the water can stay trapped in your ear canal. This skin can then get soggy and break down, diluting the acidity and allowing bacteria or fungi to penetrate through the skin, causing an infection called swimmer's ear.

The weird thing is that you don't have to swim to get swimmer's ear. Anything that causes a break in the skin of your ear canal will cause this infection - that's why cleaning your ear with a cotton swab is NOT recommended - if you damage the skin, you could risk getting swimmer's ear.

What are the symptoms? PAIN! The ear may also feel itchy or full. The outer ear may turn red or get swollen, and the lymph nodes around the ear may become enlarged and tender. There may be discharge - clear at first, but then turn cloudy, yellowish, and pus-like. Hearing, understandably, is affected as well.

Fun stuff, huh? So what do you do if you have swimmer's ear? To find out,

read more If your infection is severe, your doctor will prescribe drops that contain antibiotics for 7-10 days to fight the infection, and steroids to reduce swelling. Oral meds like ibuprofen or aspirin may also be suggested to help reduce the pain. Fit's Tips: To prevent this painful infection during the summer, as soon as you're done swimming, shake your head to one side and then the other to get excess water out of your ear. OTC drops that contain a dilute solution of acetic acid or alcohol can also help dry up your ear canal. If you or your child is prone to swimmer's ear, wearing ear plugs may also be a good option. Source

Nellie's Nest Eggs

FitSugar — Wed, 04 Apr 2007 11:45:00 PDT

The other morning I went to the grocery to pick up some eggs to hard boil so I could decorate them with my girls, and they were out of Pete and Gerry's Organic Eggs.

I freaked for half a second, but then noticed another brand right next to them. I picked up a 6-pack of Nellie's Nest Eggs and read the label. Just like my other favorite eggs, Nellie's are also Certified Organic and Certified Humane.

Nellie's Nest Eggs are also Cage Free. Their eggs come from hens that are kept in spacious chicken coops, where they can roam, scratch, perch, and nest as they please. Their hens are fed all natural vegetarian grain with no animal by-products, hormones, or antibiotics.

I was so psyched to find another egg company I could trust and feel happy to support.

Eggs are nutritious, providing 6 grams of protein per egg. One egg also contains approximately 200 mg of Omega-3 fatty acids which are known to have health benefits such as prevention of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes.

Fit's Tips: The American Heart Association recommends consuming no more than 300 mg of cholesterol a day . One of Nellie's Nest Eggs contains about 215 mg, so it's OK to eat an egg a day for breakfast, as long as you aren't eating it with cholesterol-loaded bacon and sausage too.

Ruth Reichl: "American Food Is the Best in the World Right Now"

Susannah Chen — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 11:23:06 PST

This weekend, food artisans from around the country are being honored in the second annual Good Food Awards, which celebrate American food producers who enhance the country's agricultural landscape and help to build community. While the awards are relatively new to the gastronomic landscape, they're already backed by some of the country's biggest food influencers, such as Whole Foods, and seminal culinary figures, like Ruth Reichl.
Ruth is currently the editorial adviser at Gilt Taste, another cosponsor of this weekend's Good Food Awards. The author, former New York Times food critic, and final Gourmet editor sat down with me over dinner at Mission Chinese Food to talk more about good food and future projects.

YumSugar: Tell me about the partnership between Gilt Taste and the Good Food Awards. How did it come about?
Ruth Reichl: I've known Sarah [Weiner, the director] for a long time, and we've been talking about this for a long time. When I went to Gilt Taste, it just seemed like a seamless, natural partnership, finding and supporting food artisans in America.

YS: You're the keynote speaker at this year's Good Food Awards. What kind of a legacy do these awards create?
RR: It's hard for younger people to understand how bad things were in America, a time when all food was essentially industrial. There were no farmers markets. I have an interview with Wolfgang Puck that I did in 1982 where he goes, "Six years ago, there was no decent food in America." Now, there's this explosion of farmers markets, and while so much of the world is abandoning their food heritage, Americans are reclaiming theirs before it gets lost . . . We have these two completely parallel, simultaneous, and opposite tracks: on the one hand, people with money who eat organic, sustainable, handmade food. But if you're a poor person, you're stuck eating stuff that's cheaper than food and that will kill you. Food safety in this country becomes a worse and worse issue; we import more and more food; 80 percent of the antibiotics in this country go to perfectly healthy animals. We have a real crisis on the one hand - and on the other hand, we have, for the first time, an awareness of it. Which is quite stunning.

I really do think American food is the best in the world right now, because of the people making the kind of food that goes to the Good Food Awards. We have to nurture it, and make sure that it doesn't just stay with us in this little enclave.

YS: There's movement toward eating a plant-based diet. What do you think of that?

To find out her answer, keep reading.