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How to Make Your Refrigerator ‘Poison-free’

Dr. Michael Omidi is the co-founder of No More Poverty, among other charities dedicated to the welfare and wellbeing of others. Today, he looks at the topic of food safety in the home.

It seems we read of a new virus or bacterial epidemic every few months. Even people who live in developed, modern nations wonder about the best way to stay safe in the midst of dangerous contaminants that reside…

Are You at Risk for Pneumonia?

  In today’s blog post, Dr. Michael Omidi writes about the threat of pneumonia and how to spot the symptoms.

For some reason, people seem to focus on all the “new” viruses and diseases that appear in news headlines each season. Unfortunately, it’s easy to forget about some very serious maladies that make the rounds every winter. Pneumonia is one of them.

One reason pneumonia often goes undetected…

Source: Childrens Obesity Fund Sponsors Hands for Hopes HopeWalk, 5k Walk and Kids Healthy Activity Fair

Philanthropist Julian Omidi is the proud Co-Founder of the fine charities Animal Support, Civic Duty, Children's Obesity Fund, and No More Poverty. Julian Omidi also provides health, lifestyle, and educational advice on many blogs, as well as providing up to date coverage of the Hurricane Sandy crisis.

The holidays often lead to adding additional weight, but new information regarding the role of the “food-entrainable oscillator” plays in our eating habits may help you avoid putting on the pounds.

What is the “food-entrainable oscillator?” Think of it as your body’s food clock. Your food clock is a biochemical process that regulates the consistent rate of your metabolism; it’s the internal clock for eating. It is believed that at one time this food clock was controlled by the best times of the day to forage and hunt, but now that we can eat anywhere and anytime it can be difficult to keep the clock wound.

Behaviors such as working late shifts, eating late at night, or suffering from jet lag can all contribute to changing our food clocks and can often lead to weight gain. A desynchronized food clock can lead to skipping breakfast, which studies have shown can lead to eating more throughout the day, eating later at night out of boredom and emotions instead of out of necessity, which will lead to additional weight gain, and even being at risk of diabetes and stroke.

A new protein called PKCy could prove to be a way to regulate or shift one’s food clock. A study conducted in mice showed that those who lacked the PTCy protein would wake up to eat when feedings were at night and those that had the PTCy would sleep through the late-night feedings.

While a method to utilize this new data for humans is some time away, you can help reduce the amount of weight that you gain this holiday season by making sure that you eat breakfast in the morning and stay to your normal scheduled meals as best as possible, as well as avoid eating just to eat later in the evening.

Michael Omidi discusses how junk food can affect and change the functioning of the brain. 

Foods that are high in trans fats and saturated fats have been proven time and again to harm one's health. While fat is an important and even essential part of anyone's diet, some of the negative health effects of trans fats and saturated fats include:

An increase in LDL ("bad") cholesterol

A decrease in HDL ("good") cholesterol

Coronary heart disease

Diabetes

Obesity

A new study shows that there are additional negative impacts as a result of a diet high in trans fats, specifically on the brain. 

In the study conducted by researchers at the University of Montreal and published in the International Journal of Obesity, mice that were fed diets high in both fat and sugar content exhibited withdrawal symptoms when they stopped eating the fatty foods. In turn this leads to chemical changes of the brain that result in depression, greater sensitivity to stressful situations, and a higher proclivity to resort to poor eating when confronted by these situations. 

At the end of the study the mice fed a diet high in sugar and fat were more anxious and had increased levels of a molecule known as CREB, which is closely associated to dopamine production. 

Dr. Gene Bowman, researcher of a previous study that found trans fats could be associated with decreased functioning of the brain, had this to say about the consumption of trans fats:

"It's clear that trans fats are bad -- both for your heart and now, we see, for your brain. So I would recommend that people stay away from all trans fats. If you aren't sure whether something has them, just look at the ingredients; if there's vegetable shortening, partially hydrogenated anything... just put it down. That's the big message here."

The best thing to do is stay aware of  your diet and check for the presence of trans-fats to avoid any potential hazards to your brain functioning. 

This is Michael Omidi, M.D. and I’d like to share with you why No More Poverty supports Children's Hunger Fund because there is no better way to fight rampant poverty than to make sure that people have enough food to eat. When Julian Omidi (my brother) and I, Michael Omidi, M.D., began No More Poverty, we envisioned the type of work that Children's Hunger Fund is doing as being a part of our mission. As you know, we support several charitable organizations which share a common vision and Children's Hunger Fund, supplying direct service to hungry children worldwide, fits that vision to a tee.

  Just five cents per meal is all that it takes to feed a child through Children's Hunger Fund. This is money that most of us have just lying around the house, in our cars and at the bottom of wallets and purses. Few of us thinks about how such a small amount of change can make a difference in a hungry child's life. Children's Hunger Fund, however, realizes the importance of the things that so many of us take for granted and it has been raising awareness about hunger while directly supplying food to children for 20 years.

  NMP's support of Children's Hunger Fund will help them in continuing to supply food paks, as well as nutritional supplements to children who are not receiving enough of the nutrients needed to grow into healthy adults. I, Dr. Michael Omidi, M.D., am particularly fond of this effort as I know the importance of not just having enough food to eat, but of also having the right vitamins and minerals needed for healthy development. Without this type of assistance, children may succumb to a variety of health conditions and illnesses, and many may outright perish.

  While my brother, Julian, and I, Michael Omidi, M.D., are pleased that No More Poverty’s support will make such an impact on hunger, we don't want our support to end there. As we do with all of the organizations that we support, we tell the world about the amazing work being done by organizations like Children's Hunger Fund with the hopes that others will follow suit and donate, too.

  Our 501(c)3 applications is still pending, so we do not accept donations for NMP or any of the organizations that we support at this time. We do, however, offer plenty of information on the charities that we support, including ways that you can donate to them directly. By visiting our website at NMP.org, visitors can obtain names and contact information for every organization that we've supported to date. Those who wish to follow us through social media may also do so through our Facebook page at Facebook.com/NMP.org. In fact, first-time visitors to that page are encouraged to click our 'Like' button and we will contribute one dollar per ‘Like’ to the organization currently represented in our main spotlight.

Hi everyone, it’s Julian Omidi and I’m here again to update you on No More Poverty's progress in our mission to end poverty worldwide. Can you imagine the pain of being hungry and not having anything to satisfy your desire? I’m not talking about just being hungry for a few hours, but for days, weeks and months on end? I can’t imagine what this must feel like and neither can my brother, Dr. Michael Omidi, which is why we decided to place No More Poverty's support behind Children's Hunger Fund.

  Living in a day and age where a fully-stocked supermarket is within a few minutes drive from where most people live and work, it's hard to imagine anyone going hungry. Yet, if you live in an area with poor access to food or if you have access to it, but cannot afford to purchase it, there is no way to satisfy the basic need of hunger. Children's Hunger Fund knows that this is the unpleasant reality that scores of people are faced with and they are doing something about it. Like No More Poverty, Children's Hunger Fund cannot stand the idea of anyone going without the basic necessities for life. Neither I, nor my brother and partner, Dr. Michael Omidi, can tolerate this idea either...especially when children are involved.

  For more than two decades, Children's Hunger Fund has raised money on behalf of hungry, impoverished people everywhere. Since 1992, the lion's share of their efforts have been focused on feeding hungry children, in particular. Through the distribution of things like food paks and nutritional supplements, Children's Hunger Fund is able to satisfy the hungry urges that children have in order that they may have the energy to apply themselves in school, as well as be able to grow into healthy adulthood with the aid of proper nourishment.

  As many of you know, I, Julian Omidi, along with my partner and brother, Dr. Michael Omidi, established No More Poverty with the intention of ending poverty in America, as well as throughout the rest of the world. We are able to accomplish all that we have through the support of various organizations that are equally committed to our cause. My brother and I believe that the only way for No More Poverty to truly be successful in our mission is to join forces with the powerful people and organizations who are working directly with communities in the struggle against poverty and all of the situations that it creates.