Do you have a sweet tooth?

In a recent article published in Nature (link here) found that consumption of added sugar in your diet could be harmful to your health. They found in their study that when mice had added sugar that made up 25% of their diet, female mice died two times as fast while the male mice were less likely to reproduce. This of course excludes sugar that are naturally present in foods, but how does this all relate to you?

                According to the American Diabetes Association there are 25.8 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes in 2011 and about 86 million people are estimated are undiagnoised with diabetes or have prediabetes. The results of this study suggest that diabetes may be on the rise and there may be more side effects than previously known. About ¼ of Americans have diets that are made up of 25% added sugar and these people are at the highest risk of acquiring diseases such as diabetes. Other diseases and complications may also be seen such as heart disease and stroke, high blood pressure, blindness, kidney disease, neuropathy, and amputation.

                The most common form of diabetes is type 2 diabetes.  This type of Diabetes is commonly linked to a higher percentage of belly fat around the abdomen.  These individuals are more often than not producing insulin but it is getting trapped in their fat cells. Many of the people with type 2 diabetes are insulin resistant for quite some time before obtaining the diagnosis of diabetes.  Insulin resistance, this term means is that you have high blood glucose levels compared to a normal person as your body is struggling to regulate your blood sugars. The reason why some people are undiagnosed is because there are no clear symptoms and you may or may not know that you have it. There are risk factors associated with diabetes type 2 and being overweight is one of them. The American Diabetes Association lists the risk factors here. What about those that have diabetes, what can you do? From a podiatrist’s perspective there are steps you can do to take care of your feet because one of the areas you first display symptoms are in your feet. The complications in the foot can be devastating and diabetic non-traumatic amputations are globally happening at the rate of 1 every 30 seconds.  Visit our website to learn more about these steps!

Head over heels, what would you do for fashion?

It is inevitable, that parents are the first adults that children look up to as role models. Little girls love to play dress up with mom’s clothes, jewelry and makeup. But as a parent, when would you draw the line? In  2009  photos of Suri Cruise, daughter of Tom Cruise and Kate Holmes,  sparked the “Suri Effect” wearing heels in the tabloids. This trend has now spread across the country to little girls everywhere. This has become a problem for moms and dads during back to school shoe shopping. Would  you let your daughter choose heels? While many parents are undecided, marketing research companies have shown steady increase in sales of fashionable shoes for girls in the last two years. It is now a 4 billion dollar industry.

One of the concerns expressed by some doctors is that it sends the wrong message to girls, promoting sexuality and by being ‘sexy’ you can become popular. From a Podiatrist’s perspective this can pose many foot health problems. Many of the bones in our legs and feet are still forming.  This process called ossification, can take up the age 20 + years. An elevated heel in a child can put abnormal strain on the bones, not to mention the ligaments and tendons that holds the bones together and helps us walk. But wearing heels may cause problems during development and this may lead to health concerns later on in life.

As a  parent of 3 little girls, all under the age of 9, I will invoke my own personal opinion.  We should be teaching our little girls less about how important fashion is and more about being leaders. As women have held over 50% of the college degrees for the last several years according to Sheryl Sandberg the CEO of Facebook.  We should be teaching little girls to Lean In, not tilt up in a pair of shoes! 

If you are concerned about a certain type of shoe for your children or have questions on how to select the right shoe, you can contact us at Center for Ankle and Foot Care.

44 Cascade Orthaheel Sandal Review, podiatrist approved shoe gear:)

So we have introduced a whole new way to help augment people’s foot health in our practice, the Orthaeel Shoe and Sandal Line. If you know Dr. Henne and myself, Dr. McGowan, we are very skeptical individuals. Not only do we want to know something works before we pass it on to our patients, we would rather try it for ourselves before making a tried and true recommendation for something.

The Orthaheel shoe line was developed by an Australian Podiatrist with already built in orthotic support. The whole line has the American Podiatric Medical Association Seal of Approval, which not many products have. The Vionic 44 Cascade Flip Flop I am reviewing was my first choice when I first saw the line of Orthaheel shoes. This is a sporty but very delicate looking active sandal.

I will tell you that the moment I put this flip flop on, I wanted to take back every bad thing I have ever said about flip flops! I immediately felt support that I think my feet have been lacking, even in my good athletic sneakers. Because I felt so much support I was nervous to wear them for a full day, echoing the sentiment we give when fitting an individual with custom and over the counter orthotics or inserts in their shoes. We tell them to slowly break them in a couple hours at a time, increasing it slightly each day. I don't know if this was overkill, but I think that I would recommend this before going all day in them, mainly because that is what I did and it worked great.

So I have worn these sandals for last 3 weeks. I have had no problems and my feet feel great. These shoes are touted and praised for a perfect after sports recovery sandal.

Here's what the manufacturer says:

§  Vionic by Orthaheel-women's performance toe post sandal is the ideal motion control footwear for after-sport recovery. Learn more about Vionic

§  Durable VIBRAM outsole for excellent traction on various surfaces.

§  Biomechanically contoured, motion control footbed made from triple-density EVA for stability in the rear foot and cushioning in the heel and forefoot.

§  Flexible leather uppers with soft padded jersey liner with bungee strap overlay and a soft nylon webbing toe post..

§  Materials: Leather/nylon uppers, EVA midsole and VIBRAM outsole

§  Care: Wipe off with damp cloth and air dry.

§  Received APMA Seal of Acceptance

I agree with all of the above and these shoes get my seal of approval:) They retail at $99, this is money well spent especially for all of my patients who refuse to wear anything other than flip flops but come in complaining of foot pain. I finally have an alternative for these patients that I feel good about.

The Orthaheel shoes in our office have a 30 day Money Back Guarantee. There are many shoes to choose from and you are more than welcome to come to the office and try on the size and look throught the catalogs.

Dr. Henne believes that my reviews are a sneaky way for me to buy all new shoes but this is science here, I want to make sure these work for our patients:)

http://centeranklefootcare.com/id71.html