Chronic Pain

Chronic Pain and Depression - SmartChoiceMD

It doesn’t take a medical expert to guess that chronic pain can lead to feelings of despair and despondency. But when doctors speak about depression, they’re referring to the serious psychological condition known as clinical depression or major depression, in which people feel sad, “low”, demoralized, or without hope and energy for two weeks or more. Chronic Pain is a normal part of a healthy nervous system, a process by which our bodies alert us that something is wrong. Chronic pain, on the other hand, is when a person feels regular bouts of pain that last six months or more. Some forms of chronic pain are continuous, in which the pain is felt all day long, while other people suffering from chronic pain experience episodes of intense or excruciating pain that may come and go.

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Eating

7 Easy Diet Tips for the Holiday - SmartChoiceMD

Once the Holidays are over, it’s rare for anyone to be the same number on the scale as they were going into them. Wouldn’t you love to be the exception to that rule? Knowing you are going to pack on a few as 2015 winds down, losing a few now will help you navigate through the holidays with a little less guilt and a little more confidence.  While many fad diets and trends recommend dangerous and risky behavior such as gobbling pills or wearing restrictive clothes, below are seven tips on how to safely and effectively get a jumpstart on losing weight.

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Eating

SmartChoiceMD - Clean Eating

In the world of computing, the acronym Garbage In, Garbage Out (GIGO) refers to the fact that if you input “dirty” code, your software will never work. The foods and drinks that we put in our body function much the same way. Known generally as “clean eating”, it is one of those truisms that we all know, but occasionally must be reminded of, that in order to be healthy, we must be sure to eat clean foods and drinks.

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Chronic Pain

Information on Osteoarthritis - SmartChoiceMD

What is Osteoarthritis?  When the average person says “arthritis“, the particular type of arthritis they’re usually referring to is osteoarthritis, also known as degenerative joint disease or degenerative arthritis. Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, and this painful condition currently affects millions of people around the world.

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Eating

Sugar Substitutes - SmartChoiceMD

Aspartame Versus Sugar: Our bodies have a natural affinity for sweet things, as the sugars in fruits and other plants are a healthy source of energy. Unfortunately, many corporations have taken advantage of this biological instinct, and have created artificial chemicals, such as aspartame, that trick our taste buds into thinking that we are eating something sweet and healthy.

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Eating

Fatty Foods

Although many of our favorite foods and beverages taste really good, when we consume them, they can cause painful inflammation. The word inflammation, originally from a Latin root for “fire” and “flame”, refers to the fact that the cellular tissue in our bodies essentially respond as if they were being burned by the foods and beverages that we consume. Over time, chronic inflammation can contribute to a host of lethal diseases, including cardiovascular and heart problems, arthritis, and even some forms of cancer.Below is a list of inflammatory foods to avoid eating, as well as some healthy alternatives:

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