Health

Caregivers must prioritize the physical and psychological health of the child. If they notice that the child is gaining weight and lacks physical activities, they must consult a child specialist at Medicare Cardiac & General Hospital. The specialist will; determine the cause and provide a guideline that will help the child stay active and healthy.

What can cause the child to become obese?

The risk factors that contribute to childhood obesity are:

•         Way of Consuming Food: Children who consume high-calorie food are more likely to have a higher BMI. Caregivers who reinforce the child with sweets regularly are more likely to become obese and suffer from sleeping disorders.
•         Lack of Physical Exertion: It is essential that the child engages in physical activities and plays outdoor to maintain physical and psychological health. Lack of physical exertion contributes to obesity.
•         Family Influence: If the parents and other family members are in a habit of consuming high-calorie food on daily basis; then the child will follow in their footsteps of them. It will contribute to an unhealthy lifestyle, leading to poor psychological and physical health.
•         Stressors: Stress correlates with hormonal changes and obesity. Therefore, it is essential to keep an eye on the child and provide help.
•         Use of Certain Medications: Some medications such as lithium,amitriptyline, and paroxetine affect body weight.

What are the complications associated with childhood obesity?

The complications that correlate with childhood obesity include:

•         Higher Risk of Type 2 Diabetes: The high consumption of sugar can lead to diabetes in the early years. It can contribute to further complications.
•         Heart Problems: Obese people suffer from high cholesterol and blood pressure. Without lifestyle modification, the patient is at a higher risk of suffering from a heart attack or a stroke.
•         Joint Pain: The extra weight exerts pressure on the joints and affects the functioning of the body.
•         Sleep Apnea: Obesity can cause breathing issues. It can lead to sleep apnea and affect the overall functioning of the individual.
•         Liver Damage: Due to excessive deposition of fat in the liver, the patient is more prone to develop liver disease.
•         Peer Pressure Leading to Anxiety and Body Dysmorphia: The peer pressure of appearing pretty can cause anxiety, and the child may suffer from body dysmorphia affecting the overall mental health.

What is the role of caregivers that can help the child get healthier?

Caregivers play an important role in helping the child develop healthy eating habits. The caregivers must:

•         Set a Routine for Physical Activities: The caregivers should provide a healthy and productive environment for the child. It will help their social, cognitive, and physical growth.
•         Include Organic Foods in Diet: Rather than using processed food, the parents should provide the child with fruits and vegetables as snacks and proper meals.
•         Keep an Eye on the Social Activities of the child: Obesity can cause stress, social isolation, and body dysmorphia. Therefore, the family must provide support to the child.

Parents who feel that their child is struggling with physical problems that correlate with their body weight must consult the best child specialist in Karachi. The specialist will conduct tests to understand the cause and provide treatment options accordingly.

Beta-alanine helps sportspeople, gym enthusiasts, and athletes push beyond their exhaustion threshold. It is a workout supplement with benefits like increased endurance and improved performance in high-intensity exercises. Beta-alanine occurs naturally in the body as a non-essential amino acid for creating carnosine found in the muscles. However, it is not enough to accumulate the much-needed carnosine to improve performance; therefore, it is critical to supplement beta-alanine.

The working mechanism of beta-alanine

Once you take beta-alanine, it combines with histidine to create carnosine, a powerful anti-oxidant and has acid buffering properties. But your muscle carnosine levels are limited to the available beta-alanine in the body. Therefore taking beta-alanine supplements provides plenty of carnosine levels to make a difference in your workout.

During a workout, lactic acid gathers in your muscles and breaks down further into hydrogen ions, increasing the acidity in the muscles. When the acidity increases, the ability of the muscles to contract decreases translating to a reduction in force generation and endurance. More beta-alanine means more carnosine hence the more acid buffering capacity of your muscles, allowing you to work out for longer.

Foods containing beta-alanine

If you consume meat, you can easily obtain beta-alanine from food sources such as chicken, turkey, pork, fish, and beef. But if you are a vegan, the best way to get more beta-alanine for your body is through supplementation. The common sources of beta-alanine are meat because the active metabolite of beta-alanine is carnivores and is stored in the muscles of the animals.

However, you have to consume a lot of meat to obtain the necessary beta-alanine to build up enough carnosine in your muscles. Therefore it is easier to take beta-alanine supplements to make things easier on your stomach and wallet. Also, using a quality supplement for several weeks can ensure you get enough beta-alanine in your system to reap the benefits.

Beta-alanine supplements

When buying beta-alanine supplements, it is advisable to opt for a brand with drug-tested certification. Carnosyn, the patented form of beta-alanine, is scientifically backed and proven to improve performance in high-intensity exercises. On the other hand, unproven and uncertified performance enhancers may not be 100% drug-free and are dangerous for professional athletes who undergo drug testing.

Beta-alanine dosage

Clinical studies have shown that 2-6g of beta-alanine daily is the recommended dose to improve endurance and performance in athletes. It is best to take it with a meal or a snack to enhance its benefits. Note that beta-alanine is not time-dependent, and it works upon saturation levels.

Therefore you should supplement with beta-alanine for several weeks to months to see a difference in your performance. Most pre-workout supplements contain beta-alanine, and you should examine the amount and supplement with the additional dose if necessary.

The bottom line

If you want to work out harder, longer, and more intensely, a beta-alanine supplement may be just what you need. It has countless studies to back up its claims, so it is safe to incorporate into your workout diet.