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Drinking Coffee & Weight Loss? What You Should Know

Coffee is a brewed drink prepared from the roasting of coffee beans, which technically, are seeds of berries produced by the Coffea plant.  Specifically, when Coffea plant berries ripen, they are picked, processed, dried, roasted, ground, brewed with boiling water, and served as the beverage we’ve come to know as coffee.  Although the Coffea plant …

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Niacin & Weight Loss or Gain? How Vitamin B3 Affects Body Weight

Niacin (vitamin B3), also referred to as nicotinic acid, is a human nutrient that functions as a precursor to NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) and NADP (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate).  NAD is a coenzyme recognized for its involvement in the catabolism of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins, as well as sending signals for DNA repair.  NADP is …

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Synthroid (Levothyroxine) & Weight Gain: An Uncommon Reaction

Synthroid (Levothyroxine) is a medication commonly prescribed for the treatment of hypothyroidism, and is also a popular intervention for goiters, nodular thyroid disease, and thyroid cancer.  Administration of synthroid reverses neurophysiological irregularities associated with insufficient thyroxine (T4) and reduces concentrations of TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone).  Within several months of synthroid administration, many individuals report improvements in …

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Invega (Paliperidone) & Weight Gain: What Should You Expect?

Invega (Paliperidone) is considered a newer spin-off of the antipsychotic Risperdal in that it contains the same active metabolite, but is thought to have fewer side effects and drug interactions.  It was initially approved in 2006 for the treatment of schizophrenia and was since granted approval for the treatment of schizoaffective disorder in 2009.  While …

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Fanapt (Iloperidone) & Weight Gain: What Should You Expect?

Fanapt (Iloperidone) is an antipsychotic that was approved in 2009 for the treatment of schizophrenia.  It functions similar to most current-market atypical antipsychotics in that it acts as an antagonist of the 5-HT2A receptor and D2 dopamine receptor.  It is thought to produce fewer extrapyramidal side effects (e.g. akathisia) compared to other antipsychotics. The drug …

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Saphris (Asenapine) & Weight Gain: What Should You Expect?

Saphris (Asenapine) is an atypical antipsychotic medication that was approved in 2009 for the treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.  It is a relatively new atypical antipsychotic, and is considered a chemical derivative of the tetracyclic antidepressant (TeCA) mianserin.  It is manufactured in a sublingual format, which some may perceive as an upgraded or novel …

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