Tom Willemann Health Tips

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What popular diet works best? Atkins? South Beach? Weight Watchers? Zone?

Tom Willemann |

As an orthopedic and sports physical therapist in Wyckoff, NJ,  I like to educate my patients on the many factors that can improve their healing and others that may delay or prevent  it. For example, it  may surprise you to learn that with conditions like diabetes, hypermobility syndrome (loose joints) and being overweight, taking certain antiinflamatories can delay tissue healing.  Some of these conditions you can control while others are more difficult. Controlling the ones you can leaves you free to take common, over the counter medications without worry.
One you can control is weight loss.  Studies show that for every pound of weight lost your joints will suffer 3 to 5 percent less stress.  With that in mind, I always encourage my patients who are overweight and have any joint issues to consider a change in their eating habits.  I spoke to a local nutritionist who noted that she has had several overweight patients with osteoarthritis who have cancelled joint replacement surgery after losing a significant amount of weight.  Wow! That’s a huge double advantage—no surgery and a healthier body.
So, you want to lose weight? Which diet? Why not choose one that improves cardiovascular health while reducing your waistline and helping your joints. A 2010 study in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association ranked seven diets according to whether they contributed to reducing cardiovascular disease.  These were the results, best first:

  1. Ornish diet
  2. Weight watchers
  3. New glucose revolution
  4. Atkins
  5. South beach
  6. Zone
  7. Food guide pyramid

*This reflects the ranking of long term results not short term benefits of certain diets*

All these diets or how I prefer to call them lifestyle changes require commitment.   Please follow this link to read the original study.  https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2040023/
Apex Orthopedic Rehabilitation in Wyckoff, NJ provides orthopedic and sports physical therapy services for the greater Wyckoff, Ridgewood, and Bergen County region.  This blog is intended for informational purposes only and should not be used for diagnostic or prescriptive purposes. The views expressed here are the author’s views and should be taken as suggestions. Always consult your physician before engaging in a physical therapy or rehabilitative regimen.

Tom Willemann

Tom Willemann

Tom Willemann is a premier physical therapist based out of Bergen County, New Jersey. He holds an MS in physical therapy from the University of Miami, is credentialed in the world-renowned McKenzie Method of Mechanical Diagnosis and Therapy (MDT), and holds an OCS (Orthopedic Clinical Specialist) certification. As of 2018, there are approximately 14,000 ABPTS certified specialists in the nation and less than 400 of them are located in the state of New Jersey. Tom is the owner and director of Apex Orthopedic Rehabilitation in Paramus. He opened the clinic, which specializes in spine and sports injury prevention, in 2004 after many years of experience in the field. Tom’s caring interest in others and his strong belief in continuity of care, combined with his clinic’s ability to find solutions for the most difficult orthopedic problems, have earned Apex Orthopedic Rehabilitation its excellent reputation with patients and medical professionals in northeastern New Jersey and beyond. A true “family man,” Tom takes pride in his clinic’s warm and welcoming environment.
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