People don’t seem to take heat exhaustion seriously until it happens to them. Most of us have been there: It’s July, you’re outside working in the yard, and you’re too dirty to go into the house for a glass of cold water. Next thing you know, you are nauseated, dizzy and have an intense headache.

At this point most of us quit what we are doing and go inside to cool down. But those who keep at it are now at risk of heat stroke, which is extremely dangerous and possibly life-threatening.

 As our world gets warmer, we hear about more people, especially high-school athletes, dying from heat exposure. People of all ages are at risk of heat related illness, whether working out strenuously or just puttering outside. The risk of heat illness  goes up significantly if you have heart, lung or kidney disease or if you are overweight. Certain drugs can also increase your risk of heat illness, especially diuretics, tranquilizers, high blood pressure medicines and antidepressants. All of these inhibit your ability to sweat, which will send your internal temperature soaring. There are two different types of heat illness—heat exhaustion and

heat stroke.

Symptoms of heat exhaustion are: dizziness, weakness, nausea, headache, and cold and clammy skin.

Those with heat exhaustion should move to a cool area and rest with their head in a low position. They should drink plenty of cold water and put cold compresses to the back of their neck and to the forehead.

Symptoms of heat stroke are: headache, numbness, confusion, elevated blood pressure and pulse rate, and profuse sweating.

 Heat stroke is a medical emergency and requires rapid treatment to ensure the health of the victim. The sufferer must be immediately cooled in an ice bath to prevent further health implications. Come back next week for my tips on how to avoid heat related illness.  

Deborah Herlax Enos, CN

Nutritionist for FUZE

Do you ever feel as if you gain weight over night? It’s possible. If you eat a meal loaded with sodium, you will gain weight, water weight, making it difficult to zip your pants in morning.

To get rid of excess water weight, try eating an all natural (healthy) diuretic.

Try these two tips, they are simple and in most cases, you already have these items in your frig! 

• Parsley is a mild diuretic and can help take excess water out of your system. Chop it up and add to your salad. It makes your salad taste great and it’s loaded with antioxidants.

• Watermelon is a fantastic diuretic. Try it as an after dinner snack to mitigate the effects of a high sodium meal.

• Squeeze lemon or lime into your iced tea. Citrus is a natural and mild diuretic.

Happy Summer!

Deborah Herlax Enos, CN

Nutritionist for FUZE

For many of us, just  losing five pounds can make all the difference in the way our clothes fit and the way we feel. Here are three quick tips that can help you to lose those five pounds and help to create some "healthier habits" in the process!

Drink more water.  Drinking more water can prevent you from feeling crabby, grumpy and tired.  When you get dehydrated, your body can feel as if it's been infected with a flu virus.  Drinking more water can also keep your mucous membranes hydrated.  When your membranes are hydrated, it makes it more difficult for a cold bug to take hold. 

• Your good decision:  Start your day by drinking a 6-8 ounce glass of water (yes, you can still drink your coffee too!).  Keep a glass of water on your desk and drink throughout the day.  If you just don't like the bland taste of water, jazz it up a bit to make it taste more interesting.  Pour half a glass of water and then add in your favorite FUZE beverage. I use this trick with plain water and with club soda-it makes the water go down much easier!

Choose a cup of tea instead of a mocha.  I know, I know, the taste is very different.  But if you drink a mocha everyday and you don't burn off the calories, you will gain a pound of FAT every 10.5 days.  Hmmm. that tea is sounding better all the time. 

• Your good decision:  Choose a cup of decaf coffee or herbal tea instead of a 300-400 calorie coffee drink. 

Eat breakfast instead of hitting the snooze button.  When you choose to sleep in lieu of food, your energy will never really kick in.  Not only will you feel tired, but because your blood sugar is low, you will feel moody and unmotivated.  Skipping a meal in the morning will also set you up to crave more food, usually sugar, throughout the day. 

• Your good decision:  Get up!  And choose a breakfast that has some protein (for energy) and carbohydrate (long term fuel); after all when did an extra ten minutes of sleep feel that good anyway?

Happy Summer!

Summer has arrived! Are you beginning to wonder if the dry cleaner shrunk most of your summer clothes? Do you think it might be the high carb, high stress and high sugar you’ve been on for the last few months?Here are a few quick tips to get you bathing suit ready in no time! 

Start your day with protein.  Animal protein (an egg or chicken sausage) can help you kick the sugar habit.  Eating just a plain carbohydrate for breakfast (toast or a bagel) will actually drive your body to crave sugar throughout the day. 

Never let yourself get ravenous.  Once you're really hungry, you will make bad food choices and overeat.  Once you overeat, your body will begin to gain weight. 

Eat an apple before an event where you are likely to overeat.  The apple will help take the edge off of your appetite, which means you will eat less because you will be more in control of your cravings/hunger. 

Take a nap.  When you get tired, your appetite will increase by 23%!  And let's face it, you're not craving tofu and carrot sticks.  You'll be craving sugar and carbohydrates.  Also, if you sleep less than 6.5 hours a night, you will be more likely to store your food directly in your fat stores.

Exercise. Even a small amount of exercise can make a difference in your health.  Walking for just fifteen minutes can boost your immune system and increase your serotonin (your happiness chemical) levels.

Sugar Cravings?  Always keep a FUZE Slenderize on hand, just in case your sugar cravings get the best of you! When you’re craving sugar, it is best to just have a little something sweet.  Many people try to "drive" the sugar craving out by eating other low calories items; such as popcorn and pretzels. When I pour myself a glass of FUZE Slenderize and have a handful of fresh Bing cherries, my sugar cravings disappear!

Deborah Herlax Enos, CN

Nutritionist for FUZE 

The American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) suggests that a diet high in fruits and veggies can be somewhat skin protective and may be a nice "addition" to the sun screen you are already using (if you’re not using one, go buy one today!). With skin cancer risk increasing every year, you need to do whatever it takes to protect your skin from damage. And according to the researchers in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition study, eating more fruits and veggies with beta carotene may increase your skin’s own protection by 2 or 3 SPF. While this number is not going to keep your skin from burning, when combined with sun screen you can really increase your skin protection.

The big summer salad is certainly the most popular lunch on a hot day. It's refreshing and it does feel as if it can take your body tmperature down a couple of notches. But most people make the mistake of having it with a low- or no-fat dressing and little or no protein. Eating a lunch with little or no fat and protein, will crank your hunger into high gear and you will end up eating more calories throughout the day.

Eating veggies at lunch is a good way to get vitamins, minerals and fiber. But if veggies are all you eat, your energy will last for less than an hour and you will find yourself needing sugar to regain your focus and concentration. You also need some fat with your salad to help your body absorb nutrients from the veggies.

*According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, people who consume salads with fat-free dressing absorb far fewer phytonutrients and vitamins than those who use a dressing containing fat.

HOW...to create a healthy and high-energy "big salad":

1.   Have a salad with at least five veggies (adding a fruit, such as a pear or apple, is great too). 
2.      The darker the better! Though the most popular choice, salads made with iceberg lettuce take a nutritional back seat to salads made with dark or mixed greens. 
3.  An iceberg-lettuce salad has 60-80 percent fewer nutrients than a salad made with raw spinach. 
4.  Add a handful of chopped herbs to your salad to give it a flavor boost, along with a huge antioxidant hit. 
5.    Add some protein. It doesn’t take much—a hard-boiled egg, a couple of slices of turkey breast or a half-cup of beans or lentils. 
6.    Add some fat. Use healthy oil in your dressing, such as olive or grapeseed, to get the full nutritional benefit from your veggies. If you really do love the fat-free dressings, add fat to your salad by tossing in a palmful of nuts or seeds or a quarter of an avocado. That’s enough to give your body the good fat and nutrition it craves.
7. And don't forget your fluids with your salad-I usually drink a FUZE Black and Green Tea with my lunch. It has just enough caffeine to get me through the afternoon and on into my evening summer plans.

 Happy Summer to you!

 It's finally getting hot here in Seattle. Normally I would brew a cup of tea every afternoon to help me get over the winter doldrums. But now, it's a bit too warm to be drinking hot tea. It's time to bring out my favorite summer drink: FUZE Green Tea. 

Most Americans are chronically deficient in fiber. To have maximal health, we should be eating about 30 grams of fiber each day. Sadly most people in the U.S. are only eating about 50% of the recommended daily fiber. Ingesting more fiber can dramatically increase your weight loss. Here’s how it works: when you eat fiber, it fills you up which is a great way to begin to train your body to eat less at meals and have more control over your portions.  Studies have shown that the more fiber that goes into your body, results in less fat on your body.  The added bonus of eating more fiber is usually a lower level of cholesterol in your blood. Fiber and cholesterol are arch enemies (think, Superman and kryptonite!). Ingested fiber binds with cholesterol which is then removed out of your body.

When cutting back on calories to lose weight, make the calories you eat count!  Here’s a general rule to stick with: when it comes to fruits and veggies, the darker the better. So spinach packs a bigger nutritional punch than iceberg lettuce; blackberries are more of nutritional powerhouse than honeydew melon.

When it comes to grains, the higher the fiber conten, the healthier it is for your body. So brown rice has more nutritional power than white rice. Whole grain cereal is much better than sweetened white flour cereals.

If weight loss is your goal this month, don’t forget your FUZE Beverage. I love a FUZE “mock-tail” after work. I usually pour a FUZE Slenderize into a tall glass and then add a splash of lemon lime flavored Club Soda. It satisfies my sugar craving with almost no calories!

Deborah Herlax Enos, CN

Nutritionist for FUZE

I get this question quite often from my clients. Many people have heard that it is better to exercise on an empty stomach because it burns more fat.

 Wrong! Don't fall for this exercise myth.

It’s best to eat a small carbohydrate rich snack (with a bit of protein and fat) about 20 minutes before your workout. Post workout, you want to have what most nutritionists call a ‘mixed meal’. This is a combination of carbohydrate, protein and fat. Your body works more efficiently if it gets a combination of all food components (carbs-protein-fat) at every meal and snack. The carbohydrate is the ‘gas’ for your car (muscle), which helps your muscle to work for long periods of time. The protein and fat help to keep the food in your system for longer periods of time. If you didn’t eat a bit of protein and fat with your carbohydrate you would probably always feel a bit hungry. 

Here's a couple of great ideas for both a pre and post workout meal.

My favorite pre workout meal:

• Peanut butter and banana sandwich.

My favorite post workout meal:

• A bowl of high fiber/protein but low sugar cereal with 1% milk.
• Turkey sandwich on whole grain bread with carrot sticks or snap peas on the side.

Don't forget to hydrate both pre and post workout. I usually have my clients stick with water before and during their workouts. But post workout I often suggest a FUZE tea beverage. FUZE teas are full of antioxidants and are low in sugar, so you can replace your antioxidants and hydrate at the same time.

Deborah Herlax Enos, CN

Nutritionist for FUZE

We are a nation of chronically overweight people. In fact, 61 percent of Americans are either overweight or obese. Between 1991 and 2002, the percentage of overweight Americans more than doubled. It’s easy to see how this happened: Computers have made us very sedentary. Commuting to work keeps us sitting for hours on end.

Restaurants have “super-sized” food portions so that one order now buys more food for less money, and most of us eat everything we see on our plate.

We work longer hours and have less play time (calorie-burning time) than ever before.

Overweight people are at higher risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, gout and most types of cancers. They are also at much higher risk of dying in car accidents that healthy-weight people survive. Most of us know it doesn’t take much to be overweight and unhealthy. An extra 100 calories is simple to add to your daily diet. How many times in the last week have you grabbed a handful of potato chips or had the whipped cream on your coffee drink? These habits are each worth 100 calories or more! The professional costs of being overweight are similar to the personal costs, plus employees over their healthy weight are absent more often, produce less work and cost their employers about $500 more per year in health care costs. Compare these figures from a study reported in

A healthy-weight employee costs approximately $114 in health care per year. An overweight employee costs approximately $513 in health care per year.

But did you know that just an extra 100 calories a day could put 10 pounds of fat on your frame each year?

Next time you crave a little something ‘sweet’, reach for a FUZE Slenderize. With summer fast approaching, this is a good time to start thinking about fitting into those shorts from last year.

FUZE Slenderize is a fun way to enjoy a drink, without the guilt-try Slenderize Tangerine Grapefruit, my personal favorite!

 Deborah Herlax Enos, CN

Nutritionist for FUZE