fasting: To abstain from food or drink. Certain medical tests require fasting.
fad diet: A popular diet that vows quick weight loss results. Fad diets are notorious for only producing short-term, if any, results.
FDA: And abbreviation for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The FDA was formed in order to protect consumers and overall public health.
food diary: A journal in which a person documents everything that he eats on a daily basis to monitor his calories and track where/when he tends to eat excessively. Food diaries are helpful weight loss tools because they force people to take a critical look at their eating habits.
fructose: A sugar that occurs naturally in honey and fruit.
gangrene: The death of soft tissue due to insufficient blood supply.
gastric bypass: A surgical procedure used to treat obesity. In gastric bypass surgery, a surgeon reduces the size of a person’s stomach to a fraction of its current size to limit the amount of food he or she can ingest at any given time.
genetic: Referring to various materials and conditions within the genes.
GERD: A condition in which the esophagus is inflamed or irritated because of the backup of stomach acid. The muscle sphincter that separates a person’s stomach from his esophagus tends to be dysfunctional in GERD patients.
gestational: Having to do with an embryo's span from conception to birth.
gestational diabetes: Glucose intolerance with the onset, or first recognition, during pregnancy.
glaucoma: Disease caused by pressure in the eyeball, resulting in damage and gradual vision loss.
glucose: Blood sugar, and a source of cell energy.
glycemic index: Measures how fast a food item raises the level of glucose in the blood.
HDL cholesterol: High-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is a type of cholesterol that directs other form of cholesterol to the liver for processing and excretion. As such, HDL cholesterol is commonly known as the "good" cholesterol.
hemochromatosis: A hereditary disease causing iron deposits to build up in the body. Left untreated, hemochromatosis causes heart disease, diabetes, cirrhosis, and arthritis.
hemoglobin: The iron-containing portion of red blood cells necessary to transport oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body.
hereditary: Describes any condition passed from parents to children.
hormone: A substance produced by cells that can travel through body fluids to perform specific actions in other parts of the body.
Hypercholesterolemia: A condition marked by high cholesterol. Hypercholesterolemia is a major contributor to the development of heart disease and the occurrence of strokes.
hyperglycemia: A excessive amount of blood sugar.
hyperinsulinemia: Too much insulin in the blood
hypertension: A disease of the arteries in which chronic high blood pressure is the primary symptom.
hypoglycemia: Insufficient levels of blood sugar
hypothalamus: The organ at the brain’s base that is responsible for stimulating the pituitary gland and regulating appetite, body temperature, sleepiness and other automatic physical needs.
immunosuppressive: Describes anything that suppresses the body's immune functions.
impotence: An inability for a man to maintain or have an erection.
incontinence: A condition marked by the lack of control over one’s need to urinate or defecate.
insulin: A pancreatic hormone that regulates blood sugar levels.
insulin inhaler: An insulin delivery device where insulin is inhaled, much like using an asthma inhaler.
insulin pen: An insulin delivery device that looks like a pen and holds insulin cartridges.
insulin pump: An insulin delivery device that provides a continuous amount of insulin.
islet cell: Also called the islets of Langerhans, islet cells are pancreatic cells that produce digestive and metabolism hormones.
junk food: Any food that has a high calorie content but lacks any nutritional value. Junk food tends to by high in sugars and carbohydrates, as well as calories.
juvenile onset: The onset of a disease during childhood or adolescence.
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