Category Archives: Diet And Food

My cardiologists first remark when I saw him the end of June for my regular visit was, Who is this man, I do not recognize him? The doctor was responding to the fact that I had lost quite a bit of weight since my last visit. I had not only reached the level he had been suggesting for years, but had exceeded it.

In addition to taking the cardiologists advice to lose weight, I also followed his suggestion how to do it. He suggested cutting out sugars and carbohydrates. I almost eliminated from the diet potatoes, pasta, and breads. I limited my carbohydrate intake to portions that had five grams or less. The carbs I do eat, I like to consume early in the day so that I will burn them off before I go to bed. Over time I discovered it was helpful not to eat anything at night after dinner. Finally, now I have my main meal at noon rather than evening.

There is an old Chinese proverb that says There are many paths up the mountain, but the view is always the same. The Hindu faith puts it this way: There are hundreds of paths up the mountain, all leading in the same direction, so it doesnt matter which path you take. I am convinced that there are many ways to lose weight. I talked with one man who only ate two meals a day, all before four in the afternoon and drank lots of water. Other people I know follow specific diet plans. How one chooses to lose weight can depend on ones personal health issues, personal preferences, and disputation.

The September 2017 issue of National Geographic had a short piece on diets. The article concluded that the key, says registered dietitian nutritionist Jennifer Bruning, is to find what works best for your body, and more important what you can stick to. (National Geographic, Sept. 2017, p. 24) I have talked with several people who successfully began a diet, only to discontinue it after three or four months. Hebrews invites all of us to run with perseverance the race that has been set before us. (Heb. 12:2) To be successful in losing weight it is important to have the perseverance to pursue the path that one has chosen to reach the goal.

Last week I wrote about the importance of friends. Friends are especially important when trying to lose weight. Some programs to lose weight have built into them support groups. One of things that helped me lose weight was that my wife, Diane, and I engaged in the endeavor together. She made significant changes in what we eat. She replaced what had been our normal fare with new and exciting dishes. As the Book of Ecclesiastes says, Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fail, one will lift up the other but woe to one who is alone and falls and does not have another to help. (Ec. 4:9, 10)

As my cardiologist keeps telling me, the key to a healthy life is dependent on two things: diet and exercise. We in this country have many different paths to accomplish both of these goals. There are all kinds of options to get exercise. The article in National Geographic listed the following possible diets: lacto-ovo-vegetarian, vegan, raw vegan, macrobiotic, fruitarian, juciearian, sproutarian, api-vegan, ovo-vegetarian, pescatarian, Mediterranean, pollo-pescatarian, omnivore and freegan. I am not sure where my low carb/sugar diet fits into the list. However, what is of prime importance is that one chooses a plan and sticks with it. Then as we all follow the path we have chosen, we might reach the summit of a healthy lifestyle.

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Finding the path to reach the summit | Columnists - KPCnews.com

We pride ourselves for being a wealthy nation. It may shock you to learn that in this elite group, we rank 35th in life expectancy. Invisible things in our environment are dramatically impacting our citizens health.

A major contributing factor to our nations awful life expectancy is that 72% of all American adults are either overweight or obese and the percentage is rising. Since 1960, the weight of the average American adult increased 28 pounds!

Clothing manufacturers have noticed this. They even adjusted clothing labels. When women go to buy clothing today, a dress size zero is larger than a size eight was in 1958.

This ties into the pandemic because, if you become infected, your chances of suffering long-term damage to your body or dying increases dramatically the heavier you are.

It is clear that declining exercise and a diet of processed foods and sugar contributes to your weight gain, but that does not explain why you are eating more. Not working out does not make you hungry.

Turns out the answer is probably caused by the huge growth in the use of unregulated chemicals in industry and agriculture. A subset of these chemicals, called obesogens, alter how your brain responds to food. A few examples out of hundreds include MSG (monosodium glutamate) and the plastic liners found in canned food.

These chemicals work in many different ways to cause weight gain. I call one example the broken gas gauge problem. If you get hungry, your brain sends a signal telling you to eat. When your body has enough, a normal brain should send a signal to stop because you are full. One problem people in America are having is that these pollutants and contaminants have broken the gas gauge it reads empty when the tank is in fact full. Your brain says keep eating; you are still hungry.

A second and, in some ways, more troubling issue is that some of these invisible chemicals turn on a different part of the body, which pushes more of what you eat into storage (also known as fat). You can eat the same number of calories as you did 10 years ago but gain more weight even if all of your other habits (drinking alcohol, sleeping habits) remain the same.

If these obesogens are present, telling a hefty person to reduce their food consumption does not stop the second broken brain part from doing what it is supposed to do. The body will gain weight even if the person exercises admirable self-discipline and eats less.

These discoveries do not mean an individual cannot control their weight, but it does clarify why it is so hard. Although they have to struggle against the wiring in their brain, individuals can still tackle this issue by changing their diet to eat fresh fruits and veggies, exercise more, and stop eating processed and canned foods, fat and sugar. That should absolutely be a priority. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has good guidance on that.

Instead of continuing to blame the overweight person, we need to turn our attention to those who are actively polluting the environment and our food supply for their personal gain and we need to increase funding to help scientists to figure out how to repair the broken brains so they go back to sending the correct signals.

Research now shows that if a parents brain is changed, their kids can inherit those changes, which helps explain why almost one in five American kids are obese and a much larger number are overweight. Those numbers are growing rapidly.

Koster, who lives in Kannapolis, did his graduate work with a focus on threats to the basic life-support systems of air, water, food and fuel. He spent a majority of his career as chief innovation officer in one of the nations largest pediatric health care systems.

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Francis Koster: Turn attention to pollutants for causes of weight gain - Salisbury Post - Salisbury Post

Think you cant prevent Alzheimers? Think again. You actually have more control over your risk of dementia, Alzheimers included, than you might suspect, doctors now tell us. In fact, many experts say that most Alzheimers cases, at least 90 percent, can be prevented or at least delayed through a healthy lifestyle. Thats good news, considering that more than five million Americans aged 65 and over have been diagnosed with Alzheimers, apopulation thats expected to grow to 13.8 million by 2050, according to the Alzheimers Association.

Whilehealthy lifestyle habits like exercising regularly and getting quality sleep are also key to the prevention of mental decline, a diet focused on plants also plays a significant role, studies now say. Evidence suggests that diet can play a decisive role in whether a person gets Alzheimers, says Neal Barnard, M.D., president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and author of Your Body in Balance and Power Foods for the Brain.

Researchers from Loma Linda University in California suggest that eating a whole-food, plant-only diet can lower their risk by 53 percent.The myth has long been that Alzheimers cannot be prevented, treated or even slowed down, says Dr.DeanSherzai, neurologist and co-director ofLoma Linda's Brain Health and Alzheimers Prevention Program. The truth is it can be prevented, treated, and slowed over time.

So even if you have a genetic predisposition to Alzheimers, or someone close to you in your family has suffered from dementia, eating a mostly or fully plant-based dietcan lower your risk, these doctors say. Heres what you need to know to make it happen.

Its no secret that the meat-heavy diet most Americans follow is bad for the heart, leading to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and coronary blockages, all part of heart disease. But whats good for the heart is good for the brain, and the opposite is also true, as the standard American diet has deleterious effects on the brain, as is evidenced by numerous studies.

Take, for instance, just one study published inthe Journal of the American College of Nutrition, which found that meat consumption was the highest dietary risk factor for Alzheimers. Alsodetrimental were eggs and high-fat dairywhichraised risk of Alzheimer's--though not as much as meat did. Meanwhile, plant-based foods like grains, vegetables and fruits were found to be protective against Alzheimers.

Interestingly, the study also found that eating grains, fruits, vegetables, and fish are associated with reduced risk of Alzheimer's, but do not counter the effects of meat, eggs, and high-fat dairy. So it's not enough to add plants; you have to cut out animal products for the full benefit. Higher vitamin Dintake is also associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's.

So what is it about animal foods that seem to drive Alzheimers? Numerous factors are undoubtedly at play, but one of the most obvious ones may be saturated fat in animal foods. Saturated fat raises cholesterol, which affects the brain in the same way it does the heart, and that could be the main mechanism, Barnard says. And while saturated fat and cholesterol are directly linked with Alzheimers, they also increase risk factors for Alzheimers like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and greater inflammation in the body.

Heres the surprise, though: Changes in the brain as a result of an unhealthy lifestyle start early, perhaps even earlier than you might imagine. Dr. Barnard points to one study that tracked cholesterol levels in almost 10,000 participants starting at age 40, and found that the risk of Alzheimers increased as cholesterol levels went up, linking the incidents of damaged arteries to more frequent occurrences of brain disease. Other studies have shown a decline in arterial health in kids as young as 12, meaning that changes in your brain could also begin to take hold in teenagers who have unhealthy diets.

If you want to improve your brain health and lower your risk of Alzheimers, the message is clear: Eat mostly or all plants, starting now.

By cutting the animal foods from your diet, youll eliminate the brain-damaging saturated fat and cholesterol these foods are high in. Not to mention that plants give your brain all the healthy nutrients and phytochemicals it needs. A whole-food, plant-based diet provides the necessary macro and micronutrients for your brain to grow, thrive and connect, says Dr. Ayesha Sherzai, neurologist, and co-director of the Alzheimers Prevention Program at Loma Linda, and co-author of The Alzheimers Solution.

Of course, youll be best protected if you eliminate all animal foods from your diet. Even when people eliminate some animal foods but keep others in their diet, whether eggs, dairy, fish, chicken or meat, the saturated fat and cholesterol in those foods are more than enough to have noticeable effects on their cholesterol levels, body weight and other physical measures that affect brain health, Dr. Barnard says.

Yet thats not to say that even small changes can't make a difference. In one of Dr. Sherzais studies, every incremental step, such as eating a salad instead of a deli sandwich for lunch or adding a couple of servings of fruits to your daily menu, made a monumental difference in study subjects risk of stroke, which also applies to the risk of developing Alzheimers as well.

While the plant kingdom is loaded with brain-healthy food, there are stand-outs, such as leafy greens, which top Dr. Sherzai's list of "go-to" brain foods. Greens have some of the highest nutrient contents, including polyphenols, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that provide the brick and mortar for creating connection and infrastructure in the brain, while working as a garbage disposal for getting rid of toxic byproduct, she says.

Second behind greens are beans. Theyre not only high in antioxidants, plant protein, and other brain-healthy nutrients, they also have fiber, which can help lower cholesterol, Sherzai says. Whats more, they have a second meal effect that helps regulate your bodys glucose for 24 hours, which becomes even more critical if youve eaten something sugary. Sugar is one of the major promoters of inflammation in the body, which damages the brain, she says. Your body can handle a small amount of sugar but not in the excessive amounts Americans eat, and every time you eat a cookie or cupcake, even if its vegan, youre putting that brain at risk, more so if you eat excess sugar regularly.

Other brain-healthy foods include cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts; vitamin E-rich foods like walnuts and sesame and sunflower seeds; and brightly colored fruits like grapes and blueberries, Barnard adds. For more brain-healthy foods, check out the top 20 brain health foods from Team Sherzai.

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The Best Foods for Brain Health to Prevent Onset of Alzheimer's - The Beet

Turmeric has been a staple in traditional medicine for thousands of years. Now, modern science has confirmed some of the spice's health benefits, from its anti-inflammatory properties to its role as an antioxidant.

Curcumin an active chemical that gives turmeric its yellow color is responsible for most of these benefits, but it is difficult for the body to absorb. Therefore, turmeric's health perks are difficult to measure. So far, neither turmeric, nor its active component curcumin, have been approved as a treatment for any disease.

Here are some of the health benefits of turmeric and tips to incorporate more of it into your diet:

Inflammation is a natural response of the immune system, and it occurs each time the body is injured. Inflammation isolates an injured area from nearby healthy tissue by wrapping it in a shield of white blood cells as a part of the body's healing process.

However, in some instances, your body's inflammatory response is set off without an injury or acute situation. If inflammation becomes chronic or excessive, it may lead to lasting damage and an array of chronic diseases, from heart disease to diabetes.

Symptoms of acute inflammation include:

A 2017 medical review published in Foods found that curcumin relieved inflammation in patients with osteoarthritis a chronic disease characterized by joint stiffness and occasional inflammation. Patients who took 1000mg of curcumin a day for eight to 12 weeks saw a reduction in inflammation symptoms like morning stiffness, joint swelling, pain, and motor capacity.

The 2018 medical review published in the European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry found that curcumin acts as an antioxidant. Antioxidants are stable molecules that counterbalance the effects of free radicals in the body. Free radicals come from both natural metabolic processes like digestion and outside sources like pollution or cigarette smoke.

When the number of free radicals and antioxidants are balanced in the body, free radicals help fight off pathogens. However, when the balance tips, and there are more free radicals than antioxidants, oxidative stress occurs.

Oxidative stress is when free radicals start damaging proteins, fatty tissues, and cell DNA. Over time, this continuous damage may lead to diseases like diabetes and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

A 2010 study published in Clinical Biochemistry found that in 21 patients with b-thalassemia/Hb E an inherited blood disorder 500mg of curcuminoids a day for 12 months reduced oxidative stress levels.

Many research studies on curcumin have focused on its potential to treat or alleviate symptoms of different types of cancer. Because there is a correlation between chronic inflammation and the development of cancer, curcumin's anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties may prove beneficial in fighting the disease.

In fact, a 2019 medical review published in Nutrients found that curcumin may prevent the proliferation of breast cancer cells, thereby slowing tumor growth. The same review found that curcumin is being explored as a treatment for lung, colorectal, pancreatic and some other types of cancer. While results are inconclusive, studies have found promising results in test tube and animal studies.

The biggest obstacle in using curcumin in cancer treatment is the human body's inability to absorb it in any significant quantities. Pharmacologists are working to overcome this obstacle, but until they succeed, neither turmeric nor curcumin is used to treat cancer.

A 2020 study published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine found that healthy participants who consumed between 80 to 4,000 mg of curcumin per day saw key heart health indicators improve. This included a decrease in the amount of fat in their blood as well as a drop in both their total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol.

While consuming 4,000 mg of curcumin a day is a lot, there are currently no known side effects associated with the compound. However, if you are on blood thinners, consult with a doctor before consuming large amounts of curcumin as it is known to thin blood and prevent clotting.

According to the results of a 2018 study published in the European Journal of Medical Chemistry, consuming 500 to 1000mg of curcumin daily for at least six weeks improved symptoms of depression and reduced anxiety in multiple clinical trials.

Scientists have also investigated whether or not curcumin could potentially treat or prevent the development of debilitating neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's.

According to a 2008 review published in the Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology, curcumin may be effective in managing factors that could lead to the development of Alzheimer's. These include inflammation, oxidative stress, and the formation of beta-amyloid plaques an accumulation of small fibers in the brain.

Thanks to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, curcumin may even improve the appearance of skin.

A 2007 medical review published in Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology found that curcumin also had wound-healing properties, possibly making it a good treatment for skin conditions like vitiligo, psoriasis, and various eczemas.

Topical tonics and ointments containing curcumin reduced the time it took for skin wounds to heal, improved the distribution of collagen the protein that gives skin its elasticity and promoted the growth of new blood vessels.

While The National Institute of Health has not set a daily recommendation for turmeric or curcumin intake, studies have found that a safe daily allowance is 3mg/kg of curcumin.

Despite all the health potential of curcumin, its percentage in turmeric is quite modest, between 3% to 6%, which means that each tablespoon of turmeric powder contains less than 0.4g of the active ingredient. And, only a minuscule amount of that is being absorbed into the bloodstream.

There are, however, simple ways to ensure your body is absorbing it better. Nutritionist and cook book author Velonda Anderson, PhD, suggests toasting turmeric powder, combining it with fats, or mixing it with black pepper, which can improve absorption by up to 2000%.

For those wondering how to incorporate turmeric into their diet, Anderson suggests:

Another way to add turmeric into your diet is by taking supplements. Most turmeric and curcumin supplements on the market are in 500mg capsules. These are meant to be consumed up to three times daily, with or without food.

Anderson recommends talking to your primary care provider before committing to a higher dosage of curcumin. "Even though there are no known allergies or side effects associated with turmeric, some medications and pre-existing conditions are worth discussing," Anderson says.

Turmeric's active ingredient curcumin provides a variety of health benefits thanks to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. From reducing the chance of developing cardiovascular disease to possibly warding off certain cancers, curcumin should be a part of any healthy diet.

While researchers are still seeking out ways to improve our body's ability to absorb curcumin, you can easily add turmeric to your diet by sprinkling it on foods you already eat.

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6 health benefits of turmeric and how to add it to your diet - Insider - INSIDER

Now Im not saying youre Jesus, but people follow you and listen closely to what you say. How do you feel about that sense of responsibility? [Laughs] Im very careful about the things I say for precisely those reasons. Ive worked at the BBC, and they are very, very keen on ensuring that everything is factually accurate. When I make mistakes, they do haunt me, so I am quite obsessed by the detail.

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The UK has been one of the hardest-hit nations when it comes to the coronavirus. Has what youve seen of the coronavirus itself and the response to it shaken your faith in anything at all? If anything, possibly politicians. But politicians have never been that great. I do have faith that science will deliver, that we will have a vaccine, and that well be able to get our lives back to normal. Because if that isnt true, then its going to be horrendous. Its reinforced my faith in the power of science to respond to crises. I believe science will come to our rescue ultimately.

What are your thoughts about the political situation in the UK, and the way it has handled the pandemic? Its a mess, frankly. Its clear the UK government was not ready. I suspect theres going to be a pretty horrible inquest afterwards. There were lots of warnings saying a pandemic was likely and we should ready the scenarios, [but] they just werent ready for what was coming. Thats meant things like PPE were inadequate. Testing was inadequate. [But] Im glad Im not a politician. I dont have to make these decisions.

What has the coronavirus and its impact on the National Health Service shown UK citizens about the health of the NHS itself? Well, my wifes a GP and my son is working for the NHS, so I have love and affection for it. People out there risking their lives and treating patients with COVID-19 has really reinforced the feeling that the NHS is a very special institution. Ive made lots of programs on how the NHS is an unbelievably infuriating organisation, and how the sheer scale and size makes it difficult to change. Yet moments like this is where it stands out.

You expressed relief that you arent a politician but if the UK government said, Wed really love your advice on this, what would you say? The one thing I would like has already happened, and that is to give decent funding to vaccine researchers. There are two main vaccine researchers in the UK one group based at Imperial [College London]; one based in Oxford and until recently the Imperial lot were struggling for funds. Then the money came through. So thats the main thing. [Politicians] need to continue to support the scientists. Thats where the answer is going to come from.

Youve reached your 60s. When you look at your body in the mirror, are you happy with what you see? Broadly! [Laughs] I do quite a lot of press-ups and exercise. I also recently looked at a photo of my father at same age as me, and I have to say Im in better shape.

Your dad lived with type 2 diabetes. To what extent was his health or lack thereof a motivator for you to maintain yours? Hugely. He died aged 74, but for the last 10 years of his life, his health wasnt great a combination of diabetes and prostate cancer. He was very overweight and generally not mobile. You think, That isnt how I want to go; that isnt how I want to spend the last years of my life. When I discovered I had type 2 diabetes, I thought, Blimey, Im going down the same road. At his funeral, his friends said how much I looked like him. Which was nice of them, and slightly discouraging. [Laughs]

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You popularised the 5:2 diet. Is it something to which you still adhere? Yes, but not all the time. Im more sort of a 6:1 guy. When I put on weight, I get stuck into it again. Im sure its the thing Ill be remembered for when I die the 5:2 guy! Thats fine. Id be pleased if thats somewhere in my death notices. Its still something Im very proud of.

Whats more striking about the human body: its vulnerability or resilience? Both. Scientists have now begun to embrace and attempt to understand the impact what we eat has on our brains, our sleep, our microbiome. These hundred trillion microbes live in your gut and have an influence on your immune system. So it makes you appreciate that although we are under attack from a microscopic enemy, we also have these microbes that operate, if you like, on our behalf symbiotically with us. In the end, its not just us. We are many.

diceytopics@goodweekend.com.au

Dr Michael Mosleys latest book, Fast Asleep: How to Get a Really Good Nights Rest co-authored with his wife, Dr Clare Bailey is out now.

To read more from Good Weekend magazine, visit our page at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and Brisbane Times.

We deliver the best of Good Weekend to your inbox so its there when youre ready to read. Sign up for the Herald's Good Weekend newsletter here and The Age's here. Sent every Saturday.

Writer, author of The Family Law and Gaysia.

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Michael Mosley: 'Science will come to our rescue' - Sydney Morning Herald

Image Source: Courtesy of Justine Doiron

Trigger warning: The following post contains discussions of eating disorders.

Justine Doiron always kept her cooking to herself until she started a TikTok account in April of this year. Now, she posts colorful and creative recipes that look phenomenal (um, hello, blueberry pancakes and matcha pineapple oats!), and she's garnered over 190,000 followers to date. What you might not know from first scroll-through is that Doiron experienced an eating disorder from age 14 to 23.

"My binge and purge episodes happened about three to four times a week, and it was all-consuming," Doiron, now 26 and a writer and publicist, told POPSUGAR, adding that her eating disorder went undiagnosed for years. "I considered it my biggest and most shameful secret." She's been in recovery since September 2017, and she feels "almost completely healed" from the cycle she was in. She purposely never uses the word "healthy" to describe any of her recipes because, she explained in the TikTok seen ahead, she never aims to pin one food against another.

Doiron made the conscious decision to refrain from using the word "healthy" because she says "healthy means something different for every person," and she doesn't want to imply "that if one food is healthy, another isn't." She continued in the video below, "And I think a part of my struggle with this word is that diet culture has taught us that healthy means we have to restrict or limit or monitor ourselves, and when I was recovering from my eating disorder, I had to completely reframe that notion to 'What can I add to this that will make me feel good?' 'What do I want more of in this moment to make me feel my best?'"

Just my thoughts Reply to @riley_k_0 #bodyneutrality #edawareness #dietculture #dietculturedropout #selflove #edrecovery

While Doiron told POPSUGAR she truly can't speak for everyone with an eating disorder because each experience is so different, she can say personally that "any labeling, commentary, or classification of food can be unnecessary and potentially harmful to someone who is trying to develop a neutral approach to food," which is what she had to do in her recovery process.

It took baby steps to get to a good, "safe" place with food "because for so long, eating freely was something that terrified me," Doiron explained. Once she felt increasingly confident that she wasn't "going to spiral into a disordered behavior," she slowly started working on removing all labels and judgments from the types of food she was eating. "Don't get me wrong, I think certain foods have a huge impact on how we feel, but we need to first make peace with all foods to later understand the cues, cravings, and signals that our body is giving us," she said.

"And when I say 'healthy' is something different for everyone, this applies to mental, emotional, and physical health, which is why I'm hoping we can learn to redefine the term, or at least not lean on it so heavily when discussing food and food choices," Doiron said. She's a proponent of intuitive eating, Health At Every Size, and the antidiet movement, but, above all else, she aims for her social media presence to help people realize they can have a good relationship with food and that meals can be fun. "I just want everyone who comes to my page to see that my recipes are food-positive, diet-culture-free, and designed to add more to your life," she said, "not less."

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This Woman Posts Popular Recipes on TikTok Here's Why She'll Never Use the Word "Healthy" - POPSUGAR

Q: Can you help me convince my 27-year-old son that recreational marijuana is not completely benign? I am worried that hes risking his health. Janine G., Boulder, Colo.

A: Were just beginning to understand the vices and virtues of recreational marijuana and the medical use of its active ingredients. Thats the case because the Drug Enforcement Agency labels it as a Schedule 1 drug, and its been virtually impossible to do studies with it, despite the fact that 47 states, the District of Columbia, and four of five U.S. territories allow some form of cannabis use! Fortunately, observational and retrospective studies, in which people share what their experiences have been with marijuana, do provide a pretty good road map to the trouble associated with its recreational use.

Cardiovascular problems: A new Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association highlights studies that have found an association between cannabis use and heart woes. Specifically heart attacks, heart failure, atrial fibrillation and stroke.

Six percent of folks under the age of 50 whove had a heart attack also are cannabis users.

People age 18 to 44 who are frequent marijuana users are two and a half times more likely to have a stroke than nonusers.

Even using once in the past 30 days raises your risk of stroke by over 75%.

Risky medication interactions: Another new study conclusively shows cannabinoids (theyre cannabinol and the active constituents of cannabis) can interact with prescription medications and block or amplify the effects of everything from blood thinners and heart medicines to antifungals and antibiotics. Thats especially true for recreational pot, say the researchers from Penn State College of Medicine, because it can deliver cannabinoids at concentrations 10 to 100 times higher than medicinal doses.

Driving dangers: Recreational pot legalization in Colorado has led to 75 more traffic fatalities annually and a whole lot more accidents. Studies show thats because cannabis (smoked or ingested) increases response time and lane weaving and dampens down neurocognitive and neuromotor skills needed to drive safely.We hope outlining these potential risks (in addition to the known risk from smoking anything) will help your son understand that recreational cannabis can be a serious health hazard.

Q: Lately Ive been hearing that artificial sweeteners are not healthful. Arent they protecting me from eating added sugars that you always say are so harmful? Explain, please. Gene F., Muncie, Ind.

A: Thanks for asking! According to a study in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Americans are eating fewer foods with added sugars and high fructose corn syrup, which is good, but theyre also gobbling up and drinking more artificial sweeteners. Aspartame remains the most common added fake sugar its in diet soda, sugar-free candy and chewing gum, but consumption of sucralose is increasing significantly. Its important that everyone understand the role that artificial sweeteners may play in a wide array of health challenges.

One European study of almost a half a million people found that over a period of eight years drinking two sweetened drinks a day (sweetened with either natural or artificial sugars) increased the risk of heart disease and death substantially, even for folks who maintained a healthy weight.

Another recent study shows that the real bomb is delivered when you drink something with an artificial sweetener as you eat refined carbs like french fries! That stomps on regulation of your blood glucose.

Plus they seem to affect your gut biome in various ways that make it harder to regulate glucose and weight.

Artificial sweeteners may also make people hungrier and, in turn, eat more. Scientists think thats because the zero-calorie treats turn on neural pathways that tell us to fuel up.

The bottom line: Eliminate any added sugars fake or real from your plate and opt for sugars that come along naturally with fiber, like those found in berries, melons and 100 percent whole grains.

Mehmet Oz, M.D. is host of The Dr. Oz Show, and Mike Roizen, M.D. is Chief Wellness Officer and Chair of Wellness Institute at Cleveland Clinic. Email your health and wellness questions to Dr. Oz and Dr. Roizen at youdocsdaily(at sign)sharecare.com.

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Understanding recreational marijuana; the truth about fake sugar - The Union Leader

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Supplementing a balanced lifestyle

Amino acids can support muscle development as theyfacilitate muscle strengthand endurance. Theyve also been found to assist in reducing muscle fatigue and damage.

There are22 amino acids in the body, nine of which are essential, but the three that help you maintain muscle are isoleucine, leucine and valine. To supplement the development of these muscle builders, its recommended that you include lean meats, fish, dairy, eggs, nuts, legumes, beans and seeds in your diet.

Another key factor to consider when it comes to supporting a balanced lifestyle is macro and micronutrients. While we do our best to ensure that we add all the necessary vitamins and nutrients to our diet, its sometimes difficult to fit them all in. Finding ways to supplement this deficiency is important.

Macronutrients include protein, fat and carbohydrates things your body needs in larger quantities astheyve been found to supply energy. Micronutrients, on the other hand, are the nutrients needed in smaller quantities and are referred to as vitamins and minerals.

You can also takemultivitaminsto supplement nutritional deficits. When considering a multivitamin, it is important to look out for certain key ingredients to suit your lifestyle. This can include vitamin D, magnesium, calcium, zinc, iron, folate and vitamin B-12. Before adding any additional supplements to your lifestyle, please consult a medical practitioner to ensure that you take the right combination to meet your daily needs.

In addition to ensuring that you give your body the tools needed to develop and grow, staying active and busy can also contribute to leading a healthy lifestyle.

Staying active in the colder months

As we hit mid-winter, our mornings are colder, and the evenings, a lot darker than they were before. This can make staying active and motivated tricky, andfinding ways to power through hasbecome important.

Research has indicated thatexposing your body to colder temperatureswhile exercising has the potential to activate multiple systems in your body. This can include increasing your body's metabolism to facilitate rapid heat generation and can boost your immune system and reaction to stress. So why not dress warmly and embrace the winter breeze on an afternoon run?

Another way to motor through the winter gloom is to set realistic goals and work towards achieving them. Whether youre looking to complete your first half marathon or working towards finally bench-pressing 20 kilograms, set that goal and push yourself to achieve it. Continue setting goals for yourself; once you have reached them, find ways to improve on them. This will push you to continuously work towards bettering yourself by increasing your fitness levels and boosting your self-confidence as you build a stronger, healthier version of yourself.

Online classes and fitness groups are a great way to safely interact with people sharing the same goals as you. They can also act as a tool in discovering new exercise techniques and help you get clarity on areas that you are unsure about.

While exercise is recommended, always take the relevant precautions to ensure that you are exercising safely. This includes putting on additional layers to keep warm, exercising while the sun is out, and, of course, stayinghydrated.Remember to fuel your body with the right foods pre and post your workout for best results.

Staying motivated not only in the winter months but, in general, is no easy task and finding ways to supplement a balanced lifestyle plays an important part in keeping you going. Take the time to research your nutritional needs and work on implementing this into your daily routine.

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Excerpt from:
Ways to Support an Active Lifestyle this Winter - Health24

Today is International Dog Day.

APOPO, the global non-profit famed for training African giant pouched rats to detect landmines, has further expanded its existing methods with the inclusion of technical survey dogs. Weve chosen today - International Dog Day 2020 to announce this exciting new initiative!

The Landmine Problem

Over 60 million people living in 59 countries from Angola to Cambodia, do so in daily fear of landmines and other remnants of past conflict. Landmines remain as painful and dangerous reminders of the past, continuing to threaten personal safety, economic development and food security. Agricultural land is left unsafe to farm and grazing livestock is dangerous. Trade routes remain closed, cutting off communities and denying families displaced by war the chance to return home safely. Yet detecting these weapons is very tedious and therefore expensive while global funding is declining.

How APOPO helps

Clearing minefields creates safe ground on which homes can be built and land can be cultivated. It gives new beginnings and hope to people living at risk in vulnerable communities. By removing landmines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW), APOPO lays the foundation for recovery and restoring livelihoods.

Using an integrated approach of survey, vegetation-cutting machines, human deminers with metal detectors and mine detection rats, APOPO and partners have been releasing safe land quickly so that people can get their lives back on track.

Technical Survey Dogs

With over 20 years of experience in research, training and successful operational use of mine detection rats, APOPO is uniquely positioned to train technical survey dogs. The APOPO dog training center is based in Cambodia and employs respected and experienced dog training experts with an extensive knowledge of land release methods and international as well as national demining authority standards. Our trainers carefully select Belgian Malinois puppies for training - this breed sits within the German shepherd family with a smaller build, an excellent nose and a keen intellect.

How does it work?

Prior to landmine clearance, areas need to first be surveyed. Traditional survey methods include the use of metal detectors, that require ground preparation and vegetation cutting. This makes the survey slow and expensive.

APOPO uses special Technical Survey dogs (a.k.a. HeroDOGs) who can survey deep into an area without the need to prepare the ground or cut any vegetation. The dogs are trained to use their sense of smell to search through the undergrowth and circumvent obstacles, ignoring scrap metal and indicating when they find the smell of explosives.

The dogs are equipped with the Swiss developed SMART system - a backpack with Global Positioning System (GPS), a speaker and a video camera, that shows and records the dogs search pattern and location. This allows the handler to instruct the dog through verbal command. When the dog finds an explosive item, the dogs are trained to sit down at a distance of at least one meter and wait patiently for their handlers next command. This distance keeps the dogs safely out of harms way. The system also has the advantage of creating a GPS validated search record, an improvement over existing pen and paper search documentation procedures.

A single Technical Survey Dogs can effectively survey an area of up to 4000 m2 per day across challenging terrain with high levels of vegetation. Sniffing out the chemical compounds of explosive found in landmines they ignore scrap metal making them much faster at surveying hazardous areas than metal detectors.Michael Heiman, Program Manager for APOPO Mine Action Cambodia

A team of HeroDOGs surveys an area on a minefield** twice as fast **as traditional methods. On top of that the system generates maps with the survey progress and all the findings, which allows for better evidence-based decision-making on which areas will be released and which need to be cleared.

HeroDOGs and HeroRATs play complementary roles. Technical Survey dogs are used prior to clearance, together with the initial historical and geographical surveys that have been carried out to assess the probability of landmines. Detection rats are excellent for clearance of wide mine contaminated areas that have shown evidence of contamination.

The use of HeroDOGs in technical survey will pave the way for even more effective use of APOPOs HeroRATs combining the dogs surveying speed and the rats accuracy of detection. The involvement of such amazing animal expertise will hugely reduce the time needed to clear a minefield and deliver safe land back to impacted communities.

APOPO joined the global Landmine Free 2025 coalition making us part of the global response to rally support for landmine clearance and ensure people affected by landmines are not forgotten. This campaign is a call to action to work together to do more, and faster.

The Hero Treatment

APOPOs detection animals are highly valuable assets, making animal welfare and safety a top priority. Our HeroDOGs and HeroRATs are well cared for, receive an excellent diet, regular exercise, stimulation and enrichment and individualized attention from expert handlers.

You can support APOPO's HeroDOGs by (symbolically) adopting one!

For more info, logos and images contact lily.shallom@apopo.org.

Read more from the original source:
HeroDOGs join the APOPO animal team - World - ReliefWeb

Black Breastfeeding Week, ending today, was founded in 2013 to help address the racial disparity in breastfeeding rates. Both mother and baby reap innumerable benefits from nursing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists "reduced risk for ear, respiratory, and gastrointestinal infections," among them, as well as "a lower risk for developing type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and breast and ovarian cancers," for mothers. For myriad complex reasons, including systemic racism and generational trauma, the rates of breastfeeding are lower among Black infants and mothers compared to other ethnic groups in the US.

Kimberly Seals Allers cofounded Black Breastfeeding Week, writing in 2014 that she wanted to address the high Black infant mortality rate, high rates of diet-related disease, the lack of diversity in the lactation field, unique cultural barriers among Black women, and the desertlike food conditions in Black communities. This week doula and maternal health advocate Latham Thomas, founder of Mama Glow, hosted a webinar, Black Breastfeeding Week: A Reclamation, A Radical Act, to continue the conversation.

This time is about reclaiming our bodies as whole, as sacred, as capable, Thomas says. Ahead, she talks about what breastfeeding means for the Black community, the fraught history of breastfeeding in the Black community and its continued implications, and the impediments that continue to exist for Black mothers on their journeys to nursing.

This is the eighth year of the annual Black Breastfeeding Week, which was founded by three Black women: Kimberly Seals Allers, author of a book called The Big Letdown: How Medicine, Big Business, and Feminism Undermine Breastfeeding and founder of the IRTH app, a data collection app for birthing people; Kiddada Green, founding executive director of Black Mothers' Breastfeeding Association; and Anayah Sangodele-Ayoka, a nurse-midwife and innovative culture worker. The three of them founded it to address the unique challenges that Black people face on the breastfeeding continuum.

There's a huge gap in matriculation, or how long a Black mother breastfeeds compared to a white mom. There are many factors that go into itlike returning to work sooner, lack of community support, lack of lactation professional support. Additionally, we've seen formula companies market aggressively, especially within the Black community. Then we have cultural factorsall which add up to huge impediments to breastfeeding success.

The idea of reclamation stems from chattel slavery. When Black people were forcibly brought here 400 years ago, (a date we commemorated in 2019), many Black women were fertile and having babies. A lot of the mistresses, the wives of the masters, would time their pregnancies to those of the enslaved women so that they would have access to their milk.

At the time, it was also seen as gauche to breastfeed, and so they would actually send their babies into the slave quarters, and their babies would be kept and nursed until the time where they could bring them into the home to be with their mothers. The enslaved women were meant to give most of their milk to white babies, and so they had very little milk to give to their young, so they would often starve.

There was this real market that was developed around Black milk, essentially, and this market was driven by the women. So the women would actually go and bid on enslaved women, they had their indexes, almost like how you have baseball cards where there's different stats on the baseball players, on how much milk the women could produce, the quality of their milk, and the fitness of the women overall. This was how they created their own market that was very lucrative around wet nursing and feeding.

None of us can imagine being enslaved, and then having the reproductive by-product of your own birth being co-opted and used to the fullest extent for commercial purposes, of having your body being used to supplement and feed someone else's baby, not your own. That's where a lot of the fraught nature of the pain and of trauma really stems from.

Yes, absolutely. Nursing engenders bonding with oxytocin and prolactin, and this cocktail of hormones which engenders mothering. If you were someone who was going to have your child sold away from your family, falling in love with your baby was not advantageous. So there was a creating of distance that has been carried down that can also show up culturally.

When we moved out of slavery and into the Reconstruction Era, you had people sharecropping and people who were wet nursing as a career. So they're still doing what they did before, but now they're doing it for very little compensation. And you have those women saying to their descendants, "I don't want you to do what I had to do." That's how we get to a third-generation gap where breastfeeding is not something that most people are doing.

There are a lot of layers culturally, too. If you look in Black and Latinx communities, our breasts are seen as belonging to our partner, or they are sexual organs not necessarily for feeding. Or if they are, it's for a very small period of time. There's this idea that you have to take your body back after giving birth, to achieve bodily autonomy again, which is something we had to fight for, because we didn't have it for so long. So "you don't want the baby to suck the life out of you, you don't want the baby to be too attached." There's all these things that really aren't rooted in science, but are rooted in trauma and messaging that was passed down.

We are creating a moment of deep protection and bonding, and communicating that they are safe

It's about addressing the barrierssystemic and cultural, legislative, in the workplaceall the areas and forces that work to make it challenging to succeed in breastfeeding. It's about creating self-determination within your community and finding resources and support, and like-minded individuals to help nourish and support you in this time in your life. It's about doing something that ancestrally we were not able to do. We were not able to protect and feed our babies, and now we can, so we call it a reclamation and a radical act.

And even today, we still have to talk about Sha-Asia Washington, or Amber Rose Isaac, or Kira Johnson, whose names we are saying because they weren't able to even hold their babies, let alone nurse their newborns in a society that is not valuing our lives. When we do this act, when we hold our children close, and we gaze upon them and we feed them through our bodies and nourish them, we are creating a moment of deep protection and bonding, and communicating that they are safe in this world.

It's knowing that fundamentally we can provide this love and support, we can sustain our children in the face and acts of violence, in the face of the marketing, and all of these things that try to challenge us from meeting this goal. Black Breastfeeding Week is about affirmation, it is about joy, it is about my mom being able to boast that she nursed me until I was a year old and 32 pounds. It's for our ancestors, who would have probably loved to have been able to provide nourishment for their babies. For us to succeed in a paradigm that's not designed for us to do so is truly radical.

Yes, that happens. And one of the things that Kimberly Seals Allers writes about in her book The Big Letdown: How Medicine, Big Business, and Feminism Undermine Breastfeeding is that formula companies encourage some modern hospitals to design nurseries where the babies will be kept far away from their moms. So then, when they are hungry, they cry, and the mom is not present to see the feeding cues. By the time a baby's crying, they've already tried to show you in many ways that they're hungry. So by the time a nurse brings a mom their baby, the baby is too fussy to eat. So they're given formula.

People find out that their babies who were just going to be washed or weighed, come back and they've been fed formula, which can hinder the ability to establish a nursing bond between mother and child. There are obviously mother-baby friendly hospitals that are centering breastfeeding, but there are many institutions where there's formula put in your discharge packet.

Number one, I think perinatally, when you're still pregnant and navigating the process, start to identify supports. Not everybody is going to have a doula present, but even engaging in one of the virtual supports to help you learn how to advocate for your needs, to walk you through the pregnancy, early post-partum and newborn care, is essential. You could take a virtual class, many are free right now.

The second thing I would say is go in with a feeding plan. Really map what your intention is, how the baby's meant to be fed, how the baby's meant to be cared for in the place of birth so that you can facilitate breastfeeding.

Another thing you can do is make sure that the baby rooms in, so instead of sending the baby away, plenty of people will say, "Oh, if you want to get some rest, we'll take the baby."

In America, one in four women go back to work 10 days after having a baby. That's 25 percent of women going back to work, and a large percentage of those are Black women. They're the essential workers, especially during COVID, who are in the grocery stores, the people who are delivering your Amazon Prime. Do they have adequate conditions to pump? A clean space to pump? Can they even afford one of these expensive breast pumps to be able to safely, and in an effective and clean way, empty their breasts and then store their milk? If there are all these impediments, how do you actually get it done? How do you actually succeed? We have no true federal paid leave policy in place for parents.

The heartbreaking stories make us take action, and the triumphant stories give us hope

People can underestimate the value and the real game-changing power that media and the arts have on advancing our cultural beliefs around a certain issue. We show up every day to consume content on Instagram, and it makes a difference in how our lives function. We would not have had the watershed moment of the George Floyd uprising had it not been for the visual tools of social media, for better or for worse. For breastfeeding messaging, being able to see brilliant bodies, all different sizes, all different shapes and colorsseeing everyone's vulnerable and open experiencescan really push us forward. So I believe that part of what we have to do is share our triumphant and heartbreaking stories. The heartbreaking stories make us take action, and the triumphant stories give us hope.

We need to see breastfeeding on TV, we need to see people supplementing, we need to see different types of feeding expressions to help guide us in what's possible along this reproductive journey, including seeing queer and nonbinary bodies doing whatever method of feeding is possible given their scenario and where they are in process on their journeys. I think that it's a dance between this bodily autonomy, being seen, being heard, feeling a sense of belonging and community, and also storytelling around joy, hope, trauma, loss, and on the other side of that, hopefully, transcendence.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Photo: Jaycina, founder of The Tender Foundation.

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See more here:
Why We Need Black Breastfeeding Week - HarpersBAZAAR.com