Category Archives: Diet And Food

Between a quarter and a half of the population of USA suffers from allergies. Allergy testing is widely available in the US and in many other countries but in India, its not common to run these tests. However, it is important to remember that when there are highly stressful situations, like the present time, high cortisol in the body can increase the predisposition towards these allergic responses in many people. So, check out your allergies in time.

Food allergies cause inflammation in the body (Pic credit: Shutterstock)

Let me explain some of these allergens a little more...

Choose gluten free foods if you are allergic to the gluten found in many foods

The very first problem is that most of us have insufficient enzymes and stomach acids to break down gluten, which is a complex molecule. This leads to a wide range of digestive problems from bloating to indigestion to constipation. Gluten increases the amount of zonulin in the body which is responsible for wedging itself in the tight gaps of the small intestine and eventually leading to intestinal permeability.

When our immune system becomes confused, intestinal inflammation increases. Our immune system is on high alert if we keep eating certain foods that do not suit us. Thus, we are not able to actually safeguard ourselves against true pathogens and we become susceptible to many infections.

Our skin tries to help us by releasing some of these toxins via the skin, and this can lead to anything from acne to eczema and urticaria. As our villi, the hot spot for nutrient absorption in the small intestine gets worn down and since different villi absorb different vitamins and minerals, we become deficient in many important nutrients too.

Many people are allergic to dairy as the body cannot breakdown casein and whey. (Pic Credit: Shutterstock)

Many people lack the enzymes needed to breakdown casein and whey in dairy products.

This causes lymphatic congestion which can lead to symptoms like sinusitis, depression, headaches, migraines, swollen joints, joint pain and much more. It also triggers an overactive immune response, where you can become allergic to many more foods.

Nuts are loaded with nutrients, but you may be allergic to them (Pic credit: Shutterstock)

There is a link between gluten intolerance and nut intolerance. A lot of people who do not eat animal protein rely on nuts as a major source of protein. This can become a problem when they do not have the digestive capability to breakdown these nuts. Nut allergies can range from digestive distress, immune challenges and inflammation.

Baking everything with almond flour or eating peanut butter in large quantities can trigger pain in the joints and many other inflammatory conditions as they contain oxalates. These oxalates can also trigger learning challenges in children.

Give eggs a complete break if they cause an allergic reaction (Pic credit: Shutterstock)

Eggs are a great food when they are free range, but they are definitely not for everyone. I know a large number of people who cannot tolerate them, as eggs can create an inflammatory cascade and cause pain.

As you can see, allergies are not black or white. It is different in every persons body. It also depends on the state of inflammation overall. When times are stressful, inflammation is heightened.

One of ways that you can support your body in the fight against COVID, is by keeping away from inflammatory foods. This will help you lower inflammation and strengthen your immune system.

(Images credit: Shutterstock)

(Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of YourStory.)

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Smart eating: Follow diets that do not cause inflammation in the body - YourStory

Aug 26, 2020

This article is provided through a partnership with the USEA and Standlee Premium Western Forage, the Official Forage of the USEA.

What makes a horse a performance horse? Performance is loosely defined as any form of work or forced physical activity. Work or physical activity can include walking, trotting, cantering, running, jumping, and turning. Therefore, performance horses can include any horse that is actively ridden, trained, or that may carry or pull a load. With this broad definition of performance, many of us have horses that are considered performance horses. Since the performance activities of horses vary in both duration and intensity, feeding systems to address the nutrient requirements of these horses must also vary. In the following article, we will begin to talk about feeding performance horses by addressing water and energy needs.

Each and every performance horse requires five key needs:

Nutritionists and horse owners spend a great deal of time and effort balancing the diet for energy, protein, vitamins, and minerals; however, water is the single most important nutrient. Small decreases in the amount of water contained within the body (dehydration) can lead to serious health consequences, as well as a decline in performance potential. Performance horses must maintain proper hydration to transport materials to and from the cells within the body and to synthesize and repair body tissues. The amount of water required by a performance horse depends on the amount of water lost from the body and the amount of water utilized for synthesis of protein. For performance horses, water is lost from the body primarily in sweat, urine, and feces. To replace the water lost from the body, performance horses should have free access to fresh, clean water. Important to note: Ice cold water should be avoided for horses still hot and sweaty from exercise, since cold water may cause shock to their system.

Of the remaining nutrients required by performance horses, energy is the dietary factor most influenced by work or exercise performance. Simply stated, the more work a horse performs, the more energy (calories) required to fuel that work. In a sense, performance horses are like automobiles; the more we drive and the faster we drive, the more fuel that is utilized. Horses derive energy from the feeds they consume. Hay, pasture, grain concentrates, and certain supplements contain energy (calories) that horses can metabolize and use to generate mechanical energy for muscle movement.

Within feed, there are four constituents that can be metabolized to produce mechanical energy:

Starch is a carbohydrate that can be broken down within the small intestine of the horse to form glucose, a simple sugar. Glucose is absorbed from the digestive system and can be metabolized immediately to produce energy, or it can be stored as energy within the body in the form of muscle or liver glycogen (sugar), or as body fat. The main source of starch in a performance horse diet is cereal grain (oats, corn, or barley). Since the digestive system of a horse is designed primarily to digest fiber and has a limited capacity to digest starch, there is a restriction to the amount of grain that can be fed to performance horses. If too much grain is fed in a single meal (more than 5 lbs. of grain/meal per 1000 lb. horse) this grain will not be properly digested in the small intestine and may result in digestive upset (colic) or laminitis as it travels further down the digestive tract (1). For this reason, other sources of energy (fat, protein, and fiber) are also incorporated into a performance horse's diet.

Fat is commonly added to the diets of performance horses. Liquid vegetable oil (corn and soybean oil), flax, and rice bran are several fat sources commonly utilized as energy sources for performance horses. Fat is an extremely useful energy source for several reasons. First, vegetable oil is well digested (>90%) by horses. Dietary fat is commonly added to commercial grain concentrates intended for performance horses. It is common for performance horse feeds to have between 6 and 12 percent fat.

The National Research Council (NRC, 2007) estimates the crude protein requirement for mature performance horses at 9-11 percent, depending on work intensity. Protein that is fed in excess of a performance horses requirement can be broken down and utilized for energy. Unfortunately, the use of protein for energy requires the horse to excrete the nitrogen associated with the protein. Excretion of nitrogen requires the horse to drink more water and increases blood ammonia; both situations that are undesirable for performance horses. Thus, feeding excess protein as a source of energy is not a sound nutrition practice.

The most overlooked source of energy for a performance horse is dietary fiber. The digestive system of the horse is designed to digest fiber, and hay and pasture can provide an extensive amount of energy for the performance horse. In fact, for the digestive system to function correctly, horses require at least 1.25 percent of their body weight in hay/pasture per day (1). Since the fermentation of fiber is slow and continues constantly, horses get an uninterrupted supply of energy throughout the day. The use of fiber as an energy source has evolved in recent years. Today, in addition to good quality hay and pasture, we have so-called super fibers that are safe to feed like hay but have the energy equivalent of oats. Examples of super fibers utilized in horse feed include beet pulp, a product of the sugar industry, and soybean seed coats, a product of the soybean industry.

In summary, we begin feeding performance horses by providing free access to fresh, clean water. The next step is to provide adequate energy, but how do we determine how much energy they require? Energy is the only dietary factor that you can visually determine dietary adequacy. If you are feeding too much energy (too many calories), the horse gains weight or becomes fat; on the other hand, if you dont feed enough energy (too few calories) the horse becomes thin or loses weight. You cant simply look at horses and determine the status of other critical nutrients. Therefore, if your performance horse is too thin or too fat, it is your responsibility since we have the ability to offer more, or less, feed to properly balance energy requirements. To provide energy to the performance horse, we begin with feeding good quality forage (pasture/hay) and add additional energy with the use of a combination of starch, fat, and super-fibers.

References:

1. National Research Council. 2007. Nutrient Requirements of Horses: Sixth Revised Edition. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/11653

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Feeding the Performance Horse - United States Eventing Association

Almond suppliers working with Kind are making two major changes. Theyve stopped using two types of pesticidesneonicotinoids and chlorpyrifosthat can kill bees. They will also convert between 3% to 5% of their orchards to a habitat that supports bees, butterflies, and other pollinators. (This habitat also supports insects that naturally manage pests, like ladybugs, reducing the need for pesticides.) As you know, theres been an enormous strain on bee colonies, says founder and executive chairman Daniel Lubetzky. And given that almonds are the most important input into Kind products, we wanted to find a way to have a positive impact on bees.

[Photo: Kind]Some growers were already beginning to make changes, but pressure from the brand can accelerate that work. Of the 1.5 million-plus acres of almonds grown in California, only around 20,000 acres are currently bee-friendly. Were making this commitment to help catalyze and crystallize the movement towards these changes, says Jenny Stanley, who manages sustainability at Kind. The company worked closely with academic experts and growers to find solutions that would have a meaningful impact while being economically feasible for the industry.

[Photo: Kind]Changing agricultural practices on a large scale is extremely difficult, says Daniel Kaiser, director of western conservation strategies at Environmental Defense Fund, which is advising the company. It takes thorough research into alternatives, incentives to overcome the cost of adoption, and a clear signal from the market that consumers are demanding change. Pressure from brands like Kind, he says, can help drive that change.

Almond growers rely on honeybees to pollinate orchards every spring, with beekeepers from around the country trucking in the 2 million bees used in the California almond industry. Since the early 2000s, those beekeepers have been struggling with the loss of an unusually high number of colony. (The numbers fluctuate from year to year; the winter of 2019 saw record-high losses, followed by more record losses in the summer, though the die-off was lower than average last winter.) The problem is complex, and its likely that bees are dying from a variety of causes rather than a single factor. Toxic pesticides are one issue. Diet is another, which is why planting wildflowers next to almonds can help give the bees access to multiple kinds of pollen. When you create environments where [bees] are only able to pollinate one single crop, one monoculture, you can actually then potentially weaken them by not giving them enough diversity in their diet, says Lubetzky.

The company is hoping that as more growers implement bee-friendly practices, the entire industry can follow. Five years from now, were hoping itll become the standard, and then well continue evolving and improving, he says.

See the rest here:
Kind is the first food brand to commit to 'bee-friendly' almonds - Fast Company

(Title: Stronger together in the microbiome: how gut microbes feed each other to overcome dietary deficiencies, change host behavior, and improve reproduction)

To study how the microbiome affects their host behavior, a group of researchers at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown, in Lisbon - Portugal, used the fruit fly combined with high-tech tools to show that two gut bacteria establish a metabolic cross-feeding that enables them to grow in diets that lack the nutrients that are essential for their growth and to allow them to change host decision making and reproduction. Results reveal a mechanism through which the right combination of bacteria can lead to microbiome resiliency to dietary perturbations and changes in brain function.

A balanced intake of essential amino acids is crucial to ensure the well-being and health of all animals. The essential amino acids are the building blocks of proteins but they also influence how much offspring animals produce, and what animals decide to eat. Intriguingly, researchers at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown had previously shown that the microbiome plays an important role in dictating how amino acids affect the brain. What was most puzzling was that bacteria could only affect the decisions of the animal when they were present in specific combinations. It is widely known that the microbiome often contains many different species of bacteria but why different types of bacteria are needed to influence brain function and alter host physiology remains a mystery. This is the puzzle Carlos Ribeiro and his team at the Champalimaud Centre for the Unknown set out to tackle: . "To study how bacteria affect their host physiology is a daunting task in organisms with very complex microbiomes. This is where the fly and its less complex microbiome emerges as a powerful tool. It allows us to precisely dissect the mechanisms used by the microbiota to change the host's feeding decisions.", points out Slvia Henriques, post-doctoral researcher and author of this study published today (August 25th) in the journal Nature Communications.

In the laboratory led by Carlos Ribeiro, principal investigator and senior author of this study, it was previously found that flies deprived of single essential amino acids develop a strong appetite for protein rich foods. However, in flies that were associated with two bacteria that are very abundant in the microbiome (Acetobacter pomorum and Lactobacillus plantarum) their preference for protein was drastically reduced and they prefered to eat sugar. "Interestingly, the association of flies with any of these bacteria alone could not reduce yeast appetite. Thus, in this new study our main focus was to understand why these two particular bacteria need to be present to change the feeding behaviour of the fly." says Ribeiro.

Work from several groups working on the microbiome, including the Ribeiro Lab, has shown that it is typically necessary for a community of bacteria, rather than isolated bacteria, to produce an effect on the host behaviour - and this was most likely due to specific substances bacteria produce, so called metabolites. Therefore the team set out to measure the metabolic interactions established between the bacteria within the microbiome and to map how specific bacteria and their metabolites affect the animal.

To tackle these, the authors runned a series of elegant experiments. To follow the feeding choices of the flies, researchers took advantage of a sensor developed in the lab - the flyPAD - and used it to measure with great detail the feeding pattern of individual flies. Then they used bacterial mutants to understand the impact of specific functions of the bacterial cells in the behavior of the host. And at last with collaborators at the University of Glasgow, they have also used a sophisticated technique called 'Isotope-resolved metabolomics' that enabled them to track the metabolites that were exchanged between the two different bacteria.

"We found that the two bacteria exchange metabolites and that this cross-feeding (syntrophy) enables them to grow and act on the animal even if diets lack the nutrients that are essential for them. Specifically, we now understand that Lactobacillus strains produce lactate which is used by the Acetobacter strains to synthetize amino acids and other metabolites. These are then used by the Lactobacillus strain which cannot synthetize them to continue to produce lactate. Furthermore, these bacterial amino acids are very likely used by the animal for egg production. But most importantly, we now understand that the lactate is also used by the Acetobacter bacteria to change the behaviour of the fly." explains Darshan Dhakan, post-doctoral researcher and author of this study.

By establishing this cross-feeding relation, the bacterial community becomes resilient to drastic dietary changes enabling their growth in the intestines of animals that ingest diets that lack nutrients that are essential to their survival. Ribeiro adds, "It is well established that our diet affects both the microbiome and our brain. What makes it complicated is the microbiome then in turn affects how diet affects us and what animals decide to eat. This makes it a very complex puzzle to solve. But by combining the right technologies with the right experimental system we can get at the heart of the mechanisms by which the microbiome interacts with our diet to affect our brain and our body. Importantly we show that the right associations of bacteria can make the microbiome resilient to dietary perturbations explaining why some animals and people might be more sensitive to the nutrient content of food than others. It is also a beautiful example of how nature establishes circular economies where nothing gets wasted and everybody gains."

In conclusion, this study emerges as an important example of how model organisms can be used to disentangle the influence of diet on the microbiome and to understand the individual contributions of gut bacterial species on brain function and behaviour. "The methodologies that were used in this study will allow us to identify all the metabolic interactions established amongst bacteria and will allow us to understand the precise mechanisms responsible for altering what animals decide to eat and brain function. Those insights can then be used to guide the search for similar mechanisms in animals with much more complex microbiomes, including in humans.", concludes Ribeiro.

Continued here:
Stronger together in the microbiome: How gut microbes feed each other to overcome dietary deficiencies, change host behavior, and improve reproduction...

By Ella Feldman 8/25/20 6:56pm

Every time Anna Margaret Clyburn gets a Slack notification, her computer plays the monotone sound of a British woman saying hummus. Its fitting Clyburn, a senior at Martel College, is a vegan, and gets very excited about hummus, as well as sweet potatoes and peanut butter. She enjoys eating the latter two together after coating the sweet potatoes in ginger, cayenne pepper, curry powder, cinnamon and salt, then baking them for 30 to 40 minutes at 400 degrees F.

Now that the servery is not serving their very reliable sweet potatoes, I'm like, a little devastated, Clyburn said. If anyone wants to get together, bake a bunch of sweet potatoes, Im down.

As Student Association president, Clyburn said shes always looking for opportunities to talk to more students whether that means baking sweet potatoes with them, going on a run together, or just emailing back and forth.

It truly makes my day if someone reaches out. Even if it's a piece of feedback, even negative feedback, if someone reaches out to me, I'm like, Today is a winning day! she said. When it comes down to it, truly what I derive the most joy from is just getting to connect with others.

Being SA president also means Clyburn gets a lot of hummus notifications.

I'll be in admin meetings with important people. And then all of a sudden, it will be like, hummus. she laughed. Im like, that was not me.

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Clyburns diet drove her earliest involvement in the SA. As a freshman she was elected as one of Martel new student representatives, and began to work on sustainability projects and improving vegan and vegetarianism options in the serveries. She worked with Grace Wickerson on those projects and developed a strong friendship with them a friendship that lasted through Wickersons term as SA president last academic year and continues today. Her sophomore year, Clyburn became Martels SA senator, and her junior year, she was elected Martel College president. Throughout her time in the SA, Clyburn has worked on projects related to financial accessibility, equity and inclusion and intimate partner violence.

Now, shes preparing for her senior year and the bulk of her term as president, which lies ahead of her. Succeeding Wickerson, she said, is both exciting and intimidating.

We have really similar values, and so in many ways I want to retain the focus that [Wickerson] placed on truly understanding and cultivating a stronger culture of care on campus, Clyburn says. In terms of where I'd like to depart [from their presidency], Id really like to take more of a lead from students and allow students to let me know what they'd like from Senate.

Due to this years events namely, the COVID-19 pandemic and the national movement against anti-Blackness brought on by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvins killing of George Floyd the year Clyburn is preparing for is nothing like the one Wickerson led, or any other year in Rices history. Already, the SA Senate has weathered an untraditional summer, and was much more active than it normally is in summer months, according to Clyburn.

"You come together and you bond with each other when things are kind of going crazy when shit hits the fan, for lack of a better word. And I think I found that as a team, our people have come together, Clyburn said. I have not seen a team work as long or as hard as this one has over the summer.

Much of that work has been related to the pandemic, which led Rice to cancel classes just over one week after Clyburn was confirmed president. In April, the SA Senate passed a resolution asking the Office of Admissions to suspend standardized testing requirements for applicants for Fall 2021 matriculation. The ask was ultimately heeded by the administration. Clyburn and other SA Senate members also advocated for academic accommodations such as a Double A policy, which the Faculty Senate rejected. The Faculty Senate did, however, adopt an optional pass/fail policy for every class, which SA Internal Vice President Kendall Vining told the Thresher was in large part a result of the SAs work.

According to Clyburn, the SA was also actively in conversation with the administration throughout the summer about what reopening Rice would look like.

We've had the opportunity to be in the room for a lot of the conversations about what plans Rice will take to ensure that people are safe, she said. Although I'm not in the room when those decisions are being made about whether we will or whether we won't [reopen], I am in the room for those decisions about, you know, if we are in person, or if we are remote, here's how we're going to do this.

In those conversations, Clyburn said she has tried to be a voice for students who are concerned about what reopening could mean for the health of the Rice community.

Being both someone who is more risk averse and representing people who are more risk averse, I am really intentional about bringing up the necessity of keeping people safe, she said. I'm also really intentional about bringing up, you know, we do have students who cannot return to their homes. We do have students who face really unsafe situations with their families So whatever we do, we need to be sure that Rice is open to provide support for those students.

The SA Senate has also spent a good part of the summer in conversation with students, administrators and Students Transforming Rice Into a Violence-free Environment leaders about the Title IX changes that went into effect on August 14, according to Clyburn. Those conversations have largely been led by Izzie Karohl, Will Rice College junior and director of the SAs Committee for Interpersonal Violence Policy, and Maddy Scannell, Martel College senior and executive director of STRIVE, Clyburn says. In collaboration with STRIVE, the SA Senate has pushed for policies such as a preponderance of evidence standard and amnesty for reporting sexual misconduct, even if the survivor was violating rules such as the Culture of Care agreement. Some of their goals, such as those two policies, were adopted in the new changes. Others were not.

We're fully committed to continuing to advocate for more compassionate policies for survivors, because this conversation isn't over, Clyburn says. These policies aren't perfect, and they'll need to continue to be revised.

Clyburn hopes the successes the SA Senate saw in their advocacy for Title IX policies and survivors of intimate partner violence can serve as a guide for advocacy on behalf of other students, populations who tend to be marginalized from campus conversations.

I really do think there's a difference in the way that we advocate across campus between issues, Clyburn said. Up until recently, I haven't seen the same kind of advocacy for Black students, Latinx students, our LGBTQ+ students, as I've seen for survivors of intimate partner violence and the way that we have addressed assault on campus.

This summer, an anonymous group of Black students published a list of demands titled Tangible Ways to Improve the Black Experience, as Demanded by Black Students: Inaction is Not an Option, which contained a variety of demands for Rice, including that they investment monetarily in Houstons Third Ward and remove the Founders Memorial, known as Willys statue, from the Academic Quad. Clyburn said the list was incredibly beneficial for the SA Senate.

A lot of times we operate on, Oh, this seems like itd be helpful! But that implies an assumption, Clyburn said. This really gave us a very clear list of things, where it's like, this is something that people are saying would be helpful. These are things that we really can work on.

The list, Clyburn said, contained many demands the SA Senate was already working on, such as formally fighting hateful and discriminatory speech on campus and implementing more racial sensitivity trainings for staff and faculty. It also contained many demands that they hadnt considered before, Clyburn said, and she is excited to see how they can organize around that work. However, its important to her that the anti-racism work the SA Senate engages in this fall prioritizes the voices of Black students.

I dont think it should be up to me to decide whether or not something does or doesnt happen, be that the removal of Willys statue or otherwise, Clyburn said. Being someone who doesnt believe in harming others, if Willys statue is inflicting harm on Black students which were learning it is then something must be done. And those being harmed should be the ones directing that change ... As a white person, much of Rice was created to be comfortable for me. At this point, we need to listen to and trust those for whom this campus is not comfortable.

Concerns over the SAs lack of active anti-racism have come up before. Back in February, former Rice student and then-Jones College SA Senator Drew Carter cited SA Senates lack of action against racism and xenophobia as one of the reasons he withdrew from the race for SA president against Clyburn, leaving her uncontested. That the race for president was uncontested was concerning to many across campus, including the Threshers editorial board and Clyburn herself. Just 27.2 percent of students cast a ballot in February, and Clyburn received 91.2 percent of those votes.

I get the feeling that people are still thinking about the fact that I ran uncontested. I just want people to know that, like, I'm not happy that that happened either, Clyburn said. Its kind of damning. Like people must just not, theyre not caring, or we're doing something wrong.

However, Clyburn said that shortly after the election, as the SA Senate began to work with the administration to handle COVID-19s impact on campus, she found surprisingly high engagement from students in the work of the SA.

If anything comes out of [COVID-19], I hope its a reminder to us in this organization that we really do have a voice and that we need to be very intentional about the way that we use it, Clyburn said. And then hopefully it's a reminder to students that like, we really, we really need your engagement and we really need you to help guide us.

Clyburn said she intends to let student voices continue to lead her work on coronavirus policies, Title IX, anti-racism, the November election and anything else that comes up as SA president this academic year. Shell be balancing the demanding job with her personal endeavors as a history and French studies major with a minor in politics, law and social thought which this year, include pursuing a history thesis on the intersection of First Amendment case law and revenge pornography.

I definitely am not someone who feels the need to define every checkpoint, and be the person coming up with each idea, but rather the person that makes those spaces where those ideas can come up and people feel comfortable taking the lead, Clyburn said. I would love to just be a strong, excited supporter, and that's really where I feel most comfortable.

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Meet your SA president: Anna Margaret Clyburn is here to listen - The Rice Thresher

A new study suggests that a Western-style diet can impair hippocampal function and lead to a decreased ability to control ones appetite. The findings were published in Royal Society Open Science.

A wealth of animal studies have found that animals fed a Western-style diet a diet characterized by high intake of saturated fats and added sugars display impaired hippocampal function and decreased appetitive control. Study authors Richard J. Stevenson and his team wanted to explore whether a similar effect would be found in humans.

As the researchers explain, while the hippocampus plays a major role in learning and memory, it is also associated with the regulation of appetite. Exactly how it controls appetite is unclear, but one theory suggests that the hippocampus makes use of internal bodily state (e.g., feeling sated) to modulate the difference between liking a food item and wanting a food item.

The authors explain how the hippocampus might react when faced with an excitatory food cue when feeling full. Under such conditions, the hippocampus could either inhibit retrieval of associative networks connected with that food and/or dampen activation of brain areas mediating reward. If the hippocampus becomes impaired, then such regulation should become less efficient.

An experimental study was conducted, involving a sample of healthy students who were currently following a nutritious diet (a diet scoring low on a validated measure of Western diet). On Day 1 of the study, the students, aged between 17 and 35, were assigned to one of two conditions that they would follow for the course of one week. The Western diet group was instructed to eat two Belgium waffles as a breakfast or dessert on four days, and to eat a main meal from a fast food chain (including a drink and dessert) on two other days. The control group was assigned to maintain their normal diet throughout the week.

Additionally, on Days 1 and 8 of the study, students were given breakfast in the lab. As a measure of appetitive control, all students completed a wanting and liking test, both before and after consuming breakfast. The test presented subjects with various snack foods and asks them to rate how much they liked and wanted the food items. By administering the test both before and after breakfast, researchers wanted to see whether subjects fullness would reduce their wanting ratings (indicating appetitive control). On Days 1 and 8, students also completed a verbal learning test, known to address hippocampal-dependent learning and memory (HDLM).

Results showed that, among those who followed the Western diet, wanting and liking ratings taken before breakfast were more similar to ratings taken after breakfast, on Day 8 compared to Day 1. In other words, on Day 8, these subjects showed a decreased ability to control their appetites when full, after a week of following a Western diet. Furthermore, the Western diet group performed worse on the verbal learning test than the control group.

Finally, researchers gave each participant an overall appetitive control score, based on their performances on the wanting and liking tests. Researchers then compared these scores to the learning test scores. It was found that a larger drop in test score was associated with a decrease in appetitive control. Importantly, this effect was only found amongst individuals in the Western diet group, and not the control group.

This finding suggests that a Western diet may influence appetitive control by impairing hippocampal function. The authors conclude, More broadly, this experiment, alongside those from the other animal and human studies cited here, suggests that a WS-diet causes neurocognitive impairments following short-term exposure.

The study, Hippocampal-dependent appetitive control is impaired by experimental exposure to a Western-style diet, was authored by Richard J. Stevenson, Heather M. Francis, Tuki Attuquayefio, Dolly Gupta, Martin R. Yeomans, Megan J. Oaten, and Terry Davidson.

See more here:
Experimental study links Western diet to decreased hippocampal function and reduced appetitive control - PsyPost

Cover of 1922 Sears Modern Homes Catalog. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons/public domain image.

Editors note: This story was originally published by Undark. It appears here as part of theClimate Deskcollaboration.

The United States has a housing problem. Not only are there too few, those that we have are gluttons, using almost twice as much energy per home as those in Europe. Only Canadas homes, most of which endure long and biting winters, use more.

Our leaky, inefficient homes produce nearly one-fifth of the countrys energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, a number that has probably crept higher as the pandemic has kept people at home. Thats because most of our homes are stubbornly stuck in a previous generation. The median age of a US home is 37 years, and its not getting any younger. Many of our houses and apartments are still heated and powered by fossil fuels. If were going to meet the Paris Agreement goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from 2005 levels by 2050as many states and municipalities are still striving to dowe have some work to do.

More than 40 percent of our energy use at home comes from electricity, and the absolute amount has risen seven-fold from six decades ago. Greenhouse gas emissions from household electricity use have dropped 31 percent since 2005. But the dip is largely the result of a decline in coal power plants, not changes in home energy use.

Fortunately, eliminating electricity-based emissions is relatively easy. Many homeowners can put up solar panels today and reap enough energy savings to cover the investment in about eight years, sometimes less. For those who cant, pushing utilities to phase out fossil fuel power plants in favor of solar, wind, and other forms of renewable energy would be a boon. Eliminating carbon from the grid alone would slash nearly half of household emissions.

Unfortunately, taking care of the rest wont be so easy. Heating is still the largest portion of household energy use, said Benjamin Goldstein, a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Michigan who was the lead author of a new study that looked at how US homes could eliminate fossil fuels. Across the country, millions of home furnaces still burn natural gas, oil, and even coal. Thats one reason fossil fuels still account for 80 percent of the countrys energy use. To fully wean ourselves from carbon, well have to tackle home heating, too.

In short, we need to rethink housing from the ground up, Goldstein says. We need to have a bunch of actions, from individual to structural changes, in order to make the housing stock meet the carbon goals. Because a new home built today will likely be around in 2050, we have no time to waste.

For new homes, theres a relatively straightforward solution, and thats simply to build them better. Several states have adopted stringent building codes when it comes to energy efficiency in new homes. In Massachusetts,most townsnow require new homes to be at least 15 percent more energy efficient than those built to the current standard code, with incentives for builders to strive for even greater improvements. The construction costs are higher, but the state says that homeowners can expect to save money from day one in most cases.

Still, theres room to improve these codes. Travis Anderson, director of design at Placetailor, a Boston-based architecture and development cooperative, says the most underestimated factor in energy efficiency is airtightnesshow well the home is sealed off from the outdoors. He came to that realization when tweaking models he developed for the city of Boston, which is looking tozero out carbon emissions in its housing portfolio by 2050. That discovery had surprising benefits. When Anderson improved a homes sealing, he was able to use less insulation, install lower performance windows, and lower costs, while still meeting stringent energy targets. You cant make a building too airtight, he said. I think code is still lacking in that regard.

Improving buildings energy efficiency will also go a long way toward alleviating energy poverty. Renters are at the mercy of their landlords when it comes to efficiency; according toa surveyby the US Energy Information Administration, an estimated 25 million low-income renters forgo food or medicine to pay for energy bills. Renters making under $15,000 per year spendmore than 15 percentof their income on energy costs, compared with just 1.4 percent for households making more than $75,000. A well-insulated apartment with efficient appliances would not only slash a renters carbon emissions, it would free up money to spend on other necessities.

In California,dozens of citieshave taken another approach to cutting carbon emissions: They have effectively banned new natural gas hook-ups. This has pushed homebuilders to use only electric appliances and heating, preparing homes for a carbon-free grid. Electric heat pumps, much improved in recent decades, can provide heating and air conditioning to these homes ata fraction of the energy useof conventional systems. And when powered by solar or wind, they have zero emissions.

But we cant necessarily switch over to electric homes and call it a day. These houses still use a lot of energy, Goldstein said. When he and his colleagues analyzed energy use in 93 million homes across the US78 percent of the housing stockthey also modeled what it would take to reach the Paris Agreements goal of reducing emission by 80 percent from their 2005 levels. Decarbonizing the grid and electrifying homes were a necessity. So, too, were other substantial measures.

For one, Goldstein said our homes should probably go on a diet. Starting in the early 1980s, the median size of a new home has swelled from around 1,600 square feet to 2,300 square feet today. In their new paper, Goldstein and his coauthors recommend that houses slim down by 10 percent nationwide, returning the median size to what it was in 2001. Existing homes will need significant retrofits. In some places, communities will have to grow a bit denser and make do with fewer single-family homes. Goldsteins recommendations for each state vary significantly depending on what their cities look like today. But nationwide, the changes are relatively modest: Hitting the Paris Agreements 2050 target will require just a 25 percent increase in housing density and a 3 percent reduction in single-family homes.

Packing more homes and apartments into smaller spaces might seem like a hard sell in the Covid-19 era, as space has become a luxury.

But the pandemic may make some of the changes Goldstein is proposing a little more palatable. Extended families, now often scattered in large homes throughout the country, have been warming to the idea of multigenerational housing for decades, and despitethe added difficultiesof social distancing with multiple generations under one roof,61 percentof the millions of Americans who moved during the pandemic moved in with a family member, according to the results of a recent survey. This not only brings families together, but it also helps lower everyones household footprint.

We might find a lesson in multigenerational housingscontinued appealeven in the face of a crisis: Climate-friendly housing may not look exactly like todays homes and households. But in their own way, theyll be better. And well be better for it.

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Time for a diet: Today's US homes have super-sized into energy gluttons - Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists

I thought I was going to get in trouble at the grocery store when the produce guy came over and asked why I was taking pictures of the bananas. I pointed out the little stickers, and he said, "Oh yeah, we've gotten a few shipments of bananas with those lately." I just smiled, backed away from the bunches, and spared him my rant, because man, I was pissed!

You may not have even noticed they were on your bananas go on, I'll wait while you check. Did you find these little drawings of bananas doing exercises like glute bridges, diamond push-ups, and triceps dips? You can scroll through to see pictures I took of the bananas. These seemingly innocent stickers were brought to my attention when I saw this photo posted by registered dietitian Cara D'Anello, MS, RD, LDN, with a sticker that had a little picture of a banana doing "toe taps." The text on her photo said, "No wonder diet culture exists."

I hadn't thought about it like that, but then I realized what she meant. Chiquita said on its website that it put these fitness stickers on bananas "to boost health and wellness." At first glance, this may not seem like a big deal, but when I thought about it, she was right. The deeper, subconscious message I got was "you need to work off this banana after you eat it" or "you need to do sumo squats in order to 'earn it.'" And that made me really mad. I mean, my 10-year-old daughter eats these bananas. What kind of message is that sending to her?

Bananas already have a bad reputation for being "too carby" or "too high in sugar," so I felt like those little stickers were attacking my simple and pure piece of fruit, making me feel like I shouldn't eat it. They made me think of all the times I exercised as punishment for eating "bad" foods or eating too much. And this is a frickin' piece of fruit not a candy bar, or doughnut, or cookie, like diet culture would tell me is worse than fruit. I already get messages from diet culture about how, what, and when to eat I don't need my fruit adding to that negative conversation.

Maybe I'm overreacting, and maybe this is no biggie. But it really feels like this is diet culture's way of sneaking into my life, telling me I need to pair healthy eating with working out. What does this banana expect from me? That I'm going to reach for it and think, "Oh cool, let me just put you down so I can bust out some glute bridges right now!"

Another thing I thought about was how the diet industry sends the message that you need to be thin in order to be beautiful, which is why I went on my first diet at just 12 years old. And now 31 years later, I'm working really hard to not diet, to eat intuitively, and to embrace my body as it is, not only for myself but also as a role model for my daughter. I get that this company was trying to connect healthy eating with exercise, but I don't want to think about working out while I'm eating, feel guilty for eating, or feel pressured to work out by my food. I immediately thought in my head, "Screw you, diet culture; I'm gonna eat my banana and enjoy it!"

Excerpt from:
I Just Really Need to Vent About These Problematic Workout Stickers I Saw on My Bananas - POPSUGAR

You don't have to be involved in the antidiet, intuitive eating world to know that dieting messages are everywhere. Registered dietitian Dalina Soto, MA, LDN, shared that sometimes they're disguised as "lifestyle" changes, or maybe you're told to simply cut out certain food groups. When people go on restrictive diets, she said they'll discover that they don't work, "but somehow we all want them to work. We want to be the successful ones," and we work so hard to make it happen.

Soto explained that when we fail, we feel like crap, but it isn't our fault. "The diet and weight-loss industry banks on you failing so they can profit on you for years. They want you to continue to buy their shakes, or the frozen meals they can mail to you weekly," she said, adding that whatever diet you follow, "you're never in control, they are."

In case you're thinking about going on another diet, or you're currently on one and feeling miserable, watch this video to learn five reasons why diets suck. POPSUGAR asked Soto to explain each reason, so read on and you just may feel inspired to ditch that restrictive diet forever!

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An Antidiet Dietitian Shares 5 Reasons Why Diets Suck and Why You Should Ditch Them Forever - POPSUGAR

Almost every one of us shares an eternal bond with chocolate. No matter how bad the day is, a bar of chocolate can uplift our mood and bring smile on our face. Unfortunately, chocolates and chocolate-y desserts also contain huge amount of calorie and added sugar that often derail us from healthy diet and harm our overall well-being. But that doesn't mean we have to completely give up on chocolates. Instead, we must look for smart ways to include them in our diet, in moderation, of course. Keeping this in mind, we found some chocolate-based food options for you that can be a part of your healthy diet, without any guilt.

One of the popular healthy food options, peanut butter includes all things yummy and nutritious. Taking the flavour game a step ahead, MYFITNESS brings you this product that strikes the right balance between the richness of chocolate and the smooth and nutty texture of peanut butter.

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Imagine relishing a bowl of crunchy muesli with choco-chunks in it! Yes, this pack of breakfast muesli by Yogabar effortlessly adds the goodness of dark chocolate and cranberry to your first meal of the day, that too in the most delicious way.

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Ideal for satiating mid-meal hunger pangs, the choco-oats bar by Nourish Organic is high on fibre and antioxidants and contains zero added sugar in it. It also makes this treat perfect for satisfying your sweet cravings, without any worries about excess calorie-intake.

If you are on diet, but can't give up on chocolates, then product is just for you! HYP Lean sugarfree protein bar is made up of whey protein, soy proteins, alongside the rich flavours of mint chocolate in it.

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About Somdatta SahaExplorer- this is what Somdatta likes to call herself. Be it in terms of food, people or places, all she craves for is to know the unknown. A simple aglio olio pasta or daal-chawal and a good movie can make her day.

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Healthy Ways To Include Chocolate In Your Diet: Here're 4 Options For You - NDTV Food