Category Archives: Diet And Food

So, 2020 has really been a shit year.

It has been for nearly everyone, of course, and when the stuff stops hitting the fan, we all need to take a collective breath, pat ourselves on the back, and celebrate.

I had a busy year planned for 2020: Im a gynecologic surgeon seeing patients and trying to build a badly needed menopause clinic in a local hospital here in Seattle. Im editing a book, and consulting and providing telemedicine care for women in menopause as Chief Medical Officer at Gennev.

Then in January, I got a diagnosis of breast cancer, and suddenly I was making new plans. Somehow I had to carve out five weeks from this life to recover from a double mastectomy, then more time later for recovery from reconstruction. I managed it, barely, to have my first surgery in March.

I thought I had it pretty much under control. My patients were scheduled with other physicians, meetings were on hold, a bunch of work up-front meant I could relax and heal. In February, I went on a vacation to Mexico, where I spent a lot of time crying on beaches and into margaritas with friends. It helped. I came back ready to move forward.

And then COVID-19 hit, and it hit right here at home: epicenter, Seattle.

Suddenly the chaos and noise of my own life have expanded to a global level, and all of us in health care are scrambling to find answers, help others stay calm and safe, keep ourselves as safe as possible on the front lines, and meanwhile Im trying desperately to ignore the little voice inside thats saying, What about me?

As a physician and surgeon, I know what cancer looks like. I have an idea how it progresses and how bad treatment can be. I wanted to get on with it, have the surgery and whatever treatment so I could recover and get back to my life. But with my first surgery scheduled for mid-March, now it looked like those carefully extracted five weeks werent mine anymore.

Oh, and did I mention, suddenly my kids were home all the time? Theyre pretty much grown, so I have it easier than many, but the advanced clusterf*ck of trying to home school an attention-deficit high schooler while sympathizing with my college kid who was missing out on some pretty important stuff in her education and future career (shes a dancer) deflated any zen I managed to scrape together in a hurry.

Story continues

This is a tough time for teens and young adults who rely on their social structures more than ever, and suddenly mine were stuck with a sick mom and Zoom.

Despite being a pretty practical person, I havent always approached my health practically. It wasnt until I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic at 42 that I finally started taking some things seriously. Perimenopause had added some belly fat and bumped up my bad cholesterol, so I at last started exercising regularly and taking medication, since eating better wasnt enough anymore.

However, as someone with a family history of cancers, Im a huge advocate of screening and started annual mammograms at 40.

Now thats irony, Alanis.

As with most women in their 40s, the mammograms showed that I had dense breasts, but nothing particularly concerning.

Then Gennev started working with MiraKind, an organization researching the connection between a gene defect called the KRAS variant and a greater likelihood of developing certain cancers. I got tested, and sure enough, I was a carrier. Knowing being KRAS positive could mean I was more susceptible to breast cancer, I added an MRI to my usual mammogram (remember, dense breasts).

Two days later, they called me and said, So, there are a couple of masses on your MRI. A couple of biopsies revealed invasive ductal carcinoma. More testing, more biopsies, more black and blue boobs.

Now I had a decision to make: I could get bilateral lumpectomies and sign up for a life of going in every six months and probably having to get biopsies every six months. Eventually theyd find something, and Id be right back here again. Im a doctor I knew how Id feel with these things on my chest, knowing there was cancer in them. So I decided on a bilateral mastectomy.

In the end, it was the right choice: there was more cancer that hadnt yet been detected. It was small, sure; but it wouldnt always be small.

The hospital where I would have my surgery started disallowing non-essential surgery the week before my mastectomy was planned. And surgery on anyone who was medically fragile old, ill, likely to respond poorly to anesthesia, etc. was postponed.

I wanted nothing to do with postponing the surgery. I had done everything to make taking those five weeks okay for everyone it affected patients, family, colleagues. Just the thought of redoing all that was exhausting. I had taken the time to take care of me, and dammit, I was going to take care of me!

In the end, it came down to the fact that I was young and healthy going in, so I wouldnt need an ICU bed that was needed for a COVID-19 patient. Id be out the next day. So we went ahead.

On March 19, all my breast tissue was removed.

March and April were spent alternating holding my breath and breathing sighs of relief: biopsy of sentinal nodes revealed no signs of spreading. Testing of the tumor showed it wasnt aggressive enough to require chemotherapy. Because I did what I did when I did it, the cancer was Stage 1. Ill be treated with hormone therapy; Im on Tamoxifen. They got great margins when they did the surgery, and I dont need radiation.

Ask anyone who knows me: Im pretty blunt. Im never unkind, but if a patient wants a lot of touchy-feely handholding, they should probably find another doctor. However. Telling your daughters you have breast cancer is not an occasion for blunt.

Not only was I telling them I was sick, I also knew they would watch me for signs of what was to come for them. Realistic but reassuring is a delicate dance. Fortunately, I was able to be pretty reassuring. It was Stage 1, not a particularly aggressive form, and Id be fine on the other side. But I also wanted to be honest with them about their own health and the screenings theyd need, given their family history.

I could complain about how unfair it is to have bad genetics, or how much it sucks to take care of myself and still have cancer, but I really have a shit happens approach to life, and it served me well. Yelling about how unfair it is as much as I was screaming it on the inside sometimes wasnt going to help me or my kids get through it.

COVID and being isolated together certainly didnt make it easier. This is a hard time for kids their lives are dominated by social things, the groups theyre in, who they communicate with, the things they do. Theyre missing out on things. So managing their emotions and my own is really tough; Im maybe not as patient as I would be otherwise, because Im going through some shit. I have cancer and it sucks. I dont tell them everything because it wouldnt help them. But I try to be open and honest because I know your imagination can sometimes be worse than the truth.

It could be easy to let cancer and COVID take charge and send me screaming to a safe room, but thats really not my style. I take precautions to protect myself from the coronavirus, but Im still seeing patients. I know that as a healthcare professional, Ill get it eventually. I just intend to be at full strength when it happens.

I walk every day, three to five miles with my dog. I run three days a week. Im back in physical therapy because too many hours performing surgery have caused problems with my neck. I truly think staying active has helped with my recovery.

Recovery was tough, not so much because of pain, but because COVID meant my friends and family couldnt help they way they wanted to: they couldnt come clean my house or cook meals, though many dropped meals on my doorstep, rang the bell and ran.

I have two sisters who live locally, and it was killing them not to be able to come and help. One sis is a chef and she just wanted to come and cook for me, but she couldnt come into my house. That was hard, but honestly, it was harder for them than me, since I was pretty out of it for the first two weeks after surgery.

So, yeah, 2020 is a shit year, but at least some things will get easier now. No more mammograms for me, because the reconstruction surgery scheduled for July will be done using my own abdominal tissue. From now on, a check up involves making sure the area around the reconstruction is healthy and cancer-free, including the lymph nodes and chest wall.

I know a lot about health, particularly womens health, because its my job. And I made a lot of decisions, together with my doctors, based on the knowledge I have. I wanted to share a few things that might help others have an easier time of it, COVID or no.

It might not prevent you from having health problems, but being fit can make it easier to handle the treatment and make recovery easier and faster.

Diabetes, cancer, heart disease are all in my family history. Knowing that helped me make better choices. And the KRAS test prompted me to do the MRI that revealed the cancer while it was still early-stage. Knowledge matters.

When I got that pre-diabetes diagnosis, I decided it was time to get a handle on me Ive spent my life caring for others as a doctor, wife, and mom. I was trained in residency to go until you drop. But suddenly I realized I needed to focus on my own health too. I made changes in work and home life, ate better, took meds. I wanted to feel good and I did. And when this came up, I had good endurance, strong muscles, a strong cardiovascular system, even strong legs and abs to help me get out of bed when I couldnt use my arms!

For the past few years, I had managed my sleep patterns to feel better, and through all of this, I managed to for the most part still get good sleep.

Because I made great decisions for a solid few years before this diagnosis, there was a little WTF? that I did everything right and still got this disease. But we live in a toxic world, I hadnt always made great decisions, my work has at times been really stressful, plus, I just had some bad dumb luck. Theres always been that bit of pessimism in me because my family history indicates that I have at least one cancer in my future. But, I thought, this can be dealt with, Im healthy going in, and Ill take this one day at a time.

Ive lost sensation in my chest area. I bump into things, and I dont even know it. Its weird and Im mourning the loss of sensation there, but I knew it would happen, and I was at least somewhat prepared. Make plans. Have a wedge for your bed. Know what the drain looks like coming out of your body. Know who will help you shower and who will make you laugh when your life just has so much yuck in it. Because theres a lot of yuck; youre going to need your sense of humor. And if yours is AWOL, borrow some from a friend.

Just because I knew what was coming doesnt mean I didnt have emotions around it. I had to let myself grieve the loss of my breasts even as I was taking control of the decision to have the bilateral mastectomy. I had to stop being practical and allow myself to mourn.

Living in Seattle, I am blessed with having so many amazing medical professionals in cancer treatment. But I also wanted to work with someone I was comfortable with, someone I trusted with my body, with my future. I needed to feel they were making decisions that worked for me. Please know that youre not hurting a doctors feelings if you decide to move on from them because youre not connecting well with them. It happens all the time, and docs understand how important it is that you feel comfortable. I picked people I felt great with and felt we were making decisions for the same reasons.

Hey, I get a tummy tuck out of this get lemons, make lemonade! Im not exactly going to be voluptuous, but Im good with Bs or even really big As that look nice.

Dont rely on self-breast exams even when I knew where my biggest tumor was, I couldnt feel it. Also, some people are pushing thermograms, claiming theyre safer than mammograms, but they are NOT safer, so do your research before committing. A mammogram isnt perfect, but its a good tool and has saved lives. And you wont get breast cancer from mammograms. The radiation is minimal: you get more from walking around for two weeks in the world. Be informed about your choices before you make them.

I could have put off the reconstruction until next year, when theres a chance COVID-19 will be behind us, and things will be back to whatever normal there is on the other side. But I figured, 2020 is already a hot mess of a year, I might as well shove all the shit into this one and look forward to 2021.

So thats what Im doing. May you get all your shit behind you too. Now go schedule your next screening.

See the original article on ScaryMommy.com

Link:
Im A Physician Who Had Breast Cancer, And Here Are The Knowledge-Based Decisions I Made For Myself - Yahoo Lifestyle

Fats a word with stigma around it. Ad campaigns encourage us to eat less fat and become healthier as a result. Eat fat, get fat, as they say.

However, eat fat, get fat is total hokum. Fat is an essential nutrient. Furthermore, low fat foods tend to have more refined sugars.

Fats are necessary, but not all fats are created equal. Here are some examples of healthy fats, as well as some information about unhealthy fats.

Avoid trans fat and saturated fat

Before discussing what to eat, you need to know what to avoid.

Trans fat is to fat what refined sugar is to fruit empty and artificial. Commercial food brands make trans fats through partial hydrogenation, where liquid fats are made solid by adding hydrogen. Except, manufacturers get lazy and dont complete the process, leaving behind an incomplete nutrient that increases bad cholesterol and can lead to heart disease.

Fried foods, butter, lard, chips all foods high in trans fat. Trans fats arent limited to these foods, however. Most packaged or processed food contains some type of trans fat. Basically, if you got it off the shelf and its ready for dinner, its a source of trans fat.

Saturated fats are fine in small doses. Full fat milk and lean red meats contain plenty protein and other essential nutrients. However, saturated fats still increase unhealthy cholesterol. Dont go overboard by eating them multiple times a day. Make your hamburger, tenderloin and steaks proper cheat meals.

Avoid these fats by reading ingredient lists and nutrition labels. Partially hydrogenated is a sneaky way of saying here be trans fat.

Eggs

If there ever was an actual superfood, it would be whole eggs.

The egg nutrition label might as well be a list of almost every essential nutrient. Protein, healthy fat, iron, calcium, vitamins A through E its a whos who of health (minus carbs and vitamin C).

Theyre also versatile. If you dont like them cooked one way, you can cook them another way. Your average, egg-based breakfast satiates even the deepest hunger.

The big concern with eggs is about cholesterol. Eggs are high in cholesterol. However, cholesterol in eggs does not affect cholesterol levels in your blood (unlike trans fat).

The only reason to avoid eggs is allergy. Other than that, they pass every conceivable nutrition test.

Avocados

Avocados are as close you can get to fruit entirely made of fat.

The average large avocado is 322 calories with 29.5 grams of fat. Thats 247 calories from fat alone 77% of total calories. Lucky for us, its all natural. Theyre also a good source of fiber, potassium and antioxidants.

Work avocados into your meal prep if you havent already.

Nuts and seeds

Ah, nuts.

Walnuts, peanuts, pistachios, pecans, almonds all great sources of fat. The average nut serving is 190 calories with 16 grams of fat per ounce. Thats an incredible ratio. Nuts can handle your meals fat component with only a quarter cup.

Shelled nuts like pistachios carry non-nutritional benefits. Because you need to remove their shells, you have to eat slowly and think about what youre consuming. This encourages healthier eating habits.

Chia seeds are similar. An ounce contains 9 grams of fat, making up 80% of total calories while also providing fiber.

Tofu

Tasty and infinitely customizable, tofu is a go-to source of vegan protein. Its also a great source of healthy fat.

Three ounces of tofu contains up to 6 grams of fat with only 1 gram of saturated fat. All while being a plant-based source of protein.

Its versatility lets you cook with any sort of vegetable, bean, lentil or chickpea. Its more than a meat substitute. Its good food in its own right

Fish

Salmon, trout, mackerel, herring, sardines, cod and tuna are swimming in healthy, omega-3 fatty acids. Being animal products, theyre also stuffed to the gills with high quality protein.

Furthermore, those who eat fish are at lower risk of heart disease.

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Five healthy fats to work into your diet, others to avoid - UT Daily Beacon

Rebel Wilson is deep into her Year of Health and she looks utterly amazing. While Rebel has shared pics on Instagram of herself exercising, she hasnt given a ton of details on how shes working toward her goal to get down to 165 pounds by the end of the year. Now, theres some info on what, exactly, shes been up to.

According to People, Rebel is losing weight using something called the Mayr Method. Awesome! Butasking for a friend who happens to be me here: What is the Mayr Method? Heres the deal.

The Mayr Method has actually been around in some form for ages. Its based on the Mayr Cure, which was created by an Austrian doctor named Franz Xaver Mayr (sometimes referred to as F.X. Mayr). Mayrs philosophy is that most people poison their digestive systems with the foods they eat and how they eat them.

Now, the Mayr Method is promoted at Viva Mayr, an upscale wellness facility with locations around the world. Viva Mayr combines modern complementary medicine with traditional diagnostics and therapies according to F.X. Mayr, the official Viva Mayr website says. Once we have treated your condition, proper nutrition combined with exercise and improved mental awareness become the building blocks of your new life.

The Viva Mayr Diet: 14 Days to a Flatter Stomach and a Younger You

The diet's philosophy focuses on eating well and considering your gut health an important part of your overall health. It works to get followers to stop snacking, reduce their gluten and dairy intake, and to even chew their foods longer, according to The Guardian.

It all starts off with a sugar and caffeine detox, according to Womens Health UK. It also focuses on some lifestyle changes, like focusing on chewing every bite 40 to 60 times. (The goal is to get you to chew slower and be more mindful about your food, Womens Health UK says.) Reading, talking, or looking at your phone while you eat are forbidden, Womens Health UK says (again, the whole mindfulness thing).

Meals include whole foods that are high alkaline, like veggies and fish, The Guardian says.

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A visit to a swanky Viva Mayr facility for a consultation will set you back about $211, per The Guardian, and overnight stays will run you way more. But there's also a book called The Viva Mayr Diet that breaks down the basics of the diet. So, there's that.

Apparently shes not just spending a lot of time chewing her foodshes also working out regularly. She exercises with a personal trainer up to six times a week, goes on walks, and is trying to up her protein intake nutritionally, a source told People. I know she's also been working on conquering her emotional eating patterns of behavior.

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What Is The Mayr Method Diet Rebel Wilson Is Using To Lose Weight? - Women's Health

Its very difficult not to laugh while talking to David Dobrik. After just a few minutes of talking, the charm and sincerity that made the low-key everyman a YouTube sensation are clear. And, sincerely: He is not a gym rat. I was supposed to work out with my trainer today, but you called so I cancelled on it, he says. So, thank God for that.

He got his start on Vine, but Dobrik is best known for his YouTube vlogs, which have gone from pranks on his friends to and giving away cars and driving around L.A. with Kylie Jenner. Over the years hes amassed almost 18 million subscribers on YouTube, spinning the aforementioned charm to a truly massive audience. However, since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dobrik stopped making vlogs. Hes decided to pause on his YouTube channel and take some time to experiment with other platforms and stay safe from the virus.

He talked to GQ on how hes filling his days during the pandemic, dealing with the stress of the YouTube grind, and winding down with his favorite candle.

GQ: What's your average day look like during the pandemic?

David Dobrik: My average day feels like it's just day and night. During the day, I'm waiting for it to become night and then at night, I'm waiting for it to become morning. It's getting so repetitive.

Usually I wake up around 10 or 11. I work with my roommate and we'll get on some Zoom calls. And then usually they'll go out and go on a run or they'll go work in the backyard and I'll make some sort of excuse where I have to shower, or I have to do some more important things [laughs]. But there have been a lot of days in a row where I've used some excuses to skip that part of the day.

Actually, I was supposed to work out with my trainer today, but you called so I cancelled on it. So, thank God for that.

Happy I could do that for you.

Next month, you know, I'll work with the trainer next month. There's gonna be lots of months in the future. I'm not the best at working out. I absolutely hate working out. I should say that: I hate lifting weights. I hate doing sit ups. I just dont understand activities where there's no clear goal or game involved. I love, love playing basketball and soccer. I love sports for a purpose and there's a winner or a loser in that moment. There's something about lifting weights that I find it's so boring. I just end up getting so angry by the end of it.

That's so funny to me, part of me has been dying during this whole thing because I can't lift weights. I'm like: Im gonna go to the gym and I have this super structured program that I'm following. It's all about certain numbers I need to be hitting.

Why do you do it? Are you seeing serious body changes? Is it like, the second you see a little change in your body you're addicted to it now? How does that work?

I enjoy the numbers aspect of it. I love watching like the strength gains you can makebeing like last month I couldn't lift this but now I can.

What you've done is you've built a game into what you're doing. So you go and you're competing against yourself, which is cool. I could never do it [laughs].

This is a me thing. I don't think anybody's ever had this problem, but when I grip weights and I'm like "Okay, I'm benching something." I get really in my head. I think about my hand around the weight and I think about how my veins are bending around the weight, and how the inside of my hand is looking and it grosses me out so much.

I don't think Ive ever heard somebody say that before.

I really love tennis, and tennis before quarantine happened. The courts were open and I could go out with a pro to play. It's a three-in-one because you get a work out, you have fun, and you get a tan. My favorite part about coming back from tennis is looking tan. I don't know why, I just love it, it feels like an added bonus.

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The Real-Life Diet of David Dobrik, Who is Skipping Workouts and Eating Watermelon Sandwiches - GQ

LOS ANGELES, June 25, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --A groundbreaking clinical trial is providing insight into the potential effects of a Fasting Mimicking Diet(FMD) for breast cancer patients that may help make chemotherapy work more effectively against cancer and potentially help to shield healthy cells from damage during chemotherapy. Nature Communications published the results of The DIRECT study, which builds upon extensive preclinical evidence supporting that fasting and FMDs prior to chemotherapy may have a beneficial effect on both the efficacy of a wide variety of cancer therapies ranging from chemotherapy to kinase inhibitors and on the reduction of the side effects caused by various cancer treatments.

"This revelatory study on the benefits of a plant-based, Fasting Mimicking Diet during chemotherapy may represent a major breakthrough for women undergoing breast cancer treatments," said breast surgeon Dr. Kristi Funk, former director of the Breast Center at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. "This study supports the concept that FMD creates the metabolic environment that supports chemo's ability to destroy cancer cells while minimizing the collateral damage to normal cells. With a FMD, you get to eat, so you're not too hangry, but your cells still respond as if you're strictly fasting."

What researchers found

"This research essentially found that fasting switches healthy cells from a busy, proliferative state to a quiet, maintenance mode. Why? There's low level of nutrient and insulin around, so it's time to conserve energy. Malignant cells, however, don't listen to these body's signals and don't respond to food scarcity by entering this protective mode. Because chemo targets cells that divide quickly, when you receive it in a fasted state, it should sail past quiet healthy cells and more effectively target the busy cancer cells," added Dr. Funk.

This randomized controlled study included 129 patients with HER2 negative breast cancer, 65 of whom were assigned to the group receiving the FMD three days prior to, and the day of chemotherapy and 64 patients who continued their regular diet.

The data indicates that a 90-100% tumor cell death was three to four times more likely to occur in patients who were adherent to three FMD cycles, and the more cycles of FMDs the patients adhered to, the higher percentage of tumor cell loss was reported.

The difference achieved by fasting

Fasting helps normal cells stay off replicative mode which protects them from chemotherapy toxicity. On the other hand, cancer cells by definition cannot stop replicating and get more exposed to chemotherapy. This breakthrough discovery by professor Valter Longo, one of TIME Magazine's 50 Most Influential People in Health Care, known as 'Differential Stress Resistance' or DSS, could present a new avenue for oncologists and patients to fight a range of cancers.

"The results in this study are remarkable and consistent with those in mice in the overall body of research, especially those indicating that the portion of patients who responded well to chemotherapy is much higher in the group who completed most or all cycles of the FMD," said Professor Longo, director of the University of Southern California's Longevity Institute and a DIRECT study co-author who discovered the effect of fasting and FMDs in the protection of normal cells and sensitization of cancer cells.

The technology of Fasting Mimicking Diets are the result of decades of research at USC on nutrients and genes that regulate aging and resist cellular stress. It is a plant-based regimen that nourishes the body while keeping it in a fasting mode to deliver differential effects on all normal and cancer cells. The Fasting Mimicking Diet is one of the leading technologies by L-Nutra, a USC spinoff company dedicated to enhancing human health and longevity.

About L-Nutra

L-Nutra is leading the discovery, design, and commercialization of novel, plant-based nutrition programs and therapeutics to enhance human healthspan up to 100 years. L-Nutra translates the science behind Fasting Mimicking Dietand Nutrition For Longevitywith breakthrough discoveries in cellular-level nutrient signalling pathways to promote healthy aging technologies and to advance the development of therapeutic solutions for age-related diseases. For more information visit http://www.l-nutra.com

SOURCE L-Nutra

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New Peer-Reviewed Research Shows Fasting Mimicking Diets May Enhance Effectiveness of Chemotherapy in Cancer Patients, While Reducing Some Side...

Although fasting and calorie restriction may promote healthy detoxification, your body has an entire system to remove waste and toxins.

Q: I was wondering about fasting and its benefits for your metabolism and weight loss. Is it true that fasting will release toxins in the body?

Fasting has become a hot topic in the nutrition world and for good reason. Research has shown that its associated with a variety of health benefits, including weight loss and reduced blood sugar, cholesterol, triglyceride, insulin, and inflammation levels (1, 2, 3).

Whats more, studies suggest that fasting and calorie restriction, in general, have beneficial effects on the aging process and may optimize cellular repair (4, 5).

Additionally, fasting may help enhance the production and activity of certain enzymes involved in detoxification, as well as promote the health of your liver, one of the main organs involved in detoxification (6, 7, 8).

However, its important to note that although fasting and calorie restriction may promote healthy detoxification, your body has an entire system that includes organs like the liver and kidneys, both of which constantly work to remove waste and toxins from your body.

In healthy people, all thats needed to promote healthy detoxification is to support your body by following a nutrient-dense diet, staying properly hydrated, getting enough rest, and avoiding smoking, drug use, and excessive drinking.

Although detoxing via various methods including following restrictive diets, taking certain supplements, and fasting has become popular among those looking to optimize their health, theres no evidence that using these practices is necessary for most people (9).

Keep in mind that although intermittent fasting regimens like the 16/8 method are relatively safe and typically not associated with harmful side effects, more extreme and prolonged fasting methods, such as multiple-day fasts or water fasts, can be dangerous (10, 11).

If youre interested in trying out fasting, consult a knowledgeable healthcare provider to ensure its appropriateness and that you follow proper safety measures.

Jillian Kubala is a Registered Dietitian based in Westhampton, NY. Jillian holds a masters degree in nutrition from Stony Brook University School of Medicine as well as an undergraduate degree in nutrition science. Aside from writing for Healthline Nutrition, she runs a private practice based on the east end of Long Island, NY, where she helps her clients achieve optimal wellness through nutritional and lifestyle changes. Jillian practices what she preaches, spending her free time tending to her small farm that includes vegetable and flower gardens and a flock of chickens. Reach out to her through herwebsiteor onInstagram.

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Does Fasting Release Toxins in the Body? - Healthline

Why nuts and seeds make for the perfect snack while you work from home  |  Photo Credit: iStock Images

New Delhi: We often pay so much attention to our main meals breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we often forget to pay attention to the smaller meals -the snacks. Evening or mid-day snacking is extremely important to keep your metabolism boosted, help you control your portions, and to keep you satiated for longer. Eating a healthy, low-calorie, but high nutrient snack is extremely important.

Nuts and seeds are often recommended by health experts, nutritionists and dietitians for a weight loss, healthy and balanced diet. As we work from home, our eating habits have also gone haywire. Here are 5 reasons to convince you to include nuts and seeds as a part of your diet.

Disclaimer: Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are for general information purpose only and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a dietician before starting any fitness programme or making any changes to your diet.

For full coverage on Coronavirus pandemic, click here.Join the Times Group initiative #MaskIndia.Share a picture with your home-made mask on your social handles using #MaskIndia. The best picture will be featured in TOI and on maskindia.com

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Why nuts and seeds make for the perfect snack while you work from home - Times Now

Juggling work and family life while keeping her weight loss firing has finally clicked for Dominique Withers.

The 32-year-old lives in Redditch, Worcestershire, with her husband, Joe, and their two children, Wilfred, five, and Gwyneth, two.

Her weight increased to almost 13st after the birth of her first child. But she has now transformed her diet after joining Slimming World.

She's now a target member of Kerry Wards Slimming World group in Webheath, Worcestershire, and even runs her own groups in Redditch.

Here she explains her remarkable story...

I started gaining weight when I was 16 after getting a job in a shoe shop; it was great for my bank balance, but as I spent my wages on sweets, my waistline got bigger, too. Most nights, Id sit in front of the TV with my boyfriend, Joe, eating pick n mix sweets and chocolate bars.

I joined Slimming World when I was 19 and it wasnt long before I saw the scales starting to move. When Id lost 1st 7lbs, I stopped going to the group, telling myself: Ive done it. I can eat what I want now.

At 22, I moved in with Joe. I filled our new kitchen cupboards with biscuits, cooked nothing but shop-bought margherita pizza, chicken nuggets, chips, and pasta with garlic bread, and saw the scales creeping back to where Id started. Five months on, I realised the plateful of food in front of me was completely beige!

I went back to Slimming World and my meals turned colourful and varied again. And this time, I ensured they were filling, too. I started planning in advance, buying fresh ingredients and cooking satisfying dinners from scratch, and I also embraced exercise.

Packed with delicious recipes, inspirational stories and practical advice, these are just what you need to power up your weight loss and stay slim for life!

Click here for more information

I reached my first target weight of 9st in time for our wedding in 2013. After our honeymoon, I didnt go back to the group I told myself that I knew what I was doing and didnt need help any more.

And when we started trying for a baby soon after, I convinced myself that pregnancy would mean a big weight gain anyway. Gradually, my weight rose and once I was expecting, I started eating for two. By the time Wilfred was born in 2015, I was nearly 13st.

Not long after, I became pregnant again and though I constantly craved sugary snacks, I gained less weight this time round. After Gwyneth was born in September 2017, with my bathroom scales showing 11st 7lbs, I went back to eating mostly Slimming World meals, but I didnt feel ready to rejoin the group.

By the time Wilfred was two Id lost about a stone, and I felt a surge of determination to be back at my target weight in time for Joes 30th in eight months time. So I switched to a new group with a time that suited me better now that Wilfred was at nursery. Everyone made a fuss of Gwyneth and I felt relaxed enough to focus on my weight loss. Suddenly I realised how much I needed the group.

There was no more thinking: It doesnt matter if I miss one week at the group. Because it did matter to me. Just a few weeks after Joes 30th, I was back at my target weight. And this time, I was confident I would stay there.

Id always had the tools to lose weight and keep it off, and now my commitment had really clicked, too. With my new mindset, nothing seemed impossible. I set myself a new target of 8st 7lbs, which I reached in August 2018 and have stayed at ever since, and decided to train as a Slimming World Consultant.

I loved my weekly groups and hearing people share their weight-loss experiences, because I knew how invaluable that was to me, too. I also kept up my exercise I even ran the 2019 Birmingham Half Marathon!

My soaring confidence helped me cope with anything life could throw at me. So when Wilfred was diagnosed with autism, shortly before he started reception, I took the news calmly. The diagnosis confirmed what Joe and I had suspected for a while and it came as a relief.

When were all sitting at the table, enjoying a Food Optimising roast chicken dinner, Im happy Im setting my children up with healthy eating habits for life. Laughing and talking together over our full plates, its important to me that they grow up enjoying food thats good for them, and see me doing the same.

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Mum-of-two sheds almost 5 stone after changing the colour of her diet - Mirror Online

HE shocked the country when he unveiled his incredible weight loss five years ago - and Chris Moyles has kept up with his strict new lifestyle ever since.

Now the DJ, 46, has undergone another epic transformation by dyeing his hair "white blonde" - but it's his ever-shrinking frame that has once again left fans gobsmacked. So what is his secret?

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From a strict juice diet to gruelling workouts with an ex pro boxer's trainer and ditching bread, Chris has dedicated more than six years to his new look - and it's paid off.

He was motivated to shed the pounds after fearing his health could decline, and even previously told Metro he feared he'd die if he didn't focus on losing weight when he did.

"I'm getting older. If I don't keep fit I will be dead by the time I am 50," he said.

Here's a look at how the radio star has shed five stone over the years...

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Chris has admitted working early morning shifts on Radio 1's Breakfast Show for years meant his lifestyle became unhealthy quickly.

He previously dubbed his stint on the show as his 'fat breakfast DJ stage' and it's been widely reported he used to eat mostly junk food and snacks while working.

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He would reportedly indulge in multiple takeaways and would rarely exercise, but having left the show in 2012 - and taken a break from the early mornings for a while - it motivated him to tackle the weight once and for all.

Sure enough, he debuted his slimmed down figure in 2014 and hasn't looked back since.

The star previously opened up about his ongoing weight loss and explained that he shed the pounds simply by changing his diet and fitness regime.

After spotting an article claiming he'd been eating around 2,000 calories a day before his weight loss, Chris took to Facebook in 2017 and claimed it was much more.

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"Have you missed a zero off that? If I was consuming only 2000 calories a day, I could've lost weight! The NHS website says a man needs around 2,500 calories a day to maintain his weight," he wrote.

He went on to claim that while he's switched to healthier foods, he still can't stand oatmeal - and added: "I eat eggs as they are. Chicken with skin on, only started eating fish recently and have turkey at Christmas."

Doing regular cardio and intense workouts to build muscle mass has also given him a new lease of life.

Meanwhile, he also cut out a major culprit - bread - and reduced the amount of lager he was drinking, which he revealed to fans after spotting false rumours that he'd used weight loss supplements.

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"I have never even heard of this product, let alone used it," he said on Facebook.

"I don't want people reading this and thinking that's how I lost weight. So here, from my tiny mouth, is the truth.

"I stopped buying bread. Dramatically cut my lager intake. Started eating better food... Trained regularly. That's it.

"I just wanted you to know I didn't use any supplements and I still hate oatmeal."

While Chris has largely credited his weight loss to an ongoing healthier diet, he previously tried out a 5-day juice diet in 2016 to give him an immediate cleanse - and kept fans updated on his progress throughout on Instagram.

The star first revealed he'd taken on the difficult challenge by sharing a photo of a Colin the Caterpillar cake on his page and writing: "Day 2 of juice detox and the studio is full of food for Dom's birthday... #torture #happybirthdaydom."

He managed to resist the treats however - even sticking to juices during a Coldplay gig - and revealed a photo of his morning juice on day 4 alongside the caption: "Day 4 of nothing but bloody juuuuuuice! This is my breakfast.. ffs... Only 38 hours to go.. Haha."

Sure enough, on the final day he shared a snap of some green soup as his final meal and wrote: "The 5 day Juice Detox is all but over. The final soup has been demolished.

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"I haven't eaten solid food since Tuesday night and I feel great. Well done to me. And thanks to Captain Juice@jasonvale(PS It tasted lovely so don't bother leaving messages such as 'Looks like Kermit's piss' etc... You're too late!)"

He celebrated his achievement with a well-earned hot chocolate.

While Chris has said he's managed to stick to his own strict exercise regime throughout, he has had help from the best - former professional boxer David Haye's ex trainer, no less.

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He previously told the Mirror: I've got David Haye's old trainer who kills me. Ive become obsessed with it [fitness].

And I watch what I eat now that I've had to learn to cook for myself and that takes up a lot of my time, especially if I'm not drinking, which I have been trying not to do lately.

While Chris managed to cut down the lager when he first began his weight loss journey, he also revealed he'd begun noticing the difference it made to his body too - which spurred him on even further.

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He told The Sun in 2014: I dont know what I used to think when I looked in the mirror when I was at my worst.

Now if I go out on a Friday or Saturday and have a few beers, I can see that Im bloating in the mirror on Sunday.

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However, like with any of us, Chris does still have his cheat days - and he previously joked they make him feel so bad, he "cries himself to sleep" after doing it.

I fall off the wagon sometimes and buy a pack of salt and vinegar chip sticks and a pack of cookies and eat them, and I feel bad about myself and cry myself to sleep. That happens," he joked.

Let's face it, everyone deserves a few cheat days.

Continued here:
How Chris Moyles shed 5st in weight loss transformation by ditching bread for juice and working with David - The Sun

Keeping track of all the strict rules on the keto diet can make your head spinso it's no wonder headaches are one of the side effects of the uber-trendy diet. All kidding aside, keto headaches *are* actually A Thing that many keto dieters deal with when they start the diet.

Keto headaches, which are one of the totally miserable symptoms lumped into the "keto flu" category, often appear at the beginning of a ketogenic diet overhaul. The severity and duration of the symptoms vary from person to person, just like the real flu. Some people only have mild symptoms while others feel completely knocked out, with icky body and energy symptoms lasting hours or up to weeks.

The good news is the headaches are generally a short-term effect that only happen as your body adjusts to the low-carb, high-fat eating plan and switches into fat-burning mode. Nutritionists also have many tips for how keto dieters can prevent and treat keto headaches, so they don't throw off your whole day or lead you to ditch the eating plan altogether. Here's everything you need to know to nix the discomfort.

When you start the keto diet and dramatically drop your carb consumption (to somewhere around 20 to 50 grams per day), your body transitions into a process called ketosis within two to seven days. That means the body starts making ketones and burning fat for energy to make up for the lack of carbs coming in. You also go through carb withdrawal (yes, that's a thing), which brings on symptoms like keto headaches.

The keto headaches occur during the transition into ketosis. "Headaches may occur as a result of consuming fewer carbohydrates, especially sugar," says Valerie Agyeman, RD, women's health dietitian and founder of Flourish Heights. "When you start the diet, your body begins relying on ketones instead of glucose, which can cause your blood sugar levels to drop. In turn, this may lead to low blood sugar." This transition into ketosis may stress out your brain, which could result in a brain fog as well as headaches, she adds.

That's not all: Agyeman says these factors also increase your risk of keto headaches:

Keto headaches, like other keto flu symptoms, are very personal. "It varies for everyone, but most people get headaches in the beginning phase of following this restrictive diet and might improve as you remain hydrated and eat plenty of nutritious foods," says Agyeman. The pain can pop up anytime of day, too.

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"Much like any diet plan, theres a right way to do it healthfully," says Keri Glassman, RD, nutritionist at Nutritious Life. "If you go right to eating packaged foods because theyre labeled keto and loading up on only hard-to-digest foods, your body will have a harder time thriving on this diet and can result in more headaches, brain fog, aches, and pains."

You're not totally powerless against keto headaches. Nutritionists say there are many ways you can get ahead of them and stay on track with your keto diet.

Keep in mind, the keto diet may not be to blame for your headaches. As Agyeman warns, "If you continue to experience headaches constantly on the keto diet, consult a health professional to ensure that an underlying medical condition isnt to blame." And if keto just isn't for you, that's okay too. Nutrition is super personaland you can work with a health pro to find the best eating plan for you.

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What Are Keto Headaches? Causes And Prevention Tips From Dietitians - Women's Health