Category Archives: Diet And Food

The Turner Twins have climbed a mountain and trekked to the most inaccessible points on every continent, all in the name of research, charitable causes, and exploration. For their latest adventure, brothers Hugo and Ross Turner trekked into even more fraught territory comparing the effects of a vegan diet to an omnivorous diet on two genetically identical people.

The Turners decided to study the two eating styles side-by-side over a 12-week fitness training regime from January to March this year. They were inspired by the growing popularity (and sometimes controversy) of vegan diets for athletes, following documentaries like "The Game Changers," according to Ross.

"We wanted to take bias and opinion out of it and take down to the genetic level. We can get science involved because we're twins and genetically identical, so we can compare ourselves in extreme environments," Ross told Insider.

The pair monitored how they felt during the course of the experiment, and were followed by researchers from King's College, who tracked basic health metrics like weight, cholesterol, and muscle mass.

Both twins did endurance training at the gym 5 to 6 times a week, using a program designed by Ross, a personal trainer. They also ate an almost identical number of calories in meals prepared by the Mindful Chef delivery service.

By the end, they noticed some big differences in terms of muscle gains, fat loss, and digestive health.

Prior to giving up animal products for the experiment, Hugo weighed in at about 185 pounds and 13% body fat. After about a month on the vegan diet, he said he had dropped nearly 9 pounds. By the end of the experiment, he measured in at 181 pounds. Nearly all the weight lost was fat mass, with his overall body fat composition dipping by a full percentage point to 12%. His cholesterol levels also dropped.

Even more striking were his energy levels Hugo said he felt significantly more alert during his lunchtime gym sessions, compared with his typical routine.

"On a vegan diet my mental focus was much better, I didn't have the mid afternoon energy dips, and felt a bit more charged," he told Insider.

He said one explanation could be how the vegan diet changing his snacking habits. Since biscuits and chips aren't vegan, he'd switched to mainly fruit and nuts.

Hugo noticed one exception to his higher energy levels his libido, which he said dropped off sharply."I just lost it, I really don't know what happened," he said, noting that his experience may not be true for everyone. The twins did not conduct blood tests during the experiment, but said they would do so if they tried something similar in the future. They could measure testosterone, for example, to see if it explains some of the changes.

An example of one of the meals the Hugo Turner ate in the 12 week vegan diet experiment, a buckwheat and mushroom pizza. Mindful Chef

Ross has always been the slightly bigger of the brothers, and this was exacerbated by the experiment. From starting around 13% body fat, he put on 10 pounds of muscle in addition to just over 4 pounds of fat. That brought his overall body fat percentage up slightly to 15% and his final weigh-in to 189 pounds.

His cholesterol levels stayed consistent throughout the 12 week duration.

Ross said the meal plan for this experiment was slightly more varied than his typical diet, and extremely balanced in terms of macronutrients, with array of chicken, fish, red meat, veggies, dairy, and grains.

Prior to this, a typical day of eating for the twins would include toast or porridge for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, and some version of chicken, veggies, or pasta for dinner.

For Hugo, the dietary change was even more significant, since his usual animal-based protein was swapped out for things like tofu, tempeh (fermented soybeans), and jackfruit.

"Eating a vegan diet, you almost have to overcompensate with variety, so I was eating foods i wasn't really used to," Hugo said.

As a result, his gut microbiome the populations of beneficial bacteria that live in the human digestive system also changed in some interesting ways, based on fecal samples analyzed by Atlas Biomed before and after the experiment.

The changes potentially improved Hugo's resilience to some forms of chronic illness, according to the analysis, lowering his risk of obesity and type 2 diabetes. That supports previous research suggesting plant-based diets could reduce the risk of those conditions by improving the microbiome.

But to their surprise, both brothers saw a decrease in their microbial diversity, or the number of different bacteria species present in the gut. That's generally linked to less resilience against some types of chronic illness such as Crohn's Disease.

Although Ross' microbiome changed slightly, it remained much more consistent than his brother's.

It's not clear why those changes occurred, although the Turners hypothesized that the abrupt change to a vegan diet, and the relatively short duration of the experiment, might have been factors.

One caveat of the experiment, the Turners note, is that 12 weeks isn't a long time for a typical dietary study if they could do it over, the brothers said they're prefer to trial the diets for 6 months to a year for better data.

But the brothers said they've learned a lot, and plan to incorporate more plant-based eating in their lifestyle. The brothers are known for their endurance expeditions, and want to test how vegan eating might benefits them on their treks.

"You lose about half a kilo of weight a day on an endurance trip, more than that if you're carrying extra weight, so welike to be lean and mean nothing in between on the trip," Hugo said.

He added that being forced to find vegan alternatives also greatly expanded his world of food options.

"One thing to come out of this is we don't eat nearly enough variety of foods. Often, we kind of just disguise the same foods in different forms. Butvariety is the spice of life," Hugo said.

Ross said that there tends to be a reluctance for meat eaters to try vegan foods, and he hopes this experiment will encourage dedicated omnivores to branch out, since many plant-based substitutes like vegan burgers are similar in taste and texture to the classics.

If you're curious about trying veganism, he added, you don't to go "cold tofu" and jump in all at once. Based on his experience, Hugo recommends starting with your snacking habits, and swapping out between-meal treats with vegan options.

The twins concluded that their optimal diet is a mix of plant- and animal-based foods.

"Having a vegan diet has benefits and so does eating meat, I don't think either outshone the other here," he said. "We'll be doing a mix of both, having non-meat days and adding morevegan foods into our diet, eating better-quality meat and less of it.We've taken away the best of both worlds."

Read more:

Vegans may have better aerobic endurance than omnivores, and are just as strong, according to new research

Why vegans and meat-eaters can't stop trolling each other

2 bodybuilders went vegan for a month and found the biggest downside was the gas

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Identical twins compared vegan diet with meat-eating and exercise - Insider - INSIDER

LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Technavio has been monitoring the edible flakes market and it is poised to grow by USD 8.3 billion during 2019-2023, progressing at a CAGR of about 8% during the forecast period. The report offers an up-to-date analysis regarding the current market scenario, latest trends and drivers, and the overall market environment.

Technavio suggests three forecast scenarios (optimistic, probable, and pessimistic) considering the impact of COVID-19. Please Request Latest Free Sample Report on COVID-19 Impact

The market is moderately fragmented, and the degree of fragmentation will accelerate during the forecast period. Bagrrys India Ltd., Dr. August Oetker KG, General Mills Inc., Kellogg Co., Marico Ltd., Natures Path Foods Inc., Nestl SA, PepsiCo Inc., Post Holdings Inc., and The Hain Celestial Group Inc. are some of the major market participants. Although the adoption of healthy diet will offer immense growth opportunities, the intense competition will challenge the growth of the market participants. To make the most of the opportunities, market vendors should focus more on the growth prospects in the fast-growing segments, while maintaining their positions in the slow-growing segments.

The adoption of healthy diet has been instrumental in driving the growth of the market. However, intense competition might hamper market growth.

Edible Flakes Market 2019-2023: Segmentation

Edible Flakes Market is segmented as below:

To learn more about the global trends impacting the future of market research, download a free sample: https://www.technavio.com/talk-to-us?report=IRTNTR32140

Edible Flakes Market 2019-2023: Scope

Technavio presents a detailed picture of the market by the way of study, synthesis, and summation of data from multiple sources. Our edible flakes market report covers the following areas:

This study identifies an increase in the use of edible flakes in snack products as one of the prime reasons driving the edible flakes market growth during the next few years.

Edible Flakes Market 2019-2023: Vendor Analysis

We provide a detailed analysis of around 25 vendors operating in the Edible Flakes Market, including some of the vendors such as Bagrrys India Ltd., Dr. August Oetker KG, General Mills Inc., Kellogg Co., Marico Ltd., Natures Path Foods Inc., Nestl SA, PepsiCo Inc., Post Holdings Inc., and The Hain Celestial Group Inc. Backed with competitive intelligence and benchmarking, our research reports on the Edible Flakes Market are designed to provide entry support, customer profile and M&As as well as go-to-market strategy support.

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Technavio's SUBSCRIPTION platform

Edible Flakes Market 2019-2023: Key Highlights

Table Of Contents :

PART 01: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PART 02: SCOPE OF THE REPORT

PART 03: MARKET LANDSCAPE

PART 04: MARKET SIZING

PART 05: FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

PART 06: MARKET SEGMENTATION BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL

PART 07: CUSTOMER LANDSCAPE

PART 08: GEOGRAPHIC LANDSCAPE

PART 09: DECISION FRAMEWORK

PART 10: DRIVERS AND CHALLENGES

PART 11: MARKET TRENDS

PART 12: VENDOR LANDSCAPE

PART 13: VENDOR ANALYSIS

PART 14: APPENDIX

PART 15: EXPLORE TECHNAVIO

About Us

Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. Their research and analysis focus on emerging market trends and provides actionable insights to help businesses identify market opportunities and develop effective strategies to optimize their market positions. With over 500 specialized analysts, Technavios report library consists of more than 17,000 reports and counting, covering 800 technologies, spanning across 50 countries. Their client base consists of enterprises of all sizes, including more than 100 Fortune 500 companies. This growing client base relies on Technavios comprehensive coverage, extensive research, and actionable market insights to identify opportunities in existing and potential markets and assess their competitive positions within changing market scenarios.

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Edible Flakes Market 2019-2023 | Adoption of Healthy Diet to Boost Growth | Technavio - Business Wire

With the T-shirt weather already present in May, many people are very keen to lose belly fat fast after putting on some extra weight during the first couple of months of lockdown. It is not difficult to lose weight fast at home, some easy tweaks in your lifestyle and boom! The barrel has disappeared from around your waist. Who knows, you may even reveal that six pack abs you have been hiding under that flab for a while...

Doing 3-move abs workouts are optional but other types of exercising might come handy in your journey to lose belly fat. Most dietary and fitness experts agree that the best way to lose weight is to keep a calorie deficit, meaning you take in less calories than what you expend throughout the day. Going on a special diet like the ketogenic diet or following a structured eating pattern (e.g. intermittent fasting) can help keeping the calories at bay, although it is not essential to adhere to a strict diet.

Below are three top tips that can help you shed belly fat faster.

(Image credit: TRX)

Although strength training has long been associated with muscle building, recent studies show that it's almost as effective in burning fat as doing cardio exercises. Muscle building requires a lot of work from your muscles no surprises there and a more muscular body burns more calories even in its resting state than a non-muscular variety.

Resistance training come in many shapes and sizes, and despite what you might think, even heavy lifting can be easily performed in your home gym, should you have the right type of equipment. You don't need barbells, kettlebells or even dumbbells to have a fat burning home workout session.

You can use your own body as weight and do beginner calisthenics workouts or get a couple of resistance bands and add even more err resistance to your workouts. Suspension training sets, like the excellent TRX HOME2, can provide a full body workout and it can also provide one of the best core workouts too.

(Image credit: Organic Protein Company)

Protein is the magic ingredient in your diet. Being one of the three macronutrients your body needs to function well, protein can aid muscle repair and recovery as well as help weight loss too. It also takes longer to digest protein than most carbs and therefore it will make you feel fuller for longer. Adding some fibre to your meals can also slow down digestion and make you feel more sated too.

You should supply your body with protein from a variety of sources: lean meat, nuts/nut butter, fish, dairy products, tofu and green vegetables are all excellent sources of protein.

If you down feel like chowing down on a piece of salmon on the street just to get your protein fix, you can drink protein shakes which are made by mixing protein powder and water (or milk/milk substitute). You can use a protein shake blender if you want those flavours to mixed properly.

Even more convenient way to consume protein is to have a protein bar or jerky as a snack: these are pre-packaged, flavoursome and most usually low in fat and carbs (sugar) as well.

(Image credit: Getty Images)

No, you shouldn't drink more alcohol, if anything, you should rid alcohol from your diet for quick weight loss results. However, drinking the right type of drinks can help boost metabolism and improve overall health too.

Drinking coffee, especially black coffee, has a range of health benefits and the caffeine in coffee can help speed up metabolism too. Nutritionists also recommend drinking green tea for the same reasons as coffee. Both should be drank in moderation, however, and not all the time, if you would like to avoid negative side effects.

Another type of drink you would like to drink more is water. Water is essential for our bodies to function well and most people drink way less than needed. It is recommended to drink at least two litres of water a day for optimum bodily performance.

Drinks to avoid include sugary fizzy drinks, fruit juices and alcohol.

See more here:
These 3 workout and diet weight loss tips for men are so easy but they actually WORK - T3

Weight loss was always one of the most searched for topics online, but ever since the lockdown, losing weight at home has become ever so popular, possibly because all of a sudden everyone started to gain weight due to their new, sedentary lifestyle. The good news is that losing weight at home needn't be difficult. You don't need to go full keto for weight loss although, okay, that could help.

To find out which five foods to avoid if you don't want to gain weight at home and five to eat instead for rapid weight loss we spoke to performance nutritionist Simon Jurwik who also happens to be the commercial director at Bulk Powders. In his humble opinion, some simple changes to lifestyle and diet can lead to great results. You don't have to do bodyweight workouts at home or use a running workout although that also might help.

Here are Simon's best tips on lockdown weight loss keeping in shape effectively and safely, with no dramas.

Simon doesn't believe in the idea of inherently 'bad' foods although even he wouldn't recommend chowing down on takeaway every morning. His motto is "everything in moderation". However he adds, "I would say to limit your consumption of the below whilst in lockdown as they are more calorie dense." Makes sense.

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Eat all your five-a-day in one go if you wish

(Image credit: Getty Images)

When it comes to weight loss, Simon vouches for calorie deficit: "You should try and eat a well balanced diet so you get the right amount of nutrients and minerals." Ideally, you would like to eat your five a day, a mix of fruits and vegetables, to make sure your vitamin levels are topped up.

It's easier than you think to add more greens to your meals: have some tomatoes with your breakfast bacon and eggs, have an apple mid-morning, some asparagus and kale with your lunch, a banana in the afternoon and half an avocado with your tea.

That's already more than 'just' five-a-day and it shows just how easy it is to add some extra fibres to your diet. Eating more fibrous can also help you feel fuller for longer, meaning you won't get hungry almost instantly after you had some food.

Simon recommends the following food groups to be included in your diet for effective weight loss:

Drinking more water can certainly help

(Image credit: Getty Images)

As Simon explains, "to avoid weight gain or to lose weight, you need to maintain calories compared to your energy expenditure to avoid weight gain or in a deficit for weight loss."

If this sounds a bit too complicated, here is what it means: you need to eat less than your maintenance calories in order to lose weight. Maintenance calories are what your body needs to function: on average, it is around 2,000 kcal for women and 2,500 kcal for men.

"A good way to do this is tracking your calories so you have a better understanding of how much youre eating." Simon adds "If you dont like specifically calorie tracking, then start monitoring your portion sizes. If you need to lose weight, simply reduce the portion sizes."

Calorie tracking can be made easy with apps like MyFitnessPal which can scan barcodes and do the addition for you, no need to calculate carbs/fat/protein manually.

If you want to lose weight, take in less calories than the ones you spend doing your daily activities. Although an average men burns 2,500 calories, if you spend most of your time at home and don't exercise much, your calorie needs are probably under that 2,500, more closer to 2,000.

Smart scales like the Tanita BC-401 body composition monitor can determine your base metabolic rate just by standing on it. Can'r get much easier than that.

You really should avoid most takeaways. Sorry!

(Image credit: Getty)

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Is keto diet the key to weight loss?

(Image credit: Fresh n Lean)

Going on a special diet can help, but only if it's controlled and you stick to it. "Ultimately, it comes down to adherence. If you find going lower carb keto diet is easier for you to stick with, then thats a good option. If you prefer intermittent fasting and you find you can stick to it, then thats one to explore" Simon adds.

The keyword here is 'adherence': avoid moving from one fad to the other on a weekly basis. Once you found the diet you can keep to it doesn't have to be an extreme one either just let your body adjust and eventually, you'll see the results.

The most important thing to remember is that once you get healthy, weight loss will come naturally. It's not about chasing after pounds lost; what's more important is to ease yourself into a healthy lifestyle and a sustainable diet. That will make you lose weight and keep it off, too.

Other special diets include the vegan diet, military diet and paleo diet. And loads more. Do we recommend these? Not necessarily but they are there as an option, should you want to try them for weight loss.

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Exercising regularly is not necessary for weight loss but it can certainly help

(Image credit: Getty Images)

In Simon's opinion, it's important to make a distinction between people who already have a certain muscle mass and people who 'just' want to lose weight: "It depends, if youre aiming to maintain a certain amount of muscle mass, you would need to continue exercising and in particular, resistance training, to hold onto the muscle mass you have."

Cardio has long been used for weight loss, let it be running on treadmills, indoor cycling or indoor rowing. But resistance training is also a great way to burn calories as well as doing HIIT workouts. The best resistance training for weight loss are the ones that use compound exercises, like this full body workout or this two-day push-pull workout.

"Similarly, if youve just completed a diet, which incorporated exercising and calorie restriction, youll need to continue completing the same level of exercise to maintain your weight. If you were to just stop, your calorie expenditure would go down and you will likely gain weight" Simon concludes.

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Supplement-wise, Bulk Powders has you covered

(Image credit: Bulk Powders)

Understandably, Simon knows a lot about topping up your energy levels with supplements: "having the right supplements in the right time can contribute to maintaining/losing weight when incorporated into a balanced diet. For example, if you follow a ketogenic diet, Bulk Powders has several products that are low in carbohydrates such as our Complete Keto Protein Shake, Complete Greens and Electrolyte tablets."

Supplements can come in many shapes and sizes and supplementing your diet doesn't necessarily mean chugging down gallons of protein shakes or weight gainers. Especially if you are following a strict diet, like the vegan diet or the aforementioned keto diet, taking some supplements will be inevitable to support your metabolism.

When using supplements to lose weight, our product Cutting Edge, contains Glucomannan which contributes to weight loss in the context of a calorie restricted diet.

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Lockdown weight loss: Eat MORE of these five foods and BLACKLIST these five other ones - T3

Like us, our dogs should be eating the right foods for their bodies. Also like us, while they might enjoy eating hot chips for every meal, thats going to have a negative impact on their wellbeing.

What dogs tell us they want is not always what they need. We shouldnt allow those puppy-dog eyes at the dinner table to sway our feeding decisions, but instead look at some key indicators more closely related to their health.

Dr Lee Danks, a technical services veterinarian at Black Hawk, says there are some common misconceptions when it comes to our understanding of the way our dogs eat. The first is that food equals love, he says.

We might imagine that sharing our meals with our dogs helps them feel happy and secure, but we often forget that it can send mixed messages when they cant distinguish this from their everyday meal of dog food, particularly when human foods are given irregularly, when the food is varied, and the precious resource of food is intertwined with another resource: social interaction. We often dont account for the extra calories too, and that can have long-term health implications.

Adding anything that isnt complete and balanced, such as table scraps, can throw your pets diet out of whack. Photograph: Justin Paget/Getty Images.

While meal sharing does build social bonds, just as it does when we have a lovely dinner party with our friends, its also going to do them more harm than good if were not completely aware of the impact, Danks says. Given the opportunity, dogs will often overeat, and its our responsibility to protect them from that.

We may think, my dog is following me about, therefore they want food, but this is a learned behaviour. Begging is something that we train into our animals. Understanding what they actually need is a different story.

An early indicator is palatability, Danks says. In other words, how appealing the food is to the dog, including its taste and texture. There are a few reasons why your dog might suddenly go off their food.

It could be that their preferences have changed. Sometimes food is not being stored properly, which can change the food to lose some of its flavour.

A few days without a meal can affect a dogs wellbeing, and they start to break down their own body tissue. If a fresh bag doesnt do the trick, it might be worth trying a new product.

Other reasons might be revealed through a home health check. Danks says if body weight travels up or down , it can be a reminder to look at what they are eating, and how much theyre getting. If muscle drops away, we wonder if they are getting the amino acids and proteins, or ingredients like meat, that drive maintenance of lean muscle mass.

Danks also says to watch out for something he calls pick-up-ability.

The sample you get every day while walking your dog is a poo, he says. We can start asking ourselves, when we pick it up, does it leave a mark on the pavement? That tells you if theres a bit too much moisture in there. If you consistently have a puddle in one extreme or a dehydrated pebble on the other, then maybe what youre feeding should be changed.

It might seem boring to us, but feeding one high-quality product will give your dogs all the food they need. That means all 37 essential nutrients are being provided with every meal, as long as you feed according to the guides on the packs.

The first challenge for the pet food manufacturer is that it is safe and balanced. And the second challenge is: does it taste good? If were expecting dogs to enjoy it for years and years of their life, it needs to be something they want to go back to.

Dogs eat according to a whole range of sensory experiences, starting with smell. For a kibble, Danks says, manufacturers such as Black Hawk coat the surface of the product with the natural ingredients that drive dogs to want to eat that food: usually fats and proteins. That mix gives the product a unique flavour profile, which creates aromas that are appealing to a dogs very sensitive nose, and makes them want to eat the nutritious food inside.

The vast majority of wet foods are also complete and balanced, he says. What youre looking for on the pack is an Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) statement. If youre a conscientious manufacturer with a good formulation team behind you, you should be able to weave some magic and create a lovely combination of great ingredients to fulfil the AAFCO nutrient requirements. If you look on our packs, you will see that statement.

If you do decide to shift your dogs diet to one thats more balanced or tailored, Danks says its best to have a transition period.

If you eat bananas for the next five weeks, then suddenly shift to burgers, your gastrointestinal system is going to go haywire, he explains. Its not going to cope.

A rule of thumb is: if youre feeding a chicken-based diet, stick to a chicken-based diet. If you have a nutrition profile or ingredient list thats vastly different, thats where the transition process comes in. Day by day, increase the proportion of new versus old food to be gentle on their guts. That slow transition usually takes five to seven days, but can potentially take up to a couple of months for extremely sensitive individuals.

Moving to a premium product such as Black Hawk makes the process easier. When youre taking a step up in digestibility, its less of an issue.

Danks recommends we take a careful and considered look at the range on the shelves to find the best product for our dogs. People want to feed their pets better, and we can be more discerning, he says. We dont always have to accept the status quo if our dogs physicality is telling a different story. Its all about reaching for the product that reflects how much we care.

Black Hawks natural, holistic pet food range makes sure your dog gets everything they need, and nothing they dont. Read more about their commitment to the well-being of your pet and real food recipes here.

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Dogs need a balanced diet, too - here's how to get it right - The Guardian

DUBAI: Protests were held across the US this week demanding justice for George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and the other black Americans who have been victims of police brutality. Many celebrities joined in on these protests in major cities such as Los Angeles or New York, including French-Algerian actress Sofia Boutella, pop star Ariana Grande, model Emily Ratajkowski and rapper J. Cole.

Meanwhile, other stars have taken to their social media platforms to demand justice and draw attention to various organizations which help low-income protesters pay bail or donation pages that directly benefit the family members of the victims.

Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively shared a joint statement on Instagram on Sunday night, revealing that they donated $200,000 to the NAACP Legal Defence Fund, a civil and human rights legal organization that provides legal assistance to low-income African Americans.

The couple, who share two children together, wrote We've never had to worry about preparing our kids for different rules of law or what might happen if we're pulled over in the car. We dont know what its like to experience that life day in and day out. We cant imagine feeling that kind of fear and anger. Were ashamed that in the past weve allowed ourselves to be uninformed about how deeply rooted systemic racism is."

The couples statement continued, We want to educate ourselves about other peoples experiences and talk to our kids about everything, all of it especially our own complicity.

Lively and Reynolds arent the only celebrities to donate a hefty sum amid the George Floyd protests sweeping the US. Model and cookbook author Chrissy Teigen pledged to donate $200,000 towards the bail-outs of protesters across the nation.

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5 reasons to add blueberries to your diet - Arab News

American Fork, Utah, United States, June 1 2020 Published via (Wiredrelease) There is plenty of information out there about the keto diet. Proponents sing its praises while others claim that it is a dangerous fad diet. Heres what you need to know about how to start the keto diet for yourself.

How it Works

The basic premise of the keto diet is to replace carbohydrates as your bodys primary energy source. The goal is to teach your body to use fat for energy instead. This way, your body will draw from its own fat resources in order to fuel itself instead of relying on carbohydrates and continuing to store away fat for the future.

Some keto diets are more extreme than others, but it is safest to keep some level of carbs in your diet. The standard ketogenic diet has very low carbs but allows quite a lot of fat in the diet in order to fuel your body.

This is a safer choice for most modern people who are accustomed to always having a lot of calories to fuel their energy throughout the day. Your body wont have to sacrifice any fuel, it will just have to learn to use fat instead of carbs. Here are the percentages of the standard ketogenic diet:

75% fat20% protein5% carbsFoods to Eat

One of the most attractive features of the keto diet is the number of things that you are allowed to eat. When most of us think about dieting, we think of dramatically restricting ourselves in regards to what we enjoy. Some of us even come to think of dieting as a time in our lives when food is not a major source of pleasure. However, the keto diet allows all kinds of delicious foods:

Eggs, Meat, and poultryNuts, olive oil, and avocadoCream, butter, and plain Greek yogurt

There are many more varieties that you can try, but in general you are trying to avoid sources of carbs and sugar. In general, meat is always a safe source of delicious energy on the keto diet. Many Americans will notice little deviation from their standard diet, especially in main dishes which are so often meat-based as it is.

Foods to Avoid

Its no fun to avoid foods that we enjoy eating, but in order for any diet to be successful, there has to be some change from the things that you would choose to eat if there were not restrictions. Unlike some other diets that allows some deviation and cheating as a part of the plan, the keto diet can be seriously affected by cheating.

The effectiveness of the keto diet depends on Ketosis taking place. Ketosis can only take place if your diet contains a very small amount of carbs. For most people, more than 50 carbs a day can take them out of Ketosis. Therefore, you should do your absolute best not to cheat on your keto diet if you can avoid it.

With so many indulgent foods that you are allowed to eat, you should be able to fill your tummy with an alternative that will help you get through it. That said, here are some of the foods that you need to avoid.

Bread, pasta, and grains like rice, oats, and wheatSugar, sugary products, and sugary drinksStarchy fruits like apples, peaches, and bananasStarchy vegetables like yams, corn, and potatoes

One of the hardest things about the keto diet is learning that what is healthy is not necessarily good for the keto diet. You may have gotten accustomed to thinking of things like apples and orange juice as healthy, but on a keto diet, they can break Ketosis.

Try the Keto Diet for Yourself

Whatever youve heard about Keto, the fact is that this diet is taking hold of America in a serious way. This diet is scientifically based and many people have found a lot of success with it. If youve been wondering how to start a keto diet, stop wondering and give it a try. Its easier to incorporate into your lifestyle than you may think.

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How to Start the Keto Diet - PharmiWeb.com

Are you involved in an exercise program but seeing very little changes in your body or weight? Frustrated that all your hard work doesn't seem to be paying off?

Firstly, it takes a lot of exercise to burn off energy or calories. There are 3500 calories in a pound of fat, for example running a marathon burns 2600 calories, so you see...very hard work for little calories burned.

My advice is to eat for weight loss and train for body composition, its easier that way.

Here are my top tips for getting leaner and created a strong, toned body.

1. Understand and educate yourself on how many calories are in the foods you currently eat. The law of energy balance governs whether we lose or store body fat. Keep track of what you are eating and try and drop calories out of our diet slowly and steadily. A calorie deficit of 500 a day over 7 days a week will enable you to drop a pound of fat a week.

It's easier and more sustainable to reduce calories in your daily diet by 200-300 each day and participate in exercise to burn 100-200 additional calories. This avoids injury, fatigue and encourages awareness of calories and energy balance from weight loss.

2. Don't forget to track the calories bites, licks, nibbles and tastes. It's astounding how many calories you consume just nibbling, finishing off kids leftovers, tasting food during preparation. This could equate to 500 plus calories a day if you are not tracking correctly and could wipe out your calorie deficit. In order to create flexibility in your diet you can give yourself a weekly calorie budget and have a little more calories at times you need them, for example, social occasions.

3. Participate in the exercise you enjoy. You are more likely to maintain it when you enjoy it.

4. Don't neglect your NEAT activity. A common problem is that when we participate in planned physical activity like a class or go for a run we tend to reduce our NEAT activity because we feel "our exercise is complete". Every day try and complete 10k steps in addition to planned exercise. Park your car furthest from the shops or office and get your steps in that way. Take your children for a walk in the park, you'll find it will improve their behavior, sleep and make them healthier too.

5. Prioritise Weight Training as it will have the greatest impact on your body composition and is essential for improving bone and muscle strength as we age. It will improve Insulin Sensitivity, metabolism, and hormonal function. We want to focus on building muscle on top of our skeletal system and then reducting body fat in order to see that lean, toned definition that we have built up in our weight training regime.

There is not much point building up muscle in the gym, only to have it covered with layers of fat. Both my online six week Bikini Body and Over 40 lean and Strong provide a strength-based program with video tutorials to teach you how to lift weights safely and for muscle tone and definition.

6. Be Consistent. Dipping in and out of an exercise program won't make us strong and counting calories half-arsed won't help us lose weight. Setting realistic goals of 1lb a week and participate in 2-3 strength sessions to start off, this is more sustainable than biting off more than you can chew.

You can check out all the programmes listed above on my website. Each program provides support from myself and qualified nutritionists and fitness professionals through a private Facebook community to enable you to reach your desired goals.

Follow me on Facebook; Tara Grimes Fitness, Instagram: Taragrimesfitness, Snapchat: Tara_Grimes

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The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has some looking for ways to keep their immune systems in tip-top shape, and theres evidence that vitamin D can help with exactly that. But taking too much of this dietary supplement can be dangerous, doctors warned in a paper published earlier this month in the British Medical Journal.

Medical professionals already know that vitamin D helps to strengthen bones, and the supplement has also been said to regulate cellular functions throughout the body. And in relation to the novel coronavirus, there are some trials underway to study the effectiveness of vitamin D on hospitalized COVID-19 patients, such as one in Spain.

To date, however, there are no clinical studies that show the effectiveness of vitamin D, or any other supplements or vitamins, to treat the coronavirus.

CLICK HERE FOR COMPLETE CORONAVIRUS COVERAGE

Though vitamin D is essential for good health, there is no strong scientific evidence to show that very high intakes (i.e., mega supplements) of vitamin D will be beneficial in preventing or treating COVID-19, doctors from the United Kingdom, the United States and Ireland wrote in the paper titled Vitamin D and SARS-CoV-2 virus/ COVID-19 disease.

There are evidenced health risks with excessive vitamin D intakes, especially for those with other health issues such as a reduced kidney function, they added.

Just like everything else, taking too much of something is not a good thing. Vitamin D has lots of benefits but taking too much vitamin D can also cause problems, Dr. John Whyte, the chief medical officer for the healthcare website WebMD, told Fox News.

Dr. John Whyte, the chief medical officer of the health care website WebMD, echoed the 21 doctors who wrote the paper.

Just like everything else, taking too much of something is not a good thing. Vitamin D has lots of benefits, but taking too much vitamin D can also cause problems, Whyte, who was not involved in the paper, told Fox News in an email.

The biggest issue relates to calcium and its relationship to vitamin D. Too much vitamin D may result in too much calcium, which could result in kidney stones, he explained.

VITAMIN D LEVELS MAY IMPACT COVID-19 MORTALITY RATES, STUDY CLAIMS

More often, people develop abdominal discomfort or nausea when calcium gets too high. You might also feel like youre thirsty a lot. Over the years, Ive seen some patients develop constipation from taking too much vitamin D on a daily basis. It can also make you more tired and cause muscle and bone pain. Bone pain can be concerning because vitamin D plays an important role in bone health. Too much vitamin D can actually cause bone loss and that might make you more likely to develop a fracture, he continued. So I dont recommend people take megadoses. Moderation is always a good thing.

The news comes after a research team led by Northwestern University discovered a strong correlation between vitamin D deficiency and mortality rates from the coronavirus.

The researchers -- who analyzed data from hospitals and clinics across China, France, Germany, Italy, Iran, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdomand the United States -- found that patients from countries with high COVID-19 mortality rates, such as Italy, Spainand the United Kingdom, had lower levels of vitamin D compared to patients in countries that were not as severely affected.

The researchers also found a strong correlation between vitamin D levels and cytokine storm, which is a hyperinflammatory condition caused by an overactive immune system.

"Cytokine storm can severely damage lungs and lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome and death in patients," Ali Daneshkhah, a postdoctoral research associate at Northwestern's McCormick School of Engineering, said in a statement. "This is what seems to kill a majority of COVID-19 patients, not the destruction of the lungs by the virus itself. It is the complications from the misdirected fire from the immune system."

However, not unlike what Whyte said and the authors of the paper published this month in the British Medical Journal, the scientists also cautioned against hoarding vitamin D supplements.

VITAMIN D AND THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC: SHOULD YOU TAKE IT?

"While I think it is important for people to know that vitamin D deficiency might play a role in mortality, we don't need to push vitamin D on everybody," Northwestern's Vadim Backman, who led the research, said in a statement. "This needs further study, and I hope our work will stimulate interest in this area. The data also may illuminate the mechanism of mortality, which, if proven, could lead to new therapeutic targets."

Fox News's Christopher Carbone contributed to this article.

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Taking vitamin D amid coronavirus: Doctors warn against 'megadoses' of the dietary supplement - Fox News

The standard U.S. diet can have a devastating impact on the body (Photo: Adobe. Do not use without permission)

Meat-heavy standard U.S. diets are part of a 'constant chemical assault' on our bodies, leading to a host of health issues including 'rampant obesity', according to a leading plant-based doctor.

Dr. Michael Klaper, who describes himself as a 'classically-trained Western physician', has postgraduate training in internal medicine, surgery, anaesthesiology, and obstetrics. He has been working in general practice for around 47 years.

He spoke about the impact 'meal after meal of fried animal protein, and cooked vegetable oils, and high fructose corn syrup and phosphoric acid in cola drinks' is having on our bodies in a video for Million Dollar Vegan (MDV).

MDV is an advocacy organization which encourages and supports people to sign its 31-day pledge and give a plant-based diet a go. In the past, MDV has offered to make $1,000,000 dollar charity donations if Pope Francis and Donald Trump signed the pledge.

Those who take part will be offered recipes, health and nutrition advice, and a free Vegan Starter Kit featuring meal plans, tips on where to eat out, and answers to tricky questions.

Speaking in the video, Dr. Klaper says: "Like most of my colleagues practicing medicine in the West, when we open up the door of our waiting room, we see a large group of people with a fairly small group of grim degenerative diseases.

"Obesity is rampant and along with that, we see clogged arteries, high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, a host of inflammatory diseases from inflamed colon to inflamed joints, skin diseases. These are the classic in Western medicine seen today.

"Obesity has become very common because we are not only eating tremendous amounts of calories way in excess of what our bodies require, but the particular combination of sugars and fats eaten at the same time evokes what's called oxidative priority. We burn the sugars and store the fats for later."

According to Dr. Klaper, when you eat something like ice-cream, it is fat and sugar. He says: "We burn the sugar and store the fat. When you eat a cheeseburger, you're going to burn the sugar in the white flour bun and the sugar in the ketchup and store the fat in the meat and the cheese.

"So we're eating that sugar fat combination pretty much all day, from the bacon, eggs, and toast in the morning to the burgers and fries at lunch, and to the fried chicken and the milkshake in the evening. Even the boiled salmon eaten with the grilled potatoes is that fat and sugar combination. So the vast amounts of fat and sugar is making us grossly obese.

"And it's more than just a cosmetic issue, because as fat accumulates - especially inside the abdomen - intra-abdominal fat puts out an array of molecules that sets off inflammation. They're called inflammatory cytokines and they set off inflammatory conditions all over the body. So obesity is a state of inflammation. So people can say 'well, I'm obese but I'm still healthy'. No, if you're obese, you're fighting inflammation and that sets the stage for diseases in many kinds of organs."

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Standard Diets Are Leading To 'Rampant Obesity' Which Is Unhealthy, Says Doctor - Plant Based News