Category Archives: Diet And Food

Intermittent fasting is a way of losing weight that favours flexibility over calorie counting. It restricts the time you are allowed to eat, which reduces calorie intake by limiting opportunities to eat. Thats the theory, at least.

A popular version of intermittent fasting is the 5:2 diet, which involves eating a very low-calorie diet (about a quarter of usual calorie intake) for two days each week and unrestricted eating on the other five days. This approach has worked well for some people, but not everyone. In our latest study, we found that people cheat on their intermittent fasting diet, without realising it.

Conducted over three days, the study aimed to find out how eating and physical activity changed around a period of calorie restriction.

A group of male participants completed two trials. On the first trial day, they were told they would have a very low-calorie diet (about 700 calories) the following day. Throughout the rest of the day, we tracked how much the participants ate and we assessed their hunger before and after each meal. Their physical activity was also monitored throughout the day.

The next day, participants ate the very low-calorie diet, and we monitored their physical activity. The morning after completing the low-calorie diet day, we measured their food intake at an unrestricted breakfast and assessed their hunger before and after the meal.

Each participant also completed a control trial that followed the same method. During the control trial, participants ate a typical diet (about 2,800 calories) instead of a very low-calorie diet.

We found that participants ate 6% more on the first day of the study and 14% more at the unrestricted breakfast on the low-calorie diet trial. This was despite hunger levels before and after each meal being similar to the control trial. This suggests participants ate more because they knew food intake would be restricted the following day, rather than because they felt hungrier.

Physical activity was also 11% lower the day before eating the low-calorie diet, and 18% lower while eating the low-calorie diet.

Interestingly, low-intensity physical activity, such as washing the dishes, which tends to be spontaneous behaviour rather than consciously planned activities, was the most affected component of physical activity. We found changes in eating and physical activity behaviour occur before, during and after a day of low-calorie dieting. These behavioural changes reduce the likelihood of intermittent fasting leading to weight loss.

For a diet to lead to weight loss, calories burned must exceed calories consumed to produce a calorie deficit. Intermittent fasting diets assume that the large calorie deficit produced by fasting or very low-calorie dieting is not recovered during the unrestricted period, so the calorie deficit is preserved. But our study shows that eating a little more and reducing spontaneous physical activity may be enough to recover almost half of this calorie deficit. The calorie deficit may also be reduced further at subsequent meals after a very low-calorie diet day.

Earlier studies support our findings. Skipping breakfast for six weeks was shown to reduce physical activity and increase calorie intake at later meals. This was enough to fully compensate for calories skipped at breakfast. This raises the question: is fasting or severe calorie restriction worth the sacrifice?

Weight loss from any diet is always likely to be lower than expected. Compensatory mechanisms defend against a calorie deficit far more strongly than a calorie surplus. In scientific studies of intermittent fasting, participants are often guided by a dietitian on how many calories they should eat on the unrestricted days. Even with this support, participants in these studies still lose less weight than would be expected if the calorie deficit had been fully preserved.

Our study highlights what and when compensatory behaviours occur. This information can be used to improve the effectiveness of intermittent fasting diets. Being more mindful when eating before and after a period of calorie restriction and incorporating exercise into diet plans, could help increase the likelihood of intermittent fasting leading to weight loss.

Intermittent fasting is not a miracle diet, but some people may benefit from its flexibility, and with a few minor adjustments, it could be even more effective.

If youd like to take part in our next study, exploring pre-lockdown and during-lockdown exercise and nutrition habits, please click on this link. You must be 18 years or older and have taken part in regular physical activity before the lockdown.

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Intermittent fasting: if you're struggling to lose weight, this might be why - The Conversation UK

Corn and wheat grains, and their co-products, are the most widely used sources of energy in swine diets. However, these feedstuffs contain phytate and fiber that reduce nutrient utilization. Undesirable effects of phytate and fiber can be alleviated through dietary supplementation of phytase and fiber-degrading enzymes. The most abundant types of fiber in wheat and corn are arabinoxylans that are composed of xylans (a sugar that creates the backbone of arabinoxylans) and arabinose units (the sugars that link to and create branches off the xylan backbone).

The enzymes that breakdown xylans are known as xylanases, whereas those which break down the arabinose branches are known as arabinofuranosidases (debranching enzymes). While xylanase and arabinofuranosidase act on different substrates, their combined supplementation efficiently degrades arabinoxylans, making each enzyme group more effective and valuable in simple and complex diets.

In swine production, supplementing corn- or wheat-based diets with xylanase has reported positive effects. However, there is a lack of information on the combined effects of xylanase and arabinofuranosidase on the nutrient utilization in pigs fed corn-wheat-based diets.

A study at South Dakota State University evaluated the effects of supplementing a multi-enzyme product (xylanase, glucanase, arabinofuranosidase and phytase; supplied by Adisseo France SAS) on the growth performance, bone strength and nutrient digestibility of growing pigs fed corn-wheat-wheat bran-based diets that were low in nutrient density. Criteria measured included average daily gain, average daily feed intake, gain-to-feed ratio, bone strength (femur ash) and nutrient digestibility (apparent total tract digestibility of energy and phosphorus).

A total of 276 pigs with initial body weight of 34 kilograms were housed in 45 pens of six or seven pigs, blocked by gender and weight, and fed five diets (nine pens per diet). Diets consisted of a positive control and two negative controls (NC1 and NC2) that were supplemented without or with the MEP. The MEP supplied at least 1,800, 1,244, 6,600 and 1,000 units of xylanase, -glucanase, arabinofuranosidase and phytase per kilogram of diet, respectively. The PC diet was adequate in all nutrients, and had greater digestible P content than NC1 or NC2 diet by 0.134 percentage points (Table 1).

Table 1: Ingredient and calculated chemical composition of the basal diets

Additionally, the PC diet had a higher net energy and standardized ileal digestible amino acid content than the NC1 diet (74 kilocalories per kilogram; 3% SIDAA) and NC2 diet (124 kcal/kg; 5% SIDAA). The diets were fed in four phases based on bodyweight; Phase 1: 34-50 kg, Phase 2: 50-75 kg, Phase 3: 75-100 kg, and Phase 4: 100-120 kg. Nutrient digestibility and bone mineralization were determined at the end of Phase 1.

For the overall study period (34-120 kg bodyweight), pigs fed the PC and NC1 diets did not differ in ADG and ADFI (Table 2); however, pigs fed the PC diet had greater ADG and G:F than those fed the NC2 diet. Pigs fed the PC diet had greater bone ash content and ATTD of P than those fed the NC1 diet. The ATTD of energy for the PC diet was greater than that for the NC1 or NC2 diet.

Table 2: Effect of dietary treatment on growth performance and nutrient digestibility

Supplementing the MEP did not affect ADG for pigs fed the NC1 diet, but it increased the ADG for pigs fed the NC2 diet by 5.09%. Supplementing the NC1 and the NC2 diet with the MEP increased G:F, bone ash content and ATTD of energy and P. The ADG, bone ash content and ATTD of energy and P for the MEP-supplemented diets were similar to the PC diet. Thus, net energy, SIDAA and P can be lowered by about 5% in MEP-supplemented diets without negative effects on growth performance and bone strength of pigs.

Sources: Kevin Jerez-Bogota, Maamer Jlali, Pierre Cozannet, Aurlie Preynat and Tofuko Woyengo, who are solely responsible for the information provided, and wholly own the information. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.

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Target fiber and phytate in corn and wheat to improve pig performance - National Hog Farmer

High blood pressure is a common condition that affects more than a quarter of all adults in the UK. But, you could lower your risk of developing hypertension by eating an apple everyday, it's been claimed.

High blood pressure - which is also known as hypertension - puts extra stress on blood vessels and vital organs.

The condition could lead to some deadly complications, including strokes and heart attacks.

It could be caused by eating an unhealthy diet, or by not doing enough exercise.

You could lower your chances of high blood pressure by regularly eating apples, it's been revealed.

READ MORE: High blood pressure - condition raises the risk of this disorder

"Certain foods are particularly good to eat if you have hypertension and can significantly lower your risk of experiencing a heart attack or stroke, Dr Brewer told Express Health.

"When it comes to blood pressure, studies involving over 187,000 health professionals showed that those who ate four or more apples a week had significantly lower blood pressures than those who ate less than one a month, on average.

"Its important to eat the peel, as this contains antioxidants with blood-pressure lowering actions that are similar to those of ACE inhibitor drugs.

"You can grate the flesh and mix with lemon juice [to prevent browning] and add to salads, coleslaw and Bircher muesli. Dried apple rings and apple crisps also make tasty snacks."

Originally posted here:
High blood pressure - the 25p fruit that could prevent deadly symptoms of hypertension - Express

His last appearance in the gala of awards of a well-known mens magazine represents the test of that Kate Beckinsale have given with the elixir of eternal youth. To its 45 years, the actress retains the same figure -if not even more toned with which it became world famous thanks to his role in the movie Pearl Harbour. This statuesque body allowed him to defend a dress from Julien Macdonald in which the multiple air -leg, neck, back it became an option only suitable for those who feel very sure of themselves and Beckinsale is. Not in vain, in their day-to-day training and healthy eating are always present as she recounts the portal Inquisitr and is that, for to maintain a flat belly year after year the british dont believe in miracles and work hard to achieve it.

I do circuit training interspersed with sessions of brutal cardio, routines, as crazy as over a treadmill without a motor. That part is a torture I love yoga and its what I used to do normally. However, the hard training has been a big difference in my life, admits Kate. The moral that is drawn from the new approach fitness of the star is to get a few measurements sculptural that challenge -and overcome the passage of time, the sweat t-shirt is not only recommended, but obligatory: I wake up, I take the breakfast and after workout.

In fact, your account of Instagram acts as a witness of the spartan training sessions to which it is subjected the interpreter, and also what it is that you enjoy yoga in your day-to-day, a discipline known for its ability to control the levels of stress that combines physical exercise with meditation: Sports is basically a natural antidepressant, ensures. Dr. Reed, a pediatrician and contributor to HELLO!, corroborated when explains to overcome episodes of stress to make physical exercise an intense, sometimes grueling, practice a sport and compete are appropriate activities.

To finish, the food plays an essential role if you want to achieve effective results. The interpreter knows that and, although in his day declared himself a vegetarian, has evolved to include chicken and fish in your diet, relying on vegetables and salads to accompany your dishes, and avoid alcohol at all costs even when she attends social events. A style of life with physical care as one of the fundamental pillars and head of the actress is kept equal to that of twenty years ago.

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Flat belly 45 with the training and diet of Kate Beckinsale - Play Crazy Game

In 2015, it all came together. Tim Betar, aka TimTheTatman, was able quit his day job and transition to playing video games for a living.

To be fair, he wasnt just playing the gameshe was streaming them, usually for tens of thousands of fans, providing a running commentary of his exploits. His streams began in earnest in 2012, but those first years werent as lucrative, and they required some expert-level time management. (He estimates he was working 70-plus hour weeks between his normal job and his streaming.) After making the switch to gaming full-time, TimTheTatman amassed more and more and more followers across platforms; his meteoric rise timed out perfectly with the meteoric rise of Twitch, the go-to streaming service for gamers and, really, anyone doing anything. He now has millions of followers across platforms.

Theres no guide on how to stream video games for a living, nor is it easy to work from home every day, as many are learning during the COVID-19 crisis. Over the last handful of years, Tim has experienced his own ups and downs as hes establishedand then attempted to maintaina healthy lifestyle while also staring at a screen all day. Mostly, he makes sure to always leave the house in the morning for a Starbucks coffee run.

GQ called up TimTheTatman, whos currently streaming lots of Call of Duty: Warzone, to talk about working from home without losing your mind (relatable!), and how he feels healthier than ever after an on-again, off-again weight-loss journey.

GQ: How did you figure out a healthy structure as you progressed to streaming for hours and hours every day?

TimTheTatman: When I was working a full-time job and doing this on the side, I was basically working like 70 hours a week. I was younger and didnt have a ton of obligations, so it was doable. Once I started streaming full-time, I had to change that. Ive always been a big advocate of streamers taking a couple days off. I always make sure I can take like, two days a week to relax and reset. Not many streamers do that, surprisingly. A lot of them are younger, and play and play and playI get it to an extent, because I used to do that too.

Do you have any sort of working-at-home rituals based around your streaming schedule? I think lots of people are trying to figure out their working-at-home rituals right now.

I have a daily regimen, especially for when I wake up. Before the pandemic happened, I would go to Starbucks and grab my coffee, almost like my own little work commute, even though Im just going to get coffee and then going back home [laughs]. It is pretty easy to sit in your bed all day, but Im a new father, so thats basically impossible for me, since my son wakes me up every day. Ill get up and have my routine with him now.

So you have to force yourself into a routine a bit?

Yeah, totally. When I first started doing this, it was really easy to be like, Im just going to sleep in. Whos gonna tell me otherwise? I was and am my own boss. I really had to force myself into forming habits around my day, which made things a lot better.

Do you have anything that you do to separate your job from your daily life when youre working from home? Theres got to be some sort of mental switch that you flip when you go from streaming for lots of people to relaxing, right?

Before I had this job, I would go to work and come home to play games to relax. So sometimes Ill play games on streams for the majority of the day, and then to wind down, Ill sit back and play some more games at night [laughs]. My audience really loves first-person shooters and battle royales, games that are more fast-paced. They dont like World of Warcraft or similar games as much since theyre more low-key. Sometimes at night, Ill finish streaming for eight hours, and be like, Alright, see ya guys later! Ill put my son to bed, and then play some World of Warcraft. Its kind of hard to explain to my wife and difficult to justify in general.

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The Real-Life Diet of TimTheTatman, Who's Intermittent Fasting and Trying to Stay Healthy - GQ

Boxinglegend Mike Tyson says hes in the best shape ever and credits his plant-based diet and rigorous exercise routine for making it happen. Over the last decade, Tyson has been plant-based andexplains how his vegan diet has completely changed his life for the better.

After retiring in 2005, Tyson was eating meat and drinking alcohol on a regular basis, he tells an interviewer. He was diagnosedas clinically obese in 2009 and toldTotally Vegan Buzz, I was so congested from all the drugs and bad cocaine, I could hardly breathe."Tyson also revealed in the interview, I had high blood pressure, was almost dying, and had arthritis."

In 2010, Tysontransformed his diet and ditched the meat in favor of a plant-based lifestyle, which he has continued ever since. Her also is completely clean and sober now, something he is proud to tell fans. The former heavyweight champ says everything he is doing to change his life and turn his health around is for his kids and his wife.

The 53-year old warrior explains,"Turning vegan helped me eliminate all those problems in my life, and adds, "I'm in the best shape ever." This kind of statement from such an iconic sports figurethat he is in better shape now than when he was competing and fighting and collecting belts and endorsementsissure to get attention the world over andspur more plant-curious athletes to try it out.

Last week, Tysonposted an Instagram videoboxing with hisnew coach,MMA trainer Rafael Cordeiro, and showed off hismuscular bodywith fast-speedform that is helping him stay in shape during the lockdown.

Corderio also agrees that Tyson is in his best shape and complimentshis punches: "He has the same power as a guy who is 21, 22-years old."

The trainer said he wasn'tsure what to "expect from a guy who hasnt hit mitts for I think almost ten years," Corderio told TalkSport. During the boxing session, Tyson clips together powerful punches so we can see his greatest moments. His trainer notes, "I held his right hook and thought he is going to kill somebody. Watch the video to see for yourself, we wouldn't want to get behind any of those, even in full body armor gear.

During an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2013, Tysoncredits his plant-based diet for saving his life. He shared, "Well, my life is different today because I have stability in my life. Im not on drugs. Im not out on the streets or in clubs and everything in my life that I do now is structured around the development of my life and my family. I lost weight. I dropped over 100lbs and I just felt like changing my life, doing something different and I became a vegan."

Becoming a vegan gave me another opportunity to live a healthy life. High blood pressure, almost dying, arthritis, and once I became a vegan all that stuff diminished.

Before getting too ahead of ourselves and predicting Tyson'sreturn to thering, hehopped on T.I's Instagramlive and hinted the idea.Ive been working out, Ive been trying to get in the ring, I think Im going to box some exhibitions and get in shape.

Tyson also said, I want to go to the gym and get in shape to be able to box three or four-round exhibitions for some charities and stuff." It's clear that othersshould be nervous about the idea of Tyson's return, like professional boxer Ryan Garciawho commented on one of Tyson's posts, saying, "I got scared when you said Im back ."

Excerpt from:
Mike Tyson, Vegan for 10 Years, Says "I'm In the Best Shape Ever" - The Beet

5 fibre-rich foods that should be a part of everyone's diet for healthy digestion  |  Photo Credit: iStock Images

New Delhi: The human body is really a marvel that has made provisions and systems to work everything out. One such system, the digestive system, is responsible for the breakdown of the food we eat into smaller and smaller components until they can be absorbed by the body and the nutrients and energy can be used for the functioning of other systems. The digestive system includes the gastrointestinal tract, and other organs like the tongue, glands, pancreas, liver, etc which are responsible for the secretion of enzymes for the breakdown of food.

How healthy are body is overall, plays an important role in how healthy our digestion is. However, the food we eat can also affect how efficiently it gets digested. For instance, dietary fibre, a type of carbohydrate, cannot be digested by the body's enzymes but plays a very important role in digestion -as a catalyst. It is recommended to include fibre-rich foods in your diet to facilitate digestion. Fibre is also known to fill you up really well, which helps in curbing appetite and avoiding overeating.

Most edible parts of plant food like cereals, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, lentils, etc are rich in fibre and should be a part of everyone's balanced diet.

Disclaimer: Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are for general information purposes only and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a professional healthcare provider if you have any specific questions about any medical matter.

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5 fibre-rich foods that should be a part of everyone's diet for healthy digestion - Times Now

Imagine for a moment that youre 6,000 pounds, living in one of the wildest places on Earth, with no schedule, nowhere to be. How do you decide where to spend your time? Where to go next? Do you move where food is most plentiful? Is water your main priority?

These are some of the questions addressed by Duke Ph.D. candidate Amelia Meier and former postdoctoral researcher Dr. Chris Beirne in Dr. John Poulsens lab. Their recent study published in Trends in Ecology and Evolution focused on the African forest elephantthe slightly smaller yet still undeniably huge cousin of the savanna elephant.

The team wanted to know what influences certain aspects of elephant behavior. Specifically, how much climate and resource availability drives elephant movement and influences their diet. To do this, the team looked at fruit abundance (a high-energy staple of elephants diets), water availability from rainfall, and elephant identity and how those factors affect how an individual moves and eats.

One might think that such a massive animal is easy to spot in the forest. However, the dense vegetation of Central African rainforests can be an impenetrable wall, allowing the massive animals to move unseen through the forest, leaving broken branches and steaming dung piles in their wake.

To better track them, the researchers fitted individual elephants with GPS collars that turn an iPhone into an elephant-tracking tool. This also allowed trackers to follow the elephants at a distance and avoid conflict with the sometimes temperamental animals.

Meier, Beirne, and colleagues also wanted to know more about the diets of the tracked elephants to see if what they ate changed with how much fruit is available. This less-than-glamorous job was done by dissecting fresh dung piles, estimating the proportions of leafy and woody material, and counting the number of seeds in each one.

Tropical rainforests are lush, yet have patchy resources, making it important for many frugivores to have flexible diets. Some trees only produce fruit in the wet season. Others fruit every other year. To gauge fruit availability, the research team conducted fruit-walks at the beginning and end of each day of following an elephant, in which trackers counted all of the ripe fruit on the ground.

A key finding of the study was that the most important factor driving movement was an elephants individuality; some respond to food or water availability differently and some simply move around more than others.

Interestingly, elephants appear to be affected by resources differently depending on the timescale the authors looked at. Water was important on both a day-to-day and month-to-month basis. Yet on a daily basis, fruit and water were more equally matched, with water still maintaining a slight lead.

Fruit availability was also critical in determining how much elephants moved and what they ate. When there was more fruit available, the elephants ate more fruit, as evidenced by the proportion of seeds in dissected dung piles.

Aside from being an awe-inspiring species, forest elephants are important to the health of their native ecosystems. They are unwitting gardeners, planting seeds of the fruits they consume in piles of dung and giving those seeds a better chance of survival. Thats part of why understanding what motivates forest elephant movement is more than the satisfaction of an elephant enthusiasts curiosity; it is critical to managing and conserving a species that is vulnerable to multiple threats from humans.

Meiers dissertation research focuses on elephant social behavior and the effects of human disturbance on elephant social groups, allowing her to pursue her long-term interest in animal behavior with a practical conservation application.

I was living in Congo and I knew I wanted to keep working in the region. There, you have elephantsthis amazing, highly intelligent, social species that is surrounded by conflict.

Poachers seek elephants for their ivory tusks, which are valuable on the black market. The pachyderms are also prone to conflict with humans when they start foraging in village plantations, destroying crops and damaging livelihoods.

The teams findings open the way for new questions about why different elephants exhibit different patterns of movement. What underlying factors affect behavior, and why? Does it have to do with age? Sex? Their social environment?

These questions remain unanswered for now, but the work of Meier and colleagues represents a critical step in understanding elephant behavior to improve forest elephant management and conservation strategies.

Guest Post by Anna Nordseth, a Ph.D. Candidate in the Nicholas School of the Environment

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Following In The Footsteps of Elephants | Research Blog - Duke Today

Even on the best of days, heading to the grocery store can be a chore. Now, with most of the country in lockdown due to the global pandemic, heading to the local market for your groceries is even less appealing than usual. This is why a meal kit service just may be the solution for people looking for healthy home-cooked mealsduring thecoronavirus crisispandemic.

We've been on the meal delivery service bandwagon for a while now, and what follows is a list of our favorite picks for delicious meal options. Even better, many of them -- including Freshly, Blue Apron, Sun Basket, Every Plate and Gobble -- are currently offering deals for new customers.

If you live anywhere where it's even a little bit possible to glimpse the stoops of your neighbors, you've probably noticed cheerful meal kit company boxes from the likes of Blue Apron,Freshly,Home Chef,Sakara Life, Purple Carrot andGobble making ever-more-frequent appearances on their stoops over the last several years. The age of the meal kit food delivery service is upon us. Each meal delivery company provides a type of convenience service that combines the efforts of chefs, nutritionists and personal grocery shoppers, and delivers them into the hands of enthusiastic eaters or willing home kitchen cooks, with weekly menus and delicious, preportioned fresh ingredients including vegetables and meat for you to easily prepare. The variety of options available today is just staggering, with everything from gluten-free healthy meals to vegetarian options available and ready to ship. That means that people with special diets such as a diet for healthy weight loss don't have to exclude themselves from reading further. It's time to find the best meal kit delivery service for your needs whether you are a picky eater, vegan or on a special diet.

I once met one of the founders of Blue Apron, whose meal delivery kit box I'd become familiar with, thanks to the denizens of my apartment building. I mentioned that I thought the Blue Apron service sounded like a cool idea, but inundated him with a litany of reasons why such a thing didn't apply to me: I work in an industry where tasty meals are often provided, I'm rarely home, I'm culinary school-trained and so on. His counterargument was flawless: "Can I send you a free box?" I mean, duh.

Despite my protestations, the reasons I enjoyed the Blue Apron meal plan were plenty, and inspired me to continue my subscription with an occasional box of ingredients. Even with culinary school cred, I liked having ingredients I didn't know of or would rarely seek out when grocery shopping put directly into my hands. I was especially moved by the concept of getting provided the single rib of celery that a recipe demanded, sparing me the heartache of watching an entire head of celery languish in my produce drawer when left to my own devices.

There are now dozens of meal kit delivery programs to choose from, like Sun Basket,Martha & Marley Spoon andPurple Carrot, with a variety of healthy meal and niche meal selection customizations.These meal kit delivery service options have ingredients and menus available to fit special diets like vegan gluten-free, vegetarian gluten-free, plain old gluten-free, paleo, low-carb, vegetarian pescatarian, keto, plant-based, health conscious diet and just about anything else when it comes to dietary preference. You'll also often find promotional offers for new customers and convenient features like being able to skip weeks and cancel anytime. With limited or no commitment, if you're a calendar master and an account-management ninja, you can dabble in any or all of these services and choose, week-by-week, which best suits your circumstances.

Read more:Best air fryers of 2020: Philips, Cuisinart, Black and Decker and more

Home Chef boasts over 38 meal kits to choose from in any given week, including the all-new grill packs and one-pan dinners. Meal kit examples include Chipotle Chimichurri Mini Pork Meatloaves with Roasted Sweet Potato and Garlic Peppercorn Salmon Scampi with Garlic Cream Gemelli and Broccolini. Plus, you can customize the protein in your meal choices, which makes Home Chef dishes stand out from the pack. For example, with some Home Chef recipes, you can order double the protein such as chicken or meat without doubling the overall portions. With other Home Chef options, you can choose to order antibiotic-free protein instead of the standard version. Meal kits and ingredients are usually pretty standard in their offering (which is what keeps Home Chef efficient to the masses).

One new and unique offering from Home Chef is their oven-ready meals, which come with everything you'll need to make the meal including the cooking tray (no messy kitchen and no dishes). See an example of anoven-ready meal here.

Subscription: Starting at $7.99 per serving with additional premium Home Chef recipes offered at market price.

Read more:The best toaster oven is the one you'll hate the least

Healthy and fresh are common favorite meal kit descriptors, but Sun Basket goes a step further. Sun Basket is committed to organic, non-GMO, sustainably and responsibly raised products and ingredients, which it packages in 100 percent recyclable materials to boot. Basically, the box took the trip to the farmer's market for you.Sun Basket's recipes are developed by Justine Kelly, a San Francisco chef known for her work at the James Beard Award-winning Slanted Door restaurant, and for her appearance on Top Chef. All of her easy and delicious meals with organic ingredients are nutritionist-approved (500 to 800 calories per serving), and most meals take only about 30 minutes to prepare, with online Sun Basket tutorials available if you need a little extra guidance. You've got options for these nutritious meals too -- you'll be able to choose from a selection of six to 18 different organic meal recipes each week, including paleo, vegan meal, vegetarian and gluten free meals, so you'll always get what you want. Sun Basket delivery is available in 36 states, and Sun Basket shipments arrive on Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. For three Sun Basket meals each week, you'll pay $74.93 for the two-person plan (or $11.99 per serving) and $143.87 for the four-person plan ($10.99 per serving), with a $5.99 shipping fee either way.

Subscription: For three Sun Basket meals each week, you'll pay $74.93 for the two-person plan (or the $11.99 price per serving) and $143.87 for the four-person Sun Basket plan ($10.99 per serving), with a $5.99 shipping fee either way.

A few of these services provide fully cooked, ready to eat meals to your doorstep, and Freshly is a good one if you desire wholesome, tasty comfort foods such as peppercorn steak, penne bolognese or chicken and rice pilaf. Meals are prepared right before delivery and are never frozen. With minimal reheating required by you, it's like having Mom cook dinner for you in your kitchen, without having Mom live with you. (Sorry, Mom.)

Subscription: $8.99 to $12.50 per serving, with up to 12 servings per week. Shipping is free.

At just $4.99 per serving and with an emphasis on delicious, hearty meal options and generous portion sizes, EveryPlate is the best plan for those whose journey into meal kit delivery is based on affordability. It keeps its overhead low by offering eight easy recipes to choose from weekly, which does mostly exclude vegetarians and those on special diets, but the eight available meals are full of variety and flavor otherwise. Get 18 meals for only $3.33 each, free shipping on your first order, plus the ability to skip or cancel anytime.

Subscription:Each serving is only $4.99. Each weekly box includes three recipes with either two or four servings apiece.

Blue Apron is largely accepted to be the granddad of meal kit delivery programs in the US. The eight menu choices available weekly range from simple pastas to delicious international options, with a seafood and vegetarian option always available. Even the simplest recipes might include an unfamiliar component or two, and the website often highlights these ingredients as an educational opportunity. Recipes are tagged with helpful keywords such as "customer favorite," "quick and easy," "great for grilling" and so on. Occasional promotions include a menu from guest celebrity chefs, or recipes that highlight popular travel destinations. An optional wine pairing service is also offered.

Subscription: Price per serving ranges from $7.49 to $9.99, with options to prepare two to four recipes per week and two or four servings per recipe.

Dinnerly rolls out some pretty exciting-sounding and delicious meals such as summery chicken panzanella and risotto with asparagus and cannellini beans. But with no more than six ingredients per recipe, the damage done to your time and kitchen is minimized. Along with not overwhelming you with myriad ingredients and multiple steps, the price tag for Dinnerly puts it squarely in the budget-friendly category, clocking in with a cost per serving of around $5.

Subscription: The options include a Two-Person Box for $30, or a Family Box for $60, each with three recipes for the week.

Gobble takes the template from the old guard of meal delivery kits but speeds it up by prechopping and part-cooking many of the components so that all recipes have a prep time of 15 minutes or less. Despite the "fast food" angle, each menu has a sophisticated and worldly vibe. Weekly recipe choices are cleverly categorized into From the Range, From the Ranch, From the Sea and From the Earth options.

Subscription: Options range from $11.99 to $13.99 per serving, with options for two to four servings of two or three (or more!) recipes.

HelloFresh helpfully tags each recipe accordingly, whether you are allergic to (or avoiding) dairy, gluten, soy, nuts and so on. Familiarity of ingredients is key, even when applied to dishes from various world cuisines. A Hello Fresh's portion sizes are generous, going with its relatively high cost per serving (up to $10 a person). "dinner to lunch" element is a unique twist that provides the home cook a variation on tonight's dinner to serve as a tasty portable lunch tomorrow.

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We like Green Chef for its versatility in the different specific diet plans available. Green Chef offers paleo, keto, pescatarian, vegan, and vegetarian options as well as gluten-free meals. No matter which diet you're following (for health or personal reasons) you'll be able to find a Green Chef plan that works for you. Because it offers so many different diet plan choices, this also makes Green Chef one of the most versatile meal kit delivery services since you get a plethora of different tasty menu options per week.

Subscription: $12.99-$11.99 per serving for a two-person Green Chef subscription at three meals/week; $10.99 per serving for a four-person Green Chef subscription at two meals/week.

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The best meal kit delivery services of 2020: Blue Apron, Freshly, Sun Basket, Hello Fresh and more - CNET

According to the Commission this is thefirst time in the history of EU food policy that we propose a comprehensive agenda for all stages of food production.

It lists 27 measures (many still subject to further studies, consultations, and other impact assessments) which it says will pave the way for greener food production, healthier and more sustainable diets, and less food waste.

These include:

The strategy sets concrete targets to reach by 2030, including a 50% cut in the use and risk of pesticides, a 20% cut in the use of fertilizers, a 50% reduction in sales of antimicrobials used for farmed animals and aquaculture, and a target to increase the size of EU's agricultural land dedicated to organic farming to at least 25%.

In terms of food waste, the Commission is considering options tosimplify date marking on foodstuffs and to promote better understanding and use of date marking among manufactures and consumers. Therevised Waste Framework Directiveadopted on 30 May 2018, for example, calls on the EU countries to reduce food waste at each stage of the food supply chain, monitor food waste levels and report back regarding progress made. It also requires EU countries to preparefood waste prevention programmes(as a part of general waste prevention programmes) and encourage food donation.

Concrete plans in line with the EU's biodiversity and climate neutrality ambitions include targets for planting at least 3 billion additional trees in the EU by 2030.

The Commission said that in order to provide space for wild animals, plants, pollinators and natural pest regulators, there is an urgent need to bring back at least 10% of agricultural area under high-diversity landscape features.

FoodDrinkEurope, which represents the European food and drink industry, said it supported the Commissions ambition for our food systems to become the gold standard for sustainability.

Director General Mella Frewen said: While the food supply chain has shown resilience throughout the COVID-19 pandemic by providing consumers with continued access to safe, nutritious and affordable food and drink products, this resilience must be further enhanced to prepare for other significant challenges on our doorstep, notably climate change.

On diversity, FDEs Environment Director Laura Degallaix said: We are committed, more than ever, to working closely with our supply chain partners to enhance biodiversity and contribute to achieving net zero emissions by 2050. We are also fully committed to eliminating deforestation and to ensuring that food raw materials are sustainably sourced within and beyond European borders. Crucially, we call on EU lawmakers to develop a policy environment that can support both biodiversity and jobs leaving no one behind.

Farmers, however, warned it was unrealistic to want organic food produced at conventional prices.

Tim Cullinan, President of the Irish Farmers Association, said: It is not credible for the EU to drive up production costs for European farmers while at the same time looking for low food prices. They want food produced to organic standards, but available at conventional prices.

It is likely that farmers will end up paying through higher costs and low prices while retailers will continue to make billions.

He added: The EU wants ever-increasing standards imposed on European farmers, but will do trade deals to import food from other countries which have much lower standards and do not meet EU rules

These EU strategies could be counterproductive as they we will drive European farmers out of business, leaving the EU dependent on these imports and threatening food security, he said.

Cullinan also took aim at the Commissions focus on plant-based based diets which he claimed risked ignoring farmers efforts in supporting biodiversity.

The review of how the EU can use its promotion programme to support the most sustainable, carbon-efficient methods of livestock production is something that should favour our grass-based system if its assessed fairly, he said.

One positive is an acknowledgment that farmers deserve credit for carbon they are already storing and sequestering on their farms. Farmers do this through their grassland, crops and hedges which also contribute hugely to biodiversity.

Dutch-based plant-based consumer product company Upfield, meanwhile, which makes the likes of Flora, Rama, Blue Band, ProActiv, Becel, I Cant Believe Its Not Butter and Country Crock, complained that Commissions move to encourage a shift towards healthier, more sustainable diets was still undermined by regulatory barriers.

The Farm to Fork Strategys commendable focus on supporting heathy, sustainable consumer choice highlights that we must end the senseless ban on terms like soya milk, plant butter or veggie burgers for foods that are better for the planet and for human health, said Dr Jeanette Fielding, Chief Corporate Affairs and Communications Officer.

One surprise in the announcement was the Commissions failure to commit to Nutri-Score.

We are proposing a mandatory front of pack nutrition label, said European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety StellaKyriakides. She added:We will not be recommending any specific type of front-of-pack scheme going forward we will be launching an impact assessment on the different types of front-of-pack labelling.

FDEs Deputy Director General Dirk Jacobs urged the Commission to formulate a single labelling system across member states.

Today's report demonstrates that a variety of approaches to FOP nutrition labelling continue to exist across the EU, he said.Acknowledging the possible co-existence of schemes on the EU market for the time being, we strongly appeal to the Commission and Member States to avoid further proliferation of national schemes while working towards a single, harmonised, voluntary FOP nutrition labelling system in the EU."

Large food brands including Danone and Nestl alongside supermarket retailers have previously rallied behind the mandatory adoption of Nutri-Score across the bloc.

However, not everyone agrees that Nutri-Score is the best approach to FOP labelling. Prof Frederic Leroy, Professor of Food Science and biotechnology at Vrije Universiteit, Brussels, and a long opponent of Nutri-Score on the grounds that it discriminates against ostensibly healthy foods with a high saturated fat content, such as canned fish and olive oil, welcome the fact that Nutri-Score will not be imposed as a mandatory top-down fop label throughout the EU.

Instead of an 'impact assessment', he called for a robust evaluation of how such labels reflect true nutritional value.

Reducing complex nutritional information to an almost puerile coloured-letter scheme, based on a couple of cherry-picked criteria, is not only based on shaky scientific premises, he told FoodNavigator, it can also cause confusion and harm.

Among the many absurd outcomes of Nutri-Score, he said, include depicting such foods as canned sardines and traditional cheeses as mostly unhealthy, whereas some of the ultra-processed foods come out as winners, as long as they are made with sugar and fat replacers or have added fibre, etc. Nutriscore can thus serve as tool for healthwashing by multinational companies, but I don't see how this would ever benefit the public. Or lead to healthier diets for that matter.

Italys food industry association Federalimentare has been another long critic of Nutri-Score, which it believes victimises its famous food delicacies such as Parma ham and Parmiagiano cheese. Its president, Ivano Vacondio, called the move not to yet roll out Nutri-Score: "Double success for Italy and for Federalimentare which has fought in several locations, Germany included, to promote a balanced lifestyle and a labeling system based on a balanced diet without demonizing any product.

But the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), the Brussels-based consumers' group, made up of 45 European consumer organisations from 32 countries, and backer of Nutri-Score, criticised the move.

We are glad the EU Commission has made it clear that it plans to propose a mandatory front-of-pack nutritional label. But why wait until the end of 2022 to kick off talks for an EU-wide label? Numerous studies have proven Nutri-Score is the label consumers understand best and six EU countries have already endorsed it, said Monique Goyens, BEUCs Director General.

She said that relying on individual consumer choice alone will not be enough to change food habits if the healthy and sustainable option is insufficiently available or the most expensive one.

It is encouraging that the Strategy pinpoints measures to improve product recipes and foster more responsible marketing and advertising, but we need them to be binding. Codes of conduct, pledges and other self-regulation tools have proven toothless in making the healthy and sustainable choice the easy one for consumers.

Consumers should no longer be misled by claims which disguise sugar-laden snacks or yoghurts as healthy options. It was high time the Commission finally committed to preventing claims such as boosts your immune system and high in fibre from appearing on unhealthy foods.1 It is all the more relevant today when overweight or obese people run higher risks to develop diseases such as diabetes and cancer, but also complications from diseases such as COVID-19.

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What does the farm-to-fork strategy mean for the future of food in Europe? - FoodNavigator.com