Category Archives: Diet And Food

This article by Peter McCaffery is republished here with permission from The Conversation. This content is shared here because the topic may interest Snopes readers; it does not, however, represent the work of Snopes fact-checkers or editors.

Vitamin C is a common remedy that some people believe will cure the common cold and flu. Although it helps us maintain good immune function, theres little evidence that it can prevent or substantially reduce either of these diseases. But in the midst of the novel coronavirus outbreak, some influencers are claiming that taking mega-doses of vitamin C can cure COVID-19 (the disease caused by novel coronavirus).

So lets cut to the chase. Can vitamin C cure the coronavirus? Considering that novel coronavirus belongs to the same family of viruses coronaviruses as the common cold and flu, its unlikely that taking vitamin C will prevent or cure you of a COVID-19 infection.

I have written before that using vitamin C to treat the common cold was an idea popularised by double Nobel Prize-winning chemist, Linus Pauling, and further promoted by the dietary supplements industry. Unfortunately, ever since Paulings claim in the 1970s, there has been little evidence to back it up.

Vitamins or vital-amines were first discovered at the beginning of the 20th century as elements present in low amounts in our diets that were vital for health. Certainly, people lacking certain vitamins will develop deficiency diseases. For example, people deficient in vitamin C will develop scurvy. However, it wasnt until the early 1930s that it was discovered that scurvy was caused by lack of vitamin C, and that taking the vitamin could cure the disease.

The science of nutrition was born with the discovery of vitamins, and has since become a competitive, unregulated industry, often with scientific fact competing against those spreading misinformation and looking to profit: the novel coronavirus outbreak is just the latest example.

These misleading articles have spread quickly, and are likely to be behind the shortage of vitamin C in Asia and a five-fold spike in demand for vitamin C and multivitamins in Singapore.

Vitamin C is important to maintain redox balance in the bodys tissues these are types of reactions in cells that add or remove oxygen, and are essential for many processes such as generating energy in cells. These same reactions, though, can create products harmful to human cells such as reactive oxygen species, which react with lipids (fat), proteins and nucleic acids. Vitamin C can lessen these harmful reactions. It also help enzymes build collagen, which is necessary for supporting our bodys tissues.

Although vitamin C doesnt have miraculous disease-curing properties, some research has also shown it can help the immune system fight off bacteria and viruses. Its role in protecting against viral infections was shown in a recent review which found that immune cells need vitamin C to produce proteins that activate the immune system throughout the body against virus attacks.

Having said that, we can easily obtain sufficient levels of vitamin C in our diet that will keep our immune system fully functional. Vitamin C is plentiful in many fruits and vegetables, including oranges, broccoli and potatoes. And while it is relatively non-toxic, since its high water solubility makes it easy to excrete from the body, excessive doses can result in unpleasant symptoms such as diarrhoea, nausea and cramps.

Though I have said vitamin C is unlikely to be a dramatic cure for COVID-19, the fact that it can promote good immune function means it would be going too far to say there will be no effect. And although a review found that vitamin C has no effect on reducing the frequency of colds, it did find that for the average person, there was a small decrease in the duration of common cold symptoms. But for people that participate in brief periods of severe physical exercise (such as marathon runners and skiers), vitamin C halved the duration and severity of their common cold risk.

These slight effects of vitamin C on the coronavirus that causes the common cold have spurred a new clinical trial looking to cure COVID-19 infections using very high intravenous doses of vitamin C. These trials have just started and no results are yet posted. Intravenous application of vitamin C will result in much higher and faster levels of the vitamin in the blood than any amount found in vitamin C supplements taken orally. Though this approach could increase vitamin Cs mild protective effect, this is yet hypothetical and intravenous injection comes with its own risks, such as infection, blood vessel damage, air embolism or blood clots.

So alhough vitamin C does have some small effect on the common cold, its unlikely that taking large amounts of vitamin C supplements will cure a COVID-19 infection or have a large effect at all. Even if intravenous vitamin C works to shorten or cure COVID-19, it will likely only be a stop-gap before therapies directed at the virus, such as vaccinations, take over. The most effective way to avoid the virus still remains washing hands, not touching the eyes, nose or mouth, and keeping your distance from anyone exhibiting symptoms.

Peter McCaffery, Professor of Biochemistry, University of Aberdeen

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Coronavirus: Its Time to Debunk Claims That Vitamin C Could Cure It - Snopes.com

A promising new study has just been published, showing the potential benefits of weekly refeeds on maintaining lean mass for resistance-trained men and women.

The study, conducted by Bill Campbell, a physique scientist from the University of South Florida, came out on Sunday, in the latest edition of the Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology.

As Bill took to Instagram, where he has 36.6k followers, to explain, the research could be significant for lifters looking to optimise their mass retention.

Though he admits every scientist gets excited about their research and probably thinks that their work will change the [dieting] world he says I think this new study about Diet Breaks/Diet Refeeds is going to change the way a lot of people approach their diets in the future.

If you resistance train and want to lose fat, keep your muscle, and not damage your metabolism, this study is for you!

Howd it go down? Bill and his team took two groups of resistance trained people (males/females) and put them on a diet for 7 weeks.

Both groups were asked to reduce their calorie intake by 25% below normal maintenance calories, and to eat 1.8 grams of protein/kg body mass (0.8 grams per pound) per day.

One group (dubbed CONTINUOUS) maintained this restrictive diet continuously for 7 straight weeks, with no break.

The other group (REFEED) also dieted for 7-weeks, but every weekend they took a break and increased their calories (all in the form of carbohydrates) back to maintenance calories.

The REFEED group decreased calories by 35% Monday-Friday but did not diet on the weekends (ingested 100% of their pre-diet food intake) which resulted in a weekly average caloric deficit of 25% the same as the CONTINUOUS group, Bill explains.

We also supervised everyones workouts in our Physique Lab every exercise, every set, every rep.

Every subject also had a personalized nutrition coach to assist them with their diet, Bill reveals. We implemented a Flexible Diet approach, and each subject tracked their macros every day and were required to submit their macro tracking sheets every week.

The main finding? Both groups lost a similar amount of fat about 5.5 pounds but only the REFEED Group was able to maintain muscle mass during the seven weeks of dieting, losing less than a pound of muscle while the group that did not take a break from their diet every weekend lost nearly 3 pounds.

While this is a significant finding, further research is, as always, required, to better understand it. As Bills colleague, Brad Schoenfeld, points out, not everyone in the REFEED group maintained mass.

What I find most interesting is that the individual data seems to show that several subjects were responders to the refeed and actually gained lean mass, while others were non-responders and lost as much FFM as the continuous diet subjects.

The take-home, according to Brad, a PhD holder, fitness scientists and researcher in his own right, is to remember that studies generally report the means, but practical application is specific to the individual. It would seem that refeeds are beneficial for some, but not others. Thus, experimentation is needed to determine what works best for you.

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Study Reveals Eating Technique That Could Help Lifters Get Greater Gains - D'Marge

Billie Eilish has given the music industry everything it could possibly want. An authentic new voice that appeals to teenagers and their parents. A debut album that has sold more than 2m copies in the US alone. A decisive stylistic evolution from the preceding decades dominant pop mode. A clean sweep of the four key categories at the Grammys. A copper-bottomed streaming success model. A James Bond theme that rejuvenates a tired franchise and extends her commercial and creative clout.

Until she offers up her prime commodity as a young female pop star, it will never be enough.

While 18-year-old Eilish is a beguilingly physical performer, she has never shown her body in service of her art. She prefers loose clothing because she feels comfortable in it, and has denounced the use of her image to shame female pop stars who dress differently. Not that its stopped anyone. Denying spectators the traditional metric by which female stars are judged sexiness, slimness; the body as weathervane that reveals how tormented or contented they must be when they lurch between the extremes of those states has created an obsession with her body and what it must stand for.

Eilishs world tour which opened last night in Miami underscores these contradictions: While I feel your stares, your disapproval or your sighs of relief, if I lived by them, Id never be able to move, she says in a video shown between songs, as she removes her top and sinks into a pool of black water. Would you like me to be smaller? Weaker? Softer? Taller? Would you like me to be quiet? Do my shoulders provoke you? Does my chest? Am I my stomach? My hips?

As if to prove her point, the Sun reported on Eilish stripping to her bra with zero mention of her speech or its message, and titled their story Thrilly Eilish. Again: Eilish is 18 years old.

Its hard to think of any previous generation of young female pop star getting away with making such a public admonishment at the height of their stardom. Motowns girls were taught comportment by an in-house employee. The anorexia that killed Karen Carpenter was framed as an effective diet. To have her art taken seriously, Kate Bush had to endure the objectification of male journalists who typed with one hand. The Spice Girls had to wait until after the bands demise to discuss their respective eating disorders, lest they disrupt the image of supportive female friendship. Britney, Christina and Beyoncs millennium-era abs were testament to their drilled work ethic; Katy Perry and Ariana Grandes burgeoning images were dependent on marketing their sexuality, while Taylor Swifts taut middle stoked her image as an American ideal. To acknowledge Amy Winehouses bulimia would have complicated a convenient media narrative of debauchery.

In that context, Eilishs freedom to speak out represents a kind of progress. Its symptomatic of the control that she has retained over her career, and its impact on her fans is potentially profound. But being anointed a liberating force in the body-image stakes is its own kind of prison, one that preserves physicality as the ultimate measure of a female stars worth and the standard by which they can be undermined. The music industry and the media like to pat themselves on the back for making stars of Eilish and Lizzo, who often joins her in headlines about body positivity, though if these women one day wish to change their physical presentation, they will be accused of betraying fans and squandering their authenticity.

It is a minority of female musicians who are permitted this limiting form of freedom in the first place. Beyond Eilish and Lizzos presence at this years Brit awards, the photos from the red carpet looked like scenes from 2002: female musicians and influencers bearing aggressively toned abs, low-slung sparkly pants, dresses with gaping cutaways to highlight those effects. The media may praise Taylor Swift for speaking out about the disordered eating that she experienced until a few years ago, but it still perpetuates the standards that mean record labels will subject young, female pop stars to the punishing diets and exercise routines that Swift has described from her past. Female musicians who gain weight rarely return to the prime of their careers. Dua Lipas new video features an exercise routine. The narrative around Adeles fourth album, due later this year, is already centred on her recent weight loss.

Ever since the pianist Clara Schumann proved herself a concert virtuoso, female artists have had their creative worth tied to their physicality. The standards are so punishing and contradictory that it is hard not to suspect that they are purposefully engineered that way, to guarantee obsolescence as they succumb to human fallibility, thus clearing the decks to wave in a new phalanx of young bodies to ogle. As long as the industries that depend on its exploitation continue to exist, and new generations of onlookers are trained in envy and contempt for those bodies, this wont change.

As the industry races to replicate Eilishs success and the media hungers for more young girls to compel views, youd hope they would heed how this treatment has evidently affected her and ensure that no young female star is ever again subject to these vicious standards. As if.

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Body of work: why Billie Eilish is right to stand her ground against shaming - The Guardian

Todd Eastham, of Greenup, coaches both high school and college athletes in Greenup County. Easthams focus is primarily with the throwing team, but he said that the training these young athletes go through, and their other regimens such as diet, can apply to anyone even if they arent an athlete.

Commitment is the main thing, Eastham said. At least the No. 1 thing, especially with younger athletes. That, and they need to work on strength and flexibility, then technique.

You have to develop good habits, Eastham said. And that applies to everything, especially if you want to be successful. And you have to maintain those good habits, like a proper diet, moving forward. Especially here in Appalachia, because we really like our food here.

Younger individuals, he said, typically dont realize the damaging side effects of a poor diet, and how those effects build up over time. Eastham pointed out that to a younger individual, anything that curbs hunger is acceptable; and the hardest part, sometimes, is convincing them that a bag of chips and a soda doesnt qualify as a meal.

For an athlete, or anyone that wants to prevent that first heart attack, it really starts at the age of 18. Even if you have a genetic predisposition to that health issue, proper diet and exercise can help stave that off. You should really begin a healthy lifestyle in your teens. And those health benefits will follow you into later years,Eastham said.

But you will find in a lot of cases with people who were athletes, he added, or who worked hard, manual labor jobs or on the farm when they were younger, tend to stay healthier longer. Or if they do get out of shape, they find it easier to get back into shape quicker than an individual who grew up with a sedentary lifestyle.

Athletes burn more calories than those individuals who dont engage in a regimented athletic lifestyle, but Eastham said it isnt necessary to be athletic in order to enjoy health benefits.

There are a lot of anaerobic exercises a person can do, he said. You can lift weights, get out and walk, or just about anything. But the main thing is just to get out and get moving. Do something, because its for your benefit to do it.

We can still get our Netflix time in, Eastham said. We all like to binge, but we dont want to sit there slamming down cheeseburgers while we are doing it, either. Thats another part of it. Its a trap because we all like snacks and other goodies, and can easily overindulge while watching TV, because we are focused on the show and not paying attention to how much we are consuming.

Eastham said a poor diet can derail any sort of training program, professional or otherwise. The actual exercises, whether they are for strength, endurance or a combination of both, help get the body in a habit of moving and performing certain functions properly without damaging the person doing them. But a diet that is heavy on unhealthy foods such as one based heavily on processed sugars and preservatives can make it harder for the body to reap the benefits of even a good training routine.

Exercise is like tearing the body down to rebuild it, only better, Eastham said. But you have to give your body something to work with. If you follow a good training plan, and at least a moderately healthy diet, then I guarantee you will start to see good results in just a couple of weeks.

Eastham said not everyone has the need or the desire to be an athlete; but everyone has both the need and desire to be healthy. And Eastham should know what he is talking about, because he has lived it. He was a high school athlete, but after graduation he spent decades not living the athletic lifestyle. But over the course of the last several years he has reclaimed his health and went on to win numerous medals in the Masters Olympic Games.

(606)326-2655 |

cromans@dailyindependent.com

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Training within the training: Eastham preaches commitment | News - The Independent

At age 69, Jane Seymour is feeling more confident than ever.

The British actress, who enjoys showcasing her sizzling swimsuit snaps on Instagram, insisted she doesnt edit them for her followers.

I dont retouch any of those pictures, its just me out there, the former Bond girl told People magazine on Tuesday. You can tell in the one in the waterfall, I certainly didnt put hair and makeup and do anything for that. I was getting splashed by a serious, serious waterfall there.

Seymour told the outlet theres really no secret behind her glowing confidence. Instead, she would tell other women to maintain balance in their lives.

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I felt that there are a lot of people I know who just give up, she explained. They have the babies and they say, OK, Im done caring about how I look and staying in shape. And then I think they think that people like me go to exotic spas and do all kinds of special treatments and I dont do any of that.

I think I wanted to show people what would happen if you just did a very simple regimen like I do, where youre not on any specialty diet, you eat as sensible as you can, everything in moderation.

When it comes to staying in shape, Seymour told the outlet she prefers a Mediterranean diet full of fish, nuts and vegetables. Seymour is also a big supporter of a no-nonsense skincare regimen.

I exfoliate really, really well, she said. Then I use Crepe Erase and I tend to use a lot of it. I love it and I put it in the regular places on my chest, my arms, my legs and even my face. Its all about plumping this skin up and enabling it to reset itself, too.

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When Seymour turned the big 6-9 on Feb. 15, she dished on her youthful secrets to Fox News.

I know nobody believes it, but its true Im eating sensibly, but not on some crazy diet, the former Dr. Quinn star said at the time. I work out, but I dont do anything insane, because Ive had injuries over the years and I know what my body can and cant do. Thats basically it.

I recently just dropped 14 pounds, she continued. I kind of got used to being bigger. Not that I was really huge or anything, but in my family there is type 2 diabetes. And my blood work was bordering on pre-diabetic. I told my doctor, You must be kidding. Im smaller than anyone I know!And he said, Well, its not your fault, but if you lose at least six pounds, you will reverse it.So, that was the first moment. And then one of my best friends he completely reversed his through a different way of eating.

Im not doing anything terribly clever. Im just doing intermittent fasting, but nothing huge. And I happen to like healthy food. We grow all our own food organically in the back garden. A lot of it in pots, which is, again, things that anyone can do. Even if you dont have a garden, you can grow things in containers and eat everything in moderation. And because Im not thinking about myself all the time Im thinking about other things and Ive got the kids or the grandchildren and Im working that gives me the energy that I need.

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Seymour also told Fox News that her fitness routine is very sporadic these days.

I try to get my heartbeat up with fast walking at least three times a week, she said. I also work out with a trainer and Ill do about 20 minutes on a stationary bicycle, the spin bicycle, but not spinning like crazy. I do my own form of it, usually with weights, as well. So I try to do the upper body at the same time as the lower body. And then I do Pilates and Gyrotonics, which I swear by.

So, things that are really good for my particular body, like the bridge and plank, I can do anywhere in any hotel room or anywhere at any time, Seymour shared. I dont need to go to the gym to do the things that are actually really good for my body. And having been a dancer, you have an understanding of form. So when you work out, I think you are very careful about having good form. Whereas some people just throw themselves in the gym. If you dont have proper form, you can injure yourself.

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Jane Seymour, 69, says she doesn't retouch her swimsuit photos on Instagram: 'It's just me out there' - foxwilmington.com

On busy mornings,its not uncommon to skimp on the fruit and veggies and reach for simple carbs for breakfast -- which may be vegan but they are not necessarily healthy. (Hello, bagel we are looking at you.) Thats exactly why adding so-called superfoods can be a fix: They get their super status by packing inmore nutrients per ounce than regular foods.

When you reach for the blender to make your next smoothie, add these nutrients to kick up your energy, speed metabolism and feel fuller from the fiber and density they provide.Whoaside from Popeyehas ever had time or inclination to throwback multiple handfuls of raw spinach every day? If youre still working on upping your intake of leafy greens, the easiest way to add more into your diet is by sneaking them in your smoothies.

Adding these five superfoods to your smoothies is a simple way to boost your intake of nutrient-dense foods when following a vegan diet, says Karla Moreno-Bryce, RD, owner of Nutritious Vida. It saves time and effort in having to meal plan a well-balanced meal.

The best nutrients come from the most fibrous of greens -- kale and spinach, with their vitamin-loaded package of Vitamins A, K, C, and B6, along with Calcium, Copper, and Potassium. There is a myth that blending these greens will destroy their fiber quotient. In fact, it does not. Blending does break down the fibers, but you still get the same amount, and keep all the nutrients intact, but blended in a smoothie your body can absorb these nutrients much quicker.

Chia seeds arent just for pudding. When you toss the tiny-yet-mighty energy boosters into your smoothie, youllupthe amount of crucial nutrients youre getting every dayand you wont even be able to tell theyre there. Chia seeds provide calcium, protein, and omega-3s, which are key nutrients when following a vegan diet, Moreno-Bryce says. Their high fiber content (two tablespoons have nearly 10 grams of fiber) will also help keep you full, which is why they're a great choice in the morning.

It only takes a small amount of hemp seeds toraisethe nutrition of your smoothie. No, seriouslywere talking a tablespoon. Hemp seeds are a great option to incorporate in smoothies, as they provide protein, iron, omega-3s, and manganese, she explains. A little can go a long way, as it can sometimes overpower the overall taste of your smoothie.

When it comes to protecting your cells from damage-causing free radicals and fighting off disease, its hard to find a fruit thats more powerful than blueberries.

Blueberries are a powerhouse in providing antioxidants, Moreno-Bryce says. I recommend choosing wild blueberries when possible, as these contain more antioxidants per serving than cultivated blueberries. Both frozen and fresh work well in smoothies.

Okay, okayadding quinoa to a smoothie sounds kind of odd. But hear me out: Its basically the secret weapon youve been missing out on when it comes to creating a morning beverage that fuels and satisfies.

Many dont consider quinoa as a smoothie-friendly ingredient, but it can be, Bryce-Moreno says. Use leftover quinoa from a previous meal to boost plant protein, fiber, folate, and iron to your morning or post-workout smoothie. This willensure you're fulland satisfied all throughout the morning up until lunch, keeping any snack cravings at bay.

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Add These 5 Superfoods to Your Smoothie to Boost Nutrients and Stay Full - The Beet

Reports from Media Matters, a liberal media watchdog group, and from the Media and Climate Change Observatory (MeCCO) at the University of Colorado, Boulder, reveal that the increase in concern reported by Pew correlates closely with media coverage of climate change. The three public opinion, economic well being or malaise, and general media coverage are closely intertwined.

The rise in coverage from 2016 through the end of 2017 can be attributed in large part to Trump's bellicose opposition to action on climate change, the singularly most highly visible environmental issue since well before he took office.

According to Media Matters, in 2017, "71 percent of [broadcast news] segments on climate change featured actions or statements by the Trump administration, most frequently the president's announcement that he intended to pull the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement." By 2018, however, the initial outrage over Trump's contrarian stance on climate change had dissipated; again according to Media Matters, broadcast TV coverage of climate change dropped 45 percent.

Media Matters and MeCCO both report subsequent and significant increases in media coverage of climate change in 2019. Television coverage was up 138 percent; print coverage, by the five national newspapers tracked by MeCCO, was up 46 percent. (It should be noted that while the percentage increases are substantial, the total amount focusing on climate change as part of the full news coverage strikes many as woefully low.)

Media Matters attributes this increase in part to Covering Climate Now, the collaborative media effort spearheaded by Columbia Journalism Review and The Nation that was timed to coincide with the United Nations Climate Action Summit in New York City in September 2019. That unprecedented initiative led to publication or broadcast of at least 3,640 stories, project managers indicate. (The Covering Climate Now project team is planning a similar media collaboration in concert with the 150th anniversary of the first Earth Day on April 22.) Media Matters also points to coverage decisions made independently by various cable, print, and broadcast news organizations.

But how were these 2019 developments experienced within news organizations?

By happenstance, on the same day that Pew Research Center released its February findings, Planet Forward, the environmental reporting platform created by George Washington University, hosted a panel discussion that featured representatives from broadcast, cable, and public television. Co-sponsored by Climate Nexus, "The Climate Is Changing. Is TV News Adapting?" provided individual and personal observations on the trends reported by MeCCO and Media Matters.

An Increase in Coverage

Two of the guests CBS News Meteorologist and Climate Specialist Jeff Berardelli (a contributor to Yale Climate Connections) and Eugenia Harvey, executive producer of WNET's Peril and Promise: The Challenge of Climate Change noted and complimented the spur provided by the Covering Climate Now initiative.

When CBS corporate officially signed on to the initiative, Berardelli said, journalists from nearly every news beat across the network came forward with story ideas.

At WNET, Harvey added, the initiative prompted new partnerships and allowed producers and reporters to share their stories with wider audiences. The longer-term increase in climate coverage at WNET, however, was prompted also by special funding provided by a donor who had recently realized how climate change could affect the lives of his grandchildren.

For Jen Christensen, health and climate unit producer for CNN, it was the economics of climate-related disasters that persuaded CNN decision-makers to increase coverage of climate change. Economic issues were one of the reasons CNN chose to produce the seven-hour "Climate Crisis Town Hall" with 10 of the 14 Democratic candidates vying for their party's nomination for president.

Changes in the Style and Mode of Coverage

Prompted by questions from Frank Sesno, a former CNN journalist and anchor who now directs GW's School of Media and Public Affairs, panelists also explained how the tenor of their organizations' climate coverage is changing.

In the Peril and Promise series at WNET, Harvey noted, the stories highlight issues of social justice. As Christensen's job title indicates, the health angle is critical to the stories she produces for CNN.

Berardelli added that colleagues at CBS had become more conscious of the timeframes they use in their climate stories: To be relevant to the lives of viewers, stories have to connect with problems they might encounter in human-scale time spans, like mortgage cycles. In California, "people are losing their insurance because of increasing fire risks," he noted. That's something every homeowner can understand.

Sesno also asked panelists about challenges they face in producing and placing stories about climate change. All noted that the almost limitless space afforded by digital media meant that stories that could not be fit into televised programs could still be posted online.

And rarely are they asked by their managers to "balance" their climate science stories: The scientific consensus on climate change is broadly accepted within their news organizations. Nevertheless, all three panelists acknowledged that climate change is still a divisive topic for some viewers. But by including alternative frames that appeal to conservatives (e.g. economy, personal autonomy, national security), they agreed, journalists could connect with these viewers.

Addressing climate change, Berardelli said, could result in "millions of high-paying jobs" and "could revive forgotten places in America."

And regardless of their political views, for Americans living in coastal communities that still rely on septic tanks, Christensen noted, rising sea levels could mean "you won't be able to flush your toilet."

Even religious objections to action on climate change "God would not permit such wholesale destruction" can be countered with context-appropriate framing. "Have you ever read the Old Testament?" Harvey exclaimed in response to questions about dealing with religious viewpoints.

Finding Hope

As important to the evolving climate beat as surmounting skepticism, however, is countering the doom and gloom created by misleading warnings that "we have just 12 years to act on climate change."

In his classes on sustainability reporting, Sesno said, roughly one-quarter of the women say they have decided not to have children.

Harvey acknowledged that stories of "peril" typically attract the most viewers, but emphasized the importance of "promise" for WNET's coverage of climate change.

One challenge for communicators was succinctly posed by a politically conservative member of the audience: "How do we shift from 'climate Armageddon' to solutions?"

Berardelli stressed that action on climate change could not only avoid disaster, it could improve matters.

Sesno followed up on this point by highlighting the significant progress humanity had made in solving other environmental problems.

Reducing carbon emissions may well be more difficult. Nevertheless, it is still a matter of regulating pollutants and polluters. The list of 100 companies responsible for 71 percent of the greenhouse gases emitted since 1988 includes companies that were also responsible, in decades past, for polluting Earth's air and water. Solving climate change, like cleaning the air and water, could become a positive story about human ingenuity and cooperation.

"We will need everyone's help," Berardelli concluded, "and we could make everyone's life better."

Telling that story will be one of numerous challenges in covering climate change in 2020.

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Is breakfast still the most important meal of the day? We used to know the answer to that question, right?

And now were not so sure.

As a registered dietitian, I always recommend starting the day with a healthy breakfast. And during the past 20 years, Ive never met a nutritionist who has suggested skipping it. The morning meal can boost energy, control cravings and weight, and improve focus and performance.

When planned well, breakfast can also add important nutrients to your diet, such as protein, healthy fats and calcium, explained Cordialis Msora-Kasago, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

But popular intermittent fasting regimens often banish breakfast in an effort to improve health and lose weight. In a recent New York Times article, Mark Mattson, a neuroscientist at the National Institute on Aging and at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, explained that most people trying to lose weight should strive for 16 calorie-free hours, and that the easiest way to do this is to stop eating by 8 p.m., skip breakfast the next morning and then eat again at noon the next day.

Mattson, who for the past 30 years has consumed all of his 2,000 calories between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m, recently told me that once your body adapts to skipping breakfast, you dont get the negative side effects of doing so.

But there is a way that you can have your breakfast and your fast, too.

Complicating matters in the breakfast debate is that current research on breakfast and weight control is conflicting. For example, a recent BMJ review that analyzed 13 studies on the meal concluded that the addition of breakfast might not be a good strategy for weight loss.

The BMJ study used many small and extremely short-term studies, and was skewed toward those including a very poor quality breakfast, explained Tamara Duker Freuman, a New York City-based registered dietitian who closely follows the research literature on meal timing in terms of disease risk.

If the intent was to settle the breakfast debate once and for all, this was not the study selection or design that was going to do it.

Whats more, these findings are a stark contrast from other research, which suggests that when you front-load your calories by eating a big breakfast and a smaller dinner, you have a much better chance of shedding pounds and you are likely to reduce your risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, too.

Thats because eating most of our calories earlier in the day is more in sync with our bodies circadian rhythms, which influence metabolism and decrease the risk of weight gain, compared to eating more calories later in the day. Circadian rhythms may also help explain why breakfast skipping is associated with increased risk of weight gain even among those who consume comparable amounts of calories in a day.

Indeed, a small recent study examined differences in diet-induced thermogenesis or calories expended as the result of processing and storing food among people consuming larger breakfasts and smaller dinners versus smaller breakfasts and larger dinners. What it found was consistent with these earlier findings: Participants who ate a big breakfast rather than a large dinner both with identical calories had 2.5 times greater calorie-burning benefits compared to when they swapped their meal pattern around. Blood sugar and insulin levels were diminished after breakfast compared to dinner as well.

What weve seen from very large cohort studies conducted over years and even decades is that people who eat breakfast are more likely to have lower BMIs and a variety of better metabolic health outcomes particularly related to reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease, Freuman said.

Just this week, a meta-analysis published in Clinical Nutrition concluded that eating breakfast regularly may promote cardiovascular health and decrease all cause mortality, while skipping the morning meal increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and death.

But this doesnt mean that every breakfast skipper is destined to gain weight or develop heart disease or type 2 diabetes, nor does it mean that a particular individual who skips breakfast and is perfectly healthy must start eating breakfast. I think the takeaway is that if you are a breakfast skipper who struggles with blood sugar, triglycerides or cholesterol, or weight despite consuming a reasonably healthy diet it may be worth considering establishing a daily, healthy breakfast habit and pulling back a bit on the nighttime intake in tandem, Freuman said.

Following a daily fasting regimen that restricts eating during a certain time window doesnt have to mean eliminating breakfast. For example, you can stop eating at 7 p.m. and not eat again until at least 7 a.m. the next morning, and you will still get the benefits of a 12-hour fast while fueling your mind and body with important nutrients to start the day, Msora-Kasago explained.

Eating earlier will mean eating in sync with your circadian rhythms, which is favorable for weight control, and at the same time you will avoid the trap of nighttime nibbling, where calories can pile up without you even realizing it.

Should you eat or skip breakfast before exercising? Some research has revealed that you can burn more fat if you exercise on an empty stomach.

But depending on your needs, it may not be a wise decision to do so. Some people are able to work out in the fasted state and not feel ill effects, but others may feel weak, dizzy or unable to complete their workout, Msora-Kasago said.

I always advise my clients to eat before exercising, said Wendy Sterling, a board-certified sports dietitian. I work with athletes, and my job is to help them gain a competitive advantage by maximizing every workout.

Skipping breakfast could mean they might be working out on a 14-hour fast, depending on when they ate last. Performance suffers greatly, and they look sluggish and tired, said Sterling, who is the team nutritionist for the Oakland As.

When choosing a breakfast, look for a meal that includes protein, which will promote satiety and decrease daytime snacking, Msora-Kasago said.

A healthy breakfast should also include whole grains, healthy fats, a fruit or vegetable, and a calcium-rich food or beverage. Msora-Kasago recommends a veggie egg scramble with cheese and avocado on whole-grain toast; hummus on a whole-grain bagel with tomatoes and cucumbers and low-fat milk; and oatmeal with some almonds and low-fat milk and berries.

Keep in mind, if you tend to wake up and not feel hungry, you might be eating too much during the evening. Simply cutting back on nighttime snacking may give you more of an appetite for breakfast.

Or, if youre not up for a full meal in the morning, you can also try eating smaller portions of what you would normally eat, or pick something quick and easy like a small handful of nuts with dried fruit to give your body something to get your day started, Msora-Kasago added.

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To eat, or not to eat breakfast - that is the question - KTVZ

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Gelesis, a biotechnology company developing a novel hydrogel platform technology to treat obesity and other chronic diseases related to the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, has been named to Fast Companys prestigious annual list of the Worlds Most Innovative Companies for 2020.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200310005284/en/

The list honors the businesses making the most profound impact on both industry and culture, showcasing a variety of ways to thrive in todays fast-changing world. Gelesis earned the standing of #5 in the biotech category. This years full Most Innovative Companies list features 434 businesses from 39 countries.

The first product based on Gelesis patented hydrogel, Plenity, an orally administered, non-systemic and non-stimulant aid to weight management, was cleared for use by the FDA in adults with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 2540 kg/m2, when used in conjunction with diet and exercise. It is the only prescription weight management product indicated for use by overweight adults with a BMI as low as 25 kg/m2, making it available for the largest number of adults affected by overweight and obesity of any prescription weight-management aid.

Gelesis product pipeline includes possible treatments for a range of GI diseases, including NASH and NAFLD, type 2 diabetes, chronic constipation, and weight management in adolescent overweight and obesity.

Our mission is to improve the lives of the millions of people struggling with excess weight and its an incredible honor to be recognized for that work, said Yishai Zohar, CEO and founder of Gelesis. This recognition from Fast Company kicks off an exciting year with the initial commercial launch of Plenity later in 2020.

Fast Companys editors and writers sought out the most groundbreaking businesses on the planet and across myriad industries. They also judged nominations received through their application process.

The Worlds Most Innovative Companies is Fast Companys signature franchise and one of its most highly anticipated editorial efforts of the year. It provides both a snapshot and a road map for the future of innovation across the most dynamic sectors of the economy.

At a time of increasing global volatility, this years list showcases the resilience and optimism of businesses across the world. These companies are applying creativity to solve challenges within their industries and far beyond, said Fast Company senior editor Amy Farley, who oversaw the issue with deputy editor David Lidsky.

Fast Companys Most Innovative Companies issue (March/April 2020) is now available online at fastcompany.com/most-innovativecompanies/2020, as well as in app form via iTunes and on newsstands beginning March 17, 2020. The hashtag is #FCMostInnovative.

ABOUT GELESIS Gelesis is developing a novel hydrogel platform technology to treat overweight and obesity and chronic diseases related to the GI pathway. Gelesis proprietary approach is designed to act mechanically in the GI pathway to potentially alter the course of certain chronic diseases. In April 2019, Gelesis received FDA clearance for its lead product candidate, Plenity, as an aid for weight management in overweight and obese adults with a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 25-40 kg/m2, when used in conjunction with diet and exercise. Gelesis anticipates Plenity will be available by prescription in the U.S. in the second half of 2020. Additionally, Gelesis is developing its second investigational candidate, Gelesis200, a hydrogel optimized for weight loss and glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes and prediabetes. Novel hydrogel mechanotherapeutics based on the Gelesis platform technology are also being advanced in other GI inflammatory conditions, such as non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and Chronic Idiopathic Constipation (CIC).

The Gelesis executive and advisory team includes some of the worlds leading experts in obesity, materials science, chronic disease research, and commercialization. Gelesis was co-founded by PureTech Health (LSE: PRTC), a clinical-stage biotherapeutics company dedicated to discovering, developing and commercializing highly differentiated medicines for devastating diseases. For more information, visit gelesis.com or connect with us on Twitter @GelesisInc.

ABOUT PLENITY Plenity is an oral, non-systemic, superabsorbent hydrogel which has received FDA clearance as an aid in weight management in overweight and obese adults with a BMI of 2540 kg/m2, when used in conjunction with diet and exercise. It is made by cross-linking two naturally derived building blocks, modified cellulose and citric acid, that create a three-dimensional matrix. Plenity particles rapidly absorb water in the stomach and homogenously mix with ingested foods. Rather than forming one large mass, it creates thousands of small individual gel pieces with the elasticity (firmness) of solid plant-based foods (e.g., vegetables) without caloric value. The Plenity hydrogel increases the volume and elasticity of the stomach and small intestine contents and induces a feeling of fullness and satiety. Once it arrives in the large intestine, the hydrogel is partially broken down by enzymes and loses its three-dimensional structure along with most of its absorption capacity. The released water is reabsorbed in the large intestine, and the remaining cellulosic material is eliminated through the bodys natural digestive processes. PLENITY is considered a medical device because it achieves its primary intended purpose through mechanical modes of action consistent with mechanobiology constructs. For more information, visit myplenity.com.

Important Safety Information

Rx Only. For the safe and proper use of PLENITY, refer to the Instructions for Use.

ABOUT FAST COMPANY Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. Since 2011, Fast Company has received some of the most prestigious editorial and design accolades, including the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) National Magazine Award for Magazine of the Year, Adweeks Hot List for Hottest Business Publication, and six gold medals and 10 silver medals from the Society of Publication Designers. The editor-in-chief is Stephanie Mehta and the publisher is Amanda Smith. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication Inc., and can be found online at http://www.fastcompany.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200310005284/en/

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Gelesis Named One of the World's Most Innovative Companies for 2020 by Fast Company - BioSpace

You are what you eat goes the old adage. In India, it could mean many things.

For one, dietary habits, like dialects and customs, change every few hundred kilometres. Then income inequality vastly impacts what people eat and where they derive nutrition from. Amidst acute malnutrition and anaemia, India also has the worlds second-highest number of diabetics.

To unpack this conundrum, a team of researchers has developed a data-driven research tool to understand Indias dietary universe. A group from Queens University, Belfast, collaborated with one from New Delhis All India Institute of Medical Sciences to capture data that can eventually establish a correlation between diet and disease.

Through this new tool, questions about food intake and habits will be worked into population surveys. The responses will then be mapped to understand health care and mould policy. We hope this measure will capture dietary data and provide a foundation for innovative and rigorous studies of diet-disease to inform policy and health care planning cross-nationally, and reduce the high socioeconomic burden of disease, especially among those who are most vulnerable, said Dr Claire McEvoy, lecturer at Queens Universitys School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Biomedical Sciences.

She also spoke about the challenges India faces with an ageing population, under- and over-nutrition, and the need for more investment in public health care in the country. Edited excerpts:

How did this project come about?This collaboration brings together experts from a range of disciplines (nutrition, public health, ageing, academics, and clinicians] who are interested in how food choice influences the risk of developing a disease as we get older. India is one of the fastest ageing populations in the world and dietary risks are major drivers of increasing rates of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. Dietary surveillance data are critically needed in India to inform public health policies and interventions to reduce disease. However, until now nutrition research has been largely under-resourced and understudied in India.

How does this tool exactly work? Who will be using it?Our goal is to embed the dietary assessment measure into population studies and surveys so we can study diet-disease relations. Ultimately, we aim to generate evidence-based dietary recommendations for public health and reduce the high socioeconomic burden associated with diet-related illness. We ask people to report their typical frequency of intake of a list of over 100 foods, drinks, and spices covering all the major food groups ranging from cereals to fruit to beverages. We also ask them for additional details on the vitamins they take as well as their household intake of salt, sugar [and] oils.

How does your research take Indias diverse cultural and financial nuances into account?The interplay between sociocultural factors, diet, and disease has not been comprehensively investigated in India. There are wide variations in dietary practices between Indian states and between geographical regions as well as other factors that influence food choice, including income, religious, and cultural beliefs. We worked with local dietetic expertise to develop the dietary measure and tested its feasibility in both urban and rural populations in three states in the North and South of India. We hope to extend the validation of the dietary measure to other Indian states.

Is India prepared to handle an ageing and aged population? What are some of the biggest hurdles you anticipate?Its good that people are living longer but invariably this means that healthcare systems will need vast resources to treat chronic diseases that can largely be prevented by targeted public health approaches. India needs more investment in public health for disease prevention.

Culturally, how has attitude to nutrition changed in India? Are people less insecure about food and famine, and thus have their eating habits changed? Or is that true for only a small demographic?The rapid pace of economic growth, urbanisation, and increasing life expectancy in India has fuelled a double-burden of under- and over-nutrition and diet-related disease. On one hand, nutrient deficiencies remain widespread, especially among young children and women, while non-communicable diseases are rapidly escalating and contributing to high levels of disability and even premature death.

Does it also have specific aspects related to diabetes, a leading lifestyle disorder in India?The population survey in India captures data on current and medical history, educational attainment, social and cultural factors as well as measurements of health and well-being in older adults. Future studies will be able to investigate whether eating patterns are related to risk of disease in the population and help inform policies to reduce preventable disease.

How far along are you in the research process? When do you expect this research to present its first set of findings?It took almost a year to develop this tool. We then carried out training with fieldworkers and pilot-tested the diet questionnaire in Haryana, Delhi and Chennai. We are conducting preliminary dietary data analysis but we would like to conduct further validation studies of the questionnaire before we publish the findings.

This article first appeared on Quartz.

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How does the Indian diet enhance risk of disease? Researchers in Delhi and Belfast are finding out - Scroll.in