Category Archives: Diet And Food

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) There has been a lot of hype in the last year over meatless meat including beef, sausage, even chicken. You can now find them all readily available in your grocery store, and at many local restaurants.

It's brought some attention to the plant-based diet, where people replace animal protein with other sources.

So does it work?

Eyewitness News found a local couple who watched the popular Netflix documentary, "The Game Changers."

It follows elite, world athletes who are on a plant-based diet and have had huge success. All of them saying they became stronger, healthier and better in their sport.

It really hit home for Mike and Emily Lewis, who previously were daily meat eaters.

"Every day at least once a day, I had chicken in my salad pretty much every day for lunch. Then we had a dinner probably every night that was centered around some sort of meat entree," Mike said.

Emily said that's how she and Mike both grew up.

"We grew up on a farm in the Midwest. We grew up on meat and potatoes. My mom is actually a dietitian, we ate very healthy but it was still based off of meat," Emily said.

Mike was really surprised by the many health benefits he saw in the documentary, and Emily agreed.

"I think the health benefits were huge, showing how it can prevent cancer and cardiovascular health, and wanting to be an example for our daughters as well," Emily said.

Mike tracks all of his progress through apps on his phone, planning and recording his meals in one and documenting things like his weight, BMI and muscle mass in another.

After four months on the plant-based diet, he's down 27 pounds and improved in every category.

"I've not only seen results on the scale, but I feel results energy-wise. I'm sleeping better, I feel more balanced, I even have better focus," Mike said.

For Emily, who is a fitness instructor, eliminating meat was an easy adjustment.

"I was surprised at how easy it was. It is a lot of work finding the options for you to replace the meat protein, but I didn't miss it or crave it," Emily said. "It's a pretty easy change. I also find I am recovering faster, and I feel stronger in my workouts than I did before."

There are plenty of resources online if you would like to check out the plant-based diet.

The rest is here:
Benefits and challenges of a plant-based diet - WTHR

If you follow fighting sports, you're probably already aware of George Lockhart's work. He's the nutritionist and chef who controls weight cuts for UFC stars like Conor McGregor and Daniel Cormier, and has managed the nutritional needs of boxers, such as two-weight world champion, Badou Jack. For the past few months though, Lockhart has been working with a new client: 6ft9, self-styled "fat man", Tyson "The Gypsy King" Fury.

Tyson is like a Lamborghini and if you owned a Lamborghini you wouldnt put shit fuel in it

Using only the freshest produce, for the past seven weeks Lockhart has been making five trips a day to a local farmers market in order to fetch enough food to satisfy Fury's 4,500 calories a day need. He has, of course, also been on washing up duties after each of Fury's five daily meals.

With all that food, Lockhart predicts Fury will come into his rematch with Wilder "a lot heavier than he usually is", according to Lockhart, but he will also be "a lot leaner too".

Tyson is like a Lamborghini and if you owned a Lamborghini you wouldnt put shit fuel in it," says Lockhart. "Its about recovery. Tyson can burn 1,500 calories in 45 minutes so we are constantly replenishing. That means its not just the quantity of the workouts that has increased but the quality too.

Fury's meals are delivered with military precision, and you'd expect nothing less from a nutritionist who began his working life as a US Marine who did a tour of duty in Iraq where his four-man team helped apprehend 200 suspected insurgents. That was, of course, prior to Lockhart turning his hand to becoming a MMA fighter himself, before he eventually became nutritionist and chef to some of the world's most dangerous fighters.

Speaking to The Athletic, Lockhart revealed the type of daily diet he serves to Fury and his three brothers.

8am, breakfast: [Fury's day] starts off with fruit and Greek yogurt. He loves that. And he feels strong with that. He has that every morning. Obviously, we switch it up, but we have tons of berries so you get a lot of antioxidants.

Pre-workout shake: The pre-workout will basically, depending what time of the day it is, be beta alanine. Hell get 4,000 milligrams of beta-alanine. Well give them like 200 milligrams of caffeine and those are gonna be the basics. The base for pre-workout.

During-workout shake: Hell have BCAAs with a little bit of creatine and sugar.

Post-workout shake: Hell get dextrose in a supplement form, a type of fruit for fructose. Then well add a whey protein isolate for his post. An hour after that shake, he eats his meal.

11am, lunch: Tyson likes spicy food, which blows my freaking mind because being an Englishman, its usually not the case. I cooked him up some shit because Im half Mexican that put my tongue on fire and hes cool with it. He gets a curry almost every single day for inflammation. There are a million different curries out there, so Im constantly coming up with new curries.

2pm, second lunch: He has to have at least one serving of seafood every single day. And then I try and do one red meat or chicken. So every meal he gets different meats, youll get a huge variety of foods. I try to get different meats every single meal. A chicken, a fish or last night he had sirloin steak.

Furys works out again in the afternoon and will be fuelled by more pre, during and post-workout shakes.

6pm, dinner: Fury will have something like chicken vindaloo with turmeric for its anti-inflammatory properties, but this meal will be crafted around whatever meat Fury hasn't had earlier in the day.

9pm, second dinner: Hell have his power balls, his energy balls. Its basically almond butter, oatmeal, coconut, honey, pecans and dark chocolate chips all rolled into balls. A couple of those before he goes to bed.

Like this article? Sign up to our newsletter to get more articles like this delivered straight to your inbox.

SIGN UP

Read more here:
Tyson Fury's Nutritionist Has Revealed the Fighter's Daily Diet Ahead of Fury Wilder 2 - Men's health UK

Just because diet soda doesn't contain sugar or calories, doesn't mean that it's healthy for you.

Studies are mixed, but some link diet soda with serious, life-threatening diseases. Here's what you need to know about diet soda and how it affects your health.

A 2017 study published in Stroke found that, among over 3,000 participants, an increase in artificially sweetened soda consumption was associated with an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, dementia, and ischemic stroke.

Most recently, a 2019 study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, found that those who drink two diet sodas a day are more likely to die from circulatory diseases, as well as increased mortality overall, compared to those who had one diet soda or less a month.

Increased sugar cravings: Diet soda has been shown to increase cravings for sweets, according to various studies, including one published in 2019 in Pediatric Obesity. In turn, that increase in cravings may actually lead to consuming more calories.

Not effective for weight loss or diabetes: While it can seem like cutting back on sugar by replacing it with artificial sweeteners will be beneficial for weight loss or diabetes, evidence suggests otherwise. "Diet soda does not promote weight loss and it has no effect on glycemic response in adults with diabetes. Therefore, diet soda should not be used as a weight-loss strategy or means to control diabetes," says Rebecca Oh, RD, clinical dietitian at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital.

Altered digestive tract: "Diet soda can alter your gut microbiota, which can have negative impacts on digestion and hormone regulation," says Oh. More research is needed to understand exactly which artificial sweeteners affect gut bacteria and how. So far, preliminary studies have found that saccharin, sucralose, and stevia may alter the bacteria in your gut, though it's unclear what impact this may have on your health.

Kidney damage: "Long-term consumption of diet soda can increase production of free radicals in renal tissues, potentially causing damage to the kidneys," says Oh. Additionally, a 2017 study published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology showed that diet soda consumption is linked to a higher risk of kidney disease.

Not great for your teeth: Think diet soda is better for your teeth because it doesn't contain sugar? Think again. Even though it's sugar-free, diet soda is acidic thanks to ingredients like citric acid, phosphoric acid, citric acid, and tartaric acid. These ingredients can contribute to tooth enamel erosion, at almost the same rate as non-diet soda, according to Colgate.

Some ingredients in diet soda can be particularly harmful for people with certain health conditions. "Phosphorus should be avoided for people on dialysis and with late-stage kidney disease, and Phenylalanine is not safe for people with phenylketonuria, or PKU," says Oh.

Of course, consuming diet soda occasionally is safer than daily consumption for the average adult. "If you are going to drink a soda, drink a very small serving, 6 to 8 ounces max, and work on weaning your cravings," says Oh. She says this goes for diet soda or regular soda.

She also says that drinking soda, diet or regular, will not hydrate you as well as drinking good old-fashioned water add a spritz of lemon or lime juice for flavor.

"Rather than focus on the 'limit' of how much diet soda you can drink, I encourage you to focus on how best to promote your health. Water is the best way to hydrate your body, quench your thirst, and promote health," says Oh.

If you find it hard to drink plain water, she recommends unsweetened sparkling water or unsweetened tea over other beverage options. If you're struggling to cut diet soda out of your diet and are concerned about the health risks, speak to your primary care provider or a registered dietitian.

Read more:
All the ways that diet soda is bad for you and what to drink instead - Insider - INSIDER

Happy Wednesday, MarketWatchers! Dont miss these top stories:

Barrons wants to recognize people and organizations whose products, services, or education programs are making an impact to improve the financial health of individuals across the U.S. Be sure to head to barrons.com/celebrates for more information and to submit a nomination by Feb. 29 for the Barrons Celebrates: Financial Empowerment program.

I understand an inheritance is not community property unless you make it so. If the shoe were on the other foot, I would have added his name to the deed.

Department officials say the new rules help students, and also save taxpayers money.

There are several deferments and forbearances that can temporarily suspend the obligation to repay federal student loans.

Disney increased the prices of some tickets and passes for its theme parks in California and Florida.

Researchers evaluated the coronary health of 760 women over a decade to figure out how what we eat affects our heart health.

For the last few months, Ive been working two part-time jobs in addition to my military duties to save up for my monthly shortfall while Im in school.

Mortgage rates should remain low for some time, says Sal Guatieri, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.

After he signed a waiver, I removed my husband as beneficiary from my retirement accounts, andhe took his name off our joint checking and savings accounts.

Significant expenses for one family member may adversely affect the whole family.

Reporting your boss for being a bully or a bad manager does not qualify as a protected activity under the law, experts say.

Could you imagine if you went to bed last night with $1 million in your Fidelity accounts and woke up this morning to $0?

The field of Democrats looking to beat President Donald Trump this year including the six on the stage Tuesday night are aligned in their pledge to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement.

Jeff Snider of Alhambra Investments says both the former and current president are off base about this economy.

Markets are too optimistic about the hit to growth from the coronavirus and the likelihood of a swift rebound.

The dollar is on fire in 2020, but that isnt cooling investors ardor for U.S. stocks. Can that relationship continue?

See more here:
This diet will help reduce your risk of heart disease and fewer people are having trouble paying their medical bills - MarketWatch

Its hard to go anywhere these days without hearing about the Whole30 diet. You probably know at least one person who has tried it or has considered trying it as a New Years resolution or dietary reset.

The craze for the eating plan began in 2009 when creator Melissa Hartwig began blogging about a 30-day experiment in which she eliminated items like sugar, dairy and even legumes from her diet. The idea is that you remove certain foods from your diet for a month, then add them back in and see how you react.

She then turned her experiment into a program that claims to eliminate cravings, reduce allergies, aid in digestion, help you shed weight and give you energy.

In a nutshell, the Whole30 allows you to eat vegetables, potatoes, fruits in moderation, unprocessed meats, seafood, eggs, nuts (but not peanuts since they are legumes), seeds, some oils such as olive and coconut, ghee, and unsweetened coffee with non-dairy creamer such as almond milk, explained Aimee Aristotelous, a certified nutritionist and author of Almost Keto.

Foods you cannot have while undergoing the program include dairy, grains, alcohol, legumes (one of its most confusing rules), added sugars of any kind, processed meats, and additives such as carrageenan, MSG and sulfites, Aristotelous added.

So is Whole30 as magical as people say, or is it total, unsustainable B.S.? We spoke to experts about what happens to your body and mind during the eating plan so you can decide if its truly worth it.

Your body will respond positively to a lack of processed foods.

One pro of the program is that it consists of all whole and unprocessed foods, said Staci Gulbin, a licensed dietitian in Denver. The program is full of foods that contain lots of nutrients and can contribute to good health.

Krista Scott-Dixon, a certified counselor and curriculum designer for Precision Nutrition, said eating foods on the Whole30 plan can help you increase your intake of fiber and water, along with protein and healthy fats.

Whole30 doesnt detox, but it does boost normal functions.

Gulbin noted that a controlled detox is not a thing. Your body knows how to detoxify itself on its own and does so on a daily basis, so beware of trendy diets that promise detoxification.

That said, foods included in the Whole30 plan can help your body optimally go through its normal functions. For example, the fiber-rich food on Whole30, along with the added water youre getting, can help move things through our gastrointestinal tract and bind to some substances that we dont want hanging around, helping to excrete them, Gulbin said.

Tom Werner via Getty Images

Whole30 doesnt rely on calorie counting.

Calorie counting can negatively affect your mental health, and many experts are moving away from the belief that you should track every single calorie you put into your body. (Amen.)

Whole30 doesnt rely on calorie counting or measuring your food. Youre also encouraged not to take body measurements since the plan focuses on feeling better and not dropping pounds.

Whole30 can help you learn which foods affect your digestion.

The program has you eliminate and then reintroduce foods like dairy and sugar, which could help you figure out if they cause digestion problems.

Whole 30 may help those with food sensitivities identify those foods that trigger symptoms, Gulbin said.

Just make sure to reintroduce foods back into your diet slowly. As with any reintroduction phase, add one new food every three days to allow the body time to develop any symptoms that may arise, Gulbin said.

But really, if you suspect you have any intolerances or sensitivities, its worth talking to your doctor. Someone who knows your full health history can help you more accurately determine whats going on and advise you on an elimination diet.

You may experience some weight loss on Whole30.

Again, this isnt the goal of the program, but its often a reason people do it. Experts say weight loss could be a byproduct of eating the foods outlined in Whole30.

Going on a strict diet for weight loss is not recommended based on the evidence that diets are not sustainable and that most people gain the weight back.

- Emily Van Eck, registered dietitian nutritionist

Its very likely youll lose some weight over this 30-day period from fluid loss since youll be following a lower-sodium diet that is free from processed foods as well as potential digestive symptom trigger foods, Gulbin said.

Reducing your sugar intake as the program calls for can also affect your weight, Aristotelous added.

The average person consumes 77 grams of sugar per day thats around 18 teaspoons. So if you go from the standard American diet to the Whole30 protocol, which is extremely low in sugar, then yes, odds are you will lose weight, she said.

But that weight loss is often unsustainable.

That said, the chances of maintaining your lower weight will be difficult once you finish the Whole30 program. That can spell trouble for your physical and mental health.

Going on a strict diet for weight loss is not recommended based on the evidence that diets are not sustainable and that most people gain the weight back, said Emily Van Eck, a registered dietitian nutritionist with Intuit Nutrition & Wellness.

She added that weight cycling and dieting can be harmful to the body, your metabolism and your psyche.

Its not an easy diet to follow.

Whole30 is tough to stick to if you dont cook most of your own meals. It can also be expensive.

It takes a full kitchen purge of inflammatory foods and a full restock of Whole30-approved ones so that you have endless options at home when preparing your meals, said Stefani Kavner, a certified personal trainer and health coach in Huntington, New York.

She said that eating out on a Whole30 plan is definitely doable, but takes a lot of effort finding restaurants that are willing to modify their preparations to accommodate your diet. This might make attending parties, happy hours or dinners with friends difficult during the duration of the program.

Kavner said that you may experience issues like bloating or even mood changes when you first start Whole30. You may also get cravings for foods youve eliminated, like sugar, if youve been used to eating them for so long.

Carlina Teteris via Getty Images

It can be tough to get sufficient nutrients on Whole30.

Getting adequate protein, iron and fiber is essential in any eating plan. And since legumes, fortified cereals, and breads are prohibited on Whole30, getting sufficient nutrients can be tricky, Aristotelous said.

Aristotelous stressed the importance of consuming three to four servings of vegetables and one or two servings of fruit per day to get enough fiber, antioxidants and iron. She also cautioned against eating too much red meat which is allowed on the diet to get protein and iron.

Jim Frith, a nutrition specialist and founder of TopFitPros, said eliminating some foods that are not harmful to you personally may also do some damage. For example, if you stay away from dairy too long, you may develop a lactose intolerance, he said.

Any diet that restricts grains and beans entirely for a month is not sustainable, is likely very expensive, and likely isnt pleasurable. And food is meant to be enjoyed.

- Emily Van Eck, registered dietitian nutritionist

Bottom line: Experts arent sold on Whole30.

Whole30 is strict and at times difficult to follow; the program isnt meant to be long-term. It can also create or exacerbate an unhealthy relationship with food (especially if you have a history of an eating disorder), Scott-Dixon said.

Its a problem inherent to any dietary paradigm where people are encouraged to focus on food choices without also supporting sustainable, sane behaviors in their daily life, she said, adding that dietary programs with an eat this, not that mentality can be problematic.

For this very reason, Van Eck also doesnt recommend trying Whole30.

Changing your diet in small and sustainable ways that [dont] cut out any food groups or demonize any foods can absolutely be done, she said. But any diet that restricts grains and beans entirely for a month is not sustainable, is likely very expensive, and likely isnt pleasurable. And food is meant to be enjoyed.

If youre absolutely going to do it, make it as balanced as possible, Van Eck said.

If I were to advise someone on this diet, I would suggest eating as varied a diet within the limits as possible, she said. Do not just eat chicken and greens try different fish, different root vegetables and fruits weekly. Get lots of leafy greens, berries, mushrooms and cruciferous vegetables like Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. Add nuts and seeds, avocados and nice olive oil. Make curries and stews with pasture-raised chicken and sustainably caught fish.

Read more:
This Is Your Body On The Whole30 Diet - HuffPost

From Women's Health

My name is Sandra Ross (@ketokonduct), and I am 37 years old. I live in South Jordan, Utah, and work as a personal trainer. After reaching over 300 pounds and yo-yo dieting without success, I went keto, started weight lifting, and was able to lose 130 pounds.

My struggles with my weight began when I was 9 years old. I started gaining weight, and my dad put me on my first true diet, Slim Fast. Being so young, I developed a bad relationship with food. Food was viewed as bad," and all the diets just perpetuated my issues with food and weight. This pattern continued through my life into my late 20s as I yo-yo dieted to try to find a balance. When I was tipping the scales at over 300 pounds, social anxiety started to play a huge role in my poor relationship with food. I felt uncomfortable eating in public because I worried people would judge me for whatever I put in my mouth. So, I became a recluse and didnt want to leave my house. I lost friendships because I didnt want to engage with my friends. Home was safe and where I could eat what I wanted and do what I wanted without judgement.

The doctor told me if I continued to gain like I was, I would not live past my mid 30s. My labs were not ideal and I knew it was bad, but I didnt really understand the details enough to make changes. On the way home from the doctor I stopped at Carls Jr. At that moment I realized I needed to make a change, but didnt know how to start. So I started yo-yo dieting. I went to another doctor who prescribed the weight loss drug phentermine. I took it until and I maxed out the amount you can take, and it was no longer effective. So I switched to another weight loss drug called phendimetrazine and maxed out of that as well. I felt hopeless and out of options.

I didn't feel like I was being restricted or like I was on a diet. I learned that eating low-carb and higher-fat could help me lose weight and sustain that weight loss. That finally helped me curb my cravings and kept me full for much longer periods of time than when I was eating *a lot* of carbs. I finally felt what it was like to not constantly think about food. Up to that point, I was completely obsessed with food.

Breakfast: Coffee with collagen and half and half at 7 a.m. Eggs with cheese, bacon/sausage at 9 a.m.

Lunch: I will have a salad with protein (chicken or tuna) typically at 3 p.m.

Snack: Pork rinds and egg salad or cheese.

Dinner: Spaghetti with healthy noodles or steak and some sort of veggie like loaded broccoli.

Dessert: Keto cookie or berries with cream.

Typical my week of exercise includes 5 days of weight training. I got into it because I learned that if you have more lean mass you can eat more calories, and I was *all* about that!

Change 1: Incorporating fats helped curb my appetite. Fat also helps convert your body from being a carb-burner to burning fat as fuel (aka ketosis), and this helped me feel less hungry. Lowering my carbohydrate intake also freed me from being a carb addict.

Change 2: Eating fewer carbs helped ease my joint pain. Converting to burning fat as fuel helps to decrease inflammation, which helps reduce water weight and joint pain. This helped me to be able to weight train and be more physically active.

Change 3: Weight training has helped my social anxiety *so much.* In the beginning, I was at my most vulnerable and most uncomfortable. I had to put myself out there and outside of my comfort zone to make myself better and stronger and healthier. In time, I have become much more confident. The strength and the mental acuity that I have developed with weight training has also helped me overcome my anxiety.

My weight loss journey wasnt streamlined or perfect. It takes a lot of lessons and mental changes, which take time. I had to look at food differently and correct my relationship with it. For years, food comforted me. Food can be enjoyed, but it is fuel, and Ive learned to comfort myself in other ways. To make lasting changes, it's so important to be kind to yourself and give yourself time to adjust.

You Might Also Like

More here:
'After Being Put On My First Diet At 9, I Finally Have A Healthy Relationship With Food And Lost 130 Pounds With Keto' - Yahoo Lifestyle

The no white diet that apparently helps shed body weight has been the latest sensation in the wellness and nutrition industry. As the name suggests, this unique diet says a big no to starch, sugar and flour that are white in colour. These include foods that have high glycemic index, high starch and carbohydrate rates and also processed foods. It is no big secret that such foods are unhealthy and do not suit those who are trying to shed weight.

The 'no white' diet helps reduce a few kilos very easily. This could improve your eating habits and help regulate the blood sugar levels as well.

Why should you avoid white food?

White coloured and processed foods do not contain any fibres or essential nutrients. However, it is loaded with bad carbohydrates that are not great for our health. As these foods are not filling and can make you feel hungry soon, there are chances that you eat more calories than what is actually required. Diabetes patients should strictly stay away from such unhealthy food. Biscuits, cheese, sweets and aerated drinks are some of the processed foods that should be avoided.

What could replace the white food?

You could eat healthy brown oats, multi grain bread, wheat pasta instead of white pasta and whole grains instead of rice, and stevia, honey, maple syrup and brown sugar instead of processed sugar. However, it is not right to evaluate the nutritional benefits of the food based only on its colour. Though milk, tofu and paneer are white in colour they are rich in nutrients. They are healthy foods and help in reducing the body weight.

Say yes to these foods

Cottage cheese, yoghurt, coconut, cauliflower and white chicken are some of foods that are nutritious and should be included your weight loss diet.

Before choosing what you eat, it is important to know whether they are good for your health or not. Refined flour and sugar should be avoided. However, not all white foods are unhealthy. A well balanced and nutritious diet and proper workouts are the easiest ways to shed that extra flab.

Read more here:
No white diet, the easiest way to shed weight - Onmanorama

Photo by twinsfisch on Unsplash

Women are particularly prone to poor sleep quality and sleep disturbances.

Women who dont get enough sleep are more likely to both overeat and have a lower-quality diet than women who get a good nights sleep, according to a study published this week in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

Not getting enough sleep was found to be particularly associated with eating more added sugars and more food in general.

By providing new insights into the interconnected relationship between sleep and diet, these findings highlight how poor-quality sleep can increase the risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

In our modern society, we oftentimes work late, we eat our meals late and sometimes sleep is kind of put by the wayside in terms of how important it is to our overall healthy lifestyle, said Brooke Aggarwal, the studys senior author and an assistant professor of medical sciences at Columbia University, in an interview with CNN reporter Kristen Rogers.

Our study really highlights the importance of good, quality sleep for the management of body weight as well as potentially preventing heart disease among women, she added.

As background information in the study points out, women are particularly prone to poor sleep quality and sleep disturbances. They are also at increased risk for obesity.

The study involved 495 women from the New York City area who had volunteered to participate in the American Heart Association Go Red for Women research initiative. The women ranged in age from 20 to 76, and most (61 percent) were members of a racial or ethnic minority group. Almost half (49 percent) had a body mass index (BMI) in the overweight or obese categories.

The women filled out detailed questionnaires about their sleep patterns, including how long it took them to fall asleep, how often they woke up during the night, and how long they slept overall. More than a fourth of the women slept less than seven hours a day (the minimum amount sleep experts recommend for adults), and a third of them reported poor sleep quality or insomnia.

The women also provided details about their dietary habits, including the types and amounts of foods they typically ate. On average, the women exceeded the recommendations for added sugars and total and saturated fats. They also failed, on average, to meet the recommendations for whole grains, fiber and dairy intakes.

The researchers analyzed all that data to see if they could identify any correlations between sleep patterns and dietary habits. They found the following:

That last finding is important, according to the researchers, because when eaten in moderation, unsaturated fats (found in olive and other liquid vegetable oils, as well as in fish and some plant-based foods, such as avocados and walnuts) are believed to help lower cholesterol levels and the risk of cardiovascular disease. (The premise that unsaturated fats are healthier than saturated ones is not without controversy, however.)

Our interpretation is that women with poor-quality sleep could be overeating during subsequent meals and making more unhealthy foods choices, says Aggarwal in a released statement.

The studys participants provided the researchers all the information on both their sleep patterns and dietary habits. Such self-reports can be subjective and, thus, inaccurate.

In addition, this was an observational study, so it cant prove that poor-quality sleep led to unhealthier food choices.

Its also possible that poor diet has a negative impact on womens sleep quality, explains Faris Zuraikat, the studys lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at Columbia University, in a released statement. Eating more could also cause gastrointestinal discomfort, for instance, making it harder to fall asleep or remain asleep.

Still, a connection between insomnia and overeating does make biophysiological sense.

Poor sleep quality may lead to excessive food and calorie intake by stimulating hunger signals or suppressing signals of fullness, Zuraikat says. Fullness is largely affected by the weight or volume of food consumed, and it could be that women with insomnia consume a greater amount of food in an effort to feel full.

Given that poor diet and overeating may lead to obesity a well-established risk factor for heart disease future studies should test whether therapies that improve sleep quality can promote cardiometabolic health in women, adds Aggarwal.

FMI: You can read the study in full on the Journal of the American Heart Association website. For tips on how to get a better nights sleep, go to the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions website.

Read the original here:
Women who get too little sleep are more likely to overeat and have poor diets, study finds - MinnPost

Its a sunny winter day in the Snoqualmie Valley, and Jim Haack is commuting to work.

In his canoe.

The road to his cattle farm is flooded. So is his farm.

Haack says whenever the Snoqualmie River has a big flood, he has to paddle out to his cows in either a kayak or canoe, depending how much stuff he needs to haul.

It varies from year to year, Haack said. This year's been tough because of the frequency of these larger events.

The Snoqualmie Valley typically gets about one major flood each winter, according to the Snoqualmie Valley Preservation Association.

So far this winter, there have been five major floods.

Past two weeks, we've had two major floods, one right on the back of the other, he said. We were able to drive the road for a few hours in the middle of last week.

Floods have hit eastern King County hard this winter. For farmers in the Snoqualmie River Valley, the floods are a two-edged sword, bringing destruction and renewal.

After a few minutes paddling directly above Northeast 138th Street, Haack floats through the gate to his farm, Wild Canary Farm. Only the top of the gate sticks above the floodwaters.

We're on our farm now, the small-scale cattle farmer said from the stern of his canoe. We just came through the gate, over the gate.

This is all pasture, Haack said from the middle of what appears to be a placid lake. The floods are a pain in the butt.

Winter floods are a fact of life in this lush valley about 15 miles east of Seattle and just a few miles east of the high-tech suburb of Redmond.

Big floods can mean catastrophe for homes or businesses built on a flood plain like this. Haack says some Snoqualmie Valley farms suffered big losses this flood season, as fall crops were ruined or fences and land scoured away.

But this isnt a story of a natural disaster wrecking a business or a whole community. Its a story of a family farm adapting to the inevitable.

After landing his canoe in the middle of his 60-acre farm, Haack leaves deep footprints in freshly deposited silt as he walks toward the main barn where he and his wife raise 25 beef cows.

The cows are munching on hay in the open-sided barn where they spend most of the winter.

In the wintertime, we'll let the animals out, weather permitting, and just let them roam around just to get out of the barn, Katie Haack said. But it's been hard this year because we've had so many floods.

She's avoided her husband's wet and wobbly commute by simply staying at the farm, cut off from the rest of the world by flood water, for two weeks straight.

The latest flood reached the pen where they keep the bulls, so they had to move the bulls.

First time weve had to do that, she said.

The Haacks have adopted various strategies to absorb the punch of the floods. Each autumn, they move all farm equipment to higher ground. They check flood forecasts every day in the winter.

And since their chunk of the flat valley floor didnt have higher ground, they created some.

We built an island and that's where the herd stays, Jim Haack said.

Their island also known as a flood refuge pad is a dirt mound about 10 feet tall and a little bigger than a basketball court. The cows and the farms main buildings sit up there, safe from all but the most extreme floods.

In the absence of this, what we're doing, it would not be possible, Haack added.

King County offers farmers technical assistance in planning these flood-refuge pads. The county also encourages keeping them as small as possible, since each pad diminishes the area of flood plain left to store and absorb floodwaters, potentially worsening flooding elsewhere in the valley.

Farmers go to all the extra effort of farming in a flood plain for good reason.

Anything that's grown here tastes amazing. Part of why farming a flood plain is a good idea is how incredible the soil is, Cynthia Krass with the Snoqualmie Valley Preservation Association said.

Floods arent just water. On parts of the Haacks farm that are no longer underwater, the ground is coated with a couple inches of freshly deposited silt: new soil.

This is all new, Haack said while stepping through the fine mud. It's like putting down fresh compost or putting down fertilizer.

The valleys recent trend toward more intense flooding is likely to continue with climate change. The long-term outlook is for more of the heavy storms known as atmospheric rivers and less snow in the Cascades.

That combination is a recipe for more frequent higher-magnitude flooding, which is not good news for people on flood plains, University of Washington geomorphologist David Montgomery said. But one of the things about farming is it's more resilient than condominiums or human dwellings. And so one of the things I think, policy-wise, we need to do in this region is figure out ways to help farmers adapt to that coming reality.

Farm advocates say repairing poorly maintained culverts and drainage ditches along the Snoqualmie could help tame floods by letting them drain more quickly. They say those measures could help the valleys threatened salmon as well.

Theres also tension as well as longstanding negotiations between competing users of the flood plain: The Snoqualmie Tribe and other salmon advocates want farms to leave bigger buffers of native vegetation around streams, for example.

Montgomery said its no accident that many of the longest-lasting civilizations in human history were centered on flood plains. Their recurring floods kept pumping new life into the soil and the civilizations that depended on it.

Haack says keeping agriculture healthy in the Snoqualmie Valley is important as other regions get too hot or dry to remain major food producers.

We're going be a climate refuge in the years to come, he said. This farmland will become more and more important.

You might not expect a cattle farmer to bring up the civilization-shaking threat of climate change, since cows play a large part in it.

Methane from cattle belches alone did about 4 percent of all the climate damage done in the United States in 2016, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Even without considering any of the energy or fertilizer used to produce cattle feed, the potent greenhouse gas makes beef a climate menace.

Its the worst food for the climate, according to researcher Hannah Ritchie of Our World in Data and the University of Oxford: Eating a pound of beef results in the equivalent of 21 to 60 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions, mostly due to belched methane.

Haack says thats probably true for industrial-scale cattle farms, but not for his small herd grazing lush Snoqualmie valley grasses under a strict rotational grazing system. The rotational grazing stimulates grasses to put on growth underground, helping suck carbon out of the sky and stash it in the soil, where it doesnt harm the climate.

We sequester a lot of carbon out here, he said.

Montgomery says that rotational grazing can regenerate depleted soil and that cows with diverse diets can produce less methane.

If you have lifelong grass-fed or prairie-grazed beef that is being managed on a regenerative ranch where you're stashing carbon back in the ground, then the climate impact is far less, Montgomery said.

Still, scientists with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change say grass-fed cows belch more methane than grain-fed cows.

For those of us who would want to eat meat in the future, we should be thinking about eating less of it, that's grown in a more regenerative style, Montgomery said.

Researchers are experimenting with methane-lowering diets for cows, so that modest amounts of beef and dairy might some day be part of a climate-friendly diet for humans.

See the article here:
Canoeing to work: Floods bring chaos, renewal to Snoqualmie Valley - KUOW News and Information

Serena Williams became a professional tennis player at the age of 14, and for more than two decades she has consistently trained and followed a healthy diet to help her win 23 Grand Slam titles.

But besides her strenuous workout routine and vegan diet, Williams, 38, says she has two non-negotiable strategies whether she's training for a tennis match or not to help her stay productive while also juggling motherhood and multiple business ventures.

"Something I do every day is [to] completely turn my brain off, which sounds weird but because I work so much between tennis and running my other propertiesSerena Ventures and Serena Clothing. But it's a lot so I just need to turn my brain off and not think about anything," Williams tells CNBC Make It.

Williams says finds little ways zone out, no matter what's on her schedule.

"Sometimes it's mediation. Sometimes it's watching a program [on TV] that has nothing to do with anything, like something that is silly or fun," Williams says.

Williams says having her 2-year-old daughter, Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., also helps when it comes to clearing her mind.

"It's a lot easier now because I can just watch my baby," Williams says. "It really helps me to focus on her and focus on the moment and not think about anything else. And I purposely do that with her because I know that I just need to shut off."

Alexis Olympia, daughter of Serena Williams and husband Alexis Ohanian look on during final match between Serena Williams of USA and Jessica Pegula of USA at ASB Tennis Centre on January 12, 2020 in Auckland, New Zealand.

Hannah Peters

Continue reading here:
2 non-negotiables Serena Williams does every day to be productive - CNBC