Category Archives: Diet And Food

Theres no denying that staying in shape is a universal desire and most of us try everything to lose weight and stay fit. Offlate, health experts have been vouching for Intermittent fasting, which is believed to treat chronic ailments like Diabetes, Alzheimers disease and Cardiovascular diseases to name a few.

Apart from that, following Intermittent fasting also helps in effective weight loss, better insulin management. However, what you eat between the fasting window can make or break the weight loss plan.

Most people stick to juices, water, caffeine based drinks like black tea or coffee. You will be surprised to know that a cup of black coffee has only 2kcal whereas black tea has around 1kcal, which can effectively help in weight management. But still drinking these caffeine blends may impact your health. Here's how!

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Do you drink coffee or tea during intermittent fasting? Then you need to read this! - Times of India

The number of people affected by hunger globally rose to as many as 828 million in 2021, an increase of about 46 million since 2020 and 150 million since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic (1), according to a United Nations report that provides fresh evidence that the world is moving further away from its goal of ending hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition in all its forms by 2030.

The 2022 edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World (SOFI) report presents updates on the food security and nutrition situation around the world, including the latest estimates of the cost and affordability of a healthy diet. The report also looks at ways in which governments can repurpose their current support to agriculture to reduce the cost of healthy diets, mindful of the limited public resources available in many parts of the world.

The report was jointly published today by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

The numbers paint a grim picture:

As this report is being published, the ongoing war in Ukraine, involving two of the biggest global producers of staple cereals, oilseeds and fertilizer, is disrupting international supply chains and pushing up the prices of grain, fertilizer, energy, as well as ready-to-use therapeutic food for children with severe malnutrition. This comes as supply chains are already being adversely affected by increasingly frequent extreme climate events, especially in low-income countries, and has potentially sobering implications for global food security and nutrition.

This report repeatedly highlights the intensification of these major drivers of food insecurity and malnutrition: conflict, climate extremes and economic shocks, combined with growing inequalities, the heads of the five UN agencies (2) wrote in this year's Foreword. The issue at stake is not whether adversities will continue to occur or not, but how we must take bolder action to build resilience against future shocks.

Repurposing agricultural policies

The report notes as striking that worldwide support for the food and agricultural sector averaged almost US$ 630 billion a year between 2013 and 2018. The lion's share of it goes to individual farmers, through trade and market policies and fiscal subsidies. However, not only is much of this support market-distorting, but it is not reaching many farmers, hurts the environment and does not promote the production of nutritious foods that make up a healthy diet. That's in part because subsidies often target the production of staple foods, dairy and other animal source foods, especially in high- and upper-middle-income countries. Rice, sugar and meats of various types are most incentivized food items worldwide, while fruits and vegetables are relatively less supported, particularly in some low-income countries.

With the threats of a global recession looming, and the implications this has on public revenues and expenditures, a way to support economic recovery involves the repurposing of food and agricultural support to target nutritious foods where per capita consumption does not yet match the recommended levels for healthy diets.

The evidence suggests that if governments repurpose the resources they are using to incentivize the production, supply and consumption of nutritious foods, they will contribute to making healthy diets less costly, more affordable and equitably for all.

Finally, the report also points out that governments could do more to reduce trade barriers for nutritious foods, such as fruits, vegetables and pulses.

(1) Itis estimated that between 702 and 828 million people were affected by hunger in 2021.The estimate is presented as a range to reflect the added uncertainty in data collection due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related restrictions. The increases are measured with reference to the middle of the projected range (768 million).

(2) For FAO - QU Dongyu, Director-General; for IFAD - Gilbert F. Houngbo, President; for UNICEF - Catherine Russell, Executive Director; for WFP - David Beasley, Executive Director; for WHO - Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General.

What they said

FAO Director-General QU Dongyu: Low-income countries, where agriculture is key to the economy, jobs and rural livelihoods, have little public resources to repurpose.FAO is committed to continue working together with thesecountriesto explore opportunitiesfor increasing the provision of public servicesfor all actors acrossagrifood systems.

IFAD President Gilbert F. Houngbo: These are depressing figures for humanity. We continue to move away from our goal of ending hunger by 2030. The ripple effects of the global food crisis will most likely worsen the outcome again next year. We need a more intense approach to end hunger and IFAD stands ready to do its part by scaling up its operations and impact. We look forward to having everyone's support.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell: The unprecedented scale of the malnutrition crisis demands an unprecedented response. We must double our efforts to ensure that the most vulnerable children have access to nutritious, safe, and affordable diets -- and services for the early prevention, detection and treatment of malnutrition. With so many childrens lives and futures at stake, this is the time to step up our ambition for child nutrition and we have no time to waste.

WFP Executive Director David Beasley: There is a real danger these numbers will climb even higher in the months ahead. The global price spikes in food, fuel and fertilizers that we are seeing as a result of the crisis in Ukraine threaten to push countries around the world into famine. The result will be globaldestabilization, starvation, and mass migration on an unprecedented scale. We have to act today to avert this looming catastrophe.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: Every year, 11 million people die due to unhealthy diets.Rising food prices mean this will only get worse.WHO supports countries efforts to improve food systems through taxing unhealthy foods and subsidising healthy options, protecting children from harmful marketing, and ensuring clear nutrition labels.Wemust work together to achieve the 2030 global nutrition targets, to fight hunger and malnutrition, and to ensure that food is a source of health for all.

GLOSSARY

Acute food insecurity: food insecurity found in a specified area at a specific point in time and of a severity that threatens lives or livelihoods, or both, regardless of the causes, context or duration. Has relevance in providing strategic guidance to actions that focus on short-term objectives to prevent, mitigate or decrease severe food insecurity.

Hunger:an uncomfortable or painful sensation caused by insufficient energy from diet. Food deprivation. In this report, the term hunger is synonymous with chronic undernourishment and is measured by the prevalence of undernourishment (PoU).

Malnutrition:an abnormal physiological condition caused by inadequate, unbalanced or excessive intake of macronutrients and/or micronutrients. Malnutrition includes undernutrition (child stunting and wasting, and vitamin and mineral deficiencies) as well as overweight and obesity.

Moderate food insecurity: a level of severity of food insecurity at which people face uncertainties about their ability to obtain food and have been forced to reduce, at times during the year, the quality and/or quantity of food they consume due to lack of money or other resources. It refers to a lack of consistent access to food, which diminishes dietary quality and disrupts normal eating patterns. Measured based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale.

Severe food insecurity: a level of severity of food insecurity at which, at some time during the year, people have run out of food, experienced hunger and at the most extreme, gone without food for a day or more. Measured based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale.

Undernourishment: a condition in which an individuals habitual food consumption is insufficient to provide the amount of dietary energy required to maintain a normal, active, healthy life. The prevalence of undernourishment is used to measure hunger (SDG indicator 2.1.1).

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UN Report: Global hunger numbers rose to as many as 828 million in 2021 - World Health Organization

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is any cancer affecting the colon, hence colo, and rectum, hence rectal. It is the third most common and second deadliest diagnosed cancer in the United States, claiming over 50,000 lives every year.

Researchers from Brigham and Womens Hospital in Boston, MA recently observed that CRC tumors with high levels of pks+ E. coli bacteria correlate with diets rich in red and processed meats and empty calories.

They believe that unhealthy foods may stimulate the cancer-inducing activity of colibactin, a substance deriving from E. coli, in the gut.

Their findings appear in Gastroenterology.

Dr. Shuji Ogino, chief of the Molecular Pathological Epidemiology Program in the Department of Pathology at Brigham and Womens Hospital, was the studys corresponding author.

E. coli is a normal part of the gut microbiome. However, certain strains of this bacterium hold a distinct cluster of genes known as the polyketide synthase (pks) island.

These pks+ E. coli strains produce colibactin, a toxic metabolite that can damage DNA and trigger cellular mutations that promote CRC.

Consumption of a typical Western diet also sometimes called an American diet consisting mainly of red and processed meats, sugar, and refined carbohydrates, can cause intestinal and systemic inflammation, precursors to colorectal tumors.

A poor diet is also tied to an imbalance of intestinal microbiota, another factor related to CRC. Furthermore, prior studies have linked E. coli and other bacteria to this cancer.

Consequently, Dr. Ogino and his team suspected that a Western diet might induce a stronger risk for tumors with considerable amounts of pks+ E. coli. Up to this point, though, they did not know whether the diets correlation with CRC varies by gut bacteria.

The researchers combed through two nationwide studies to see how Western diets may influence intestinal microbe activity and the odds of CRC occurrences.

The Nurses Health Study included 121,700 women aged 30 to 55 at enrollment in 1976. The Health Professionals Follow-up Study included 51,529 males ages 40 to 75 years at enrollment in 1986.

These studies provided detailed insight into 30 years of medical and dietary history of its subjects. They presented a unique opportunity to examine long-term dietary patterns of individuals who had not known whether they would develop cancers or not in relation to CRC incidence subclassified by pks+ E. coli levels.

The data were adjusted for potential selection bias and factors such as body mass index (BMI), physical activity, tobacco and alcohol consumption, and family history of CRC.

A total of 134,775 of the two studies participants provided enough dietary information to be included in this analysis. Among these, the researchers found 3,200 CRC cases.

The team also extracted DNA from archived tissue sections of colorectal tumors to find pks+ E. coli strains.

The researchers admitted that their study comes with several limitations.

More studies are needed to confirm how the overall Western diet or specific foods and pks+ E. coli may work together to promote CRC.

Speaking with Medical News Today, Dr. Ogino acknowledged that the research population was mostly non-Hispanic Caucasian. However, he cited evidence of a growing trend of early-onset CRC among other ethnicities.

Dr. Ogino and fellow scientists found sex-specific differences in pks+ E. coli colorectal cancer occurrences, but the underlying mechanisms are still unclear.

Measurement errors and unintentional mixing of the effects of factors may have skewed some results as well.

While colibactin in CRC tumors encourages cancer growth, some researchers believe that a healthy gut microbiome may halt tumor progression.

University of Michigan scientists recently found that the metabolite reuterin, produced by the bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri, shows potent anticancer potential in CRC cell lines and in vivo.

At the National Comprehensive Cancer Network 2022 Annual Meeting, lead investigator Joshua Goyert, of the University of Michigan Medical School Rogel Cancer Center, said that the gut microbiome, and especially reuterin, can reduce oxidative stress in CRC cells and inhibit tumor proliferation and tumor volume in in vivo models.

Dr. Ogino said that this study is among the first to associate the Western diet with specific disease-causing bacteria in cancer.

Ultimately, he believes that this research demonstrates how dietary choices may help prevent CRC.

Dr. Ogino commented emphatically:

As a society, we do not generally recognize the importance of prevention. Rather, we always regret after harms happen (e.g., cancer occurs). We need to change our mindsets and become proactive. Media is very hot about new treatment for end-stage cancer patients, which may prolong life for a few months. While this is important, it is much better to prevent. If we can prevent 10% of colorectal cancer cases, 150,000 new CRC cases each year in the U.S. would become 135,000 new CRC cases. You can see 15,000 people each year do not need suffer side effects of treatment or surgery. This would be a big impact.

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Western-style diet tied to higher risks of colorectal cancer - Medical News Today

More Than 30% of Consumers Would Fully Switch Their Diets to Alternative Proteins to Make a Positive Climate Impact, Reports the First BCG and Blue Horizon Multi-Market Survey of Alternative Proteins

BOSTON, July 8, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Dramatic, above-inflation price increases for animal-based products over the course of the pandemic led to an unprecedented spike in the sales, funding, and public awareness of the alternative protein sector. Increasing global concerns about food security and climate impact have further fueled this development. With 25% of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by the food value chain, the shift to alternative proteins may be the most capital-efficient and high-impact solution to addressing the climate crisis. Projected to represent at least 11% of all meat, seafood, eggs, and dairy consumed globally by 2035, alternative proteins will save 3x the emissions for each dollar invested compared with the next-best tool in the boxdecarbonizing cementaccording to a forthcoming report from Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and the impact investor Blue Horizon.

The report, The Untapped Climate Opportunity in Alternative Proteins, willpresent findings from a survey of more than 3,700 consumers in seven countries (China, France, Germany, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States) regarding their reasons for trying alternative proteins and the inhibitors that keep them from buying even more. Three-quarters of survey respondents cited a healthier diet as their primary motivator for consuming alternative proteins, while more than 30% of consumers would fully switch their diets to alternative proteins if they believed doing so would have a major positive impact on climate (see exhibit).

Across all markets surveyed, consumers view alternative proteins positively: 76% are aware of the category, and approximately nine out of ten said they like at least some of the alternative-protein products they have tried. While consumers in China and Germany are the most willing to pay close to parity with protein equivalents, no consumer in any region is willing to pay a premium for alternative proteins that match meat for taste, texture, and nutritiona price premium requires value add.

"Nearly one in three people across the world are plagued by food insecurity. Coupled with the impact of the continued geopolitical crises on the supply chain and food prices, there is immense pressure on the global food system," says Ben Morach, a BCG managing director and partner. "Pivoting away from animal-based proteins will lead to shorter, more resilient, and potentially more local supply chains. Widespread adoption of alternative proteins can remove the risk of supply chain disruptions and play a critical role tackling climate change, with consumers playing a key part in propelling this transition."

Bjoern Witte, CEO of Blue Horizon, adds: "The products consumers are seeing on the shelves today will be followed by a wave of cleaner, healthier, and tastier alternative proteins, as technology allows for increasing innovation. We've seen the fast-paced development of these technologies in our own portfolio as well as the wider food-tech industry, leading to an overall better consumer product range. This is great news for today's consumers, but we're just at the beginning, really. Future generations will benefit greatly from the demonstrable impact this will have on the environment, as shown through our analysis of climate data. This is the second report from BCG and Blue Horizon confirming that protein transformation is the most capital-efficient way to avoid emissions and deliver Impact of Capital Employed (IoCE). If we reach 11% market penetration by 2035, which is our goal, we could save more carbon emissions than decarbonizing 95% of the aviation sector. The positive impact is absolutely massive, and secular drivers have never been strongerthe time to invest is now."

An Acceleration in Funding

Capital invested in alternative proteins rose at an annual rate of 124%, from $1 billion in 2019 to $5 billion in 2021, with investments in fermentation and animal-cell-based companies leading the way. Investment in alternative proteins is increasingly global. Middle East funders, which tend to focus on animal-cell-based investments, made up 11% of worldwide investment in alternative proteins last year while APAC investment, fueled by plant-based deals, increased by 92%.

For investors, a key finding of the report is the fact that investments in plant-based proteins are more CAPEX-efficient with regard to carbon dioxide and methane emission reductions than in any other industry. Plant-based protein market penetration as forecasted in the Food for Thought I base case would save 0.85 gigaton of emissions by 2035. This savings potential is equivalent to decarbonizing a majority of the aviation industry. Investing in plant-based proteins has the highest emission savings per invested capitalat least twice as effective as investments in cement, iron, steel, chemicals, or transport. Blue Horizon developed a proprietary impact framework whereby every investment is assessed via a theoretical impact value, allowing the company to calculate a precise IoCE.

Significant Progress in the Regulation of Alternative Proteins

Sensible and effective regulation is imperative to ensure that the rapid innovation and growth of the alternative protein market deliver safe, healthy, and transparent food to customers. There has been an acceleration, around the globe, to provide regulatory approval for fermentation-based and animal-cell-based products. In 2015, Israel led the way by announcing that its novel framework for regulating food safety would apply to alternative proteins. And in its latest five-year plan released in January 2022, China acknowledged the need to "expand beyond traditional crops, livestock, and poultry to more abundant biological resources" and made animal-cell-based meat and other alternative proteins part of its food security strategy.

Learn more about key findings from the report here: https://www.bcg.com/publications/2022/combating-climate-crisis-with-alternative-protein

Media Contacts:BCGEric Gregoire +1 617 850 3783 [emailprotected]

Blue HorizonMarc Duckeck +41 79 639 42 38 [emailprotected]

About Boston Consulting GroupBoston Consulting Group partners with leaders in business and society to tackle their most important challenges and capture their greatest opportunities. BCG was the pioneer in business strategy when it was founded in 1963. Today, we work closely with clients to embrace a transformational approach aimed at benefiting all stakeholdersempowering organizations to grow, build sustainable competitive advantage, and drive positive societal impact.

Our diverse, global teams bring deep industry and functional expertise and a range of perspectives that question the status quo and spark change. BCG delivers solutions through leading-edge management consulting, technology and design, and corporate and digital ventures. We work in a uniquely collaborative model across the firm and throughout all levels of the client organization, fueled by the goal of helping our clients thrive and enabling them to make the world a better place.

About Blue Horizon Blue Horizon is accelerating the transition to a Sustainable Food System that delivers outstanding returns for investors and the planet. The company is a global pioneer of the Future of Food. As a pure play impact investor, Blue Horizon has shaped the growth of the alternative protein and food tech market. The company invests at the intersection of biology, agriculture and technology with the aim to transform the global food industry. Blue Horizon was founded in 2016 and is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. To date, the company has invested in more than 70 companies. Its business model offers an attractive opportunity to invest in the evolution of the global food system while contributing to a healthy and sustainable world. http://www.bluehorizon.com

SOURCE Boston Consulting Group (BCG)

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The Transition to Alternative Proteins Continues, Accelerated by Consumers Motivated by Healthier Diets and Having a Positive Impact on Climate - PR...

The model Kate Moss has been named the latest creative director of Diet Coke. She will work across projects including a collection, advertising campaign films and events around the brands 40th anniversary.

Moss said on Friday she was thrilled to join the Diet Coke family, adding: I love the past collaborations theyve done with such incredible names in fashion.

Michael Willeke, the integrated experience director for Europe at the Coca-Cola company, said the company was honoured to appoint Kate Moss as our new creative director, continuing Diet Cokes rich history of collaborating with some of the biggest names in fashion and culture.

It is striking that, in an era of body positivity, a diet drink has partnered with a woman known for her slender physique and the famous pronouncement that nothing tastes as good as skinny feels.

The fashion industry publication Womens Wear Daily suggested the collaboration harked back to a time when waifish physiques were in fashion. The writer Tianwei Zhang described Moss as a poster child for the skinny model trend in the early aughts which was associated with models drinking this sugar-free beverage backstage and off-duty.

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Diet Cokes connection with fashion is longstanding. Moss follows other fashion faces who have occupied the creative director role. Diet Coke has previously partnered with the designers Karl Lagerfeld, Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs, and the drink was a sponsor at London fashion week in February.

The drink has previously been namechecked by former models as part of a meagre diet to stay thin enough to succeed in the industry. In her 2017 memoir, the former model Victoire Maon Dauxerre wrote about limiting her calorie intake to three apples a day and Diet Coke, while the former Vogue Australia editor Kirstie Clements called cigarettes and Diet Coke dietary staples for models.

This appointment is aligned with the drinks 40th anniversary. First launched in 1982, Diet Coke was the second most popular soft drink in the UK in 2021, second only to full-fat Coke. Its market share was valued at 217.1m.

Moss denounced nothing tastes as good as skinny feels in 2018. Theres so much more diversity now, she told NBCs Megyn Kelly. I think its right. Theres so many different sizes and colours and heights.

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Kate Moss named latest creative director of Diet Coke - The Guardian

Certain actors go to extremes when it comes time to prepare for a role.

And these Hollywood celebs were not messing around!

Check out how far they went in terms of diet and exercise to prepare for big movie parts.

To prepare for Top Gun: Maverick,Miles Teller said, For me to gain weight, that was the toughest part, man. For breakfast, it was like six eggs, and then, you know, you work out, and then you have a shake and then it was two lunches.

Each lunch would be like a chicken breast, a full potato, and some broccoli, and I would have two of those and then I remember there would be another snack after that. And I remember for dinner specifically, it was 20 ounces of certain fish or steak. And so youre just eating so much. Thats really what I didnt enjoy.

Cooper packed on the pounds to star inAmerican Sniper.

The Hollywood star said, It was a real shock to my body. If its pizza and cake, thats one thing. Putting 6,000 calories a day in your body gets old quick.

His diet for the role included five meals a day.

Efron got absolutely ripped for his role inBaywatchbut it sounds like he never wants to do anything like that again.

Efron said, Really, it was so hard. Youre working with almost no wiggle room. Youve got things like water under your skin youre worrying about. Making your six-pack into a four-pack. Shit like that. Thats just not its just stupid. Its just not real.

And he missed carbs in a major way. He said, I went, like, years without eating carbs. When I shot Baywatch, I didnt have a carb for like six months. I almost lost my mind. You need this. Like, its so good.

Swedish actor Skarsgrd trained for eight months for his role in The Legend of Tarzan.

For three months he ate 7,000 calories a day and then switched to six small meals a day that he claims drove him crazy with hunger.

Talk about commitment.

Bale is known as an intense actor and he lost an incredible 63 pounds in four months to get ready to filmThe Machinist,which was released in 2004.

Every day he only ate an apple, a can of tuna, and he drank coffee.

In 2019, Bale said, Im older and I feel like if I keep doing what Ive done in the past, Im going to d**.

The rapper/actor quickly lost 50 pounds in two-and-a-half months for his role as a cancer patient in the film All Things Fall Apart.

He ran for three hours on a treadmill every day and stuck to a liquid diet to drop the pounds.

He said he didnt want to see a doctor during this training because I had to match the look in my mind. I was so into what I was doing that I wasnt really concerned with that. I just kept looking at myself in the mirror feeling like I have to be smaller. I had to match.

Hemsworth survived on only 500 calories per day and lost 33 pounds in one month for his part in the filmIn the Heart of the Sea.

Hemsworth said, At one point, a days rations were a boiled egg, a couple of crackers, and a celery stick.

Damon wasnt yet a huge star when he appeared inCourage Under Firein 1996.

In fact, it only took two days to film his scenes in the movie, but Damon lost a whopping 50 pounds for his role as a drug addict by consuming only 100 calories per day. He also ran 13 miles every day to lose weight.

But the training came at a price. Damon ended up damaging his adrenal gland and needed to be on medicine for a year-and-a-half to try to fix it.

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8 Hollywood Actors Talk About the Crazy Diet and Exercise Habits They Did for Movie Roles - Twisted Sifter

According to the CDC, 37.3 million people in the U.S. have diabetes (11.3% of the population) and 96 million have prediabetes (38.0% of the adult population). "Diabetes happens when you have too much sugar, also called glucose, in your blood," says Adrian Vella, MD. "Normally, when your body digests food, sugar goes into your bloodstream then into your cells, where it serves as fuel for those cells. Sugar gets into the cells with the help of the hormone insulin. When you eat, your pancreas secretes insulin into your bloodstream. As insulin circulates, it acts like a key that allows sugar to enter your cells and lowers the amount of sugar in your blood. In people with diabetes and prediabetes, this process doesn't work the way it should. Instead of fueling your cells, sugar builds up in your bloodstream." Here are the main causes of diabetes, according to experts. Read onand to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had COVID.

People infected with COVID-19 are 40% more likely to develop diabetes up to a year later, according to recent studies. "The real question is whether there's an association to the viral infection, or if the coronavirus illness simply brought out the diabetes sooner than it would have otherwise been identified," says Kathleen Wyne, MD, PhD.

One study of over 200,000 people published in PLoS Medicine showed that a diet consisting of foods such as fruits, beans, nuts, vegetables, and whole grains helped prevent diabetes, whereas people who consumed refined grains and excessive amounts of sugar were more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. "Given the dramatic increase in the incidence of diabetes in this country, studies that identify preventive approaches are worthy of attention," says Robert H. Shmerling, MD. "Besides providing some of the strongest support to date for recommendations for healthier diets, perhaps the biggest impact of a study like this should be for people at increased risk of disease."

Exercise is important in helping prevent diabetes, experts say. "People with diabetes who walked at least two hours a week were less likely to die of heart disease than their sedentary counterparts, and those who exercised three to four hours a week cut their risk even more," says Harvard Health. "Women with diabetes who spent at least four hours a week doing moderate exercise (including walking) or vigorous exercise had a 40% lower risk of developing heart disease than those who didn't exercise. These benefits persisted even after researchers adjusted for confounding factors, including BMI, smoking, and other heart disease risk factors."

One study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine showed that women who spent prolonged periods of time sitting throughout the day were at a higher risk of developing insulin resistance and diabetes. "This study provides important new evidence that higher levels of sitting time have a deleterious impact on insulin resistance and chronic low-grade inflammation in women but not men and that this effect is seen regardless of how much exercise is undertaken," says Dr. Thomas Yates, senior lecturer in physical activity, sedentary behavior and health at the University of Leicester. "This suggests that women who meet the national recommendations of 30 minutes of exercise a day may still be compromising their health if they are seated for the rest of the day. It therefore suggests that enabling women to spend less time sitting may be an important factor in preventing chronic disease."6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

Being overweight or obese is one of the main drivers of insulin resistance and diabetes. The link between excessive fat and diabetes is so strong it's resulted in a new term: "diabesity." "Diabesity is a disease with enormous potential to cause ill effects on the body in the long run," says endocrinologist Jay Waddadar, MD. "Some people don't understand the importance of taking the steps to manage it because they're feeling well at the time of diagnosis. But that's a big mistake. Diabesity is a silent disease that damages your body if it's not controlled, even while you feel fine."

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The #1 Cause of Diabetes, According to Physicians Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

Rebecca Puhl is the deputy director of UConns nationally renowned Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health. The center, based at UConn Hartford, promotes solutions to weight bias, food insecurity, and poor diet quality through research and policy.

Puhl, who is also a professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, was part of a panel discussion called Spotlight on Weight Stigma on June 29 in New York City. The event concentrated on how weight stigma is portrayed in the media and was moderated by Deborah Roberts of ABC News. The panel was sponsored by the Media Empathy Foundation and Puhl was the only researcher in the group. Other panelists included Mike Paseornek, the founder of Lionsgate Films, and David Sloan, a producer at ABC News.

Tell us about the event and how you got involved.

The Media Empathy Foundation is a non-profit organization that aims to change perceptions of people in popular culture who have stigmatized conditions. They try to harness the media to play a key role in creating content that promotes empathy and respect for people who have stigmatized identities. This event was specially focused on weight stigma in popular culture and this is an area of my research expertise.

I had two roles in this event as I was part of the expert panel with media moguls and I also gave a presentation at the beginning of the event to set the stage. We see a lot of negative stereotyping of people who have a higher body weight or larger body size in the media. These bodies are portrayed as something to gawk at or projects that need to be changed. The objective of this event was to bring experts and media people together to discuss where changed is needed and what the steps are to initiate that change.

Does the media have a responsibility in changing weight stigma?

I do think the media think has a very important role to play in tackling all forms of stigma, including weight. The media has such a profound influence on shaping public attitudes, beliefs, and opinion. Its really only by implementing changes in the way we perceive people in the media that we can have lasting changes that will help create a society where people of all body sizes are treated with respect and dignity.

We need to see characters in television and film who have larges body sizes, but are portrayed as multi-dimensional, complex people with interesting lives where their size is not the story line. It is rare to see that and it needs to change. The media has such an important opportunity to shift societal attitudes about weight, but this requires media content creators learn about weight stigma and take the initiative to address it in their work. These creators are really well intentioned people and they dont want to do harm, but they need to know the information.

It requires change at all levels, not just decision makers like producers, but writers, editors, advertisers, costumer designers. Everyone in these fields need to be educated about weight stigma and really take steps to promote more positive and respectful representation of people with higher weight in their work.

What can the average person do about weight stigma?

You want to take a look at the interactions you have in your own life and think about the thoughts you have when you interact with a person that has a larger body size. Take note of those thoughts and what stereotypes are going through your mind. Instead of making assumptions, try to challenge those stereotypes and look for examples of people, whether it is in the media, your community or your friends and family, that challenge those stereotypes. Most people with larger body sizes do not reflect the negative stereotypes that our society has created, so its about active challenging yourself on a day-to-day basis.

We know from the obesity field that weight is very complex, but thats not the message that gets out to the general public because its not an easy soundbite and it doesnt help the weight loss or diet industry. Its much more challenging than personal willpower or choice.

Has the social media explosion helped or hurt the issue?

Its both. Social media platforms have become a place where body shaming occurs frequently and where people, particularly women, are disparaged about their bodies. We see this really unhealthy movement of airbrushing and changing what peoples bodies look like in an artificial way because no one feels confident enough to be who they are.

At the same time, we have seen movements like the Body Positivity Movement gain traction on social media that are calling out weight stigma and bringing attention to the issue. I dont think the positive has outweighed the negative. My biggest concern is what young people are seeing and how it influences who they are by what is being posted. Its very harmful.

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Rudd Center's Puhl Featured on Panel Addressing Weight Stigma in the Media - UConn Today - UConn

New research suggests the health impacts of shift work persist over time.

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As most Americans wind down for bed,15 million peopleare just clocking into work. These hospital workers, emergency responders, factory operators and others are among the 20 percent of the worlds population who do shift work. Their different sleep-wake cycle elevates their risk for numerous health disorders, including diabetes, heart attacks, cancer and strokes.

Now,new researchpublished inNeurobiology of Sleep and Circadian Rhythmsshows the adverse effects of shift work can be long-lasting, even after returning to a normal schedule.

Shift work, especially rotating shift work, confuses our body clocks and that has important ramifications in terms of our health and well-being and connection to human disease, said David Earnest, professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics at the Texas A&M University College of Medicine. When our internal body clocks are synchronized properly, they coordinate all our biological processes to occur at the right time of day or night. When our body clocks are misaligned, whether through shift work or other disruptions, that provides for changes in physiology, biochemical processes and various behaviors.

Aprevious study done by Earnest and colleagues found animal models on rotating shift work schedules hadmore severe stroke outcomes, in terms of both brain damage and functional deficits, than those on regular 24-hour cycles of day and night. Males were distinguished by worse outcomes in which mortality rates were much higher.

This new study took a different approach. Rather than examining immediate effects of shift work on strokes, the researchers returned all subjects to regular 24-hour cycles and waited until their midlife equivalent when humans are most likely to experience a stroke to evaluate stroke severity and outcomes.

What was already born out in epidemiological studies is that most people only experience shift work for five to eight years and then presumably go back to normal work schedules, Earnest said. We wanted to determine, is that enough to erase any problems that these circadian rhythm disruptions have, or do these effects carry over even after returning to normal work schedules?

They found that the health impacts of shift work do, indeed, persist over time. The sleep-wake cycles of subjects on shift work schedules never truly returned to normal, even after subsequent exposure to a regular schedule. Compared to controls maintained on a regular day-night cycle throughout the study, they displayed persistent alterations of their sleep-wake rhythms, with periods of abnormal activity when sleep would have normally occurred. When they suffered strokes, their outcomes were again much worse than the control group, except females had more severe functional deficits and higher mortality than the males.

The data from this study take on added health-related significance, especially in females, because stroke is a risk factor for dementia and disproportionately affects older women, said Farida Sohrabji, professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics and director of the Womens Health in Neuroscience Program.

The researchers also observed increased levels of inflammatory mediators from the gut in subjects exposed to a shift work schedule. We now think that part of the underlying mechanism for what were seeing in terms of circadian rhythm disruption causing more severe strokes may involve altered interactions between the brain and gut, Earnest said.

The results of this study could eventually lead to the development of interventions that block adverse effects of disrupted circadian rhythms. In the meantime, shift workers can improve care of their internal body clocks by trying to maintain a regular schedule as much as possible and avoiding a diet high in fat, which can cause inflammation and also alter the timing of circadian rhythms.

This research has clear implications for shift workers, but it could extend to many other people who keep schedules that differ greatly from day to day.

Because of the computer age, many more of us are no longer working from nine to five. We take our work home and sometimes work late at night, Earnest said. Even those of us who do work regular schedules have a tendency to stay up late on the weekends, producing what is known as social jet lag, which similarly unwinds our body clocks so they no longer keep accurate time. All this can lead to the same effects on human health as shift work.

To avoid some of these health hazards, Earnest says the best approach is to maintain a regular schedule of awake time, sleep time and mealtimes that doesnt vary drastically from day to day. In addition, avoid the usualcardiovascular risk behaviorslike eating a high-fat diet, not getting enough physical activity, drinking too much alcohol and smoking.

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Shift Work Increases The Severity Of Strokes Later In Life - Texas A&M University Today

When most people think of cactus, a prickly plant probably comes to mind. But pretty soon, cactus water, a beverage with trace minerals and a natural fruity flavor, may also be on everyones radar, available at your local health food store next to the coconut water and sea moss gel.

Cactus water is hot in the functional beverage space, just like coconut water, because its a plant-based beverage that contains electrolytes and antioxidants, says Vicki Shanta Retelny, RDN, the Chicago-based creator of the podcastNourishing Notes.

Still, not all commercial cactus waters are created equal. They could be healthy or [they] could be adulterated and not beneficial, says Ann Marie Chiasson MD, MPH, the director of the fellowship in integrative medicine at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine in Tuscson, Arizona.

Heres what you need to know about cactus water before you head to the store to stock up.

Cactus water is sourced from prickly pear cactus pads, also called nopals, and fruit according to aMay 2020 article in Food Reviews International. Prickly pears originated in Mexico, and the Aztecs used the plant medicinally, as theUniversity of Chicago Illinois Heritage Garden notes.

While most people buy it at the store, it is possible to make cactus water yourself (more on that later).

Cactus water is sometimes compared to coconut water, thanks to its naturally occurring electrolytes minerals such as potassium that are needed for multiple bodily functions, according to Cedars-Sinai.

That said, some cactus water brands claim to contain less than half the calories and sugar in coconut water. And that's a reasonable claim: According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), 100 milliliters (ml) (about cup) of coconut water contains the following:

Not all cactus water is the same. The minerals in your water will depend on the brand you choose. Two popular companies, Caliwater and True Nopal, offer small amounts of carbohydrates, as well as the electrolytes magnesium and potassium.

True Nopal

According to the USDA, 100 ml of True Nopal contains:

Caliwater

Meanwhile, 100 ml of Caliwater, according to the USDA, contains:

Scientific research doesnt support most of the proposed benefits of cactus water. But here are some of the theoretical perks of the ingredient.

According to an article posted by the Mayo Clinic, prickly pear cactus contains antioxidants that may lower inflammation. The registered dietitian-nutritionist queried refers to a study published in Food & Nutrition Research in August 2018, in which healthy volunteers ate prickly pear cactus fruit for two weeks and had statistically lower pro-inflammatory markers than a control group of people who didnt eat the fruit.

Prickly pear also contains betalains, anti-inflammatory pigments known for their pink hue and antioxidant properties.

And just how much cactus water would a person with diabetes need to drink to garner those touted benefits? Theres not enough research, and the dose is not determined, says Dr. Chiasson. A review published in May 2019 in the journal Medicina even notes a lack of evidence for the use of prickly pear products to mitigate type 2 diabetes risk or to manage the disease. Specifically, the authors wrote that it doesnt appear to have a significant effect on glucose or insulin.

Then theres the added sugars in some of these products, which could be harmful to people with diabetes.

Theoretically, a swig of cactus water after a night of drinking may offer a hangover remedy because it contains electrolytes. As MedlinePlus notes, electrolyte solutions can help you replenish some of the electrolytes you lose after drinking alcohol heavily.

Retelny points out that people have traditionally used cactus water as a topical elixir for wounds and overly sun exposed skin. (Alaboratory study published in December 2017 in Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters of prickly pear cactus extracts on human skin cells exposed to UV light supports this.) That said, scientists havent tested this hypothesis on commercial cactus water beverages, just concentrated extract, and more studies are needed.

A few studies show this drink may benefit people living with certain digestive issues, but the research is preliminary and in animals. For example, astudy published in the Journal of Medicinal Food found that prickly pear cactus protected against stress-induced acute gastric lesions in rats. Another study, published in January 2017 in the journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, found that prickly pear relieved constipation in rats. That doesnt mean those effects would happen in humans. In general, more human studies are needed to determine cactus waters beneficial effects in the body, says Retelny.

Mayo Clinic notes that cactus water may have some side effects, including diarrhea and nausea. Adds Retelny, Cactus water may cause gastrointestinal distress due to its laxative nature. It may also cause headaches and hypoglycemia. Though the latter risk may be low, judging by the results of the aforementioned Medicina paper, Retelny says people on blood-sugar-lowering medications, including people with diabetes, should be cautious about drinking cactus water check with your healthcare team first (that goes for anyone who is on medication or managing an underlying health condition).

Another thing to be mindful of, nutritionally speaking: If theres added sugar in cactus water, moderate how much you drink, says Retelny. Check the label of any store-bought cactus water to see if it's loaded with added sugar. Aim for less than 10 percent of daily calories from added sugars, Retelny adds.

If your doctor says you can safely drink cactus water, you may consider DIYing it. To do so, acquire a prickly pear cactus fruit that's had its spines removed these are available at Lowes and other stores. Boil the fruit in water and scoop out the flesh, then strain it through cheesecloth to extract the liquid, says Retelny. You can add water or sweetener if its too concentrated or the flavor of the plain fruit is too strong, and then you can store it in the refrigerator for up to three days, she suggests. (Note: Don't add too much sweetener, or it'll lose its status as a healthful drink.)

Some people will freeze [the fruit], which allows it to pop open and then defrost it and squeeze it through cheesecloth to remove the spines, says Chiasson, who says she makes cactus water in the summer months and adds it to recipes.

Research on cactus water is lacking, and it has few proven health benefits, but overall it seems to offer a relatively low-carb, low-calorie alternative to coconut water (and it may have a more pleasant taste) if you want a hydrating drink that will replenish electrolytes. I always say theres nothing wrong with trying new products, such as cactus water, but know your own health limitations and start with small amounts, says Retelny.

Remember to always check out the label so you know whats in there, too. Look at almond milk some are good and some are not; some use very few almonds and add a lot of sugar, says Chiasson. And understand that this drink isn't a magic potion. Nothing beats a balanced diet filled with whole plant foods and plenty of water throughout the day, Retelny adds.

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Cactus Water: Is It Good for You? - Everyday Health