Category Archives: Diet And Food

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WIFR) -- It's time to start making your New Year's Resolutions. Local experts offer help for dieting and finances, two of the more common avenues for resolutions.

Dieticians say losing weight and eating healthy are two common resolutions, but sticking to both can be tough. Experts say making the goal of eating healthy is often too vague of a resolution, and you may need a more specific plan.

"A lot of times we create our goals, and they're very broad," says Mercyhealth dietician Dritka Otlmanns. "Instead of saying, 'I want to eat healthy' or 'I want to lose weight,' come up with more specifics to help hold you accountable and starting small and working your way up."

Otlmanns suggests starting small by adding in healthier options to at least one meal a day and working your up to make it easier to add those choices into your lifestyle.

Ringing in the New Year may encourage others to pursue financial resolutions. Northwest Bank offers advice to help you improve your financial standing in the coming year.

Assistant vice president and branch leader Jennifer Borg says it starts with creating a budget, calculating your net worth and re-evaluating your expenses. Once you do that, you can set specific financial goals and even prepare for the unexpected.

"Create an emergency fund, something that would be able to cover a sudden unexpected expenditure," says Borg. "A lot of people aren't prepared to cover even a $500 expense that comes up if they aren't ready for it."

Borg also recommends using the 50-30-20 rule when creating a budget. Put 50 percent of your income toward needs, 30 percent to wants and 20 percent to savings.

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Local experts offer advice for New Year's resolutions on diets, finances - WIFR

The first question I hear when I tell people Im vegan is usually why and, yes, the stereotype is true. I tell everyone. Sometimes without prompt.

Why did you switch? Was it for ethical reasons? Environmental? Health?

The second is usually how. How did you give up cheese? Chocolate? Dairy? Eggs?

Followed closely by the dreaded, So where do you get your protein?

What I tell them is usually a canned response I switched for the animals, was vegetarian for 10 years before that, and, yes, the change was difficult. Because it is.

But it doesnt have to be. After all, it is a New Year. A new decade. A new you. And a vegan, plant-based or vegetarian diet could fit somewhere in the mix. Yes, even in Spokane.

Aside from being the life of every party you attend, there are loads of reasons to take the plant-based plunge. In general, a plant-based diet is better for Mother Earth, better for your health and better for the pigs, cows and chickens who no longer have to die for our enjoyment.

Done correctly, plant-based diets can provide every bit of nutrition found in an omnivore diet with the added benefit of more fiber and less saturated fat, said Pablo Monsivais, an associate professor and food scientist at Washington State University.

The problem is and like any diet its easy to make all the wrong decisions. Namely, according to Monsivais, plant-based people are notorious for eating highly processed foods like cookies and potato chips and loads of carbohydrates through breads and pastas.

But plant-based diets also can fill that meat void with plenty of mock replacements, not to mention clever workarounds for things like butter, fish sauce, eggs and milk.

First and foremost, a well-planned vegan diet is overall good for your health, said Monsivais. Its abundant with vitamins B, C, folic acid and magnesium and low in cholesterol and saturated fats. The diet also can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension.

Whats more, the diet is packed full of protein, some of them complete. A simple mix of grains and beans can offer most of the protein an adult needs or instead from a single source like quinoa.

If youre older than 20, unless youre an athlete or doing some sort of very physically demanding work where you have a lot of muscle repair required, protein is not an issue, Monsivais said. Most people consume far more protein than they need.

However, Mosivais recommends anyone making the switch do their homework. Balanced nutrition is obviously important. A multivitamin might be necessary, as its impossible to get vitamin B-12 through a plant-based diet.

Another major benefit is environmental and ethical impact. In fact, a new report compiled by a group of 30 scientists studying food policy published in the British medical journal the Lancet recommends widespread adoption of mostly vegan eating if were to feed the worlds population by 2050.

Additionally, the report says greenhouse gas production from livestock farms would be drastically reduced if the farmland were instead converted to growing fruits and vegetables.

And then of course theres the peace of mind: Nothing died or suffered for you to enjoy your food. That cant be quantified, but its effect is real.

the switch

Becoming a vegetarian is easy. What I usually tell people is just take any of the foods you would normally eat, remove the meat, and dig in. Seriously. It works for just about anything.

Tacos? Eat beans instead, or use a fake meal alternative. Cheeseburgers? Black bean patty or a Beyond or Impossible burger.

How about a turkey dinner? Well, theres a fake meat alternative for that, too. Macaroni and cheese? Just eat it. Its fine.

And snacking, frozen meals and restaurants are especially easy, too. Most everything can be made without meat, and most everything offers a meatless alternative.

Where it gets tricky is ease of use sans animal products entirely. Being vegan means reading every nutritional label and checking every restaurant menu before heading to the car.

Luckily, theres plenty of options, and theyre growing by the minute. Vegans can eat fast food like Taco Bell (the beans and rice are vegan, and you can order nearly anything without meat or cheese), junk food like potato chips, and theres a meat alternative burger at Burger King and Carls Jr.

Junk food aside, theres plenty of healthy ways to work around American cuisine and our love of animal products.

Need to make a hollandaise sauce? Use cashews and silken tofu. In the mood for chicken curry? Try cauliflower. Want to bake a cake? Emulate eggs with mashed bananas or coconut yogurt.

One of the best unintended consequences of going vegan is it forces you out of your comfort zone.

Ive cooked more now than I ever have before, and Ive tried new dishes semi-regularly.

I recommend buying a few cookbooks and diving in for my money, you cant go wrong with Americas Test Kitchens Vegan for Everybody and the verbally abusive but delicious Thug Kitchen.

I also recommend experimenting to see what works for your schedule and lifestyle. But do yourself a favor and steer clear of too much pasta and foods high in fiber, at least until your body has time to adjust.

And as for Spokanes vegan restaurant offerings, Rut and Cascadia Public House fill that American food niche.

For Thai, I tend to lean toward Bangkok Thai and Thai Bamboo for their Pad Thai (its made without fish sauce).

For sushi, the Wave downtown. And for Mexican, youd do yourself a favor by checking out the tofu tacos at El Que, a wonderful (literal) hole in the wall in Brownes Addition.

Theres also plenty of vegan-friendly grocery stores like My Fresh Basket, Huckleberries Natural Market and Natural Grocers, and stores like Safeway, Fred Meyer and Target are constantly expanding their plant-based offerings.

See? Now you, too, can join the cult. Just please bring a dish to the monthly potluck.

Originally posted here:
Powered by Plants: New Year, new you why not new plant-based diet? - The Spokesman-Review

CHAMPAIGN, IL-- OCS operators may want to spread the word that a new study in rats suggests that caffeine may offset some of the negative effects of an obesogenic diet by reducing the storage of lipids in fat cells and limiting weight gain and the production of triglycerides.

Rats that consumed the caffeine extracted from mate tea gained 16% less weight and accumulated 22% less body fat than rats that consumed decaffeinated mate tea, scientists at the University of Illinois found in a new study. Click here to read more.

The effects were similar with synthetic caffeine and that extracted from coffee.

Mate tea is an herbal beverage rich in phytochemicals, flavonoids and amino acids thats consumed as a stimulant by people in southeastern Latin American countries. The amount of caffeine per serving in mate tea ranges from 65 to 130 milligrams, compared with 30 to 300 milligrams of caffeine in a cup of brewed coffee, according to the study.

For four weeks, the rats in the study ate a diet that contained 40% fat, 45% carbohydrate and 15% protein. They also ingested one of the forms of caffeine in an amount equivalent to that of a human who drinks four cups of coffee daily.

At the end of the four-week period, the percentage of lean body mass in the various groups of rats differed significantly. The rats that ingested caffeine from mate tea, coffee or synthetic sources accumulated less body fat than rats in the other groups.

The study, published recently in the Journal of Functional Foods, adds to a growing body of research that suggests mate tea may help fight obesity in addition to providing other beneficial health effects associated with the phenolic compounds, vitamins and flavonoids it contains.

Considering the findings, mate tea and caffeine can be considered anti-obesity agents, said Elvira Gonzalez de Mejia, a co-author of the study and director of the division of nutritional sciences at the University of Illinois. The results of this research could be scaled to humans to understand the roles of mate tea and caffeine as potential strategies to prevent overweight and obesity, as well as the subsequent metabolic disorders associated with these conditions.

In the rats, the accumulation of lipids in the adipocytes was significantly associated with greater body weight gain and increased body fat, according to the study.

To determine the mechanism of action, the scientists performed cell culture studies in which they

The consumption of caffeine from mate or from other sources alleviated the negative impact of a high-fat, high-sucrose diet on body composition due to the modulation of certain lipogenic enzymes in both adipose tissue and the liver, de Mejia said.

The work was funded by the University of Illinois Division of Nutritional Sciences.

TO YOUR HEALTH: In a study of rats, University of Illinois scientists found that caffeine limited weight gain and cholesterol production, despite a diet that was high in fat and sugar. Co-authors of the study included, from left, nutritional sciences professor Manabu T. Nakamura; Elvira Gonzalez de Mejia, director of the Division of Nutritional Sciences; and animal sciences professor Jan E. Novakofski.

Link:
Study: Caffeine May Offset Some Health Risks Of Diets High In Fat, Sugar | Articles - Vending Times

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If your new years resolutions include eating healthier, you might be considering Whole30in which case, check out this Whole30 diary to see what its like.

Theres nothing like a week in Vermont, home to cheese and creemees, and a trip to meat city U.S.A: Austin, TX to kick you into health gear. For me, getting back on track means another round of the Whole30.

Its now over a decade old, but for those who have no idea what Whole30 actually is, in simple terms, its cutting out (get ready for this!) sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, and dairy. What in the world can I eat? A lot, actually, including meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, some fruit, and good fats from oils, nuts, and seeds. You can consult theWhole30 program rules for much more in-depth information.

Whole30 may not be for everyone, but its most certainly for me. Ill be honest and say I wish I could live the lifestylebecause it really is a lifestyleall year round, but for now Ive settled into doing it every few months when I feel my eating habits spiral out of control and, more importantly, when I just feel plain old awful both physically and emotionally. But although I know it will make me feel better, its certainly not easy. Because wine. And cheese. And chocolate. Nuff said. But if youre organized, strong-willed and open to playing in the kitchen, youre fully capable of doing it. Plus, the benefits always outweigh the struggles, both of which you can read aboutalong with a ton of recipes and kitchen experimentationbelow in my consolidated diet diary:

Chowhound

So I never EVER start a new diet plan mid-week because Ill take any excuse to binge my way through a weekend before Im getting healthy. This is dumb, Im aware. But this time around I started on a Wednesday, a feat in and of itself. Of course, I ended up having a friends last minute birthday dinner. What to do? I ordered grilled fish, greens, and a seltzer while they had gooey, fancy gravy fries that looked like heaven in a bowl. To be honest, Im glad I didnt know of the plans ahead of time because I wouldve postponed my start date.

On Saturday, Day 4, I finally went for a run, but the rest of the day I hit the I dont care if its finally summer in New York I just want to sleep all day phase that you can find on the Whole30 timeline. However, I did try some new recipes, including Whole30s green cabbage slaw with Asian dressing and Pork Fried Cauliflower Rice from the One Pot Paleo book that I especially loved. I also made Whole30s Balsamic Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Sweet Potato side dish, and holy yum, these two dishes were good (and pretty simple too).

Related Reading: Whole30 Instant Pot Recipes to Rely On

Chowhound

While Week 1 ended with getting up early for a run, for the start of Week 2 I hit the snooze button no less than three times. And I never snooze! My pants also feel tight which is annoying, but I know I have to make it through these next few days to get to the good stuff. My willpower is also tested with a breakfast meeting full of carb-loaded, New York bagels. #Igotthis.

Over the course of cooking more at home, I achieved some self-discovery in the kitchen: I suck at making sauces. I made Whole30s Halibut recipe with Citrus Ginger Glaze (but I subbed cod).

The final dish was certainly edible, but Im not quite sure the orange glaze ended up in the right state. Was it the recipe, or my cooking competency? Hard to say, but its still worth a shot at making.

Another dish I discovered, which Ill go so far as to say is life-changing, is avocado baked eggs. HOW HAVE I NEVER TRIED THIS BEFORE?

Its perfect for a weekend breakfast when youre not on-the-go, and truly, its so delicious. With that being said, Im still working out the timing to get the eggs cooked just right. Pair it with no-sugar bacon (Whole Foods sells some options). Cooking tip: Paleo-style bacon tastes best if you really cook it until its crispy.

Another dish I made, which is great for both lunch at work and dinner at home, are these paleo chicken fingers.

They actually got rave reviews from my co-workers, which is huge, let me just saytheyre a picky bunch! I use Trader Joes tomato sauce in a can (always make sure to check your labels!) as a dipping sauce.

Alexandra Grablewski

I had to do something I NEVER do and thats send my food back, during a breakfast meeting no less, because my omelet had cheese in it. Fail. But lets be honest, I didnt stick to my guns for two weeks to ruin it just because Im embarrassed to say something, right? Heres a harsh, but predictable truth about doing Whole30: Its very hard to be social. And dont even get me started on going on a first date sans booze. But hey, if your friends/colleagues/awkward first dates are understanding, then you can make it work, not to mention that youll feel better when you dont wake up with a hangover or stuck in a food coma!

You can also show them how eating healthy can be tasty, which is why instead of going out to dinner with a friend one Saturday night I cooked for us. I took a risk by trying a new recipe, but wow, it officially tops the list of one of the best things Ive ever cooked. Period. Not just on Whole30. I made this Romesco Garlic Shrimp with Zucchini Noodles recipe, and thistime, I finally got a sauce right! Plus, my non-dieting friend loved it too. Wins all around. I also follow Whole30Recipes on Instagram and found an easy stuffed peppers recipe.

An easy one-pot weekend dish I made (which is great for lunch leftovers) is this slow cooker sweet potato, kale and chicken stew. I also discovered another easy lunch is shredding (aka ripping apart) a whole rotisserie chicken and adding some pieces with mashed avocado as a fake chicken salad. If you want to be fancy, you can make your own Whole30-approved mayo, but Im not fancy, plus I dont like mayo anyway.

Related Reading: The Best Healthy Meal Kits to Try in 2020

Alexandra Grablewski

By this stage, if not sooner, you realize you have no idea what day it is during your Whole30 because its become your everyday normal. This is the best part because you feel great, you look great, you dont feel like youre uprooting your life, and youre happily eating whole foods and cooking new recipes like its no big deal. Why is that? Oh yeah, because its not a big deal. And its a good thing too because in my final 9 days I have a July 4 BBQ/kids birthday party and I dont even feel like I have to miss out.

I also finally took a trip to the new Bareburger in my neighborhood. From all my Googling, it seems this is the place to go if youre Paleo/Whole30, and now that they dont use peanut oil, their fries are safe to eat! I got a burger wrapped in a collard green with a side of fries. Such a nice treat to eat out and not worry about every single little ingredient. Added bonus points: its also fast and cheap. But this is also where you can learn from my mistakes. Despite having read the Whole30 book countless times, I missed the part where you cant have French fries, even if theyre compliant. Fail! But the good news is I didnt eat anything Im not technically supposed to, its just the idea of fries they dont subscribe to.

In my final days, I also made Whole30s Chicken Cacciatore recipe and mashed cauliflower. Remember that whole not good at sauces thing? Well, it came back to haunt me, and while my cacciatore sauce was watery and ugly, it still tasted OK. I had a kitchen fail trying to make coconut cream, but again, the mashed cauliflower was good! Again, always remember to check your labels on coconut milk since only a few brands are Whole30-safe.

With that, Ive come to the end of my 30 days. Funny enough, I had no idea I hit the last day until it appeared on my calendar! I feel pretty great, I got a compliment on my skin yesterday, and I can totally have my tight pants on.

A few recipes I didnt cook this time around, but I made during the winter while on Whole30 and LOVED are:

I highly suggest giving these recipes, plus these favorites a shotwhether youre on the Whole30 program, or not. Yes, theyre that good:

Expert Tip! Here are some go-to food items that always save me throughout the program:

See more Whole30 tips from people whove done it, and youll be set up for success.

Robyn Ross was the Special Projects Director for TV Guide and is now a supervising producer at People. You can follow her on Twitter at @RobynRossTV and Instagram at @RobynRoss214.

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What Happened When I Said Goodbye to Sugar, and Hello to Whole30 - Chowhound

April Courville, Local Scene Published 10:18 a.m. CT Dec. 31, 2019

Unprocessed fruits and vegetables are helpful in supporting the body's natural ability to filter and expel harmful substances.(Photo: FILE PHOTO)

Starting the year off with a fresh start often includes a health detox. But do detoxes really work? There is conflicting information on what does and doesnt work when it comes to ridding our bodies of toxins. Certified personal trainer and fitness industry veteran Tiffany Saltzman weighs in on what works, what doesnt and how to change your lifestyle to prevent needing a detox in the first place.

According to Saltzman, the ideal lifestyle choice would mean we never have to detox. With a masters degree in exercise science and more than 12 years in the fitness industry, Saltzman takes a holistic approach to wellness.

I think the biggest mistake when it comes to detoxing is when people view it as a diet plan or nutrition routine, she says. A detox plan should not replace sound nutrition practice. Ideally, your nutrition practice should be one that you don't need to detox from.

She notes that detoxing isnt as important, but being free of toxins from a clean diet is.

But we all overindulge from time to time, especially during the holidays and Saltzman notes that using a cleanse or detox method every now and then can help us feel better quicker and get us back on track to a healthy lifestyle. She does not recommend we use it as part of a diet or crutch to support imbalance. Meaning, dont drink an entire bottle of wine thinking you can clean up the mess with a magic detox pill.

So how do we get back on track and start 2020 off on the right foot?

There are supplements and certain foods that will promote faster detoxification, but the first and most important step is removing the things that are considered toxins, says Saltzman. That means cutting out alcohol, sugar, preservatives and fried foods.

Staying hydrated is the basis for all other healthy habits.(Photo: File)

The next step is really just flooding your body with wholesome foods that will level out your blood sugar, decrease inflammation and move these toxic, inflammatory foods out quicker. She recommends introducing foods high in fiber such as raw fruits and vegetables, foods that are high in chlorophyll like your leafy greens and foods such as ginger, garlicand cayenne pepper. These foods are considered thermogenic in nature, meaning they have heating properties. Of course, clean, filtered water can also help support detoxification.

Stores are filled with products that claim to detox our system but not all are effective. Saltzman warns to steer clear of quick fixes.

There are plenty of products that are marketed as detox products or even weight loss products that will flatten out your belly and make you feel less bloated but thats only for a day or so. They dont actually do anything for your healthlong term, she says.

It all depends on the person as well.

It will be different based on what the person is trying to get out of a detox. Its important to be clear on what your goal is.

So where is a good place to start? No matter the goal, she recommends having an action plan with clear steps.

Sticking with clean, wholesome foods that you can prepare yourself, rather than supplements or quick fix products are best.

Other tips on getting started include:

Hydration: Take small steps to ensure you are drinking enough water for your size.

Movement: Move your body enough to break a sweat and create muscle soreness.

Clean food: Eat raw, real foods and stay away from packaged foods.

Tiffany Saltzman is a personal trainer, meal prep expert and blogger. Find more on how to address overall wellness and meal planning at journeytothebestlife.com/

Read or Share this story: https://www.theadvertiser.com/story/entertainment/2019/12/31/how-develop-healthy-habits-2020/2764276001/

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How to develop healthy habits in 2020 - Daily Advertiser

If youre like most of us, you overindulged a bit too much in 2019. No, not on calories (well, maybe those too!), but on noise. Thats the name for the dizzying onslaught of information from work emails, app notifications, the 24/7 news cycle, social media updates, and other forms of screen time that leaves us unable to focus, listen, or do deep work.

A smidgen of noise now and again is okay. (We all have our guilty pleasures!) But consuming it mindlessly, all day long, is as bad as keeping a bag of chips, a monster-size soda, and a can of frosting at our desk and reaching for them every few minutes.

Too many empty brain calories wont make you fat but they will make you mentally anemic. Noise keeps you in a constant state of distraction. And like actual junk food, a high-noise digital diet is addictive, yet it never satisfies or nourishes you.

The real problem with giving into noise temptation isnt what youre doing; its what youre not doing. Youre tuning out what really matters. Youre skimming the surface. When youre scrolling Facebook, for instance, you arent learning a new language, refining that career-changing presentation, or engaging with your kids in a meaningful way.

The new year is the perfect time to put yourself on a noise diet. To help with your calorie count, lets take a look at what noise junk food looks like:

The irritating yet addictive parade of social media stock characters in your newsfeed. This band of noisemakers assaults your brain with their cries for attention. For instance:

The humble bragger. Your college rival who subtly slips into her post that she just got another promotion at her swanky company. #blessed #gag.

The cryptic drama-stirrer. That self-righteous friend who calls out people anonymously for perceived slights or makes vague poor me pity posts. (Cue the wave of very concerned commenters.)

The over-sharer. We dont need a play-by-play of your colonoscopy. Thanks.

The drop-of-a-hat ranter. Whose day would be complete without a furious recounting of how the barista screwed up your nonfat, dairy-free, double-shot, decaf, extra-hot mochaccino with extra foam? The nerve!

The overly zealous kid promoter. Yes, yes, we know Junior is the smartest, cutest, cleverest tot around your other 15 posts this week made that perfectly clear.

The amateur political pundit. Do not engage just dont.

Dumb@$$ shows on TV

You dont need to waste your precious attention span watching Jerry Springer, B-list celebrity lip-synch contests, or those morning talk shows. Substance-free television combined with the lure of a cozy couch can quickly turn into a lost day or evening.

The 24/7 news carousel-of-darkness

Sadly, most news is bad news, and during a controversial election year it can also be fodder for controversy, vitriol, and the loss of civility with friends, family, and neighbors. (Hint: You dont need to totally disengage, but its good to be discerning about what you let inand about how often you engage in debates with the people in your life.)

Your work email

Your boss just had to email you at 9:30 p.m. again. The moment you jump out of the bath to write back is the moment work email becomes yet another source of noise.

Are you feeling that noise hangover settle in? Dont worry, you can kick off the new year with a different kind of diet one that cuts the empty brain calories of digital distraction and gives you what youre really craving: a more intentional life.

Join my Just Say No to Noise Movement and tip the scales in the other direction. A few suggestions:

Try going a week without social media. (We promise, youll survive.) A short detox from social media is a pretty painless way to unplug and reclaim a lot of lost time. When the week is over, you can see if you even want to go back to occasional scrolling.

Reduce temptation by hiding distracting devices from yourself. Okay, you probably cant hide your computer but you can shut the office door. As for cell phones and tablets, treat them like what they are: gateways to digital distraction (and it is a very slippery slope). Find an out-of-the-way place to charge and store your devices so youre not constantly reaching for them.

Break the idiot-box background noise habit. Its easy to mindlessly turn on the TV when you get home. Problem is, its broadcasting nonstop noise into your work-free hours. Instead, plan a time to watch your favorite shows. Daily exposure to the depressing litany of pain and conflict we call news isnt making your life better. Neither is watching the Fatty McButterpants episode of King of Queens for the 50th time. (Okay, we admit that one is pretty funny.)

Set some work/life boundaries with the 7-to-7 rule. The company wont crash if you stop answering emails around the clock. After 7 p.m., put away your devices for the night. Dont pick them up again until 7 a.m. the next day.

Insist on phone-free family dinners Yes, the kids might whine at first, but soon enough theyll get used to conversing with the out-of-touch Boomers and Karens at the table. and screen-free family fun days.

For instance, make video games and TV completely off-limits every Wednesday and Friday. Yes, even if the kids swear they have no homework. Instead, do something fun or productive as a family. Play a board game. Go bowling or skating. Cook a great meal together. Volunteer at the local animal shelter. Heckmaybe even read.

Learn to save your appetite for the stuff that really matters Your appetite is really your attention span, and its your most precious resource. Filling up on headlines, emails, and social media means theres little left over for doing the deep and meaningful work that helps you reach big goals at work and in your personal life. Before you cozy into an hour of lurking on your exs Facebook page, close the laptop and find something productive to do.

and choose some meaningful goals to pursue. When you are able to sharpen and aim your focus, you can do some pretty impressive &%$#. Want to start a website? Get a better job? Learn to code? These North Star goals are the best incentive to rethink your relationship with noise and see how your life changes.

We dont realize that very often our addiction to information is the thing holding us back from getting a huge promotion, becoming valedictorian, or training for a marathon, but thats exactly what happens as time passes. Once you think of it this way, its so much easier to put yourself on a noise diet. Make this the year you take back your time and use it to do something that matters.

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Why you should cut the empty 'brain calories' in 2020 - Plumas County Newspapers

As we begin a new year and, arguably, a new decade, there are a few things I think we can safely do without. Here are three nutrition myths that I believed, or maybe wanted to believe, at the start of the decadeand why Im leaving them behind.

Remember superfoods? Anything with a high antioxidant score was supposed to be especially good for you. The buzzwords have changed, but the concept has not: We keep hearing that the flavonoids in coffee or red wine, for example, make a food particularly healthful.

But these ideas tend to come from studies that look at one food component in isolationoften in lab studies that are miles away from any relevance to humans. Like, okay, if you extract one chemical from red wine and give it to mice, maybe the mice have slightly lower levels of inflammation-related biomarkers in their blood. So? That doesnt mean that a human being with a habit of drinking red wine is going to be healthier than a human who doesnt drink at all.

We dont eat nutrients, we eat foods; and we dont only eat foods, we live rich lives involving hundreds of things to eat and hundreds of considerations besides what might possibly reduce levels of a certain blood chemical.

Eat your vegetables, get a variety of foods, you know the drill. If youre debating whether to eat these berries versus those berries, youre wasting your time.

Keto and other low-carb diets have undulated in popularity. Remember Atkins? Its induction phase was basically a strict keto diet, and it dates back to the 1970s.

At the beginning of this decade, there was still a possibility that a ketogenic dietone that is low enough in carbs to produce a certain blood chemistrywas doing something special to our metabolism. But since then, weve seen some rigorous studies that test that hypothesis, and they find that theres no biochemical advantage to low-carb diets, nor to any diet in particular.

All diets seem to work equally well (or equally badly, to be honestmost everyone regains the weight they lose in the long run) as long as they restrict calories by about the same amount. So what really matters is choosing a way of eating that you can stick to, whether thats low fat or low carb or anything else.

Im convinced that meal timing only became a thing because people are looking for an easy thing to optimize. Maybe you have trouble eating the right amount and type of food, but at least you can get the timing down. Or perhaps you want to prove to yourself that youre serious about your workouts, so you take the time to plan out the perfect post-workout shake.

Just as low-fat and low-carb diets seem to work equally well, theres no solid evidence that intermittent fasting is better or worse than many small meals a day. If you like breakfast, you can eat it; if you dont, skipping it is fine.

While there is some evidence that meal timing around a workout matters, its effect is small compared to the basics of what youre eating and how much. If you cant get 30 grams of protein immediately after a workout, its not like your muscles will shrivel up and die. (I distinctly remember watching the clock after the gym to make sure I got my shake in the supposed 30-minute window.) It turns out that the window to get that protein is probably several hours long. So most of will be fine to just plan our workout to fall between mealslunch and dinner, say, or breakfast and second breakfastrather than sweating any specific timing.

Read more:
Leave These Nutrition Myths Behind in 2019 - Lifehacker Australia

Knowing what people want simply makes sense if your business sometimes comes down to anticipating need.That's why restaurant consultants and marketing experts spend outsize effort analyzing food trends, tossing out ideas that sometimes seem practical, and other times just seem silly.

The rise of robot waiters predicted for 2019 comes to mind as a good example of the latter. And an expected explosion of food from Kazakhstan didn't quite reach Western North Carolina, much to at least my own dismay. And even if New York seems to be hogging more than its fair share of pelmeni, some food trends have boomed in Asheville for years, including the rising national hunger for gut-friendly probiotic-rich food or, simply put, ferments.

So what's next in the world of food? Here, I've shared some of the common ground I found in the trend forecasts for 2020. And since looking back can be equally fun, you can also take a gander at some of the things experts said would come to fruition this year, some of which did, and some of which did not.

Let's kick things off with an unsavory anecdote. Unfortunately, E. coli wreaked havoc on romaine lettuce's reputation in 2019, and New York Times food writer Kim Severson rightly predicted the distrust of everyone's favorite vehicle for Caesar dressing would make way for alt-lettuces to steal the spotlight.

A local lettuce salad at Sawhorse in Leicester.(Photo: ANGELI WRIGHT/ASHEVILLE CITIZEN TIMES)

But tradition dies hard, and romaine is thankfully back in the salad bowl once again the romaine salad with pickled veg, buttermilk dressing and corn nuts at East Asheville's Copper Crown is a fave. Local lettuces, romaine or no, are an Asheville menu staple, which means California-bred contaminations don't always hit us hard.

More: High-tech lettuce company to create 100 jobs in Yancey County with greenhouse complex

Severson also predicted an explosion in farms growing lettuce hydroponically, and locally that's come to fruition.The Massachusetts-basedLittle Leaf Farms,a grower of pesticide-free boxed babygreens, recently announced the imminent construction of 20 acres of high-tech hydroponic greenhouses in Yancey County. And BrightFarms, a New York-based packaged saladcompany, plans to invest $21 million to operate a hydroponic greenhouse in Henderson County.

At Dayton Valley Aquaponics, hydroponic crops are fertilized by fish waste. Water filtered by the crops is returned to the tanks, benefiting the tilapia.(Photo: Provided to RGJ Media)

Severson may have some sort of crystal ball, because she predicted 2019 would usher in cheese tea as "the thing you will try against your better judgment."

Reader, that happened to me, and it will not happen again. Regardless, if you're curious, you can find it atMoge Tee at 5 Biltmore Ave.

Cheese tea at Moge Tee.(Photo: ANGELI WRIGHT/ASHEVILLE CITIZEN TIMES)

Nearly every food trend prognosticatorsaid fermented foods would further increase mainstream reach, failing to freak out the general public quite as much. Indeed, anecdotally speaking, restaurant menus seem to be unapologetically boasting strong, funky flavors.

One memorable moment came from a summer dinner at Cultura, where our large group was presented with a platter including a few tiny and aggressively fermented cucumbers, the deeply complex flavor of which I can still recall months later.

And while koji is perhaps best known for its work in sake and miso, over at H&F Burger, which recently opened at 77 Biltmore Ave., the chefs are growing the fungus on beef to safely age the meat in record time.

Burgers and big, bad steaks:First look at H&F Burger, opening in downtown Asheville

That brings me to another trend: In late 2018, international food and restaurant consulting firm Baum + Whiteman predicted the rise of lab-grown meat would have ranchers "running scared." Technically, that means meat grown from cells in a lab, which is more high-tech than the Impossible Burger, which is so well-loved thatrestaurants experienced shortages this year.

Local restaurants experienced Impossible Burger shortages in 2019.(Photo: Angeli Wright/awright@citizen-times.com)

I've yet to see real lab-grown meat anywhere, but steaks are ever more prolific in a town that used to have precious few. For example, a new steakhouse will open in 2020 in the Grove Arcade called AshevilleProper, a live-fire cooking concept courtesy of former Storm chef Owen McGlynn. I don't think ranchers are exactly running for the hills yet.

Still, acceptance of plant-based food is on the rise. Ingles dietitian Leah McGrath sees customers snapping up nondairy beverages, reformulated margarines and meat-free meatslike chickenless "nuggets." Expect to see more variety in plant-based foods, with oat milk becoming a standard non-dairy optionat cafes. Over at Blackbird Restaurant at47 Biltmore Ave., there's an entire vegan menu, including risotto made with hemp milk.

The Truffle Mushroom Risotto at The Blackbird in downtown Asheville features arborio risotto, local mushrooms, seasonal vegetables, hemp milk, nutritional yeast and cauliflower puree. It is listed under the vegan section of their menu. (Photo: ANGELI WRIGHT/ASHEVILLE CITIZEN TIMES)

At the same time, McGrath said, the high-protein, low-carb keto diet is likely to still gain traction this year, with more food companies loudly promoting keto-friendly products. They're even showing up in the frozen treat aisle, where shoppers can now find low carbohydrate "ice creams" with sugar alcohols, added protein and fiber.

An increasing desire to customize food to the diet du jour is making some restaurants rethink the way their menus arewritten.

"Unlimited customization may be gumming up service speed at fast-casual chains," said consulting group Baum + Whiteman's Michael Whiteman. Some restaurants are working to focus consumers attention on culturally relevant pre-set lifestyle bowls," marketed as keto or Whole 30-friendly, gluten-free and the like.

Some are toying with eliminating build-your-own bowls altogether, he said. "The lifestyle idea is spreading to pizza, so we predict that more chains (will) shift customers away from infinite invitations to choose individual ingredients."

Assembly-line production at Blaze Pizza.(Photo: Courtesy of Blaze Pizza.)

Blaze Pizza, a chain operation with a couple local stores, now offers "lifestyle" options, like keto and cauliflower crust. The independent 828 Family Pizzeria offers cauliflower crust, too.

But not so fast: Baum + Whiteman also predicts either sweet potatoes or winter squash will soon usurp cauliflower as the "in" vegetable.

More: Ramen, burgers and restaurant expansions: 23 notable Asheville restaurants opened in 2019

QSR Magazine, a publication geared toward the fast-casual dining industry, suggests curbing food waste will continue to trend upward in 2020, as consumers begin to consciously invest in more sustainable businesses.

The USDA states the United States wastes about66.5 million tons of food, which is more than any other country, except for Australia.The waste happens in various places, including on farm fields and in grocery stores, with more than 40% of the food tossed before consumers even touch it in restaurants and other food-service operations.

Inside dish: Inside dish: Thoughts on food waste heading into the holidays

QSR predicts more and more food service operations will work to reduce food waste with technology, including food dehydrators and digesters. Local chefs are beginning to take the zero-waste kitchen challenge seriously.

Restaurants like Green Sage and The Corner Kitchen have long used local composting service Danny's Dumpster to handle their compostable trash. And with many local stakeholders, chefs and other food service workers present at the recent Asheville Food Waste Solution Summit, expect to see even more efforts toward community composting and other landfill diversion techniques.

That's a trend we can get behind.

Mackensy Lunsford is an award-winning food writer, former professional line cook and one-time restaurant owner. Contact her at mlunsford@citizentimes.com.

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Asheville food trends: What experts got right, wrong, and what's up for 2020 - Citizen Times

Jessica Simpson is lookingsleek and slim on her family ski vacation in Aspen, and fans cant help butapplaud her weight loss efforts! The 39-year-old mother of three shared photosto her Instagram that showed her decked out in ski gear and enjoying a day onthe slopes. Even under the bulky coat and pants, it was obvious that Simpsonssilhouette looked severelyslimmed down compared to earlier this year.

Skiing with the kiddos today. This is far as Igot, Simpson wrote in the caption, which showed her beaming for the camera.Vacation, skiing, family bonding, and chic new look Simpson has somany reasons to be smiling!

This photo wasnt the first time Simpson showedoff her trimmer-looking figure. After the birth of daughter Birdie in March2019, Simpson got to work with her trainer to help shed the weight she hadgained during the pregnancy.

Celebrity trainer Haley Pasternak explained the unique challenges of shedding weight while being a mom. Once you become a mom, its not about you anymore, he toldUs Weekly. Youre living for something else, for someone else, and so you have to really be efficient with your time and you have to do things that are not quick fixes, [but] that are long fixes.

Thanks to hard work and the assistance of her trustedtrainer, Simpson was able to lose a whopping 100 pounds in just six monthsafter having the baby. How did she do it? A smart, efficient workout plan,better sleep, and a new way of eating that eliminated alcohol completely.

There are certainthings that are more conducive to weight loss and certain things that are goingto hurt you when losing weight, and alcohol is absolutely one of them, Pasternakconfirmed.

This seemingly simple fix worked wonders for Simpson. She revealed her slimmed-down look on Instagram. 6 months. 100 pounds down (Yes, I tipped the scales at 240, Simpson shared on social media. My first trip away from #BIRDIEMAE and emotional for many reasons, but so proud to feel like myself again. Even when it felt impossible, I chose to work harder.

Even though Simpson lost a massive amount of weight, she didnt accomplish her goals by starving herself or insane amounts of exercise. Instead, Simpson made practical choices and stuck to her regimen for the entire time.

Besides the strict alcohol avoidance, Simpsonadhered to Pasternaks Body Reset Diet, which recommends three meals with twosnacks daily. Those food options included protein, fiber, and healthy fat to keepSimpson feeling full instead of deprived.

Plus, the busy working mom made sure to get plentyof walks in and strived to hit 12,000 steps per day minimum. Ultimately, theseactions were more impactful than her sweat sessions. Its not about the workouts, Pasternak toldUs Weekly. You dont lose weight doing biceps curls and lunges. You loseweight by changing your diet, hitting your step goal, working on your sleep those were the things she did so well.

Though she looks fantastic at every size, fans couldnt help but notice how much Simpson is glowing and happy in her latest Instagram photos. You look amazing! gushed one fan. Looking fit and trim Momma!! Have a blast!! echoed another.

Its all proof that hard work pays off. Hopefully, Simpson allows herself a tiny bit of champagne to celebrate her success in the new year!

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Fans Are Freaking Out Over Jessica Simpson's Slimmed Down and Sexy Ski Trip Photos - Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Almost every other year in the 2010s, an author has come out of left field and claimed the annual bestsellers top spot at the expense of the perennial contenders. It is either a first-time novelist going straight to No 1 (Gail Honeyman with Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine last year, EL James with all her Fifty Shades trilogy in 2012), or a former mega-seller returning with a new take on their old saga (Jamess reverse-angle Grey in 2015, JK Rowling and her co-writers script of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child in 2016).

This happened again in 2019, but with a double twist: a non-fiction title with two debut authors. Pinch of Nom by Kay Featherstone and Kate Allinson, a pair of weight-watching food bloggers from the Wirral, was always a favourite for supremacy after it broke records in March for first-week sales. The spin-off Food Planner also makes the top 50, and the pair are bound to get a third title well up the chart by the end of the year as their follow-up, Pinch of Nom: Everyday Light, came out on 12 December.

Their success reflects a reconfiguration of the domestic sector, with a falling away of celebrity chefs recipe books (Jamie Olivers Veg is the sole survivor at No 9) and the rise of offerings centred on weight loss or fitness, including Michael Mosleys The Fast 800 (23) and titles just outside the chart by Joe Wicks and Tom Kerridge. Books about housework or home organisation are on the rise too, as shown by the remarkable sales for two books (5, 17) by Mrs Hinch Sophie Hinchcliffe promising to shine your sink and soothe your soul. Published a fortnight apart in the spring, Pinch of Nom and Hinch Yourself Happy both owe much to their authors social media presence Mrs Hinch has an eye-popping 2.9 million followers on Instagram.

Also mingling in the charts elite with the usual suspects Oliver, David Walliams, Lee Child, Jeff Kinney are representatives of another trend, the insider memoirs of people in stressful jobs: Adam Kay (6, 15) and Christie Watson (47) on hospital medicine, the Secret Barrister (25) on the law, Ant Middleton (19) on the army, and Peter Crouch (on the charts subs bench at 62) on football. Tellingly, the most popular examples of job lit outsold the top new celebrity memoirs Elton Johns Me (38), Billy Connollys Tall Tales (43) in a defeat of the famous by the non-famous that mirrors Pinch of Noms triumph in cookbooks.

The heftier, more scholarly end of the factual spectrum, by contrast, continued to flounder commercially. If Yuval Noah Hararis Sapiens (50) one of only two translated works in the list were not still hanging on five years after publication, Bill Brysons The Body (39) would be the lone standard bearer for the kind of non-fiction that wins prizes.

In fiction, meanwhile, a peculiar division is discernible in the top 50, whereby all the charts crime novels are by men an indication of the waning of the largely female-driven psychological thriller and, perhaps more surprisingly, childrens fiction (from Philip Pullman to Walliamss five titles to picture books) is a male preserve too. Conversely, no books classified as general and literary fiction are written by men, and the range of work by women is striking: Heather Morriss hugely popular historical novel (2), more BDSM sex from James (31), smart commercial fiction by Liane Moriarty, Jojo Moyes and Sophie Kinsella (7, 10, 40), Eleanor Oliphant still doing more than fine in paperback (14), and the award-winning literary novelists Sally Rooney, Kate Atkinson and Madeline Miller (13, 41, 49).

Plus, of course, the joint 2019 Booker winner Margaret Atwood, who scored with both the TV tie-in edition of The Handmaids Tale (37) and its victorious sequel. The Testaments (12) is the highest placed (adult) novel published this year and has quite possibly racked up the biggest sales ever by a winner in hardback, with 272,251 copies sold so far.

Among other reasons to be cheerful are the performances of writers who, like the chart-topping double act, were little known a year ago. These include self-styled grubby artist Charlie Mackesy, whose sleeper hit The Boy, The Mole, the Fox and the Horse (20) took the Waterstones prize, memoirist Raynor Winn (35) and Greta Thunberg (32). Six years after Malala Yousafzais I Am Malala, the Swedish teenager matched her in producing a bestseller as well as in addressing the UN.

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Bestselling books of 2019: cleaning guides and diet books hit big - The Guardian