Category Archives: Diet And Food

Heart disease describes a range of conditions that affect a persons heart. It includes blood vessel diseases, such as coronary artery disease; heart rhythm problems (arrhythmias); and heart defects a person is born with (congenital heart defects). In addition to keeping active, most cases of heart disease can be prevented by following a heart-healthy diet. The advice can sometimes seem conflicting and inaccessible, however.

According to Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, resident cardiologist at Mayo Clinic, there isnt a food that is going offer the best approach to heart health. The best defence lies in sticking to general dietary principles, he said.

Here are three easy and accessible dietary rules to ward off the risk of heart disease:

Keep it natural

As Dr Lopez-Jimenez explained: Looking at everything we eat, the closer it is to mother nature - the fewer human hands, machines and additives have touched it - the better it is going to be for us.

The combination of all the nutrients that come out of the ground, whether it be green, purple or blue emphasises a healthy pattern of eating and is actually more science-based than focusing on individual foods, he said.

People should generally avoid processed foods, according Dr Lopez-Jimenez. This will help people people to avoid hidden risks posed by added oils, salt and fried foods. Canned foods are also generally to be avoided, he said.

He added: Patients and people get confused by all the conflicting advice but it is a lot simpler to think that a fresh or frozen vegetable is better for me than one that is all cooked up.

Fruit and veg servings

I do recommend at least five servings of fruits and vegetables and preferably nine servings per day of fruits and vegetables and include variety, advised Dr Lopez-Jimenez.

Evidence confirms the health benefits of upping a persons daily vegetable intake. One study, published in the International Journal of Epidemiology, found that the risk of cardiovascular disease was reduced by about a quarter in people who ate 800 grams of fruit and vegetables every day, compared with those who ate very little or no fruits and vegetables.

Keep it local

Localised produce will have retained more of their nutrients than imported produce, explained Dr Lopez-Jimenez.

Even if they look nice there will have been a degradation of nutrients along the way, he said.

For optional health benefits, people should also try and eat foods in season, he added.

Cut down on meat

As Dr Lopez-Jimenez explained: You dont have to be a vegetarian to be healthy but there is a lot of data that says getting more of our protein from plant-based foods such as legumes is also healthier.

Why? Plant-based foods are full of fibre and different types of protein. They also avoid saturated fats - a major trigger of heart disease, he said.

Numerous evidence supports this advice. One large-scale meta-analysis published in the Journal of the American Heart Association People who ate the most plant-based foods overall had a:

Find out the best exercise to reduce the risk of heart disease here.

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Heart disease: Three dietary tips to keep the risks at bay - Express

Type 2 diabetes means a persons pancreas doesnt produce enough insulin to regulate their blood sugar levels. Overtime, unchecked blood sugar levels can hike the risk of heart disease and stroke. Fortunately, certain dietary decisions can compensate and control blood sugar levels. Evidence supports adding a certain seed to ones diet.

Evidence suggests fenugreek seeds boast blood-sugar lowering properties. Fenugreek seeds are derived from an aromatic plant that is a staple in curries and other Indian recipes. The seeds can be consumed both whole and in powdered form as a spice.

According to Diabetes.co.uk, fenugreek seeds (trigonella foenum graecum) are high in soluble fibre, which helps lower blood sugar by slowing down digestion and absorption of carbohydrates. This suggests they may be effective in treating people with diabetes, explained the health site.

Multiple studies have been carried out to investigate the potential anti-diabetic benefits of fenugreek.

Notably, several clinical trials showed that fenugreek seeds can improve most metabolic symptoms associated with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes in humans by lowering blood glucose levels and improving glucose tolerance.

In one study, researchers in India found that adding 100 grams of defatted fenugreek seed powder to the daily diet of patients with insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes significantly reduced their fasting blood glucose levels, improved glucose tolerance and also lowered total cholesterol, LDL or bad cholesterol and triglycerides.

Over time, high levels of LDL cholesterol can damage a persons arteries, contribute to heart disease, and increase their risk having a stroke.

In another controlled trial, incorporating 15 grams of powdered fenugreek seed into a meal eaten by people with type 2 diabetes reduced the rise in post-meal blood glucose, while a separate study found that taking 2.5 grams of fenugreek twice a day for three months lowered blood sugar levels in people with mild, but not severe, type 2 diabetes.

Furthermore, research suggests that eating baked goods, such as bread, made with fenugreek flour may reduce insulin resistance in people with type 2 diabetes.

A certain superfood has also been shown to lower blood sugar levels.

What is the best diet for managing blood sugar?

Low-carb diets offer myriad health benefits for people with type 2 diabetes. As Diabetes.co.uk explained: The diet has allowed many people with type 2 diabetes to resolve their diabetes, that is to get their blood sugar levels into a non-diabetic range without the help of medication.

The benefits for blood sugar control are primarily down to cutting down on carbohydrates. Carbohydrate is the nutrient which has the greatest effect in terms of raising blood sugar levels and requires the most insulin to be taken or be produced by the body, explained the health site.

The diet is also rich in vegetables and natural, real foods which aids weight loss - another key component of blood sugar control.

What are the symptoms of type 2 diabetes?

Many people have type 2 diabetes without realising. This is because symptoms do not necessarily make a person feel unwell.

According to the NHS, symptoms of type 2 diabetes include:

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Type 2 diabetes: Add this seed to your diet to lower your blood sugar - Express

Since the festive season is around the corner, it is finally time to shed the extra fat and embark on a journey towards fitness. We all try different diets and exercises for weight loss but it is not necessary that they should all workout for everyone inthe same way. Including fibre in your daily diet goes a long way in losing weight.

ALSO READ | Tomato Benefits: Four Ways It Can Help Your Skin

Tomatoes contain very less amount of calories. If you consume even two tomatoes on a daily basis, you will betaking less than fivecalories. The fewer calories you consume, the more you are bound to lose. This makes tomatoes a great snack as well.

ALSO READ | After Onions, Tomato Price Surges To Rs 80 Per Kg In Delhi

Tomatoes are high in fibre and fibre plays a crucial role in losing weight. The fibre present in tomatoes prevents the absorption of fat molecules in your body. A fibre diet also helps in better digestion of food in the stomach.

Tomatoes are rich in an antioxidant known as lycopene. Having tomatoes on a daily basis reduces oxidative stress in the body. This, in turn,reducesfat accumulation and weight gain. Thus, tomato makes a great addition in your diet if you are trying tolose weight.

ALSO READ | GM Diet Plan: The Complete 7-day Diet Plan Which Helps You Lose Weight

Consuming tomatoes on a daily basis helps to reduce the levels of bad cholesterol in the body. It also helps in increasingthe levels of good cholesterol in the body as well. This can prove to be beneficial in your weight loss journey. Good cholesterol also helps to prevent the risk of cardiovascular diseases.

ALSO READ | Egg Recipes: 3 Easy-to-make Egg Dishes At Home | Healthy Egg Recipes

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Tomato: How does tomato help in weight loss? | Benefits of tomato diet - Republic World - Republic World

Grey hair home remedies: Consuming a mixture of yogurt and yeast can help in reducing grey scale

Grey hair home remedies: Wait, what? Did you just notice a few grey strands of hair on your kid? It surely can be upsetting. Poor lifestyle is one of the top causes of premature greying of hair. At times, grey hair at an early age may also be because of genetics. Vitamin B 12 deficiency, some kinds of anaemia and thyroid disorders may also be responsible for grey hair in children. Thus, the key to preventing premature greying of hair in your child is probably making sure that your child gets proper nutrition through a healthy balanced diet.

Restrict the amount of junk food, fries, ice creams, candies and chocolates for your kids. Make sure that most of their meals in a day or from healthy, homemade, nutritious and natural ingredients. Fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds, leafy green vegetables, milk and dairy products are all important for health and well-being of your child. Together, they form a healthy diet, which can prevent premature greying of hair in kids.

Treat grey hair in kids by ensuring they get proper nutritionPhoto Credit: iStock

However, if the grey scale in your child is occurring because of genetics or any other medical condition, following are the home remedies that can help you.

Also read:Yes, You Can Stop Premature Greying. Here's How!

We have previously spoken about the benefits of curry leaves for hair. Well, these underrated leaves can help in reducing grey hair. All you need to do is boil curry leaves in oil until they turn black. Massage the oil on kids's hair. Repeat 2-3 times in a week until you get good results.

Consuming a mixture of yogurt and yeast can help in reducing grey scale. You can simply apply yogurt on kids'hair. It will naturally condition your hair and also make them shinier.

Amla or gooseberry has been ancient Ayurvedic remedy for most hair problems. You can boil a few pieces of amla in coconut oil and massage it gently on your scalp. You can use amla water to wash your child's hair. Just soak amla in water overnight and use it for hair wash. It can naturally reduce grey hair in kids. Another way to use amla for premature greying of hair is by mixing amla and almond oil. Leave it the mixture of oil overnight and apply it on your massage. Leave this hair oil on your scalp over night and apply 2-3 times in a week till you get effective results.

Amla can help in treating grey hairPhoto Credit: iStock

Also read:Premature Greying Of Hair And Other Reasons Why Mustard Oil Needs To Make A Comeback To Your Bathroom Shelves

Black tea can work as an effective home remedy for grey hair. Simply boil black tea leaves in water and let the solution aside to cool. Apply the water on your kids' hair once the solution has cooled down. Leave it for an hour and then take him/her for a head bath. Do not shampoo. You can repeat this once in two weeks. Black tea water can stain hair and darken them naturally.

Also read:Haircare Tips: Bid Good Bye To Grey Hair, Hair Fall And Dandruff With This Hair Oil

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.

DoctorNDTV is the one stop site for all your health needs providing the most credible health information, health news and tips with expert advice on healthy living, diet plans, informative videos etc. You can get the most relevant and accurate info you need about health problems like diabetes, cancer, pregnancy, HIV and AIDS, weight loss and many other lifestyle diseases. We have a panel of over 350 experts who help us develop content by giving their valuable inputs and bringing to us the latest in the world of healthcare.

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Balanced Diet And 4 Other Home Remedies To Treat Grey Hair In Kids - Doctor NDTV

Dani Spies, a suburban mom in New Jersey with two young children, says her troubles with food began long before she had any weight issues.

I often say, dieting made me fat, she says. In fifth grade I was drinking [diet] shakes with my mom and thinking I was doing something good.

As a teenager, she says, she wanted to look as slim as the girls and women she saw in magazines, on TV and online. She got sucked into the common trap of yo-yo dieting dieting, then bingeing, then dieting. It continued through her 20s.

Today, at 44, shes stable at a healthy weight. She says her relationship with food is completely different. And shes making bank as a healthy-eating blogger and YouTube GOOG, +2.13% star.

Spies says she makes a six-figure income producing one cooking video a week from her own kitchen and from her food blog. (Others say its extremely difficult to make such a sum on YouTube, even with a couple of million views a month.)

She has made about 650 videos, and her YouTube GOOGL, +2.01% channel, Clean & Delicious, just broke one million subscribers. Her views range from 12,000 to 1.3 million per video. Her husband, Beng, taught himself videography and films the videos.

She made her first videos about 10 years ago. At the time, she was working as a personal trainer and life coach, and started making videos to help her clients. We really didnt focus on YouTube as a business business, Spies said.

All that changed about three years ago, when both her children were in school, she says. She and her husband began focusing more on the YouTube channel, making one video a week.

She also writes one item a week for her blog, and says that generates as much income as the videos. Youd be amazed what some food bloggers are making, she says. I know some food bloggers making $30,000, $40,000 a month.

She says she still works a normal amount of time for a middle-class mom, about 40 hours a week, but has much more flexibility. And, of course, she doesnt have to commute.

Revenues mainly come from advertising on her YouTube channel and her blog, plus affiliate and sponsorship deals with companies for using their products on her videos. Spies says she was even paid by a jewelry company for wearing their bracelet on her channel.

She isnt alone. Google spokeswoman Kimberly Taylor says the number of YouTube channels making five or six figures in revenue has risen more than 40% over the past year, but its obviously difficult for most people to reach that milestone.

The biggest shift for me happened when I was pregnant with my daughter, Spies recalls. She was 30. She stopped putting pressure on herself about her body image: I finally had permission not to be slim, she adds.

Ironically, lifting that pressure helped her drop the weight shed been trying to lose. Her relationship with food went from deprivation and restriction to nourishment. Now, she says, she focuses on nutrients instead of calories.

Spies, who is 5 foot 4 inches tall, has dropped about 30 pounds from her peak weight. Its enough to make a significant gain in health. She went from significantly overweight, according to the guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to a healthy 135 pounds. That includes plenty of muscle, she adds. I do a lot of weight training.

Weight remains a hot-button issue. TV commentator Bill Maher caused a stir when he targeted the U.S. obesity epidemic in a recent episode of his HBO T, +1.15% show, proposing that in order to make more progress fat-shaming needs to make a comeback.

CBS CBS, +0.34% talk-show host James Corden, who described himself as overweight, replied, Theres a common and insulting misconception that fat people are stupid and lazy, and were not. He said he has struggled with fat-shaming his entire life.

Obesity now kills more people worldwide than smoking. Being overweight raises your risk of premature death from multiple causes. Obesity is also a big factor in rising health-care costs, analysts say.

Spies, who has degrees or certifications in psychology and nutrition, is planning to launch digital classes next. She says her eating plan should be called The Dont Diet.

Food is supposed to be a source of pleasure and nourishment, she says. You cant have one without the other. She stopped trying to diet, she says, and started to look at real, fresh food.

Its a lifelong process, she adds. I still struggle. I still eat emotionally at times.

She thinks most diets are too prescriptive and too focused on imposing a set of rules. They dont pay enough attention to the person. You cant leave out the most important part of the puzzle, which is yourself, she says.

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Dieting made me fat! This mom says she went from drinking diet shakes to making six figures as a healthy-living YouTube star - MarketWatch

LONDON, 15 October 2019

Good morning thank you for joining us as we launch this years State of the Worlds Children Report.

Food is life itself.

From conception, through infancy, into childhood, its the foundation of every childs physical and mental development.

But as this years report shows, far too many children and young people are missing out on this right.

And not necessarily in the way youd expect.

In the 20th century, if you thought of hunger and malnutrition, youd likely picture a starving, emaciated child in a poor country probably in sub-Saharan Africa, or in a war zone.

While that challenge still exists today in the 21st century on a much smaller scale than 30 years ago hunger and malnutrition has a much different face.

Its the face of a child suffering from stunting or wasting her body smaller than her well-nourished peers, and her brain not fully developed, because she didnt receive proper nutrition in the first 1,000 days: not enough milk, eggs, fish, vegetables and fruits, for example.

Its the face of a school-age child in a low or middle-income country accessing food, but food of poor nutritional quality highly processed, packed with sugar and fats that is not giving him the vitamins and micronutrients his body and brain need. Putting him at risk of serious threats like iron-deficiency anaemia.

Its the face of an adolescent suffering from obesity, because its cheaper for her parents to buy nutrient-poor, heavily processed food, rather than fresh fruit, vegetables or eggs, which arent always available at an affordable price. Putting her at heightened risk of obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease down the road.

These realities are detailed in the report through new data and analysis, which bring to light some troubling new findings.

One in three children under five is not growing well either stunted, wasted or overweight.

At least one in two children suffer from hidden hunger or micronutrient deficiencies. They may look well-nourished, but in fact theyre not getting sufficient nutrients and vitamins to grow and develop to their full potential.

And two in three young children are not fed the minimum diverse diet they need to grow healthy especially among the poorest in every society.

But the reports alarm is matched by an ambitious call to action one thats inspired by what works.

We call on governments to invest in large-scale nutrition programmes.

Like Rwanda, where hundreds of thousands of children in all districts of the country are benefitting from home-fortified foods.

Or India, where millions of adolescents receive iron and folic acid supplements at school to prevent anaemia.

We call on our private sector partners to help us scale-up proven innovations.

Such as in Bangladesh, where garment manufacturers have embraced the initiative Mothers@Work to support breastfeeding among working mothers.

Or in Chile, where private-sector-led food fortification has reduced the national rate of anaemia from 21 to one per cent.

We call on our civil society partners to demand that companies provide information so parents and caregivers can make better food choices.

Such as Mxicos El Poder del Consumidor, a civil society group that has successfully advocated for front-of-pack labels that help children, young people and families choose healthy foods.

We call on communities to prioritize nutrition and deliver support and services to mothers and families.

Such as in Nepal, where female community volunteers ensure almost universal coverage of vitamin A supplementation for under-fives.

Or in Peru, where local community leaders are routinely monitoring childrens growth, and delivering essential nutrition services.

We call on parents and families to put their childrens nutrition first and improve how they feed children.

Ecuador, for example, found that adding one simple egg a day to the diet of young children significantly improved growth and reduced stunting by nearly half.

And a mass media campaign in Vietnam called Talking Babies convinced new mothers to breastfeed their babies, tripling the practice over three years.

We call on donors and partners to gather around childrens nutrition in humanitarian emergencies, where the needs are so great.

Such as in Yemen, where donors and partners like UNICEF delivered therapeutic foods and essential nutrition interventions to over four million children last year. This included 7,000 metric tonnes of ready-to-use therapeutic food. Proving that we can deliver nutrition, even in the most challenging contexts if the will is there.

Finally, global and local food systems must ensure that all children, without exception, have access to nutritious, safe, affordable and sustainable foods. To make this happen, we must explore new ways to embed nutrition across health, water and sanitation, education and social protection systems. All of the ingredients that go into a well- nourished child. Support in one sector supports success in all.

Throughout, lets never lose sight of why we must act.

The most important reason is children. Their health, their wellbeing, their nutrition matter to all of us, because they will be architects of our common future.

And right now, children are counting on us to heed the alarms being raised in this report.

So lets learn from the data in this report.

Lets be guided by its recommendations.

Lets be inspired by the countries that are improving the quality of childrens food and food environments.

Lets work together to ensure that all children, without exception, enjoy the nutritious, safe, affordable and sustainable diets they need to shape their own futures, as they shape a better future for all.

Thank you.

Link:
UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore remarks at the launch of the State of the World's Children Report - UNICEF

Feed your culinary imagination.

The keto diet was designed by Dr. Russell Wilder in 1924 and emphasizes replacing carbs with healthy fats and protein. The drastic drop in your carb intake puts your body into a state of ketosisa natural metabolic process that helps burn stored fat and accelerate weight loss.

Today the keto diet has taken the wellness world by storm. And the growing amount of research backing its varied health benefits together with the celebrity proponents of this diet (including Kourtney Kardashian, Adriana Lima and Halle Berry, to name a few) have further fueled the popularity of this low-carb eating plan.

Whether youve recently embraced the keto lifestyle or youre just looking for healthy recipe ideas to diversify your low-carb diet, these keto cookbooks are here to help:

Keto For Carb Lovers

If you find yourself wondering how youll be able to stick to a diet that emphasizes on slashing down the consumption of all the fluffy, crunchy and sweet foods you love, Keto For Carb Lovers is the right book pick for you. Written by the editors of Delish and Women's Health, this brilliant cookbook pairs dozens of cooking hacks with the low-carb, high-fat diet to create recipes that allow you to enjoy the flavor and texture you lovewithout packing on the pounds. Besides more than 100 drool-worthy recipesincluding keto lasagna, peanut butter cookies, and keto pizzathe book also features a 21-day menu plan, meal prep to-do lists as well as weekly grocery lists to plan the week ahead.

Keto Quick Start

No matter how good your intentions are, sticking to a new diet can initially be challenging. Thats where Keto Quick Start comes in. New York Times bestselling author Diane Sanfilippo's latest book is a comprehensive and easy-to-follow road map that will help beginners seamlessly transition to a keto lifestyle. With 100 delicious keto-friendly recipes (like pesto-stuffed mushrooms and chocolate orange fudge), weekly meal plans and plenty of doable troubleshooting tips, this nifty guide will make going keto so much easier.

Dairy-Free Keto Cooking

With her latest crave-worthy cookbook, Kyndra Holley proves that transitioning to a dairy-free keto diet is anything but boring. From sweet and spicy barbecue ribs to crab salad stuffed avocado to flourless chocolate lava cake, theres something for every type of cook and palate. All of the recipes are rooted in simplicity and call for ingredients that can be easily found at your local grocery store. Besides dairy-free recipes, the cookbook also offers advice on how to restore your health and wellness while following the keto lifestyle.

Easy Keto For Busy People

Filled with scrumptious recipes that require minimal time and effort, Easy Keto For Busy People is perfect for those who dont want to compromise their diet despite their jam-packed schedule. This cookbook also includes practical tips on what to eat and what to avoid when youre traveling or dining out, and a handy guide to special ingredients like keto-approved sweeteners and alternative flours that you can stock in your pantry.

Keto Fat Bombs, Sweets & Treats

Contrary to common misconception, snacks and desserts can be a part of a healthy diet provided they are consumed reasonably. Featuring more than 100 keto dessert and snack recipes, this cookbook will make your eating plan more enjoyable and sustainable in the long run. The diverse collection covers everything from quick bread, muffins and pancakes to cookies, cakes, pies, ice cream and more. Many of these healthy-ish recipes require no more than 10 to 15 minutes of prep timeso you can whip them up any day of the week.

The Keto Vegan (Recipe Only Edition)

Lydia Miller's latest cookbook wonderfully combines the ketogenic principles with the plant-based diet to help you reap the health and weight loss benefits of a keto vegan lifestyle. Featuring 101 recipes made with natural ingredients that are packed with healthy fats and proteins (think Avocado Spring Rolls, Coconut Chocolate Balls, Pumpkin Spice Muffins, etc.), this cookbook will make your ketogenic journey a cakewalk.

Keto Cooking With Your Instant Pot

If you're looking for quick and easy family-friendly recipes that are both filling and packed with flavor, Dr. Karen S Lee's latest cookbook is a good place to start. This versatile collection of low-carb, high-fat, sugar-free recipes use only readily available ingredients and your handy Instant Pot. With delectable dishes (like grain-free lobster mac and cheese and Korean-style braised short ribs), this cookbook will make it easier for you to indulge in your favorite foodswithout letting your diet fall by the wayside. And if you haven't used an Instant Pot before, dont worry, the cookbook includes an entire section on how to get started.

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The Best Keto Cookbooks Of 2019 - Forbes

Students in medical schools across the country spend less than 1 percent of lecture time learning about diet.

Earlier this year, Mount Sinai, the biggest hospital network in New York City, invested in a meal delivery service. Though it seemed like an unusual move at the time, the networks decision makes sense if you consider the intrinsic relationship between food and healtha connection underscored by countless other recent examples of healthcare initiatives that harness diet as a tool to improve well-being.

At a California rehabilitation facility, for instance, doctors use the rituals of eating to help people recover from trauma. And over the past decade, cities across the country have launched food prescription programs that incentivize participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to buy fresh fruits and vegetables at farmers markets. A number of nonprofit organizations have launched medically-tailored meal services for people suffering from diet-related diseases.

Culturally and politically, were increasingly acknowledging that what we eat plays a major role in our health. Which is why its especially strange that healthcare providers know so little about it.

Medical curriculums have been developed historically, foregrounding disciplines like biology, behavior, and disease to the detriment of food and nutrition.

In a new report published by the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic, researchers write that, on average, students in medical schools across the country spend less than 1 percent of lecture time learning about diet, falling short of the National Research Councils recommendation for baseline nutrition curriculum. Neither the federal government, which provides a significant chunk of funding to medical schools, nor accreditation groupswhich validate themenforce any minimum level of diet instruction.

And it shows: While you and I might show up for our annual physicals expecting feedback on our what and how much we should be eating, just 14 percent of doctors feel qualified to offer that nutrition advice.

How did the gap get this wide? Much of it can be explained by the way medical curriculums have been developed historically, foregrounding disciplines like biology, behavior, and disease to the detriment of food and nutrition. Today, the legacy of this framework makes it hard for medical schools to retroactively integrate nutrition into their curriculums.

Because [nutrition] wasnt prioritized for so long, there arent a lot of faculty and medical schools that have any knowledge about nutrition and diet, says Emily Broad Leib, the reports lead author. To build it into schools now requires real investment in hiring and training.

People believe that nutrition is easy, when in reality, nutrition is most of medicineand then a lot more.

The report recommends a wide range of policy changes that could function as carrots and sticks in getting nutrition onto course outlines. They range from making federal funding contingent on nutrition training to performance-based incentives that encourage schools to include diet-related subjects in curriculums.

Why are we spending so much government money to educate physicians and residents, and yet were not getting any impact in terms of these this large set of [diet-related] diseases? Broad Leib asks.

The recommendations also implicate other players in the world of medicine, like accreditation organizations and licensing boards, for not requiring a baseline level of dietary expertise from schools and doctors, respectively. Part of the reason that may be is the prevailing attitude society has toward food as a soft science.

People believe that nutrition is easy, when in reality, nutrition is most of medicineand then a lot more, says Martin Kohlmeier, a professor of nutrition at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. You have cultural, food production, and food safety issues. It is a challenge for physicians to learn enough.

Doctors with expertise in nutrition are more likely to spot diet-related issues earlier in a patients prognosis.

Kohlmeier leads the Nutrition in Medicine Project, a free, online nutrition curriculum tailored to medical students and doctors. Kohlmeier estimates that 150,000 students have participated in some aspect of the program since its launch in 1995. Nevertheless, he stresses, voluntary education is only a temporary fix for a systemic problem.

A lot of institutions have electives, all kinds of nice things that maybe 1 to 5 percent of their students use. And Im always saying: You are going to be treated by the physician who skipped those classes.

But why teach doctors nutrition and diet when there already exists a specialty in those fields? Nutritionists and dieticians are experts in the way our individual biologies are affected by what we eat. What role will they play if our general practitioners develop that same expertise?

Shoring up what doctors know about food wont render nutritionists moot, says Carol DeNysschen, a registered dietician and chair of the health, nutrition, and dietetics program at the State University of New York-Buffalo.

The more that [doctors] know, the more they realize what they dont know, and the more they realize how complicated it can be to develop an individualized nutrition plan for people and to get them the support they need to monitor or manage [issues like] their weight, their diabetes, DeNysschen says.

DeNysschen characterizes the relationship between doctors and nutritionists as a symbiotic one. Doctors with expertise in nutrition are more likely to spot diet-related issues earlier in a patients prognosis, and that could mean more referrals to diet experts. The more nutrition knowledge they have, the more theyre aware of looking for those areas where a nutritionist or dietitian could interject, she says.

Beyond the healthcare implications, the Harvard report also makes an economic case for teaching doctors about food. Taxpayer dollars fund most physician residencies in the United States through Medicare. (Medical school graduates train to become doctors via residency in a hospital.) Simultaneously, Medicare serves as the national insurance program for aging Americans, and thus, incurs the costs of diet-related diseases during that stage of our lives. Therefore, the report argues, requiring nutrition education in medical residencies is another way for Congress to trim its own bills.

Thats one element of the case that Broad Leib will likely make next week at a Congressional hearing. Though the report largely focuses on federal policy changes, some local lawmakers are introducing legislation that would require nutrition education among doctors within their jurisdictions. In New York, for example, state legislators recently proposed a bill that would require practicing physicians to receive six hours of nutrition coursework or training every two years. In Washington, D.C., municipal lawmakers introduced a bill that would require continuing education for doctors to be expanded to include nutrition coursework.

Poor diet continues to be one of the biggest contributors to chronic disease and mortality in the U.S., killing one in five Americans every year. Thats a higher rate than three other risk factorspollution, lack of exercise, alcohol and drug usecombined. As the tide continues to rise in favor of ideas and policies that combine food and healthcare, medical schools may be next to center nutrition in their work. Someones just got to prescribe it.

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If food is medicine, why isnt it taught at medical schools? - The New Food Economy

Bhima Sheridan, Ariella Granett, Nishanga Bliss and Betsy Thagard organize the no-fly campaign in south Berkeley. Photo: Daphne White

It has taken a surprisingly long time for the Swedish no-fly movement also known as flight shaming to arrive in the U.S. But perhaps its no surprise that Berkeley is the place where the fledgling movement has finally landed. Geographically, Berkeley is just about as far as you can get from Sweden and still be on the U.S. mainland; ideologically, the two are much closer.

Greta Thunberg, the Swedish teen who recently took a solar-powered sailboat across the Atlantic to avoid flying, was an inspiration for Flight Free USA. But so was the seventh grade son of the groups co-founders, Ariella Granett and Bhima Sheridan.

I was really awakened when my son came home recently and said: By 2030, the world will be uninhabitable, said Granett. It was really unsettling to hear your child say that.

It was really unsettling to hear your child say that by 2030 the world will be uninhabitable. Ariella Granett

I was drawn to this movement when I learned that jet fuel is a big part of our carbon footprint, and much of that footprint is for pleasure trips, added Sheridan. It is shocking that the carbon emission of one seat on a cross-country flight from San Francisco to New York and back is 1.6 tons. At the same time, there are 66 countries in the world where the average person uses less than 1.6 tons of carbon in one year! (You can calculate your carbon footprint.)

Reducing flight miles has a dramatically larger impact on the environment than other actions such driving electric vehicles, using solar power, recycling or eating a vegetable-based diet.

One persons share of jet fuel on a cross-country flight would wipe out a years worth of other environmental efforts, Sheridan said.

And so the couple decided to contact Swedish climate activist Maja Rosn, who co-founded We Stay On the Ground in 2018. The goal of Rosns group is to raise awareness of the impact of flying on climate change, and to persuade people to reduce emissions by staying on the ground.

Over a series of emails in August, Rosn suggested that the couple start an affiliate organization in the U.S. America is now the eighth country to join the no-fly movement: Sweden, Denmark, the U.K, Belgium, France, Germany and Canada have already organized. Several other Americans contacted Rosn shortly after the Berkeley couple did, and they became regional coordinators for Flight Free USA. The group would like to have 50 state coordinators by the end of 2020.

The goal of each no-fly group is to convince 100,000 citizens in their own country to pledge not to take any flights in 2020.

We want to move the needle, and this feels like a manageable change, Sheridan said. If you ask people never to fly again, its too big of an ask. But even if you live here and have family on the East Coast, one year feels manageable. If you cant be with the one you love, Skype, Sheridan joked. He and his wife consider themselves seasoned travelers, but they have pledged to forgo flying in 2020 and the foreseeable future.

For those who cant commit to a whole year without flying, Granett and Sheridan suggest a flight diet consciously reducing the number of airplane trips in any given year. This may be easier for people who travel for vacation than those who travel for work, especially in a country whose rail system is not nearly as developed as that of Europe.

However, Fly Free USA was preceded by another California-based organization aimed specifically at academics. Many academics, including earth scientists, have large climate footprints dominated by flying, states the website of No Fly Climate Science (NoFlyClimateSci). Meanwhile, colleges and universities ostensibly exist to make a better future, especially for young people. We want our institutions to live up to that promise. Several universities have signed on, but UC Berkeley is not yet one of them.

One-third of all air traffic globally takes place in the US, and that makes Americans the biggest users of flight miles anywhere.

One-third of all air traffic globally takes place in the United States, and that makes Americansthe biggest users of flight miles anywhere.

About 8% of global greenhouse gas emissions are from traveling, including flights, hotels, food and sundries, according to Arunima Malik,a researcher at the University of Sydney in Australia who studies the carbon footprint of tourism.

Flying is also the fastest growing cause of climate change, according to the Flight Free USA site. If aviation was a country, it would be the seventh worst polluter globally, according to the group. In 2017airlines carried 4.1 billion passengers, and this is set to rise to more than 8.2 billion by 2037. At the same time, climate scientists are warning that we have less than 10 years to make a significant reduction in our carbon emissions in order to avoid catastrophic climate change.

In Sweden, the no-fly effort has already shown measurable results. Air passenger traffic was down 3.8% in the first six months of 2019 compared with the previous year, according to The Washington Post. Train travel has increased by one third during the same period. As a result, Swedish leaders already announced they would inject new cash into the national rail company, according to the Post.

And the movement, only a few years old, has already spawned new Swedish words including flygskam (flying shame), tagskryt (train bragging), and smygflyga (flying in secret).

We dont want to shame people, but we do want to get them to think twice about flying, said Flight Free volunteer Betsy Thagard. I am a lifelong environmentalist, and I want to have grandchildren. But my children are both hemming and hawing about having babies, because they are so worried about their future.

I love nature, but last year I realized that my flying to beautiful places in nature was actually destroying them, added Nishanga Bliss, another volunteer. I went to the Swiss Alps, but I realized that the Sierras are beautiful, too. I love traveling, but this year I am going to stay closer to home. Im going to take the train: it will be slow travel, like slow food.

Granett went a step further. She is an architect who used to travel all over the country for work, but as a result of her new activism, she switched jobs and now works for an Oakland firm that only works locally.

I was doing very creative work, and it was a difficult choice, she said. But I couldnt reconcile wanting to curb my carbon footprint while flying off for work all the time.As it happens, the Swedish no-fly movement took off after Thunbergs mother, a well-known opera singer, announced that she would no longer fly to give concerts.

Granett does not subscribe to the newly popular practice of buying carbon offsets to mitigate the effects of flying.

When you fly, you are doing immediate damage, she said. We dont have time for the trees to draw down the carbon. Its going to be stuck in the atmosphere for 20 to 200 years. I think carbon offsets are like greenwashing they make people feel better, so they can fly even more.

Until recently, Granett said she was in denial about climate change.

I didnt think there was anything I could do about it, personally, she said. But the day my son came home from school and said, The world is going to end thats how he heard it I was inspired to lead by example.

The Flight Free USA leadership is a motley crew: Granett is an architect, her husband and Thagard are real estate agents, and Bliss is an acupuncturist. They have been active in a number of local nonprofits Granett and Thagard co-founded South Berkeley Now! but none of them have run a national grassroots organization before.

Fly Free USA started in the last few days of August, and is still based in Granett and Sheridans dining room. It does not have tax-free status yet.

We are literally a mom-and-pop, all-volunteer grassroots group, Sheridan said. We use our own checkbook to print flyers, but volunteers chipped in money for the t-shirts.

The group is looking for volunteers both in Berkeley and nationally to help them spread the word.

If you can organize a pot luck or a hiking trip, you can organize for climate change: its the same skill set, said Bliss.

I believe what Margaret Meade said about a small number of committed individuals being able to change the world, Sheridan added.

And Granett is inspired by the many volunteers she has already connected with across the US and around the world, all working to reduce their carbon footprint by flying less.

I have made all these connections from my own living room, she said. I didnt need to travel anywhere.

(Featured photo: Creative Commons Zero)

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Please don't fly in 2020: From Sweden to Berkeley, the 'flight shaming' movement takes off - Berkeleyside

Today, a new book called Girls Who Run the World hits real and virtual bookshelves, and for anyone with a middle-school aged kid or looking to inspire a high-schooler, it might be worth checking out. Featuring 31 women who are the CEOs of companies that they have created themselves think Spanx, Glossier, Caribou Sciences and Stitch Fix each of their stories underscores that dreams sometimes can be made into reality when you want something badly enough.

We talked yesterday with the books author, Diana Kapp, a longtime essayist (with an MBA from Stanford) who authored the book in part to encourage her own teenage daughter to pursue her passions while making clear there will be obstacles, always, to overcome.

TC: You have an interesting and fairly broad mix of powerful women in this book. How did you choose who to profile?

DK: I went after stories that are compelling and innovative, while trying to ensure that not every woman has a degree from either Stanford or MIT. I picked Anne Wojcicki because shes a pioneer in the field of DNA testing. Nina Tandon of Epibone is working on growing artificial bones that can be put into the body. Christina Stembell of Farmgirl Flowers grew up on a farm and never went to college. Tracy Young was a construction project engineer who wound up selling her company to Autodesk. I could have written about 200 more women; there are so many good stories that are just not told.

TC: How much time did you spend with each of them?

DK: It really varied. I met some in person, like Tina Sharkey of Brandless and Christina (Stembell) and Kara Goldin of Hint Water. I interviewed a lot of them on the phone. I really wanted to tell the story of them taking an idea and having the guts to trust their own instincts and go after that idea, despite a lot of naysaying and difficulty fundraising. People thought Stitch Fix was an inventory nightmare, for example. At Minted, founder and CEO Mariam Naficy opened her online stationary store and not a single box sold for the first 40 days.

TC: Of the women you interviewed, who overcame the most?

DK: I love the story of Jesse Genet of Lumi, who became obsessed with screen printing in high school and would use every birthday to ask for some esoteric piece of printing equipment, finding out along the way about some light-activated agent that you could use for printing and driving six hours to get this product out of someones basement. Today, her company provides packaging to a growing number of consumer companies, from Rockets of Awesome to Blue Bottle Coffee, and I think shes just brilliant.

Jennifer Hyman and Jenny Fleiss bought 100 dresses in their own sizes in case [Rent the Runway] didnt work. Katrina Lake similarly bought clothes on her credit card, then sent them to friends and used paper and pencil to mark down feedback before hiring a TaskRabbit to help track that data. Whats important about all of these stories is that these women took steps that others can take, too. They started with tiny pilot programs. They arent the kids of entrepreneurs. They werent preordained to start companies. And while I might read about them in Fast Company or listen to podcasts about them, my 14-year-old doesnt. I think its important for kids to learn about people who would not take no for an answer, who got turned down by 40 VCs and kept pitching.

TC: You mentioned that you tried featuring women of different backgrounds. What were some of the unifying threads between them?

DK: One thing that does connect them is parents who ditched the idea of perfectionism. They let their girls take their own path. [PopSugar founder and president] Lisa Sugars parents let her stay up because she was obsessed with late-night TV, and thats how she got into being a pop culture critic and wound up launching a blog that had a million readers within a year. Sara Blakely of Spanx told me her dad didnt care what other people thought of him, which was a powerful idea for a kid to be marinating in; it gave her more freedom to be herself and to take her own path. Jesse [Genet] realized if she took two classes after the summer of her junior year in high school, she could graduate early and take her T-shirt printing business to LA, where she had data on the number of shops per block, and when she pitched her parents on these ideas, they listened to her. They let her take a non-traditional path.

TC: Did any or many of these founders take time off to raise their children?

DK: I dont know that they took time off, but 18 of the 31 have children, and 10 of them have three or four children, so theyre managing to have big families. Katia Beauchamp ran Birchbox while on bedrest with her fourth child. SoulCycles founders brought their daughters to the studios they were opening up and had them pitch in. Kara Goldin, who was inspired to start her company after working in the software industry and gaining weight and drinking too much Diet Coke, really wanted to get [sales] going in Whole Foods before getting induced with her second child, so she brought bottles over to a local store [en route to the hospital]. When the stock guy called the next day to tell her all the cases were gone, she thought theyd been stolen.

Im sure that like every parent, they feel the pull to spend time with their kids, but they are so turned on by what they are doing. You dont [start a company] unless you have incredible passion for your idea because its so hard. And I love that they are having children but still chasing after something thats meaningful to them and that they think society really needs. I think thats a fantastic model for children.

TC: Were the people youve profiled helped by other women along the way? Is that an important piece of their stories?

DK: There is a lot of support going on; they definitely have a network. Many sit on each others boards or advisory committees. Katrina Lake is on Emily Weisss board [at Glossier]. Some of them sit on the board of [former model] Christy Turlingtons organization, Every Mother Counts.

Leslie Blodgett, who sold her company Bare Escentuals to Shiseido [in 2010 for $1.7 billion] is funding other women. Shes also now a student at Stanford and writing a book. She wants to have another chapter.

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Thirty-one women who run the world and what can be learned from them - TechCrunch