Category Archives: Diet And Food

Asthey say, old habits die-hard. Unless you have chosen to follow an eating planthat you can see yourself following forever more, you are likely to retire toyour old ways when the expiry date on your diet is reached.

Aspredictable as it may sound, you want to start a diet that isnt really a dietat all, but rather a lifestyle change.

Weight-loss, when it is happening, is very exciting and motivating, butonce you get to weight maintenance often the hard work needs to begin andreality sinks in that the changes that were made to your eating habits now needto become your forever.

The weight that youve lost is only viewed assuccessful, once you have kept it off for an entire year.

1.How do people do it?

TheNational Weight Control Registryis a long-term study which currently observes over 10 000 people who have lost a significant amount of weight and managed to keep it off.

The following arethe research findings that have helped them keep on the straight and narrow:

2.Are you eating to fight disease, orfeed it?

Mostof your food should be minimally processed, eaten as it is found in nature, andis mostly plant based.

3.Does it pinch your pocket?

Believeit or not, healthy can actually be cost-effective. To save on your food bill try focusing lesson grass-fed, organic and free from foods (free from gluten/wheat/lactose etc),and rather include minimally processed whole foods that are seasonal, that canbe bought in bulk (and shared), and plant yourself a vegetable garden.

Once you are aware of them, small changes inyour shopping list can have a significant effect on the weight of yourwallet. Take for example swapping yourfillet of salmon, for a few pilchards (of which the omega-3 content is similar) your per portion cost drops from approximately R40 to R3.50.

A similarly easy swap with very little impacton health outcome is swapping your olive oil (approx. R150/L) for canola oil (approx.R22/L).

4.Does following it make you a hermit?

Isyour diet one that can only be followed if you dedicate all your time topreparing your intricate meals? Issocializing difficult to do because of all your restrictions? Although you may be able to follow this for ashort period of time, eventually the natural need to socialize and be withothers will take over and adherence to your diet will wane.

Find a way of eating that doesnt just suityou, but also your family, and allows you the flexibility to still enjoy eatingmeals out with others.

5.Is it a miracle-worker?

Ifthe new diet you have decided to embark on has one or more of the followingcharacteristics you may be chasing a fad diet which is both unsafe andunsustainable:

Image credit: iStock

This article is provided through asponsorship from Pfizer in the interests of continuousmedical education. NotwithstandingPfizer's sponsorship of this publication, neither Pfizernor its subsidiary or affiliatedcompanies shall be liable for any damages, claims, liabilities,costs or obligations arising from themisuse of the information provided in this publication.Readers are advised to consult theirhealth care practitioner for specific information onpersonal health matters as this is notthe intention or purpose of the publication. Specificmedical advice or recommendations onthe clinical management of patients will not beprovided by Pfizer. In this regardPfizer does not support the use of products for off abelindications, nor dosing which fallsoutside the approved label ecommendations and readersmust refer to the Package Insert ofany product for full prescribing guidelines

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5 Things to consider when choosing a diet - Health24

Adam Jacobs (Aladdin) and Isabelle McCalla (Jasmine) star in the national touring production of Aladdin. Photo by Deen van Meer.How many people does it take to put on a national tour of a Broadway show? If the show isAladdin, the answer is 75...if you only count the people who show

The Catalyst Quartet rehearsing.It was the first of August. Dr. Deborah Justice was settling in for a month of fiddling around musically speaking when the email arrived. "Im afraid I have some sad news from Caracas," it began. "Venezuela at this moment is now a war zone."At that

The late J. Otis Powell.Poet, playwright, and overall multi-talented artist J. Otis Powell died on Monday, August 28. Powell was 61 years' old, and had been awarded a Sally Ordway Irvine Award for Commitment just five days prior. He had struggled with ill health, and received a kidney transplant several

A bar chart showing historical box office totals for the Minnesota Fringe Festival.The Minnesota Fringe Festival announced the final statistics today for the 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival. The 11-day festival brought in 46,076 butts-in-seats, spread across 860 performances of 167 shows at 17 venues in Minneapolis.Why Count Butts-in-Seats?Since 2016, the

The Ordway Center for the Performing Arts announced today the recipients of the 25th annual Sally Ordway Irvine Awards. These awards were given in five categories to recipients from across the State of Minnesota. This year's recipients are all based in the Twin Cities metro area: Hunter Gullickson (Arts Access)

Actors Gary Briggle (left) and Wendy Lehr (right). Photo by Keith Bridges.The playwright A.R. Gurney passed away two months ago. Many of the various eulogies and obituaries cited his 1988 playLove Letters, a tale of charmed correspondence that was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize.Love Letters encapsulated many of the themes

Lady Gaga rocked the Xcel Energy Center with her trademark costume-heavy, immersive performance. Here's the set list from the concert:Act I "Video Intro" "Diamond Heart" "A-Yo" "Poker Face" "Perfect Illusion"Act II "John Wayne" "Scheie" "Alejandro"Act III "Horns" "Just Dance" "LoveGame" "Telephone"Act IV "Claws" "Applause" "Come to Mama" "The Edge of

A mosaic of different graphs of Fringe Festival sold-out attendance data.It's been one week since the 2017 Minnesota Fringe Festival closed its doors and the Fringe staff are still tallying and double-checking festival data. While a fuller report on the festival box office is still forthcoming, here are six figures

Women dancing inArabian Nights.Photo by Dan Van Meer.The Orpheum Theatre is getting a magic lamp. Starting September 15, the Orpheum will host the Broadway touring production of Aladdin for three and a half weeks (closing October 8). This touring production stars Adam Jacobs, who originated the title role of Aladdin

Actress-musician-songwriter Claire Wellin. Photo by Tiffany Topol.This Friday, Claire Wellin is bringing her band Youth in a Roman Field to Icehouse in Minneapolis. Youth in a Roman Field's "ghost folk" sound emphasizes haunting strings, acoustic instruments, and multipart vocal writing. The MSU-Mankato graduate spoke with the Arts Reader'sBasil Considine about

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PARIS: Widely promoted guidelines to reduce fat intake could be unhealthy for people in low- and middle-income countries whose diets are already too starchy, researchers said on Tuesday.

Health authorities in Europe and North America recommend eating more fruits and vegetables while curtailing consumption of fatty foods, advice also adopted by the United Nations and globally.

But people in poor nations cutting back on fat may wind up piling on more carbohydrates -- such as potatoes, rice or bread -- because fruits and vegetable are more expensive, the authors point out.

"The current focus on promoting low-fat diets ignores the fact that most peoples diets in low- and middle-income countries are very high in carbohydrates, which seem to be linked to worse health outcomes," said Mahshid Dehghan, a researcher at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada and lead author of a study in The Lancet.

Meanwhile, a companion study, also published in The Lancet, concludes that the rich-world guidelines -- backed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) -- on fruit and vegetable consumption could be safely cut back from five to a more affordable three portions per day.

Dehghan and colleagues sifted through the health data of 135,000 volunteers from 18 countries across six continents, aged 35-70, who were monitored for a seven-and-half years. People who met three-quarters or more of their daily energy needs with carbs were 28 percent more likely to die over that period that those who ate fewer starchy foods (46 percent or less of energy needs).

Surprisingly, the findings also challenged assumptions on fat intake: diets high in fat (35 percent of energy) were linked with a 23 percent lower risk of death compared to low-fat diets (11 percent of energy). "Contrary to popular belief, increased consumption of dietary fats is associated with a lower risk of death," Dehghan told AFP.

That covered a mix of saturated fats (from meats and milk products), along with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats from vegetable oils, olive oil, nuts and fish, she added. The study did not look at so-called "trans fats" from processed foods because "the evidence is clear that these are unhealthy", Dehghan said.

The best diets include a balance of 50-55 percent carbohydrates and around 35 percent total fat, according to the authors, who presented their findings at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona.

Current global guidelines -- based mostly on studies done in Europe and the United States -- recommend that 50-65 percent of ones calories come from carbs, and less than 10 percent from saturated fats.

Overall, the study found that average diet consists of just over 61 percent carbohydrates, 23.5 percent "good" fat, and 15 percent protein. But these averages hid important regional imbalances: In China, South Asia and Africa, intake of starchy foods was 67, 65 and 63 percent, respectively.

A quarter of the 135,000 subjects -- mostly in poorer nations -- derived more than 70 percent of their daily calories from carbohydrates, while half had less than seven percent saturated fats in their diet.

The findings "challenge conventional diet-disease tenets" largely based on the lifestyles of Europeans and Americans, Christopher Ramsden and Anthony Domenichiello commented, also in The Lancet.

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'Diet guidelines biased against poor nations' - The News International

So you eat a handful of almonds every day. Great as this way you are ensuring enough vitamin E that stimulates the production of natural killer cells, the ones that seek out and destroy germs, along with other potent nutrients from the popular nut. But now it's time to look beyond the tried and tested and expand our gamutof good foods based on some new nutrients that we now know as absolutely brilliant for us.

For example, we now know that we can get our daily dose of vitamin E from wheat germ too.

This too is full of vitamin E, and also contains a phytonutrient called L-ergothioneine, which is a super powerful antioxidant not destroyed by cooking and one that you can add safely to your cakes, cookies, porridge et al.

This antioxidant helps conserve and maintain the levels of other antioxidants such as vitamins E and C and glutathione, and also protects us from the damaging effects of environmental UV rays.

Talking of nuts, we already know that walnutis a super star nut as it is loaded with good quality protein, and myriad nutrients like selenium, phosphorous, zinc, manganese, magnesium, vitamin E and more. But not many know that some phytonutrients found in walnuts - for example, the quinone jug lone - are found in virtually no other commonly eaten foods.

Other phytonutrients - like the tannin tellimagrandin or the flavonol morin - are also rare and valuable.

Score walnuts for rare phytonutrients.

All these anti-inflammatory and antioxidant phytonutrients help explain the decreased risk of certain cancers - including prostate cancer and breast cancer - that walnut consumption is linked to.

If you want to score the right omega 3, stick to animal products (including dairy) from animals that are fed on green grass (and not grains) as this way you ensure CLA (conjugated Linoleic acid) in your diet, which is brilliant at fighting weight gain, particularly around the dangerous abdomen area. So when going for yoghurt, buttermilk, meat, butter, milk, eggs, avoid the grain fed source.

Then there's lecithin present in bee pollen whose importance has lately come to light. Lecithin helps dissolve and flush fat from the body and that is how bee pollen helps lowers low-density lipoproteins (LDL) faster than any other food while also increasing the helpful high-density lipoproteins (HDL).

The missing vitamins

Very few of us know the importance of vitamin K2, which is as essential for our bones and joints as the much publicised vitamin D. That is because it is essential for activating enzymes that are involved in transporting calcium from the arterial walls to the bones.

Score vitamin K2 from egg yolk.

It is also important to keep heart disease and diabetes away. Unlike Vitamin K1, which is found in green leafy vegetables, K2 is found in fermented foods, certain cheeses such as Brie and Gouda and grass-fed organic animal products (that is egg yolk, butter, dairy et al).

Biotin is a water soluble B vitamin that one can score from carrots, almonds, walnuts, strawberries, onions and egg yolk. It is needed for healthy nerve, metabolic, cardiovascular and digestive functions and also helps naturally thicken hair, nails and beautify our skin. It's a beauty vitamin.

Go fish

Ever wonder what salmon, shrimp and lobster have in common? Their brilliant red colour is a result of Astaxanthin, the multi-talented antioxidant, which is the newest super star in the realm of anti-ageing.

It protects the cells from the most damaging forms of free radicals - improves skin elasticity and reduces the appearance of fine lines.

DMAE is a known cognitive enhancer.

There's another super star substance found in fish, sardines and salmon and that is DMAE (dimethylaminoethanol). DMAE is a known cognitive enhancer, that is, it helps boost memory and the body's problem-solving ability by improving nerve function.

Another bonus is that DMAE when eaten in larger amounts can increase muscle tone and therefore decrease the sagging of our skin too.

It's time to begin plating all new ingredients to score an even healthier body.

Also read: The truth about superfoods you need to know

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10 new nutrients you should be eating right away - DailyO

After a day of fasting, people only eat about 10% more than they normally would, explains Krista Varady, PhD, a nutritional scientist who led the University of Illinois research. That 10% doesn't even come close to making up for the missing calories, she says, which is why people lose weight.

MORE: 12 Hunger-Fighting Power Salads

Fasting also alters body mechanisms for the better, says Courtney Peterson, PhD, assistant professor at Pennington Biomedical Research Center. "Fasting lowers levels of inflammation and puts the body into repair mode," she says. "Production of antioxidant enzymes increases, and that helps repair and recycle cells."

Want to give fasting a shot? These guidelines will help keep you safe.

Check with your doctor first.You need to make sure it's safe for you to go without food for more than half a day at a timefor example, fasting is not for pregnant women or people with diabetes. "You can quickly deplete your body of electrolytes, including sodium, so fasting needs to be approached carefully," says Peterson.

Try the every-other-day approach.Once you have the green light from your doctor, give Varady's plan a shot: Eat as much as you want on feast days, and then limit yourself to 500 calories on fast daysand be sure to choose high-quality, nutrient-packed foods such as lean meat and fresh produce. While this well-studied approach is safe, says Varady, people who eat frequent small meals or snack often may find the fast days intolerable. (Learn how to lose twice as much weight with The 2-Day Diet.)

Experiment with time-restricted eating.This approach to fasting sounds more palatable to most people: To start, try limiting yourself to 12 hours of eating and 12 hours of fasting. Once you adjust, see if you can increase the number of hours you fast: In animal studies, weight loss and health benefits were higher when the feeding window was limited to 8 to 10 hours.

MORE: Which One's More Important For Weight Loss: Diet Or Exercise?

Always eat smart.Although some plans don't dictate what you you can have when you're not fasting, don't use that as an excuse to subsist on ice cream and Oreos. "No matter what diet you're on, you should get the bulk of your calories from healthy foods, like veggies, lean protein and whole grains," says Peterson. "Your body needs nutritious food to function most effectively."

MORE:25 Belly-Slimming Sassy Water Recipes

Make sure you drink plenty of fluids.You may not realize it, but food supplies at least 20% of your water intake. "If you're fasting, or even doing a modified, 500-calorie fast, you should drink 8 to 12 glasses of water every day," says Varady.

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5 Safe Ways To Try A Fasting Diet (And Why You'd Even Want ...

All fruits can be safely canned or frozen without sugar. Some low and no sugar foods can be canned at home with very good results. Some home canned foods lose color, flavor and texture when canned without the usual sugar and so you may end up with a different canned product than you had hoped for.

Sugar is not needed to prevent spoilage. Process the fruit just as you would if you used a sugar syrup and use the USDA recommended procedures and timetables.

The sugar in jams and jellies helps in the formation of the gel and serves as a preservative as well as adding to the flavor. To make sugarless jams and jellies, always use a commercial sugarless gelatin mixture or special pectin designed for sugar free or lower sugar jams and jellies. Be sure to follow the manufacturers directions. Jams and jellies when canned without sugar will have a softer texture and will not be as crystal clear as jams or jellies made with sugar.

When canning fruits without sugar it is essential that you select fully ripe yet firm fruits of the best quality. When you prepare fruits without sugar use water or unsweetened fruit juice instead of sugar syrup. Remember that the fruit and the fruit juices have natural sugars in them. Dont think that just because fruits are canned without sugar they are calorie free.

Splenda and sugar substitutes like Splenda, that you measure cup for cup, are the only sugar substitutes that you can use in place of sugar for the syrup that is used to cover the fruit in the jars. I have canned with this kind of sugar substitute for years and I I find the taste just as good as when I use sugar.

You may want to stay away from using saccharin and aspartame based sweeteners when canning. Saccharin based sweeteners turn bitter when processed. Aspartame based sweeteners lose their sweetening power during processing. If you can your fruits in water you can add these kinds of sugar substitutes when you serve them.

The sugar added to fruits when canning not only adds flavor but helps the fruit to hold its texture, shape and color. Sugar is not needed to prevent spoilage and that is why water or fruit juice can be substituted for low sugar home-canning. If you are on a special diet or are just watching your calories you may want to try canning without added sugar, it is a good option.

Jeannie Nichols is a food safety educator for Michigan State University Extension. She can be reached at nicho115@msu.edu or 517-439-9301.

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Home canning without sugar - The Hillsdale Daily News

Nutrition information tends to be complicated and contradictory, making an answer to the question, What should I eat? anything but simple.

This is particularly true when it comes to carbohydrates. On one hand, current recommendations call for carbohydrates to be a major part of your diet. On the other hand, very popular low-carbohydrate diets are at odds with these recommendations.

Low-carbohydrate diets work because eating too much carbohydrate leads to fat storage and weight gain, so restricting carbohydrates can promote fat loss. People who follow low-carbohydrate diets tend to lose weight, so this approach makes sense. It is also likely that people who follow low-carbohydrate diets find them easier to stick to than other diets, so they may end up eating fewer calories.

Considering that the typical American diet contains too much carbohydrate from sugars and refined grains and not enough whole grains, restricting carbohydrates may have some benefits. But there is another approach: be smart about your carbohydrate choices. Instead of cutting out all carbohydrates, focus on reducing refined grains and sugars and emphasizing whole grains.

Sources of carbohydrates include whole grains (such as whole wheat bread), refined grains (white bread), and sugars. Both refined grains and sugars tend to raise blood glucose rapidly, a measure called the glycemic index, which leads to an increase in certain hormones. One of these is the hormone insulin, which stimulates the uptake of nutrients into cells, including the storage of fat in adipose tissue. This is one reason why eating carbohydrates are linked to fat gain and why restricting carbohydrates leads to fat loss.

But carbohydrates from whole grains dont raise either blood glucose or insulin as much. This low and slow response has several benefits, including improved blood glucose regulation, lower triglycerides, and, potentially, reduced fat storage. For these reasons, complex carbohydrates from whole grains are called good carbs, in contrast to refined grains and sugars, known as bad carbs.

You can be smart about carbs by limiting your intake of sugars, especially added sugars, and refined grains while increasing your consumption of whole grains, fruits and vegetables that are high in fiber. When comparing food labels, look for foods that contain whole grains (the first ingredient should be something like whole wheat flour) and higher levels of fiber. But be aware that some foods, like many breakfast cereals, contain whole grains but are also high in added sugar. The best advice is to get the majority of your carbohydrates from real food, including vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes, rather than from processed foods.

Something to keep in mind is that although low-carbohydrate diets are associated with weight loss and good health, they are not the only way to achieve these benefits. Indeed, people who are considered to be fit and healthy have a wide range of eating patterns. The one factor they have in common is that they are active. It seems that regular exercise is just as important as what you eat when it comes to promoting health. So, regardless of what you eat, make physical activity part of your daily routine.

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HEALTH AND FITNESS: How to be carb smart - Aiken Standard

About nine years ago, an 18-year-old Josh Sabatini was hanging out with some random friend in some random house on some random night.

He was used to drinking, sometimes smoking, occasionally taking a pill or two.

On this night, though, Josh decided to try heroin for the first time.

The friend, who had some experience, told Josh that maybe he shouldnt. But Josh insisted, and the friend relented, tied Josh off and shot him up.

It knocked me flat on my back, said Josh. I recognized in that moment that I was going to do that again. That whatever this was, I had been looking for it and found it without even realizing I was looking. This thing here was more powerful than anything I ever experienced.

Leading worship at Blainesburg Bible Church is part of the path to a new life for recovering addict Josh Sabatini.

Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter

This was the closest thing to euphoria that Id ever felt in my life, and why not visit that again? I was coming back here again and again and again.

For nearly three years, Josh visited opioids again and again and again, shooting heroin, then, when a friend got hold of a bunch, hydromorphone.

When Josh was using, from 2008-11, opioid addiction was nothing new. But it wasnt the epidemic it is now.

In 2010, according to the National Institutes of Health, about 20,000 opioid overdose deaths were recorded in the U.S. In 2015, that number jumped to nearly 35,000. Heroin overdose deaths increased from fewer than 3,000 in 2010 to about 13,000 in 2015. The number of deaths from heroin combined with another drug in most cases, fentanyl went from about 6,000 in 2010 to more than 20,000 in 2015.

I didnt personally know anybody that was addicted, said Josh. It wasnt an issue for the people in my community.

A 2008 graduate of Bethlehem-Center High School, Josh was an athlete who was voted prom king by his peers. His childhood was normal, and his parents, Kellie and Larry Sabatini, worked hard to provide for their son and daughter.

School was never really his thing, but football was, so he enrolled at Waynesburg College to play.

An injury in the first game put an end to sports for Josh.

I was done with football, and, therefore, kind of done with school. At that point, I started to party a little bit, said Josh, who dropped out soon after.

The partying led to experimentation, which Josh said he didnt plan and didnt anticipate.

It was just kind of part of the night. Nothing was a big deal for me yet. I was kind of floundering, he said. Partying was just kind of what happened.

That first hit of heroin changed everything, though.

When I look back now, its hard to comprehend what I was then. Obsessed is what it is, but thats not a good enough word. Addicted is the word, said Josh, 27. The idea of getting high drives your life, and nothing and nobody is bigger than that. Whatever you have to do to make that happen, you will. I became very good at manipulating people. And lying. And spending a lot of time alone so that people wouldnt know.

Josh kept different hours from his parents, with whom he lived, and held onto a job.

Josh Sabatini taught a Sunday school class and was morning worship leader Aug. 27 at Blainesburg Bible Church.

Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter

I didnt know it was as bad as it was, said his mother, Kellie. I thought he was partying, maybe smoking marijuana. I was clueless that he had an IV heroin drug problem. I ... started going through his phone, watching his bank account. We did what most families try to do and manage on our own. I took his car keys and drove him to work.

Now we know people would deliver drugs to our door while we were sleeping, she said. It was a nightmare.

Josh said he pawned some of his own items, took out cash advances on his paycheck, then stole things from family and sold them.

I remember knowing I was in trouble, knowing that this was bad and also knowing that I began to feel normal whenever I was high. My tolerance had grown at that point. It was difficult sometimes to get that euphoric high. To feel normal throughout the day, I had to get high. It was very hard to picture life without that, Josh said. At that point, future plans stop. You dont necessarily see a future. You just simply see the next day of, How am I going to get high? Its actually incredibly stressful.

The addiction, he said, was short and fast.

Three years, literally, almost killed me. I had destroyed myself and people around me in a very short time.

One day in 2011, Josh shot up and vomited. The next day, his eyes, nose and chest turned yellow.

This was the closest thing to euphoria that Id ever felt in my life and why not visit that again? I was coming back here again and again and again.

At Washington Hospital, he was diagnosed with hepatitis C, a liver disease that can be spread through IV drug use. Though his doctor knew he was an addict, Josh told his parents he contracted the disease from a recent tattoo.

Kellie grew up witnessing her parents deal with her brother, who, at 38, died in recovery from a heart attack after a 20-year addiction. Kellie couldnt believe her own son was an addict until the diagnosis opened her eyes.

Josh was a functional drug addict who never missed work, never missed church and did everything he could do to mask this. He was a great kid even when he was an addict. When he was stealing and pawning, he would come home at night and play cards around the table with us. He was never disrespectful, never mean, never rude, she said. There was a time I stood in front of my bathroom mirror and said 25 times, Your son is a drug addict. And I still didnt believe it.

The night he got sick, Kellie called her sister, who is a nurse. She told Kellie to look in his eyes.

They were as yellow as the sun, Kellie said. Im driving him to the emergency room. He knows what it is, and I dont. (Staff) told me he had hepatitis C. Theyre telling me he didnt get it from a tattoo; hes a drug addict. My brother died. I thought (Joshs addiction) was a death sentence. I thought, Im going to watch my son die the way I watched my brother die.

Josh continued to deny his opioid addiction, but Kellie no longer believed him. A few days later, he broke down and admitted he had a problem.

Josh Sabatini addresses the congregation of Blainesburg Bible Church.

Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter

As scared as I was to not be high, I think at that point, for the first time, death became a real fear for me, he said.

Kellie immediately called a local treatment center, where detox and in-patient treatment typically lasts two weeks to 28 days.

Before Josh could get in, a pastor of their church called and recommended Teen Challenge now Pennsylvania Adult and Teen Challenge a faith-based recovery program with a long-term option that lasts 11 to 14 months.

Kellie said it took months to persuade Josh to go to long-term treatment.

He knew he could quit for 28 days, so he begged to go to Greenbriar, Kellie said. In my heart, I knew (Teen Challenge) was the answer. I said, You have to go to this program or you have to leave. I said, You will leave this world as you came in naked and hungry. I cant watch you die. I said, In order to be a part of this family, you have to go. He actually agreed.

It was the Fourth of July. We dropped him off at this place he knew nothing about. He comes back a God-loving, amazing young man.

For the next 14 months, Josh lived at Teen Challenge, first in Allegheny County, then Rehrersburg, where he dedicated his life to recovery, following a program that included counseling, Bible study and work.

At this point, I am an unbelievable advocate of long-term recovery, he said. It is a ridiculous notion to think a man can inject drugs in his arm for years and learn everything that he needs to learn in 30 days to stay clean.

The program was effective because it wasnt about not doing drugs, he said. It was about creating a new lifestyle.

Ive always said a diet sucks because all you think about is food. Not trying to do drugs sucks because all you think about is drugs. The best diets that work are the diets that come with a lifestyle change, making a commitment to become a different person, he said. Its about becoming a new me, and thats what this program did for me. I became a different person than I was.

Josh is employed by Blainesburg Bible, the church that supported him through his recovery, as an outreach coordinator. He works with youth and occasionally preaches before the congregation. He speaks at community events with Western Pennsylvanias Fight Against Addiction.

Almost immediately after leaving rehab, Josh started meeting with families of addicts. Hes met with 20 or so people who are addicted.

Kellie Sabatini meets with son Josh to pick the music for the morning worship service at Blainesburg Bible Church.

Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter

When I came out, people, for the first time, were coming to a place where white middle-class kids were addicted to drugs and their parents didnt know what to do. I began to ... share my story a little bit and make myself available, he said. I wasnt necessarily trained, but I was free, and I was willing to come and say, Look, regardless of what people say, this is beatable. This is 100 percent beatable. I know people that beat it every day. I know guys that went through the program with six, seven, eight years clean, have a family, have kids. I have a wife now; I have a house. I have a dog. This is possible to beat.

Josh met his wife, Lindsey, after he got out of treatment, at a restaurant where they were both working. While Lindsey didnt know him while he was using, Josh said she is one of his biggest supporters.

The familys goal is to prove that success is possible and to end the stigma associated with addiction.

Like Josh, Kellie said she always speaks up when someone shares a story about addiction. Her daughter, Rachel, is also a recovering addict. Rachel, too, went through the Teen Challenge program and has been in recovery for months.

I was never that parent who said, This will never happen to my kids, because of my brother. Those (public service announcements) used to say, Have dinner together, then your kids wont do drugs. Thats not true. We talked. We had dinner. ... Both of my kids ended up on drugs. If you think thats not a hard pill to swallow, it is, Kellie said. Nobody wants to raise a drug addict. We live in a small town. Everybody knew my son was a drug addict. We were vocal. We talked about it. If people asked, we told them how he was.

Kellie is a part of online support groups for parents of addicts. She says that while she sometimes has guilt because her children are in recovery while others have children who are still addicted or who have died, she shares the successes because its encouraging.

Its a tremendous blessing. We have an obligation to share that. When much is given to you, you have to give back, she said. If you can give hope to one family, you still have an opportunity. I will stand and shout my story from the rooftops if it offers other families hope.

While there is support in the recovery community, Josh is disturbed by the amount of criticism addicts receive from those who have not been affected by it.

There was no excuse or reason I should have done drugs. I had a great family. I had a great home. I had everything I ever wanted and more. There was nothing in my life that drove me to drugs other than the fact that I was just a punk who liked to party, said Josh. People who are addicted they sometimes and very often have very tragic pasts. ... For me, that wasnt the case. If there was ever anybody who didnt deserve help, it was me, because I had everything that life could offer somebody. And I took that and I threw it all away.

I think people need to remember the addict is a person. The addict has a heart. The addict has a soul, he said. We dont get to decide whether a life is worth saving or not. These are people. Just because theyve made a mistake, it doesnt mean they dont deserve a second chance. Or a third, or a fourth, or a fifth. Its not our job to put a limit on that.

When he speaks at events, Josh illustrates the stigma of addiction in the vein of Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter.

If I took the worst mistake that everybody made and I made them wear it on their chest, and I defined them by it, and I judged them for it every day, they would hate it. They would say, Thats not me. Im more than that. I screwed up.

I think thats what the addict is. Theyre a person that gets judged for their worst mistake every moment of every day. Its important that we remember that we wouldnt like that, and if we needed help, wed want someone to help us.

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Recovering addict speaks candidly about drugs, rehab, stigma - Observer-Reporter

Its important to keep abreast of new health research. (Photo: Liz Weston, StockSnap)

Its hard to keep pace with the news these days. It can be difficult to find time to read up on the latest sports or health news. The best way to stay informed is to have someone make it easier on you. With that in mind, I thought Id share some recent articles and research I find interesting.

Less sittingA study by Finnish researchers set out to find if office workers who lived sedentary lifestyles could change their habits with counseling and assistance. In total, 133 office workers were studied for one year. They were separated into two groups, with one group serving as the control group, meaning they didnt receive treatment by the researchers. The second group was given tailored counseling sessions in order to discuss strategies to reduce sitting at work and leisure time.

Initially, the second group was able to decrease their leisure time by 21 minutes per day, and their active time and breaks in sedentary time increased. After a full year, this same group was down to eight fewer minutes sedentary leisure time, but the control group increased their own time slightly.

The cholesterol and cardiovascular disease biomarkers for the intervention group improved, and the leg muscle mass of this group was maintained. At the same time, the control groups muscle mass decreased by half a percent.

Those changes might not seem like a lot, but over time, these differences can add up. I think of it the same way I think of weight gain. On average, people gain 1 to 2 pounds a year from early adulthood to middle age. Its the sort of thing that sneaks up on us, and we dont realize how much has changed until the change itself seems massive.

So, although this research is preliminary, its worth noting if for no other reason than as a reminder we should work to maintain our muscle mass. I, for one, would like to still be walking around in my old age.

Unusual treatments for depressionAnyone suffering from depression should go to their primary care doctor and explain their symptoms and feelings to them. That should always be the first option, because he or she can then refer you to a specialist (if needed) to help deal with the problems youre facing. (Anytime I discuss improving depression symptoms, my suggestions are always a supplement to what your doctor prescribes.)

With that said, a recent article in U.S. News discussing unusual treatments for depression caught my attention. The author, David Levine, does a good job of explaining some techniques you may not have heard about, putting them into a context of claims versus actual results. Context with these options goes a long way. The treatments include cuddling, transcranial magnetic stimulation, bouldering, probiotics, ketamine, hallucinogens and lithium.

Thankfully, the drugs and medical procedures involved arent going to happen without your doctors approval, as there can be severe side effects related to their use. Most of these methods probably wont be the secret cure you may be searching for, so its important to always be cautious before trying anything new.

The best way to improve your depression symptoms remains a combination of better diet, consistent exercise and following your doctors advice.

Consistency key for weight lossIf youre looking to lose weight, you should first focus on getting your mind right and not ignoring the mental aspect of this process. However, a new study reminds us of what we may already know, even if we dont want to believe it.

The study was published in the journal Obesity, and its conclusion is that the key to achieving your weight loss goals is consistency. Since we usually gain about 1 or 2 pounds a year, its a bit silly that when we try to lose weight, we hope to lose that same amount about once a week, isnt it? Nobody likes to wait for the results we want, yet crash and fad diets almost never work.

Researchers followed 183 overweight or obese adults who participated in a weight loss program that provided counseling on their diet and exercise. Their weight was tracked and measured every week.

What they found was that the participants whose weight fluctuated the earliest in the program had the hardest time maintaining their weight by the end of the year. Essentially, the people who lost the most weight the fastest set themselves up for failure because they tried to do too much all at once.

The quick, early weight loss they experienced set them up for failure in the long term. The participants whose weight fluctuated less in the beginning were more likely to control their weight and lose more weight over the long term.

Moderate consumption of fats, carbohydratesThisnew studytries to get at the heart of what a good diet really looks like.

The research involved more than 135,000 people across five continents, and while the results may not surprise you too much, such a large study needs to be paid attention to. Essentially, the best diet includes a moderate intake of fat, fruits and vegetables, and involves avoiding too many carbohydrates.

As I continue to stress, moderation remains the key. Not all fats are bad, and fruits and vegetables are an important part of any proper diet. However, a high consumption of carbohydrates and added sugar (more than 60 percent of your diet) is dangerous and linked to a higher risk of early death.

Jay McKenzie loves soccer, history and feeling great. Hes on a quest to eat better and exercise more, and he wants to share his experiences along the way. You can email him at[emailprotected]with comments or questions. The opinions expressed in this column belong solely to the author, notNooga.comor its employees.

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Fresh and Fit: 4 new research articles you should read - Nooga.com

The Economist

How to provide a protein-rich diet to a growing population The Economist A fashionable idea is for Westerners to eat more insects, which contain up to three times as much protein as beef and already form an integral or supplementary part of up to 2bn people's diets, according to the FAO. But for that to happen, many will ...

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How to provide a protein-rich diet to a growing population - The Economist