Category Archives: Diet And Food

Published 4:31pm, Sunday, September 3, 2017

A massive diet study called PURE, just published in The Lancet, seemed to receive only slightly less media attention this past week than Hurricane Harvey. And yes, in a sense, the two are connected as I will explain. PURE stands for Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology. I think, however, to provide a quick understanding of what the study really means, it could have meant: Poverty Undermines Reasonable Eating.

Media coverage of PURE has ranged from mildly hyperbolic to patently absurd, including the assertion that vegetables and fruits may not be good for us this week. That is pure nonsense.

In brief, PURE was designed to look at health outcomes associated with variations in diet in countries not well represented in prior research, and across the range from high to very low socioeconomic status. A total of 18 countries with a particular focus on the Middle East, South America, Africa, and South Asia- and about 135,000 people participated. Dietary intake was assessed with a single food-frequency questionnaire at baseline.

There were two main findings that have spawned most of the mainstream media coverage, and social media buzz. The first was that, while health outcomes improved and mortality declined with higher intake of vegetables, fruits, and legumes in multivariable analysis adjusting for other factors, that benefit peaked at about three servings per day. This has been widely interpreted to suggest that, at odds with conventional wisdom on the topic, more is not better with regard to vegetables, fruits, and beans.

The second finding garnering media attention was that across countries, the higher the intake of carbohydrate as a percent of calories, the higher the rates of disease and death; whereas the higher the percentage of calories from fat, the lower these rates.

Roughly 8 percent of those in the lowest intake group for vegetables, fruits, and legumes (VFL) died during the study period; whereas only 3 percent of those in the highest VFL intake group died despite the fact that the highest VFL intake group was slightly older at baseline. Overall, and rather flagrantly, mortality was lowest in the group with the highest intake of VFL. The lowest levels of heart disease, stroke, and mortality were seen in those with the highest intake of VFL.

What, then, accounts for the strange reporting, implying that everything weve been told about vegetables, fruits, and beans is wrong? These benefits were adjusted away in multivariable models. Those people in PURE with the highest VFL intake were ALSO benefiting from less smoking, more exercise, higher education, better jobs, and quite simply- a vastly better socioeconomic existence. A multivariable model enters all of these factors to determine if a given outcome (e.g., lower death rate) can be attributed to one of them to the exclusion of the others. The exclusive, apparent benefit of VFL intake was, predictably, reduced when the linked benefits of better education, better job, and better life were included in the assessment.

This no more means that VFL was failing to provide benefit in those with more education, than that more education was failing to provide benefit in those eating more VFL. It only means that since those things happen together most of the time its no longer possible to attribute a benefit to just one of them.

Unlike dietary fat, which the investigators examined in all of its various categories, carbohydrate was all lumped together as a single class. This produced an apparent paradox in the data: disease and death went down with more intake of vegetables, fruits, and legumes but up with carbohydrate. Whats the paradox? Vegetables, fruits, and legumes are, mostly, carbohydrate!

What explains away the apparent paradox is that vegetable, fruit, and legume intake was apparently highest in the most affluent, most highly educated study participants while total carbohydrate as a percent of calories was highest in the poorest, least educated, most disadvantaged. In those cases, carbohydrate was not a variety of highly nutritious plant foods; it was almost certainly something like white rice, and little else.

The conclusion, and attendant headlines, for PURE might have been: very poor people with barely anything to eat get sick and die more often than affluent people with access to both ample diets, and hospitals. One certainly understands why the media did not choose that. It is, however, true and entirely consistent with the data.

These papers were released concurrently with the devastation in Houston, and the Gulf Coast, of Hurricane Harvey the greatest rain event in the recorded history of the continental United States. The unprecedented rainfall is related to climate change, which in turn is monumentally influenced by global dietary choices. How appalling that the PURE findings were not merely misrepresented to the public in irresponsible reporting pertaining to human health effects, but in reporting that ignored entirely the implications of that bad dietary advice for the fate of the climate, and planet.

This week as last, whole vegetables and fruits are reliably good for you, and for the most part, the more the better. The benefits of that produce, however, do not preclude the benefits of an education, a job, and medical care nor vice versa.

This week as last, most of the hyperbolic headlines about diet, telling us everything we thought we knew before was wrong are pure nonsense.

Dr. David L. Katz;www.davidkatzmd.com; founder, True Health Initiative

See more here:
Dr. David Katz: Preventive Medicine: PURE diet nonsense - New Haven Register

When an experiment turns into a tradition in Laughlin, it means there was a show worth taking a chance on at one timethen consistently that same show proved itself time after time to be one audiences didnt want to miss. The Memorial Day Comedy Festival at the Riverside Resort was that show. Experiencing comedy served up as a variety show with veteran comedian Gabe Lopez as the shows producer, performer and emcee was like discovering a hidden gem on the entertainment landscapemore along the lines of one of those underground clubs in Vegas, known only to a lucky few. But now the word is out and the Comedy Festival is coming back to the Riverside Resort over the Labor Day weekend this time.

If you are a local, or a regular visitor to Laughlinespecially if your visits are on holiday weekendsyou are aware that the Avi Resort & Casino doesnt simply wait for the Fourth of July to set off a major fireworks display. Nope. Beginning in 1996, and continuing every year since, they have been filling the skies above the Colorado River with the amped-up creations of Zambelli Internationale Fireworks on Memorial Day weekend, the Fourth of July and Labor Day weekend.

The Colorado Belle is home to a multitude of outdoor festivals that embrace particular themes and for the Labor Day Riverwalk Festival, its a celebration of the end of summer and the cooler temperatures just starting to take hold of the Colorado River regionthink of it as one big neighborhood block party.

Theres a lot to be said for being in the right place at the right time, but could Air Supplys long-time success be the result or a chance meeting or was the cosmos working overtime on a little something called destiny? Maybe, but one thing is for surenone of it would have been possible at all without their hard work and tenacity to make it happen.The two Russells, Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock, happened to be cast in the same Sydney, Australian production of Jesus Christ Superstar in 1975, and everything changed after that.

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Levitra professional mail order - Levitra professional pills - Laughlin Entertainer

Karla Hult, KARE 5:47 PM. CDT September 02, 2017

Dr. William Frey, of the HealthPartners Neuroscience Center, sits down with KARE 11's Karla Hult to talk about the latest Alzheimer's research. (Photo: KARE 11)

ST. PAUL, Minn. A world-renowned Alzheimers expert took the stage at the Minnesota State Fair to discuss the latest research breakthroughs and other developments with the disease.

Dr. William Frey, of the HealthPartners Neuroscience Center, joined KARE 11s Karla Hult to explain the latest findings from the recent Alzheimers Association International Conference and the research being done at the St. Paul medical center. Frey developed the intranasal insulin treatment that has been shown in multiple clinical trials to safely improve memory, attention and function in both Alzheimers patients and those with Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Frey also addressed specific behavioral and diet changes people can make to help ward off the disease, including a diet rich in leafy vegetables, nuts and fish. He also noted exercise and ongoing social engagement and education have been shown to help prevent or delay the disease.

Frey whose official title is Senior Research Director of HealthPartners Neurosciences and HealthPartners Center for Memory & Aging at the HealthPartners Neuroscience Center said his team is also still looking for more participants in the intranasal insulin study. For more information, call 651-495-6363.

And for more information on Alzheimers just go to the Alzheimers Association website, where youll also find information on how to register for the Walk to End Alzheimers, taking place at Target Field on Sept. 9.

2017 KARE-TV

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World-renowned Alzheimer's expert takes state fair stage - KARE

Happy holiday weekend! Before we send you off on your beach- and barbecue-filled Labor Day celebrations, we're going to catch up on some agency news from this final week of summer.

Without further ado

If you like pina coladas

Translation has been named the agency of record for the Saint Lucia Tourist Board, with a focus on creating a revitalized brand story and marketing strategy for the island. The agency's approach will include a look at Saint Lucia's natural assets and identity, rather than solely its beaches. New work should come in late 2017 or early 2018. Translation's appointment comes two months after the election of Saint Lucia Prime Minister Allen Chastanet to office.

Something's profitable in Denmark

Danish digital agency Dis/play has been acquired by AKQA, building out the WPP agency network's European operation and capabilities. Dis/play, which has more than 100 staffers across in Copenhagen and Aarhus, works with clients such as Amnesty International and Vestas on innovation, strategy, user experience, design and more. The deal with AKQA provides Dis/play with access to a much larger global network and resources, including 23 studios across the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia.

Give a cluck

Arnold Worldwide has won the 2017 Brandathon, a 72-hour branding competition that pairs startups with creative agencies in the Boston area. The agency worked with Kulisha, a startup that provides a sustainable alternative to conventional animal feed. Arnold's repositioning, which included the motto "Give a Cluck," highlighted how Kulisha uses whole fried black soldier fly larvae as feed for chickens a diet that is healthier than grain, thus healthier for humans consuming chicken. (Sorry if you are reading this before lunch.)

Looking at tomorrow, today

Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners has hired David Eastman, previously global head of digital and CEO of JWT North America, as chief operating officer. The new role is meant to help the independent agency establish its next generation of leaders and continue to evolve its marketing services. Eastman, who also previously held the role of CEO at Agency.com and Omnicom's Zulu digital network, will work alongside BSSP Co-founder and CEO Greg Stern and Chief Creative Officer John Butler.

Feeling the heat

Muhtayzik Hoffer has scooped up Teri Miller, eight-year veteran of Deloitte-owned Heat, to serve as partner and managing director of the agency. Miller will handle day-to-day operations at the agency in addition to helping manage client relationships, growth and new business. Most recently, Miller served as director of marketing at Heat, and she also previously worked at Wieden & Kennedy and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

Bye, bye, Bill

Bill Maier is retiring from his eponymous agency, Maier True Communication, which he founded in May 1971. The executive leadership team of the business-to-business marketing firm will now include President I. Todd Russell; Exec VP-Creative Rick Mellon; and Exec VP-Finance Laura Kennedy. Additionally, the management team includes VP-Strategic Lead John Cook and VP-Creative and Technology Bryan Johnson. Some of the agency's clients include Cigna, Hubbell and Bridgeport, according to the company website.

Starlight, star bright

Starcom USA has appointed Kristina Lutz, previously an exec VP at iHeartMedia, to lead the agency's automotive business development and client partnerships. The news follows the announcement that Amanda Richman, president of investment at Starcom USA, is planning to leave the shop to join MEC/Maxus as U.S. of the newly merged agency. The agency has also promoted Danielle Gonzales and Karla Knecht, both to president/chief client officers.

All hail retail

FCB Chicago has acquired environment design firm Chute Gerdeman as a way to provide omni-channel retail marketing solutions for clients, including connected physical experiences. Columbus, Ohio-based Chute Gerdeman is becoming part of FCB's retail and shopper marketing division, FCB/RED. Prior to the deal, FCB/RED worked with third-parties on full-store environmental designs. The expanded retail operation will be led by Tina Manikas, president of FCB/RED.

Tweet of the week

Number of the week

45 million the number of Americans who do not read the news, which roughly translates to one out of five U.S. adults, according to new research from boutique tech PR agency Bospar and Radium Global Market Research. The data also showed that the older the adult is, the less likely he or she is to read the news either online or in print. For example, the study revealed that 28% of Americans 65 years and older do not read the news in either medium, compared to 20% of those 55-to-64 years old and 13% of 21-to-34 year olds.

Contributing: Meg Graham

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Agency Brief: Tropical Digs, Danish Deals and Chicken Diets - AdAge.com

In honor of Labor Day, Inc. asked several Chicago athletes which teammate each views as the hardest worker.

Tarik Cohen, Bears: "The hardest-working person that I know, me being with the rookies, I feel like is Mitch Trubisky. Every time he's in a meeting I see him taking notes. It doesn't matter what kind of meeting we're in, he's always taking notes. ... If we're working out with him, he's pushing us to get that next rep, pushing us through the next sprint, just things like that."

Cre'Von LeBlanc, Bears: "I would have to say Tarik Cohen. He's a phenomenal kid. Loves football. Very excited, very enthused. The things he does on the field and how fast he can (LeBlanc snaps his finger) get to 10 yards is amazing. He's a video game. I like watching him, I like watching Tanner Gentry. I know what it's like being undrafted where you're scratching and clawing, fighting for reps, going hard every day. ... I don't think it's anything that (Cohen and Gentry) say, just the energy that they pick up from one another. If you see one guy going hard, balling, doing what he do ... it's like, 'Tarik made a play,' so probably Gentry, he's like, 'I gotta make a play.'"

Kahleah Copper, Sky: "I have to say (Courtney Vandersloot) and Allie (Quigley). They're like gym rats, always in the gym; last to leave or first one there. ... Sloot is a great leader for us. It's funny because I call her 'The General' because she keeps us in line and we go as she goes. ... She just laughs (at the nickname), she calls me 'Zero.' ... 'Zero' is just like an iso play that we run for me and I usually score on it, and she calls me 'Zero.'"

Stefan Cleveland, Fire: "(Goalkeeper) Matt Lampson, he works very hard. He's got the first spot right now, he's playing every game, but that doesn't slow him down at all. No sense of complacency that I've seen from him since taking over the first spot. ... His lifestyle really defines it for me. He stays to a very strict diet. Any training, he's focused the whole time, working very hard every repetition is so important to him. ... He's always working with diets, with different strength programs, trying to figure out what the perfect conditions are that he can create for his body to perform the best come Saturday. It's a never-ending process for him."

Kevin White, Bears: "One in particular, this guy right here, Markus Wheaton. He does anything and everything. First one in the building, last one out. He's always in the film room. You never catch him off guard. ... He just works really hard every play. He tries to help everyone even if you're competing against him or whatever it is. He's a team player. It's just great to have a guy like that."

Taylor Boggs, Bears: "The entire O-line. Everyone in the O-line inspires me. Olin Kreutz, he's the most inspiring former Bear. He was an animal for 14 years."

plthompson@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @_phil_thompson

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Chicago athletes reveal their biggest influences at 'work' - Chicago Tribune

Abraham's goal was more about her general health than weight loss. "I had days here where I would eat three different kinds of meat, and that grossed me out," she told me. "When you're in the kitchen, you're always eating when you're not hungry. Why not cut this weird amount of meat out of my diet?" It's only been a month since Abraham quit meat cold-turkey, but the results are clear: "I just feel better when I leave at the end of the day," she said.

"Life is too short for such a restrictive diet, especially for a Delish editor," Lindsey Ramsey, Delish's managing editor, wrote. But completing Whole30 is kind of like wearing a badge of honor in 2017. It's the fad eating plan ("diet" is a four-letter word to Whole30's founders) of the year. "I felt like it be would be a cool thing to try since I'd read so much about it," Ramsey explained to me in an email. "My birthday is right after the holidays, so it's more than two months of constant eating and drinking."

Ramsey's reset meant a month of chocolate-filled, cheese-topped, candy-stuffed dishes flaunted in her face. There was even a day she had to bite into then spit out a dozen chocolate truffles for a photo shoot, but it paid off: "I ended up losing 11 pounds in 30 days," she revealed. "I've never lost weight like that from any kind of lifestyle change."

Ramsey has made half-hearted attempts to start up Whole30 again, but they never stick, so she's employed what she refers to as "the famed two-bite rule of tasting Delish food." It's exactly what it sounds like: two bites, then you walk away. Her kryptonite: "My weakest moment is anytime the kitchen makes anything chicken Parmesan."

Test Kitchen Assistant Makinze Gore lasted about two months at Delish before devising a plan. "I was snacking all day long, and when I would get home at night, I was never hungry for dinner," she wrote in an email to me. And snacks, by Delish standards, aren't nutritionist-approved hummus and veggie cups or a handful of nuts. They're three bites of cake instead of a whole slice or a banana pudding dip because there's fruit hidden in there somewhere.

Chelsea Lupkin

Gore did something brave, something no Delish soul had done before. She didn't just cut out a food group; she stopped munching altogether. "I don't eat anything not one bite of anything we make after 2p.m.," she explained. It was more preventative than a weight-loss solution. "I certainly didn't want to start gaining weight, so I stopped snacking before I had the chance!" Gore wrote. Despite the occasional mess-up, Gore says the shtick's working: "It's a random rule and a random time, but it has helped a lot to cut back on the constant snacking."

"I fell asleep during a documentary my wife and I were watching and woke up to her saying, 'We're vegan now!'," Video Producer Jonathan Boulton confessed. He stuck with it since the New Year's resolution he'd made a couple weeks prior to "not be the Delish garbage can anymore" wasn't working. If you think a life without bacon and cheese sounds torturous, Boulton doesn't disagree: "I have to take a walk outside the kitchen pretty much any time they come in front of me," he laughed.

But the true test came a week after he went vegan. Boulton got sent on shoots to Disney World and Waco, TX a.k.a home of the freakishly giant turkey leg and the mecca of all things barbecue, respectively. Don't feel too sorry for him: Boulton found love in a hopeless place. Disney doesn't exactly cater to herbivores, but they've got more options than you'd think. And he ranks the vegan grilled cheese from Cheddar Box, a food truck at Waco's Magnolia Market, as one of the top things he's eaten this year. "It was actually a super awesome experience," he said. "I learned so much about things that I could eat or make that I didn't even realize were vegan."

At this point, Boulton has shed 30 pounds and a tiny sliver of self control. "I broke veganism on camera, with a ridiculous barbecue hamburger in Miami," he laughed.

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How Delish Editors Keep From Gaining Weight While Working At A Food Website - Delish.com

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

Health authorities in Europe and North America recommend eating more fruit 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 fruit 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, says 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 on fruit and vegetable consumption could be safely cut back from five to a more affordable three portions per day.

Dehghan and her colleagues sifted through the health data of 135,000 volunteers from 18 countries across six continents, aged 35 to 70, who were monitored for 7 years.

People who met three-quarters or more of their daily energy needs with carbs were 28 per cent more likely to die over that period than those whose diet comprised a lower proportion of starchy foods (46 per cent or less of energy needs).

Surprisingly, the findings also challenged assumptions on fat intake: diets high in fat (35 per cent of energy) were linked with a 23 per cent lower risk of death compared to low-fat diets (11 per cent of energy).

Contrary to popular belief, increased consumption of dietary fats is associated with a lower risk of death, Dehghan says.

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). The study did not look at so-called trans fats from processed foods because the evidence is clear that these are unhealthy, says Dehghan.

The best diets include a balance of 50 per cent to 55 per cent carbohydrates and about 35 per cent 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 US recommend that 50-65 per cent of ones calories come from carbs, and less than 10 per cent from saturated fats.

Overall, the study found that the average diet consists of just more than 61 per cent carbohydrates, 23.5 per cent good fat, and 15 per cent protein.

But these averages hid important regional imbalances: in China, South Asia and Africa, intake of starchy foods was 67 per cent, 65 per cent and 63 per cent, respectively.

A quarter of the 135,000 subjects mostly in poorer nations derived more than 70 per cent of their daily calories from carbohydrates, while half had less than seven per cent 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 comment wrote in The Lancet.

Dehghan and colleagues set out to look for links between diet and cardiovascular disease, which kills about 17 million people around the world each year 80 per cent of them in low- and middle-income countries.

Many factors contribute to these diseases but diet is one of the few that can be modified to lessen risk.

While high-carb and low-fat diets were clearly associated with greater mortality, no statistical link was found with the kind of life-threatening events strokes, heart attacks, and other forms of heart failure that stem from cardiovascular disease.

Susan Jebb, a professor at the University of Oxford who did not take part in the study, said the reported link between high-carb diets and excess mortality was from non-cardiovascular deaths and is unexplained.

See the article here:
Why West's low-fat diet advice could be deadly for Asia's poor, because they'll likely eat even more carbs - South China Morning Post

I am quite confident about the fundamental truths of diet for good health.I am quite confident because they are predicated on a massive aggregation of evidence of every description, spanning methods, populations, and decades.I am quite confident because I share these convictions with a veritable whos who of leading experts, with predilections from vegan to Paleo, from all around the globe.

But I am not absolutely, incontrovertibly certain about much.In the company of the wisest, most thoughtful, most expert and knowledgeable people I know- I have many legitimate doubts about many details of nutrition.

Lets allow for the wisdom of doubt, then, and consider the PURE study currently roiling if not the nutrition world, at least its representation to the public.These articles, which I have reviewed at length, effectively part dietary perspective like Moses and the Red Sea: to one side, there is advocacy for more plant foods (vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds); to the other, there is advocacy for more animal foods (meat, butter, cheese, eggs) and more animal fat.I am decisively in the former camp.

What the allowance for doubt tells us is that if, in fact, the evidence is insufficient to be absolutely certain that one of these is right- then we cannot be absolutely certain that the other is right, either.Lets pretend the playing field is level; lets give all the same benefits of all the same doubts to all the members of both camps.I am not entirely sure thats deserved- but lets toss the benefit of that doubt into the pot as well.

It all leaves you with a choice - now, and whenever you hear the latest news about nutrition.You can risk being wrong in one direction, or you can risk being wrong in the other.

Lets say that those of us recommending more whole plant foods, and a dietary pattern in which they predominate, are wrong.What are you risking by listening to us?

Well, we know that all of the worlds longest lived, most vital peoples discovered to date eat this way.So even if we are wrong about whole foods, mostly plants being best for your health- they are clearly compatible with it, as measured by what matters most: both years in life, and life in years.At worst, you wind up eating in a way that is entirely compatible with the best of health, even if not explicitly the best for health.At worst, you wind up missing out on some foods you might otherwise enjoy (although thats a minor matter, because over relatively little time, you are apt to learn to love the foods you are with).

Thats it.Thats the consequence of choosing to go with the more plants camp, if that camp- my camp- is, in fact, wrong.

What are the alternative risks of listening to the more meat camp, if that camp is wrong?Well, none of the longest lived, most vital peoples yet discovered eat meat predominant diets, or diets high in saturated fat.So if this camp is, in fact, wrong- then its possible that their advice is actually incompatible with the health outcomes that matter most: longevity, plus vitality.If this camp is wrong, you might be increasing your personal risk of disease and premature death.To be clear, I am not saying (at the moment) this is true; I am simply noting that if the more meat crowd CAN be wrong, then this COULD be the implication for your health of listening to them.

But thats the least of it, really, because if you get coronary disease you will probably find some cardiologist to clean out your arteries; you get to have your disease, and make it chronic, too.

The consensus among environmental scientists about meat and dairy is even greater than that of nutrition scientists.Producing plants to feed animals to produce meat for human consumption uses vastly more water than producing plants for direct human consumption; beef, compared to almost any other food, is literally off the chart (in the company of chocolate).Producing meat, and dairy, makes massive contributions to greenhouse gas emission.

So, unless all of the environmental scientists- experts in everything from life cycle analysis to conservation, sustainable agriculture to biodiversity- are wrong, too, then listening to the more meat camp and being wrong means potentially devastating effects on the worlds climate, ecosystems, and aquifers.In contrast, if the more plants camp is wrong about the best diet for health, listening to them will almost certainly confer diverse environmental benefit.

And, finally, there is the matter of ethics, decency- and what we ironically call humane treatment.If the more plant camp is wrong about whats best for your health, listening to them will nonetheless reduce the cruelty and abuse perpetrated on vast populations of animals that think and feel an awful lot like the dogs, and cats, and horses so many of us love.If, however, you listen to the more meat camp and they are wrong, then ever more such animals will be subject to cruelty, abuse, and often traumatic death- in the service of your dietary degradation.

Lets summarize.If the more plant message is wrong, then the worst case scenario is that its still compatible with optimal health (just not necessary for it); still massively beneficial to the environment and planet (unless all of the environmental scientists are also wrong); and massively conducive to the kinder, gentler treatment of our fellow creatures (unlesswell, nothing.Period).

If the more meat message is wrong, then the worst case scenario is that it may be incompatible with optimal health, and listening to it may potentially take life from your years, with or without taking years from your life.Along the way, you will almost certainly be contributing to environmental degradation, aquifer depletion, global warming, and cruelty to animals at an industrial scale.

None of this says that one camp is right and the other wrong.It simply stipulates that if we really have cause to be uncertain about fundamentals of nutrition, then whats good for the plant-loving goose should be good for the meat-loving gander.Human fallibility is non-denominational.

And, presumably, you- like the rest of us- are not infallible either.So if obligated to eat despite the routinely broadcast doubts about diet and health- perhaps the best you can do is choose how you would rather be wrong.

Senior Medical Advisor, Verywell.com

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Diet: Choosing How to Be Wrong - HuffPost

Honeybee (Apis mellifera) workers tending larvae on brood comb. The larvae that will grow up to be workers have a plant-based diet of a mix of honey and pollen. Stephen Dalton/Minden Pictures/Getty Images hide caption

Honeybee (Apis mellifera) workers tending larvae on brood comb. The larvae that will grow up to be workers have a plant-based diet of a mix of honey and pollen.

When a female honeybee hatches, her future holds one of two possible paths within the hive's caste system. She will become either a worker bee or a queen bee. And her fate is determined in part by the food she eats as a larva.

Larvae that are fed mostly a bitter type of pollen combined with honey, a mixture called "beebread," grow up to be worker bees. They are generally sterile and destined for a life of housekeeping tasks. Future queens, on the other hand, grow up on royal jelly a goopy, yellowish substance rich in proteins, sugars and fatty acids that is secreted from the glands of worker bees. The queen's sole task in life is to make more bees. She also lives a longer life and has a stinger she can use more than once without dying.

So what is it about the two different diets that determines the caste of bees? It's a question that bee researchers have puzzled over for a long time. A study published Thursday in the journal PLOS Genetics suggests that the plant-heavy diet of a future worker bee helps prevent it from becoming a queen.

One difference between beebread and royal jelly is that the former has a higher concentration of tiny pieces of plant genetic material called microRNAs. These molecules are known to influence the expression of genes. "Plant microRNAs play important roles for the plant development and physiology," says Chen-Yu Zhang, a biochemist at Nanjing University in China and an author on the new study. "One set of the microRNA we tested is also important to the plant to make their flower bigger, more colorful."

And their past research also showed that differences in the plant RNA content of foods changed gene expression in honeybees and fruit flies. So they wondered: Could plant microRNAs influence development in honeybee larvae?

To answer the question, they created a synthetic beebread in the lab, adding microRNAs to it that they extracted from pollen in flowering plants. Larvae that ate this synthetic beebread weighed less, were shorter and had smaller ovaries compared with those that didn't eat it. In other words, they were more like worker bees.

And the larvae that were not fed beebread (with the added microRNAs) grew up to be more queenlike. They had bigger bodies and larger ovaries.

"Plant microRNAs really mediate the honeybee caste formation," says Zhang. The molecules seem to slow the growth of the bee larvae, keeping their ovaries so small that they are sterile.

Gene Robinson, director of a genomic biology institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, says this new study is exciting. It raises the possibility of a new component of honeybees' diets that might be influencing their social fate.

"As we've gone into the genomic era in the past 25 years, the interest increasingly is understanding the molecular basis for these nutritional effects," he says. But "exactly how are the substances in the bees' diets engaging with internal systems, molecular pathways, to actually flip the switch?"

The new study also looked at how these microRNAs could be affecting the bees' development. Their findings suggest that one of the microRNAs targets a specific gene called amTOR, which has been shown to influence the development of queen bees. They also suspect that other plant microRNAs and RNAs also influence bee development.

A big question about the new study is whether these small microRNA molecules can survive in the larvaes' digestive tracts long enough to alter gene expression. The researchers' previous work suggests they can, but some researchers have expressed doubt over their claims.

However, Zhang and his colleagues stress that RNAs are probably not the only factor determining a bee's fate. The nutritional content of royal jelly, for example, may also play a role in helping honeybee larvae become queens. And p-coumaric acid, another plant-based compound present in honey, also seems to change gene expression to nudge bee larvae toward developing into worker bees.

Robinson says future research on this topic should delve further into understanding how these plant microRNAs "take the long and winding road" to being eaten by bee larvae and then influencing gene expression in them. "That's an amazing journey," he says. "And so we need to understand that whole process."

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The Divisive Diet of Honeybees: Why Some Will Never Be Royals ... - NPR

KING 5's Lori Matsukawa reports.

KING 5 HealthLink , KING 7:27 PM. EDT September 02, 2017

All vinegar is created equal, choose the one that tastes good to you.

Many are concerned about nutrition and good health habits, often looking for something extra to help.

Vinegar has been said to have many benefits, from weight loss to glowing skin, but is it truly a magic elixir? A nutrition specialist explains useful information about vinegar.

So before you add it to your diet, you need to understand what the active ingredient in vinegar is.

"All vinegar is made from wine or apple cider and fermented by bacteria. So there's not a whole lot of extra steps in there. The bacteria ferment the sugars and make acidic acid. If you include it in a healthy meal pattern, it's great, but it's not a magic bullet, says Eileen Fitzpatrick, DrPH, and chair of the Nutrition Science Department at Sage Colleges.

Vinegar has been touted as a health aid since the 1800s says, Fitzpatrick. While apple cider vinegar is capturing most of the attention nowadays, Fitzpatrick says to select the vinegar you prefer. The benefits are the same across the board.

One such benefit: It's moderately effective in controlling blood sugar levels.

"There's some evidence that the acidic acid interferes with the enzyme that breaks down starch in the gut, which make it a little more like fiber and that may be why you don't get that rise in blood sugar after a starchy meal," says Fitzpatrick.

A salad dressed with oil and vinegar, eaten with that starchy meal, is what Fitzpatrick recommends. This way you're also adding more vegetables to your diet.

Vinegar consumption may also help, although minimally, with weight loss.

"It was a Japanese study, and it did show that 2 to 4 pounds of weight loss over 12 weeks," says Fitzpatrick.

Because vinegar is an acid, don't take it straight. One to two tablespoons in eight ounces of water once a day is sufficient, and you need to drink it along with a starchy meal for blood sugar control.

Which brings us back to Fitzpatrick's recommendation; use vinegar on a salad and choose the type you prefer.

"I think there's no point in doing it unless it tastes good," says Fitzpatrick.

Versatile vinegar is useful for cleaning and disinfecting too. Many use it for preserving food because its thought to kill E. coli.

So if it doesnt fit into your taste palette, there are many other benefits beyond a healthy diet.

2017 KING-TV

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Healthful benefits of vinegar in your diet - WTSP 10 News