Category Archives: Diet And Food

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) Multiple Sclerosis affects about 400,000 people in the United States, and current treatments can have severe side effects.

But what if changing your diet could help battle the disease?

As CBS2s Dr. Max Gomez reports, thats just what researchers at Mt. Sinai are testing.

Once a month, a pioneering group of MS patients meet to get tips from a nutritionist, and also share their temptations.

Neurologist Dr. Ilana Katz Sand is leading one of the first clinical trials to study the link between what we eat, gut bacteria, and MS symptoms.

The gut is actually kind of a natural place to look, and thats because the immune system about 70 percent of it lives inside the gut and has far reaching implications throughout the rest of the body, Dr. Katz Sand said.

In MS, inflammation occurs when the immune cells attack the brain and spinal cord.

The study is testing whether a dietary intervention can reprogram the immune system to slow down the assault on the nervous system.

Kerane Providence, and the other patients enrolled in the trial, are following a strict Mediterranean style diet, devoid of any processed foods, dairy, or meat. Rather, the diet calls for heavy doses of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

We think that those are anti-inflammatory, we also think that theyre neuroprotective, Dr. Katz Sand said.

MS symptoms including fatigue, difficulty walking, vision problems, and cognitive changes can be severe and disabling.

I was really fearful because I have a family, I have my children, I have my husband, Kerane said.

But with the help of medication,she is still able to work nights as an oncology nurse, more than four years after her diagnosis.

If I can participate in a diet that can change my life, give me longevity, Kerane said.

While sticking to the diet can be a little tough, the volunteers like it even if it doesnt do much for their MS it also happens to be very heart healthy, with some patients already reporting to have more energy.

The first study is small, with about 30 patients, and it will be six months before researchers know if the diet has any measurable impact on MS symptoms.

Excerpt from:
Research Suggests Mediterranean Diet May Help Battle Multiple Sclerosis - CBS New York

You may think all beverages are equally bad on a plane, but it turns out one type of drink is extra irksome to your cabin crew.

Diet Coke is difficult to pour in the sky because it foams up more than non-diet drinks, according to a recent post on the flight attendant blog These Gold Wings.

We checked with otherflight attendants,who confirmed the struggle is real. Among them was Heather Poole, an American Airlines flight attendant who wrote about the phenomenon in a 2012 article for Mental Floss.

[Diet Coke is] the most annoying beverage a flight attendant can pour for a passenger in flight, because in the time it takes us to fill one cup, we could have served an entire row of passengers, Poole wrote. Ive actually had nightmares about frantically trying to finish a never ending Diet Coke beverage service before landing.

Pouring the drink is such a struggle that These Gold Wings demonstrated a smart way to avoid all the fizz in a 2013 video:

Many soda fansnoteDiet Coke is fizzier than regular Cokeeven on the ground, theorizing that its lack of sugar makes for a less viscous liquid, allowing bubbles to last longer before popping.

A Coke spokeswoman declined to share scientific specifics with HuffPost, but hinted that Diet Cokes ingredients could be the cause of its extra bubbles. Pouring the drink over ice only increases fizziness.

The amount of bubbles across different sparkling beverages is related to the specific recipe versus the altitude in which they are poured, the spokesperson told HuffPost. Generally, when sparkling beverages are poured at room temperature from a can and over ice, the fizz is increased.

According toSouthwest Airlinesflight attendant Stephanie Mikel, the effect occurs in all diet drinks.

Any diet or zero calorie soda fizzes more than the regular kind, she told HuffPost. But obviously, if its something someone wants, I would never get upset over that. You learn quickly which [sodas]you need to pour from a high angle and slowly.

Some airlines hand out entire cans of soda, Jay Robert of Fly Guy noted (andyou might even score one on a non-can airline, if you ask nicely.) With luck, youll be able to experience this phenomenon for yourself!

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If You Love Your Flight Attendant, Do Not Order Diet Coke - HuffPost

Co-written with Holly McGarr, BSc Dietetics (candidate)

Fasting has been used for health and religious reasons for hundreds of years, and due to an explosion of new interest from media, intermittent fasting is becoming the newest trend in dieting. But is there any supporting scientific evidence that would make it anything more than another weight-loss fad? Does intermittent fasting work and hold up to their claims?

Tatomm via Getty Images

There are three types of intermittent fasting (IF) diets: alternate-day fasting, whole day fasting and time-restricted feeding. Alternate-day fasting involves alternating between fasting days and days of eating until satisfied. Whole-day fasting involves one to two days of complete fasting per week and eating until satisfied the other days. Time-restricted feeding involves the same eating routine each day, using a certain number of hours designated as a fasting window and the remaining as the feeding window. Time restricted feeding is becoming the most popular type of IF diet in the health and fitness industry, and often with promises of amazing (albeit unrealistic) results.

Currently, one of the most popular reasons for following this kind of diet is for its claimed aid in weight loss. It is important to keep in mind that no diet has ever shown long-term success with weight loss (longer than two years), but hey maybe this one is unique, like all the other one-of-a-kind diets out there, right?

According to the current research, IF diets work for weight-loss just as well as any other traditional caloric restriction diets which is VERY POORLY. In a review of 12 independent studies comparing the effectiveness of intermittent fasting to continuous restricted eating, nine of the 12 studies concluded no significant differences between the groups. Overall, there is very limited evidence suggesting IF diets to be superior.

It is well documented that the body undergoes adaptive responses (both physical and mental) to calorie restriction that can slow down and reverse weight loss when dieting. For example, these changes include increased appetite, reduced energy expenditure, and hormonal changes that promote the accumulation of fat tissue and the loss of lean muscle tissue. A major reason that IF is believed to be effective is based on the idea that alternating periods of energy balance used in IF could reduce these adaptive responses and therefore increase the efficiency of weight loss.

Interesting idea, but what does the research say? Overall, there is no evidence that suggests IF reduces the adaptive effect of decreased energy expenditure from calorie restriction relative to the effects of continuous restriction diets. There are currently three studies that directly compare energy expenditure of IF to continuous restriction diets. Overall, they have not shown intermittent fasting protocols reduce the adaptive responses to energy restriction relative to the effects of continuous restriction diets.

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Some claim that IF diet will help to improve cardiometabolic health and diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure, insulin resistance and high cholesterol. However, any evidence of improvements is quite lacking. It is important to note that many of the studies looking at changes in risk for cardiometabolic diseases compare low-calorie diets to IF. One meta analysis that conducted this sort of comparison did not show any difference in cardiometabolic health markers such as cholesterol, blood glucose, and A1C levels. Another study, published in JAMA, also found no difference in these health indicators (such as blood pressure, blood glucose, insulin resistance and CRP).

There is still a lot of research needed on intermittent fasting to fully understand the potential benefits and risks of this type of diet. For now, the evidence does not justify using this type of method for weight loss (or any other method or diet for long-term weight change) nor for cardiometabolic health. This type of diet is extremely difficult to follow in an everyday setting for any length of time, as all diets are.

Non-diet approaches to health and wellness, such as mindful and intuitive eating, are more effective long term and reduce the chances of developing an unhealthy relationship with food and your body. There are many reasons for this- but perhaps the most compelling is the fact that without an answer for long term weight loss, weight cycling (or yoyoing) occurs in up to 95 per cent of people which leads to poorer physical and mental health. As the authors of this very in-depth article state "Much research suggests damage results from a weight-centered focus, such as weight cycling and stigmatization."

Does intermittent fasting work for weight loss or improve cardiometabolic health? According to current evidence, no. However, there are answers to our health problems if we allow ourselves to step away from weight loss-centric nutrition advice and focus on actual health.

For more information on better alternatives to intermittent fasting for health and well-being, check out Lisa's blog at http://www.LisaRutledge.ca

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Will Intermittent Fasting Be The Fad Diet That Finally Works? - Huffington Post Canada

Organizers of Camp DASH were not new to hosting adolescents for several weeks on campus while they studied the effects of dietary changes on their bodies.

Camp DASH was the focus of much news coverage last week after the camp ended two weeks early because of disciplinary issues among its young campers.

Connie Weaver, the Purdue nutrition professor whose career has been lauded for the lingering effects of her research over the years, ran the similar Camp Calcium for decades.

The University has pledged to investigate what happened with Camp DASH and has not yet released details of what organizers knew when about the police incidents that included instances of alleged rape, aggravated assaults and what was purportedly a nude video of a camper circulated to other campers.

So what was different about Camp Calcium, widely lauded for its research into the effects of calcium on growing bodies, and Camp DASH, which sought to measure the effects of salt in the diets of 11- to 15-year-olds in the upper third of distribution of blood pressure?

Some answers might be found in the descriptions found online of the research and clinical trials of the two camps.

The goals of Camp DASH were outlined in ClinicalTrials.gov, a U.S. National Institutes of Health website. The study was set to run from October 2016 to August 2020.

It was designed to measure the effects of four levels of sodium in two 25-day feeding interventions with a weeklong break between the sessions. The lower-sodium diets would consist of fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy foods. The higher-sodium diets would include foods that provide the majority of energy for adolescents in the U.S., i.e. grain-based desserts, pizza, sugary drinks, pasta, chicken and chicken mixed dishes.

Purdue described Camp DASH online in an Information for Campers page, saying campers would spend one half eating one diet and then switch to another the second half.

In an Exponent article from December, Weaver said some children attend her camps looking for adult stability, and shes giving her time and attention to kids who need it. My work is also my philanthropy, she said.

Camp DASH would attract 150 campers, according to the December article.

Two counselors told The Exponent last week that about 100 kids participated this summer.

But according to online Camp Calcium Databases from 1990, when the camp began, through 2010, the largest of those camps involved 70 children. The Camp Calcium studies varied slightly in the specific calcium research question and the ethnicities and other characteristics of the participants.

A university spokesman has not responded to an inquiry about whether Camp Calcium was held after 2010, and if so, how many campers were included.

According to the databases, these are the children studied in Camp Calcium:

1990: 14 girls and 11 female adults

1993: 26 teen girls with 6 returning from Camp 1

1996: 16 girls returned from Camp 2

1997: 19 black girls

1999, 2000: 34 and 63 teens, respectively

2001: 37 teen boys

2004: 42 boys and girls

2005: 31 boys and girls

2007: 47 girls

2010: 70 boys and girls

Purdue issued a news release Friday stating President Mitch Daniels has appointed the Universitys vice president for ethics and compliance to lead an institutional review and assessment of issues and decisions related to Camp DASH.

The release said that after the first session, the program was fully assessed by campus officials, resulting in a decision to conduct the second session, contingent upon the implementation of an intervention plan, which included the hiring of an adolescent behavior specialist, increased training for counselors and directing the continued immediate reporting of illegal behaviors.

Seven campers were expelled during the first session, the news release said.

Police calls show that some of the most egregious allegations, particularly in the second session, were not reported until days after they happened.

In addition to the police and internal investigations, research protocols are being assessed through Purdues Human Research Protection Program.

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Camp DASH apparently involved more campers than previous camps - Purdue Exponent

Professional athletes dont get to the top by accident. It takes superhuman levels of time, dedication, and focusand that includes paying attention to what they put in their bellies. In this series, GQ takes a look at what fit people in different fields eat on a daily basis to perform at their best. Heres a look at the daily diet of Iman Shumpert.

Earlier this year, GQ crowned Cleveland Cavaliers guard Iman Shumpert and wife Teyana Taylor the Sexiest Couple on Earth. But after a tough loss to the Golden State Warriors in his third straight NBA Finals, Shumpert had took a month off to decompress. That allowed him to enjoy some of the comfort food he has to mostly avoid during the rigors of the NBA season. We sat down with Shumpert earlier this month at his sixth annual Iman Shumpert Youth Basketball camp held at his alma mater (Oak Park River and Forest High School) to discuss how he approaches dieting, fatherhood, and the particular eating habits of some of his teammates.

GQ: Youve enjoyed three straight extended postseason runs. You mentioned to the campers that you do take a month off to allow yourself to be regular and eat anything you cant eat during the season. What exactly are you putting into your body during that month off?

Iman Shumpert: Im a taco guy, so I like Mexican food and any form of a taco, Im going to eat it. During the season, Ill make it a grilled chicken taco. But after the season, give me a regular beef taco and fill it to capacity. I need meat, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, Pico de Gallo, and everything you got. Theres fried chicken wings; I eat a bunch of those. Hot wings, pizza puffs, Italian beef with lots of peppers, just tearing my stomach up and making it hard for whoever has to use the bathroom after me. Thats my goal in the summer. [laughs]

How long before your body starts feeling the effects of that?

It takes about a week. I can have a milkshake and I can feel it just sitting there [in my stomach]. I dont know how much of it is just me getting older too. But I didnt feel it early on. Now, I can feel it for a while. My stomach will be all messed up, no control over the bowel movements and its just all bad.

So right from the rigors of an extended season to your family facing the rigors of your upset stomach?

[Laughs] You have to think, all year, Im eating great. Im eating so clean and drinking so much water. Even with the bad food I might eat, Im getting it out of my system quickly. I go from that to not working out and eating terrible, its a bad combination. So Ill reset my body. Ill do a cleanse where Ill do all juices for a week, all water, grilled and baked chicken and fish, and if its not organic, I dont eat it. That will be for a week to reset my body. Then I can have the Caesar salads, the sandwiches.

But even that first week, I might not have the bread or pastas because Im not playing in games to run that stuff off. Once I get into the latter stages of my training going into the season, now I need the pastas because Im doing hard three-hour sessions to prepare myself for in-game action. Its a process but the older you get in the league, you start to realize how to do it, when to turn it off and on, how to be a family man and have that balance.

"Hot wings, pizza puffs, Italian beef with lots of peppers, just tearing my stomach up and making it hard for whoever has to use the bathroom after me. Thats my goal in the summer."

How difficult was applying that process of knowing what and when to eat when you first entered the league?

I never cared much about my diet until the summer before I dislocated my shoulder [in 2014]. I had gotten a chef because I was very irritated all the time because I wasnt eating on time. I might not eat breakfast and Ill start my day and Im already irritated. Whether it be my wife, mother, coaches; people begin to complain and they were asking me Are you alright? This is before the day has really started and Im thinking maybe its because I just got up. But its really because I didnt eat breakfast on time, or I didnt eat lunch because I only ate breakfast, something came up and Im eating lunch at 5 in the evening. To get that better, I was willing to do whatever it took. I had a chef at first who would commute from LA and it just wasnt working out. My father took over and when he did, I got my weight down, I felt like I was eating on time, I was a nicer person, my wife wasnt complaining and I figured this is how were going to do it from now on.

Speaking of your wife, what has it been like to have a wife in Teyana Taylor who takes fitness and nutrition just as serious as you have to?

Well, she doesnt take nutrition that seriously at all. She still eats terribly but shes always been active. Shes always big on whether youre working out, dancing, playing a sport, or just hustling to get things done; you should be exercising to get things accomplished. You should be exercising because youre walking 20 blocks in New York to make it to your next meeting. In her mind, thats how you stay in shape. You should be doing all these things to where theres no time to get fat. If you are one of those people who has a job where youre in a situation where you got overweight, and you want to fix that and have a healthier lifestyle, she believes you have to find a way to make that happen. We were talking about friends who had gotten out of shape, and had all this time. The reason they run away from working out to drop the weight is because theyre at a place where if they work out, tomorrow, theyre going to be so sore that they cant get their work done. So they dont give up because they dont want to lose the weight, theyre worried about hurting because theyre accustomed to not doing anything and they back away from it.

So shes made a dance routine, where youre having fun, and even if youre sore the next day, you can do it because in your mind, youre thinking, I can do this because Im only dancing with Teyana. Having her around me, its more of the hustle in her that motivates me. With her, its always constantly, How can I do this, add a creative spin on this? She makes me feels like there are no closed doors. People always talk about a small window of opportunity and in her mind that whole notion of a window doesnt exist. Its either I can do it, and theyre going to follow because Im doing it, or Im not going to do it. I love that mindset of her's because not many people can stand in a room full of people saying what they cant do and tell them Yes I can. To have her around is dope.

Now with being a dad, does that heighten your concern about what foods your daughter is putting in her body? Because coming up in Chicago and Oak Park, theres nothing but fast food places and small restaurants that I know youve enjoyed. But now having the knowledge of how that food affects you, are you more concentrated on withholding certain things from her?

I know with me, until she reaches an age where shes on a day-to-day commitment with school, shes not going to be eating terrible anyway because shes going to be eating at home, or something weve made her. Im going to be big on making sure I make her lunch before school and thats going to be my thing. With the obligations that I have with basketball, Im going to miss a lot of things. So the least I can do is make lunches before I go to work... Even though my wife doesnt eat half the stuff me and my daughter eats, my daughter eats these things now because I think its ingrained in her from me forcing my wife to eat it.

I talked to your teammate Kevin Love during the playoffs about his diet and just how calculated and down to detail it is. With being a very nutrition-cautious team, how much fun do you guys make of each others diets?

Kevin has the fat-boy, drop-step build [laughs]. He has to stay on top of his [diet]. Kevin is such a professional in everything that he does. Even with basketball, he wont touch the floor until hes lifted weights, watched film. After a game, he needs a certain amount of time to take everything in and process what just happened, ice his knees and ankles. Having a routine makes for a better professional. All the guys that have a routine or insane diet have success. Ray Allens diet was insane. He was trying to break it down to me what he ate and how disciplined he tries to stay. When youre a 21 year-old, youre not used to that. He was doing Paleo and experimenting with all types of things.

The reason youre starting to see why these kids are doing these things at a younger age is because the older guys are telling them the information. The diet is a serious element. Their generation was like trail and error. We could research and get the information and be better earlier. Thats one of those things where you should talk to your vets and OGs. Theyll give you advice, recommend a chef and things to help. With Kevin, he always noticed that I eat a salad after practice, so [Tristan Thompson] started calling me Salad Shump. We joke on each other diets. Well laugh at Kevin for always having Almond Butter like hes too good for peanut butter. Same thing with [LeBron], who doesnt eat pork. Well be like, Your momma never gave you a piece of bacon, and you didnt get to the NBA without eating bacon? We all do it to each other but we all understand everybodys body is different.

Some guys can eat a terrible meal, be straight and go play. J.R. [Smith] can drink a pop and go play.

Thats what Im saying and everyone is different. Im cramping after drinking all the water and Gatorade in the world. Ive seen J.R., in his Sixth Man of the Year award season eat something, and didnt like the taste. He drunk water and Gatorade and said it made it taste worse. He downed a Pepsi and went out, played and got 30. So everyones body is different.

With all youve learned about developing a routine that worked for you as far as your diet, what advice would you impart to yourself when you entered the league in 2011?

Believe it or not, it wouldnt be anything to do with my eating. I think early on in the league, my biggest problem was I tried to put out what I believe was an innocent fire because I felt it was a conflict with other stars. Even with Melo, I felt I had to step back on certain things because he was already at that level. I would tell my younger self to Keep going. If you and Melo have to fight, you have to fight. But realize youre together and dont change who you are because youre not helping him by holding back. Thats some of the regret I have about my time in New York because I took a step back thinking I was helping and Im [made] it worse by doing that. I would tell the younger me, You know how to play, and thats why they picked you. Stop worrying about this other shit like trying to make the GM and all the coaches happy. Just play basketball and try and win every game.

Playing in pressure situations with so many stars like Jason Kidd, Melo, theres so many of these moments that you have where you know in your heart what you should be doing but youre thinking like Im on this rookie contract, so if I do something [wrong], I might not play again. Youre just trying to satisfy too many people.

You were also a guy coming to a team with playoff expectations in the biggest market in the league and with some established names, where a lot of guys are going to teams with guys still looking to establish themselves. Do you think it was more so stepping back because you thought it wasnt your place yet to be aggressive offensively or you just wanted them happy with you?

I had all those questions about why I was stepping back, being hesitant and the answer was it was all out of sheer respect to Melo, J.R. Jason Kidd, STAT (Amare Stoudemire). The guys that I was in a pool with, we had sort of the same complaints. They were able to figure it out because they didnt have a Melo, so they could just try things and get good at it. They had the freedom to do that. Do you know how many games early on where I would come down and not want to guard a guy like John Wall the way they were making me guard him? I didnt want to go under on screens because Im not going to get any steals and dunks that way. Thats six points a game for me. I remember watching John dribble to the elbow and all those shots he used to miss, having to deal with people saying he cant shoot. Now, you see hes trying to get to that spot and making it consistently because he didnt care what was said or what people might have been thinking when he kept taking them. I wish I would have gave myself that.

It took about last summer going into the season that [things] slow down, and to see I was overthinking things and just trying to please everyone. It had to go; the catching the ball and thinking about the time, score, thinking about how many threes weve shot when my defender is going under a screen, Im open for three and this is my one touch out of 20. I had to get out of that and just focus on making the right basketball play. I feel like I took a big step this year and thats going to continue into next year.

Watch Now:

Iman Shumpert and Teyana Taylor Can't Keep Their Hands Off Each Other

MORE STORIES LIKE THIS ONE

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The Real-Life Diet of Iman Shumpert - GQ Magazine

Tim Spector probably never expected to measure his poop, but so life goes. The professor of Genetic Epidemiology at Kings College London was invited by his colleague, visiting research fellow Jeff Leach, to travel to one of the last remaining hunter-gatherer tribes in Africa. The purpose: to track his gut microbiome.

In a time of fractured nutritional advice with snake oil salesmen and saleswomen proffering wildly speculative claims, your bacteria and fungi dont lie. Your microbiome is the community of microorganisms that live inside of your stomach. Research is showing that this is one of the most important markers of your health, physically and psychologically. So Spector measured his levels, hopped on a plane to Tanzania, and ate porcupine.

emeran-mayer-on-depression-and-the-mind-gut-connection

Not only that prickly creature. For three days Spector lived as the Hadza do: baobab porridge, Kongorobi berries, hyrax, honeycomb, and yes, porcupine (tastes like suckling pig!). As it turned out, a long weekend on this diet had spectacular consequences.

"The results showed clear differences between my starting sample and after three days of my forager diet. The good news was my gut microbal diversity increased a stunning 20%, including some totally novel African microbes, such as those of the phylum Synergistetes," writes Tim Spector.

The bad news is that the microbes fled shortly after his return to London. Thats okay, Emeran Mayer, a Professor in the Departments of Medicine, Physiology and Psychiatry at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, tells me. Author of the cutting edge book in this field, The Mind-Gut Connection, hes devoted his career to studying the link between the gut and brain.

While Spectors journey makes for solid journalism and great passport stamps, Mayer says we dont need to return to hunter-gather diets like the Hadza or Amazonian Yanomami to make a difference.

"A review of worldwide dietary habits has made it pretty clear that largely plant-based diets rich in indigestible fiber have the greatest health benefits, and that this benefit is in large part explained by the beneficial effects of such diets on the gut microbiome," says Mayer.

Mayer points to traditional Mediterranean, Asian, and European diets as being sufficient in increasing good bacteria. These diets are high in polyphenols, antioxidants, and anti-inflammatory molecules. Numerous problems, he continues, are evident with the Western diet that has created startling obesity and GI problems in America: a low ratio of plant and animal components, high animal fat and sugar, excess calories, additives like emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners, an abusive relationship with antibiotics, and pesticides.

drew-ramsey-on-brain-health-and-nutrition

The standard Western micriobiome is so bad that Jeff Leach calls our guts ecological disaster zones. Leach has lived and worked with the Hadza for years and has written a book of his own, Rewild, which offers advice on how to create good habits for better guts. The process of rewilding your diet is possible anywhere, though cues taken from hunter-gatherer tribes can work wonders. While Westerners douse themselves in antibacterial soaps and celebrate clean diets, it turns out that a littleor a lotof dirt is best.

"It is their persistent exposure to this rich pool of microorganisms that has endowed the Hadza with an extraordinary diversity of microbes; much greater than we see among people in the so-called developed world," writes Jeff Leach.

While Mayer admits that were only at the beginning of research in this field, he predicts that textbooks across the academic spectrum will have to be updated: medical, psychiatry, neurology, metabolism, and cardiology first to mind. Gut bacteria and fungi, which if isolated as a separate organ would weigh between two and six pounds, is revolutionizing our understanding of our nervous systems. This information far exceeds what we put on our plate; it could shift how we treat depression, anxiety, and behavioral disorders, even diseases like Parkinsons. (Indeed, earlier this year I wrote about my dietary shift curing me of longstanding anxiety disorder.)

There may soon be another cup next to the urine station in your doctors office as Mayer foresees microbiome levels integrated into your annual exam in the near future. Theres even ways to measure in the comfort of home: Leach is part of the team behind Map My Gut, a 23andMe for your feces. The information is designed to help consumers understand how their diet affects their lifestyle and may play a role in certain diseases.

emeran-mayer-on-sleep-and-the-mind-gut-connection

With this wealth of data on nutrients and bacteria surfacing, Leach also writes about an ancient aspect of eating often overlooked today: the ritual of the meal. In Los Angeles I constantly watch people shove food into their mouths while drivingunconscious gorging over shared ritual. In Spectors article theres a photo of the tribe surrounding the campfire as the author details the porcupine meal: spines, skin, and organs dissected; organs immediately cooked and consumed; meat shared communally later that evening.

Mayer relates the ritual of eating with positive emotions, which runs counter to the stress of comfort foods and busy eating performed while running from task to task. He points to the grape and olive harvests in Italy as examples of communities uniting to celebrate sustenance. No television, no social media, just conversation and enjoyment. This isnt only socially healthy, but it has a reverberating effect inside of your body.

"The reason that rituals are so important is because mental states are directly translated into the activity of the gut and modulate the behavior of gut microbes. We know that negative emotions affect these functions in a negative way. Being mindful of what we et and in which context we eat is an essential part of healthy eating," says Mayer.

In The Mind-Gut Connection, Mayer writes that unfortunately there's no one-size-fits-all recommendation for specific dietary recommendations. There are too many individual and environmental elements at play. But he does admit that maximizing your gut's microbial diversity is keyincrease your intake of multiple prebiotics in the form of plant fibers, as well as consume fermented foods and probiotics. And, of course, avoid mass-produced and processed foodstuffs with tons, or any really, preservatives. If you can't recognize the name as food neither can your digestive system.

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Derek's latest book,Whole Motion: Training Your Brain and Body For Optimal Health, is out now. He is based in Los Angeles. Stay in touch onFacebookandTwitter.

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Why You Should 'Rewild' Your Diet to Help Your Microbiome - Big Think

Competing in the lowest possible weight class can give boxers a significant strength advantage, so their diets are tailored to keep their weight down while maintaining lean muscle mass.So, what does a boxers diet look like?

Consistency is key, says MattSmith, who trains current southern super featherweight titleholder Craig Poxton. Firstly, opt for small but regular meals four to five a day. Secondly, choose foods of high nutritional value, cutting out the empty calories you get from sweets and crisps. The diets similar to the Paleo or low glycaemic diet. Look to eat quality protein in every meal. This can be red meat, eggs, poultry or oily fish. Healthy fats are in too such as avocado and nuts.

And, just as Mayweathers former chef disclosed, fibrous fruit and vegetables should make up a large portion of each meal. Fresh fruit and vegetables contain vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that help with repair and recovery. Root vegetables in particular provide slow release energy that will keep the boxers brain alert and aid performance.

Blood sugar levels need to be kept consistent, too. Especially in the lead up to a fight when boxers are trying to make weight to qualify for certain categories. When blood glucose is spiked, it can inhibit the breakdown of fat, says Smith a process that could stop boxers losing the weight they need to qualify. A Paleo style diet is beneficial because it cuts out processed foods with hidden sugars.

As well as the Paleo style diet that Smith discusses, slow release carbohydrates - such as whole grains and oats -are essential saysperformance nutritionist Mark Ellison, who works with GB Boxing."They provide accessible energy that the body needs duringhigh intensity exercise. Without it, boxerscanfatigue quicker."

From one athlete to the next, diets vary hugely depending on the energy demands of training. Sports nutritionists will spend months analysing their performance in the run up to the fight, testing certain foods to ensure theyre performing at their best. Anyone looking to enhance their boxing performance with their diet should start with cutting out empty calories and following a consistently nutrient-rich diet, says Smith.

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Floyd Mayweather's diet: How to eat like a boxer - Telegraph.co.uk

At Soeun. Photo: Melissa Hom

Almost any discussion of what wellness means in 2017 includes a nod to CAP Beauty: first a web store, and now a brick-and-mortar New York shop and spa that takes an inside-out approach to natural beauty. In addition to cosmetics, CAP has helped popularize exotic superfoods, tonics, and teas, earning founders Kerrilynn Pamer and Cindy DiPrima a cult following. Not surprisingly, Pamers diet involves all kinds of herbs and potions and raw foods which she recognizes that many will find polarizing and inaccessible. I didnt always have this diet, she says. I found out I had celiac eight years ago, and that was a big wake-up call for me. She calls her new way of eating transformational, but also admits, Im the first one to say that this is not an inexpensive way to eat, at all. Read all about it in this weeks Grub Street Diet.

Thursday, July 20My mornings look pretty much the same every day. I start my day with 20 minutes of Transcendental Meditation, drink a big glass of water with the Beauty Chef Glow (my probiotic) and Genesis Gold mixed in, and then make my matcha and herbs to jump-start my morning. The herbs change from time to time, but today its a big batch of Rhodiola for focus; tocotrienols for a little creaminess; pine pollen to get my creative juices flowing; astragalus for immune support; he shou wu for hair, skin, and nail health; and the CAP Beauty coconut butter, because it tastes so good. My version of Bulletproof! I crawl back into bed with my husband and doggies, Beba and Ricardo, and we check in with each other, share our dreams, and talk about whats on the agenda for today.

I then prep some stuff for dinner and snacks for the week. Ive been really into making farinata, a chickpea-flour pancake thats also called socca, this summer. Its my answer to having a frittata around. It works as a canvas for flavor. I allow the batter to ferment overnight, drop it in coconut oil, and then pop it into the oven, and it cooks in 10 to 15 minutes. Whatever Im craving, I add it to the batter. Today, its paprika from Ray at the Grand Army Plaza farmers market, berbere, pink salt, and parsley. Then, I toss some soaked lentils into a pot; cook those up; and add preserved lemon, mint, capers, sherry vinegar, Wonder Valley olive oil (the best!), and salt. Happy to have both of these on hand for the full week ahead.

I have a meeting in midtown and its a scorcher today, so I bring a green juice, some cut watermelon, and an avocado to get me through the morning. I pretty much always have snacks on me; lately, thats been primarily fruit since its so hot outside.

I head back to the office and make a Gynostemma tea to warm me up, given the arctic conditions inside. The contrast is so intense in New York in the summer, I cant decide if I want hot soup, an ice-cold salad, or a huge bowl of fruit, which is what I end up going with for lunch. Watermelon and pineapple. Im having a serious love affair with fruit this summer.

Afternoon meetings take me to the kitchen for another matcha. This time neat and straight up. And an Ommm! from Juice Press, my pick-me-up for the second half of the day.

Im heading to an old friends house for dinner and am very excited about it. She makes a gorgeous spread. Leave it to her to work all day, raise an amazing child that we shared dinner with, and get a meal like this on the table. Tonight, we feast on zucchini noodles with pumpkin-seed pesto; roast carrots with zaatar and parsley over chickpeas with raisins; shredded romaine with yellow tomatoes and peppers; and sliced avocados. Another old friend comes over and we end up getting kicked out around 1:30. Its amazing how time slips away when seeing the people you love. I head home and John is still up, so we have herbs together. Our tea-and-herb ritual is one of my favorite parts of my day.

I had always been sick as a kid and had digestive and skin problems. I had never really considered how impactful a diet could be, and my body responded fast and furiously to this change. Ive taken down my inflammation a lot. Ive gotten much deeper into this way of eating lately, but it doesnt feel super rigid, and also this season lends itself to what Im doing right now. This isnt the way Id eat in the winter Id add a lot more cooked foods, a little more grains.

Friday, July 21Up early. TM, Glow powder, and another round of matcha and herbs. Astragalus, he shou wu, pine pollen, coconut butter, and Rhodiola. I drink this, have a bowl of cherries, pack up an avocado (I like to be prepared!), throw a bag of Gynostemma tea into my bag, and Im off. I head to an appointment in Chelsea, and on my way back to the office, I stop at Foragers. I grab a LuliTonix Kick Blend thats spinach, mango, fig, and mint. Its another hot day, and I dont have too much of an appetite because of the heat, so Im hitting the beverage train hard. I grab some watermelon when Im back in the office, make a matcha, and get to work.

Another night out. This time with my business partner, Cindy, and my old friend Kimille. We plan on meeting at Dimes at 7:30. We start with a bowl of grilled shishito peppers, one of my favorites. Then I order the big salad with beets, carrots, a side of avocado, hold the dukkah. Cindy and I share the quinoa plate with steamed kale, sweet potatoes, and sesame otsu. The sweet staff sends Champagne over post-dinner. I love it here.

Socially, keeping this diet is actually pretty easy. I dont talk about it, which is kind of funny. At a restaurant, Ill barely mention it. I dont want to be the person who says, Im not eating this or that. Thats a fucking bore. But Id say almost all of my friends and family are curious because theyve seen me transition into feeling better. I dont preach about it, but my family probably still thinks all I eat are sticks and twigs.

Back at it with the tea and herbs. Another round of meditation, some time spent with John, some snuggles with Beba and Ricky, and Im out for the night. Im thrilled to have tomorrow off. Especially because its a beach day.

Saturday, July 22Our Saturdays are pretty routine. They begin with TM, then we suit up the dogs, gather the weeks worth of compost from the freezer, and head to the farmers market. After we drop off the compost, we make our way down to Juice Press and Blue Bottle. I grab a couple juices for our beach day at Fort Tilden, and John gets an iced Americano. I dont really drink coffee it tweaks me out but I am known to have sips off of Johns or Cindys. My version of party smoking.

Then its back to the market to stock up for the week. We pick up collard greens, sunflower sprouts, and some beyond-delicious cucumbers, mushrooms, carrots, radishes, lettuce, and peaches. Once we get home, I prep the food for the week, snack on some pineapple, and get ready for our beach day. I always want snacks at the beach, so I cut up a bunch of watermelon, pineapple, and cucumbers. The beach has some good food options these days; theres a stand that I always hit that sells Thai coconuts, and another stand on the boardwalk called TropPops. They make the most delicious Popsicles just out of fruit and today its mango, and one side is covered with dark chocolate.

Back at home, we start preparing a huge post-beach salad. Tonight, its a lot of the stuff from todays market: greens from Evolutionary Organics; beets; the lentil salad I made this week; my husbands sauerkraut; micro watercress; lettuce mix from Evolutionary Organics (the best!); carrots from Willow Wisp Farms (another favorite at the farmers market); avocado and my new favorite salad dressing, which is a combination of Basbaas cilantro coconut (this stuff makes everything better); sauce with some Wonder Valley olive oil; and pink salt. I add a side of Vegan Marios bread (this is one of the best breads Ive ever had we order it from California; its that good!) and some coconut oil on top. Dinner is served.

Theres validity to people saying this kind of diet is prohibitively expensive. I dont really go out for big dinners. I eat in a lot. We have a juicer at home, so I make a lot of my juices myself. I also dont drink. People will say, Your juice is $12, and Ill say, Your cocktail is $16. And thats okay! Its expensive, but I am committed to this. I havent always been in a position for that to be the case, but its an important decision to me. Im the first one to say that this is not an inexpensive way to eat, at all. And all the adaptogens that I take, would I be taking those if I didnt own CAP? Probably not. Im super lucky in that sense. If I was just walking in, hell no. Crazy. I wouldnt be able to buy all of those! But the initial investment is definitely valid.

After dinner, its back to the kitchen for tea and herbs, some Kundalini, and lights out.

Sunday, July 23I have a lot to do at the office lately, so I prep some herbs and matcha, and head in on this rainy Sunday morning. Im feeling super focused with the herbs and matcha on my side, and I plow through my stack of papers and lingering items. I drink a Greens + Earth, have a rose Tulsi tea, and snack on some pineapple and watermelon. Now that my work life is feeling more in order, I head home and have a Juice Press Lucky Seven, and an avocado with pink salt and some sunflower seeds. Im obsessed with these sunflower seeds from Joshua Tree that this woman hand-roasts at her home. It seems absurd to like sunflower seeds this much, but theyre that good.

Dinner tonight is quick, as we are going to a friends house for Game of Thrones, and I know there will be good snacks on hand. Maya Kaimal sweet-chili lentil chips, carrots, radishes and green hummus, tortilla chips and salsa, and Go Raw carrot-cake cookies. Dinner before the big event is a big bowl with quinoa, that lentil salad again, sauted greens from the market, Seed + Mill green-herb tahini, sauerkraut, cucumbers, grated carrots, more microgreens, and a delicious sesame-seed shake that is a collaboration between Seed + Mill and La Bote. The farinata makes an appearance.

Some more herbs, sleepy-time tea, and Im out.

Monday, July 24I wake up and have more herbs (astragalus and he shou wu) with matcha, and head uptown to see a possible fulfillment center. Its pouring out and I grab a Juice Press Ommm! juice, a beautiful shiro plum that I snagged at the farmers market, and one of my favorite snacks, Splitz, which are these delicious split-pea crackers made in New York. They dont sound exciting, but our whole office is obsessed with them.

After our visit uptown, we head downtown, swing by Ninth Street Espresso for an espresso pick-me-up, and head into the office. Today, I get a big container of salad-bar stuff from Life Thyme. They have tons of options. I go with a cabbage salad; roast sweet potatoes; grated carrots with pumpkin seeds; celery with olive oil; beets with sesame seeds; and raw broccoli salad. The list goes on. I add some sauerkraut, Cindys husbands homemade hot sauce, avocado, and a side of Moon Juices green fermented crackers, and call it lunch.

My day at the office is coming to a close, so I start thinking about dinner. I swing by Integral Yoga and pick up a bunch of tomatoes, botija olives, basil, onions, garlic, and zucchini. When I get home, I start a tomato sauce with my grocery haul and let that simmer while I soak more chickpea flour for another farinata. Im big on having snacks around, so theres always something soaking in the kitchen. While Im waiting on dinner, I have some pickled summer squash from the farmers market, olives, cucumbers, and fennel. I also start the zucchini noodles for the sauce. I cant bring myself to call them zoodles. I add some nutritional yeast at the end of the pasta sauce, toss it with the noodles, add some basil on top, hit it with olive oil, and dinner is served.

After dinner, its chocolate. Im in love with Honey Mamas peppermint bar. I found it on my last trip to Oregon and have been stockpiling. Another round of herbs, some time on the couch, reading (I recently got into the Ocean Greens cookbook that is all seaweed recipes and am really enjoying it), and its time for bed.

Tuesday, July 25I start the morning with herbs and matcha (clearly a theme here). While Im making that, I start prepping dinner for tonight. Its from Meredith Bairds cookbook, Coconut Kitchen, and its a ceviche made from (you guessed it!) coconut. I thawed it out the night before, and now all I do is cut it up and add tons of lime juice, tomatillos, tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeos, radishes, and salt. That will spend the day in the fridge, waiting for me when I get home. I make a green smoothie thats banana, kale, spinach, fig, mint, lime, and coconut water, and drink that while sitting down to answer emails.

I head into the office and have a Chaga tea, drink a green juice from Juice Press, and snack on some cherries. Lunch today is from Souen, one of my favorite old-school downtown restaurants. The chef salad is a favorite; its loaded with seaweed, avocado, lettuce, carrots, steamed cauliflower, broccoli, daikon, and tahini dressing. I find it hard to find a really big salad in the city and this is a great option.

I grab some more tomatoes and peppers on the way home, and make a big batch of gazpacho for tonight. Mine includes tomatoes, apple-cider vinegar, shallots, red peppers, olive oil, cucumbers, pimentos, and salt. Soup and ceviche are ready to go, and dinner is served.

Im still hungry after dinner, so I make a huge bowl of popcorn. I pop it in coconut oil, and then melt some more for the topping and add in tamari, berbere, and nutritional yeast. We catch up on the latest Game of Thrones and turn in for the night.

Read more:
CAP Beauty's Kerrilynn Pamer Makes Coconut Ceviche and Endless Matcha - Grub Street

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Propecia works great - Will propecia make my hair grow back - Hayati Magazine (blog)

Ask an elite athlete how nutrition factors into her performance, and shell likely tell you that its just as important as her training plan. In many cases, she may even call it the most important factor. But the increased effort levels during training can make sticking to your diet tough since even healthy regimens often include eliminating classic performance foodslike lean proteins if youre vegetarianor carbs if youre paleo. If you fall into one of these camps, rest easy. A few small tweaks will give your body what it needs to crank at its full potential. We spoke with two sports dietitians who work with high-performing endurance athletesHeather Mangieri, spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and Barbara Lewin, sports dietitian for the U.S. Olympic Registryfor the details.

Keto dieters get about 75 to 85 percent of their calories from fat and eat very few carbohydrates (generally fewer than 50 grams a day). Although revered by many endurance athletes, the keto approach to healthful eating can backfire if you arent deliberate about finding your fuel elsewhere, getting adequately diverse nutrient intake, and tracking whether your body is adapting to fat burning.

Emphasize Diversity: You need a lot of vitamins, minerals, and natural antioxidants when youre training. Without a careful approach to keto, you risk micronutrient deficiency, Mangieri says. Make sure youre not eating the same rotation of foods. Instead, rely on easy swaps to ensure youre putting a variety of vitamins and minerals into your body without having to take a supplement.

Monitor Your Performance: Its been the silver bullet for many athletes, but the keto program doesnt have the same impact on every individual, so it remains debated. Many people can run a marathon or do a tri while following the keto rules of thumb, but science shows that increasing intensity typically requires carbohydrates, Lewin says. She recommends keeping a journal to monitor what youre eating and how youre performing in your training. Its key to see if youre falling off pace or exerting more effort to clock in at slower times without necessarily noticing it.

Gluten-free athletes avoid foods that most others consider essential to their training. Thankfully, eating gluten-free is a breeze these days with so many healthy choices, Lewin says. But there are still a few pitfalls to watch for.

Skip the Packaged Foods: A diet packed with gluten-free bread, crackers, and pastas isnt inherently healthy or useful for fueling hard training, since those foods often have added sugar or fat to make them more palatable. Instead, eat naturally gluten-free foods like quinoa and starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes or corn, Mangieri says.

Go for Variety: Gluten-free dieters often eat a lot of rice productsrice bread, rice crackers, rice pastaso they get a limited nutritional panel on repeat. Instead, switch up your alternative-carb products so you get a longer list of macros (and prevent stale taste buds). Try bean-based pastas, buckwheat pancake mixes, or corn tortillas instead of flour.

Plant-based diets have become the darlings of the health world and the hallmark of many exemplary endurance athletes, but its surprisingly easy to eat a very unhealthy diet even when cutting out animal products. Its less about what you arent eating and more about what you are eating, Mangieri says. To really perform your best, you need to be a well-rounded vegan or vegetarian. That means your pantry cant be filled solely with energy bars and protein powder.

Pay Attention to Protein: Get your protein from real plants. There is a lot of amino-rich produce out thereyou just have to be a little more conscious of making sure youre getting enough. It may be worth using a food-tracking app at the start to guarantee that youre getting the recommended 90 grams a day. Besides beans and legumeslauded as plant-based protein sourceschia seeds, wild rice, oatmeal, and even potatoes contain significant amounts of plant protein that can be easily incorporated into your meals throughout the day

Be Mindful of B12: Strict vegans need to be sure theyre getting enough vitamin B12, which is naturally found only in meat and is essential for red blood cell production. Try incorporating fortified cereals or alternative milks a few times a day. If youre really struggling to hit the mark, pop a B12 vitamin daily.

Time Your Fiber Wisely: I recommend that triathletes and runners reduce their fiber for two days prior to their race, eating fewer big salads and the like. This may actually reduce their weight by a few pounds and will reduce GI issues and the chance they have to find a restroom along the way, Lewin says. Thats tough for anyone who abstains from meat, but its important for being race-ready.

Athletes who fuel themselves on this ancestral diet eschew agricultural-era foods such as grains, legumes, dairy, and refined foods while focusing on meat, fish, fruits, and veggies. Its pretty easy to be a paleo athlete as long as you time the carbs you do eat for adequate fueling and recovery.

Enjoy Those Well-Timed Potatoes: The Paleo Diet for Athletes allows high-glycemic carbs like potatoes around your training and racing times to ensure you have adequate glycogen stores for high-intensity efforts and recovery.

Make Your Own Sports Drinks: Commercial sports drinks will be off-limits, but you can make your own from raw honey, sea salt, lemon juice, and water.

Some athletes believe this approach helps them stay lean and fast. There is good research that this pattern of eating can be beneficial. You just need to practice it wisely, Lewin says.

Eat Enough: For athletes, the goal of intermittent fasting isnt to go into starvation mode or to shed pounds quickly. Instead, its meant to increase your strength-to-weight ratio by triggering your body to burn fat stores. When you do eat, you want to make sure you consume enough to maintain muscle mass, restock your glycogen store, and stay fueled.

Time It Right: Schedule your high-intensity sessions close to your last meal so you have fuel on board. Avoid prolonged fasts of more than two to three days just before races so you dont go in with depleted glycogen stores.

Raw-food practitioners, notably professional triathlete Brendan Brazier, fill themselves with foods that havent been cooked, believing that modern cooking deleteriously alters foods nutritional content. The foods you choose and how you prepare them can have a major impact on how well (or not) you do as you train.

Prioritize Protein: Its easy to feel satisfied on uncooked foods yet miss out on getting the protein you need. Raw, less-processed food fills your stomach faster even if it doesnt give you lasting energy. To combat this effect, eat a large variety of nuts, seeds, legumes, and vegetables, rather than just munching on raw crudits and trail mix, to get all your essential amino acids without filling up first.

Think About Fiber: Fiber hits harder with a raw-food diet because your body has to do all the work of digesting it without the help of cooking, which might ordinarily kick-start the breakdown process. A high fiber pre-workout or pre-race meal doesnt sit very well and usually doesnt provide adequate calories, Lewin says. The same is true for recovery. Eating a high-fiber recovery meal means that you miss the window of 20 to 30 minutes after your workout where the body is able to most efficiently restore muscle glycogen levels and rebuild muscle. Juicing some of your foods will help eliminate some of the fiber while still providing nutrition.

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How to Ramp Up Training and Stay HealthyNo Matter Your Diet - Outside Magazine