Category Archives: Diet And Food

Atkins Diet. Whole30 Diet. Weight Watchers. The HCG Diet. Lemon Juice Diet. Paleo, Jenny Craig, Military Diet, Souping, Juicing, and Brothing. The list can go on and on. It can be overwhelming to translate the information we have access to on the internet for the latest diet fads, but do they really work? Or are they a fad that wont last longer than a gallon of milk left in the car during the month of July?

At the beginning of 2017 a group of Registered Dietitian Nutritionists and other nutrition experts ranked 38 different diets or diet programs and compiled it into a report for U.S. News and World Report. Criteria included in the review process included feasibility/ease to follow the diet, effects on short term and long term weight loss, safety and nutritional adequacy, and how the diet can help prevent chronic disease such as diabetes and heart disease. Costs and exercise associated with the diet or program were not part of the analysis.

Here are six of the 38 diets reviewed that might clear up some of your questions about whether the diet program you are interested in would be worth looking into or if you would be better off avoiding the diet all together.

a. Claim to fame: This diet gives your body a chance to restore its natural balance in 30 days. It improves digestion, mental health, sleep, brain function, and skin health and can result in weight loss.

b. How it works: This diet is broken down into two phases. In Phase 1 added sugars (natural and artificial), legumes, grains, dairy, alcohol, additives such as MSG and sulfites, and baked goods or junk foods (even if made with WHOLE30 approved foods) are eliminated. There are no cheat days allowed and no weighing during this period. It is designed for three meals per day and no snacking between meals. Foods allowed are meats, seafood, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and natural fats. In Phase 2 you reintroduce foods in the following order: Gluten-free alcohol, legumes, gluten-free grains, dairy, and then all other grains. During this time you will evaluate whether the foods cause any negative side effects.

c. Pros and Cons: This diet Improves self-awareness, promotes grocery shopping with a list and planning weekly menus. The recipes can be added to any healthy meal plan even if the diet isnt followed. The cons are that this diet eliminates many foods that provide essential nutrients for 30 days or indefinitely, it can be hard to follow for a month, and it lacks strong scientific evidence at this time. It can also be difficult to follow if you are on the road, have children, or work a busy job.

2. The Paleo Diet (also known as the Caveman Diet)

a. Claim to fame: If we eat like our ancestors did then we will be healthier, lose weight, and reduce risk of disease. If the Cavemen didnt eat it, then we shouldnt.

b. How it works: Foods included in this diet can be anything that is hunted, fished, or gathered. This includes fish, shellfish, poultry, eggs, veggies, roots, fruits, berries. Foods that are not included are grains, dairy, legumes, sugar, and salt.

c. Pros and Cons: The pros to this diet are that this plan encourages more fruits and vegetables in the diet.

It reduces added sugars and salt, which are consumed above recommended goals most of the time. Plant protein and other plant foods can help control blood sugar, blood pressure, and can contribute to weight loss and prevention of Type 2 Diabetes.

This diet can be modified to be part of a healthy lifestyle. The cons to this diet are that this plan exceeds the recommended fat and protein guidelines and does not meet basic carbohydrate guidelines. Exclusion of whole grains, legumes, and dairy can create deficiencies in calcium, Vitamin D, fiber, and other vitamins and minerals. This diet may be difficult to maintain and can be more expensive if eating organic foods.

a. Claim to fame: With this diet your body converts your bodys primary fuel source from glucose to fats for quicker weight loss.

b. How it works: On this diet you will follow a high fat, low carbohydrate diet to convert your body from burning glucose for energy to burning fat for energy. This results in faster weight loss than traditional programs. Foods included are: meats, full-fat dairy, eggs, fish, and vegetables. Foods not included are: processed sugars, fruits, grains, and other carbohydrates.

c. Pros and Cons: The pros to this diet is that rapid weight loss can occur within about 10 days. Originally, a modified high fat diet was and still can be used to treat epilepsy in children. It is always a good idea to reduce our intake of processed foods and added sugars. The cons to this diet are that it can put your body in a state of ketosis, which is where you are burning fat for fuel and the byproducts are ketones.

This can be dangerous for a person with diabetes because it can change the pH of their body and alter their blood sugar levels. Side effects of a low carbohydrate diet include fatigue, low energy levels, and decreased blood sugar.

This diet also eliminates fruits and grains, which provide essential nutrition to our body. This type of diet can be difficult to follow long term, which can lead to weight regain.

a. The Claim to Fame: This eating pattern helps reduce blood pressure and can promote weight loss.

b. How it works: With this diet you follow a generally healthy diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein. Reduced intake of sodium from processed or packaged foods helps lower blood pressure. Reduced calorie intake and increased exercise promote weight loss and reduced blood pressure.

c. Pros and Cons: This healthy eating pattern is easy to follow: think fresh is best! There are no restrictions or eliminations of certain foods. The cons to this diet is that it will increase time spent planning menus and cooking meals. It is thought that it is more expensive to eat healthy but there are tricks and tips to shopping and eating healthy on a budget. Lastly, this diet may taste bland at first due to the reduced sodium but taste buds will adapt and get used to the lower sodium food choices.

a. Claim to Fame: Helps with weight loss, heart health, cancer prevention, and reduced risk of many other diseases. Essentially this is the natural meal pattern of countries bordering the Mediterrean Sea.

b. How it works: This diet promotes a healthy lifestyle, not just a healthy diet. The plan includes increased amounts of nuts, fish, fruits, vegetables, legumes, beans, and whole grains. Dairy, eggs, cheese, and yogurt are eaten in moderation. Red meat, desserts are saved for special occasions. This pattern also promotes physical activity and social health as part of the plan.

c. Pros and Cons: This is not really a diet, just a healthy eating pattern and it can reduce risk of many different diseases. There is no restriction or elimination of certain foods and it can be followed long term, not just for a short period of time. Similar to the DASH Diet the cons to this diet are that it will increase time spent planning menus and cooking meals, which isnt a bad thing but will take some planning. It is thought that it is more expensive to eat healthy but there are tricks and tips to shopping and eating healthy on a budget.

6. The Flexitarian/Vegetarian Diet

a. Claim to Fame: This healthy eating pattern promotes weight loss and reduces risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and increased lifespan.

b. How it works: This is a combination of two words: Flexible and Vegetarian. It focuses more on plant based proteins such as, tofu, nuts, seeds, beans, peas, lentils, and eggs. It encourages fruits, vegetables, dairy, and whole grains and uses herbs and spices to flavor food instead of salts. This plan still allows animal protein in moderation.

c. Pros and Cons: Pros and Cons: This is not really a diet, just a healthy eating pattern. It can reduce risk of many different diseases. There is no restriction or elimination of certain foods and it can be followed long term, not just for a short period of time. Similar to the DASH Diet the cons to this diet is that it will increase time spent planning menus and cooking meals, which isnt a bad thing but will take some planning. It is thought that it is more expensive to eat healthy but there are tricks and tips to shopping and eating healthy on a budget.

Instead of trying to follow a diet that may be difficult to follow, think about a healthy eating pattern.

A pattern that is not restrictive, allows flexibility, and incorporates physical activity into a healthy lifestyle. These plans include more fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, beans and legumes, low fat or fat free dairy, and physical activity and reduced amounts of sodium, added sugars, and saturated/trans fats. Examples are: 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Healthy Americans, ChooseMyPlate.gov, the Mediterrean Diet, DASH Diet, and the Flexitarian/Vegetarian diet.

Remember, its what you do every day that will make a difference, not something you do for a week or a month.

Courtney Nalivka is a Clinical Dietitian at Northeastern Nevada Regional Hospital. For more information, call her at 748-2094.

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Diets debunked: What works and what doesn't | Lifestyles | elkodaily ... - Elko Daily Free Press

EVER wondered what effect Marios mushroom diet is having on his health?

Wonder no more.

Fitness app Lifesum has partnered with theoretical physicist Dr. Matt Caplan to analyse the exercise and dietary habits of iconic video game characters.

Theyve done dietary assessments, fitness analyses and calorific calculations for household names like Mario, Sonic, and LaraCroft.

Turns out that Mario is clinically obese, Master Chief would need to eat more than a full adult males daily intake for each hour of intense combat and Zeldas Link would have to chow down on a fairy corpse every half-hour to sustain his calorie expenditure.

Heres a breakdown of your favourite characters.

First up is Sonic.

The Blue Blur has long been famous for running at the speed of sound(around 770 mph).

If Sonics metabolism is anything like that of a human, who burns roughly 150 calories per mile run, then he could burn 33 lbs (15kg) in an hour, Dr Matt explains.

1991, Sega

23.98 million copies

100cm (33)

35kg (77.2 Ibs)

Body Mass Index: 35

Core diet: Chili dogs (296 kcal/ dog)

Key activity: Running (for humans, 150 kcal/mile)

This means that Sonic can eat as many chilli dogs (his favourite food 296 calories per dog), as he wants with a clear conscience.

Hes known for munching 300 in one sitting, according to a comic book he features in equalling about 88,800 calories.

This would take an average human 500 hours of medium-pace walking to burn however, despite his BMI indicating that his metabolism is considerably worse than that of an average human, Sonic naturally moves considerably faster than a medium-pace walk.

Next, its Crash Bandicoot.

According to the nutrition experts, Crash, a large, upright bandicoot (typically a small-to-medium-sized marsupial native to parts of Australasia) has a healthy Body Mass Index of 21.1.

In his attempt to rescue his girlfriend Tawna (who is reportedly based on Pamela Anderson) from Doctor Cortexs experiments, he collects wumpa fruit.

Wumpa fruit is similar to apples(95 calories in an average size), which helps explain Crashs healthy BMI.

1996, Naughty Dog/Sony

6.8 million copies

146cm (48)

45 kg (99.2 lbs)

Body mass index: 21.1

Core diet: Wumpa fruit (95 kcal/fruit)

Key activity: Somersaults (463 kcal/hour)

This combined with Crashs spinning, somersaulting and jumping makes his calorie-burning akin to that of gymnastics, which Lifesums data shows burns 463 kcal/hour.

His well-developed upper torso suggests he might be adding some high-protein insects to his diet too.

Toadstool loving Mario isnt faring quite so well.

Youd think that munching mushrooms all day would make you thin as a rake.

But its not the case for the Italian legend.

The plumber has an unhealthy Body Mass Index of 39.5.

That said, considering he only consumes one primary food-type, mushrooms, his diet is relatively nutritious.

The common mushroom is a good source of both Vitamin B and essential minerals such as copper and potassium according to Lifesums nutritionists.

1985, Nintendo

47.58 million copies

155cm (51)

95kg (209 lbs)

Body Mass Index: 39.5

Core diet: Mushrooms (25 kcal/100g)

Key activity: Running (752 kcal/hour), Swimming (742 kcal/hour), Jumping (618 kcal/hour)

American ethnobotanist Terrence McKenna went as far as to say that mushrooms were a crucial component of human evolution.

Marios tireless running, swimming, and constant jumping over nefarious turtles and Venus fly traps on his journey from the Super Mario Bros. start point to the final castle is an excellent exercise routine.

During a quick playthrough, he runs 3.4 miles in around 17 minutes at a 5.5mph pace (burning 213 kcal); swims at high intensity for another 3 minutes (37 kcal), and jumps throughout (206 kcal). He would burn 456 kcal in one playthrough, which in mushroom terms equates to burning off about 150 large fungi.

What about lusty game fans favourite, Lara Croft?

The tomb raider is actually borderline unhealthy too, as she is under the recommended BMI for women.

1996, Core Design/Eidos

7.5 million copies

175 cm (57)

52kg (114.6 Ibs)

Body Mass Index: 17

Core diet: Venison (116 kcal/100g)

Key activity: Climbing (668 kcal/hour)

1996, Core Design/Eidos

7.5 million copies

175 cm (57)

52kg (114.6 Ibs)

Body Mass Index: 17

Core diet: Venison (116 kcal/100g)

Key activity: Climbing (668 kcal/hour)

Known for hunting and eating deer, she could live for at least a month on the venisonof one doe.

In search of forgotten artefacts and lost sites, Lara can be found climbing mountains, traversing ruins, and scaling crumbling towers.

Lifesums experts endorse climbing as an excellent exercise for the entire body, helping burn 668 calories an hour.

When Angelina Jolie starred in the 2001 movie version of Tomb Raider, she went through an intense 10-week programme to achieve the same fitness levels as Croft.

The programme included ballet, diving, kickboxing and a multitude of fighting drills, with a diet of lean proteins and steamed vegetables.

Comparing Lara from the video games and Angelina Jolie, the former has a healthier BMI of 20.7, in contrast to Laras 17.6, which is considered underweight.

Then theres Link, from Legend of Zelda.

1987, Nintendo

6.51 million copies

161.5 cm (53)

70kg (154.3 Ibs)

Body Mass Index: 29.9

Core diet: Fairies (360 kcal/fairy)

Key activity: Fencing with & throwing the Master Sword (433 kcal/hour)

His morbid diet of tiny, winged creatures is probably not particularly nutritious.

Academic James Cole calculated that a whole, full-sized human cadaver would yield 81,500 calories.

Working with the measurements of the average garden-variety Disney fairy (12cm tall, equating to one fifth of a human arm: 1,800 calories, according to Cole), each winged creature consumed supplies Link with 360 calories.

Unfortunately (should you be Link, or have a taste for fairies), human flesh has little nutritional value when compared to that of animals.

Its surprising that Link sustains such a high-intensity routine for his entire quest; his swordplay alone burns 433 calories an hour, which requires ingesting 1.2 fairies every sixty minutes.

Other characters includeJohn-117, known as Master Chief, with a BMI of over 30 and Street Fighter IIs Chun Li.

You can check out other characters in the Lifesum blog.

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Nutritionists work out what Lara Croft, Sonic and Link's diets would be like in real life and they might surprise you - The Sun

Women greeted with dish sponges, diet pill pamphlets at 'Wonder Woman' screening Mashable Attendees at a women-only June 6 screening of the film at a Belgian theater reportedly received bags full of sponges, diet pill pamphlets, squeegees, chocolate, noodles, and chips as a "gift." (Honestly, we are shocked the bags did not include Bic's ...

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Women greeted with dish sponges, diet pill pamphlets at 'Wonder Woman' screening - Mashable

Dr. Dominic D'Agostino in his laboratory at the University of South Florida (Credit: USF/Tina Meketa)

Napoleon said that an army marches on its stomach and so, it seems, do astronauts. To help the crews of future Mars missions remain healthy, associate professor Dominic D'Agostino of the University of South Florida will spend ten days on a simulated space journey in a laboratory on the bottom of the sea, where he'll eat a special diet designed to counter the side effects of interplanetary spaceflight.

One of NASA's key ways of rehearsing for manned space missions is its NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO) expeditions.

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These "analog" missions uses the Aquarius underwater habitat, located 62 ft (19 m) down and 3.5 mi (5.6 km) off Key Largo in the Florida Keys Marine Sanctuary in the Atlantic Ocean. Since 2001, 21 teams of international astronauts became aquanauts as they spent up to a fortnight carrying out experiments as well as practicing with new techniques and technologies in the simulated weightlessness of the undersea environment.

D'Agostino, who studies the impact of extreme environments on the human body at USF, will be the only non-NASA or ESA affiliated participant of NEEMO 22 when it deploys on June 18. D'Agostino will dine on a special diet that will include ketone supplement formulations designed to cause his body to go into nutritional ketosis. This is a metabolic state where the body shifts from glucose to using fat as it primary fuel. By keeping his body in nutritional ketosis, his cells will be able to preserve their DNA from damage while he works in the stressful aquatic environment.

To provide a control, the other aquanauts will eat a regular diet as data is collected about their and D'Agostino's gut microbiome, body composition, ability to carry out cognitive tasks, vision, sleep quality, and other physiological parameters.

The hope is that such supplements will help astronauts for counter neurological risks from cosmic radiation, low oxygen, and the stress of living inside the confines of a spacecraft.

Source: University of South Florida

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Undersea scientist tests Mars diet on himself - New Atlas

At 31 years old, Ziggy Hood has gone through some wear and tear over the course of his NFL career. To prepare for what's to come, he altered some of his offseason approach.

Despite being the oldest defensive lineman on the Washington Redskins 90-man roster by more than two years, Ziggy Hood is still the hardest working player of that group.

Hood took an offseason approach few would ever think about taking on and only a handful would actually execute: he would work out at length, sometimes as much as six hours in one day.

It wasnt anybodys idea but mine, Hood said. Like I said, I put in work, and thats what I tend to do, and I stay at it.

Now entering his ninth season in the NFL and second with the Redskins, Hood knows that he has to keep his body in peak form.

The Missouri product appeared on 661 defensive snaps last season, eighth most among returning defensive player and the most among returning defensive linemen.

Hood said he incorporated a fair among of cardio into his workout routine including some swimming, which kept his heart rate up.

I just try to stay active, Hood said. Your knees, your hips, I mean, some of the small stuff [to stay healthy]. I mean, especially when half of the one side of your body tends to be weaker than others so The knees tend to go too.

Hood also altered his diet some, too, trying to limit his carbohydrate intake and cut out eating candy.

Instead of reaching for that candy at the movie theater, Im just going to get the popcorn and walk away from it, Hood said with a smile. Sour Patch straws, or something like that, yeah, I love those. Ive got to cut back.

Hood was signed to a Reserve/Future contract last offseason following a 2015 season in which he was released by the Jacksonville Jaguars following injuries that sidelined him. Then he would sign with the Chicago Bears late in the season, but was once again released after just two games.

Hood was one of the brightest spots for the Redskins during training camp last year and the veteran turned that into a solid rebound season, appearing in all 16 regular season games with 33 tackles, three passes defensed, one sack and one fumble forced.

[What] some parts of the teams dont measure is how much heart youve got, Hood said when asked about his return to form. They can tell you how fast, how much you lift, or tell you how far you can jump, but one thing they cant measure is your heart. And then some guys fall by the wayside when it comes to that and others exceed. So I mean, I knew it was just another hurdle and challenge to me and I got over it.

With the offseason departures of Chris Baker and Ricky Jean Francois, it will be Hood who is the on-field leader of a rebuilt defensive line that now includes free agent additions Terrell McClain and Stacy McGee along with first-round pick Jonathan Allen.

Hes a great leader for that defensive line room, said Redskins head coach Jay Gruden. I think guys follow him and you see the progress of all of the defensive linemen in the strength room and it starts with Ziggy. Hes the guy who works the hardest. Were happy to have him. Hes a great leader for us.

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With Altered Diet And Hard Offseason Work, Ziggy Hood Ready For 2017 - Redskins.com

Been to Whole Foods or CVS lately? If so, you may have been drawn in to the freezer aisle after noticing a particularly appealing-looking pint. 280 calories, the container boasts. Um, what? So theoretically, you could consume an entire pint of creamy ice cream while taking in fewer calories than a bowl of cereal? Yes, thats right.

Food-lovers, fitness freaks, moms, and Weight-Watchers fanatics have all stumbled upon this dessert-enabling haven in the freezer aisle. As Halo Tops website explains, the creamy confection is low-calorie, high-protein, and low-sugar. Whats more, they offer a huge variety of flavors ranging from Sea Salt Caramel and Mint Chip to Red Velvet and Pistachio. Too good to be true?

Some think so. On an online comments board, one skeptic insists, It tastes exactly like what it is: diet ice cream. I don't get why people are going crazy over this stuff. Sensory panelists for Consumer Reports thought Halo Top had a chalky texture and lacked the fullness of regular ice cream.

However, some ice cream eaters love it, chalky texture and all. One college student even went so far as to eat only Halo Top for an entire week. PopSugar conducted a blind taste test and reported, There was a whole lot of Love! and Delicious! and Yummy! in our taste test notes.

Here at The Daily Meal, we are just as divided.

Our editor-in-chief, Susan Houriet, was underwhelmed with the taste. I had heard great things about Halo Top at Weight Watchers, but I just couldn't get over the aftertaste of the sweetener they use. While she reported being able to taste a bitter residue of artificial sweetness in the dessert, I disagree I love it, and cant taste a bitter aftertaste. Its truly my dessert dream come true.

Nutritionist and health coach Cara Scinto, MS, believes the now I can eat as much ice cream as I want! mindset that comes with the low-calorie label isnt helpful. Yes, they're lower in sugar, which gives some folks the idea eating a full pint is okay. Which, to be totally honest, I think isn't the greatest health-wise. When we asked her why not, she responded, First off, the sugar alcohols that are added in place of real sugar can lead to stomach problems like a belly ache.

Plus, she pointed out, eating too much of a good thing isn't mindful eating.

In summary, the pint of Halo Top has the potential for other adverse health effects, regardless of its low calorie count especially when it comes to mental health. Despite being calorically equivalent to only a few bites of Ben and Jerrys, eating a pint of ice cream is still eating a pint of ice cream. That kind of eating isnt exactly considered moderation.

But what about the nutritional value? Is the healthy-looking label too good to be true? Weve gone through Halo Tops nutritional information so that you dont have to decipher the label through all the buy me! marketing.

The truth is, Halo Top isnt ice cream its artificially sweetened, contains a lot less fat, and slashes sugar from its ingredient list. How does Halo Top get so sweet? Stevia. Thats the simple answer. Stevia is a sweetener deemed natural by health experts because its been extracted from the stevia plant, Stevia rebaudiana. Its actually 200-300 times sweeter than regular sugar which explains why Halo Tops ice cream is so incredibly sweet.

The company has been a bit quieter about their use of erythritol a sugar alcohol that isnt metabolized by the body during digestion, resulting in zero calories and zero blood sugar spikes. However, the compound creates a bit of a controversy: While its been ambiguously deemed generally safe by the Food and Drug Administration, it has been known to cause some adverse side effects in consumers. Some have experienced headaches, diarrhea, and other digestion issues after eating foods high in erythritol. There hasnt been a great deal of additional research done on the compound, so youll have to be the judge!

Why does Halo Top taste so creamy? Cream. They use real cream. This factor the dairy is what distinguishes Halo Top from its diet ice cream competitors, like Arctic Zero. (Fear not, healthy readers the cream in Halo Top is diluted with milk to keep the fat content nice and low.)

How is it nutritionally? Truth be told, the nutritional data cant be beat. For a frozen treat to have only 60 calories and only 5 grams of sugar per serving is pretty incredible. The protein content is nothing particularly unusual, however real ice cream has just as much protein as this diet creation, averaging about 4 grams per half cup, so for Halo Top to hail itself as high-protein ice cream is a bit misleading.

Unfortunately, one serving of Halo Top isn't a whole pint it's half a cup. If youre not satisfied with just a half cup on its own, there are ways to jazz up this not-so-decadent treat. Luckily, Halo Top provides recipe ideas to transform your sweet stevia cream into something a little more.

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Is This 'Diet' Ice Cream Too Good to Be True? - The Daily Meal

The following is an edited excerpt from "On Eating Insects: Essays, Stories and Recipes" by Josh Evans, Roberto Flore, Michael Bom Frst andNordicFoodLab (Phaidon Press, 2017).

We are investigating insect gastronomy and the potential of insects in Nordic cuisine, but we should be clear that investigating is not the same as promoting. Certainly, there are many cases in which bringing insects into our kitchens doesnt make sense when it means importing large numbers of insects from halfway around the world, for example. Culinary knowledge, on the other hand, is transferable and fertile; this is why our fieldwork focuses on technique.

The recent surge of global interest in edible insects might make them seem like a panacea for world hunger and a slew of environmental problems. What is more likely is that no organism is inherently sustainable no one species can create sustainable food systems, just as no single food can nourish and delight us for every meal of our lives.

There seems to be a similar narrative arising around insects that has arisen before around other foods. Consider soy products: a few decades ago, in the 1960s and 1970s, nutritionists and food activists alike seemed in broad agreement that soy was going to save the world. High in protein, cheap to produce, easily transportable and amenable to being processed into many products, soy seemed an obvious cornerstone of the imminent utopian food system. Moreover, as a traditional food in many cultures, soy brought with it ample and well-developed knowledge about how best to prepare and eat it.

Today, of course, what we see is far from what the first soy supporters supposed. More than 4 million hectares of forest in South America alone are destroyed each year for soy production, and at least 80 percent of this soy goes to cheap feed for industrially raised animals, the meat of which is then shipped around the world. Mass deforestation, paired with mass-produced, artificially cheap and bland meat, is not a food system at its most delicious or its most robust. And industrial soy, like industrial corn, is a far cry from the varieties grown and eaten in East Asia, which are processed and prepared to make it nourishing and delicious.

The same may well be happening with insects right now. One of our biggest fears, despite our best intentions and caution about the possible implications, is that our and others research will be used to reinforce the established industrial paradigm of monocultural mass production, instead of challenging and reconfiguring it. This pattern is already emerging with insects, and it is a path that rarely ends well not for taste, not for ecological resilience and not for biocultural diversity.

One widely quoted FAO statistic says that the world population will increase to 9 billion by 2050, and that meeting this demand will require increasing food production by 70 percent. Yet this figure is mainly used to reinforce prior ideological commitments to modes of food production that are demonstrably destructive to the Earth and its systems, rather than opening up space for alternative ones.

Furthermore, the U.N. World Food Programme (WFP), on the other hand, states that there is already enough food on the planet to feed the global population. Increasing industrial mass production makes sense only if we intend to perpetuate the existing system of overabundant yet poor food, monstrous food waste and lack of food and accessibility, as well as the cycles of poverty, hunger and malnutrition. "Insects," in the discourse of global food security, seem more and more to be another swapping strategy changing an input within a stagnant system. The input is trivial when the whole system is broken.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

ASPARAGUS

80 g white asparagus

LACTOFERMENTED PEA WATER

100 g whole fresh peas, washed 2 g salt

SPICY CRICKETS

50 g live house crickets (Acheta domestica)500 g water 1 g salt 10 g mildly smoked chillies 1 g freeze-dried lime pulp or citric acid, to taste

SOUR KOMBUCHA BUTTER

100 g fresh butter 6 g coriander seeds 120 g dry kombucha 0.2 g xanthan gum

TO FINISH

24 sea purslane leaves

In May 2016, Afton Halloran and I traveled to Mexico. The sights, smells, colors and people of the markets of Mexico City were a warm welcome to a new place, leaving us with an everlasting impression of this vibrant nation. At the famous Mercado de San Juan a number of insect products from all over the country can be found. One of them is gusano de maguey (agave worms), a species of moth that has been consumed in Mexico since pre-Hispanic times. In Mexico it is possible to eat gusano de maguey, for example, in mixiotes, tamales and salsas. Sal de gusano (agave worm salt) is a slightly smoky, savory condiment. Gusanos are harvested from the agave, dried and then crushed with chilli and sea salt. The salt is also delicious with a nice glass of mezcal. In fact, during Expo 2015 in Milano, Santiago Lastra, Afton and I snuck into the Mexico Pavilion, ate some amazing Mexican cuisine from different parts of the country and drank mezcal (with sal de gusano) in good company. Encapsulating these memories in the flavors and form of this dish is my way of thanking all of my friends from Mexico for opening their hearts and sharing their unique cultures.

Back at the Lab and inspired by the sal de gusano, I wanted to recreate this spicy salt and combine it with two delicious, seasonal ingredients: white asparagus from Lammefjord and peas from Saarupgard, an organic farm close to Copenhagen. In this dish, the spicy salt is used on asparagus, but it would also pair well with a shot of mezcal.

Directions:

ASPARAGUS

Using a vegetable peeler, peel the asparagus, then cut them into long strips, keeping the original shape. Set aside.

LACTOFERMENTED PEA WATER

Using a juicer or extractor, juice the peas, then weigh the quantity of the liquid and add the salt.Transfer to a vacuum bag, place in the vacuum machine and keep at 77F until the liquid reaches pH 4.6 (this takes about four days). (Use litmus paper to test the pH.) In case the pH has notreached pH 4.6, keep fermenting until it does. Strain the pea water through fine filter paper into a bowl and store in the refrigerator until you need to use it for plating.

SPICY CRICKETS

Put the crickets in the blast chiller for about 30 minutes, or until frozen. Bring the water and salt to a boil in a pot. Add the crickets and blanch for 1 minute, then remove with a slotted spoon and place in a dry frying pan or skillet set over high heat and toast until lightly browned and dry. Put the crickets in the dehydrator set at 149F overnight. The next day, put the dehydrated crickets with the remaining ingredients into a mortar and grind together using a pestle until it is a powder. Set aside.

SOUR KOMBUCHA BUTTER

Melt the butter in a pan over medium heat and add the coriander seeds. Transfer to a vacuum bag, seal and place in the refrigerator to infuse overnight. The next day, bring the butter back to room temperature, then pass through a chinois into a bowl to eliminate the seeds. Add the dry kombucha to the butter, then, using a hand-held blender, blend to create an emulsion with a liquid consistency. Add the xanthan gum and blend for another 30 seconds, then spoon the kombucha butter into a steel bowl or heavy-duty plastic container that can be put into a vacuum machine and compress in the vacuum machine. Processing the kombucha in this way will remove all the air bubbles that were created when blending. Set aside.

TO FINISH

Lay a piece of baking parchment on the work surface, then arrange the asparagus side by side on top of the paper. Sprinkle the asparagus with the cricket powder, then place on the dish. Add dots of the kombucha butter around the asparagus, then carefully add the pea water without pouring it over the top of the asparagus. Add 6 sea purslane leaves on top of the asparagus in a decorative pattern.

NOTE

Many edible larvae are incorrectly called worms. Agave worms are actually the larval stage of the moth Comadia redtenbacheri.

Recipe written by Roberto Flore

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A case for, and against, including insects in a sustainable diet - GreenBiz

Let's start with what I like about the Whole30. First, the name is no joke: The Whole30 really is an eating plan that emphasizes real food not processed meals and snacks that regularly sneak into our diets.

For those just tuning in, this diet skips sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes and dairy for 30 days. It permits meat, seafood, eggs, veggies, fruit and "natural fats" like vegetable oils, coconut oil and tree nuts.

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The Whole30 also has a built-in support system that encourages accountability a key part of a successful weight loss. The plan's presence on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter is the 2017 version of a '90s Weight Watchers meeting, only on a much bigger scale.

Here's where they lose me: The Whole30 seems to be either supported by very small, poorly-conducted studies, or based on pure conjecture otherwise disproven by reputable nutrition scientists.

I know being less-than-enthused by this trendy eating plan makes me unpopular, but hear me out! These are a few attributes of the Whole30 that give me pause and why plus, better ideas to consider in their place.

One horrifically grating thing about the Whole30 books: The authors claim that they're "not telling you what to eat" while literally telling you what you can and cannot eat. For example, "processed foods" are off limits, but lo and behold you can eat cured pork, otherwise known as BACON and SAUSAGE!

Many Whole30 recipes use bacon and coconut-based ingredients, making the plan high in both saturated fat and sodium, top nutrients of concern identified by the 2015 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. These nutrients (along with added sugar) have been linked to harmful health effects, including weight gain and increased risk of chronic disease.

TRY THIS INSTEAD: Eat more lean protein instead of cured meats. Seafood, eggs, 100% whole-grains and legumes fill you up without a nutritional downside.

The Whole30 preaches that legumes contain "anti-nutrients," which is simply not true. It's well-established in nutrition science that legumes like beans, lentils, chickpeas, soybeans and peanuts are hands-down the most nutritious foods you can possibly eat!

They're loaded with prebiotic fiber, which is linked to boosting immunity. The antioxidants and minerals in legumes also improve blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart disease, diabetes, Alzheimer's and cancer. Legumes are also nature's gift for weight-loss. They're low in calories from fat, but higher in fiber, reducing the temptation to snack.

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TRY THIS INSTEAD: If legumes make you feel bloated, you're either not used to eating them, or you're not drinking enough water! If you're not a regular chickpea-chomper, gradually introduce these foods into your diet, and sip more H2O.

Diets that include dairy products (about two cups per day) are linked to a lower risk of chronic disease and smaller waist circumference. Diets that emphasize dairy alternatives? Not so much. Despite the health halo worn by almond and coconut milk, nut- and seed-based substitutes don't even come close to their counterparts. They're lower in potassium and protein, higher in sodium and don't provide the vitamins A and D that you'd get from fortified milk or unsweetened soy versions.

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For weight loss, it's senseless that the Whole30 includes clarified butter (a high-fat, protein-less version) and nixes better-for-you low-fat Greek yogurt. Their rationale: Eliminating milk solids can help you detect an allergy to whey or casein, milk's predominant proteins. But an actual allergy would cause mouth and throat swelling, as well as hives and anaphylaxis. It's supremely unlikely to suddenly appear in adulthood, so consult a physician ASAP if you're truly concerned. Lactose intolerance, on the other hand, is the result of an enzyme deficiency that causes more nuanced discomfort, like gas and bloating.

Read more here:
6 Things You Need to Know Before Trying Whole30 - GoodHousekeeping.com

Dieting isnt all its cracked up to be. For most people, strict rules about what to eat actually perpetuate the very issues they claim to solve.

In the scientific literature, dieting has been shown to be associated with a greater risk of binge eating, long-term weight gain and even eating disorders.

If youve ever dieted, you likely understand through your own experience their cyclical and counterproductive nature. One minute youre eating well and the next minute you find yourself feeling completely out of control around food. What diets dont tell you is this is exactly what they set you up for.

Dieting is any food plan or rigid health paradigm that dictates exactly what you eat, when you eat it and how much you eat. Theres a significant difference between practicing gentle nutrition and dieting. Having a gentle concern and awareness about what, when and why youre eating and mindfully paying attention to cues of hunger and fullness are completely appropriate behaviors for long-term health and wellness.

But dont fall into the trap of dieting in any form even when it is masqueraded as healthy lifestyle change. If anyone is telling you exactly what to do with your eating, leaving no wiggle room for taste, enjoyment, cultural values, celebrations, etc., chances are good its a diet and you should run the other way.

So, if youre ever tempted to jump on a diet bandwagon, heres a list of what top nutrition experts wish you knew about dieting.

1. Diets arent sustainable. Clients often come to me claiming they have no willpower or feeling like a failure, but it's the diet that has failed, not them. Our bodies aren't meant to be deprived of food, physically or emotionally, according to dietitian Rachael Hartley.

2. Diets take away your power. Diets farm out your eating decisions to someone else, and in so doing, completely disrupt your ability to listen to your own body, turning healthy eating into a bigger struggle than it needs to be. To do well with food and eating takes connecting with your body and listening to its hunger and fullness signals and making your appetite work for you, according to dietitian Adina Pearson.

3. Diets miss the mark of whats truly important health-wise. "Healthy foods" eaten in a limited, restrained or obsessive way are just as damaging to our health and well-being as a diet where "unhealthy" food is consumed in excess. There are no good or bad foods, and eating certain foods does not make you good or bad.

It's also key to consider other lifestyle habits like sleep, stress and movement in context of how you eat. None of these exist in a vacuum, according to dietitian Cara Harbstreet.

4. Dieting is not a path toward happiness or peace. So often when you see an ad for a diet (or "lifestyle" change) it comes with the promise that this plan/program/supplement will result in happiness (along with other unrealistic outcomes).

But the truth is, dieting takes up valuable mental and emotional space in order to negotiate food choices, follow food rules and place conditions on when, what and why you can eat. This mentality teaches us that our own internal wisdom cannot be trusted, and our only hope to create long-lasting change is to be more strict and have more willpower.

Not only does this not work from a physiological standpoint, but it wears us down mentally and emotionally until ultimately we cannot follow the "diet" any longer. Failing at a diet makes us feel like we are failures and erodes our self-esteem, confidence and self-worth. The negative impact dieting has on our mental and emotional well-being far outweighs any alleged physical health benefits, according to dietitian Ander Wilson.

5. Diets ignore one of the most important tenets of overall health pleasure. Part of our health and well-being is experiencing pleasure, and one of the ways we can achieve this is through enjoying and savoring fun foods, according to dietitian Kara Lydon.

6. Diets take us further from our body's internal wisdom. Diets teach us to lose trust instead of trust ourselves with food. The foods that diets impose limits or restrictions on are the very foods that will feel more attractive and powerful, leading often to overcompensation at some point when off the diet. When we have a theoretical box of "off-limits" foods, they will work tremendously well for soothing and pleasure when we are vulnerable, which can be helpful in the moment, but in the long run this causes more distrust and fear of food, according to dietitian Sumner Brooks.

7. Its never too late to give up dieting and/or the dieting mindset. Even if you've been dieting half your life, it's never too late to ditch the dieting mindset. It's so freeing to distance yourself from the mentality of a culture obsessed with dieting and analyzing the morality of every "good" and "bad" food. There are no good or bad foods food is just food. It's never too late to embrace that shift away from dieting, according to dietitian Lindsey Janeiro.

Avoid the common mistakes people make when pursuing health and wellness. Choose foods, activities, behaviors and mentalities that enhance overall health and make you feel balanced and whole. Dont fall for the myth that dieting will lead to peace or health because it doesnt work.

See the article here:
What nutrition experts wished you knew about dieting - Connectstatesboro

June 9, 2017

By: Tracey Bridcutt, Adventist Record

A book on red meats impact on health and the environment, which includes the work of two Adventist dietitians, won first prize in in its category at this years Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.

Carol Zeuschner, from the Sydney Adventist Hospital, and Angela Saunders, from Sanitarium Health and Wellbeing, together with Kate Marsh, from the Northside Nutrition Clinic in Sydney, wrote a chapter in a 400-page reference book entitled Impact of Meat Consumption on Health and Environmental Sustainability, which was produced by Curtin University in Western Australia.

The book won the Sustainable Food category at the Gourmand Awards, which were presented in Yantai, China, May 26-29. It was at these awards that another Adventist dietitian Sue Radd was announced the winner of the Best Health and Nutrition cookbook in the world for Food as Medicine: Cooking for Your Best Health.

Zeuschner said it was very exciting to find out that the book that she, Saunders and Marsh had contributed to had won the top prize.

It was quite a shock, a very nice shock, she said.

Their chapter was entitled: Red Meat and Health: Evidence Regarding Red Meat, Health and Chronic Disease Risk. Other chapters were written by health professionals and academics from around the world, including the United States, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands, Bangladesh and Brazil.

We were trying to show the health impacts of a high red meat diet and the fact that it contributes to obesity, some types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and stroke, Zeuschner said.

The focus of vegetarian nutrition has often been whats missing, what is the risk of a vegetarian diet? But we were trying to flip that on its head and say what are the advantages of eating a plant-based diet?

The dietitians looked at vegetarian, vegan and other diets that are predominantly plant-based.

We looked at all those styles of eating and found overwhelming evidence that they are protective for health, Zeuschner said.

Saunders said there is an enormous interest in plant-based diets, with more and more evidence that underpins our amazing health message.

We can be very confident as we share with our communities the latest evidence on the importance of eating more plant foods and less meat, she said.

The science is complex but the solution is simpleeat more plants. Its interesting to see how vegetarian diets are becoming more and more mainstream and trendy, Zeuschner said. It would be a pity if our youth and older members turned their backs on our health message just as the world is embracing it.

Each of the three dietitians has previously published in the area of vegetarian nutrition, including in the Medical Journal of Australia in 2012.

See more here:
More Adventist Winners in World Cookbook Awards - Adventist Review