Category Archives: Diet And Food

If you ate too much over the festive season, you may well be thinking about a healthy diet plan for 2022. But as anyone who has ever dieted knows, there are countless options out there. Right now, were in the midst of a revolutionary time for understanding the human body, and so the question arises: can new science tell us which diet plan is best for losing weight?

Many diets originate in a system for rating foods according to the effect they have on our blood sugar level. This way of characterising food came from research led by David Jenkins at the University of Toronto back in 1981. They gave each type of food a score according to how much it raised blood sugar levels, with sugar as the benchmark, with a score of 100. Honey scored 87, sweetcorn scored 59, tomato soup 38, and so on. Today, every conceivable edible thing has been analysed this way and countless diet plans have built on this way of ranking food. Generally, those seeking to lose weight are advised to avoid foods that cause blood sugar levels to spike.

But weve all come across someone who seems to stay at a healthy weight no matter how much cake, chocolate or wine they consume. And this the differences between us is where vital advances are now being made, leading us to a new understanding of what the best diet plan really is.

In 2015, Eran Elinav and Eran Segal at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel conducted a fascinating study. They recruited 800 participants, and instead of taking glucose measurements a few times over the course of a few hours, as was done in 1981, every participants blood sugar level was measured every five minutes over seven days, using a small sensor developed for people with diabetes. As well as this, each participant answered a detailed medical questionnaire, were subject to a variety of physical assessments, such as measurements of their height and hip circumference, and they all had their stool analysed for the types of bacteria they contain.

It turned out that glucose levels spiked exactly in accordance with earlier research. But crucially, this was only the case on average. The variation from one person to the next was enormous.

For any given food, some peoples glucose levels would spike dramatically, while others hardly seemed to react at all. This couldnt be explained away as a random fluctuation because the same person responded similarly each time they ate that particular food. For one middle-aged woman, for example, her blood glucose level spiked every time she ate tomatoes. Another person spiked especially strongly after eating bananas.

Segals wife, Keren, was especially stunned. As a dietitian, she had been trained to provide guidance to countless people about what they should and shouldnt eat. Now her husband had evidence that her dietary advice might not have always been helpful. The fact that some peoples post-eating sugar levels spiked more in response to rice than ice cream was shocking to her. It dawned on her that she might have even directed some of her patients to a type of food that, though beneficial on average, was wrong for them personally.

A machine-learning algorithm (a type of artificial intelligence) was used to figure out which factors needed to be considered to generate the most accurate forecast of a persons post-meal glucose response. One factor stood out as the most significant contributor by far: the types of bacteria found in their stool, which reflects their gut microbiome.

So what does this mean? It means that there is no single best diet plan everything is personal. What constitutes a healthy diet plan depends on who is eating it: their genetics, their lifestyle, their microbiome, perhaps even the state of their immune system, their history of infections and more. Each of which is exquisitely complex on their own terms, and how they interact even more so.

Our understanding of the details what makes a diet work or not for an individual is still in its infancy. But in the near future, with the help of computer algorithms and big data analysis, we are surely due a revolution in the science of diet and nutrition.

If it becomes clear that personalised nutrition would have a huge impact on human health, the question will present itself: should analysis of a persons blood and microbiome to produce a personalised diet plan become part of routine, preventative healthcare, paid for by taxation? Indeed, where would we draw the line between a nutritional product, a dietary plan and a medicine? As any science matures, new policies must be developed. This will be especially important when it concerns such a vital part of our daily lives: what we eat and drink.

See original here:
Diets: how scientists discovered that one size doesn't fit all - The Conversation UK

Dr. McMacken will lead system-wide efforts to improve nutrition and lifestyle education for patients and health care professionals, and advance access to nutritious foods and plant-based meals for patients

New York, NY

NYC Health + Hospitals today announced the appointment of Michelle McMacken, MD, FACP, DipABLM as Executive Director of Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine for the system. In this newly created role, Dr. McMacken will lead system-wide efforts to advance nutrition and lifestyle education for patients and health care professionals, and increase patients access to nutritious foods and plant-based meals. She will also help expand dedicated lifestyle medicine services to support positive behavior changes, such as improved diet, physical activity, sleep, stress reduction, avoidance of risky substances, and social connection to reduce chronic disease risks.

This work will build on Dr. McMackens work with the Plant-Based Lifestyle Medicine Program launched in 2019 at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue with the advocacy of then-Brooklyn Borough President and our new mayor, Eric Adams. Dr. McMacken will continue to practice in the NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue Adult Primary Care Center.

Dr. McMacken is a trailblazer who knows how to get stuff done. She knows the power of lifestyle medicine to reverse chronic diseases, transform lives, and combat generations-long health inequities. I am proud about the innovative work she has been doing at Bellevue, and it is truly exciting to see her expand her mission to all our NYC Health + Hospitals facilities in this new role, said Mayor Eric Adams.

Healthful lifestyle habits, especially nutrition, can significantly reduce cardiovascular, metabolic, cancer, and other health risks. The science is clear, and Ive seen the benefits firsthand in my own practice, said Dr. McMacken. It is my mission to support our patients in adopting the healthiest possible lifestyle, particularly those who are the most vulnerable and face the greatest barriers.

Dr. McMackens new appointment marks the next step in the evolution of our public healthcare system, making nutrition and lifestyle medicine core to how we deliver healthcare, said Senior Vice President of Ambulatory Care and Population Health at NYC Health + Hospitals Ted Long, MD. As a primary care doctor myself, I know well the critical impact that a healthy lifestyle has on your overall health. I am incredibly excited to work with Dr. McMacken to bring this new focus on lifestyle medicine to New Yorkers across our City, without exception.

Dr. McMacken joined NYC Health + Hospitals in 2004 and currently practices in the NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue Adult Primary Care Center. Shes also directed the hospitals Adult Weight Management Program since 2005.

In 2019, with the advocacy of then-Brooklyn Borough President and our new mayor, Eric Adams, she developed and launched the innovative Bellevue Plant-Based Lifestyle Medicine Program, the first of its kind in a safety-net healthcare setting. The program takes an interdisciplinary approach to reduce patients cardiometabolic risk through intensive lifestyle changes, including a healthful plant-based diet, physical activity, improved sleep habits, stress reduction, avoidance of risky substances, and social support. The program has received national attention and high demand for services, including self-referrals from more than 850 New York City residents.

An Associate Professor of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Dr. McMacken has received the faculty Teacher of the Year award three times for her work with physician trainees, and a 2014 NYU Merrin Fellowship grant to study evidence-based nutrition and develop a curriculum for her internal medicine faculty colleagues.

Dr. McMacken received her undergraduate degree from Yale University and her medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. McMacken is a seasoned public lecturer, has published on nutrition and lifestyle medicine topics in peer-reviewed scientific journals and served on the Board of Directors for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. She is board certified in both internal medicine and lifestyle medicine.

Contact: Press Office, 212-788-3339

About NYC Health + Hospitals

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the citys five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the systems trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health planall supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit http://www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NYCHealthSystem or Twitter at @NYCHealthSystem.

Continued here:
Dr. Michelle McMacken Appointed Executive Director of Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine - nychealthandhospitals.org

In a phone interview with Fox News Digital on Saturday, Mike Pompeo revealed that he lost in excess of 90lb (41kg) over the past six months after making wholesale lifestyle changes following his exit from the Trump administration last year. The interview came after photos of a slimmed-down Pompeo emerged over the weekend, renewing speculation that the former secretary of state is seriously considering a 2024 presidential run.

Pompeo whose diminished profile in his regular Fox News appearances was not lost on the channels dedicated viewers went out of his way to point out that he lost the weight himself, through self-guided workouts and more disciplined dietary habits and not with surgery or help from any fitness professionals.

Theres certainly no denying Pompeos physical transformation. But his claims that he lost the weight through minor diet and exercise changes have created controversy among nutritionists and fitness industry professionals none of whom believe such dramatic weight loss would be possible without major life changes. Ninety [pounds] in six [months] is unbelievable, one fitness expert alleged in the Kansas City Star, especially for his age.

The 58-year-old claimed he lost the weight because he stopped eating carbs to a large extent, and tried to eat smaller portions.

Pompeo says he built a gym in the basement of his home and outfitted it with some dumbbells and an elliptical machine. I tried to get down there five, six times a week and stay at it for a half-hour or so, he told the Post. And that was nothing scientific. There was no trainer, there was no dietician. It was just me.

Away from the job he says he now opts for healthier options like egg whites and turkey bacon instead of pumpkin pancakes during family trips to Ihop. Pompeo insists hes paring down for his health, not a presidential run.

But unlike the ex-New Jersey governor Chris Christie (who shed 100lb in a year after Lap-Band surgery) or the New York City mayor, Eric Adams, (who flaunts his vegan diet), Pompeo in his two interviews on the subject seems intent on making the point that his fitness journey was the product of good ol fashion manly-man bootstrapping.

Thered be little reason to doubt Pompeo if he werent also a historically unreliable narrator who has misled the public on everything from his administrations support of the USs controversial Afghan exit strategy to the Saudi governments role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi to the overly lavish gifts he received from foreign dignitaries.

Not only is he being cagey about his own weight loss, but hes making his results sound attainable. Now from a stress standpoint, he no longer has to work for Trump, so that may be something that allows him access to a helluva lot less stress so he doesnt keep weight on because of that, said Milo Bryant, a 30-year fitness veteran and author of the forthcoming book Unstoppable After 40, whos never had a client come close to Pompeos alleged fat burn rate.

Pompeo isnt the first politician to pimp their fitness. George HW Bush, a passionate runner, made regular use of an Air Force One treadmill during long international flights. Bill Clinton turned to street jogging after undergoing quadruple bypass surgery. Mike Huckabee moved to address his health after a chair collapsed under him in a cabinet meeting and he received a type-2 diabetes diagnosis. The erstwhile Republican presidential candidate lost 100lb, but unlike Pompeo acknowledged it was through a drastic diet change and long-distance running.

I would love to know the totality of what [Pompeo] did, said Bryant. For someone to lose 90 pounds in six months, youre talking 15 pounds a month on average. No research shows its healthy to lose two and four pounds per week. Four times four is 16 pounds. Its possible that it could happen, but I dont see it happening by only working out 30 minutes a day.

Read this article:
Mike Pompeo says he lost over 90lb but experts are skeptical about his fitness journey - The Guardian

As Inc. colleague Jessica Stillman points out in her viral article on why you should adoptthe sleep habits of a toddler,getting a good night's sleep was hard enoughbefore the pandemic.

"Coronasomnia"? It's anationwide epidemic. So is the "Quarantine 15" weight gain phenomenon.

At least in part because, as research shows, the two create a vicious circle: Lack of sleep leads to a poorer diet -- and a poorer dietleads to lack of sleep.

First some background. Lack of sleep has long been linked with weight gain and obesity. A 2012 study published in Sleep found that reduced sleep leads to a significant increase in eating. That's partly because, as other studies show, lack of sleep causes increased activity in your brain's reward centers specific to food. Lack of sleep also change some of the hormones that signal when you're full.

So, yeah: If you don't get enough sleep, your dietalmost surelysuffers -- as anyone who pullsa near all-nighter and finds themselves craving junk food the next day can attest.

But then there's this: A 2016 study published in Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that diet has an effect on the quality and amount of sleep you get:Eating more fiber -- whole grains, beans, certain vegetables and fruits, etc. -- and less sugar and saturated fat results in better sleep at night.

And if you adopt theMediterranean diet --lots of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, poultry -- a 2018 study indicates you'll be one-third as likely to suffer from insomnia and nearly 1.5 times more likely to get a good night's sleep.

Add it all up, and whether you start with the chicken or the egg, the cycle is the same.

Don't get enough sleep and you're likely to eat more poorly, whichmakes it harder for you to get more sleep, and therefore more likely to eat poorly. The same is true if you eat poorly; getting enough sleep is harder, which will make it harder to eat healthier and to get enough sleep.

What about supplements, you ask? Plenty of people take melatonin to help them fall asleep. And that does work; a study published in Sleep Medicine Reviews found that people who take melatonin supplements tend to fall asleep aroundfour minutes faster than those who don't.

Which is great -- except a more recent study foundthat maintaining a Mediterranean diet cut the time to fall asleep by 12 minutes, and led to significantly better sleep quality.

In short, supplements can help.

But lifestyle changes can help more.

So turn your diet and sleep into avirtuous rather than vicious cycle.Tonight, pick a time you will go to bed. Not go to sleep -- go to bed. See bedtime not as the time you will definitely fall asleep, but the earliest time youmightgo to sleep. (Unless you're totally exhausted, you won't fall asleep right away.)

Then just relax. Let your mind wander. Don't think about going to sleep. Don't try to go to sleep. Just chill.

If ittakes you a long time to fall asleep, that's OK. Don't take a napthe next day. Just go to bed at the same time. Again,see it as bedtime, not sleep time,and just chill.

In time, your body(and more important, your mind) will start to adapt. You'll start to get moreand better, sleep.

Especiallyif you focus on eating healthier as well -- because when you do that, you'll naturally start to sleep better.

Which will make it a lot easier to keep eatinghealthier.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

Excerpt from:
Eat Better to Sleep Better: The Surprising Connection (Both Positive and Negative) Between Sleep and Diet, Backed by Considerable Science - Inc.

ORLANDO, FLA. (Ivanhoe Newswire) No meat, no carbs, no dairy, no gluten. Did you know that it may be damaging to your health if you deprive your body of foods? A new way of honoring your body and fueling it without guilt is rising in popularity. Its called intuitive eating. But what is this new anti-diet and does it work?

Ashley Hinds RDN, LDN, CEDRD and Registered Dietitian explains that Intuitive eating teaches us to listen to our internal cues and listen to our hunger fullness cues.

Intuitive eating is based on ten principles; first, reject the diet mentality, which can offer you false hope to lose weight fast. Honor your hunger instead by adequately eating carbs.

Hinds says, Our body is always trying to reach homeostasis and its anticipating Oh you put me through a famine, a diet, a few times now, I need to anticipate for the next famine. And thats actually what leads to weight cycling.

Make peace with your food, give yourself permission to eat what society deems as bad food, if not it can lead to binging. Challenge the food police, the societal voice in your head that monitors the unreasonable rules diet culture has set. Discover the satisfaction factor, make eating food pleasurable. Feel your fullness, listen to the signals that your body is full. And cope with your emotions around food with kindness.

Dieting can put a huge strain on our mental health because if we have famine then were also increasing our anxiety and it all comes to that full circle. Hinds further explains.

Respect your body and feel the difference. Focus on how working out makes you feel mentally and not look physically. And honor your health with gentle nutrition.

Hinds says, My recommendation is typically to have about three meals a day and two to three snacks.

There have been at least 97 studies looking into intuitive eating. A study of those found people who practice intuitive eating were more likely to accept their bodies, be more mindful, and reported higher self-esteem. They also had lower levels of depression and anxiety.

Sources:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beauty-sick/202105/the-psychological-benefits-intuitive-eating#:~:text=People%20who%20regularly%20engage%20in,levels%20of%20depression%20and%20anxiety

Read the original post:
HealthWatch: Intuitive Eating Cancel the Diet Culture - WeAreGreenBay.com

A study on the nutritional needs of polar bears co-authored by a Washington State University scientist indicates the iconic animals require much lower protein levels than other meat eaters and their preference for a high-fat diet may make it difficult for them to adapt to a warming climate.

Researchers found captive polar bears are routinely fed lean meat diets more suited to lions and tigers, and, just like humans who overindulge on protein, are susceptible to kidney and liver disease. The zoo inhabitants also suffer from low reproduction rates and are susceptible to premature deaths.

The research team led by Charlie Robbins, who has worked with grizzly bears at WSU for more than three decades, and Karyn Rode, a former graduate student at the schools bear center who now works for the U.S. Geological Survey out of Portland believe the same fate could befall wild polar bears if climate change reduces their access to prey. Their study looked at both captive and wild bears.

Polar bears hunt ringed and bearded seals on sea ice hanging over the continental shelf. When seals are abundant, the arctic ursids prefer the blubber from their kills and leave some or much of the leaner muscle tissue uneaten. Their preference for high-fat diets, an evolutionary adaptation that has allowed them to thrive in an austere environment, sets them apart from other carnivores that feast on protein.

We have made some assumptions about the nutritional requirements of polar bears because their diet is almost exclusively animals, Robbins said. But, unlike cats, they do not need and cannot tolerate high protein.

Bears and other animals, including humans, that consume diets high in lean meat, make their livers and kidneys work overtime to process the protein and excrete nitrogen. People sometimes base diets on the overconsumption of protein as a weight-loss strategy because the body must burn energy to process it. But humans have a much wider food base from which to draw.

Humans can consume high amounts of carbohydrates to avoid consuming too much protein, but polar bears dont have access to plants, Robbins said. Instead, they have evolved to consume the highest fat diet of any species on the planet, which helps meet their caloric needs as they have become the largest bear species in the world, while ensuring that they do not consume protein at levels that exceed what they require.

Rode studies bears on the Chukchi Sea in the Arctic Circle roughly between Alaska and Russia. In the article Energetic and health effects of protein overconsumption constrain dietary adaptation in an apex predator, published in the journal Scientific Reports, the team documented that Chukchi Sea polar bears feast on pinniped blubber to the tune of 66% to 74% of their diets and that their overall diets consisted of two-thirds or more fat to one-third or less protein.

In short, polar bears have carved out a niche by eating other animals that also eat other animals. But the concentration on high-energy fat found in the blubber of marine mammals instead of protein allows the bears to meet their caloric and nutritional needs without stressing their livers or kidneys or burning excess energy. Tests on wild bears indicate they dont show signs of poor kidney or liver health.

But dietary needs of polar bears is something researchers are just starting to untangle. Past studies, Rode said, have concentrated more on how often wild bears feed rather than their fat-to-protein intake.

I think it really changes the way we look at polar bears. The mindset is they are carnivores and we think of them as a meat-eating species, said Rode, who noted they evolved from brown bears that eat the fatty meat of salmon but also carb-rich berries. They are truly an omnivore that just happen to eat animals, so they still have really low protein (requirements).

Decades ago, zookeepers widely decided since polar bears are carnivores, unlike the omnivorous brown bears from which they evolved, that they should be fed the same diets of other captive carnivores, namely lions or tigers.

Robbins said polar bears in zoos have largely been fed diets consisting of about two-thirds protein and one-third fat.

Wild bears eat just the reverse, he said, and noted that captive grizzly bears at WSU also prefer a high-fat, low-protein diet.

Robbins and Rode set up an experiment in which captive polar bears were presented trays of food from which they could select lard or their typical diet of lean meat. Lard won by a landslide. Robbins worked with Mazuri Exotic Animal Nutrition to develop a dry kibble that will better meet the nutritional needs of captive bears.

If climate change alters their access to sea ice and seals, wild polar bears will have to adapt. If they catch fewer seals, they wont be able to afford to opt for blubber from their kills and instead will have to eat more protein.

While on land in the summer months, they are likely to depend on sources such as caribou or the eggs of ground-nesting birds, neither of which can come close to providing the calories or nutritional balance they need.

Thus, their evolutionary divergence from brown bears and the associated physiological constraints on protein intake are likely an additional factor limiting the adaptation of polar bears to sea ice loss, the researchers write in the Scientific Reports article.

Read the rest here:
Study finds polar bears are suited to high-fat, low-protein diet the reverse of what theyve historically been fed in captivity - The Spokesman Review

More and more people around the world are suffering because their immune systems can no longer tell the difference between healthy cells and invading micro-organisms. Disease defences that once protected them are instead attacking their tissue and organs.

Major international research efforts are being made to fight this trend including an initiative at Londons Francis Crick Institute, where two world experts, James Lee and Carola Vinuesa, have set up separate research groups to help pinpoint the precise causes of autoimmune disease, as these conditions are known.

Numbers of autoimmune cases began to increase about 40 years ago in the west, Lee told the Observer. However, we are now seeing some emerge in countries that never had such diseases before.

For example, the biggest recent increase in inflammatory bowel disease cases has been in the Middle East and east Asia. Before that they had hardly seen the disease.

Autoimmune diseases range from type 1 diabetes to rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis. In each case, the immune system gets its wires crossed and turns on healthy tissue instead of infectious agents.

In the UK alone, at least 4 million people have developed such conditions, with some individuals suffering more than one. Internationally, it is now estimated that cases of autoimmune diseases are rising by between 3% and 9% a year. Most scientists believe environmental factors play a key role in this rise.

Human genetics hasnt altered over the past few decades, said Lee, who was previously based at Cambridge University. So something must be changing in the outside world in a way that is increasing our predisposition to autoimmune disease.

This idea was backed by Vinuesa, who was previously based at the Australian National University. She pointed to changes in diet that were occurring as more and more countries adopted western-style diets and people bought more fast food.

Fast-food diets lack certain important ingredients, such as fibre, and evidence suggests this alteration affects a persons microbiome the collection of micro-organisms that we have in our gut and which play a key role in controlling various bodily functions, Vinuesa said.

These changes in our microbiomes are then triggering autoimmune diseases, of which more than 100 types have now been discovered.

Both scientists stressed that individual susceptibilities were involved in contracting such illnesses, ailments that also include celiac disease as well as lupus, which triggers inflammation and swelling and can cause damage to various organs, including the heart.

If you dont have a certain genetic susceptibility, you wont necessarily get an autoimmune disease, no matter how many Big Macs you eat, said Vinuesa. There is not a lot we can do to halt the global spread of fast-food franchises. So instead, we are trying to understand the fundamental genetic mechanisms that underpin autoimmune diseases and make some people susceptible but others not. We want to tackle the issue at that level.

This task is possible thanks to the development of techniques that now allow scientists to pinpoint tiny DNA differences among large numbers of individuals. In this way, it is possible to identify common genetic patterns among those suffering from an autoimmune disease.

Until very recently, we just didnt have the tools to do that, but now we have this incredible power to sequence DNA on a large scale and that has changed everything, said Lee. When I started doing research, we knew about half a dozen DNA variants that were involved in triggering inflammatory bowel disease. Now we know of more than 250.

Such work lies at the core of Lee and Vinuesas efforts, which aim to find out how these different genetic pathways operate and unravel the many different types of disease doctors are now looking at. If you look at some autoimmune diseases for example, lupus it has become clear recently there are many different versions of them, that may be caused by different genetic pathways, said Vinuesa. And that has a consequence when you are trying to find the right treatment.

We have lots of potentially useful new therapies that are being developed all the time, but we dont know which patients to give them to, because we now realise we dont know exactly which version of the disease they have. And that is now a key goal for autoimmune research. We have to learn how to group and stratify patients so we can give them the right therapy.

Lee also stressed that surging cases of autoimmune diseases across the world meant new treatments and drugs were now urgently needed more than ever before. At present, there are no cures for autoimmune diseases, which usually develop in young people while they are trying to complete their education, get their first job and have families, he said.

That means growing numbers of people face surgery or will have to have regular injections for the rest of their lives. It can be grim for patients and a massive strain on health services. Hence the urgent need to find new, effective treatments.

Read more here:
Global spread of autoimmune disease blamed on western diet - The Guardian

33% Reported Elevated Mental Health Distress and Up to 45% Reported Impact on Healthy Behaviors Mainly Due to COVID-19 Physical Distancing Measures

LOS ANGELES, January 12, 2022--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A global study released today from Pregistry, a leader in the development and conduct of observational studies during pregnancy, highlights the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthy behaviors during pregnancy and its association with mental health disorders. The study, conducted in 12 countries by Dr. Diego Wyszynski, Pregistry CEO, and a team of collaborators showed elevated mental health distress in one of three pregnant people and moderate impact on healthy behaviors.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220112005012/en/

Pregistry study brings to light the effects of the pandemic on the pregnant population, whose mental health is particularly critical given the potential short and long-term impacts on both mother and child. (Photo: Business Wire)

Research consistently shows that COVID-19 continues to disrupt physical activity, sleep, and eating behaviors in the general population, mostly attributed to quarantine and physical distancing measures. Such reduction in healthy behaviors has been linked to worsening mental health and wellbeing. The Pregistry study, entitled COVID-19 perceived impacts on sleep, fitness, and diet and associations with mental health during pregnancy: A cross-national study, brings to light the effects of the pandemic on the pregnant population, whose mental health is particularly critical given the potential short and long-term impacts on both mother and child.

"Given the documented effects on mental health in the general population due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including depression, anxiety, and PTSD, it is critical to understand how we can support the most vulnerable populations, such as those pregnant, in this difficult time," said Dr. Wyszynski. "Our latest work revealed a link between mental health distress and the worsening of healthy behaviors, suggesting that attention to sleep, diet, and fitness-related disruptions is important for mental health promotion during pregnancy amid a major stressor."

Story continues

In a recent survey of 3,692 pregnant people, one in three reported elevated mental health distress, and about 30-45% of the participants reported moderate to high impact on healthy behaviors across sleep, fitness, and diet. Interestingly, the impact on each healthy behavior domain (sleep, diet, fitness) was independently linked to increased mental health distress. Other results showed that a sense of community may buffer the impact of inadequate sleep and other affected healthy behaviors on mental health distress, while the opposite, loneliness, may exacerbate risks. Furthermore, the research shows that addressing sleep, diet, and fitness changes together may help prevent mental health distress in pregnancy in times of a major stressor, highlighting the importance of increasing access to support for this group during the pandemic.

Adjusting for a range of sociodemographic factors, inadequate sleep was found to be the most strongly associated with mental health distress, with pregnant people reporting the highest negative impact. Perceived COVID-19 impact on diet showed the second strongest pattern of association with mental health distress. Finally, a reported impact on fitness was also associated with elevated mental health distress, which aligns with a large base of evidence linking physical activity and mental health in the general population and during pregnancy. In the study, positive feelings of gratitude and a sense of community were found to be associated with lower reported inadequate healthy behavior. In addition, loneliness emerged as a potential risk factor for increased reports of negative impact.

Study contributors include Karmel W. Choi, Hannah H. Kim, Archana Basu, Alex S.F. Kwong, Sonia Hernandez-Diaz, Diego F. Wyszynski and Karestan C. Koenen.

About Pregistry

Pregistry is a global leader in the development and conduct of observational studies to assess the safety of medications and vaccines when used during pregnancy. With over 70 pregnancy specialists, covering a range of clinical, preclinical, safety, regulatory, marketing, and IT needs, the focus is on making sure that both mother and baby are healthy and safe and that prescribers have the information needed to be able to explain the potential benefits and risks of medications during pregnancy. Pregistry also offers pregnant people a safe space to connect with a global community of experts and peers at no cost. To learn more, please visit: https://www.pregistry.com. More Pregistry news can be found at Pregistry.com/News.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220112005012/en/

Contacts

INVESTOR CONTACT Diego Wyszynski, MD, MHS, PhDChief Executive Officerhello@pregistry.com

MEDIA CONTACT Abigail Baker, MADirector of Communicationspress@pregistry.com

Read more:
Global Study Measures the Impact of COVID-19 on Sleep, Fitness, Diet, and Mental Health of Pregnant People - Yahoo Finance

Shoppers might have to make some adjustments to their grocery list the next time they take a trip to the supermarket.

MoneyWise has released a list of the top unhealthiest groceries that you can buy at almost any grocery store in the United States. Some of the food youve been eating may not be as healthy as you thought and these top unhealthiest groceries just might surprise you.

Lets dive into the rankings:

Its reasonable to think that trail-mix would be a perfect healthy snack to eat in between meals. With food like granola, dried fruit, and even nuts, how could this not be healthy for you? Well, youd be partially right in asking that. Buyers must be conscious as to what kind of trail-mix they are spending their money on. Some varieties include sugary foods like chocolate, candy, and yogurt chips. Eating trail-mix like this is a quick way to up your sugar intake without even realizing it.

Shocking to see such a popular drink that athletes consume at the top of this list but if you dont work out like an athlete, you should probably just stick to drinking water. While gatorade works well for replenishing electrolytes to your body, it is also loaded with sugar. According to MoneyWise, A single 12-ounce bottle of the Cool Blue Thirst Quencher has 160 milligrams of sodium and 21 grams of sugar in it already making up a massive chunk of your recommended daily sugar intake.

This plant made sweetener is usually marketed as being healthy since it wont affect your blood sugar levels like normal processed sugar will. However, agave is very high in fructose. Consuming too much fructose can contribute to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, according to Healthline. Excess agave will make your liver start converting all that excess fructose into fat.

Now this once will definitely come at a complete and total shock. How can anything derived from fruit be bad for you? Experts say dried fruit can actually contain more fiber, vitamins and minerals than fresh fruit, but they also tend to be high in sugar. For example, one box of Sun-Maid California Sun-Dried raisins has 18 grams of sugar, said MoneyWise. Next time you go shopping for dried fruit, be sure to double check the label to make sure there are no added sugars.

The classic elementary school snack item isnt all its cracked up to be in terms of health. Many of the fruit cup brands use added sugars in their products. For example, one cup of the Dole brand peaches in 100% fruit juice has 18 grams of sugar. To add to the dramatics, one regular peach already has about 13 grams of sugar.

Now how can anything with the word diet in it be bad for you? Well for one thing, it is still soda. Diet soda doesnt contain any sugar or calories but what it does contain, that regular sodas dont, is aspartame. Aspartame is a natural sweetener that mimics the taste of sugar but like sugar, its not good for you. According to Medical News Today, Diet sodas increases the risk of diabetes by negatively affecting gut bacteria, insulin secretion, and sensitivity. They also cause blood sugar levels to spike when a person eats carbohydrates, increasing waist circumference and body fat. This can make insulin sensitivity and blood sugar management worse.

Sorry vegetarians and vegans. Youre not winning this round. Just because brands like Beyond Meat and the Impossible burger offer meat substitutes, doesnt mean its actually better for you than real meat itself. MyFoodDiary states that one Beyond Meat burger patty has 230 calories, 14 grams of fat, and 390 milligrams of sodium. To compare, you can get a 93% lean ground beef patty that has 155 calories, 6.8 grams of fat, and 61 milligrams of sodium instead.

These light and fluffy snack are low in calories but they are very high in carbohydrates and low in fiber meaning they have almost no nutritional value. Some come in a variety of flavors like ranch that contains over 300 milligrams of sodium per 17 crisps. Other flavors like caramel contain 10 grams of sugar for every 13 pieces making these snacks ultimately not good for your body.

What?! Popeyes favorite can of fuel, isnt good for you? Spinach is actually very good for you as it contains many important vitamins and minerals. However, and this might shock you, spinach wraps/pasta contain almost no spinach whatsoever. MoneyWise states, The Mission garden spinach herb wraps, for example, are loaded with 220 calories and 540 milligrams of sodium, with just 3 grams of fiber. If you want to implement more spinach in your diet, skip the spinach flavored products and go for the leafy green itself.

Baked beans are usually high in protein and fiber but canned baked beans add unnecessary amounts of sugar, salt, and other additives. MoneyWise also mentions that many bean cans contain the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) in their interior lining, which can potentially leach into your food. Some research suggests BPA can elevate your obesity risk and even reduce fertility.

To check out the rest of the additional 15 other unhealthiest foods not mentioned above, click here.

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These are the unhealthiest grocery items you can buy in the United States, according to MoneyWise - MassLive.com

Im like everybody else, says ConAgra CEO Mike Harper as he walks into a private airplane hangar. I lead a busy life. In the 1989 commercial Harper tells the camera that after he had a heart attack he couldnt find healthy food that was really great-tasting. So he invented Healthy Choice. Cut to a glamour shot of the low-fat, low-sodium, low-cholesterol frozen dinners: a sectioned oval tray with gravy-covered sirloin tips, a side of baby carrots, potatoes, and a fruit-topped dessert. By the end of the spot, Harper is piloting his little blue propeller plane off the runway.

In the three years following that ad, Healthy Choice would rake in $1 billion in sales. And it was hardly alone. Lean Cuisine, Diet Coke, Crystal Light, Bud Light: Diet food became a juggernaut in the 1980s thanks to a winning combo of government influence, food tech, and good old-fashioned societal pressure to be thin. And in the years following, the industry would only grow. We dont like to call it diet food anymore, but in 2020 foods with a dietary claim made over $100 billion.

From the moment in 1898 when J.H. Kellogg introduced Toasted Corn Flakes to get our digestion on track and help stave off the urge to self-pollute (masturbate), weve looked to food to make us healthier, more virtuous, and, yes, thinner. Has it worked? Not really. So why do we keep expecting it to?

What was going on in the 80s? (Other than leotards)

Lets crack open a can of Diet Coke, put on those leg warmers, and step back in time for a moment. In 1977 a Senate committee released a report telling Americans that they needed to cut the fat, salt, and cholesterol (meat, butter, and eggs) in their diet right nowor else. Those types of food, the report said, directly link to heart disease, cancer, obesity, and stroke. It cited evidence that scholars at the time, and today, said is flawed. The report drove home the idea that taking control of our diets meant taking control of our health. For those who are overweight, the report said, the best protection against heart disease is weight reduction.

Later the U.S. surgeon general and the World Health Organization chimed in with their own low-fat reports, every major newspaper and magazine covered the news, and suddenly all over America, fridges were stocked with watery skim milk and margarine. From 1984 through the 1990s, dietary fat was increasingly blamed not only for coronary heart disease but also for [weight gain] and obesity, writes Ann F. La Berge in the article How the Ideology of Low Fat Conquered America. By swapping your milk, the thinking (but not the evidence) went, youd reduce your chances of heart diseaseand your waistline.

From the moment in 1898 J.H. Kellogg introduced Toasted Corn Flakes to get our digestion on track, weve looked to food to make us healthier, more virtuous, and thinner. Has it worked? Not really. So why do we keep expecting it to?

In response to these reports, the same companies whod sold us fat, sugar, and salt for decades quickly pivoted to selling such delicacies as Lean Cuisine, Healthy Choice, Stouffers Right Course, The Budget Gourmet Slim Selects, Campbells Le Menu LightStyle, and Molly McButter (cholesterol-free butter-flavored sprinkles).

Jenny Craig launched. Cooking Light magazine debuted. Jane Fondas famous workout VHS tapes sold millions. Oprah dragged a Radio Flyer wagon full of animal fat onstage and said, Im gonna live on broccoli now. In a 1983 Glamour magazine survey, 76 percent of women said they were too fat when 45 percent of those same women were considered underweight. Seventy percent of Playboy playmates were underweight, according to a study that went to the trouble of examining the waist-to-hip ratio in 240 nudie centerfolds. Deaths from eating disorders reached an all-time high. In the 80s, writes food scholar Claude Fischler, people dreamed of being thin, saw themselves as fat, and suffered from the contradiction.

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Diet Foods of the 80s Are Out. But Has Anything Really Changed? - Bon Appetit