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Posted: February 11, 2017 at 11:45 am
An old myth says that touching a toad will give you warts. This isn't true, but many species of toads and frogs in the family bufonidae do produce unique chemicals that can poison or even kill an animal or human foolish enough to try to eat one.
These chemicals, called bufotoxins, probably evolved to deter predators but they may offer a variety of other uses, including as medicine. Bufo gargarizans, an Asian species of toad, produces a substance that could even prove useful in the treatment of certain cancers. According to one 2011 study, the toad produces a substance that effects "significant antitumor activity, including inhibition of cell proliferation, induction of cell differentiation, induction of apoptosis, disruption of the cell cycle, inhibition of cancer angiogenesis, reversal of multi-drug resistance, and regulation of the immune response."
Other bufotoxins have been used to treat diseases among horses and cattle. Bufotoxins have been individually studied in the past but there was no single compendium of research on them. Roberto Ibez, a staff scientist at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, has co-authored a paper in the Journal of Ethnopharmacology that brings together everything currently known to science about bufotoxins. He helped to identify 47 species of frogs and toads which are used in traditional medicines and then narrowed in on the 15 species that are members of the bufonidae family.
Our claim is that there are many compounds in the toadsthat are worth researching for humans. There are potentially many new drugs for humans and other species, Ibez says. Many of those local species are in rapid decline, mainly because of the fungus that is killing them.
That fungus, Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis, commonly referred to as amphibian chytrid fungus, has spread across the globe during the past 40 years causing massive population declines and even extinctions among many species of amphibians. Amphibian chytrid fungus infects the skins of amphibians and causes them to stop feeding, move slowly and eventually die.
One affected bufonidaespecies is the Panamanian golden frog, which has been completely wiped out in the wild by the fungus. The Panamanian golden frog exists only in captivity now.
In his role as the in-country director of the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project, Ibez has been immersedin breeding, rescuing and researching the critically endangered Panamanian golden frog. But he fears that if the frogs only exist in captivity, there will be noway for scientists to preserve their bufotoxins.
There are some indications that some of the [Panamanian frogs] only produce toxins in the wild, Ibez says. But we don't know if without the right diet they don't produce the right toxins or any toxins at all. . . It could be from bacteria in their skin, but we don't know.
The skin of the Panamanian golden frog produces unique chemicals called zetekitoxins.
"Remarkably, toxins from a single [Panamanian golden] frog skin can kill 130 to 1,000 mice," says Candelario Rodriguez, another author of the review. "The mechanism of action is to reduce cardiac rhythm, making these interesting candidates as therapeutic compounds. . . if golden frogs were to disappear, they would take this potentially valuable chemical with them.
While Ibez and other scientists can create a sort of lifeboat for an endangered species of amphibianmany of the medically promising bufotoxins might only be available if chytridiomycosis can be defeated and the animals can be restored to the wild.
Meanwhile, the Panama Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Project is using their captive populations of frogs to research a probiotic cure for the fungus that will allow the animals to be safely released.
The main message is just to show that there are a lot of species and many of them are disappearing and have compounds that can be used by humans for their own benefit, Ibez says. We should preserve these species in the wild.
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Here's Why You Should Never Kiss a Toad - Smithsonian
Posted: February 11, 2017 at 11:45 am
LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--According to the latest market study released by Technavio, the global wearable security devices market is expected to grow at a CAGR of close to 19% during the forecast period.
This research report titled Global Wearable Security Devices Market 2017-2021 provides an in-depth analysis of the market in terms of revenue and emerging market trends. This market research report also includes up to date analysis and forecasts for various market segments and all geographical regions.
Technavio analysts forecast the global wearable security devices market size to reach USD 5.74 billion by 2021. The increased adoption of Internet of Things (IoT) to manage the physical assets of an organization is one of the key drivers of the market.
Request a sample report: http://www.technavio.com/request-a-sample?report=56404
Technavios sample reports are free of charge and contain multiple sections of the report including the market size and forecast, drivers, challenges, trends, and more.
Based on application, the report categorizes wearable security devices into the following segments:
The top three revenue-generating application segments in the global wearable security devices market are discussed below:
Military
The military is a key application segment of the global wearable security devices market in terms of revenue. Several countries such as the US and the UK have adopted smart clothing for military applications, which are designed to provide both comfort and protection, says Abhishek Sharma, one of the lead analysts at Technavio for M2M and connected devices research.
This segment is also creating a demand for smart clothing designs, which can provide protection from hazards such as viruses and chemical weaponry. Agencies such as NASA, the Canadian Space Agency, and other military organizations seek the expertise of vendors like Hexoskin to design and manufacture smart shirts for health tracking.
Emergency services
The emergency services constitute the second largest application segment of the wearable security devices market. This segment has wearable devices, which can assist the elderly and differently abled people in carrying out routine tasks safely and effectively. They are also equipped with emergency contacts of first responders and alert them in the case of any shift in patterns recorded by the sensors. Additionally, wearable devices are being increasingly used to respond to emergency situations such as natural or human-made disasters and personal attacks.
Tracking
An increase in health awareness among people is reflected in the rapid growth in demand for hygienic and nutritious food, gym memberships, and diet programs. To keep track of all their activities throughout the day, the demand for fitness tracking devices have also increased, says Abhishek.
Individuals are adopting various fitness tracking devices such as fitness bands and sports equipment to track and control their health to reduce the risk of diseases. Smart wearable fitness devices monitor the fitness of individuals and measuring and eventually improving the performance of players and athletes. Additionally, the availability of low-cost tracking services is resulting in increased sales of these devices, resulting in high market growth.
The top vendors highlighted by Technavios research analysts in this report are:
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Become a Technavio Insights member and access all three of these reports for a fraction of their original cost. As a Technavio Insights member, you will have immediate access to new reports as theyre published in addition to all 6,000+ existing reports covering segments like cloud computing, IT hardware, and IT security. This subscription nets you thousands in savings, while staying connected to Technavios constant transforming research library, helping you make informed business decisions more efficiently.
About Technavio
Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies.
Technavio analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, resellers, and end-users.
If you are interested in more information, please contact our media team at media@technavio.com.
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Global Wearable Security Devices Market to Be Worth USD 5.74 Billion by 2021: Technavio - Business Wire (press release)
Posted: February 11, 2017 at 11:45 am
(CNN) The so-called Mediterranean diet has gained lots of followers because of its perceived health benefits; but what about having your children making the switch to its regimen of natural foods?
The Mediterranean diet is heavy in vegetables, fruit, unrefined grains, and other foods that are good for you. Its been linked to a host of benefits, including longer life, and better bone and heart health.
There are many positive aspects of this style of eating for adults. Nutrition experts say the Mediterranean diet is good for kids too, with some caveats.
The diet calls for skim or low-fat dairy products; pediatricians call for little ones to consume whole milk until age two.Nuts are also included in the diet, something doctors say could be a choking hazard for children under age four.
The Mediterranean diet calls for a moderate amount of wine, which is illegal to consume until age 21 in the United States. Apart from that, signs are emerging that the Mediterranean could be beneficial for children.
A study presented to the European congress on obesity in 2014, found that children who followed it were 15 percent less likely to be obese.Other studies have suggested the diet could lower rates of asthma and wheezing in children.
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Mediterranean diet could lead to lower child obesity rates - wwlp.com
Posted: February 11, 2017 at 11:45 am
Greetings, sweet kittens. It's me, Zara, your digital big sister.
While I love the weekend as much as the next free-wheeling, high heel-wearing, winged liner-sporting, booze-swilling, red-lipsticked PARTY GIRL, 99.9 percent of the mistakes I've made in my life have taken place during the weekend. I've spent one too many Mondays spiraling down the dark vortex of weekend guilt, regret and shame.
But hey, don't fret. Because I'm going to be here every Friday to stop you from the awful weekend fuckups that are screwing up your life. Here's this week's Very Important PSA.
Lets not waste time. This weekend PSA is so painfully real and happens all too often, so I feel VERY strongly about it.
So here it is: Dont diet on the days leading up to a date. Drinking, dieting and dating is a terrible idea.
Look, if youre one of those amazing girl creatures who has an authentically ~positive relationship~ with her body and would never THINK to diet before a date or skipa meal because she wanted to feel prettier and who has never tugged at her flesh in the mirror repeating, I hate myself. I hate myself. I hate myself, then please feel free to click out of this article. It will probably irritate you.
For the record, Im very happy girls like you exist. But Im not a girl like you, even though Ive spent thousands of dollars in therapy and yoga to emulate your wellness. I guess Im just damaged goods or something.
However, I know Im not alone. I happen to know a lot of girls who do (or have done) this kind of destructive shit, too. And it always ends in a total, epic, shame-spiraling disaster.
Now, kittens, the time has come to close your eyes. Its (horror) story time.
A million years ago (OK, maybe like five), I was going to go on a date with a girl I was super excited about. I had been lusting after her from afar for years. When I was still closeted, I had sex dreams about her.
But finally, I was an out-and-proud lez, and eventually, I told a friend, who told a friend, who told her, that I was, uh, interested.
And apparently, she was down for a date!
My little gay boy compatriotMax* came rushing up to me during Drag Queen Bingo one night.
She says youre her type! he gasped.
My heart fluttered. Really?
Yes. Shes going to text you.
I felt sick with excitement. Thats cool, I said, puffing on casually on my ciggie. (Never let them see you sweat, girls.)
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Two nights later, Lana* sent me a text. Hey, Zara. Its Lana. Do you want to grab a drink after work Tuesday?
Bile roseup in my throat. I quickly called my best friend Ruba and screamed, WHAT THE HELL DO I TEXT HER BACK? I WANT TO SEEM CASUAL, BUT ALSO INTO IT BUT CASUAL BUT INTO IT.
Ruba and I agonized over thisuntil we finally crafted the perfectly calculated, seemingly effortless text to send to Lana.
This is sort of like beach waves isnt it? I said to Ruba as Isent the message.
What do you mean beach waves?
Like, when you style your hair into beach-y waves. You spend two hours trying to make it look like you just stepped off a beach on a windy day. So, you spend twice as long trying to make your hair look effortless and messy than you do when you try to make it look styled and sleek.
Oh yeah, Ruba agreed. Beach waves.
Anyway, Tuesday night the night of my date with Lana was only four days away. That was nothing!
So I did what I always do when Im nervous: I went to take a good look at myself in my bathroom mirror and engaged in what my shrinks call negative self-talk.
Youre so hideous. Look at your skin; its full of zits. Massive, open pores. How are you going to clear your goddamn skin up in time for this date? my negative self said to me.
I cant, I whimpered back.
Well, you know what you can do?
What?
You might not be able to clear up your skin by Tuesday, but you can TOTALLYlose weight by Tuesday. Youre looking a little thick.
I pinched the flesh on my upper arm. I am?
Yes. Its OK, though. Just be really strict for the next few days, so you can look good for this date with Lana.
Oh, God. Youre right. Ill only eat fruits and vegetables for the next four days! And Ill go running, too. I promised.
Maybe even throw in some hot yoga? That will get rid of your water weight.
Good idea. I nodded at my negative self in the mirror.
Look, I dont have the best track record when it comes to self-control, but when Im determined to do something, I do it full force, babe.
So for the next four days, I practically starved myself. At work, I would watch my co-workers gorge on pizza and donuts, my mouth watering as I sadly ate my lonely carrot sticks.
Finally, Tuesday came around. I slipped on my deliciously slutty, Courtney Love-looking slip dress, fishnet stockings, patent leather Doc Martin boots and stared at my reflection. I ran my hands across my stomach I had definitely lost some weight.
Well done. My destructive negative-self was pleased.
I looked at my phone. It was 9:00 pm, and I was set to meet Lana at 11:00 pm.
Confession: Im one of those idiots who completely loses her personality when shes attracted to someone.
Im a sassy, talkative bitch most of the time. But when I find you physically beautiful, I completely shut down. I forget words. Im not exciting. I do weird things, like let out horrible tinkles of hysterical laughter at things that arent even remotely funny.
But sometimes, I believed alcohol wouldhelp.
Ill just have a personality drink! I thought to myself as I poured a giant glass of white wine before my date.
And having no food to hold the wine, I felt tipsy off half a glass. I giggled to myself as I slid into a taxi to meet Lana downtown.
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The next morning, I woke up with my heart pounding outside of my chest and a head full of steel nails. I struggled to open up my eyes, asthey felt like they were sealed shut.
Literally, my lashes were stuck together from gobs of sticky mascara, I had to peel them open with my fingers.
OH GOD! I shrieked.
I had a hazy memory of Lana texting me that she was going to be a little late and another hazy memory of ordering a glass of wine and stumbling into the bathroom to apply lipstick.
Then, I had a traumatic, ugly, vile flashback: I remembered beingso wasted, I was holding on to Lanas jean pockets. Then, my memories went right to black.
Yup, thats right. I had a total blackout on my dream date. I couldnt remember a damn thing.
After hours and hours of beating myself up, I finally mustered up the courage to call Lana.
Im so sorry was all I could say.
Yeah, its OK. I just hope youre OK. You were really bombed.
I know. Im sorry. I didnt eat a lot that day. This doesnt usually happen, I lied. I had blacked out from not eating more times than I could ever count. It always ended horribly.
But this was the worst. I had totally blown it with someone I had liked because I had over-dieted and drank too much booze. My radical methods of achieving perfection had backfired once again.
That sleepless night, I really thought about my life. It seemed I was always doing things like this trying too hard to be thin, trying too hard to be liked and trying too hard to be pretty.
In turn, I was destroying myself and scaring away the healthy things I so desperately wanted.
And Lana was a healthy person. Thats why I liked her. Thats why I wanted to look good for her and impress her to begin with.
But healthy people arent drawn to unstable peoplewho starve themselves and black out on first dates.
Some people are drawn to that, like the people I had been attracting before. But those people were toxic energy vampires whogot off on rescuing helpless shits like me.
Two days later, I called Lana again. Look, Im so sorry. That was a huge wake-up call. Can I please have a do over?
Lana hesitantly agreed. And this time, I didnt listen to my negative-self talk. This time, I told her to shut the fuck up because her advice wasnt helping it was hurting me.
So, I ate a solid meal before our date and only had one drink over the course of five hours.
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Yes, I was awkward because Im an awkward person when Im sober, and yes, I felt bloated because I always feel bloated when I eat. But I was aware of everything that was going on.
I didnt realize that not only was booze putting a hazy filter over my feelings, but starvation was, too. When youre hungry, you have a desperation about you. And you cant tell what youre ravenous for another person or a cheeseburger.
And just so you know, Lana and I ended up dating for, like, two years.Though,we wouldnt have ever had a relationship had she not been so kind.
But I dont want you to put yourself in that position.
So eat,girl. Not only do you need to eat so you wont make a fool of yourself on the date, but you also need to eat to be safe.
My blackout that night with Lana was so bad, whoknows what couldve (or DID) happen to me? In fact, I think a lot of terrifying things have happened to me in my life as a result of not eating and drinking too much and then blacking out.
Sometimes, I get weird nightmares of hands grabbing at me and strange flashes of being pulled into cars, and I dont know if theyre a figment of my imagination or if theyre traumatic memories my subconscious is still tortured by.
But Ill never know, which is the most terrifying part.
And all of this is a result of me DIETING (or shall I say starving myself) so I could be prettier.
Really, Im not even pretty when Im dieting.You cant be pretty when youre not giving your body what it needs. And when youre not giving your body what it needs, your body doesnt give your brain what it needs.
And our brain is really the most beautiful part of ourselves. Our thoughts, our feelings, our perspectives on the world they all come from our brains.
Dont screw with your brain. Its too stunning to starve away.
So if youre getting ready for your date tonight, and you skipped dinner in an attempt to feel pretty, I want you to imagine me standing in your doorway.
Im holding up a gorgeous, silver platter from somewhere really bougie, like Tiffanys. On it is a gorgeous plate full of beautifully grilled vegetables, wild rice and sweet potatoes. Its healthy, but its hearty, like us, baby!
Eat this before you go out, honey, I say to you.
You take the plate from steady hands. You notice how happy and healthy I look. Ive been eating fucking MEALS! I say to you, reading your mind.
You eat the meal, and you feel fabulous. You feel ready for your date.
You took care of yourself, and when you take care of yourself, you radiate a really different, attractive energy. Its not needy. Its not desperate. Its balanced, self-aware and independent, and those are all qualities that draw in positive things and people.
And if you feel like you still wantto skip the meal, message me. Your internet lesbian big sister wont let you go on that date without eating. Promise.
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Zara Barrie is a senior writer for Elite Daily. She's consumed by style, sexuality, women, words, fashion and feelings. She identifies as a "mascara lesbian" and lives beyond her means on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.
Original post:
So here it is: Don't diet on the days leading up to a date. Drinking, dieting and dating is a terrible idea. - Elite Daily
Posted: February 11, 2017 at 11:45 am
The construction workers arrived at Kazs Tire Center in Port Richmond in need of some Goodyears and an answer to a burning question: Wheres the pony?
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Coco. The pony of Port Richmond. The delight of East Somerset Street. The chestnut gelding rescued from an abusive fairground who lived behind the tire shop and grew fat and happy from 15 years of love and attention lavished by Kaz Nabavi and his wife, Sedighah.
Too fat, unfortunately.
Kaz and the construction workers sat in the wood-paneled waiting room he keeps decorated with a shrine to his hero, John Wayne.
He would tell them the whole story. He always does.
The horse, said Kaz, solemnly, had to go on a diet.
I first met Kaz a few years ago on a whim. I heard a pony was living behind a tire shop. I met Coco. More importantly, I met Kaz, who is 72 and about as close to a living embodiment of joy as a human being can be.
An Iranian immigrant, he left his homeland in the early 1960s, fleeing the brutality of the shah. He loves his life in America. He loves Sedighah and their two children a doctor and a lawyer. He loves The Duke, and Teddy Roosevelt cowboys, he said. He loves working the polls on Election Day, with his carefully selected slate of candidates, both Republicans and Democrats. He loves the tire shop and the animals he keeps on his land behind it. His Chilean chickens that lay green eggs. His gorgeous peacock and dearly departed rescue goat. The parrot that liked to ride on Cocos back.
Sometimes, Kaz and I discuss politics. And sometimes when all the ugliness makes even Kazs smile fade, well talk about his pony. Kaz always returns to his pony.
Sitting under a portrait of the Duke, Kaz regaled his guests.
One afternoon in late summer, the story goes, Sedighah hurried into the shop. Coco had fallen. Or at least, lay down very fast. She wasnt sure. Kaz went to Coco. There was no just denying it anymore. The horse was too fat.
For months, he had been telling his wife as much.
One lap of hay in the morning, hed remind her. One lap of hay in the evening.
The horse doesnt like that, his wife would say, leaving Coco a feast of a whole bale.
At the market, for every piece of fruit his wife bought Kaz, shed buy two for Coco.
Watermelons and cantaloupes. Apples and carrots. Bananas even.
This is not a monkey, Kaz would say. This is a horse.
And exotic fruits that Kaz had never tasted, let alone name.
Who is the boss of this house? Kaz said. Is it the horse or me?
He tried spreading the hay out so Coco would walk for it.
The horse doesnt like that, Sedighah would say
Then there were the endless snacks from the neighborhoods kids who ignored Kazs sign: Please, do not feed the animal (Horse). Thank you.
Once, Kaz would ride Coco from Port Richmond to Penn's Landing, stopping along the way to give kids rides. Sedigah would ride him, too, with the parrot on the back.
But now, Coco was growing old and round enough that Kaz could no longer fit his legs around him.
He called a doctor.
Give him less food, otherwise hes going to die, the doctor said, prescribing a year of exercise.
Sedighah wasnt impressed.
The doctor doesnt know what hes talking about, she said. The horse likes to eat, give him food.
Kaz thought of a friend who owns a farm, near a lake, with a cozy barn and roomy paddock. Coco could get the exercise he needed.
We put it to pasture, Kaz said. Its the best thing. Of course, I miss him."
Kaz has visited Coco twice. He doesnt look like hes lost any weight. But they take good care of him. And that makes Kaz happy.
But without a pony things werent the same on East Somerset. Sedighah was sad. So was Kaz. And all the kids missed him, said Danny Beck, a roofer across the street, who liked to feed him apples despite the sign.
You got rid of my Coco, one little girl told Kaz, who tried to make her smile. I said, I didnt get rid of him. You did. You fed him too much food.'
Kaz knew what had to be done.
On Thursday, once the snow ended, Kaz put on his jacket and began to clean Cocos old stall. He wants it to be nice when he brings home the brown and white painted pony he bought for himself and Sedighah and East Somerset Street.
Beautiful, he called him. Hell bring him home when the weather breaks. He showed me a picture. It looked a little fat.
Published: February 10, 2017 6:57 PM EST | Updated: February 10, 2017 8:31 PM EST
Here is the original post:
Newall: The pony of Port Richmond goes on a diet - Philly.com
Posted: February 11, 2017 at 11:45 am
Question: With it being American Heart Month, Im curious what dietary changes I should make in order to stave off heart disease? Just trying to be proactive rather than reactive!
Answer: First of all, kudos for focusing on prevention! As far as diet is concerned, there are definitely some modifications you can make, but to be honest, they arent all that new. For starters, you could try following the DASH diet, which stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. This diet focuses on specific amounts of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, and lean proteins. I follow a Whole-Food Plant-Based diet for disease prevention. The WFPB way of eating has even reversed heart disease in numerous studies. It focuses on whole grains, legumes (beans, lentils, and peas), vegetables, fruits, dark leafy greens, daily multivitamin, vitamin B12 supplement, and ground flaxseed. Sounds pretty healthy, right? In fact, the diet has been shown to reduce hypertension, and can also decrease the risk of heart disease and stroke over time. But even if you dont follow a comprehensive diet, you should still try to limit your sodium intake, reduce your intake of saturated and trans fats, moderate your alcohol consumption (no more than 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink per day for women), and increase your intake of omega-3 fatty acids. All of these changes will go a long way in helping to protect your heart, and the rest of your cardiovascular system. If you want additional information, check out the American Heart Association website, http://www.americanheart.org, or consult with a registered dietitian.
Andrea Ivins is the club manager and Zumba Instructor at Anytime Fitness in Palestine, TX. To submit a question for future articles, please contact the author at palestinetx@anytimefitness.com and thrivingivins.com.
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Ask the Anytime Gal: What is the best diet to stave off heart disease ... - Jacksonville Daily Progress
Posted: February 11, 2017 at 11:45 am
At Lilia one of his favorite restaurants. Photo: Miachel Breton
Its an exciting time for Jonathan Rubinstein, the owner of Joe, a highly respected coffee chain that has shops in New York and Philadelphia: Danny Meyers Union Square Hospitality has invested in his company, which means that Joe, which roasts its own beans in Red Hook, will soon pop up in additional cities across the country. This week, Rubinstein mixed business with pleasure eating a hazelnut doughnut at a strategy meeting, birthday cake for an employees birthday, and lamb rag at Lilia, where he collaborated on the coffee program. He also treated his daughter, Sally, to pie, chicken sandwiches, and homemade pasta with butter and Parmesan.
Thursday, February 2My morning coffee routine is definitely a ritual, and as a total morning person, I usually jump out of bed because I cant wait to take my first sip. By 6 a.m. I start boiling water in my kettle and eat a piece of fruit and have half a piece of toast with some peanut butter to put something in my stomach before coffee. Once the water boils, I make a pour-over coffee with beans from one of my Joe shops. Today it is a Brazilian coffee from Santa Ines that we just released. I sit on the couch and savor each sip before my 8-year-old daughter, Sally, wakes up and the day has officially begun. Sally jumps on the bus to school in Red Hook, and I leave our apartment in Brooklyn Heights and catch the train to our office in Chelsea.
By 8 a.m. Im at the office, but today I have an all-day strategy meeting with our new investors, Union Square Hospitality Group. Knowing the way they exceed expectations I have high hopes that they will feed me well. Exceed they do. When I walk into the conference room, there is a gorgeous spread of freshly baked sweet and savory pastries including a passion-fruit danish, a salted hazelnut doughnut with spiced sugar, a tomato-and-olive tart, and a baklava danish with orange blossom.
We have barely finished the pastries when lunch is served: Union Square Events family meal of mushroom, carrot, and fava-bean salad, salmon tartines, and hake with sweet potato pure. Some family meal!
We end the day with drinks and snacks at Porchlight, where I wind down with a pint of Other Halfs IPA, an amazing smoky beef jerky made in-house, and peanut hummus with vegetables.
I am pretty satiated from a full day of eating, so my late-night dinner is a pint of raspberries.
Friday, February 3 My morning routine is exactly the same as yesterdays, except my coffee of choice today is our Papua New Guinea from the Baroida Estate, roasted just yesterday at our roastery in Red Hook.
On my way into work, I stop by Daily Provisions for opening day. We are the wholesale partner working on their coffee program, so I wanted to stop by and taste for quality, which is spot-on. I also have a scrambled-egg-and-spinach gougres, which is super yummy, and they also send me off with a fresh loaf of rye bread by baker Justin Rosengarten, which my staff devours as soon as I step in the office.
At noon, I run to a meeting in the Village and take a quick detour on the way, to Citarella, which in my opinion has the best salad bar and is the best deal in the city. I know people are very into the designer-salad trend, but I still like making my own and only spending $6 on it.
At 2 p.m., Im back at Joe HQ. Today is our director of retails birthday, so we gather in our Pro Shop space for a quick celebration. He doesnt eat sugar or carbohydrates, basically just meat and vegetables, so we grill him a steak and the rest of us have vegan chocolate cake from Whole Foods.
Dinner tonight is at one of my favorite restaurants, Lilia. Missy Robbins has been a friend and a customer for many years and its incredible to see her vision turned into a reality, not to mention one of the most celebrated restaurants in the country. We collaborated on her coffee program for Lilia and I stop by the Caff whenever Im in the area. Tonight, for dinner with a friend, we go all-out: two glasses of wine, a grilled radicchio salad, roasted trumpet mushrooms, scallops, Missys famous and incredible lamb-rag pasta, and of course, an olive-oil cake with soft serve for dessert.
Saturday, February 4 Coffee ritual on repeat with a side of blueberries and raspberries. A few hours later, I have one scrambled egg and half an avocado, both of which have been rejected by Sally. Her birthday party is this afternoon so she cant think about anything else and I have to threaten to cancel it if she doesnt agree to eat breakfast. In between birthday-party errands, which take us to downtown Brooklyn, we grab lunch at Hill Country Chicken a chicken sandwich for Sally and a kale salad with grilled chicken, sweet potato, and pine nuts for me.
Sallys birthday party is at Karaoke Cave, which is connected to Le Midi, a classic-style French bistro near Union Square, which randomly also has karaoke rooms in the basement. Over the course of the party, while 24 8-year-olds are belting Taylor Swift, I am fairly sure I ate two full plates of their delicious bistro-style French fries and half of the chicken fingers I ordered for the kids.
Birthday cake is literally my favorite dessert and I could eat an entire cake from One Girl Cookies on a daily basis. Sally has never liked birthday cake and always insists on pie for her birthday. I know her birthday is supposed to be about her, but I cant help but indulge the child in me we splurge and serve both.
After the party, we drive out to New Jersey to for a sleepover with two families I have known since high school and who have kids that Sally loves. When we get there, my friends have ordered Mexican food from Tinga in Millburn and it is delicious.
Sunday, February 5 Naturally, I am on coffee duty and make four Chemexes of Joes house-blend for the parents who slept over. (Yes, I packed an entire suitcase of Chemexes, a grinder, a scale, an electric water kettle, filters, and a bag of beans.) For breakfast, I have both a bowl of cereal and leftover rice and beans.
When we get back to the city, Sally goes to see a play with her grandparents and I meet up with my friend Missy, who is in the process of expanding her new business, Fresh Coat Nails. I love talking with entrepreneurs about growth and new ideas. We have brunch at Soho House, and while Im really not a private club kind of guy, they do have the best brunch buffet on the planet. I have a little bit of everything: grain salad, oysters, shrimp, salmon, and vanilla layer cake. Yay, two consecutive days of cake, my favorite dessert!
Im too full to eat dinner tonight, but I make Sally the go-to meal that kids, and parents, love: pasta with butter and Parmesan cheese. I sneak a few bites.
Monday, February 6 Coffee ritual Grind. Brew. Repeat.
On my way to work, I stop by Pret a Manger for a Southwestern egg-white wrap, and after catching up on emails, I head out late morning to visit a few Joe shops. I have a taste of our house coffee at our Union Square shop on 13th Street between 5th Avenue and University Place, then I continue onto the West Village for a straight shot of espresso at our Waverly Place shop, the original Joe. The shop always feel like coming home to me.
Sallys favorite weekend hobby is playing store I pay her a $1 an hour and shell bus tables, give them refills on their water, wash dishes. Shes very proud of Joe and feels like she has ownership.
Lunch today is broiled chicken with sweet potatoes and roasted cauliflower from Whole Foods I do my best to keep my diet lean and clean during the week, and Whole Foods has so many tasty but healthy to-go options.
Sally has a doctors appointment in Park Slope, the last appointment of the day, and we are both famished when we arrive. I think I may be the only person in the history of the world to order ramen delivered to a doctors office, but I do it. Its my first time ordering from Wasan, a Japanese restaurant on Bergen Street, but we will definitely add it to our list of delivery go-tos.
Tuesday, February 7 Coffee routine, of course.
Lunch from Whole Foods again: braised chicken, steamed broccoli, and some arugula.
I realize I havent been cooking as much as I should lately, so for dinner I make Sally some broiled salmon with soy sauce, maple syrup, garlic, and sesame oil, plus Brussels sprouts and mashed potatoes. Its one of her favorite meals and we both feel good about eating it.
My family situation is unique because Im a single father by choice. Im a gay dad who had a baby by surrogate, and I try to make our lives as normal as I can in a lot of ways, and cooking is a big part of that, especially in New York. My job is demanding and its a demanding time because we just closed on the investment and were expanding a lot and as a parent, I try to get as much quality time with her as I can.
Once she falls asleep, I open a bottle of cabernet and start to binge-watch Difficult People. I fall asleep on the couch soon after.
An industry insider calls it probably one of the biggest numbers Ive heard.
Birthday cake is literally my favorite dessert I cant help but indulge the child in me.
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Joe Coffee's Jonathan Rubinstein Splurges on Pie and Cake for Birthdays - Grub Street
Posted: February 10, 2017 at 8:46 am
Edmund Fountain / Food & Environment Reporting Network
Theresa Dardar is leading an effort among several Louisiana tribes to restore their food sovereigntythe sustainable production of healthy, culturally appropriate foodas the land around them disintegrates.
When Theresa Dardar was growing up in Houma, her mother used to take her to visit relatives in the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribe community. They would drive 20 miles toward the Gulf of Mexico, park at the local grocery store, and ask someone to ferry them across the bayou. From there, theyd walk across land thick with oak, hackberry, and palmetto until they reached her grandfathers house.
Dardars grandfather raised chickens and pigs. Next door, her uncle raised cattle. Even at 62, Dardar carries a vivid memory of her grandfather dipping a cup into the blood of a freshly slaughtered pig and drinking it. He would send some of the pork home with Dardars mother, who would make it into boudin sausages. She would also bring home some of the redfish he caught in the waters near his home.
This story is a collaboration between the Food & Environment Reporting Network, which focuses on investigative and explanatory reporting about food, agriculture and environmental health; Gravy, which explores stories of the changing American South through the foods we eat; and The Lens, which covers public-policy issues facing New Orleans and the Gulf Coast.
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Back then, tribal members fed themselves wellwith seafood, of course, but also with the livestock they raised, the fruits and vegetables they planted, and the marsh hens they extricated from their fur traps. They hunted for turtle and alligator, too, and gathered medicinal plants from the land.
Thats because there was land. Viewed from above in the early 20th century, Pointe-au-Chien was surrounded by a dense thicket of green, broken up by splashes of blue. Those proportions flipped over Dardars lifetime. The land vanished until the community became a narrow neck of high ground surrounded almost entirely by open water. The area immediately around Terrebonne Bay, which includes Pointe-au-Chien, went from 10 percent water in 1916 to 90 percent in 2016, according to geographer Rebekah Jones, a Ph.D. candidate at Florida State University. The U.S. Geological Survey said the larger Terrebonne Basin lost almost 30 percent of its land from 1932 to 2010.
Today, the property surrounding Dardars grandfathers home bears little resemblance to the place she visited as a child. Theres no more trees, she said. Theres a little strip of land where he and my uncle lived. The piece of land is so small now that I dont think anyone would be able to live there.
This is the dilemma Dardar spends much of her time agonizing over. She has lived in Pointe-au-Chien for more than 40 years, in a house overlooking a bayou lined with shrimp boats. (Pointe-au-Chien means Dog Point; the larger rural community is often called Pointe-aux-Chenes, or Oak Point.) She has served as a deckhand on her husband Donalds shrimping boat and has skinned the nutria he once trapped in the winters. Shes watched that shrimping business dwindle, and the trapping business disappear altogether. And shes seen neighbors give up on their gardens and animals.
Dardar isnt sitting back, though. She and her tribe are trying out new ways to grow vegetables and medicinal plants even as the land around them vanishes. She heads an intertribal effort to restore food sovereigntythe sustainable production of healthy and culturally appropriate foodto a half-dozen of Louisianas Native American communities. That effort might inform all of us about how to feed ourselves during these times of environmental stress.
Edmund Fountain / Food & Environment Reporting Network
Island Road connects Pointe-au-Chien with Isle de Jean Charles, which has lost 98 percent of its island home since 1955. At high tide, the road is sometimes covered with water, making it impassable for school buses.
The land loss faced by the 680-member Pointe-au-Chien tribe is one of the central facts of life south of New Orleans. Each year, about 16 square miles vanish from the Louisiana coast. The levees along the Mississippi River have starved the area of the sediment needed to replenish a sinking delta. The dredging of 10,000 miles of canals by the oil and gas industry has sucked saltwater inland, killing the vegetation that holds the mud together. And climate change is accelerating global sea-level rise, which promises to overtake subsidence as a key factor in land loss during the next century.
Edmund Fountain / Food & Environment Reporting Network
A boater passes a floodgate under construction in Bayou Pointe-aux-Chenes.
Whats more, as the barrier islands to the south have disappeared, Pointe-au-Chien has become more open to storm damage. In 1985, Hurricane Juan flooded the Dardars mobile home; the couple, along with Donalds grandmother, took shelter in a small boat. The couple built an elevated house after thatits now common to see houses built up on stiltsand a small levee went up in their backyard. But they remain vulnerable: 2008s Hurricane Gustav blew off part of the Dardars porch, tore a hole in their roof, and destroyed other houses. Less than two weeks later, the community was flooded by storm surge from Hurricane Ike.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is trying to protect communities like Pointe-au-Chien with a controversial $13 billion project called Morganza to the Gulf98 miles of earthen levees punctuated by floodgates. A levee is going up immediately behind the tribal headquarters, at the edge of open water that used to be cattle pasture. Dardar believes the levee will buy us a few years, but only if the community doesnt suffer a direct hit by a fearsome storm. Its in Gods hands; lets put it that way, she said. Some scientists agree the project will have limited benefit, particularly considering the price tag.
Sitting on the back porch of her tribes headquarters, Dardar looked over a small, scrubby yard with a row of small trees at the back. Beyond that, a dump truck revved and beeped as it poured dirt for the levee. Dardar recalled wondering why the project was called Morganza to the Gulf, because the levee doesnt go to the Gulf. Then she realized: The Gulf of Mexico will come to us.
Not only do land loss and flooding make it harder to raise livestock, planting fruits and vegetables also gets tricky. When I grew up, everybody had a garden, said tribal council member Christine Verdin, who is 57. My grandma had probably five different species of figs. She had orange trees, satsumas, navels. She had lemon trees. She had her own peaches. And because of the water coming in, it just ruined all her plants and all her trees.
Edmund Fountain / Food & Environment Reporting Network
Christine Verdin stands in front of her wrecked childhood home next to the Pointe-au-Chien Indian Tribes community center. The home was damaged by Hurricane Rita in 2005.
Theresa Dardars 83-year-old mother-in-law, Nazia Dardar, maintains a large garden in a backyard filled with fruit trees, Muscovy ducks, and roosters. She sells her surplus produce to neighbors. But shes one of the few holdouts who arent discouraged by repeated flooding.
Imports of cheap shrimp have driven prices so low at the dock that commercial shrimpers like Donald Dardar can hardly justify the cost of fuel and ice.That leaves the tribes traditional mainstay, seafood. But even that is becoming a luxury. Imports of cheap shrimp have driven prices so low at the dock that commercial shrimpers like Donald Dardar can hardly justify the cost of fuel and ice. Local crabbers report significant drops in their yields since the 2010 BP oil spill. (It is one of several possible causes.) And the federal government warns that accelerating wetlands loss in Louisiana endangers the nurseries for many species of fish and shellfish.
With residents replacing seafood with store-bought chicken, pork, and beef, the tribal culture is suffering, too. We dont see each other as much, Dardar said. Before the spill, Donalds brother used to do a crab boil at least three, four times a week on the side of the bayou. No invitation was needed: The community would pass by, and they would stop and wed visit. Theyd eat. That tradition ended after the crab haul became sporadic. It all fell apart, she said.
Edmund Fountain / Food & Environment Reporting Network
Nazia Dardar handles bags of beans and okra seeds from her freezer in Pointe-au-Chien.
Its not just Pointe-au-Chien. Across southeastern Louisiana, tribes are grappling with what land loss means for their dinner plates, their traditions, and their health.
We are stewards of the environment: protect first, use second, said Shirell Parfait-Dardar, traditional chief of the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw tribe. (Dardar is a common name across tribes.) The 450-member tribe, which has fanned north from its original home at the edge of the Gulf, used to raise dairy cattle and poultry, she said. But flooding has ruled out ethical husbandry.
We will not suffer any animal, said Parfait-Dardar, who lives in Chauvin, southeast of Houma. A south wind comes through here, and thats ityouve got yards covered. We can get out of the way of the waters. Animals dont have that benefit. Theyre stuck where you put them. And we will not subject them to that.
As the tribe has moved away from self-reliance, family diets have shifted toward processed food. The boxed dinners, they are very convenient, Parfait-Dardar said. You can get a ton of them, 10 for $10. And for a family as big as mineI have four children [and] my husband doesnt make all that much moneyweve got to stretch that dollar to feed our kids. The health consequences, though, have been predictable. We have a very high rate of high cholesterol, she said of the tribe. Diabetes is rampant. And its all got to do with our diet.
Before the spill, Donalds brother used to do a crab boil at least three, four times a week on the side of the bayou. The community would pass by, and they would stop and wed visit. Theyd eat.Theresa DardarThese are issues that Native Americans deal with nationally. If you take the food desert map and overlay it with where tribal lands are, there is pretty much a direct correlation, said Lea Zeise, a New Orleans-based staffer for the Intertribal Agriculture Council. Its no coincidence, experts say, that Native Americans are twice as likely as whites to be diagnosed with diabetes and are at high risk for heart disease and stroke. The disruption of traditional agriculture and hunting has resulted in increased consumption of fattypical of the contemporary western diet, writes physician Dorothy Gohdes in the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases reference book Diabetes in America.
Some Louisiana tribes have decided they cant tackle the problems alone. Six have joined together to discuss innovative ways to reclaim their food sovereignty. Calling themselves the First Peoples Conservation Council, they meet every three months, along with representatives from nonprofits and the U.S. Department of Agricultures Natural Resources Conservation Service. Theresa Dardar serves as president.
Five of the tribes are coastal. None of them is recognized by the U.S. government, though most are recognized by the state of Louisiana, which has less restrictive standards. Besides Pointe-au-Chien and Grand Caillou/Dulac, they include the 600-member Isle de Jean Charles Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw, which has lost 98 percent of its island home since 1955 and last year received a $48 million federal grant to relocate inland. (Isle de Jean Charles is three miles from Pointe-au-Chien but considerably more exposed. Most of the members, including the chief, have already left the island.)
Rounding out the councils coastal members are the Bayou Lafourche Band of the Biloxi-Chitimacha, whose 600 members have been forced inland by devastating hurricanes, and the Grand Bayou Village Atakapa-Ishak/Chawasha tribe, whose 14 homes in Plaquemines Parish are accessible only by boat. Grand Bayous tribe has 400 members, but most live away from the village, in part because of the challenges of living with land loss.
These meetings are hours-long brainstorming sessions that draw from the collective wisdom of the tribes and the technical expertise of the government and nonprofit groups. Some of the discussions center around programs the Agriculture Department funds, like plastic-covered hoop houses to protect vegetable gardens. (The U-shaped metal structures extend growing seasons, minimize soil erosion, and protect against pests and wind.) They talk about lobbying for federal recognition of soft-shell crab as a farm commodity, which could make producers eligible for crop insurance, disaster loans, and federal subsidies. And they discuss 21st-century ways to share traditional knowledge, like an Excel spreadsheet to record changes in growing seasons.
Edmund Fountain / Food & Environment Reporting Network
Nazia Dardar (left) and her daughter-in-law Theresa Dardar walk through their garden in Pointe-au-Chien.
On a December morning at the Agriculture Departments office in the St. Charles Parish town of Luling, representatives from four tribes got together for the final First Peoples Conservation Council meeting of 2016. There were greetings in French, a prayer in English, and a business agenda that extended well beyond lunchtime.
Zeise of the Intertribal Agriculture Council reported on a federal grant her organization had received to develop marketing cooperatives, which the tribes could use to sell products like dried shrimp. Wed have to start small, said Rosina Philippe, an elder from Grand Bayou Village. We know the process of drying shrimp. But as far as the business side of it, thats something that wed have to learn.
Edmund Fountain / Food & Environment Reporting Network
Just beyond Theresa Dardars backyard in Pointe-au-Chien is a levee, built after Hurricane Juan. On the other side, you can see where water has replaced land.
But is there interest in learning that kind of stuff? Zeise asked.
Yes, Philippe said. We talk about it all the time. We just dont know how to put the next foot forward.
Philippe also talked about a project her tribe, which is not protected by levees, is working on: gardens in boxes that can be lifted with pulleys. Grand Bayou Village has tried traditional raised-bed gardens, but they have proven impractical. Tides have been higher, she explained to me afterward. In storm events, we get more water, so they get inundated with saltwater. That kills the plants. Hence the idea of gardens that can be raised and lowered mechanically. They could grow typical vegetables like tomatoes, along with traditional medicines and indigenous plants like wild celery and parsley. Philippe also described plans to create a floating garden by mounting a container on top of a 4-foot-by-8-foot section of plastic dock.
Like their ancestors did, the tribes are thinking about their childrens childrenseven generations down the line. The councils conversations are starting to bear fruit now, albeit on a modest scale. Down in Chauvin, Shirell Parfait-Dardarinspired by discussions of raised-bed gardenshas built one of her own using recycled materials, including old trampoline parts that serve as a trellis for green beans. In Pointe-au-Chien, Theresa Dardars husband Donald has started growing vegetables under a federally subsidized hoop house behind the couples home. The couple was spurred to act after Theresa talked with a Department of Agriculture staffer who attends council meetings.
Edmund Fountain / Food & Environment Reporting Network
Chief Shirell Parfait-Dardar, of the Grand Caillou/Dulac Band of Biloxi-Chitimacha-Choctaw Indians, stands behind the trellis for her green beans, made of old trampoline parts.
Pointe-au-Chiens big project, still in its early phases, is to build a greenhouse for medicinal plants and possibly vegetables. Christine Verdin, the tribal council member, hopes the effort will teach children about gardening and will produce crops that people can transfer to their own yards. If we can get things started here in this greenhouse, she said, Im hoping it will multiply.
More than any individual project, whats instructive about the First Peoples Conservation Council is the pooling of wisdom. Federal staffers provide technical guidance, but dont steer the conversation. This, Zeise said, is refreshing. Its a solutions-based relationshipand not just the solutions that the [Agriculture Department] already has in mind, but the solutions that actually match the cultural and subsistence needs of the community, she said.
One of those staffers, conservationist Randolph Joseph, said thats the principle: People with a wide range of experiences, working in collaboration, stand the best chance of coming up with innovative responses to threats like land loss and saltwater intrusion.
If we can get things started here in this greenhouse, Im hoping it will multiply.Christine VerdinIts going to take their creativity to solve that problem, he said. Once they get it down, then maybe we can help them to perfect it, to expand on it, to make it more efficientand maybe [we can] adopt some of the practices that theyre using, that we may not have knowledge of. We dont have all the answers to their issues. But I think working together, we can find some practices that will work.
Joseph hopes the conservation council can become a model for tribal and non-tribal communities. Louisianas coastal tribes are some of North Americas first responders: Theyre dealing with disaster ahead of most of us. But these environmental problems wont remain isolated: In the Terrebonne Basin alone, the coastline could eventually creep north to the suburbs of Houma, according to state and federal coastal experts.
Indeed, other communities will have to contend with how to feed themselves in the face of climate change and coastal erosion. Were on the front lines and its going to spread, Parfait-Dardar said. By trying solutions and sharing what works, she added, we can help make a difference. We have to consider what were leaving behind for the next seven generations.
This story was reported and written by Barry Yeoman, a freelance journalist based in Durham, North Carolina. Eve Abrams and Thomas Walsh recorded the audio. Edmund Fountain, a photographer based in New Orleans, made the pictures.
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Reclaiming native ground: Can Louisiana's tribes restore their traditional diets as waters rise? - The Lens
Posted: February 10, 2017 at 8:46 am
Organic Authority | 7 Health Trends to Trash in 2017: From Fad Diets to Belfies Organic Authority Waist Trainers Despite the fact that there is no scientific proof that these modern corsets work to whittle down your waist, they are more popular than ever. Experts say that wearing one incorrectly or for an extended period of time can damage your body. |
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7 Health Trends to Trash in 2017: From Fad Diets to Belfies - Organic Authority
Posted: February 10, 2017 at 8:46 am
Low-carb diets work.
That is pretty much a scientific fact at this point.
At least 23 high quality studies in humans have shown this to be true.
In many cases, a low-carb diet causes 2-3 times more weight loss as the standard low-fat diet that were still being told to follow (1, 2).
Low-carb diets also appear to have an outstanding safety profile. No serious side effects have been reported.
In fact, the studies show that these diets cause major improvements in many important risk factors (3).
Triglycerides go way down and HDL goes way up. Blood pressure and blood sugar levels also tend to decrease significantly (4, 5, 6, 7).
A high percentage of the fat lost on a low carb diet comes from the belly area and the liver. This is the dangerous visceral fat that builds up in and around the organs, driving inflammation and disease (8, 9, 10).
These diets are particularly effective for people with metabolic syndrome and/or type 2 diabetes. The evidence is overwhelming.
However, there is a lot of controversy about why these diets work.
People like to debate the mechanism, the stuff that is actually going on in our organs and cells that makes the weight go off.
Unfortunately, this is not fully known, and chances are that it is multifactorial as in, there are many different reasons why these diets are so effective (11).
In this article, I take look at some of the most convincing explanations for the effectiveness of low carb diets.
Insulin is a very important hormone in the body.
It is the main hormone that regulates blood sugar levels and energy storage.
One of the functions of insulin is to tell fat cells to produce and store fat, and to hold on to the fat that they already carry.
It also tells other cells in the body to pick up glucose (blood sugar) from the bloodstream, and burn that instead of fat.
So, insulin stimulates lipogenesis (production of fat) and inhibits lipolysis (the burning of fat).
It is actually well established that low-carb diets lead to drastic and almost immediate reductions in insulin levels (12, 13).
Here is a graph from one study on low-carb diets (14).
Photo source: Diet Doctor.
According to many experts on low-carb diets, including Gary Taubes and the late Dr. Atkins, lower insulin levels are the main reason for the effectiveness of low-carb diets.
They have claimed that, when carbs are restricted and insulin levels go down, the fat isnt locked away in the fat cells anymore and becomes accessible for the body to use as energy, leading to reduced need for eating.
However, Id like to point out that many respected obesity researchers do not believe this to be true, and do not think the carbohydrate-insulin hypothesis of obesity is supported by the evidence.
Bottom Line: Blood levels of the hormone insulin go way down when carb intake is reduced. High insulin levels contribute to fat storage, and low insulin levels facilitate fat burning.
In the first 1-2 weeks of low carb eating, people tend to lose weight very quickly.
The main reason for this is reduction in water weight.
The mechanism behind it is two-fold:
This does not happen to nearly the same extent on a higher carb diet, even if calories are reduced significantly.
Even though some people use this as an argument against low-carb diets, reduced water weight should be considered an advantage.
I mean, who wants to carry around excess bloat and water weight all the time?
Anyway, despite claims to the contrary, this is far from being the main weight loss advantage of low-carb diets.
The studies clearly show that low-carb diets lead to more fat being lost as well, especially the dangerous belly fat found in the abdominal cavity (8, 16).
So, part of the weight loss advantage of low-carb diets is explained by reductions in water weight, but there is still a major fat loss advantage as well.
Bottom Line: When people go low-carb, they lose significant amounts of excess water from their bodies. This explains the rapid weight loss seen in the first week or two.
In most studies where low carb and low fat diets are compared, the low carb groups end up eating much more protein.
This is because people replace many low-protein foods (grains, sugars) with higher protein foods like meat, fish and eggs.
Numerous studies show that protein can reduce appetite, boost metabolism, and help increase muscle mass, which is metabolically active and burns calories around the clock (17, 18, 19, 20).
Many nutrition experts believe that the high protein content of low-carb diets is the main reason for their effectiveness.
Bottom Line: Low carb diets tend to be much higher in protein than low fat diets. Protein can reduce appetite, boost metabolism and help people hold on to muscle mass despite restricting calories.
Although this is controversial, many experts do believe that low carb diets have a metabolic advantage.
In other words, that low carb diets increase your energy expenditure, and that people lose more weight than can be explained by reduced calorie intake alone.
There are actually some studies to support this.
A study conducted in 2012 found that a very low carb diet increased energy expenditure compared to a low fat diet, during a period of weight maintenance (21).
The increase was around 250 calories, which is equivalent to an hour of moderate-intensity exercise per day!
However, another study has suggested that it may be the high protein (but not low carb) part of the diet that causes the increase in calories burned (22).
That being said, there are other mechanisms that may cause an additional metabolic advantage.
On a very low carb, ketogenic diet, when carb intake is kept extremely low, a lot of protein is being transformed into glucose in the beginning, a process called gluconeogenesis (23).
This is an inefficient process, and can lead to hundreds of calories being wasted. However, this is mostly temporary as ketones should start replacing some of that glucose as brain fuel within a few days (24).
Bottom Line: Low-carb diets appear to have a metabolic advantage, but most of it is caused by the increased protein intake. In the beginning of a very low carb, ketogenic diet, some calories are wasted when glucose is produced.
Low carb diets automatically exclude some of the worlds most fattening junk foods.
This includes sugar, sugary drinks, fruit juices, pizzas, white bread, french fries, pastries and most unhealthy snacks.
There is also an obvious reduction in variety when you eliminate most high-carb foods, especially given that wheat, corn and sugar are in almost all processed foods.
It is well known that increased food variety can drive increased calorie intake (25).
Many of these foods are also highly rewarding, and the reward value of foods can impact how many calories we end up eating (26).
So, reduced food variety and reduced intake of highly rewarding junk foods should both contribute to a reduced calorie intake.
Bottom Line: Low carb diets exclude many foods that are highly rewarding and extremely fattening. These diets also have less food variety, which may lead to reduced calorie intake.
Probably the single biggest explanation for the weight loss effects of low carb diets, is their powerful effects on appetite.
It is well established that when people go low carb, their appetite goes down and they start eating fewer calories automatically (27).
In fact, studies that compare low carb and low fat diets usually restrict calories in the low-fat groups, while the low-carb groups are allowed to eat until fullness (28).
Despite that, the low carb groups still usually lose more weight.
There are many possible explanations for this appetite reducing effect, some of which we have already covered.
The increased protein intake is a major factor, but there is also evidence that ketosis can have a powerful effect (29).
Many people who go on a ketogenic diet feel that they only need to eat 1 or 2 meals per day. They simply dont get hungry more often.
There is also some evidence that low carb diets can have beneficial effects on appetite regulating hormones like leptin and ghrelin (30).
Bottom Line: Low carb diets lead to an automatic reduction in calorie intake, so that people eat fewer calories without having to think about it.
Even though low carb diets are very effective in the short-term, the long-term results are not that great.
Most studies that last for 1-2 years show that the difference between the low-carb and low-fat groups mostly disappears.
There are many possible explanations for this, but the most plausible one is that people tend to abandon the diet over time, and start gaining the weight back.
This is not specific to low carb diets, and is a well known problem in most long-term weight loss studies. Most diets are incredibly hard to stick to.
Some people refuse to accept that low carb diets can work, and that people can eat as much as they want, because that must violate the calories in, calories out model.
However, when you understand the mechanisms behind low carb diets, you can see that the CICO model is not being violated, and the laws of thermodynamics still hold.
The truth is, low carb diets work on both sides of the calorie equation.
They boost your metabolism (increasing calories out) and lower your appetite (reducing calories in), leading to automatic calorie restriction.
Calories still count, its just that low carb diets automate the process and help prevent the biggest side effect of conscious calorie restriction, which is hunger.
See more here:
Why do Low Carb Diets Work? The Mechanism Explained
