The Atkins diet, created by Dr Robert Atkins and popularised in his initial book published in the early 1970s, is very low in carbohydrate and high in protein and fat.

It's based on the theory that when we consume very little carbohydrate, the body will burn fat for energy.

It's also claimed that eating very little carbohydrate will reduce the body's production of insulin, keeping blood sugar levels steady and food cravings at bay.

Dieters follow four phases to achieve weight loss.

Phase one: Every meal includes protein-rich foods (any kind of meat, poultry, seafood, eggs, cheese) and only selected low-carbohydrate vegetables (such as mushrooms, lettuce, cucumber).

Extra fats from oils, cream or butter (as well as the fat on meat) are permitted but all fruits, many vegetables, all kinds of grains, legumes, milk and all sugars are excluded.

This phase needs to be continued for at least two weeks.

Phase two: Same as phase one, except you can introduce nuts, seeds, legumes, more vegetables (but only those low in carbohydrate) and a small amount of low-carbohydrate fruit such as berries and melon, plus full-fat yoghurt.

This phase continues until you are within 5 kilograms of your desired weight.

We've examined seven popular diets to find out what you can eat and whether they work.

Phases three and four: Progressing into the maintenance phases, you can eat a wider variety of vegetables, legumes, fruits and a few wholegrains such as oats and brown rice.

The maximum amount of carbohydrates starts at 20g per day in phase one and increases to 25-60g per day in phase two.

Once in phase four, you increase your carbohydrate by 10g each week until you find a point of 'balance' at which your weight is stable.

Although it claims not to restrict kilojoules, so many foods are excluded that the total kilojoule count per day is below usual levels.

Induction phase:

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs with cheese, steamed spinach.

Snack: Atkins-approved powdered vanilla shake.

Lunch: Roast beef, mixed greens, tomato, and radish.

Snack: Atkins-approved chocolate.

Dinner: Grilled salmon, roasted asparagus, tomatoes, endive.

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You are likely to lose weight on this diet, but research has shown it is no more effective in the long-term than more balanced diets.

The rigid approach to this diet may make it easy for some people to follow at least in the short term but studies suggest in the long term, it's too regimented for many people to stick to.

Various supplements were initially made by an affiliated company.

Thinking about trying a new diet? Before you do, read this advice from Dr Sandro Demaio.

Ownership has since passed to different companies and modern versions of the diet have reduced the protein content to some extent and recommended healthier fats such as olive or other liquid oils and avocado.

However, dieters are still given advice that contradicts what the vast majority of health experts recommend.

For instance, they are told a double cheeseburger with extra bacon (a meal high in salt and saturated fat) is fine as long as they reject the bun.

There is some evidence that low carbohydrate diets may be useful for some people with type 2 diabetes, at least in the short-term.

Overall though, the vast majority of medical experts consider the cons outweigh the pros.

The risk of heavy red meat consumption is problematic as the World Cancer Research Fund says that a high intake of red meat, especially processed meat, raises the risk of bowel cancer.

Are the fruit and veggies you're buying about to go rotten? Armed with the right information, you can pick the freshest produce when shopping at the supermarket.

Current guidelines in Australia suggest eating a maximum of seven serves of lean red meat a week, which is equivalent to around 655g raw red meat a week.

And in spite of some conflicting research findings about saturated fats, the evidence linking this type of fat with heart disease remains strong.

Many studies also back the importance of including wholegrains and a wide range of fruits and vegetables, as well as certain dairy products that are restricted in the Atkins diet.

This is general information only. For detailed personal advice, you should see a qualified medical practitioner who knows your medical history.

This story, which was originally written by Pamela Wilson and published by ABC Health and Wellbeing, has been reviewed by Dr Rosemary Stanton OAM, nutritionist and visiting fellow, School of Medical Sciences, University of NSW, and was updated in 2019.

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How does the Atkins diet work and will it help me lose weight? - ABC Local

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Reaching for a snack between mealtimes or postworkout is something we all do. And sometimes that snack is whatever is at the gas station or something packaged and tasty (but not always healthy) from the vending machine at work. But everything we eat can affect our gut health and risk for heart disease, so we can be more strategic about our snacking.

According to new research published in the Journal of Nutrition, swapping out your usual salty or sweet afternoon pick-me-up for walnuts can have some serious heart health benefits.

Researchers looked at 42 participants who were overweight or obese and were between the ages of 30 and 65. Before the study began, everyone was placed on a diet that mirrored an average American diet (where 12 percent of daily calories came from saturated fat) for two weeks. Then, participants switched to diets that were lower in saturated fat, where 7 percent of daily calories came from saturated fat, and incorporated walnuts. After munching on two handfuls of walnuts daily for six weeks in place of snacks like chips or crackers, all participants saw lower cholesterol levels and gut bacteria that improved their risk of heart disease. (Its important to note that typically one serving of walnuts is one ounceabout one handful.)

This is likely because eating whole walnuts daily lowers cholesterol levels and blood pressure, study authors Penny Kris-Etherton, Ph.D., distinguished professor of nutrition and Kristina Petersen, Ph.D., assistant research professor, both in the department of nutritional sciences at Penn State University explained to Bicycling. And while the researchers said that this study showed correlation, not causation, previous research published in the Journal of the American Heart Association also found that adding walnuts to a persons diet can help lower blood pressure, especially when they are replacing foods high in saturated fat.

[Want to fly up hills? Climb! gives you the workouts and mental strategies to conquer your nearest peak.]

As for how gut health affects your risk of heart disease? That may be due in part to the fact that walnuts contain fiber, which can positively affect gut bacteria. Additionally, the unsaturated fats and omega-3s in walnuts can contribute to favorable gut microbiomeswhich may aid in lowering blood pressure, leading to a lower risk for heart disease according to Kris-Etherton and Petersen.

Overall, swapping out unhealthy snacks for a serving of walnuts or other nuts is a relatively small change that will have major health benefitsand is easier than doing a radical diet or exercise overhaul, Kris-Etherton and Petersen said.

And, its not just people at risk for heart disease, the study authors explained. Nuts are recommended in many heart-healthy diets, such the Mediterranean diet. Its a great way to encourage people who are already healthy to stay healthy, Petersen said.

In full disclosure, this one study was supported by grants from the The California Walnut Commission. However, there have been ample amounts of independent research on all the heart healthy components of nuts such as omega-3s, unsaturated fats, and fiber. Plus, adding nuts to your diet promotes healthy aging and can help prevent against risk of chronic disease, previous research published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found. So, even if you are healthy in your 20s or 30s, as you age, blood pressure and cholesterol levels increase, which is why eating a heart-healthy diet is important no matter your age or activity level, the study authors explained.

The bottom line: snacking on nuts is something people can do now to maintain health, rather than waiting until later in life. While this study looked at walnuts specifically, the researchers pointed out that adding a variety of nuts can help a person keep up this healthy habit, as eating walnuts daily may get boring. Its much harder to reverse disease once it comes about, so prevention is key, Kris-Etherton said.

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Study Shows the Benefits of Walnuts Include Boosting Gut and Heart Health - Bicycling

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Taylor Swift attends the 2019 American Music Awards in Los Angeles, Nov. 24, 2019.

In college, Id spend 45 minutes on the elliptical machine, then spend an hour at an exercise class. Id eat Raisin Bran for lunch, then rice with peas, maybe with a little cheese on top, for dinner. If I only ate a bag of microwave popcorn for lunch a meal, Id later learn, that was a universal signifier of disordered eating my friends would give me the side-eye, until one day, they sat me down and told me, Youre not getting enough calories.

I was embarrassed, because such a coordinated conversation meant that theyd surely been talking about me, and observing my eating habits, for months. But that surveillance did make me start consuming more calories, although never really enough, given how much I continued to exercise. My mind told me food was bad, and unnecessary, and easily ignored even though my body, like every body, was telling me it was very necessary. Not through hunger pains, which Id disciplined into disappearing, but through a feeling of weakness and slowness when I exercised.

I was never skinny in a way that would be considered concerning. I never forced myself to throw up. I never skipped meals. I ate sweets. I drank beer. I scavenged for late night nachos. I didnt go on diets. But like millions of other people, I had a deeply disordered relationship with food, sustained by the knowledge that, hey, it seemed to be working. My body was societally acceptable, hewing the line of what a desirable white womans body should look like which, by extension, meant that whatever I was doing to keep it that way was acceptable, too.

In Miss Americana, the much-anticipated Taylor Swift documentary now on Netflix, Swift articulates a similar idea. When she felt fat usually after seeing a picture of herself or a magazine cover suggesting shed gained weight or was pregnant that would just trigger me to juststarve a little bit, she said. Just stop eating. Anyone with disordered eating will tell you that starve a little bit and stop eating doesnt mean stop eating altogether, which would be too obvious a signal that something was wrong, but rather eat very, very carefully. You consume as few calories as possible, often engaging in whats known as orthorexia: obsessive clean or healthy eating.

Swift, like me and so many other bourgeois women I know, also engaged in a form of hypergymnasia, also known as exercise anorexia, in which you seek to control your body and your net calorie intake through compulsive exercise, but with inadequate energy to fuel it. I thought that I was just, like, supposed to feel like I was going to pass out at the end of a show or in the middle of it, she explains in the documentary. I thought that was how it was.

Taylor Swift on a tabloid cover from November 2016.

The exercise also served as a means of deflecting potential criticism about her size. I wouldve defended it to anyone who said, Im concerned about you, she continued. I was like, What are you talking about? Of course I eat. Its perfectly normal. I just exercise a lot. And I did exercise a lot. But I wasnt eating.

While Swift describes her attitude toward food and exercise, footage of her from that period in her life, in the mid-2010s, flashes on the screen. I remember her body from that time on the red carpet, in a photoshoot for Vogue. Shes a decade younger than me, so its no longer the sort of body to which I compare mine, but I imagined how impossibly desirable that body wouldve been to her peers. Thats how I felt about Britney Spears body back in the late 90s and early 2000s. Swift helped popularize the high midriff, a strip of skin visible between high-waisted skirts or shorts and crop tops, but Spears standardized the low midriff, tanned and muscular, just above a pair of jeans slung so low that a pair of thong underwear peeped out.

Swift talks about how theres always some standard of beauty that youre not meeting, and for her, it was that when she was thin, she didnt have a big enough ass, but if she gained enough weight to have an ass, then her stomach wasnt flat. Its all just fucking impossible, she says. That was the thing about the Britney stomach, too: for most women, especially women older than 17, it was just fucking impossible. Most womens bodies just dont look like that, no matter how much you exercise. Which is part of why it was the ideal, of course: because it was essentially unobtainable for the vast majority of the population.

But as a perfectionist, type A kid and then adult, I wasnt used to things that I couldnt obtain through hard work and discipline. You see the goal and you make a plan to achieve it. For some perfectionists, that plan can expand into a more visible, and more life-threatening, eating disorder. But I think more people are like me and Swift: We figure out a way to work toward the ideal without alarming anyone and lie, even to ourselves, about what were doing to our bodies.

Even back in college, I knew that not everyones body type was the same, and that body ideals were contradictory just like Swift knew that she couldnt have a physique like her friend Karlie Kloss and a butt like Kim Kardashian West. But just because we recognize the ridiculousness of an ideal doesnt mean we dont find ourselves subject to it. These ideals are so pernicious that they have completely, and perhaps forever, messed up millions of peoples relationship with food, one of the most elemental components of living as a human in the world.

We figure out a way to work toward the ideal without alarming anyone and lie, even to ourselves, about what were doing to our bodies.

My own disordered eating started to shift when I was 30 and working at a boarding school that required spending a significant amount of time eating with and around teenage girls. From the first day, I knew I wanted to model a positive relationship with food: one that wasnt precise, or overthought, or the center of my life. At first, it was hard to convince myself to eat a normal lunch, instead of just scavenging on granola bars and a piece of fruit the way I had for the last decade. But over the first month, I saw that I didnt gain weight and I felt, well, better.

Swift, too, had this realization: If you eat food, have energy, get stronger, you can do all these shows and not feel it, she said. Which is a really good revelation. Because Im a lot happier with who I am and ... I dont care as much if somebody points out that I have gained weight. Its just something that makes my life better. She admits that shes not the size she once was, but thats fine. That wasnt how my body was supposed to be, she said. I just didnt really understand that. At the time, I really dont think I knew it.

Or, like me, some part of Swift did know her body wasnt supposed to be functioning that way she just couldnt get the rest of her to agree, especially when she was praised, in every way imaginable, when her body was like that. And thats why this sort of disordered eating hides in plain sight: Among high-achieving students, among athletes at all levels, among men and people of all different sizes, including (or especially) those who seemingly have it all together as much as Taylor Swift. Athletes in particular are adept at masking their disordered eating: They underreport their behaviors, their problems are conceived of as problematic but subclinical; they rarely report bingeing and purging, instead resorting to exercise as a (sanctioned) form of control.

The risk and prevalence of eating disorders, and disordered eating, rises in sports with an increased emphasis on an athletes diet, weight, size, and/or appearance. But our society in general already emphasizes, cherishes, and praises us when we conform to those expectations a lesson that young people of all genders begin to internalize at an incredibly young age, thats reinforced through pervasive cultural body-shaming. Which is why the behaviors listed as eating disorder warning signs preoccupation with weight, food, calories, carbohydrates, fat grams, and dieting, skipping meals and taking small portions of food at regular meals, and extreme concern with body size and shape dont even sound like red flags. Theyre just the parameters of daily life.

As Swift says in Miss Americana, You dont ever say to yourself, Ive got an eating disorder. But you know youre making a list of everything you put in your mouth that day. And you know thats probably not right. But then again, theres so many diet blogs that tell you that thats what you should do.

Swift talks about her history of disordered eating in Miss Americana.

Over the last decade, Ive accumulated a fair amount of ambivalence about Swift much of which can broadly be traced to the same period as the disordered eating she talks about, including her performance at the 2014 Victorias Secret Fashion Show, and the conspicuous making-friends-with-models that accompanied it. The obsessive celebrity selfies and appearances of her squad phase felt contrived, flirting with desperate despite the fact that she was arguably the most famous person in the world.

Its clichd to suggest that disordered eating habits develop, and are in turn healed, in step with our levels of personal confidence and self-love, but it stems from a larger truth: Our society is so harsh, unforgiving, and exacting when it comes to what people especially women should look like and how we should act that it creates a sort of personality vacuum, sucking away all other attributes until all that remains of our character is the ability to control our caloric intake. Its no coincidence that these disordered habits often develop in adolescence and young adulthood when were least sure of who we are, and havent yet cultivated a sense of self strong enough to reject messages about who we should be.

I began to form a different relationship with food and exercise when I realized that food wasnt my enemy, and exercise wasnt exclusively a way to combat what that enemy had done to me. Swift had a similar revelation, but the documentary as a whole suggests that it was part and parcel of a much larger reckoning with who she was, what she wanted, and what she wanted to stand for which was also what happened to me, as I entered into my thirties, and a new career, after graduate school.

Swift admits in the documentary that she recently caught herself start to do it: hating her body, wanting to starve it. And I was like, Nope, we dont do that anymore, she said, We do not do that anymore. Thats not the person shes decided she wants to be. And while the person Swift is today still contributes, willingly or not, to our collective understanding of what beauty and success looks like, she is also talking about her susceptibility to the pressure of that understanding. Shes refusing to hide, and thus continue to normalize, the behaviors that perpetuate it.

People with disordered eating often know that what theyre doing is unhealthy and fucked up. We dont need people to tell us that. What we do need, and what Swift does, is show that well still be OK even valuable and beloved if we leave those behaviors behind.

The National Eating Disorders Association helpline is 1-800-931-2237; for 24/7 crisis support, text NEDA to 741741.

Read the rest here:
Taylor Swift And The Gray Area Of Disordered Eating - BuzzFeed News

It was 2017 when we first decided to try the ketogenic diet for the first time and we were incredibly nervous about it. The thought of eating high fat and changing our metabolism was daunting.

The diet goes against almost every single piece of health and dietary advice we had ever heard or studied.

However, we were desperate. Lindsay was having such severe digestive problems that we committed to trying keto for one month, and then we would re-evaluate. Two weeks in, we were sure wed stick to it. Lindsays digestive problems were resolved and her energy levels drastically increased. Nic had better mental clarity than ever before. Not to mention our body compositions were both improving.

Because of our own success stories, Nic became a certified Ketogenic Living Health Coach, and has been testing the ketogenic diet and CrossFit for over a year now.

Fast forward to 2020 and keto seems to be running rampant these days. Miraculous stories of weight loss, health transformations, and so much more circulate all over the internet and within fitness groups. One community where keto is only just being explored is the world of CrossFit.

You may have heard that the ketogenic diet and CrossFit dont mix. Many people think that because CrossFitis extremely glycolytic meaning that the exercise is fuelled primarily by glucose any diet that is not high in carbohydrates will not work.

We are going to explore the science and facts behind the ketogenic diet and CrossFit, and explain why the keto diet is at least as good as a typical diet for CrossFit and also includes some unique benefits for CrossFit athletes.

The official CrossFit.com newsletter and website have begun to include many studies on the benefits of the ketogenic diet, and there is even a CrossFit approved course on the ketogenic diet titled Nutrition Network Professional Training in LCHF/Ketogenic Nutrition. CrossFit HQ seems to be endorsing the high fat low carb (HFLC) diet quite strongly this past year.

This is Part One of a series of posts covering different aspects of CrossFit and the impact the ketogenic diet has on each one. Here, youll learn about the studies that have been done on the ketogenic diet and its effects on CrossFit in particular, as well as a ketosis, energy systems, and why this funky metabolic state can actually be very beneficial for overall health and athletic performance, specifically CrossFit.

The metabolic state known as ketosis, in which the body burns fat (instead of carbohydrates) for energy, in the form of ketone bodies, is actually as old as mankind itself. Ketone bodies are produced during times of extended fasting, and most people often produce some ketone bodies in the early morning before they eat breakfast.

Going for many hours without food can cause a small production in ketones. This study highlights the fact that ancient people relied heavily on fat for their energetic needs. In fact, another study claims that it was the increased consumption of fat from bone marrow and brains that jump-started human evolution to have the large brain we have today.

In the modern lens, there are many benefits to the state of ketosis, including: weight loss, lowered blood sugar, improved cholesterol and reduced triglycerides, reduced risk of heart disease, andincrease in cognitive performance, between others.

The most basic way to look at the keto diet is that the body is consuming mostly fat for fuel, instead of carbohydrates.

When fat is consumed, it is broken down into free fatty acids (FFA) that can be used directly by cells for energy, or it can go to the liver, where it is broken down into ketone bodies, hence the name ketogenic diet.

There are modified versions of the ketogenic diet with different macronutrient breakdowns:

As you can see, keto is not even a one-size-fits-all diet but can actually be more lenient than some would have you believe especially once youre fat-adapted, meaning your body is efficiently using fat for energy production.

Throughout this series, youll get a better understanding on the best variation of keto for CrossFit, overall athletic performance, and overall health and longevity specifically.

Read more from the original source:
Keto and CrossFit: Does It Even Work? Part 1 - BOXROX

Think back to what foods humans may have eaten before the development of agriculture 10,000 years ago, when they were living as ancient hunter gatherers, and you have the basis for this modern-day Stone Age diet.

It consists of meat, poultry and seafood along with eggs, fruit and vegetables.

Cereal grains such as wheat, along with dairy foods and anything processed is not allowed as part of this regime.

The Paleo or Paleolithic diet first appeared in the 1970s, but has received renewed interest over the past few years, with a number of versions, including some promoted by marketers of so-called paleo products.

It is claimed the diet reduces body weight and helps prevent conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood cholesterol, stroke, osteoporosis, and inflammatory diseases.

Nutritional aspects of the diet equate to:

Thinking about trying a new diet? Before you do, read this advice from Dr Sandro Demaio.

Breakfast: Omelette with prosciutto, fruit and herbal tea.

Snack: Sliced lean grass-fed beef, fruit.

Lunch: Chicken and avocado salad with an olive oil and lemon dressing, herbal tea.

Snack: Apple slices, walnuts.

Dinner: Beef curry with cauliflower rice, broccoli, carrots, plus blueberries, raisins and almonds.

The foods available to our ancestors were very different from those available to us now, and in practice, we can no longer eat a true paleo diet.

For instance, the meats eaten by our ancestors were wild and very lean compared with the meat most people eat today, which with the exception of kangaroo is from domesticated animals.

Life expectancy was also low so fewer people lived long enough to develop many modern health problems.

One key problem with the rationale behind the diet is that experts in evolutionary biology and archaeology say grains, legumes and foods related to the modern potato were in fact consumed at least 30,000 years ago.

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With its restrictions, it is likely followers of the Paleo diet may lose weight and this may have health benefits.

There are some useful messages in the diet, including the need to avoid salt, most types of alcohol, and processed foods and to eat more fruit and vegetables.

We've examined seven popular diets to find out what you can eat and whether they work.

However, valuable types of dietary fibre from grains and legumes are absent, calcium intake may be low because dairy food is not permitted and there is a risk of eating more red meat than is recommended for good health.

The World Cancer Research Fund says a high intake of red meat, especially processed meat, raises the risk of bowel cancer.

Current guidelines in Australia suggest eating a maximum of seven serves of lean red meat a week, which is equivalent to around 655g raw red meat a week.

Cutting out whole food groups in this case dairy products, legumes and all grains is contrary to the recommendations in evidence-based dietary guidelines and will likely lead to deficiencies in important nutrients.

This is general information only. For detailed personal advice, you should see a qualified medical practitioner who knows your medical history.

This story, which was originally written by Pamela Wilson and published by ABC Health and Wellbeing, has been reviewed by Dr Rosemary Stanton OAM, nutritionist and visiting fellow, School of Medical Sciences, University of NSW, and was updated in 2019.

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The Paleo diet is a modern take on the Stone Age, but does it work? - ABC Local

When deciding which diet to follow, most of us rely on friends recommendations, online questionnaires, or internet wisdom. Then again, why not shape your food choices off of your actual breath.

Israel-based startup Lumen gives dining recommendations based off of the amount of CO2 which you exhale into their proprietary device (which reveals whether youre burning carbs or body fat).

We think that breath-based dietary guidance is pretty cool, so we invited Dana Varrone, Lumens VP of Strategic Partnerships, to speak at Customize, our food personalization summit, in NYC later this month. Join us there to hear her talk about how personalization can unlock the power of food as medicine (use code SPOON15 to get 15 percent off those tickets).

But first if you want to learn more about how your breath can indicate what you should be eating, check out our Q&A with Varrone below.

Tell us a little bit about what Lumen does. Lumen is a device and app that helps you take control of your metabolism. Through your breath, the Lumen technology measures your fuel source in real time, telling you if youre using fats or carbs for energy, and provides you with a personalized nutrition plan to help you reach your health and fitness goals.

A metabolic measurement (RQ) that was once costly and time-consuming in a clinical setting is now available through a single breath with Lumen.

Why do you think that there has been a rise in interest around personalized nutrition over the past few years?I think there are three main reasons for the rise. Firstly, people are fed up with going on diets and not getting the results they want, and are starting to recognize that what may work for one person may not work for them. Go Keto as carbs are the devil is on the one extreme and follow the myplate and eat a balanced plate of grains, protein, fruit, veggie and dairy is on the other extreme of the advice spectrum. Couple this with advanced research being published on how various foods may impact your gut and the increase in allergies nationwide, and question marks start going off in peoples minds of perhaps one size does not fit all.

Secondly, with the rise in technologies such as the AppleWatch, fitbit and the like, consumers are seeing the value in getting personalized feedback. Consumers can now see how many steps theyve walked, calories theyve burned and can even get feedback on their heart rate. This immediate feedback empowers consumers to feel like they can now be in control of their own lives, whereas before it was left to your doctor and your yearly physical visits.

Lastly, with the rise in social media and newsfeeds being curated for you, people are demanding speed and instant gratification. This is specifically the case with the millennial generation that have grown up with this being their norm. This results in people wanting answers fast, based on them and their needs, now.

What are the biggest hurdles towards creating personalized dietary guidance towards consumers?I think the biggest hurdles are in asking the right questions to the consumer at the onset and being able to adjust the personalization over time based on both qualitative and quantitative data that takes into account lifestyle changes, life events, food tolerances, goals, and physiology.

What do you think personalized food or drink will look like 5 years down the road?I think data from a variety of touch points will be the primary driver in personalizing a consumers nutrition and will be housed with an engagement app that makes sense of all the data, with Lumen being at the helm of this.

If you want to see Dana speak about how personalization can unlock the power of food as medicine, join us at Customize this month in NYC! Use code SPOON15 to get 15 percent off tix.

Related

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Not Sure What to Eat? Just Breathe (Literally) - The Spoon

Remember that research published last fall that said eating processed and red meat was a-ok? You know, the one that was funded by the meat industry? Turns out it was wrong. Really, really wrong.

Now, new research, published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicinethis month, looked at data on thousands of people studied over the course of three decades. The findings point to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease on a dietheaviestin red and processed meat, including poultry.

Study co-author Linda Van Horn, division chief of nutrition in the department of preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, serves as a member of several advisory panels, including one thats working on revising the federal Dietary Guidelines.

Van Horn says the new findings relied on the highest quality data available. In the findings, heart disease risk is reduced when people prioritize eating fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, along with limiting most meats. The worst risk was linked to processed meat, and the lowest increase in risk was among fish eaters. The research also found that limiting refined grains, fried foods, and sugar-sweetened beverages helped to reduce the risk of heart disease even further.

When you eat a diet that is rich in processed and refined foods, it collectively contributes to increased risk of disease, Dr. Van Horntold The New York Times,adding that it also denies you the benefits of the fiber, vitamins, minerals and plant-based proteins that contribute to health.

Cardiovascular risks are largely influenced by genetics, but diet does play a role. According to another one of the study's authors,Norrina Allen, associate professor of preventive medicine at the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, it'sa major factor in who will and won't get heart disease in their lifetime. Any increased risk even a small one, is undesirable, she says.I would say that even though it seems to be a small amount of risk, any excess risk for something as major as heart disease and mortality is worth considering."

Last September'sresearch that said eating red and processed meat was not a health risk,has been resoundingly rejected by scientists, doctors, and the entire medical community. The authors had been exposed as having ties to the agriculture industry, and the medical community walked back the news as well as they could.Health experts, including those representing theAmerican Heart Association and the American Cancer Society, said thestudy flew in the face of decades of researchwarning people to eat less meat for the sake of their health.

Even the World Health Organization has classified processed red meat as a Group 1 carcinogen, meaning it's highly likely to pose serious health risks. Other substances classed as Group 1 carcinogens include asbestos, radium, and tobacco.

The rest is here:
Meat Linked to Increased Risk of Heart Disease, Study Warns - The Beet

The 5:2 diet became popular in late 2012 following a documentary by BBC journalist Michael Mosley.

It advocates cutting weekly total kilojoule intake by using intermittent fasting for two non-consecutive days and then eating a usual diet the other five days.

On the fasting days, women limit their total intake to 2,100 kilojoules and men to 2,500 kilojoules, which is about 25 per cent of the recommended intake for normal-weight adults.

On the non-fasting days, you can eat whatever you want, although Mosley's book recommends making healthy choices.

Advocates of intermittent fasting say it helps in weight loss, and some claim it may reduce the risk of cognitive decline, such as Alzheimer's disease, while also promoting longevity.

They also claim it could be protective against diseases such as diabetes.

Breakfast: Two poached eggs with baby spinach or 40g raw oats (cook into a porridge if desired) served with berries.

Dinner: Waldorf salad (apple, celery, endive leaves, walnuts, yoghurt, and mustard) or a few strips of chicken stir-fried with ginger, garlic, coriander and lots of vegetables.

The jury is still out on the benefits of intermittent fasting.

Studies that initially reported superior results for weight loss were short-term and had low numbers of subjects.

Here's how to identify whether you're actually hungry, and what healthy snacks to opt for.

Recent research compared larger numbers of people on intermittent fasting with others simply reducing kilojoules.

Over 12 months, there were no significant differences in weight loss for either group.

Nor did the researchers find any difference between the groups in blood pressure, heart rate, or in the levels of glucose, insulin, and triglycerides.

However, LDL or 'bad' cholesterol levels did increase significantly in those on the intermittent fasting diet.

Many of the other claimed health benefits have only been shown in rodents.

Claims of reduced risk of cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease have not been shown in any studies on humans.

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If you don't overeat on non-fasting days, your overall kilojoule intake should decrease, so it is likely to be less harmful than many fad diets.

It's also possible that reducing your food intake twice a week could be a new and useful experience, especially if you are in the habit of eating so often that you never experience an empty stomach.

The modified fasting with some food permitted and the inclusion of plenty of vegetables may help avoid some common side-effects to total fasting.

These include irritability, lack of energy, inability to concentrate, dehydration, tiredness, dizziness, and constipation.

Such effects can interfere with work and leisure for most people.

Dinner often seems the most challenging meal. But it doesn't have to be.

The 5:2 diet is unsuitable for many people, including pregnant women, many people with diabetes, those taking certain medications, children and teens.

Given some versions of intermittent fasting fail to promote healthy food choices, there is a possibility you may gorge on your non-fasting days with little regard for the quality of the food you choose.

The 5:2 diet may help some people lose weight. If done well, it may be a valid, but not superior, option to following a traditional reduced-kilojoule diet.

This is general information only. For detailed personal advice, you should see a qualified medical practitioner who knows your medical history.

This story, which was originally written by Pamela Wilson and published by ABC Health and Wellbeing, has been reviewed by Dr Rosemary Stanton OAM, nutritionist and visiting fellow, School of Medical Sciences, University of NSW, and was updated in 2019.

Link:
What the science says about the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet - ABC Local