As women approach 50, their bodies prepare for and go through menopause and other side effects of aging. Many women need to take new and different approaches to maintain their health, including adapting their diets to obtain the requisite nutrients. In that case, they may want to look into the best diets for women over 50.

The 50s are a time for big changes, thanks to perimenopause and menopause. This is a time in a womans life where she has hormone fluctuations, which can cause changes in metabolism and body weight, registered dietitian Julie Kay, MS, RDN, tells Womans Day. Kay also cites osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, and changes in blood sugar regulation (insulin resistance can occur due to hormone changes) as other conditions women in this age group might experience.

Registered dietitian Kayla Hulsebus, MS, RD, LD, explains that women can alter their diets to better adapt to their bodies natural changes. Below, Hulsebus shares the best diets, or rather, lifestyles, for women over 50 that can, help support healthy muscle mass, hormone balance, and proper weight management.

The Mediterranean diet is great for heart health and may prevent cancer and diabetes. It doesnt restrict or eliminate any food groups, but instead encourages everything in moderation. Hulsebus notes that it emphasizes carbohydrates from fruits and vegetables, in addition to whole grains, which have a lot of fiber and will leave you feeling full for longer.

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It has plenty of omega-3 fats, found in foods like fish and olive oil, that also boost satiety in addition to assisting with hormone production. Its also high in protein, both in plant and animal-based products. This protein is important for women over 50 who need it to fight muscle loss that happens with age.

The Paleo diet is a high-protein, low carbohydrate meal plan that is rich in eggs, veggies, fruits, nuts, and unprocessed meat. Hulsebus says that its lower carbohydrate nature is beneficial for women in their 50s and older who may be dealing with insulin resistance and are unable to process carbs like they were before.

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She also notes that Paleo has no soy or dairy, which can help women going through changes with hormones since excess soy and hormones found in conventional dairy products can lead to high estrogen levels, making women store weight in their thighs and hips. It also includes good fats which promote healthy hormone production.

The whole real food, or clean eating, plan avoids all processed foods, which can prevent inflammation. This diet can also help manage hormones, due to the fact that whole foods dont have antibiotics or preservatives, which can be big hormone disruptors.

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It focuses on whole real food products, like fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, fish, meats, and healthy fats. Hulsebus says that the lack of processed food equals less refined sugars, resulting in better blood sugar stability and less abdominal fat being stored. The high number of nutrients and fiber in these foods also results in feeling full, preventing overeating.

Autoimmune protocol (AIP) focuses on repairing the gut and decreasing inflammation, which can be very helpful with the hormonal changes women in their 50s experience. It can also remove toxic and trigger foods such as refined sugars and processed foods which can cause malabsorption and inflammation in the gut.

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If the gut is unhealthy, it inhibits the bodys ability to absorb nutrients, Hulsebus says. This causes hormonal imbalances which exacerbate the hormone changes that are already happening. AIP also supports your immune system which can decrease the risk of illness as we age.

Eating a high-protein/moderate carbohydrate diet can aid the body during its natural aging process. Studies have found that higher protein levels support your bodys muscle mass since it decreases as you age and also keeps you full, decreasing the amount of food thats consumed.

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A diet high in protein can also encourage blood sugar stability, as protein can decrease blood sugar levels. As women age and go through hormonal changes, one thing thats affected is their insulin sensitivity and how they process and utilize blood sugars, says Hulsebus. Eating moderate levels of carbohydrates helps the body get enough B complex vitamins, which can be beneficial for preventing dementia as we age.

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The Best Diets For Women Over 50 How to Lose Weight Over 50 - WomansDay.com

WINCHESTER Those looking to get healthy this year might be tempted to consider a fad diet. But health professionals say its healthier and more practical to choose a healthy lifestyle instead.

Plant-based diets are becoming all the rage as more and more options for vegans make their way to area restaurants and grocery stores.

These are signs of a culture shift, said Donna Michel, a retired nephrologist in Winchester who also has a certificate in plant-based nutrition and is board certified in lifestyle medicine.

When we talk about plant-based diets for health, she said, the things that were mainly talking about are avoiding animal products, avoiding eating added oils and eating primarily whole plant foods.

The beauty of a low-fat, high fiber food plan, she said, is that participants dont have to count calories or portion out food. They can eat as much as they need to because its healthy and is packed with fiber.

You feel full, you feel satisfied, youre not looking for the next thing to eat, she said. You lose weight, and once you lose it, you maintain it. And I think thats what makes this sort of a diet successful, because its not technically a diet. What it is is a lifestyle change.

Why plant-based?

Vegans avoid animal products for various reasons, from ethical concerns to health concerns to personal preference, but advocates say that animal products also are not worth the cost.

Protein is readily available from plants, Dr. Neal Barnard recently told health professionals at a program at Winchester Medical Center.

Meat and dairy contain hormones and fat, he said, egg yolks raise blood cholesterol, and egg whites are simply a glob of animal protein.

Choosing plant-based foods over others comes down to avoiding missed opportunities to eat something healthier, Dr. Michael Greger writes at his website nutritionfacts.org, a nonprofit public service providing free updates on the latest in nutrition research.

[T]heres an additional opportunity cost to eating unhealthy foods beyond just how bad they themselves may be for our health, he writes.

In terms of weight loss, he said it matters how people get their calories (the energy content of food.)

A calorie is not necessarily a calorie, Greger says in a trailer for his new book How Not to Diet, posted at his site.

A hundred calories of chickpeas has a different impact than 100 calories of chicken or Chiclets based on their different ... factors such as absorption, appetite or our microbiome, he said. [E]ven the exact same foods eaten differently can have different effects. The context in which we eat matters too.

The terms vegan and plant-based are interchangeable, Michel said, but plant-based carries with it a connotation of being healthier than a vegan diet that simply eliminates meat, dairy and eggs.

A vegan diet can still be high in fat, sugar and other refined carbohydrates while being low in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans and legumes.

Barnard and Michel also stressed that those who dont eat meat should take a Vitamin B-12 supplement.

Plant-based diets are successful for weight loss because people can eat a greater volume of food so they dont feel deprived, Michel said.

Youre replacing high-calorie density foods with large quantities of low-calorie density foods, she said. You can eat till youre full, and thats the whole thing.

She referenced the 2017 BROAD study, a randomized, controlled trial that used a whole food plant-based diet to address obesity, ischaemic (coronary) heart disease and diabetes. It was published in the journal Nutrition & Diabetes and is indexed online at ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28319109.

The study concluded that it led to significant improvements in BMI, cholesterol and other risk factors. To the best of our knowledge, this research has achieved greater weight loss at 6 and 12 months than any other trial that does not limit energy intake or mandate regular exercise.

Michel said trial participants lost an average of 19 pounds during the three-month study, but even after six-month and 12-month check-ins had maintained their weight loss.

Making the switch

Those starting a plant-based diet should know that non-meat and non-dairy options can be highly processed, greatly reducing their fiber and nutritional density while increasing sodium.

Unlike some other diets, though, the plant-based diet embraces nutrient-rich carbohydrates.

Carbs arent what people should be worried about, she said. Refined carbohydrates and refined starches are the problem.

Avoiding processed foods and oils isnt always easy, though, and Michel said she aims to keep those types of foods to 20 percent of her diet.

In general, she tries to avoid highly processed foods such as chips, flaked cereals and fake meat, instead choosing minimally processed foods like steel-cut oats and fresh tofu, or moderately processed foods like applesauce and rolled oats.

It does take a little bit of planning, she said. It doesnt have to be done expensively.

Beans and rice are inexpensive, she pointed out, and although certain fruits and vegetables (berries, celery and anything with a thin skin) are healthier if organic, she said its more important not to avoid eating produce.

I think part of the reason why plant-based diets are so foreign for people is its not the way we grew up, she said. Its not the way we learned how to eat. Its not what our food culture is in this country.

However, she said its a lifestyle anyone can do if they make the effort to learn about and prepare healthy foods.

Its the best diet for weight loss. Its the best diet for almost any condition, she said.

You have one diet that fits all sizes. I think thats the real beauty of it.

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine has an app for starting a plant-based diet, called the 21-Day Vegan Kickstart, for Apple and Android devices. For more information, visit kickstart.pcrm.org/en.

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Plant-based lifestyle: A 'diet that fits all sizes' - Northern Virginia Daily

Stress hormones in our diet may be a missing link between food and wellness.

Does eating food that contains too many stress hormonescortisol in meats, ethylene in plant-based foods, and other related hormonestrigger stress and inflammation in our bodies?

To date, scientists have overlooked the possibility that consuming stress hormones through food may be affecting our health. However, we make the case that food-borne stress hormones may be a missing link in the connection between food and health.

If substantiated, this hypothesis could lead to a fundamental shift in how we eat. Even putting aside personal health concerns, reducing stress hormones in our diet can help us imagine a better world, in a larger sense. We would care more not only about how food affects us, but also about how our consumption habits of animals and plants affects them. There are implications for the economy, too: Localism and sustainable agriculture could flourish as farm-to-fork quality control and alignment of interests become priorities.

Stress hormones are biochemicals produced by the body in response to any form of stress. In animals, the predominant stress hormone is cortisol. In plants, the predominant stress hormone is ethylene. These stress hormones produce a wide variety of well-characterized effects within the body of animals and plants that help them survive. What is far less known are the effects of these stress hormones when they are consumed by a different species.

A recent study of piglets published in the Journal of Animal Science by Purdue University scientist Elizabeth Petrosus found that when pigs are fed stress hormones such as cortisol or norepinephrine, their blood levels of these hormones spike, body temperatures rise and gut biomes shift. This poses some questions. How much cortisol or norepinephrine is lurking in our meat? Are these levels rising due to the stress put on animals by the food system? When we eat foods high in cortisol or norepinephrine, do our cortisol and norepinephrine levels spike? Since we know that long-term use of prednisone, a medicinal form of cortisol, is associated with higher rates of high blood sugar, high blood pressure,and obesity, could stress hormones in our foods be a mechanistic link between modern diets and the growing epidemic of diabetes, hypertension, and obesity?

The same pig study found that, due to negative feedback loops, the pigs eventually exhibited abnormally low blood levels of cortisol and norepinephrine due to overcorrection by the body. This poses some additional questions. Does a diet rich in stress hormones induce habituationa loss of intrinsic capacity to respond to stress (detectable as adrenal insufficiency on ACTH stimulation test or autonomic insufficiency on baroreceptor sensitivity tests)? Since norepinephrine analogues (sympathomimetics) are the active ingredients in all rescue drugs for allergic rhinitis, asthma, and anaphylactic shock, we have made the case that intrinsic adrenal-autonomic insufficiency is a common underlying pathology in these conditions. We believe that baseline blood levels of norepinephrine and related stress hormones, as well as their ability to respond to stress on challenge tests, ought to be better studied in these patients.

We also wonder about the stress hormones (ethylene, etc.) levels in plant-based foods. It has been shown that ethylenea marker of inflammation in our bodiestriggers stress response in some of the same bacteria that are commonly found in our gut. Stressed gut bacteria can activate stress in human hosts. Although generally regarded as safe, direct effects of consumed ethylene on the human body are poorly understood. It is noteworthy that, among other effects, the processing of food increases the levels of ethylene in our food significantly.

A consequence of chronic stress in animals is that they get fatter. A consequence of stress on fruits is they get sweeter. When combined, fatty and sweet ingredients serve as the foundation of all processed desserts. Humanswhen they are stressedcrave foods abundant in fatty and sweet signatures of stressed foods: teens binging on ice cream during exam week or police officers taking breaks at donut shops. It is more than ironic that the word desserts spelled backwards is stressed.

While we await the answers to these health-related questions, we can start thinking about how we can reduce stress hormones in our meats and plant-based foods.

Here are examples of production and preparation practices that could reduce the amount of stress hormones in animal-based foods: (1) allowing them to live without too much chronic stress; (2) allowing them to live in free range, cage-free, wild, and natural environments; (3) reducing infectious, chemical, and environmental stress; (4) feeding them a diet containing low stress hormonesfor example, wild grass versus processed corn (processing increases ethylene levels).

Here are examples of production and preparation practices that could reduce the amount of stress hormones in plant-based foods: (1) growing them in proper soil, season, and environments; (2) managing chemical, pest, infection, and water stress; (3) managing their harvest, transport, production, storage, preparation, and consumption in a way that minimizes ethylene productionkeeping in mind that ethylene production continues to happen after harvest. On a side note, vegetative or immature tissues (e.g broccoli, celery, lettuce, and cabbage) release far less ethylene upon wounding, which could help explain their putative benefits in healthy diets.

Indeed, these practices generally align with most trends in healthy food movements. While it is intuitively appealing to speculate that the reduction of stress hormones might be the Occams razor that connects all of these disparate movements, empirical validation is still needed. One day, the health quotient of a food could be determined by its provenance far more than we now understand.

Imagine being able to eat your way to a better world. In that spirit, at a time when confusion reigns about almost everything going on in the planet, and people are asking us to remember a long list of rules on how to eat, heres a simple rule that is easy to remember. If you stress it, it will stress you; if you treat it well, it will treat you well.

Thats the Golden Rule of food.

Joon Yun and Amanda Yun are Principals of the Yun Family Foundation.

An indispensable guide to finance, investing and entrepreneurship.

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Stress Is Edible. Here's How We Can Avoid It In Our Food System - Worth

Was there a deficiency in the diet of mountain women of old which made them crave fat? U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, an orphan boy who was reared in poverty in southern West Virginia, can remember how his foster mother would carefully fish out and eat the fat pork seasoning from a pot of beans. I've seen my mother do the same many time. Native Eskimos consumed blubber in order to insulate their bodies against arctic chill. Now we're advised to avoid eating fat meat, lest it clog blood vessels and add rotundity to the figure.

Those of my generation can recall when plumpness was regarded as an indicator of good health. The gaunt figure which so many strive for nowadays was seen as a harbinger of sickness. Skinny kids were pitied. "Look at that puny young'un," they'd say. "He's not long for this world."

Perhaps it was a carry over from this background which prompted She Who Could Give Dr. Spock Lessons on Rearing Children to insist that ours always "clean up your plate." This rule is one which now says she wishes never had been promulgated in our household, since all of us are constantly engaged in fighting the battle of the bulge.

We were weight conscious in our home long before it became fashionable across the land. She Whose Calories Have Always Been Counted has been watching her weight for better than four decades now. Nancy Regan she regarded with suspicion, finding it hard to believe that any human being could be so tiny. However, her admiration for Barbara Bush reached new heights when the First Lady told an audience of women that she was born weighing 135 pounds and had been dieting all her life. My experience with incipient corpulence is relatively recent. Until middle age, I was one of those obnoxious characters who ate like a horse and never gained an ounce, a physical phenomenon which I was not at all reluctant to call the attention of my portly acquaintances. These quietly rejoiced when my waistline began to balloon and my clothes constricted and I was forced to join the ranks of calorie counters. That all happened some years ago and I have since learned several truths about losing weight and keeping it off. One is that the only miraculous things about the magic pills that are advertised to make you shed 20 pounds per week while eating all you can hold is that there are people dumb enough to buy them. Another truth is that while walking supposedly is good for you, putting down one foot after the other will not by itself shed those pounds. If it did, I would be skinny as a rail since in recent years I have walked the equivalent of Sistersville, W.Va. to Atascadero, CA and back. It also is a given that food which is any good to eat has far more calories in it than you can afford to consume. And there really is no such thing as stylish stout in America, although there may be in Japan.

The Japanese make sports heroes out of sumo wrestlers, tall young men of great weight, generally upwards of 400 pounds. Clad only in loincloths, these obese caricatures of humanity compete by trying to bump other 400 pounders out of a ring or forcing their opponents to touch any part of their body (except their flat feet, of course) to the ground. The "matches" usually last only a few seconds. In view of the fact that sumo heretofore has been limited to hereditary participants, it is ironic that the new champion sumo wrestler of Japan is an American citizen from Hawaii. He now weighs 430 pounds and reportedly lost 40 pounds in training for the sumo competition.

A question comes to mind: On any given day in this country, what with diets, weight loss centers, exercise and the like, there must be tons of weight lost. The fat disappears. But where does it go? She Who Never Is Stumped had a ready answer for my query. "It goes," said she firmly, "into the nearest closet whence it will jump right back on you if you give it half a chance."

"Makes sense," said I. "You know what Walt Whitman had to say on the subject?"

"No."

"Whitman said, "I find no sweeter fat than sticks to my own bones.'"

"You know what Queen Victoria had to say on the subject?" asked she.

"No."

"Queen Victoria said, "I am not amused.'"

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You Diet and Exercise and The Fat Vanishes - But Where Does It Go? - TylerStarNews.com | News, information, Sistersville and Tyler County WV - Tyler...

Buddy Al-Aydi, a second-year English student, threw his backpack to the side of the Bruin Walk stage and ran up to grab a metal baseball bat. He brought the bat down on a bathroom scale on the stage and the piercing sound of metal colliding rang through Bruin Plaza.

By smashing that scale, it shows that it doesnt matter if the (scale) numbers go down or not, Al-Aydi said after climbing down. Its what youre doing, in terms of how you take care of your body (that matters).

A dozen scales were smashed by over 100 people during I Love My Body Week, which took place from Jan. 13 to Jan. 17. The week was hosted by the Undergraduate Students Association Council Student Wellness Commissions Body Image Task Force.

Other events included a walk-in exhibition on international beauty standards, a dance class taught in high heels, a panel on boosting sexual confidence and a lecture about misconceptions surrounding dieting.

Body Image Task Force co-directors fourth-year sociology and gender studies student Helen Zhong and third-year financial actuarial mathematics student Lorena Palattao planned the week to create an open space to help students feel safe talking about their vulnerabilities and achieve self-love.

I definitely think that a lot of people dismiss body image as a very niche topic, but the truth is we all live in such an intense diet culture, Zhong said. Its really hard to find someone, especially a woman, who doesnt exhibit some kind of disordered eating, and its really relevant to everyone.

To encourage body positivity, many events focused on dispelling the effects of diet culture and weight loss efforts.

Students may feel pressure to diet because of social media or advertising influences, said presenters at a workshop called Debunking Diet Myths, which took place Jan. 14.

At UCLA, there is extra pressure (to diet) because when you walk on campus, there seems to be a lot of people that fit the LA mold that are very concentrated on that little plot of land, said Eve Lahijani, a nutrition therapist who spoke at the event. Even when you look at the ads on UCLA campus, they are all (of) athletes people who are in excellent shape, all have a certain body type, totally athletic.

However, diets perpetuate a cycle of self-hate, as failure to uphold dietary restrictions often leads dieters into guilt, shame and ultimately more binging, Lahijani said.

Instead of restricting certain foods from your diet, prioritizing the addition of healthy foods is more effective in maintaining mental and physical wellness, said Elena Eu, Body Image Task Force research director and fourth-year psychology student.

Eu researched common flaws in popular diets and presented them on poster boards for attendees to browse. For example, many diets teach dieters to ignore hunger, but by ignoring hunger, a dieter also teaches their body to ignore fullness, Lahijani said.

At the end of the day, youre going to eat thousands and thousands of meals in your life, and you dont need to give each one so much weight, Eu said. Its important to know that freedom from obsession with food is possible, and its definitely a journey, but self-educating like this is one way to start.

Dongni Zheng, a second-year public health student who attended the event, said she was surprised to learn that all diets can be bad for ones health.

Before I came, I expected to learn some good diets from this event, but the nutritionist actually talked about why they dont work, Zheng said.

The scale-smashing event, hosted Jan. 15 on Bruin Walk, was intended to help release frustrations associated with dissatisfaction with weight standards. The event was co-hosted by the Body Image Task Force and Southern Smash, a nonprofit that travels to college campuses hoping to redefine self-worth by inviting students to smash scales.

Other events aimed to help students feel more comfortable using their bodies in sexual ways.

At an event called Crafting Confidence in the Bedroom, co-hosted by Sexperts at UCLA and the task force, speakers offered suggestions to overcome doubts and apprehensions about sex.

Students were provided handouts that asked questions such as, What food would be your go-to sexy food? Answers included multiple-choice options such as whipped cream and lollipops, peaches, or other erotically shaped foods.

Third-year political science student Yoyo Wong said she thought that the event helped to destigmatize sex as a topic.

People might feel embarrassed to talk about (sex), but in this open forum it teaches you to be comfortable with talking about something that is really important to know about, Wong said. Its really okay to let go of your worries in the bedroom.

A heels dancing workshop held Jan. 15 also aimed to promote self-confidence. Students strapped on heels and joined instructor Shawna Pops on the dance floor to learn a short choreography that was recorded at the end of the class.

Heels dancing is owning your body and embracing the beauty of it, Palattao said. A lot of people think its provocative, but its not, so we just wanted to have a class where people could use a form of art to embrace who they are and see the beauty of their bodies.

The week finished off with a walk-in gallery in Kerckhoff Hall titled Unfollowing Beauty Standards. The artwork aimed to highlight and contrast the beauty standards of different cultures across the globe.

Awareness of worldwide beauty standards will foster a more accepting student body said Amirah Nathani, a fourth-year psychology student and Body Image Task Force membership co-director.

We tend to fall into what were comfortable with, (which is) often what weve grown up around or what we see most often, Nathani said. I really want people to see that the world is so much more different than what you as an individual know.

Despite the gravity of body image and its effect on mental health, Zhong said she hoped the week could be a joyous celebration of positivity and self-acceptance.

I would want people who come to leave with a newfound appreciation for their bodies and for all that their body does for them, Zhong said. Hopefully, they will learn to not compare themselves to others or social media, to be kind to themselves and to show their bodies compassion, whether thats eating when youre hungry or not going to the gym if youre tired.

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Weeklong event aims to promote body positivity while taking on diet culture - Daily Bruin

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Despite the constant noise of fad diets competing for our attention, the biggest trend in nutrition this year may in fact be an anti-diet called "intuitive eating."

Intuitive eating refers to a system of nutritional principles based on physical cues like hunger and satiety. It focuses on how you feel and what your body needs instead of adhering to external goals like calorie-counting or aesthetics.

It's on the rise among younger people, particularly on social media, according to registered dietitian Alyssa Pike, manager of nutrition communications at the International Food Information Council (IFIC).

A recent IFIC survey polled 1,012 Americans on food behaviors and perceptions to predict the biggest trends for 2020. Some 49% percent of people ages 18 to 34 had heard of the term, compared with 27% of people over 50.

A large number of people (more than half of the total surveyed) said they were interested in applying principles of intuitive eating to their own lives including paying close attention to their level of hunger and limiting distractions while they eat.

"People are getting so sick of dieting and now, diets disguised as wellness," said Christy Harrison, registered dietitian and author of "Anti-Diet: Reclaim Your Time, Money, Well-Being, and Happiness Through Intuitive Eating."

"I think we're shifting toward ways to not have our relationship with food complicated by outside noise."

Video: Switching to Intuitive Eating Helped This Woman Lose 174 Lbs.: Its So Freeing (People)

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Intuitive eating relies on physical cues like hunger and satiety

In contrast to diets that focus on aesthetic goals, the number on the scale, or calorie-counting, intuitive eaters stick to 10 basic principles of allowing their individual bodies and experiences to determine their food choices.

Those principles include things like "honor your hunger" and "feel your fullness," meaning intuitive eaters pay attention to the signals their body is sending about what it needs.

People new to intuitive eating may want to test out the limits and indulge in desserts, carbs, or other stigmatized snacks as reassurance that they're permissible. Eventually, as you start tuning into and trusting your body, you might find you're craving a salad, a hearty bean burrito, or a crisp apple, Harrison said.

The anti-diet approach challenges other trends, including wellness culture

Harrison said intuitive eating is gaining popularity in part because people have begun to recognize problems with diet culture, including evidence that diets don't work, and the prevalence of dangerous eating disorders.

Intuitive eating also addresses a more insidious form of diet culture that has emerged in the form of "wellness," she said. This includes a fixation with eating "clean," for example, that can lead to its own form of eating disorder known as orthorexia.

Intuitive eating does take healthy eating into account, but only after unpacking the dietary dogma and pressure that often underlies the urge to eat healthily. The eventual goal of intuitive eating is to trust that your body knows what it needs to feel good, and that includes salads as well as sweets, healthy foods as well as indulgences.

"You can't really re-approach nutrition in a kind and gentle way without breaking down those ideas about diet culture. If you don't, that information just tends to get plugged into the existing framework and you still have a black-and-white weight-centric, weight stigmatizing way of thinking about things," she said.

Studies have shown intuitive eating has proven benefits for mental and physical health

Pike cited research that intuitive eating leads to better self-esteem, emotional well-being, and psychological resilience. It's also been linked to greater motivation to exercise, since it prioritizes enjoyment instead of guilt or shame. Although more research is needed to fully understand the effects of intuitive, some studies have show promising results that intuitive eating may lead to overall healthier habits overall.

Although it's tempting to ask whether intuitive eating can help with weight loss, experts say that's missing the point, since the practice encourages people to consider their relationship with food beyond aesthetics.

"The ultimate goal is to have food become one of many aspects of life that support your well-being, but it doesn't take on this outsized role where you're spending all your time worrying about food and nutrition," Harrison said. "It gives you time to think about other things that matter in your life."

Gallery: 14 foods you can eat as much as you want and not gain weight

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'Intuitive eating' is on the rise, and experts say it's because people are fed up with diet culture - msnNOW

The use of soybean oil has increased dramatically over the last few decades, to the extent that is has become the most widely consumed edible oil in the US and other Western nations. However, its rise has coincided with an alarming escalation in metabolic conditions like diabetes, insulin resistance, and obesity, and a new study indicates that this may be down to the way that soybean oil causes genetic changes in the brain.

Previous research has shown that mice fed a diet that is high in soybean oil are much more likely to develop these conditions than rodents fed on other fats like coconut oil. Further studies hinted that the culprit may be linoleic acid, as mice that consumed soybean oil that had been modified to lack this key ingredient were spared many of these harmful effects.

To better understand how soybean oil produces these negative consequences, scientists decided to investigate its impact on the expression of genes in the hypothalamus, a brain region that regulates metabolism and a range of other essential processes.

Mice were split into groups, of which one received a diet that was high in normal soybean oil, another consumed a diet high in soybean oil that lacked linoleic acid, and another was fed on a diet rich in coconut oil.

Writing in the journal Endocrinology, the study authors explain that soybean oil was found to modify the expression of around 100 different genes in the hypothalamus, affecting processes such as metabolism, neurological disease, and inflammation.

Among the altered genes were some that are associated with schizophrenia, depression, and Alzheimers disease, although by far the most affected was a gene that codes for the production of a hormone called oxytocin.

Oxytocin is sometimes referred to as the love hormone as it promotes social bonding and feelings of euphoria, and disruptions to its functioning have been linked to depression and autism. However, it also plays a key role in regulating body weight and glucose metabolism, and mice fed on soybean oil were therefore found to suffer from glucose intolerance, while those fed on coconut oil had no such problems.

Furthermore, the oxytocin gene was affected equally in mice that consumed regular soybean oil and the version that lacked linoleic acid, suggesting that the removal of this ingredient does not protect against the harmful effects of soybean oil.

With linoleic acid ruled out as the main driver of these harms, the researchers turned their attention to another compound found in soybean oil called stigmasterol. A further group of mice were fed a diet rich in coconut oil that had been modified to contain high quantities of stigmasterol, to see if this caused similar genetic changes within the hypothalamus.

Yet no such genetic alterations were found in the hypothalamus of these mice, indicating that stigmasterol is not to blame for the dangers of soybean oil.

Future research will now need to focus on determining which ingredient is responsible for these genetic changes, although study author Poonamjot Deol of the University of California, Riverside says that while many questions remain unanswered, some very concrete statements can be made off the back of this study.

"If there's one message I want people to take away, it's this: reduce consumption of soybean oil," she said in a statement.

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One Of The Most Common Ingredients In The Western Diet Has Been Found To Alter Genes In The Brain - IFLScience

Like those Little Debbie snack cakes, but upgraded. Photo via Joyful Food Co.s Website.

A couple of my friends have been on the Whole 30 diet this month, and its really shown me how restrictive certain diets can be. Whether its a preference or you have a food allergyhere are a few Alabama dietary friendly bakeries that make it easier!

In addition to being gluten-free, this online Birmingham bakery has mouthwatering keto-friendly options from fudgy brownies to blueberry almond muffins.

The best part? Us Birminghamians can pick it up locally! Also, you can find the Alabama dietary friendly bakery around the city at various pop-ups, such as the Market at Pepper Place. Just follow their Instagram to stay in the know.

The keto diet didnt look too hard for me until I realized you cant have sugar, like any sugarwho wants to live in that world?

Luckily, you can easily plan a mini road trip to Fathead Fanny in Decatur,ALits an actual certified keto bakery! Fathead Fanny is a brand from Clover Coffee, LLC that serves their goods in-store, but also ships worldwide.

And boydo they have options. The bakery serves keto-friendly cupcakes, doughnuts, scones, muffins and pretty much anything else you could think up.

Joyful Food Co. is Alabamas ONLY 100% gluten-free and paleo-friendly food co., and its right here in Birmingham. Trust me, no sacrifice is made when you get a sweet from here. Plus the options are endlessjust take a look at the menu.

While the bakery is online, local residents (thats us) can pick up orders in-store or even have them delivered. I love having the option of a cherry cobbler showing up at my door.

We know you hate to leave Birmingham, but if you do let it be for the treats at Mason Dixon Bakery in Huntsville. The Alabama dietary friendly bakery and restaurant is 100% gluten-free and 200% delicious.

If you looked at their menu and decided you cant wait until the next time youre in that area, they have online ordering!

Having an uncle with celiac disease, I know how frustrating it is for him when it comes to finding food out that he can enjoy. At Liberated Speciality Foods, they cater to a large variety of dietary restrictions.

Between cupcakes, biscottis, and cookiestheres definitely something for everyone regardless of food allergy or diet.

Didnt see your favorite bakery on this list? Not to worry, many of our Birmingham bakeries, such as Dreamcakes, offer options for your diet, just call and ask!

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5 Alabama bakeries welcoming those with dietary restrictions - Bham Now

Former Cabinet ministers and lawmakers involved in gift and money scandals apologized again Monday as they returned to the Diet for its ordinary session, but offered no new details despite mounting calls for them to explain themselves.

I feel deeply sorry for harming public trust in politics, former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai told reporters as the regular Diet session started. I should refrain from comment as investigations are underway.

Kawai and his wife, Upper House lawmaker Anri Kawai, both from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, have faced allegations that they were involved in daily allowance payments by her office to campaign staffers for the July Upper House election that exceeded their legal limit.

Prosecutors have already searched their offices, alleging that the countrys public elections law may have been breached.

Anri Kawai told reporters, I will explain when investigations are done.

Katsuyuki Kawais resignation as justice minister in October came only days after Isshu Sugawara gave up his post as trade minister over separate money and gift-giving allegations.

Sugawara made his first public appearance in about three months Monday after suffering from what he described as sleeping disorders.

Surrounded by about 50 reporters, Sugawara declined to give details, noting that a criminal complaint against him had been filed with Tokyo prosecutors.

I apologize for my resignation causing a stir and trouble to many people, Sugawara said.

If requested by the authorities, I will cooperate sincerely. Id like to explain the whole story at an appropriate time, a sweating Sugawara said.

The former trade minister quit after a weekly magazine reported that his secretary had offered 20,000 ($182) in condolence money to the bereaved family of a supporter in his Tokyo constituency in mid-October.

The magazine also alleged that Sugawara had given expensive melons and crabs to local supporters.

The public offices election law bans politicians from making donations to voters in their home constituencies. Politicians are allowed to offer money personally at ceremonies such as weddings and funerals.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe acknowledged his responsibility for appointing Kawai and Sugawara in a Cabinet reshuffle in September.

As the 150-day Diet session began, opposition parties were preparing to grill Abe over a controversial state-funded cherry blossom-viewing party and a bribery scandal related to the introduction of casinos in Japan.

The administrations casino push suffered a setback after Tsukasa Akimoto, a former LDP lawmaker who led the effort, was arrested on suspicion of receiving money from a Chinese gambling company that had sought to launch a casino business in Japan.

LDP lawmaker Toshimitsu Funahashi, one of the five lawmakers to whom the Chinese firm reportedly paid money, bowed in apparent apology to the prime minister.

Funahashi, who has denied receiving money from the Chinese company, said to reporters on Monday, I dont have anything to say.

Another lawmaker Mikio Shimoji was expelled from Nippon Ishin no Kai after admitting to receiving 1 million from the Chinese company. He only said he is not going to talk.

Continued here:
Scandal-hit Japan lawmakers sorry but otherwise tight-lipped as Diet opens - The Japan Times