Coach and author Sharkie Zartman remembers coaching at a youth volleyball tournament and observing a match between two very good teams of 10-year-olds when the parents started behaving badly.

It was just a battle, going back and forth, she says. After it was over, the parents were still yelling at the coaches, officials and other parents. Meanwhile, the kids from both teams went outside to play some kind of circle game, and they were all laughing and having fun. I was thinking, Oh, my gosh, who are the grownups, and who are the kids?

As numerous memes on social media suggest, badly behaving sports parents are not uncommon. In an effort to foster healthier sports parenting, Zartman teamed up with Robert Weil, DPM, a sports podiatrist based in Aurora, to write #HeySportsParents: An Essential Guide for any Parent with a Child in Sports.

Its important for parents to stay calm and be supportive while helping their kids navigate the perks and pitfalls of youth sports, the authors say.

Zartman says many parents look at sports with a competitive mindset, while their kids just want to enjoy themselves. Kids play sports because theyre fun, and they want to be with their friends, she says. But what do most parents focus on? Winning, getting the trophies or dreaming of scholarships.

Some parents try to live through their children, says Jenny Conviser, PsyD, founder and CEO of the outpatient behavioral health practice Ascend Consultation in Health Care and assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine.

Some parents rely on their childrens experiences and successes to feel more successful themselves, Conviser says. If you just prioritize your kids success as an athlete, you may overlook other important things like sleep, family or friend time and this is a big one the related financial stress [of sports] on the family.

Many parents live vicariously through their kids, says therapist Andrew Joy, LCPC, founder of The Mental Difference, a sports psychology practice in the Chicago area. He describes a common scenario: Dad didnt make it out of high school sports, and now he pushes and pushes his kid until the kid doesnt want to play anymore. [But] youve got to let your kid do his or her thing.

The pressure of living up to a parents expectation can mount, especially after a bad game. Parents might need to take a step back at such a moment, Joy says.

A lot of times, the car ride home can be prettystressfulfor kids, Joy says. They just had a bad game, and their parents arepushingthem for information. The kid is already upset. Sometimes, its better for parents to be silent and be comfortable with the silence.

Parents who bribe their kids with money or gifts if they score well can set their children up for disappointment. A child who is just regarded well for scores or accomplishments may not feel positively about the rest of themselves and may wake up and feel that they are only as good as their next scores, Conviser says.

Its not just sports psychologists and therapists who see the effects of competitive behavior in parents. Marc Breslow, MD, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in sports medicine at Illinois Bone & Joint Institute, sees children who sustain injuries from the intense competition.

The sports environment has changed, with an emphasis on year-round training on a single sport. Kids are now doing sports year-round, Breslow says. Because of this, kids are exposed to overuse injuries and burnout.

In fact, a study published in 2018 in Pediatrics found that children with a high specialization in a sport were 81% more likely to experience an overuse injury than athletes who played a wide variety of sports.

Parents who are so focused on their childs success may miss the signs of an abusive coach. Spotting and stopping abuse is especially important in the wake of sexual abuse of athletes within USA Gymnastics and allegations within USA Swimming.

Zartman mentions a friend whose daughter played water polo at one of the top clubs in the area, with a verbally abusive coach who called the girl names and put her down. Zartman says she asked her friend, Why do you want your daughter to think that men should treat her this way?

The mother had kept her daughter at the club because he was a top coach at an elite program. Eventually, though, the girl switched to a different club, where she excelled. She felt good about herself and was enjoying the sport again, Zartman says.

Parents and their children should not tolerate an abusive or unhealthy training environment simply because the team is good. No potential success should take priority over your childs health and happiness, says Conviser, who was a Division 1 college gymnastics coach before she became a sports psychologist.

That kind of environment has a long-lasting impact on kids, Conviser adds. A kid who is mistreated is broken down, not built up.

Follow these tips for a healthier approach to sports for parents and their children.

Jeanette Hurt is the award-winning writer and author of 12 books, with two more books on the way in 2020.

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Healthy Sports Parenting Starts with These Tips - Chicago Health

However, there are ways to slow down the ageing process. We all know we need to eat right and exercise, but according to Braidy, the key to healthy ageing is maintaining nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) levels.

NAD is a powerful coenzyme found in every cell in the body. Its important for many processes in your body, including energy production, metabolic regulation and cell viability (AKA, ageing). NAD can also support bone and muscle health, lower your risk of heart disease, prevent liver damage and boost brainpower.

But as you age, NAD levels decline and your ability to absorb NAD from food also decreases.

NAD depletion can lead to a decline in metabolic function and poor cell viability, leading to structural degeneration, functional decline, cognitive deficits and age-related diseases, Braidy explains.

The good news is a new supplement used to safely boost NAD levels has been added to the list of possible anti-ageing drugs. The TGA-approved product, a form of vitamin B3 called nicotinamide riboside (NR), is one of the latest developments in healthy ageing, according to Braidy.

By introducing supplements that contain NR and making healthy lifestyle changes, the benefits will be made at a cellular level, he explains.

However, if you arent interested in supplements, there are other ways you can increase NAD production.

Boosting NAD levels can be achieved through day-to-day lifestyle changes such as regular exercise, intermittent fasting, [and by following] the ketogenic diet, he says.

Including foods in your diet that are rich in vitamin B3, like salmon, tuna and avocado, can also help increase NAD levels.

Important information: The information provided on this website is of a general nature and information purposes only. It does not take into account your personal health requirements or existing medical conditions. It is not personalised health advice and must not be relied upon as such. Before making any decisions about your health or changes to medication, diet and exercise routines you should determine whether the information is appropriate in terms of your particular circumstances and seek advice from a medical professional.

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The secret to healthy ageing - Starts at 60

Nutriccos countertop Smart Dispenser. Photo: Courtesy.

A new cloud-based countertop smart device developed in Israel will dispense personalized nutrition supplements based on data it receives from a diet tracking app.

After analyzing the data tracked in the app, Nutricco provides supplement recommendations, which are then automatically delivered to the customers home as part of a monthly subscription.

The idea is not to promote supplements, but to encourage users to have a complete diet, Nutriccos CEO and co-founder Leonid Pirogovsky told The Algemeiner. We are providing the tools for smart decision making.

Nutricco, founded in 2018 and based in Raanana, has three components: a diet and health tracking application, a countertop Smart Dispenser and a monthly supplement subscription. That subscription includes expert health analysis, taking into consideration factors such as diet, climate, and lifestyle, as well as monthly supplements. The technology was a finalist at this years FoodTechIL competition in Tel Aviv.

December 19, 2019 4:18 pm

Based on your lifestyle profile, we recommend how to create a nutritional balance, Pirogovsky said.

While Nutricco does not seek to promote nutritional supplements over a healthy diet, there are many who consume them in an uninformed or unhealthy way.

About 160 million people take supplements daily, Pirogovsky noted, and many dont know exactly what they are taking or why.

The market today is controlled by supplement consumption, he said, which can not only be dangerous, but a waste of money.

The app first provides recommendations for a healthy diet, and if thats not sufficient, we offer solutions to close those nutritional gaps, Pirogovsky said. If you dont eat fish, for example, we might recommend that you take omega-3 supplements.

But, the app also provides government health department recommendations to avoid replacing essential diet components with pills.

Chavi Kramer, a dietician and nutrition expert in Tel Aviv, acknowledged she was not against recommending diet supplements, depending on the reason.

While Kramer would not recommend nutritional supplements to everyone, she said the personalized smart model of Nutricco certainly had potential, especially for those with dietary restrictions.

I dont believe that people should be going straight to supplements as a default, and ideally we should be obtaining these nutrients from food, Kramer told The Algemeiner.

The members of the team behind the concept have backgrounds with some of Israels largest pharmaceutical companies, such as Teva, and noticed that while many diet-tracking apps were available, a personalized end-to-end solution was missing on the market.

It is time for people to be able to manage their health and nutrition the same personal way they manage their bank account or any other aspect of their life, with innovative technology, Pirogovsky told The Algemeiner.

In our day and age, said Kramer, people are using apps for literally everything including music, socializing, supermarket shopping and banking so it makes sense that food and health have entered this realm as well. She added that digital health tools were empowering individuals to make their own decisions and enabling everyone to have access to certain information that was out of reach previously.

There are competitive products on the market, but Nutriccos patented Smart Dispenser is unique in its ability to hold up to eight supplements and in their original packaging, and provide a personalized experience for more than one person simultaneously.

Our machine is designed for the user, said Pirogovsky.

Still, Kramer explained that users needed to be cautious in selecting the right tools as some of these may be based on incorrect information, and the constant access to nutrition information and diet tracking could result in obsessive behavior.

Nutricco will launch its three-component platform in January at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas alongside the Israeli Export Institute, where it will announce the high-profile supplement providers it has partnered with to provide the last step in their end-to-end model.

With an initial launch in the US, the price of the Smart Dispenser will be $399, and the subscription for personalized analysis and supplements will cost $50 per month.

Down the road, Pirogovsky hopes Smart Dispensers will not only be in homes all over the world, but in public spaces like offices and gyms.

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Israeli Company Looks to Digitize Diet Tracking and Vitamin Intake With Smart Dispenser - Algemeiner

Before you start the anti-inflammatory diet, you should understand exactly what it is. Inflammation is a necessary mechanism of our immune systems, which evolved at a time when it would need to respond to acuteinsults such as infections. But today, our immune systemsare responding to our diets and lifestyles, and this has unintended consequences, including tissue damage, says Max Lugavere, New York Times best-selling author of Genius Foods. An anti-inflammatory diet attempts to steer the body from a chronically inflamed state to one with healthy levels of inflammation. While things like regular exercise, proper sleep and stress management can also play a role, experts say diet can be a crucial aspect in keeping our bodies free of dangerous levels of chronic inflammation. Here are 26 things to know about the anti-inflammatory diet and some tips on how you can incorporate elements of it into your lifestyle:

Related: What Is the Anti-Inflammatory Diet and What Foods Can You Eat On It?

When the body is injured or ill, the lymphatic (immune) system springs into action, bringing the immune systems army of white blood cells to the area of concern via increased blood flow, explains Dr. Josh Axe, founder ofAncient Nutrition. He notes that inflammation in a healthy body is the normal and effective response that facilitates healing, like when a cut becomes red, painful or swollen.

According to Dr. Axe, when the immune system overreaches and begins attacking healthy body tissues, were met with an autoimmune disorder and inflammation in otherwise healthy areas of the body. Inflammatory effects also are linked to arthritis andfibromyalgia symptoms, as well as celiac and irritable bowel disease (IBD), he explains, adding that, asthma creates inflamed airways; inflammation related to diabetes affects insulin resistance; and so on.

Related: 7 Simple Tips to Supercharge Your Immune System

Dr. Sears is president of the non-profit Inflammation Research Foundation,andauthor of the Zone Diet book series (which now includes his newest release, The Resolution Zone).

As a report from the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases stated: While todays modern diet may provide beneficial protection from micro- and macronutrient deficiencies, our over abundance of calories and the macronutrients that compose our diet may all lead to increasedinflammation, reduced control of infection, increased rates of cancer, and increased risk for allergic and auto-inflammatory disease.

Drying your hands is as important as washing them. Wet hands transmit bacteria more easily, so especially during cold and flu season, take the time to dry them thoroughly.

Dr. AndrewWeil, author of 8 Weeks to Optimum Healthand the creator of the Anti-Inflammatory Diet, tells Parade.com that he based his program on the Mediterranean diet, due to the evidence-backed general health benefits on it. I tweaked that by adding Asian influences to it because Ive spent a lot of time in Asia and Ive drawn on Asian cuisine. So adding such things as ginger and turmeric and green tea and Asian mushrooms, for example, he explains.

Related: Sunday With Dr. Andrew Weil

You can have occasional servings of lean meat, eggs, and small dairyas well as small amounts of chocolate and wine! Check out Dr. Weils Anti-Inflammatory Food Pyramid for the recommended servings of each.

The most important tip is to avoid refined, processed, and manufactured foods, explains Dr. Weil. Thats whats doing us in. Thats whats causing most problems, so the more you can eliminate that from your diet, the better.

Weil adds that you will be doing your body a massive favor if you eat foods that are as close to the way nature produces them as possible.

Weil would recommend that everyone prioritizes eating in a low inflammatory mannerI think it gives you your best shot at overall health and longevity, since the most serious diseases that do people in as they get older are rooted in chronic inappropriate inflammation. So I think by following that, thats really your best overall health strategy, he explains. But per the expert, people with inflammatory disorders like arthritis, autoimmune diseases, etc. may especially benefit from it.

Coffeeand tea are generally considered anti-inflammatoryits with what we adulterate these beverages that can swing these beverages into inflammatory territory, says MonicaAuslanderMoreno, MS, RD, LD/N, nutrition consultant forRSP Nutrition.

The journal Oncogene published the results of a study that evaluated several anti-inflammatory compounds. It found that aspirin (Bayer, etc.) and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin, etc.) are least potent, while curcumin is among the most potent anti-inflammatory and anti-proliferative agents in the world, says Dr. Axe.

She says that fruits and vegetables containbeneficialpolyphenolssuch as anthocyanin,which have powerful antioxidant effects and that diets high in fruits and vegetables provide vitaminsC and E, which may provide protective antioxidanteffects.

Studies show that diets with better ratios of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids may provide protective cardiovascularbenefits, says Crean. She cites that good sources of dietaryomega-3 fatty acids include: fattyfish such as salmon, mackereland herringaim for 2 servings a weekand advocates for limiting dietary sources of omega-6 fatty acids like soybean oil, sunflower oil and corn oil.

A crucial component of warding off inflammation, per Dr. Weil, is to keep your sugar intake low. Also pay attention to the fructose content of various sweeteners because the body cant handle fructose well and it disrupts metabolism, he says.

It would be good for people to reduce the percentage of animal foods in the diet. I think that North Americans eat much too much meat, beef especially, and too many animal foods. So replacing some of that with plant proteins is a good strategy, he explains.

Aim for a wide variety of vegetables, incorporate them into as many meals as possible, and include as many different colors as you can get, says Dr. Weil.

Weil says grains are absolutely OK, as long as you are eating the right kinds. I think grains are good food if theyre not processed, but theres a big difference between whole grains or cracked grains and polarized grains/flour, he says. If I ask most people to name a whole grain food, theyll say whole wheat bread. And thats not a whole grain foods. Its made from flour. So limit the processed ones and opt for rice, wild rice, quinoa, barley, millet and buckwheat instead.

Related: 12 Nutritious Quinoa Salads for Simple Meals

There are many foods that are allowed on the diet plan and Dr. Weil encourages you to get creative. For instance, he often eats smoked fish and whole grain toast, or even a salad for breakfast. You can have fish frequently, especially salmon and black cod and other fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids. I like good soy foodstempeh, tofu, edamame. And those are examples of good quality vegetable protein foods. There are many vegetable preparations. Pasta is fine as long as its cooked al dente and not in huge quantities with not creamy, buttery sauces. And a lot of the ethnic foods like Asian, Middle Eastern, and Japanese are filled with healthy spices and great ingredients, he says.

Weil says as a rule of thumb, its a good idea to avoid foods prepared by other people, fast food, and stuff from the middle of the supermarketthe highly-processed stuff. He adds that if ingredients can barely fit on the label, you dont want to eat it; if they are too many things there, you dont know what they are, its a pass. Think about if youre going to make this at home, what ingredients you would use? And if there are too many other things beyond that, dont use them.

There are some good prepared foods out there, he explains, noting that he buys Gyoza potstickers from Trader JoesI often cook them with broccoli and thats a quick, easy mealas well as American Flatbread pizzas from Whole Foods.

per Jim Frith, author of End the Yo-Yo; the EAMAYW System and advanced sports nutrition specialist, are: darkly pigmented berries, stone fruits, cruciferous vegetables, citrus fruits, beets, green tea, probiotics, kelp, avocado, nuts, free-range eggs and olive oil.

per Global Master Chef Karl Guggenmos, senior culinary advisor at Healthy Meals Supreme, include: refined carbohydrates, processed meats, sugary drinks, refined added sugars, excessive alcohol consumption and processed conventional snack items.

Its really an eating plan for life and its not in any way meant to reduce the pleasure of eating, says Weil. I think above all, eating should be pleasurable and it is possible to have good food that meets the requirements of the anti-inflammatory diet, he adds.

Curious about the pegan diet? Weve got the scoop.

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Anti-Inflammatory DietFacts About Anti-Inflammatory Foods and What to Avoid - Parade

Since childhood, I've known that I didn't have the stick-thin body type you see in magazines. It never used to bother me until other people decided that it bothered them. At 12, I was body shamed by two drunk middle-aged women at an amusement park, as I stood next to my identical twin sister. In the fifth grade, my class was weighed at the beginning and end of the year; I grew four inches taller and gained a decent amount of weight, which led to some harsh whispers. Now, at 27, I'm still getting used to my body, but I no longer let the opinions of other people dictate how I feel about myself.

About a year ago, I upped my dosage of an anti-anxiety medication to help counter increasingly persistent symptoms of anxiety and OCD. With the higher dose came some weight gain, and it was shocking to say the least. None of my clothes fit the way they were supposed to. I couldn't wear my favorite jeans and dresses anymore. Stretch marks seemed to pop up overnight around my stomach. And at first, I panicked. I skipped birthday parties and other outings to avoid having a meltdown every time I got dressed. I stopped trying to look cute because I didn't feel like myself anymore. I allowed my weight to determine my value.

Fortunately, this panic and self-loathing didn't last. After a few weeks of feeling miserable, I was fed up with the person I had become. This wasn't who I wanted to be. I didn't want to be the girl who sat at home instead of meeting up with friends because of a number on the scale. I didn't want to hate myself so much that I forgot how to live. I had wasted so much time obsessing over my body that I forgot what I had: family, friends, a roof over my head, and, equally important, a body that works, regardless of its size. Instead of relishing in what I had, I was allowing myself to drown in self-doubt. I decided then and there that instead of dieting to fit into my old clothes, I would buy new clothes I liked even better. Instead of trying to get back to the weight I was before, I would let my body be.

Today, I'm no longer that panicked and heartbroken girl. I no longer isolate myself because of my weight. At the end of the day, it's just a number, and one that will change throughout my life. There's nothing to gain from allowing something so fleeting to define your self-worth. So, instead of dieting and trying to shrink the parts of you that you hate, I hope you'll join me in celebrating your body. There's no one else on this earth that has it, or your generosity, or your sense of humor, or your heart.

It's so easy to judge yourself against magazine covers and filtered photos on Instagram, but every curve and roll and stretch mark tells a story of what you've gone through and how far you've come. Embrace those so-called flaws, because they make you uniquely you, and only serve to showcase your strength and resilience.

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Why I Refuse to Diet in a World Obsessed With Dieting - POPSUGAR

Top 5 Most Googled Diets in 2019 and How Most of Them Don't Work Instantly ( Photo by I E on Unsplash )

Holidays are coming right up. A lot of different avenues of gatherings and parties are continuously piling up on your schedule. Do you know what this also means? Lots and lots of food for you to digest. However, if you're that person that needs or wants to stay fit, you might have to give yourself a break and lose some of that holiday weight before the year 2019 ends.

Luckily, you are not the only one thinking about creating some healthy diets as Google recently released the'Top 5 Most Googled Diets of 2019.'

Which among them will work for you?

If you have never heard aboutGolo Diet, you might have to check it out yourself. However, this diet seemed to be the least effective diet of 2019, based onAmazon reviews. Golo diet was created by the Golo company itself that sells supplements and promotes a balanced diet and exercise for its users.

The main idea behind the Golo diet is its promotion to lessen glucose content and maintaining a healthy level of insulin in the body. The company claims that one secret to lowering body fat level is through their 'Release' supplement product-- which may or may not work for you.

According toHealthline, 1,200 Calories Diet is popular mostly for women ages over 50 since their diet has the same calorie content, to begin with. Initially, if you're looking forward to lowering your body weight this coming 2020, one way to do it is through lowering your calorie intake.

This is how 1200 Calories Diet works. However, Dr. Liz Weinandy from Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center warned people that "it is not recommended that a person goes under 1,200 calories a day since it is very hard to get enough nutrients like calcium, protein, and magnesium on a calorie level less than 1,200."

Just like the most common warning to all that are aiming to get fit, diet meals always depends on your body type. That is why application Noom emerges in the stream-- targetingmillennialsmost of the time.Noom appallows you to have a tracker on the nutrition intake your food has.

For example, foods are divided into colors red, yellow, and green. Red as having the most calorie-dense food and green represents veggies and fruits. What's awesome in this app is that you can eat whatever you want even if you're on a diet. However, Noom app may also warn you in between.

Self-educated herbalist Alfredo Darrington Bowman is commonly known asDr. Sebifeatures a diet that can be categorized as a 'vegan diet.' Meals with meats are prohibited in Dr. Sebi Diet, along with drinking alcohol. Aside from this, you must also strictly follow Dr. Sebi's food pattern for life to achieve a continuously healthy lifestyle, according to Dr. Sebi himself.

Having the spot of the most popular and Googled diet in 2019 is theIntermittent Fasting Diet.This diet is more like a food routine or eating pattern rather than a diet. To have your body fit, according to an intermittent fasting diet, you need to have scheduled eating and fasting time for your body.

One popular method of this is called the 16/8 method. This means that you have to allocate 8 hours for eating, then you fast for 16 hours in between.

2018 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.

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Top 5 Most Googled Diets in 2019 and How Most of Them Don't Work Instantly - Tech Times

WASHINGTON, D.C. A new group called the Low-Carb Action Network (LCAN), a coalition of doctors, academics, and average Americans with personal success stories using low-carb diets, has launched to urge U.S. nutrition leaders to include a true low-carb diet as part of the 2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).

LCAN members point to a large and rapidly growing body of strong scientific research showing carbohydrate restriction to be a safe and effective strategy to prevent and even reverse chronic, diet-related conditions such as pre-diabetes/type 2 diabetes, overweight/obesity, and high blood pressure along with a broad array of other cardiovascular risk factors.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) recently endorsed low-carb/keto diets as a standard of care for the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes, stating that the diet lowers blood pressure, controls blood sugar, lowers triglycerides (fatty acids in the blood), raises the good cholesterol (HDL-C), and reduces the need for medication use.

However, the DGA does not include a low-carb diet. For the 2015 DGA, USDA-HHS ignored some 70 clinical trials demonstrating the effectiveness of low-carb diets. LCAN does not want important scientific evidence to again be ignored.

LCAN members are also concerned that USDA, in its current scientific reviews, is using an inaccurate definition of the diet that is not up-to-date with current science and will lead to misleading, untrustworthy results. Specifically, USDA is defining low-carb as 45 percent of total calories or less, when leaders in the field agree this number should be 25 percent.

Dr. Eric Westman, Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University emphasized that the current dietary guidelines do not apply to most Americans and that a variety of dietary options should be presented to the American people, including a low-carbohydrate diet.

One size does not fit all. If there is anything weve learned over the last four years, its that the low-carb approach should be a viable option, stated Westman.

Dr. Mark Cucuzzella, Professor of Family Medicine at West Virginia University said a majority of the patients he treats daily have obesity and metabolic syndrome, a combination of conditions driven by hyperinsulinemia that increase the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

If the government has any responsibility to give advice on nutrition it should be focused on those who have a medical condition which is impacted by nutrition and provide evidence-based nutrition solutions, one being a low-carb diet. This diet is highly effective to prevent and treat diet-related illnesses and has decades of evidence to support it.

Dr. Nadir Ali, Chairman, Department of Cardiology, Clear Lake Regional Medical Center, and Research Professor, Dept. of Nutrition and Applied Science, University of Houston, has significant experience in the science and practice of low-carb diets.

As a cardiologist, I regularly prescribe a low-carb diet to treat patients with type 2 diabetes and other heart-related diseases to better their health and improve their quality of life, said Ali. Given the significant amount of scientific research and evidence supporting this diet, its time for U.S. nutrition policy leaders to prescribe a low-carb option for those who are tipping into obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and more.

A study conducted last year by the University of North Carolina at Chapel concluded that only 12 percent of American adults are metabolically healthy, while 88 percent are en route to developing type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease or another chronic, diet-related condition.

Dr. Jeffry Gerber, M.D., FAAFP, board certified family physician and owner of South Suburban Family Medicine in Denver, CO, said it is unconscionable for nutrition leaders not to include a low-carb diet in the dietary guidelines.

It is unacceptable for our nations nutrition leaders to exclude nearly nine out of ten adults from the guidelines, when low-carb diets provide a viable and proven solution for effectively combatting obesity and diabetes, among other conditions, said Gerber. Every day people across the globe are improving their health by following low-carb diets. Their stories are emotional and real from fighting obesity and heart disease to beating depression and even cancer.

Dr. Charles Cavo, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Pounds Transformation in West Hartford, CT, stated that USDA and HHS officials have defined low-carb inaccurately for their scientific reviews. Theyve defined the diet as having a carbohydrate intake of <45 percent or less of overall daily calories, while leading experts in the field define a low-carb diet as <25 percent or less.

If USDA and HHS continue to wrongfully define low-carb diets, they will skew the results of their analyses, said Cavo.Defining low-carb as 45% of calories will wash out any positive results, which are largely achieved only when people significantly reduce carbohydrates, down to 25% of calories or less. Its not clear why USDA chose their definition of low-carb, since the agency provided no documentation or footnotes. But its clearly not consistent with leading research in the field or what we see working for weight loss and disease reversal in clinical practice.

Antonio C. Martinez II was one of the principal lobbyists who advocated for the Dietary and Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA). Martinez, who has also used a low-carb approach to reverse his own type 2 diabetes, lose weight, and recover from heart disease, added specifics to Cavos point.

This proposed definition clearly does not reflect the standards set by research leaders in the field and practitioners with actual clinical and technical experience, said Martinez. The lack of a formal regulatory standard for low-carb allows for this kind of abuse. It needs to stop because the public is not stupid, and the committees credibility is in question with such bad science.

Dr. Georgia Ede, a Massachusetts-based psychiatrist and founder of diagnosisdiet.com, echoed Martinez and Cavos concerns that USDA-HHS have used incorrect definitions of a low-carb diet, which will lead to an inaccurate assessment of a real nutrition option that could make millions of Americans healthier.

As a physician who prescribes low-carbohydrate diets in my psychiatric practice every day, who has personally followed a low-carbohydrate diet for many years, and has paid close attention to the scientific literature on this topic, I am concerned that the percentage of carbohydrates the government is using for its definition of low-carb is far too high to be metabolically meaningful, and should be reconsidered, stated Ede.

Doug Reynolds, the founder of Low Carb USA, a group that hosts scientific conferences on the subject and has worked with a team of doctors to publish Clinical Guidelines for The Prescription of Carbohydrate Restriction as a Therapeutic Intervention, says the low-carb diet is a proven solution to help Americans improve their health.

Its time for nutrition leaders to embrace a low carb diet as a viable option. More than 70 clinical trials have been conducted, and the results are clear: Low-carb diets are effective in combating obesity and improving cardiovascular risk factors, said Reynolds. The success stories I have personally witnessed are truly incredible, and I never would have believed them if I did not see them myself.

LCAN plans to launch a grassroots campaign in the coming months to urge leaders at USDA and HHS to ensure that a properly defined low-carb diet is included in the DGA to provide a dietary option for the majority of Americans who suffer from diet-related, chronic diseases. The next meeting of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee will be held next month in Houston.

For more information on the Low-Carb Action Network (LCAN), please visit lowcarbaction.org.

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Group Calls on USDA to Include a Real Low-Carb Diet in Guidelines WKTN- A division of Home Town Media - WKTN Radio

Do you get any days off?

Now that we're in this show schedule, we get Mondays and Tuesdays off, which is slightly unheard of in theater. The trade-off is doing five show weekends, with two days off. On those days, it is imperative that I take care of myself, even in the smallest of ways. Making sure that I dont have anything scheduled before noon, or that I can wake up and stay in my pajamas and have a cup of coffee, or read the news for a while. I want to feel human.

Do you have to be militant about protecting your sleep?

It is the one thing that I protect at all costs. I will ruin friendships in order to get sleep. If I don't, I rob an entire group of people who have paid to see a story with the full experience. Sleep and yoga and meditation are three things that keep me sane. When I'm not working, I have a much more relaxed vibe, but when I'm doing this play, there are things that I can no longer do. I really enjoy weight-lifting and throwing a barbell around, but if I try to do that now, my body won't be able to recuperate.

What is it that you're focused on, if not weights? Is it flexibility, endurance, injury prevention?

Yes, that's exactly it. It's also thinking about fitness in more of a spiritual way. I'm not as results-oriented now. Yoga is a daily routine that makes my body feel full and strong and limber and helps me move around without damage.

Do you have a trainer?

I do not. I go to yoga classes, and I also really enjoy climbing and bouldering. It's a fun way to stay fit while also engaging my mind and my heart, rather than just mindlessly going to the gym and trying to pump up my biceps. It's like figuring out a puzzle with your body: How do you get to that point as quickly and efficiently as possible?

As a performer, are you also thinking about your voice, and your skin? I assume you're packing an inch of makeup on every night.

I am obsessed with skincare. Obsessed. My mom is a dermatologist and I had cystic acne as a kid. I have very sensitive skin. I've tried so many different products and companies. The number one thing that I use is a lot of Malin+ Goetz. And some Tata Harper, some Aesop. I'm also obsessed with Biologique P50. I love a good face mask.

It's crazy how many people still think there's shame attached to skincare. I think it's changing. You're allowed to take care of yourself. My rather conservative, manly-man father would spend $10 on a pair of jeans and think that's expensive. God love him. But I'm wildly different.

And self-care is multifaceted, right? It obviously goes far beyond face masks. It's also about understanding yourself in stressful situations and how to change your reactions to your reactions. You know what I mean? Years of therapy have taught me that your way through the world is not based on the things that happened to you. It's how you react to the things that happen to you.

How do you think about food? Are there specific things that you gravitate towards?

I fast in the morning, so I don't usually eat until about 2:00 or 3:00 p.m. I'll try and work out in the morning just as a way to wake myself up. I will have a cup of black coffee. I always start with overnight oats. Overnight oats is one of the greatest inventions of all time because it keeps you full for so long, but not heavy full. If I have to be on the go, I have to have something that I can take with me, and overnight oats fit the bill there. I usually do blueberries and banana, almond butter, oats, cacao nibs, a little bit of cinnamon. Throw it in, mix it up, add a little bit of protein powder, and then it's done. I swear by that. And it's also about eating as many vegetables as possible. I try to stay away from red meat before a show and steer toward things that are easily digestible. If I'm thinking about what I just ate on stage, I'm pretty much fucked.

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Andrew Burnap: The Real-Life Diet of 'The Inheritance' Star Who's Obsessed With Overnight Oats - GQ

Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang sometimes seems more like a walking meme generator than a man trying to become the most powerful person in the world: He jokes that hes the Asian Oprah for his Freedom Dividend proposal, which guarantees a universal basic income of $1,000 a month; he streams videos of himself dancing to Lunizs I Got Five on It, a song about splitting the cost of marijuana; and at a campaign office opening in Manchester, New Hampshire, he sprayed whipped cream into the mouth of a kneeling supporter.

So when I planned to document two days of Yangs campaign trail eating habits, his staffers werent concerned even after photos of fellow candidate Pete Buttigiegs particular method of eating a cinnamon roll went viral following my previous campaign embed. There isnt going to be a viral moment, because he knows how to eat food, Yangs campaign manager Zach Graumann snarked.

Despite the antics, Yang is a serious candidate. The businessman, often described as a millionaire, has a net worth of $1 million according to Forbes, making him in fact less wealthy than all but one of the seven candidates who have qualified for the upcoming primary debate. He will also be the only person of color on stage since California Senator Kamala Harris dropped out of the race earlier this month, and New Jersey Senator Cory Booker failed to qualify. (Nine candidates, led by Booker, have signed a petition to expand the qualifying criteria for the debates.) With a $10 million fundraising haul in the third quarter, Yangs team is beefing up his operations in key early voting states like Iowa, New Hampshire, and Nevada, hoping to exceed expectations as primary voting begins so that he can catch fire by Super Tuesday, when 14 states will hold presidential nominating contests and 40 percent of the delegates for the Democratic partys nomination will be decided.

Yang and his supporters, who call themselves the Yang Gang, often complain of a lack of media coverage for his candidacy; in the last debate, hosted by MSNBC, he received the least amount of speaking time of the 10 candidates on stage, despite polling better than half of them. To bridge that coverage gap, Yangs team decided to take its first Iowa bus tour his 23rd visit to the state with media in tow. The five-day sprint consisted of bowling, a basketball game, office openings, more serious events like a forum on autism with his wife Evelyn (one of their children is autistic), and only a little bit of malarkey.

Despite making a signature out of his love of turkey legs at the Iowa State Fair, voters who expected Yang to indulge in public performances of wolfing down Iowas more visually impressive favorites, like Decorahs frosted cinnamon rolls and Smittys pork tenderloins, as he made his way through the state will be disappointed. A lot of times we just go to the closest restaurant on Google Maps, said Erick Sanchez, Yangs traveling press secretary, who previously worked on Ohio Congressman Tim Ryans presidential bid. Ideally, wed love to be able to hit a local deli every time we travel but with the schedule we keep, its fucking impossible.

But to focus on meals would be to miss the real story of his campaign diet: Andrew Yang is a supreme snacklord. Costco-sized containers of popcorn pour out of every cabinet of his bus, while the teams work table is constantly littered with an assortment of chips, jerky, Whole Foods 365 almonds, BarkThins, classic Welchs fruit snacks, clementines, and Yangs favorite the quietly cultish BelVita breakfast biscuit. Every campaign trip to Iowa or New Hampshire starts off with a 30-unit case, and theyre usually gone by the end. Its always a good time for BelVita, said Yang, who ate a package for breakfast one day, then paired it with a cup of pomegranate seeds as an evening snack on another.

During a two-hour span in Dubuque, a city in that sits on the Mississippi River in eastern Iowa, Yang ate package of a BelVita biscuits; munched on bags of Navitas Organics cacao goji power snacks and Whole Foods roasted almonds; nibbled on half of a plain doughnut from Dunkin during a roundtable discussion with small business owners; and polished off a bag of Skinny Pop butter popcorn while being interviewed by the Washington Posts Dave Weigel.

On another occasion, during a 30-minute drive from Cedar Falls to Waterloo, Yang finished a package of dark chocolate cocoa Skinny Dipped almonds, started on a bag of Tates Chocolate Chip cookies, and downed a bottle of water, his preferred beverage, while taking questions from the press. Yang had a new bottle of water in his hand virtually every time he stepped on or off the bus. It prevents me from getting sick, Yang said of his disciplined hydration. Plus, I speak a lot so it helps. Besides water, Yang only consumes green tea Honest T is his preferred brand for the road and the occasional fruit juice; he does not drink alcohol or coffee.

Yangs ceaseless snacking doesnt mean that he skips meals, though. On the first day of my embed, he ate what most people would consider to be four separate meals: eggs, sausage, and an acai bowl for breakfast; a turkey sandwich from sub chain Jimmy Johns, delivered to a conference room where the team was filming YouTube content, for lunch; a pepperoni pizza on the way to a town hall event, for dinner; and an Asian salad at Houlihans, the casual American bar and restaurant chain, for a second dinner.

Jimmy Johns is the not-so-secret go-to for Iowa political operatives who need to feed hungry staffs: The chains sandwiches agree with most palates, there are vegetarian options, and its a known quantity with locations across the entire state. Its consistent. The bread has a decent chew, Sanchez, Yangs press secretary, said. Its not Subway, which tastes like licking a subway. (The Buttigieg team also told me that Jimmy Johns was a staple, but they ordered from a local sandwich shop when I was embedded with the campaign optics! with mixed results.)

While Yangs campaign trail diet consisted mostly of snacks and practical chain restaurants for the two days I was on the road with him, the last meal on my final day was an iconic diner: Iowa Citys Hamburg Inn No. 2, which has a long history of patronage by ex-presidents and presidential candidates alike, from Ronald Reagan in the early 90s and Bill Clinton in 2003 to Barack Obama and Mitt Romney during their respective campaigns.

Most diner stops on the campaign trail are for the photo op: Often, the food remains untouched. Yang seemed to follow this pattern, greeting supporters and taking selfies with restaurant employees as news crews stood by filming. But after noting that the food was delicious at Hamburg Inn No. 2, he ordered a takeaway dinner of bacon cheeseburgers and pie shakes for the ride back to the hotel.

Yang said that he eats healthier back home in New York City, but with a focus on hydration and spreading his eating across the entire day, he believes hes doing the best he can while on the road. I try to stay healthy, he said as he spooned a chocolate bourbon pecan pie shake into his mouth. The game of Mario Kart his staff had been playing on the TV behind him came to an end and the bus pulled way, on to the next stop.

Gary He is a photojournalist based in New York City.

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What Andrew Yang Eats on the Campaign Trail - Eater

A device that translates brain signals into speech? It sounds like science fiction, but it was one of the University of California research breakthroughs that got the worlds attention in 2019.

That wasnt the only UC research to go viral this year, according to the Altmetric Top 100, an annual ranking of the most shared, discussed and tweeted studies in popular and online media around the globe. Research from across UCs 10-campus system accounted for 14 of the top 100 most discussed findings this year.

Heres a look back at a few of the UC stories that got the worlds notice:

UC San Francisco announced in April that neuroscientists had created a state-of-the-art brain-machine interface that generated natural-sounding synthetic speech by using brain activity to control a virtual vocal tract an anatomically detailed computer simulation including the lips, jaw, tongue and larynx.

The study was conducted in research participants with intact speech, but with further refinement, the technology could restore the voices of people who have lost the ability to speak due to paralysis and other forms of neurological damage, researchers reported.

For the first time, this study demonstrates that we can generate entire spoken sentences based on an individuals brain activity, said senior author Edward Chang, M.D., a professor of neurological surgery and member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neuroscience. This is an exhilarating proof of principle that with technology that is already within reach, we should be able to build a device that is clinically viable in patients with speech loss.

Read more:https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/synthetic-speech-generated-brain-recordings

UC Berkeley and University of Chicago researchers in October published a study finding significant racial bias in a category of algorithm that influences health care decisions for over a hundred million Americans.

The study found that a type of software program that determines who gets access to high-risk health care management programs routinely let healthier whites into the programs ahead of blacks who were less healthy. Eliminating bias in the algorithm could more than double the number of black patients automatically admitted to these programs, the study revealed.

The algorithms encode racial bias by using health care costs to determine patient risk, or who was mostly likely to benefit from care management programs, said Ziad Obermeyer, acting associate professor of health policy and management at UC Berkeley. Because of the structural inequalities in our health care system, blacks at a given level of health end up generating lower costs than whites. As a result, black patients were much sicker at a given level of the algorithms predicted risk.

Read more: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/widely-used-health-care-prediction-algorithm-biased-against-black-people

Antarctica experienced a six-fold increase in yearly ice mass loss between 1979 and 2017, according to glaciologists from UC Irvine, NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the Netherlands Utrecht University. Their study found that the accelerated melting caused global sea levels to rise more than half an inch during that time.

Thats just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak, said Eric Rignot, chair of Earth system science at UC Irvine and the studys lead author. As the Antarctic ice sheet continues to melt away, we expect multi-meter sea level rise from Antarctica in the coming centuries.

Read more: https://news.uci.edu/2019/01/14/uci-jpl-study-antarctica-losing-six-times-more-ice-mass-annually-now-than-40-years-ago/

Actually, the problem is with us, not them, reported UC Santa Barbara psychological scientistJohn Protzko. Grumbling about the younger generation is an age-old practice that transcends both culture and time. Protzko has termed the phenomenon the kids these days effect.

There is a psychological or mental trick that happens that makes it appear to each generation that the subsequent generations are objectively in decline, even though theyre not, said Protzko, whose research appeared in the journal Science Advances. And because its built into the way the mind works, each generation experiences it over and over again.

Humanity has been lodging the same complaints against kids these days for at least 2,600 years, said Protzko. Its the exact same complaints time after time theyre disrespectful, they dont listen to their elders and they dont like to work.

Read more: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/kids-these-days-0

A team of scientists, including those at UC Riverside, tracked millions of deaths around the globe and found that poor eating habits kill more people than tobacco. In fact, poor diets are responsible for more deaths around the world than any other risk factor.

Researchers analysis found that 3 million deaths globally were attributed to too much sodium; another 3 million deaths were attributed to a lack of adequate whole grains; and 2 million more deaths were attributed to a lack of adequate fruit. Researchers found that countries where people eat a Mediterranean diet, which is high in both unsaturated fats and fiber, had the fewest diet-related deaths.

The results are based on limited data and assumptions, but conclusions are consistent with major reports from public health and medical authorities, Marion Nestle, professor emerita of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University, and a UC Berkeley alumnus, told The Washington Post. Nestle noted that the researchers seem to be recommending a largely, but not exclusively, plant-based diet, and thats what everybody is saying these days.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2019/04/05/bad-diets-kill-more-people-around-world-than-smoking-study-says/

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Five UC research stories that got the world talking in 2019 - University of California