Dwayne Johnson, while preparing for the role of Hercules, ate a "bunch" of egg whites, filet mignon, chicken, fish, oatmeal, broccoli, asparagus, baked potato, cream of rice, salad, and "complex carbs" every day.

Similarly, Henry Cavill, while preparing for any of his Superman roles, would wake up with a protein/berry shake, followed a little later with a ham omelet. After he worked out, he had a post-workout shake. Lunch was chicken and white rice with curry sauce (for the flavor). The third meal was the same, but with brown rice instead of white.

Meal four was four ounces of beef with sweet potato fries because he's not a "huge fan" of ordinary sweet potatoes. The last meal was a pre-bed protein shake.

Of course, both diets come with a huge asterisk. Those diets, while limited in diversity, were temporary, merely a means to an end, the end in this case being the achievement of superhero shreddedness and buffitude.

One has to assume that Johnson and Cavill went back to a normal or semi-normal diet after the films wrapped up, at least until they prepared for their next film. Even so, you wonder, at least a little, what the health effects of eating that kind of diet every day for long periods of time would be.

We'll never know, but we've all met bodybuilders/athletes who ate that way for long periods of time, but let's let them digest for a minute while we look at another person who eats the same food every day.

Enter Donald A. Gorske, a placeholder in the Guinness Book of World Records for having eaten an average of two Big Macs a day (almost always washed down with Coca-Cola) and little else for 50 years. That's roughly 36,000 Big Macs.

Gorske claims to have no known health issues. He's 6 foot 2 inches tall and weighs 185 pounds. As of 2011 (the last time he went to see a doctor), his total cholesterol was 156 mg/dl, well below the national average of 208 mg/dl.

Gorske has to be an anomaly, right? Otherwise, our whole world doesn't make sense. We'd all be like the Woody Allen character in "Sleeper" who wakes up to a future where cigarettes and cream pies are healthy.

Yeah, I'm sure Gorske is a unicorn of sorts, and Hercules' and Superman's movie-role diets, while lacking in diversity, would still result in far better long-term health outcomes than the diets of the average American, Gorske's case notwithstanding.

But let's compare the pros and cons of eating the same foods every day and see if the advantages of one outweigh those of the other.

The rest is here:
The Pros and Cons of Diet Diversity - T NATION

The athletes who compete in strongman have displayed their super-human strength for years and years. Many might not know the details of the insane meals that they eat on a daily basis to remain in shape to move massive amounts of weight. These might not be normal meals for some but YouTube and Fitness starAseel Soueiddecided to eat like a strongman for a day.

Soueid followed a video thatBrian ShawandEddie Hallmade on a daily meal plan when they are training. It was clear early on that Soueid was going to have his hands full over the course of the day.

Its literally like doing an eating challenge everyday of our lives, Brian Shaw said.

Brian Shaw shared what a breakfast might look like for him on a daily basis.

Its tangy. Im not sure if you can see but its also really foamy. Its not bad but its not good either. By the way, Im pretty sure he takes like the entire carton, Soueid said.

There was a bit of a shakeup in the dessert portion of Eddie Halls pre-workout meal. Soueid explained how he could not have cheesecake because he is allergic to gluten and has Type 1 diabetes. Instead, he substituted the cheesecake with gluten-free vanilla cupcakes.

Apparently all the strongman have a thing with ribeye steak. They eat ribeye steak because its super fatty. Obviously easy to get the calories in. The fatter the better. Just like exact opposite of us normal people looking for food.

Aseel Soueid hits the gym after his first meal of steak and pasta. He attempts to throw in some strongman workouts into the mix but did not last through an entire routine. Once he returns home, Soueid follows Halls post-workout meal.

Who in the world has rice and pasta in one meal? That should literally be illegal.

The final meal of the day is right before bed where Hall would make a massive protein shake and have a couple protein bars. Soueid takes a variety pack of three and washes it down with a huge protein shake.

It is ridiculous. I cant believe they can eat like this on a daily basis.

They all made complete body transformations but I respect the dedication and passion that they have toward the strongman sport.

For more news and updates, follow Generation Iron onFacebook,Twitter, andInstagram.

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Fitness Star Attempted To Eat Strongman Diets Of Eddie Hall And Brian Shaw - Generation Iron Fitness Network

It didn't take long for new Real Madrid signing Aurelien Tchouameni to stop talking in class and starting talking on the field.

After developing a reputation for being talkative in primary school, his father found him a club in his hometown of Rouen, SJ Artigues, where he could start playing at the age of five.

Although his father, a pharmacist by profession, didn't make it at the pro level, Aurelien would watch him play whenever he could.

His mother, a senior education advisor, also played a key role in his education and values. Whenever her son lost his way, she was always there to show him the right path.

Tchouameni began his career as a striker. Strong and dynamic, he even managed to get a yellow belt in judo before Bordeaux offered him a trial at 11.

At 14 he suffered two injuries, which made life even more difficult given he was already living without his family after they moved to Lyon.

Nevertheless, Tchouameni, who had started to develop as a midfielder by that point, saw that football could offer him a path forward.

"I realised that I could dedicate myself to football," Tchouameni said in an interview.

While with Bordeaux, scouts began to take notes on the player they compared to Paul Pogba and N'Golo Kante.

In 2018, while part of the second team, he made his first team debut with Bordeaux while also continuing his studies in science, once again highlighting his maturity.

In January 2020 he moved to Monaco, but it wasn't until the 2020/21 campaign that he began to show his worth.

Known as a great ball winner, Tchouameni also has the skills to play higher up the field.

A perfectionist who adheres to a strict diet, he's known to avoid eating until after the morning training session.

He also watches his matches and writes down things to improve on in a notebook.

Off the field, he's a big NBA fan like his friend and former Bordeaux teammate, Jules Kounde.

Before meeting up with the French national team, Tchouameni even managed to watch an Eastern Conference Finals match between the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics.

Michael Jordan and LeBron James are his idols, while he considers Karim Benzema the best striker in the world, which no doubt helped him when deciding to turn down PSG and sign for Real Madrid.

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The 'other' Tchouameni: An NBA and diet-crazed perfectionist - Marca English

The research teams goal was to learn whether that one simple question could be used as a screening tool for nutrition studies, rather than the more detailed questionnaires that are generally used.

We felt it was important to study whether adults can accurately assess the quality of their diet because a simple self-assessment tool may be useful when designing nutrition interventions, said Thomson.

Of course, such a tool would only be useful if perceptions are accurate, she added.

To conduct their study, they used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).

NHANES is a nationally-representative survey of American adults which is done every two years.

People who take part in the survey must complete 24-hour dietary recall questionnaires, as well as rating the overall quality of their diet. They are asked to rate it as either poor, fair, good, very good, or excellent.

The information provided was used by Thomson and her colleagues to rank the quality of peoples diets.

What the researchers found after examining the data was that the scores calculated by the researchers based on peoples reported food intake was significantly different from how people rated their dietary quality themselves.

In fact, out of 9,700 people, about 85 percent of them (about 8,000 people) got it wrong. Further, out of those people who inaccurately assessed how good their diet was, nearly 99 percent of them felt their diet was better than it really was.

The people who did the best at rating the quality of their diet were those who rated it as poor.

These people were correct 97 percent of the time.

On the other hand, only 1-18 percent of people in the four other categories were on the mark in how they perceived their nutritional intake.

Based on our findings, we recommend that efforts continue to educate adults in the United States about components of a healthful diet, said Thomson. We also feel that work is needed to understand what adults consider when thinking about the healthfulness of their diet.

To help clarify what comprises a healthy diet, Healthline spoke with Catherine McManus, PhD, RDN, LD, assistant professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.

She said its really about what you do the majority of the time.

The field of nutrition really focuses in on ones overall dietary pattern, said McManus, because it is ok to eat out at restaurants, enjoy a slice of cake, or have some potato chips occasionally, just as long as these food items fit into an overall healthy dietary pattern.

She advises that you can determine if your overall dietary pattern is healthy by following certain recommendations, including:

Nutrient density refers to the ratio of nutrients, like vitamins and minerals, to how many calories are in a food.

If you eat a lot of foods that are not nutrient dense (e.g., desserts, pretzels, potato chips, fried foods), youll need to overconsume on calories to reach your daily nutrient requirements, McManus explained.

McManus said that a portion is the amount you choose to eat at one time.

Basically, all foods/beverages can fit into a healthy dietary pattern, but for foods that are less nutrient dense (e.g., desserts, sugar sweetened beverages, many snack foods), we want to limit the frequency theyre consumed, and the portion being consumed, because they provide calories, but are very limited in essential nutrients, like vitamins and minerals, she said.

Fruits, vegetables and whole-grains are nutrient-dense and are filled with essential nutrients, like dietary fiber, folate, zinc and vitamins A, C and E, said McManus.

McManus pointed out that most people in the United States do not get enough fiber.

She said you should shoot for at least 14 grams for every 1,000 calories you eat.

This will help your digestion, heart health, blood sugar control, and weight.

These are examples of two foods that have a very low nutrient density, meaning they provide calories with little to no nutritional value, said McManus.

They have been linked with increased risk for chronic conditions such as:

McManus further noted that, while fruit does contain sugar, it is natural sugar rather than the added sugars that are found in processed foods.

Therefore, eating fruits shouldnt be viewed with the same level of concern as processed foods containing added sugars.

While sodium serves many important functions in the body, like fluid balance and muscle and nerve function, Americans tend to eat too much of it, said McManus.

This can increase risk for high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke.

She said the Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends keeping your intake to under 2,300 mg per day.

While its important to consume all fats in moderation because they are calorically dense, said McManus, it is especially important to limit those that have additional established negative health implications, such as trans fats.

Trans fats, which are formed when liquid oils are turned into solid fats, can raise your bad low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, as well as lowering your good high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, she explained.

This can increase your chances of developing cardiovascular disease and stroke.

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Majority of Americans Think Their Diet Is Healthier Than it Is, Study Finds - Healthline

Amman/Cairo | 15 June 2022 | Today, the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Near East and North Africa Region, the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF) and the World Food Programme (WFP) Middle East and North Africa Region are convening a high-level meeting to accelerate action on maternal and child undernutrition. The meeting brings together senior representatives from ministries of health, agriculture, planning, social welfare and education, and a wide range of stakeholders, including academia, research institutions, civil society and regional and country office representatives from the four UN agencies.

The purpose of the meeting is two-fold: to support low- and middle-income countries facing high levels of undernutrition and food insecurity in particular Afghanistan, Djibouti, Lebanon, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan, the Syrian Arab Republic and Yemen and to issue a call for action to address maternal, infant and child undernutrition in the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Mediterranean and Arab regions based on a life-course and systems approach.

The food security situation and the humanitarian and economic crises in these countries are having detrimental effects on access to healthy diets, purchasing power and dietary patterns, and are adversely affecting the nutritional status of the most vulnerable particularly children, adolescent girls and women. The health and human crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic has further undermined food security and nutrition. Furthermore, global food prices have reached an all-time high in 2022 and the conflict in Ukraine threatens to disrupt global supplies of wheat, maize and other crops, as well as fertilizer, creating further pressure on prices and additional challenges to ensuring food security for many countries.

In Afghanistan, 1 in 3 people are hungry and 2 million children aremalnourished. In Somalia, 2.7 million people cannot meet their daily food requirements today and require urgent humanitarian assistance, with more than half a million on the brink of famine. Moreover, as of January 2022, an estimated 1.4 million children are facing acute malnutrition, of whom 329 500 are likely to become severely malnourished. These figures are likely to increase as the nutrition situation deteriorates further in the drought affected areas. In Sudan, 13.4 million people require humanitarian support in 2021, including 9.8 million people who are food insecure. Moreover, about 3 million children suffer from wasting annually, with approximately 2.4 million and 600 000 suffering from moderate acute malnutrition and severe acute malnutrition respectively.

In Pakistan, the annual burden of wasting (acute malnutrition) in children under 5 is estimated at 5 million, which is above the internationally agreed upon emergency threshold. In the Syrian Arab Republic, more Syrians are struggling to put food on their tables today than ever before. It is estimated that 12.4 million Syrians are now food insecure. In Yemen, 17.4 million Yemenis are food insecure and this number is projected to go up to 19 million by December 2022. Malnutrition rates among women and children in Yemen remain among the highest in the world, with 1.3 million pregnant/breastfeeding women and 2.2 million children under 5 requiring treatment for acute malnutrition. Of these children, 538.483 are at risk of dying without treatment.

Accelerated action is urgently needed to protect populations, especially in countries with worsening food insecurity, says Dr Ahmed Al-Mandhari, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean. I have been working closely with my fellow regional directors and representatives through our new Regional Health Alliance to address the double burden of malnutrition and accelerate progress towards the health-related Sustainable Development Goals in our regions. By aligning our agencies work, we can maximize out impact where it really counts at country level and achieve our regional vision of health for all, by all.

The FAO Strategic Framework calls for transformation of agrifood systems to achieve Better Production, Better Nutrition, Better Environment and Better Life leaving no one behind. This will promote healthy food environments and make nutritious and safe diets more affordable, and thus expedite combating undernutrition, says Mr Abdulhakim Elwaer, FAO Assistant Director General and Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa. During this high-level meeting, we look forward to agreeing on joint actions to address maternal, infant and child undernutrition in the Near East and North African, Eastern Mediterranean and Arab regions, focusing on improvements in several major areas: nutrition situation analysis; policies and programmes to enable healthy diets; investments in essential maternal and child nutrition services; and nutrition counselling and social and behaviour change interventions.

With nearly 1 in 5 children stunted, and an average wasting rate of over 6% and only 1 in 3 young children in these regions receiving the diets they need to grow and develop healthily, children and women are facing a serious undernutrition crisis, says Ms Adele Khodr, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. This calls us to work together on urgently delivering and scaling up prevention, early detection and treatment of undernutrition, especially in countries most impacted by crises, and to address the underlying determinants of undernutrition.

Due to limited resources, we are having to prioritize the most vulnerable choosing between the hungry and the starving. Many countries have completely stopped prevention of acute malnutrition activities and are forced to prioritize areas for the treatment of acute malnutrition, says Mr Ryan Anderson, WFP Regional Director a.i. for the Eastern Africa. The current cases of malnutrition in both children as well as pregnant and nursing women will have an impact not only now, but also on the future of these countries. WFP remains ready to support governments to accelerate action on undernutrition and take actions to prevent and treat acute malnutrition. This will require a strong collective and coordinated effort with all stakeholders.

In Afghanistan, 1 in 3 people are hungry and 2 million children aremalnourished. With drought, pandemic and conflict,the food security situationwill continue to worsen and hunger will rise.

In Somalia, 2.7 million people cannot meet their daily food requirements today and require urgent humanitarian assistance, with more than half a million on the brink of famine. Another 2.7 million Somalis need livelihood support to keep from sliding into crisis. An estimated 300 000 children under 5 are malnourished, including 48 000 who are severely malnourished and face a high risk of disease and death.

In Sudan, a large number of displaced people, including refugees from neighbouring countries, a volatile economic situation, increased climate variability, environmental degradation, disease outbreaks, malnutrition, gender inequality and the risk of relapse back into potential conflict present significant hunger challenges. 13.4 million people require humanitarian support in 2021, including 9.8 million people who are food insecure. Sudan continues to face persistently high levels of acute malnutrition and stunting, which constitute a significant public health problem.

In the Syrian Arab Republic, families across the country are facing unprecedented levels of poverty and food insecurity. More Syrians are struggling to put food on their tables today than ever before. It is estimated that 12.4 million Syrians are now food insecure. This is an increase of 4.5 million in the last year alone and the highest number ever recorded.

In Yemen, the current level of hunger is unprecedented and is causing severe hardship for millions of people. Despite ongoing humanitarian assistance, 17.4 million Yemenis are food insecure. The number of food insecure people is projected to go up to 19 million by December 2022.

For more information, please contact:

Dr Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh, Regional Adviser for Nutrition

WHO Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, Cairo, Egypt

Phone: +20 106 921 3696

Email:This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Tamara Nanitashvili, Food Systems and Nutrition Officer

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Near East and North Africa Region

Phone: +20 101 172 1012

Email:This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Salim Oweis, Regional Communications Officer

United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF)

Phone: +962 79 867 4628

Email:This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sabah Barigou, Regional Adviser for Nutrition, HIV and School Based Programme

World Food Programme (WFP) Middle East and North Africa and Eastern Europe Region

Email:This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

In May 2020, the regional directors of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the United Nations Childrens Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a joint statement warning about the potential impact of COVID-19 on food security and nutrition in the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern Mediterranean and Arab regions. This joint statement called on governments, international development partners, donors and the private sector to take action. In 2021, the joint United Nations Global action plan on child wasting: a framework for action to accelerate progress in preventing and managing child wasting and the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals was launched. In addition, the Strategic Framework for Zero Hunger in the Arab Region was adopted in February 2022.

Given that malnutrition is multifactorial, different sectors involving people from a variety of disciplines need to be involved in designing effective strategies for its prevention, timely detection and treatment at the national, regional, community and household levels. Appropriate and timely multisectoral support for maternal, infant and young child nutrition saves lives, protects child nutrition, health and development, and benefits mothers. Five sectors health, agriculture, education, social protection and water/sanitation play a particularly key role, and national nutrition policies and strategies should address the role of these sectors.

Call to action to address undernutrition

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FAO, UNICEF, WFP and WHO work jointly to accelerate action on maternal and child undernutrition in the Middle East and North Africa, Eastern...