Results of a new study in mice suggest that the body may be able to defeat the influenza virus if a person has the right sort of diet a ketogenic, or keto, diet.

Infection with the influenza virus, better known as the flu, has accounted for 12,00061,000 deaths every year since 2010 in the United States, with an annual economic burden of $87.1 billion.

The introduction of the flu vaccine has greatly improved infection and morbidity rates. However, there is still currently no cure for the illness.

Healthcare professionals and scientists alike are continuing the search for novel therapeutics to combat the flu, yet the key may lie within the body's own immune system. Moreover, it may be activated by the keto diet.

Following the keto diet involves eating foods that are high in fat and low in carbohydrates. Meals tend to consist of a variety of meat, fish, poultry, and non-starchy vegetables.

According to the findings of a new study, appearing in the journal Science Immunology, when mice fed a keto diet were injected with the flu virus, their survival rates were much higher than those of mice fed a diet high in carbohydrates.

The main reason for this, the researchers believe, is that a keto diet blocks the formation of inflammasomes, which are multiunit protein complexes that the immune system activates.

Inflammasomes can also cause harmful immune system responses in the host. This triggers the release of gamma delta T cells.

Gamma delta T cells are responsible for producing mucus in the linings of the lungs, which helps the body get rid of infectious agents. The mucus is then wafted up the airways and coughed out.

The joint senior authors of the study are Prof. Akiko Iwasaki and Prof. Vishwa Deep Dixit, both of the department of immunobiology at the Yale School of Medicine, in New Haven, CT.

The objective of the study was to determine how the keto diet affects host defense against a lethal flu virus infection.

The researchers randomly assigned the mice to diet groups 1 week before they induced the infection. Next, they monitored the rodents for signs of infection and assessed their immune responses.

The team found that keto diet feeding confers protection against the flu virus in mice by increasing the number of gamma delta T cells in the airways.

This response occurred relatively late after the infection in the mice, due to their dependence on T cell receptors on other cells. But in humans, this response is much quicker, as gamma delta T cells can expand independently.

In addition, previous research in mice has shown that a specific subset of gamma delta T cells can efficiently induce the cytolytic killing of flu-infected airway cells.

In the current study, the expansion of gamma delta T cells resulted in lower viral titer measurements in the mice that had received a ketogenic diet.

The team also investigated the potential for changes in the levels of genetic activity using RNA sequencing, a technique that can measure the levels of transcription across the genome.

This showed that although a keto diet could impact the expansion of gamma delta T cells, this was not associated with any changes in the activity of genes involved with cytotoxicity.

Interestingly, when mice were bred without the gene that encodes for gamma delta T cells, the keto diet provided no protection against the flu virus.

Commenting on this result, Prof. Iwasaki says, "This was a totally unexpected finding."

"This study shows that the way the body burns fat to produce ketone bodies from the food we eat can fuel the immune system to fight flu infection."

Prof. Vishwa Deep Dixit

How do gamma delta T cells protect the host in response to a keto diet? As the researchers report, the current theory is that the expansion of these cells in response to ketogenic feeding leads to more efficient killing of the flu virus.

This, in turn, results in much lower viral titers and better preservation of the cells lining the airways.

Experts believe that the gamma delta T cells induced by the keto diet may enhance the barrier and innate defense systems of airway-lining cells at baseline, thereby allowing for a better response to the flu virus.

These results demonstrate that the answer to combatting the flu virus does not necessarily lie in producing drugs to relieve flu symptoms and that changing the diet can have a dramatic effect on how the body responds to infection.

The results also suggest that if the flu can be tackled in this way, there is the potential for changes in diet to help the body more effectively fight other viral infections.

This type of research is in its infancy, and much more will be needed to elucidate exactly how the keto diet may help combat the flu.

Originally posted here:
Can the keto diet help beat the flu? - Medical News Today

Every year I get totally bummed out as I watch so many of you glorious moms bust your butts to create spectacular holiday gatherings for your big extended families, creating magic and memories that truly lift the spirits of those around you, only to worry the entire time about every calorie you take in, obsess over what you look like in what you wear, and fret over what the scale might read when the new year arrives. Im not talking about the kind of self-checks that are about ones overall physical health or current fitness/wellness goals that their doctor supports. Im talking about the self-smackdowns that are tied to ones self-worth.

Sorry Im late; I looked fat in everything I owned so it took me forever to find something even halfway decent to cover myself up in.

Oh no, thanks, I really shouldnt eat that.Or that. Or that.

Delete that pictureI look terrible and obviously cant go near any more food until the holidays are over.

Cut me the tiniest sliver, like just a taste. No, smaller than that. Even smaller.

Welp Ive already ruined my diet so Ill have another slice of pie and just keep hating myself, ha ha ha.

(And dont even get me started on jokingly calling someone a bitch because you think they look good, or commenting on other peoples food choices as if they should be on a diet, too.)

A non-stop narrative that threads throughout the holiday season that I genuinely want to grab in my fists, tear into itty bitty pieces, and bury away in a deep deep hole beneath a large boulder forever is the one between women about how much they should eat, are eating, or did eat, and the Negative Nancying of yourselves the whole time. The word diet gets thrown around a lotusually about yours being ruinedas does the insistence that you do not look good because of your weight/size/shape. Caloric math is often announced at the cheese station or dinner table, making sure everyone within earshot knows how many calories are in each serving size and what it would take to burn them off. Fad diets are discussed in great detail, for loads of ladies in the room have already tried a slew of them and saved others to their Pinterest boards for later.

Then once the holidays are over, it never fails that even with all this extreme willpower to not enjoy any of the foods the festivities have to offer, you believe you gained a few pounds (ignoring the fact that humans were designed to fatten up during winter) or decide that you simply dont look as good as such-and-such did at some party, so you need to make a New Years resolution to do something about it. Restrict yourselves more. Allow yourselves nothing. Squeeze in a fitness routine that gives you the punishment you deserve for being so bad during various celebrations.

So the months of holiday joy are miserable, as is the beginning of the new year.

Sound familiar?

Yeah, well. This sucks. It sucks for you and it sucks for me to have to watch this because I adore you and want you to be happy and there is a really, really simple solution to it all: stop dieting during the holiday season if it makes you so freaking miserable.

I have never dieted over the holidays.

Yes, I love food. Loooove it. Im also a grown-up who can tell when shes hungry and when shes full. My body is a machine to fuel and my mouth is a place that prefers fuel that is delicious, so during a time when treats and meals that arent the typical 365 fare appear, I enjoy myself.

Enjoy the meals, the company, the experiences.

Enjoy the moments and believe I deserve it all.

I deserve to take care of myselfbody, mind and heart.

I deserve to talk to myself like Im worthy of all that joy.

You do, too.

You can do this, too.

Start talking yourself up instead of down. Say it until you believe it.

Throw out that word diet forever. Instead of looking at food, calories, weight as the enemy, look at yourself as a beautiful machine that needs fuel. Choose what makes you happy and enjoy reasonable amounts of it. Theres no need to deny yourself everything or on the flip side, gorge on everything: happy middles do exist. So do to-go containers, freezers, and recipes online with which to recreate the foods you want more of (but just not right now).

Instead of battling your weight, battle the weight youve been giving to the unwarranted opinions of people, media, and product marketing that insist women must fit into a certain aesthetic in order to be worthy of happiness.

I pinky swear that not dieting during the holiday season has yet to cause me to explode out of my clothing (whatever size it may be that year) or make people love me any less (including myself). In fact, since I dont spend months tangled up in a losing head game about food, Im both less likely to fall into the feed-my-feelings trap of grossly overeating, and am simply more pleasant to be around.

Not dieting has been a win-win for me in so many ways. I encourage you to try it this year. Love yourself exactly as you are for the next couple of months. Crawl out of the diet mindset and relish every moment for what it is: a quick taste of a fleeting holiday joy that should be savored while we can.

Read more:
You Do Not Need to Diet Over the Holidays - Momtastic

The low-carb, high-fat ketogenic diet might not just be good for your waistline; it could also keep you healthy this flu season. Yale University researchers discovered that mice who were fed a ketogenic diet were better at fighting off flu infections that those fed a high-carb diet instead.

People can use the keto diet to quickly lose weight by capitalizing on a metabolic state called ketosis. Normally, the human body gets most of its energy from glucose (i.e., blood sugar) derived from carbohydrates, but the body doesn't have a good way of storing glucose. Because of this, the humans need an alternative energy source to get them through periods when they can't get access to any food. Once the body is deprived of glucose, the liver begins to break down fat into an alternative energy source called ketones that can keep the body going long after it last ate.

Luckily, we can jump into this metabolic state without having to actually starve ourselves by simply eating no or very little carbohydrates eating more fats and proteins keeps us feeling full while our bodies still burn fat to make ketones.

Interestingly, the keto diet seems to have a lot more effects other than weight loss. Ketosis appears to have wide-ranging effects throughout the body, with potential beneficial outcomes for diabetics and epileptics. There's also some evidence suggesting a correlation between the keto diet and improved mental health and better outcomes in cancer treatments though the research is still far from conclusive.

The researchers discovered that a keto diet appeared to activate genes that produce a specialized type of immune cells called gamma delta T cells. Tissue samples from the lungs of mice in the keto group confirmed that they had higher levels of these cells. The researchers suspected that these elevated levels of gamma delta T cells killed infected cells in the mice's lungs, and they also appeared to increase mucus production in the lungs, helping to trap more of the virus.

Furthermore, when the researchers fed a keto diet to mice specially bred to lack the genes that code for gamma delta T cells, the diet had no effect on their survivability, confirming that ketosis was somehow upregulating these genes.

Further experiments confirmed that ketosis itself, rather than just a low-carb diet, seemed to be the triggering factor. The researchers fed some mice a high-fat diet with less carbs than the standard diet but more than the keto one. Specifically, the keto diet contained less than 1 percent carbs, the standard diet contained 58 percent carbs, and the high-fat, high-carb diet contained 20 percent carbs. While the high-fat, high-carb diet did elevate gamma delta T cell levels, it did not appear to do so to the degree where any benefit could be gained.

While this exciting finding does suggest that the keto diet may help you power through flu season, it's important to remain realistic. For one, this study was conducted on mice, not humans. Animals respond differently to both treatments and diseases than humans do, and some researchers have found that animal trials tend to be conducted under different circumstances than human trials and can be less rigorous as well, sometimes resulting in biased findings.

What's more, the keto diet may come with many health benefits, but its also not without its risks. The high meat component of the keto diet can damage your kidneys and cause gout, and the diet's restrictive nature can lead to vitamin deficiencies. It ought not need to be said, but pregnant women and young children shouldn't be put on the keto diet the diet tricks your body into thinking it's starving, which is not ideal for development.

Ironically, quickly switching from your normal diet to a keto one can actually give you flu-like symptoms. The "keto flu" is a temporary side effect of rapidly removing carbs from your diet that can cause nausea, headaches, weakness, issues with concentration, and other symptoms. Hardly ideal if you're trying to stay ahead of the flu bug!

Fortunately, most of these negative effects can be mitigated or avoided by building a healthy keto meal plan and transitioning gradually into a keto diet. Undertaking any diet with the goal of improving your health will require doing some homework to figure out what works, and the keto diet is no exception. It's also important to remember that the keto diet probably works best as a short-term diet. Few people can stick with the diet over the long term, so hard evidence on its long-term impacts is scant, but it's unlikely that excluding healthy components of a normal diet (like fruit) would be sustainable. That being said, if these findings are verified, then it might not be a bad idea to try the keto diet once flu season rears its ugly head once again.

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The ketogenic diet may help fight against the flu - Big Think

Kareena Kapoor's diet included the likes of rice and parantha: Know the diet plan in the story below

Kareena Kapoor diet plan: For long-term, sustainable weight loss, it is important to follow a diet plan without any side effects. And for thosewanta body like Kareena Kapoor Khan and want to follow her diet plan, you have landed at the right place! Her nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar makes it a point to share some of her top diet and fitness secrets on social media. It was just recently that Rujuta posted the diet plan of Kareena for her look in the song Chandigarh Mein from the film Good Newwz. The diet plan--mentions Rujuta--was followed by Kareena a week before the shoot of the song. "Every time you watch her sizzle on screen, and if you have wondered khaati kya hai, here's what it is," writes Rujuta in her post.

You will be surprised to know that Kareena's diet plan was indeed a simple one with homemade food. Her diet didn't include the likes of low-carb kale chips, fat-free milk or salads. In fact, it was a diverse mix of nutritious and hydrating foods, that are time-tested and versatile in nature.

It is not necessary to eat only salads and low-carb foods for weight loss and fitnessPhoto Credit: iStock

1. First thing in the morning

Soaked black raisins with kesar (this combination can also be an excellent remedy for period pain)

2. For breakfast

One parantha with chutney. Rujuta believes that you can maintain a healthy weight and good health by eating what your families have been traditionally eating. Parantha is a traditional breakfast food in Punjabi culture. You can make stuffed with parantha using seasonal vegetables like gobi, methi, mooli, aloo, paneer or dal. Stuffed parantha cooked with the right amount of oil and a dollop of ghee on top is the perfect combination of carbs, fibre, fat and protein that you need for breakfast on a sustainable weight loss diet.

Also read:Breakfast Options That Can Keep You Full For Longer And Help You Lose Weight

3. Mid-meal post breakfast

Nariyal pani with a pinch of sabja (basil) seeds. This hydrating drink is all you need to beat mid-meal cravings. It is also a great way to get rid of bloating you might feel this time of the day.

4. Lunch

Dahi rice and one papad. Probiotics in dahi rice is what you need for a healthy gut and gut microbiome. Dahi or curd contains probiotics that can improve digestion. A papad along with this time-tested dish can provide youwith someextra crunch and flavour.

Curd rice is a fulfilling and nutritious meal for lunchPhoto Credit: iStock

5. Post-lunch mid meal

Walnut and cheese. Walnuts are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, protein, fibre, calcium and iron. Organiccheese provides you with good fat that is necessary for assimilation of fat-soluble vitamins like Vitamins A, D, E and K.

Also read:Expert-Recommended Snacks Under 200 Calories

6. Evening meal

Banana milkshake. Banana is one of the richest sources of potassium-a mineral which is essential for keeping blood pressure under control. A glassful of banana shake will satisfy your evening hunger pangs and prevent cravings for junk and fried food.

7. Dinner

Khichdi and dahi or suran tikki and vegetable pulao. Rice, which is often blamed for causing weight gain, is actually a grain that can be easily digested. Single polished white rice can safely be included in weight loss diet, as far as you practice portion control. Khichdi, which is made from dal and rice, is a protein-rich meal with a complete amino acid profile. Suran or jimikand is great for people who carry extra weight along their waist line. Being bigger on the stomach can be because of unpredictable digestion or irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). Jimikand can rebuild your digestive process and helpin improving gut health by providing gut-friendly bacteria.

Also read:5 Underrated Health Benefits Of Eating Dinner Early

8. Bedtime

A cup of milk or banana shake. This meal is optional and should be consumed only if you feel hungry before bed time. Make sure there is a gap of 2 hours between your dinner and bed time.

"It's rather simple to stay in good shape if you take the sustainable route and actually eat local, seasonal and traditional (not just say it in words)," mentions Rujuta.

And for those of you who may be thinking that she must have exercised for 10 hours a day with this diet plan, you are absolutely wrong. This kind of meal plan allowed Kareena to train for approximately 4-5 hours in a week, and gave her enough energy to work and run her home, the celebrity nutritionist informs.

(Rujuta Diwekar is a nutritionist based in Mumbai)

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.

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Diet Plan For Kareena's Recent Look Revealed By Her Nutritionist - NDTV News

Mediterranean diets have risen to prominence in the recent past as they are tasty, effective in aiding weight-loss programmes as well as nutritious. What does the term Mediterranean diet really mean? Its a diet essentially comprising plant-based foods with healthy fats such as nuts, seeds, olive oil, whole grains, beans, fruits and vegetables largely. Milk products are minimal, with meat being included only in specific requirements, if at all.The Mediterranean diet is nutrition-wise - one of the richest diets in the world, and yet it can be customized as per ones budget, thus making it a very feasible option. Beans, fruits, vegetables and whole grains and all within budget, too. If you restrict cheat days to once a fortnight and focus on eating clean, you can tailor-make this diet to work for you along with a bit of walking and yoga. There are a few other points to keep in mind, too - dietician and nutritionist, Dr Pooja Sharma enumerates:1.Include more fruits and vegetables in your diet: Aim for 7 to 10 servings of fruit and vegetables on a daily basis. This is one of the best and most crucial aspects of the Mediterranean diet.2.Stick to whole grains. One of the easiest and most important ways to make the Mediterranean switch is by opting for whole-grain bread, cereal and pasta. You may occasionally experiment with other whole grains, such as bulgur and farro.3.Use olive oil: Olive oil extracted from the fruit of the Olea europaea plays an essential role in the Mediterranean Diet. Olive oil is rich in monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) considered to be a healthy dietary fat which is overwhelmingly beneficiary, as opposed to saturated fats and trans fats.4.Fish considered to be a good source of omega-3 fatty acids if you are not a vegetarian, add fish twice a week to your diet. Tuna, salmon, trout, mackerel and herring are good choices for your body and brain. 5.Say no to red meat substitute with beans or fish. But if youre someone who just cannot do without a side of meat, include lean meats. A generous helping of plain yoghurt is a great add-on too.6.Amp up the flavour: A smattering of herbs and spices vastly reduces the need for salt in dishes. Make use of them, and spice up your meals without feeling guilty

Continue reading here:
5 points to make the Mediterranean diet work for you - Times of India

The traditional system of age-old Indian medicine -Ayurveda, firmly believes that You are what you eat! With this guiding principle, it places a huge significance on ones diet and also advocates that consumption of healthy food helps in building the immunity of the body. There is no doubt that ones diet contributes significantly to their health and helps in keeping the body fit and active. Eating right not only keeps the body healthy but even helps the mind grow.

As per the popular saying -- prevention is better than cure, Ayurveda emphasizes on preventing the disease much before it can turn into something harmful for the body. This why it focuses on the importance of a balanced diet, healthy lifestyle patterns and regular exercises. One such component that we can incorporate in our daily lives to stay fit and healthy is the addition of special Ayurvedic herbs and spices, which are loaded with umpteen health benefits.

Spices are anyways an indispensable part of Indian cuisine. Apart from providing an aromatic texture and enhancing the tastes of dishes, some of the herbs and spices have many health benefits according to Ayurveda. These spices help in keeping diseases at bay and provide other health benefits like improved digestion, detoxifying the body and help with maintaining good health. Whats more, these everyday spices can be used in almost every meal we make. If you have not used these spices before, you can start right away! So, check out the list of spices and herbs that have proved to be beneficial for health and along with enhancing the taste of your food also ensure in keeping your body disease-free.

See more here:
Add these Ayurvedic spices to your diet to stay healthy - Times of India

By Gabrielle Lipton

Walter Willett will speak at the Global Landscapes Forum New York on 28 September 2019. Learn how to join the event here.

In 2000, Walter Willett toppled the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) food pyramid. The triangular diagram showing the recommended portion size of each food group had been hung in classrooms, grocery stores and homes all over the U.S. and beyond since it was released in 1992.

But Willetts decades of research had proven it wrong, and so he rebuilt it. Exercise and weight control formed his bottom-tier foundation rather than bread and pasta; red meat, butter and refined grains were brought up to the top alongside salt and sweets. Certain fats were highly recommended throughout, staring down the low-fat fad of the time with scientific evidence.

His breakout research, which began shaping his pyramid and paving his way to become one of the worlds five most-cited scientists, was leading the second phase of the Nurses Health Study (NHS), which illuminated groundbreaking correlations between diet and disease. First created in 1976, the studys questionnaire has since been continually developed by Willett and other doctors and scientists, documenting the food and lifestyle habits of more than 200,000 men and women.

Today, the NHS stands as one of the most comprehensive health studies ever conducted. The findings of its third phase, specially focused on the later-life effects of adolescent diet and dietary links to breast cancer, are still to come.

From his desk at the Harvard School of Public Health, where he is now a professor after serving more than 25 years as chair of the schools nutrition department, Willett still knows how to make a splash. He has penned novels like 2011s bestselling Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy and been the face of headline-making reports like last years EAT-Lancet, which outlined the complete overhaul of the food system needed to feed a projected world population of 10 billion in 2050 without destroying the planet in the process.

Here, he tells Landscape News about his career and its inadvertent controversies, which continue to make the world healthier for all.

In the early stages of your career, little research had yet been done about the links between diet and disease. What made you curious to start researching this topic?

One of the reasons that little research had been done was that many leaders in nutrition thought they knew the answers (e.g., avoid eggs and fat in general), but when I looked for the evidence, I realized there was very little. I was working as an internal medicine physician at that time and was mostly caring for people with conditions I couldnt cure, such as diabetes, heart disease and many cancers. I wanted to learn what caused these conditions and how to prevent them. For this reason, I went back to school to get a degree in epidemiology and then connected this with nutrition.

You spent time living in Tanzania during medical school. What did that experience teach you about diet and food systems?

My work in Tanzania impressed me with the powerful effect of our environment on health and disease. Mainly, I was dealing with issues of poor sanitation and environmentally-related diseases like malaria. Coronary heart disease, on the other hand, was almost nonexistent.

The NHS rose you to academic fame. How did you develop the design of the questionnaires used in that study, which you still use in various forms today?

Before going to Tanzania, I used a simple food frequency questionnaire while in medical school to conduct a survey in the Potawatomi Native American community in the upper peninsula of Michigan. I was impressed that we could gather much information that way. In my doctoral degree program at Harvard, I worked on an analysis of smoking and heart disease in the NHS and realized that this could be an ideal population in which we could collect dietary data, because the participants were already being followed for incidence of cancers and cardiovascular diseases.

Through a series of pilot studies, I identified about 60 foods that were the major contributors to intake of the key nutrients in which we were interested, and then administered the questionnaire to the 121,000 women in the main study. By using optical scanning methods [to input data via scanning systems], we were able to double the size of the questionnaire and continue updating it to align with food supply and diet trends every four years.

Most importantly, we have conducted a series of validation studies comparing our standardized questionnaires with detailed weighed diet records and biomarkers and have documented sufficient validity to provide informative data on diet and long-term health. Of course, any assessment of diet will never be perfect, and we have also developed statistical methods to take measurement errors into account.

When you were researching fats, it was evident that your findings would be controversial. Were you scared to make a splash with your research?

Yes, I knew our findings would be controversial. When we published our early results, it was believed that all fats were bad, and there was nothing different about trans fat. Through the NHS, we found that women who had the most trans fats in their diets had a 50 percent higher chance of developing coronary heart disease. I didnt feel scared about publishing the results but knew that there would be pushback. Having been quite involved in anti-war efforts during the Vietnam War era was good preparation.

How do the links between climate change and diet affect your research and recommendations?

I have been aware that our dietary choices can affect greenhouse gas production and climate change for quite a while. What has changed is the realization that climate change is greatly accelerating. Several decades ago, it appeared that these changes would be seen over several hundred years. However, the rapidity of change has made this an urgent issue, so Ive been spending more time on this, working with earth science colleagues. This has made it possible to look simultaneously at both the human and planetary health impacts of different dietary scenarios.

The report from the EAT-Lancet Commission, which you co-chair, received global attention when it was published last year. How did that feel?

We hoped it would get attention, so that was good. Of course we knew there would be backlash from the beef folks. Some of that is helpful, as it increases attention. The recommendations were made to be global. The dietary targets include ranges, and there is also much flexibility because of the opportunities for substitutions, so this is readily adaptable to many different cultures and food supplies.

What are some of the biggest mysteries you still want to solve?

Some of the greatest questions about diet and health are related to the ends of the life cycle. For example, how does adolescent diet affect our health later in life? We are starting to get some answers to this. One enigma is that being lean as a child is a strong risk factor for breast cancer for the rest of a womans life, and we dont know why.

And at the other end, we still need to understand more about how diet can help preserve cognitive function.

In general, diet and lifestyle factors that prevent cardiovascular disease will help reduce cognitive decline. However, we are seeing evidence that some specific fruits and vegetables can be particularly important, and we are actively working on learning more. I am optimistic that dietary factors can play an important role in delaying cognitive decline.

A version of this post was previously published on news.globallandscapesforum.org and is republished here with a Creative Commons License.

Have you read the original anthology that was the catalyst for The Good Men Project? Buy here: The Good Men Project: Real Stories from the Front Lines of Modern Manhood

All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.

Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.

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Thought for Food: Walter Willett on Diet for Personal and Planetary Health - The Good Men Project

Extra-virgin olive oil, a major component of the Mediterranean diet, is rich in cell-protecting antioxidants and known for its multiple health benefits. Previous studies in mice showed that extra-virgin olive oil preserves memory and protects the brain against Alzheimers disease. In the new animal study, a team of researchers from Temple University and the Sapienza University of Rome shows that a family of related neurodegenerative diseases called tauopathies which are characterized by the gradual buildup of an abnormal form of a protein called tau in the brain can be added to the list. The study is the first to suggest that extra-virgin olive oil can defend against a specific type of mental decline linked to tauopathy known as frontotemporal dementia.

Mice receiving extra-virgin olive oil displayed improved memory and cognition which was associated with increased basal synaptic activity and short-term plasticity; this effect was accompanied by an upregulation of complexin 1, a key presynaptic protein; moreover, extra-virgin olive oil treatment resulted in a significant reduction of tau oligomers and phosphorylated tau at specific epitopes. Image credit: Skica911.

Extra-virgin olive oil has been a part of the human diet for a very long time and has many benefits for health, for reasons that we do not yet fully understand, said Professor Domenico Pratic, director of the Alzheimers Center at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.

The realization that extra-virgin olive oil can protect the brain against different forms of dementia gives us an opportunity to learn more about the mechanisms through which it acts to support brain health.

In a previous work using a mouse model in which animals were destined to develop Alzheimers disease, Professor Pratic and colleagues showed that extra-virgin olive oil supplied in the diet protected young mice from memory and learning impairment as they aged.

Most notably, when the researchers looked at brain tissue from mice fed extra-virgin olive oil, they did not see features typical of cognitive decline, particularly amyloid plaques sticky proteins that gum up communication pathways between neurons in the brain. Rather, the animals brains looked normal.

The new study shows that the same is true in the case of mice engineered to develop tauopathy.

In these mice, normal tau protein turns defective and accumulates in the brain, forming harmful tau deposits, also called tangles. Tau deposits, similar to amyloid plaques in Alzheimers disease, block neuron communication and thereby impair thinking and memory, resulting in frontotemporal dementia.

Tau mice were put on a diet supplemented with extra-virgin olive oil at a young age, comparable to about age 30 or 40 in humans.

Six months later, when mice were the equivalent of age 60 in humans, tauopathy-prone animals experienced a 60% reduction in damaging tau deposits, compared to littermates that were not fed extra-virgin olive oil.

Animals on extra-virgin olive oil-rich diet also performed better on memory and learning tests than animals deprived of the olive oil.

When the scientists examined brain tissue from extra-virgin olive oil-fed mice, they found that improved brain function was likely facilitated by healthier synapse function, which in turn was associated with greater-than-normal levels of a protein known as complexin-1. Complexin-1 is known to play a critical role in maintaining healthy synapses.

The team now plans to explore what happens when extra-virgin olive oil is fed to older animals that have begun to develop tau deposits and signs of cognitive decline, which more closely reflects the clinical scenario in humans.

We are particularly interested in knowing whether extra-virgin olive oil can reverse tau damage and ultimately treat tauopathy in older mice, Professor Pratic said.

The findings were published in the journal Aging Cell.

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Elisabetta Lauretti et al. Extra virgin olive oil improves synaptic activity, shortterm plasticity, memory, and neuropathology in a tauopathy model. Aging Cell, published online November 24, 2019; doi: 10.1111/acel.13076

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Extra-Virgin Olive Oil-Rich Diet Protects Mice from Multiple Forms of Dementia | Medicine, Nutrition - Sci-News.com

Most people know weight loss can be achieved by eating less and moving more. After losing a few pounds, dieters will often want to tone up and build visible muscles. Burning belly fat is no easy task but combining both cardio and abs exercises can give the best results and help slimmers see definition.

While a healthy diet is definitely important for weight loss, regular exercise will speed up the results.

To tone up the midriff and see definition, dieters will need to do more than just sit ups.

Speaking to Express.co.uk, Mays Al-Ali, nutritionist and yoga teacher at HealthyMays.com, explained the best exercises for slimmers.

By performing five ab exercises, slimmers can start to slim down their waistline.

READ MORE:Chloe Madeley fitness: How does she stay in shape? Diet and workout plan revealed

Plank pose

Mays said: This one is a burner for sure. Start with a one minute hold. See if you can hold longer than one minute.

Plank pose is an all over body toner, but it works the core hard. Repeat three times.

Side plank

If you want strong obliques, this is the pose youll want to hold as you lift those hips high to the sky. Place your palm on the ground for more advanced or resting on the forearm for a little easier, stack both feet on top of each other with straight legs and lift the hips up and hold for one minute.

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Need more of a challenge? Lift the top leg up in the air. Even more of a challenge? Hold the big toe of the top leg out to the sky. Hold, as long as you can. Switch sides. Repeat three times on each side for maximum ab burn.

Navasana / boat pose

Lie on the ground - keep that chest lifted and shoulders away from the ears, Mays explained.

Take a nice big inhale, and as you exhale, toes and face come away from the ground so the body can hover right above. Hold for a slow count of five working up to 10, then release.

Legs up

Hold this restorative posture long enough and you will be screaming for mercy. Make sure the lower back is pressed into the ground and the legs are together.

Begin with feet flexed, slowly lower legs halfway, point the toes and lift the legs back to the sky. Try and work your way up to 50.

Yoga bicycle

Mays said: Lie on back with both legs bent in the air at the knees. Extend the left leg and point toes, keep right knee bent.

Touch left elbow to right knee whilst twisting through the midsection. Then reverse, extend right leg and point toes, keep left knee bent and touch right elbow to left knee whilst twisting through midsection.

Suck the belly in and exhale as you twist. Count to 50 as you move from one side to the other and work up to 100.

Ab exercises will create definition but it is also important to add cardio exercises to burn belly fat.

So, what is the best fat-burning exercise?

Mays said: Its no secret that squats are the key to a nice butt. Add a jump for even more cardio burn.

Just be careful because improper squat posture can cause some lower back issues. Start with your feet slightly further than shoulder width apart.

Bend down keeping the spine straight until your thighs are parallel with the floor. As youre coming up, add the jump. Land on the balls of your feet.

Viola! If the jump is too much on the lower back then just squat without the jump.

With the jump do three sets of 10 working up to 20 and without the jump do three sets of 20, working up to 30.

Excerpt from:
Weight loss: This easy plan will help you burn belly fat according to personal trainer - Express

Susanna Reid is a journalist and broadcaster who has made changes in her diet plan to slim down. The presenter managed to shed an impressive 1st 7lb by cutting certain things out of her diet. What did she eat?

The presenter was first prompted to change her life after a doctors visit raised health concerns.

Susanna started making small changes to her lifestyle which included cutting back on alcohol.

Speaking to Prima Magazine, she said: Ive lost a stone-and-a-half and I feel fantastic.

"This time last year, I went to the doctor with a skin problem and he told me I could do with losing some weight.

READ MORE: Can you lose weight in two days? Diet plan review

It turned out I was at the upper end of my BMI and, I have to admit, Id been feeling a little heavy for a while.

By removing alcohol from her diet plan, Susanna noticed the weight started to fall off.

Drinking alcohol has been shown to slow down weight loss for many slimmers, according to Healthline.com.

Alcohol also plays a large role in weight management, the website stated.

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Anyone looking to drop those final stubborn pounds may want to consider skipping their evening glass of wine.

Alcoholic drinks are often referred to as empty calories. This means that they provide your body with calories but contain very little nutrients.

Opening up about her new slim frame, Susanna revealed another bad habit she ditched to become healthier.

The presenter explained she cut back on snacking in a bid to reduce the number of calories she consumed.

Speaking on ITV show, Lorraine, she said: It can creep up without you noticing, and what I did was cut out snacking.

I found waking up so early in the morning, and you're in a sort of energy deficit and all your body can think of is to have toast and biscuits. And you can pile it on really quickly.

As well as controlling how much she would snack, Susanna would go to the gym to burn extra calories.

She added: I'd stopped going for a while because it gave me an excuse to over-snack. But the good feeling of doing exercise is unbeatable.

Last year, Susanna publicly made another change in her diet after taking the advice of professional boxer, Tyson Fury.

He told her to reduce her calorie intake by ditching milk from her coffee during an interview on Good Morning Britain.

The boxer later appeared back on the morning show and Susannas co-star, Piers Morgan, explained how helpful his advice was.

He said: She's lost two stone Tyson. After your little pep talk, Susanna's wasting away!"

Susanna added: You suggested that I eliminate, well take away, milk from my coffee so now it's black coffee only. Thank you very much for that tip!"

See the rest here:
Susanna Reid weight loss: GMB host cut one thing from diet plan to shed 1st 7lb - Express