By Anne DeGrace

In James Hoggans book Im Right and Youre an Idiot: the Toxic State of Public Discourse and How to Clean it Up, he suggests that one of our most pressing problems is the pollution of the public square, where a smog of propaganda, adversarial rhetoric, and polarization is stifling discussion and debate, creating resistance to change, and thwarting our ability to solve our collective problems. If you were anywhere other than under a rock this past federal election you know exactly what hes talking about.

Hoggan interviewed thinkers from across the globe in order to gain perspective. He talked to Noam Chomsky, Thich Nhat Hanh, and the Dalai Lama among others, and he collected their thoughts in one enlightening volume published in 2016 (available on our shelves at 302.2). In 2017 he came through Nelson as part of a speaking tour and addressed a packed house at the Nelson United Church.

Of course the respectfully listening audience was predisposed to civil discourse, and yet heard some surprising takes on this timely topic. I took notes, bought the book, and applied its lens to our municipal election last fall and to our recent federal election. And I heard more of Im right and youre an idiot through the course of those two events from electors and candidates, both than Id have wished.

Id like to think we are a little kinder when it comes to local politics, yet Donna Macdonald, who served 19 years on Nelson city council, talked about the need to combat miserablism in her memoir Surviving City Hall. She talks about all the places where boundaries are crossed including 2 a.m. calls from disgruntled citizens and she has good advice for anyone running for elections and those who elect them: listen to one another.

We are less kind in federal elections, when we feel a distance from our targets, which unfortunately gives some folks license to verbally abuse candidates (and the candidates to abuse their rivals). A current case in point is the threats and misogynistic graffiti aimed at Catherine McKenna, who was environment minister during the Liberals last term of office.

This state of events could, in part, be spillover from the U.S. climate of toxic discourse, but also the fallout of social media anonymity. In the book Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle (302.231), the author posits that when we turn to our devices instead of one another, the cost is loss of empathy.

Theres an event coming up at the library thats set to test our civility, and I hope we can hold ourselves to a high standard something more like: this is what I think; what do you think?

On Thursday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. Nelson at Its Best and the Nelson Public Library present a follow-up to last years candi-dating event, in which voters were invited to sit down with municipal candidates for illuminating micro-conversations. Council-dating: Checking In, One Year Later is an opportunity to check in with Nelson city council to see how the first year of office has gone.

This kind of event invites civility, encourages listening, and is founded on respect. It recognizes the working relationship between our elected representatives and ourselves. There will be speed-dating conversations as well as a chance to hear from councillors as they respond to audience questions. The evening includes an overview of the citys strategic planning process.

Participants can write congratulatory or critical apples and onions on sticky notes, messages that council can take for feedback information keeping in mind the inherent gentleness of these fruits and vegetables. Because at the end of the day we all need a good diet of civility.

Anne DeGrace is the adult services co-ordinator at the Nelson Public Library. Check This Out runs every other week.

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CHECK THIS OUT: A diet of civility - Nelson Star

Morning sickness is common, occurring in about 70% of pregnancies, according to the Cleveland Clinic. So if you are feeling nauseated early in your pregnancy, you arent alone.

TODAY Parents talked to healthcare professionals to understand exactly what morning sickness is all about, and how to cope with it.

Morning sickness is typically characterized as a pregnant woman feeling nauseated each day, and possibly vomiting once or twice. The common condition can happen at any time throughout the day, despite being commonly known as morning sickness. It typically begins in the morning, though, due to having an empty stomach.

Cases involving daily nausea and vomiting once or twice are considered normal. It is usually not harmful to the fetus, although obviously vomiting daily has a serious impact on a womans life.

These significant disturbances are not something women have to deal with on their own, says Alison G. Cahill, vice chair of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists committee on Obstetric Practice. "We don't want our patients to suffer. We want them to tell us that they aren't feeling well so we have the chance to try and help them feel better," she tells TODAY.

Mild morning sickness cannot be cured, but it can be managed with behavioral modifications to ones diet and lifestyle. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists suggests trying one or more of the following:

Morning sickness usually begins before nine weeks of pregnancy. Nausea is one of the first signs of pregnancy for many women, so the symptoms may start before confirming the pregnancy.

Trending stories,celebrity news and all the best of TODAY.

While morning sickness can last several weeks or months, for most it ends or improves by the second trimester. In a few cases, nausea and vomiting lasts throughout the entire pregnancy.

Dr. Higgins says no one knows why some women have morning sickness worse than others. The following factors may increase risk of severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists:

Unrelated medical conditions also cause nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, including an ulcer, food-related illness, thyroid disease or gallbladder disease. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says the following symptoms are a sign it may be something else:

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge, battled severe morning sickness, known as hyperemesis gravidarum, with all three of her pregnancies. Comedian Amy Schumer cancelled part of her tour due to it. It can happen to anyone, famous or not.

Treatment is required for those diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, the most severe form of nausea and vomiting of pregnancy, occurring in about 3% of pregnancies, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. It is diagnosed when a woman has lost 5-10% of her weight during pregnancy and has other problems related to dehydration. Treatment is required to stop the vomiting and to restore body fluids, and sometimes a hospital stay is needed.

Noticing weight loss is one of the ways for women to know they might have hyperemesis gravidarum, according to Dr. Erin Higgins, MD, OB/OGN at Cleveland Clinic. She says blood work will show more signs.

If behavioral modifications do not relieve the symptoms, tell your healthcare professional, as there are medications that are safe to take during pregnancy to help control the nausea and vomiting, according to Dr. Higgins. Consult your doctor before taking any, as your healthcare team will be able to determine the best treatment plan for your personal situation.

In some severe cases and for those with hyperemesis gravidarum, it may be necessary to stay in the hospital until symptoms are under control. In some cases, this may include lab tests, an IV to receive fluids and vitamins, medication, or tube feeding.

Nausea and vomiting are not the only early signs of pregnancy. Other signs include missing a regular period, tender or swollen breasts, increased urination, and fatigue. Less obvious signs may include moodiness, bloating, mild cramping, constipation, food aversions, and nasal congestion.

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Morning sickness: What it is, and what to do - TODAY

The brain waves generated during deep sleep appear to trigger a cleaning system in the brain that protects it against Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases.

Electrical signals known as slow waves appear just before a pulse of fluid washes through the brain, presumably removing toxins associated with Alzheimer's, researchers reported Thursday in the journal Science.

The finding could help explain a puzzling link between sleep and Alzheimer's, says Laura Lewis, an author of the study and an assistant professor in the department of biomedical engineering at Boston University.

During deep sleep, waves of cerebrospinal fluid (blue) coincide with temporary decreases in blood flow (red). Less blood in the brain means more room for the fluid to carry away toxins, including those associated with Alzheimer's disease.

"Some disruption to the way sleep is working could potentially be contributing to the decline in brain health," Lewis says.

The finding also suggests that people might be able to reduce their risk of Alzheimer's by ensuring that they get high-quality sleep, says William Jagust, a professor of public health and neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley, who was not involved in the study.

Scientists are already testing other lifestyle changes, like diet and exercise changes, to protect brain health. And sleep should be "high on the list" of measures worth trying, he says.

The study comes after decades of questions about the link between sleep and Alzheimer's.

Studies show that people with Alzheimer's often have sleep problems. And there's growing evidence that people with sleep problems are more vulnerable to Alzheimer's.

But there has never been a good explanation for this connection.

"It's been known for a long time that sleep is really important for brain health," Lewis says, "but why it is was more mysterious."

Lewis and a team of researchers wanted to solve the mystery.

So they found a way to use cutting-edge MRI techniques and other technologies to watch what was going on in the brains of 11 sleeping people.

One of the things they monitored was cerebrospinal fluid, or CSF, the liquid that flows through the brain and spinal cord.

"And that's when we discovered that during sleep, there are these really large, slow waves occurring maybe once every 20 seconds of CSF washing into the brain," Lewis says.

These waves were a bit like the oscillations of a very slow washing machine.

Earlier studies of animals had found that the flow of CSF increases during sleep and helps carry away waste products, including the toxins associated with Alzheimer's.

But Lewis' team was able to see this process occur in the brains of people in real time. And that led to another discovery.

"Before each wave of fluid, we would actually see a wave of electrical activity in the neurons," Lewis says. "This electrical wave always happens first, and the CSF wave always seems to follow seconds later."

The finding suggests that the electrical wave was triggering each wash cycle.

And the brain wave in question was a very familiar one called a slow wave. Slow waves appear when a person enters the state known as deep sleep, or non-rapid eye movement sleep.

And they play a role in both memory and brain disease, Lewis says.

"It's already known that people with Alzheimer's disease have less of these electrophysiological slow waves, so they have smaller and fewer slow waves," she says.

The new study suggests that this reduction in slow waves is reducing wash cycles in the brain, which would limit the brain's ability to clear out the toxins associated with Alzheimer's.

"It would make sense that if there's large waves of fluid, of CSF, that that might in turn cause mixing and dispersion with other fluids in the brain and help with this waste removal process," Lewis says.

Lewis' team made one more discovery about sleeping brains. As the flow of cerebrospinal fluid increases, blood flow decreases.

Less blood in the brain means more room for CSF to carry away waste.

The study's findings fit nicely with other research on sleep and Alzheimer's disease, Jagust says.

He was part of a team that studied the relationship between slow-wave sleep and a toxin called beta-amyloid, which accumulates in the brains of people with Alzheimer's.

They found something a bit disturbing.

"It's a vicious cycle where amyloid decreases sleep, and decreased sleep results in more amyloid," Jagust says.

The new study results suggest that the increase in amyloid could be the result of less waste removal in the brain, he says.

But Alzheimer's, like heart disease, is likely to have more than one cause, Jagust says.

"There are a bunch of things that are probably contributing to people's likelihood [of] getting Alzheimer's," he says, "and I think sleep is going to turn out to be one of them."

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Sleep And Alzheimer's: Cerebrospinal Fluid Washes Away Toxins : Shots - Health News - NPR

Simone de Beauvoir famously wrote that "one is not born, but rather becomes, a woman," a claim I could imagine making writer and critic Andrea Long Chu roll her eyes.

At the very least, Chu has an update: "Everyone is female," she writes in the appropriately titled Females, her first book, "and everyone hates it."

Chu has earned a reputation over the past few years as one of the sharpest new thinkers on gender and sexuality with her essays on, among other topics, transgender identity, feminism and television. (She has also picked up a rather loyal following on Twitter, where she treats her mental health, PhD candidature and pop-culture diet all with equal wit and consideration.) In Females part memoir, part theoretical intervention Chu explores and defends this claim about universal femaleness, perhaps as much to herself as to anyone else.

Of course, the "female" identity on which the book is based is admittedly less a biological condition than an existential one. Chu describes it as an experience "defined by self-negation" that includes "any psychic operation in which the self is sacrificed to make room for the desires of another." In other words, to be female which, remember, we all are is to not express your own desires, identity, personality but rather those of others, impressed upon you. And gender, it follows for Chu, is what people do to deal with the terrible fact of being female.

If that sounds dramatic or provocative, that's largely Chu's style. In 2018, she wrote a powerful essay in the magazine n+1 about transness and the history of feminist organizing that theorist Sandy Stone credited with launching a "second wave" of transgender studies; later that year, Chu wrote an opinion piece for The New York Times about transgender people's rights to medical care. In both cases and in much of her writing Chu meticulously frames the popular debate about transgender people, then positions her own point of view on another plane entirely. She's just as bored by those known colloquially as trans-exclusionary radical feminists, or TERFs, who deny transgender people's identities outright as she is by the common refrain that transgender people are simply "born in the wrong body" (as when Caitlyn Jenner joked to Diane Sawyer that God gave her "the soul of a woman"). At a moment when society is largely starting to gain a vocabulary for talking, albeit in less-than-nuanced ways, about transgender civil rights, Chu's refusal to support any mainstream narratives have made her a somewhat controversial figure.

But she simply isn't interested in straightforward, respectable answers. What most of these narratives don't account for, she argues in Females, is desire, in all its messy, definitional power. Chu asks: Instead of something stable and inherent known and knowable, and inescapable right down to our very souls what if gender is an extension of who we want to be? What if this quality of wanting didn't separate transgender people from cisgender people, but were instead a universal condition of gender itself?

Chu writes ferociously and exactingly about the nature of desire: what it makes us do; who it makes us become; grounding these questions in the culture of everyday life. Desire is how Fight Club and The Matrix get twisted in the hands of the internet "manosphere" into models of male supremacy; it's what lies beneath feminist disagreements about pornography from the '90s and why they play out today both in the alt-right and in Hollywood movies; it's there in the scrupulous beauty routines of a famous trans YouTuber. "Most desire is nonconsensual," she admits in a chapter of Females about pornography, and all the ways we try to engage with it hide from it, ignore it, indulge it indelibly shape us. Desire, for Chu, is gender's centrifugal force; it's what makes us all so female to begin with.

Chu puts these cultural products in conversation with the work of revered theorists: Sigmund Freud; Catharine MacKinnon; Andrea Dworkin; and Shulamith Firestone. But no one is so close to Chu's heart in Females as Valerie Solanas, the author and artist famous for writing the SCUM Manifesto, a radical text bent on eliminating the male sex (and for shooting and nearly killing Andy Warhol in 1968). Females started as an essay about Solanas' play Up Your A-- which Solanas hoped, desperately and unsuccessfully, that Warhol would produce and lines from the play anchor each chapter. Solanas didn't just give Chu an entrypoint into her first book; it was after encountering Solanas' work, Chu writes, that she began to come to terms with being transgender. (At the end of one chapter, she reflects on being told about a pornographic video in which two characters are seduced by a professor who reads SCUM, "turning them into lesbians." Chu says the plotline "made instant, perfect sense. It's what Valerie did to me.")

Solanas is often written off as an extremist, or an unfortunate and problematic accident of the second wave but it's heartening to watch Chu take her seriously, taking her to task while looking at her legacy with generosity and scrutiny. If Chu knows that Females' central organizing thesis is wildly untenable, it's in Solanas' spirit that she pursues it nonetheless. "Valerie would make statements not because they were accurate or true, but simply because she wanted to," Chu writes; later, "We share this, I think: a preference for indefensible claims, for following our ambivalence to the end."

In the end, Females is not a polemic; it's not a guide to escaping the tyranny of our supposed powerlessness in the face of desire. Instead, it is one woman's attempt to make sense of a time when the possibilities for identity feel terrifying and punishingly limitless, wondering what it might look like to accept our inescapable femaleness even if we don't always play by its rules, Chu argues, it might help to know how the points are scored. Beneath the veneer of Females' provocation, those indefensible ideas, it is a surprisingly tender book that aims to tend to a universal ache: the frayed knot of selfhood, desire and power through which, Chu argues, we might try to see ourselves and each other more clearly.

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In 'Females,' The State Is Less A Biological Condition Than An Existential One - NPR

But in the late 1940s in Sweden, children and adults with mental disabilities were deliberately fed sticky candies to see what would happen to their teeth.

"I've seen dental records of this. Every tooth was black," said Swedish journalist Thomas Kanger, who has written about the children. "I'm talking about every tooth damaged and it went on for years."

In Sweden in the 1930s, studies found even 3-year-old children had cavities in 83% of their teeth. Such extensive decay wasn't unusual; dental care was very poor in most countries.

Treatment was basically non-existent and rotting teeth were typically pulled. Toothlessness was so prevalent in the United States that the military restricted recruits for World War I and World War II to men who had six intact opposing teeth.

It sounds curious now, but in the early 20th century dentists were divided on the cause of dental decay. Was it due to an underlying disease? Was it due to overall diet? Or was it due just to sweets?

Clues pointed to the role of sweets: Orphans in childrens' homes too poor to provide sweets had fewer cavities than the general population; dental decay among conscripts declined during sugar rationing in WWI.

Facing a national epidemic of tooth repair too expensive to undertake, the Swedish government decided to focus on prevention, and commissioned a study on the role of diet and sweets. It was funded by the sugar industry.

A mental institution

The perfect place to perform such a study, they decided, was the Vipeholm Mental Institution, a large facility just outside Lund, Sweden. In 1935 it had been turned into a home for people with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities.

"These 'idiots,' which was a medical classification at the time, were gathered from smaller wards all over the country," Kanger explained. "In the beginning they had 650 people and it grew up to over a thousand."

In medical terms at the time, an "idiot" was a person with an IQ below 25, who functioned at the level of a normal toddler. An "imbecile" had a IQ of between 26 and 50, whose intelligence was about that of a child of seven. "Morons" functioned at about the intellectual level of a child of 12.

These "children" typically ranged in age from 15 to 70, Kanger said. Average life expectancy was low.

"There were big, big halls where they actually were just running around, with no activities at all at the start," Kanger said. "They were bathed in cold water if they were too troublesome. Some of them lay in beds all the time.

"In the beginning, it was actually a terrible place for most people. It became better over the years, with more therapies," he said.

Hugo Frderberg was the only physician for the hospital until 1942. He kept copious notes on each of the patients and he had his own zero to six ranking for the mental capacities of each, Kanger said.

"He rated the zero group as 'biologically lower standing than most animal species,' considering them vegetables," Kanger said. "He thought groups one to three may have a certain spiritual life, but were otherwise 'unimaginable.' "

Two-thirds of Vipeholm's patients during WWII were from these four lowest groups, Kanger said.

Those at mental levels equivalent to elementary or pre-teen children were allowed to work at jobs "no other people would like to undertake" such as laundry, cleaning and growing a garden, Kanger said.

It was these patients, who could chew and feed themselves, who were typically recruited for the dental study.

"The lower functioning groups just swallowed their food," Kanger said. "I can see in the journals they were not subjected to the cavity tests, because they had to chew the toffees. That was the whole point of it."

Three phases

At the beginning of the study, the children's teeth were closely examined. It was noted that their teeth were in much better shape than the Swedish population as a whole.

During the first two years of the experiment, the children were given little starch and half the average consumption of sugar in a typical Swedish diet. Vitamins A, C and D, along with fluoride tablets were given, and no food was allowed between meals.

At the end of this period, 78% of the children had no new cavities.

Over the next two years the children were given twice the amount of sugar typically consumed in Sweden, administered in several ways. One group ate sweet, sticky bread made with extra sugar with their meals, another group drank beverages with 1 cups of added sugar at meals, and a third group ate chocolates, caramels or sticky toffees between meals.

The sticky candy group was further divided into children who ate 8 or 24 pieces of toffee between meals. The toffee was developed specifically to stick better to the teeth.

In both toffee groups and the caramel group, the increase in cavities occurred immediately after the children began eating them, the study added.

"They were given toffees or caramels that stuck in their teeth," Kanger said. "The teeth were destroyed. And after they were ruined, these people were in terrible pain. It was actually horrible."

Kanger said records show researchers decided not to fix the teeth for "those who could not cooperate with the fixing procedures (like being scared of the drill). They also chose not to fix the teeth among many of the 'lower' categories of patients."

They did fix the teeth among many of the "higher" categories, he said. But in many cases the teeth were pulled out instead of being fixed.

Experimentation was common

Today, the thought of ruining anyone's teeth for an experiment is unthinkable. But it wasn't long ago that people with disabilities were considered subhuman by many, making experimentation morally acceptable to some.

"Anyone with disabilities were seen as not fully human at the time, so they had fewer rights," said Art Caplan, the founding director of the Division of Medical Ethics at New York University Langone Medical Center.

"They were also seen as owing the state for their care," he said. "The attitude was: We're taking care of you, so you have an obligation back to the community. And one way to discharge that debt is by being in this kind of experiment."

"We dentists did not see any ethical problems with the study itself," he wrote, disagreeing with Kanger's view of the level of destruction of the teeth. "Many of the new cavities which developed during the carbohydrate periods were only early enamel lesions, which today are remineralized by topical fluoride applications."

As a result of what was learned from these patients, Krasse wrote, research began on sugar substitutes, including artificial sweeteners. The study has been used to prevent cavities in many school children and has been cited numerous times by other reviewers, he said.

In Sweden it also jump-started a national campaign to reduce the amount of sweets eaten by children. It soon became a tradition in Sweden to encourage children to only eat candy at home on Saturday nights while listening to a popular radio program, wrote Krasse.

"The recommendation 'All the sweets you like, but only once a week' also spread to other countries," he continued.

"My reflection now is that the Vipeholm Study illustrates two well-known sayings: One, the end sometimes justifies the means, and two, it is easy to be wise after the event."

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The Swedish cavity experiments: How dentists rotted the teeth of the mentally handicapped to study candy's effect - CNN

People choose a vegetarian or vegan diet for a number of reasons. Sometimes its out of concern for the way animals are treated or for the environment. But its also common to choose a plant-based diet because its considered healthier.

And thats for good reason. Research over many years has linked plant-based diets to lower rates of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and some cancers (as compared with diets high in meat and other animal products). Dietary guidelines and recommendations from nutrition experts reflect this, encouraging the adoption of diets (such as the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet) that are heavy on fruits and vegetables and restrict consumption of red meat.

Popular plant-based diets include

Plant-based diets carry some risk of inadequate protein, vitamin, and mineral intake. But these risks are readily overcome by choosing the right vegetarian foods and, when necessary, supplements. For example, soy, quinoa, and nuts are good sources of protein, and tofu, lentils, and spinach are good sources of iron.

But a new study, published in the medical journal The BMJ, raises the possibility that despite the health benefits demonstrated by past research, plant-based diets could come with a previously unrecognized health risk.

Researchers in the United Kingdom analyzed the risk of stroke and other health problems over two decades among nearly 50,000 people based on the diets they followed. The types of stroke were also analyzed, including bleeding into the brain (hemorrhagic stroke) and nonbleeding stroke (ischemic stroke). Compared with meat eaters:

If confirmed, these findings will complicate the way we look at plant-based diets. Are there serious and underappreciated downsides to these diets that should make us think twice about choosing them? Or is the increased risk of stroke heavily outweighed by cardiac and other health benefits?

This study is also a reminder that the health impact of a particular intervention (such as diet) may not be easy to predict or explain. In most cases, the risk of stroke and heart disease tend to rise or fall together, but that wasnt the case in this research.

This study linking a vegetarian diet with a higher risk of hemorrhagic stroke has a number of important limitations that should temper the concerns of vegetarians.

Even so, the results are worthy of our attention and future study.

If the findings of this new research stand the test of time (and future study), a key question will be: how does a vegetarian diet increase the risk of stroke? Understanding how ones diet impacts the risk of stroke and other disease will be crucial in future dietary recommendations and other preventive measures and treatments.

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Plant-based diets are best or are they? - Harvard Health Blog - Harvard Health

Severe energy restriction with a total meal replacement diet among postmenopausal women with obesity induced greater weight loss and approximately 1.5-fold as much loss of whole-body lean mass and thigh muscle area compared with moderate energy restriction over 12 months; however, researchers also observed a greater decrease in hip bone mineral density with severe energy restriction, according to findings published in JAMA Network Open.

Despite being an effective and affordable dietary obesity treatment, a number of prominent clinical obesity treatment guidelines from around the world show limited support for the use of total meal replacement diets, and these diets are not routinely used by health care professionals, Radhika V. Seimon, PhD, a researcher with the Boden Collaboration for Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise and Eating Disorders, at the University of Sydney in Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia, and colleagues wrote in the study background. This may be because of reported adverse effects (eg, hair loss, constipation, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and cholelithiasis), the lack of training and resources available for pretreatment evaluation and monitoring during these diets, and possibly also concerns that severe energy restriction may adversely affect body composition (ie, lean mass and BMD) compared with moderate energy restriction.

Seimon and colleagues analyzed data from 101 postmenopausal women aged 45 to 65 years with a BMI between 30 kg/m and 40 kg/m participating in the Type of Energy Manipulation for Promoting Optimum Metabolic Health and Body Composition in Obesity (TEMPO) diet trial, a 12-month, single-center study (mean age, 58 years; mean BMI, 34.4 kg/m). Participants, recruited between October 2018 and August 2019, reported fewer than 3 hours weekly of structured physical activity. Researchers randomly assigned women to 12 months of moderate (25%-35%) energy restriction with a food-based diet or 4 months of severe (65%-75%) energy restriction with a total meal replacement diet followed by moderate energy restriction for an additional 8 months. Both interventions had a prescribed protein intake of 1 g/kg of actual body weight per day. Physical activity was encouraged but not supervised. Primary outcome was whole-body lean mass at 12 months. Secondary outcomes were body weight, thigh muscle area and muscle function (strength), BMD, and fat mass and distribution, measured at baseline, 4, 6 and 12 months.

Compared with women assigned to moderate energy restriction, women in the severe energy restriction group lost more weight (effect size, 6.6 kg; 95% CI, 8.2 to 5.1) more whole-body lean mass (effect size, 1.2 kg; 95% CI, 2 to 0.4) and more thigh muscle area (effect size, 4.2 cm2; 95% CI, 6.5 to 1.9). The researchers noted that observed decreases in whole-body lean mass and thigh muscle area were proportional to total weight loss. There were no between-group differences in muscle strength as measured by handgrip test.

Severe energy restriction with a total meal replacement diet among postmenopausal women with obesity induced greater weight loss and approximately 1.5-fold as much loss of whole-body lean mass and thigh muscle area compared with moderate energy restriction over 12 months; however, researchers also observed a greater decrease in hip bone mineral density with severe energy restriction.

Source: Adobe Stock

Women in the severe energy restriction group had lower total hip BMD vs. the moderate energy restriction group at 12 months (effect size, 0.017 g/cm2; 95% CI, 0.029 to 0.005); however, there were no between-group differences in lumbar spine BMD or whole-body BMD.

After adjusting our analyses for weight at each point, there was still a significantly lower total hip BMD in the severe group compared with the moderate group at 12 months, the researchers wrote.

At 12 months, the researchers also observed an increase in the number of women with osteopenia, defined as a T-score between 1 and 2.5, at the femoral neck among women in the severe energy restriction group vs. the moderate energy restriction group (39.1% vs. 28.9%). There were no women with osteoporosis at 12 months in either group.

While these losses of lean tissues were proportional to the amount of weight lost and while muscle strength (ie, handgrip strength) was unaffected by severe vs. moderate energy restriction, there was an approximately 2.5-fold greater loss of total hip BMD with severe compared with moderate energy restriction, a difference not accounted for by the greater weight loss, the researchers wrote. Therefore, caution is necessary when implementing severe energy restriction in postmenopausal women with obesity, especially in those with osteopenia or osteoporosis, for whom concurrent bone-strengthening treatments (eg, muscle strengthening exercises) are recommended. by Regina Schaffer

Disclosures: The authors report no relevant financial disclosures.

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'Caution is necessary' with severe energy restriction diet for postmenopausal women - Healio

Its Halloween! Time to dress up in your scariest outfits, carve emblems into members of the squash family, and get your fill of pumpkin-spiced everything. Last week, everyones favourite Skywalker, Mark Hamill, tweeted some images of his favourite, and indeed surprising, autumnal themed treats, from pumpkin spice Twinkies to pumpkin spice Pepto Bismol

Pumpkin spice consists of the flavors you would most closely associate with a seasonal pumpkin pie; cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves and all spice. It is well documented that the reason people go wild for all things pumpkin spice (with some even acquiring their own modern day abbreviation - looking at you, PSL) is the sense of nostalgia that these flavours invoke. However, it is also pleasing to know that the chemicals in these spice mixes can actually do us some good too.

If the pumpkin spice is being used to actually flavor something pumpkin-related, great! Youre probably consuming at least one of your recommended five-a-day of fruits and vegetables. Pumpkins get their color from the beta-carotene packed in their cells. This is a precursor of vitamin A, which helps keep your immune defenses strong, and your eyes healthy, especially in the darkness of All Hallows Eve. Beta-carotene is also one of many antioxidants found in a pumpkin, which can neutralize the charged particles that can lead to cells becoming cancerous. Pumpkins are packed with potassium, and I personally believe they make for a far more palatable source of this vital vitamin than a banana. If you have ever carved a pumpkin and scooped the insides out, you will know how fibrous a pumpkin can be. This fibre is beneficial for your tummy and for your overall health. The vitamin C found in pumpkins can help heal wounds and repair tissues. It is also a chemical vital for the production of certain neurotransmitters in the body. You can collect the seeds from inside your pumpkin, dry and roast them with a little seasoning and enjoy a healthy snack full of protein and friendly fats such as omega-3 that are good for your heart. All these amazing benefits, and this is before we have even got to talking about the chemistry of the flavors in the pumpkin spice.

Though they contain absolutely no pumpkin, it turns out that your pumpkin spicy latte may have some ... [+] beneficial properties in those spices after all - though sadly these are probably outweighed by the high levels of sugar.

The spices used in this flavor combination are enhanced by the act of baking, as they undergo transformations into other chemicals. The chemical reaction that brings out the most delicious of flavors and scents is once again our trusty Maillard reaction, responsible for the yum-factor in all the best foodstuffs, including coffee, chocolate and steak. Nevertheless, as demonstrated by Hamills tweet, pumpkin spice's versatile flavor can, and indeed will, be added to all manner of foods. If youre a fan of this flavor, youre further in luck, as the chemicals in the spices themselves possess beneficial properties. If we consider an average pumpkin spice mix, just one teaspoon of this comforting concoction can contain 12 percent of an adults recommended daily intake of manganese, which we need for healthy digestion and use of ammonia acids, and the metabolization of carbohydrates and cholesterol.

Cinnamaldehyde is both antibacterial and antioxidant in its activity, but there is also evidence that it can play a role in better regulating blood glucose levels and improving insulin regulation in diabetics. Nutmeg, ginger and clove all aid digestion, which is perfect if you, like me, are planning on overindulging in pumpkinpalooza.Though it would be nice to say that pumpkin spice could be the key to a healthy and balanced diet, unfortunately many of thesefall time treats also contain huge amounts of sugar; there are a whopping 50g of sugar in one single Starbucks grande pumpkin spice latte, but are they are worth every delicious sip? It depends. If youre having several a day, probably not, but if consumed in moderation, and given many of the benefits of both pumpkin and the spices used to flavor it, perhaps they balance out after all.Happy Halloween!

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The Scientific Benefits Of A Pumpkin Spice Diet - Forbes

On October 10, the C40 Good Food Cities Declaration was adopted by 14 cities. Under this commitment, C40 mayors will lead cities in developing a Planetary Health Diet, by 2030. C40 is a group of cities working to reduce effects of climate change.

This diet includes nutritious food thats healthful to the cities and residents. The pledge was made at the C40 Summit in October 2019. City signatories include Toronto, Stockholm, Tokyo, Seoul, Paris, Quezon City, Los Angeles, Milan, Oslo, London, Guadalajara, Lima, Barcelona and Copenhagen.

According to C40 data, a sustainable diet with reduced food waste can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from food by more than 60%. This plant-based diet has reduced meat and dairy consumption and leans heavily on unprocessed plants. The diet is also focused on fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.

To achieve this the cities have committed to the following: support plant-based food consumption, reduce food loss and waste compared to 2015 numbers work with stakeholders to develop a joint strategy, and align procurement with Planetary Health Diet. All of these cities will use power to influence diets in hospitals, businesses and governments. 14 cities combined will get sustainable food for 64 million people.

The meat industry is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Plant-based diets are shown to be better for the environment. Food waste is also a growing problem for landfills and emissions.

Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti said of the citys food commitments, Delivering a Global Green New Deal means taking a real stand against food waste so that we feed people, not landfills.Were committing to do our part to make healthy food more accessible, reduce waste, and save our planet.

To learn more about the health benefits of a plant-based diet, check out these One Green Planet articles:

For more Animal, Earth, Life, Vegan Food, Health, and Recipe content published daily, subscribe to the One Green Planet Newsletter! Also, dont forget to download the Food Monster App on iTunes with over 15,000 delicious recipes it is the largest meatless, vegan and allergy-friendly recipe resource to help reduce your environmental footprint, save animals and get healthy!

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These 14 Cities are Committed to Developing Planetary Health Diet Programs to Combat Climate Change - One Green Planet

Now that Diwali is over (and you have packed away those boxes of mithai, sweets and fried snacks), it is time to make those much-needed alterations in your diet.Here's whySince festival time means that you eat a lot of junk and calorie-laden goodies one after the other, it takes a toll on your blood sugar levels, which is not good for your health. What it also does is ruin the body's inflammation, which, then makes you more stressed and prone to chronic infections as well. Hence, you need to recharge the body with the right kind of nutrients so that it restores the ability to fight back and avoid infections in time.

Most of us think about going on a crash diet post the festivals, thinking that it can reverse the damage of binge eating. According to nutritionist Kavita Devgan, detoxing post festivals should not have to be this difficult. Without depending on detox drinks and juices, you should instead be relying on a fuss-free detox diet this November which is very healthy. The best part, all of these are easily in the kitchen.

Your body will thank you later! Here are some detox food options you should definitely be stocking up on to clean the system:1. Black pepperIf you though black pepper was just something you can season your food with, think again. The humble pepper is loaded with super antioxidants that fight back inflammation and excess problems. The spice is loaded with a chemical compound known as 'piperine', which is effective in kickstarting the acute inflammatory process in the body and get rid of toxins. Some other spices you should be having more of include turmeric and cinnamon, which again are loaded with potent benefits.

Add them to your teas, your salads or with your regular curries and subzis but make sure to have all of these spices regularly.

2. BarleyFoods like oats, barley and quinoa are excellent whole grains that are loaded with high fiber, working actively to fight inflammation from the source. It is also a hypoglycemic grain that keeps insulin levels in check and maintains blood sugar levels on track, helping you prevent sugar problems. Replacing your regular flour (atta) with barley or having barley water can also prove to be an excellent hack to fight the festive weight gain!

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Diwali detox: Five food items you should definitely include in your diet - Times of India