Happy holiday weekend! Before we send you off on your beach- and barbecue-filled Labor Day celebrations, we're going to catch up on some agency news from this final week of summer.

Without further ado

If you like pina coladas

Translation has been named the agency of record for the Saint Lucia Tourist Board, with a focus on creating a revitalized brand story and marketing strategy for the island. The agency's approach will include a look at Saint Lucia's natural assets and identity, rather than solely its beaches. New work should come in late 2017 or early 2018. Translation's appointment comes two months after the election of Saint Lucia Prime Minister Allen Chastanet to office.

Something's profitable in Denmark

Danish digital agency Dis/play has been acquired by AKQA, building out the WPP agency network's European operation and capabilities. Dis/play, which has more than 100 staffers across in Copenhagen and Aarhus, works with clients such as Amnesty International and Vestas on innovation, strategy, user experience, design and more. The deal with AKQA provides Dis/play with access to a much larger global network and resources, including 23 studios across the U.S., Europe, Asia and Australia.

Give a cluck

Arnold Worldwide has won the 2017 Brandathon, a 72-hour branding competition that pairs startups with creative agencies in the Boston area. The agency worked with Kulisha, a startup that provides a sustainable alternative to conventional animal feed. Arnold's repositioning, which included the motto "Give a Cluck," highlighted how Kulisha uses whole fried black soldier fly larvae as feed for chickens a diet that is healthier than grain, thus healthier for humans consuming chicken. (Sorry if you are reading this before lunch.)

Looking at tomorrow, today

Butler, Shine, Stern & Partners has hired David Eastman, previously global head of digital and CEO of JWT North America, as chief operating officer. The new role is meant to help the independent agency establish its next generation of leaders and continue to evolve its marketing services. Eastman, who also previously held the role of CEO at Agency.com and Omnicom's Zulu digital network, will work alongside BSSP Co-founder and CEO Greg Stern and Chief Creative Officer John Butler.

Feeling the heat

Muhtayzik Hoffer has scooped up Teri Miller, eight-year veteran of Deloitte-owned Heat, to serve as partner and managing director of the agency. Miller will handle day-to-day operations at the agency in addition to helping manage client relationships, growth and new business. Most recently, Miller served as director of marketing at Heat, and she also previously worked at Wieden & Kennedy and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners.

Bye, bye, Bill

Bill Maier is retiring from his eponymous agency, Maier True Communication, which he founded in May 1971. The executive leadership team of the business-to-business marketing firm will now include President I. Todd Russell; Exec VP-Creative Rick Mellon; and Exec VP-Finance Laura Kennedy. Additionally, the management team includes VP-Strategic Lead John Cook and VP-Creative and Technology Bryan Johnson. Some of the agency's clients include Cigna, Hubbell and Bridgeport, according to the company website.

Starlight, star bright

Starcom USA has appointed Kristina Lutz, previously an exec VP at iHeartMedia, to lead the agency's automotive business development and client partnerships. The news follows the announcement that Amanda Richman, president of investment at Starcom USA, is planning to leave the shop to join MEC/Maxus as U.S. of the newly merged agency. The agency has also promoted Danielle Gonzales and Karla Knecht, both to president/chief client officers.

All hail retail

FCB Chicago has acquired environment design firm Chute Gerdeman as a way to provide omni-channel retail marketing solutions for clients, including connected physical experiences. Columbus, Ohio-based Chute Gerdeman is becoming part of FCB's retail and shopper marketing division, FCB/RED. Prior to the deal, FCB/RED worked with third-parties on full-store environmental designs. The expanded retail operation will be led by Tina Manikas, president of FCB/RED.

Tweet of the week

Number of the week

45 million the number of Americans who do not read the news, which roughly translates to one out of five U.S. adults, according to new research from boutique tech PR agency Bospar and Radium Global Market Research. The data also showed that the older the adult is, the less likely he or she is to read the news either online or in print. For example, the study revealed that 28% of Americans 65 years and older do not read the news in either medium, compared to 20% of those 55-to-64 years old and 13% of 21-to-34 year olds.

Contributing: Meg Graham

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Agency Brief: Tropical Digs, Danish Deals and Chicken Diets - AdAge.com

Abraham's goal was more about her general health than weight loss. "I had days here where I would eat three different kinds of meat, and that grossed me out," she told me. "When you're in the kitchen, you're always eating when you're not hungry. Why not cut this weird amount of meat out of my diet?" It's only been a month since Abraham quit meat cold-turkey, but the results are clear: "I just feel better when I leave at the end of the day," she said.

"Life is too short for such a restrictive diet, especially for a Delish editor," Lindsey Ramsey, Delish's managing editor, wrote. But completing Whole30 is kind of like wearing a badge of honor in 2017. It's the fad eating plan ("diet" is a four-letter word to Whole30's founders) of the year. "I felt like it be would be a cool thing to try since I'd read so much about it," Ramsey explained to me in an email. "My birthday is right after the holidays, so it's more than two months of constant eating and drinking."

Ramsey's reset meant a month of chocolate-filled, cheese-topped, candy-stuffed dishes flaunted in her face. There was even a day she had to bite into then spit out a dozen chocolate truffles for a photo shoot, but it paid off: "I ended up losing 11 pounds in 30 days," she revealed. "I've never lost weight like that from any kind of lifestyle change."

Ramsey has made half-hearted attempts to start up Whole30 again, but they never stick, so she's employed what she refers to as "the famed two-bite rule of tasting Delish food." It's exactly what it sounds like: two bites, then you walk away. Her kryptonite: "My weakest moment is anytime the kitchen makes anything chicken Parmesan."

Test Kitchen Assistant Makinze Gore lasted about two months at Delish before devising a plan. "I was snacking all day long, and when I would get home at night, I was never hungry for dinner," she wrote in an email to me. And snacks, by Delish standards, aren't nutritionist-approved hummus and veggie cups or a handful of nuts. They're three bites of cake instead of a whole slice or a banana pudding dip because there's fruit hidden in there somewhere.

Chelsea Lupkin

Gore did something brave, something no Delish soul had done before. She didn't just cut out a food group; she stopped munching altogether. "I don't eat anything not one bite of anything we make after 2p.m.," she explained. It was more preventative than a weight-loss solution. "I certainly didn't want to start gaining weight, so I stopped snacking before I had the chance!" Gore wrote. Despite the occasional mess-up, Gore says the shtick's working: "It's a random rule and a random time, but it has helped a lot to cut back on the constant snacking."

"I fell asleep during a documentary my wife and I were watching and woke up to her saying, 'We're vegan now!'," Video Producer Jonathan Boulton confessed. He stuck with it since the New Year's resolution he'd made a couple weeks prior to "not be the Delish garbage can anymore" wasn't working. If you think a life without bacon and cheese sounds torturous, Boulton doesn't disagree: "I have to take a walk outside the kitchen pretty much any time they come in front of me," he laughed.

But the true test came a week after he went vegan. Boulton got sent on shoots to Disney World and Waco, TX a.k.a home of the freakishly giant turkey leg and the mecca of all things barbecue, respectively. Don't feel too sorry for him: Boulton found love in a hopeless place. Disney doesn't exactly cater to herbivores, but they've got more options than you'd think. And he ranks the vegan grilled cheese from Cheddar Box, a food truck at Waco's Magnolia Market, as one of the top things he's eaten this year. "It was actually a super awesome experience," he said. "I learned so much about things that I could eat or make that I didn't even realize were vegan."

At this point, Boulton has shed 30 pounds and a tiny sliver of self control. "I broke veganism on camera, with a ridiculous barbecue hamburger in Miami," he laughed.

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How Delish Editors Keep From Gaining Weight While Working At A Food Website - Delish.com

Honeybee (Apis mellifera) workers tending larvae on brood comb. The larvae that will grow up to be workers have a plant-based diet of a mix of honey and pollen. Stephen Dalton/Minden Pictures/Getty Images hide caption

Honeybee (Apis mellifera) workers tending larvae on brood comb. The larvae that will grow up to be workers have a plant-based diet of a mix of honey and pollen.

When a female honeybee hatches, her future holds one of two possible paths within the hive's caste system. She will become either a worker bee or a queen bee. And her fate is determined in part by the food she eats as a larva.

Larvae that are fed mostly a bitter type of pollen combined with honey, a mixture called "beebread," grow up to be worker bees. They are generally sterile and destined for a life of housekeeping tasks. Future queens, on the other hand, grow up on royal jelly a goopy, yellowish substance rich in proteins, sugars and fatty acids that is secreted from the glands of worker bees. The queen's sole task in life is to make more bees. She also lives a longer life and has a stinger she can use more than once without dying.

So what is it about the two different diets that determines the caste of bees? It's a question that bee researchers have puzzled over for a long time. A study published Thursday in the journal PLOS Genetics suggests that the plant-heavy diet of a future worker bee helps prevent it from becoming a queen.

One difference between beebread and royal jelly is that the former has a higher concentration of tiny pieces of plant genetic material called microRNAs. These molecules are known to influence the expression of genes. "Plant microRNAs play important roles for the plant development and physiology," says Chen-Yu Zhang, a biochemist at Nanjing University in China and an author on the new study. "One set of the microRNA we tested is also important to the plant to make their flower bigger, more colorful."

And their past research also showed that differences in the plant RNA content of foods changed gene expression in honeybees and fruit flies. So they wondered: Could plant microRNAs influence development in honeybee larvae?

To answer the question, they created a synthetic beebread in the lab, adding microRNAs to it that they extracted from pollen in flowering plants. Larvae that ate this synthetic beebread weighed less, were shorter and had smaller ovaries compared with those that didn't eat it. In other words, they were more like worker bees.

And the larvae that were not fed beebread (with the added microRNAs) grew up to be more queenlike. They had bigger bodies and larger ovaries.

"Plant microRNAs really mediate the honeybee caste formation," says Zhang. The molecules seem to slow the growth of the bee larvae, keeping their ovaries so small that they are sterile.

Gene Robinson, director of a genomic biology institute at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, says this new study is exciting. It raises the possibility of a new component of honeybees' diets that might be influencing their social fate.

"As we've gone into the genomic era in the past 25 years, the interest increasingly is understanding the molecular basis for these nutritional effects," he says. But "exactly how are the substances in the bees' diets engaging with internal systems, molecular pathways, to actually flip the switch?"

The new study also looked at how these microRNAs could be affecting the bees' development. Their findings suggest that one of the microRNAs targets a specific gene called amTOR, which has been shown to influence the development of queen bees. They also suspect that other plant microRNAs and RNAs also influence bee development.

A big question about the new study is whether these small microRNA molecules can survive in the larvaes' digestive tracts long enough to alter gene expression. The researchers' previous work suggests they can, but some researchers have expressed doubt over their claims.

However, Zhang and his colleagues stress that RNAs are probably not the only factor determining a bee's fate. The nutritional content of royal jelly, for example, may also play a role in helping honeybee larvae become queens. And p-coumaric acid, another plant-based compound present in honey, also seems to change gene expression to nudge bee larvae toward developing into worker bees.

Robinson says future research on this topic should delve further into understanding how these plant microRNAs "take the long and winding road" to being eaten by bee larvae and then influencing gene expression in them. "That's an amazing journey," he says. "And so we need to understand that whole process."

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The Divisive Diet of Honeybees: Why Some Will Never Be Royals ... - NPR

I am quite confident about the fundamental truths of diet for good health.I am quite confident because they are predicated on a massive aggregation of evidence of every description, spanning methods, populations, and decades.I am quite confident because I share these convictions with a veritable whos who of leading experts, with predilections from vegan to Paleo, from all around the globe.

But I am not absolutely, incontrovertibly certain about much.In the company of the wisest, most thoughtful, most expert and knowledgeable people I know- I have many legitimate doubts about many details of nutrition.

Lets allow for the wisdom of doubt, then, and consider the PURE study currently roiling if not the nutrition world, at least its representation to the public.These articles, which I have reviewed at length, effectively part dietary perspective like Moses and the Red Sea: to one side, there is advocacy for more plant foods (vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts, and seeds); to the other, there is advocacy for more animal foods (meat, butter, cheese, eggs) and more animal fat.I am decisively in the former camp.

What the allowance for doubt tells us is that if, in fact, the evidence is insufficient to be absolutely certain that one of these is right- then we cannot be absolutely certain that the other is right, either.Lets pretend the playing field is level; lets give all the same benefits of all the same doubts to all the members of both camps.I am not entirely sure thats deserved- but lets toss the benefit of that doubt into the pot as well.

It all leaves you with a choice - now, and whenever you hear the latest news about nutrition.You can risk being wrong in one direction, or you can risk being wrong in the other.

Lets say that those of us recommending more whole plant foods, and a dietary pattern in which they predominate, are wrong.What are you risking by listening to us?

Well, we know that all of the worlds longest lived, most vital peoples discovered to date eat this way.So even if we are wrong about whole foods, mostly plants being best for your health- they are clearly compatible with it, as measured by what matters most: both years in life, and life in years.At worst, you wind up eating in a way that is entirely compatible with the best of health, even if not explicitly the best for health.At worst, you wind up missing out on some foods you might otherwise enjoy (although thats a minor matter, because over relatively little time, you are apt to learn to love the foods you are with).

Thats it.Thats the consequence of choosing to go with the more plants camp, if that camp- my camp- is, in fact, wrong.

What are the alternative risks of listening to the more meat camp, if that camp is wrong?Well, none of the longest lived, most vital peoples yet discovered eat meat predominant diets, or diets high in saturated fat.So if this camp is, in fact, wrong- then its possible that their advice is actually incompatible with the health outcomes that matter most: longevity, plus vitality.If this camp is wrong, you might be increasing your personal risk of disease and premature death.To be clear, I am not saying (at the moment) this is true; I am simply noting that if the more meat crowd CAN be wrong, then this COULD be the implication for your health of listening to them.

But thats the least of it, really, because if you get coronary disease you will probably find some cardiologist to clean out your arteries; you get to have your disease, and make it chronic, too.

The consensus among environmental scientists about meat and dairy is even greater than that of nutrition scientists.Producing plants to feed animals to produce meat for human consumption uses vastly more water than producing plants for direct human consumption; beef, compared to almost any other food, is literally off the chart (in the company of chocolate).Producing meat, and dairy, makes massive contributions to greenhouse gas emission.

So, unless all of the environmental scientists- experts in everything from life cycle analysis to conservation, sustainable agriculture to biodiversity- are wrong, too, then listening to the more meat camp and being wrong means potentially devastating effects on the worlds climate, ecosystems, and aquifers.In contrast, if the more plants camp is wrong about the best diet for health, listening to them will almost certainly confer diverse environmental benefit.

And, finally, there is the matter of ethics, decency- and what we ironically call humane treatment.If the more plant camp is wrong about whats best for your health, listening to them will nonetheless reduce the cruelty and abuse perpetrated on vast populations of animals that think and feel an awful lot like the dogs, and cats, and horses so many of us love.If, however, you listen to the more meat camp and they are wrong, then ever more such animals will be subject to cruelty, abuse, and often traumatic death- in the service of your dietary degradation.

Lets summarize.If the more plant message is wrong, then the worst case scenario is that its still compatible with optimal health (just not necessary for it); still massively beneficial to the environment and planet (unless all of the environmental scientists are also wrong); and massively conducive to the kinder, gentler treatment of our fellow creatures (unlesswell, nothing.Period).

If the more meat message is wrong, then the worst case scenario is that it may be incompatible with optimal health, and listening to it may potentially take life from your years, with or without taking years from your life.Along the way, you will almost certainly be contributing to environmental degradation, aquifer depletion, global warming, and cruelty to animals at an industrial scale.

None of this says that one camp is right and the other wrong.It simply stipulates that if we really have cause to be uncertain about fundamentals of nutrition, then whats good for the plant-loving goose should be good for the meat-loving gander.Human fallibility is non-denominational.

And, presumably, you- like the rest of us- are not infallible either.So if obligated to eat despite the routinely broadcast doubts about diet and health- perhaps the best you can do is choose how you would rather be wrong.

Senior Medical Advisor, Verywell.com

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Diet: Choosing How to Be Wrong - HuffPost

Widely promoted guidelines to reduce fat intake could be unhealthy for people in low- and middle-income countries whose diets are already too starchy, say researchers.

Health authorities in Europe and North America recommend eating more fruit and vegetables while curtailing consumption of fatty foods, advice also adopted by the United Nations and globally.

But people in poor nations cutting back on fat may wind up piling on more carbohydrates such as potatoes, rice or bread because fruit and vegetable are more expensive, the authors point out.

The current focus on promoting low-fat diets ignores the fact that most peoples diets in low- and middle-income countries are very high in carbohydrates, which seem to be linked to worse health outcomes, says Mahshid Dehghan, a researcher at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, and lead author of a study in The Lancet.

Meanwhile, a companion study, also published in The Lancet, concludes that the rich-world guidelines backed by the World Health Organisation on fruit and vegetable consumption could be safely cut back from five to a more affordable three portions per day.

Dehghan and her colleagues sifted through the health data of 135,000 volunteers from 18 countries across six continents, aged 35 to 70, who were monitored for 7 years.

People who met three-quarters or more of their daily energy needs with carbs were 28 per cent more likely to die over that period than those whose diet comprised a lower proportion of starchy foods (46 per cent or less of energy needs).

Surprisingly, the findings also challenged assumptions on fat intake: diets high in fat (35 per cent of energy) were linked with a 23 per cent lower risk of death compared to low-fat diets (11 per cent of energy).

Contrary to popular belief, increased consumption of dietary fats is associated with a lower risk of death, Dehghan says.

That covered a mix of saturated fats (from meats and milk products), along with monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (from vegetable oils, olive oil, nuts and fish). The study did not look at so-called trans fats from processed foods because the evidence is clear that these are unhealthy, says Dehghan.

The best diets include a balance of 50 per cent to 55 per cent carbohydrates and about 35 per cent total fat, according to the authors, who presented their findings at the European Society of Cardiology Congress in Barcelona.

Current global guidelines based mostly on studies done in Europe and the US recommend that 50-65 per cent of ones calories come from carbs, and less than 10 per cent from saturated fats.

Overall, the study found that the average diet consists of just more than 61 per cent carbohydrates, 23.5 per cent good fat, and 15 per cent protein.

But these averages hid important regional imbalances: in China, South Asia and Africa, intake of starchy foods was 67 per cent, 65 per cent and 63 per cent, respectively.

A quarter of the 135,000 subjects mostly in poorer nations derived more than 70 per cent of their daily calories from carbohydrates, while half had less than seven per cent saturated fats in their diet.

The findings challenge conventional diet-disease tenets largely based on the lifestyles of Europeans and Americans, Christopher Ramsden and Anthony Domenichiello comment wrote in The Lancet.

Dehghan and colleagues set out to look for links between diet and cardiovascular disease, which kills about 17 million people around the world each year 80 per cent of them in low- and middle-income countries.

Many factors contribute to these diseases but diet is one of the few that can be modified to lessen risk.

While high-carb and low-fat diets were clearly associated with greater mortality, no statistical link was found with the kind of life-threatening events strokes, heart attacks, and other forms of heart failure that stem from cardiovascular disease.

Susan Jebb, a professor at the University of Oxford who did not take part in the study, said the reported link between high-carb diets and excess mortality was from non-cardiovascular deaths and is unexplained.

See the article here:
Why West's low-fat diet advice could be deadly for Asia's poor, because they'll likely eat even more carbs - South China Morning Post

KING 5's Lori Matsukawa reports.

KING 5 HealthLink , KING 7:27 PM. EDT September 02, 2017

All vinegar is created equal, choose the one that tastes good to you.

Many are concerned about nutrition and good health habits, often looking for something extra to help.

Vinegar has been said to have many benefits, from weight loss to glowing skin, but is it truly a magic elixir? A nutrition specialist explains useful information about vinegar.

So before you add it to your diet, you need to understand what the active ingredient in vinegar is.

"All vinegar is made from wine or apple cider and fermented by bacteria. So there's not a whole lot of extra steps in there. The bacteria ferment the sugars and make acidic acid. If you include it in a healthy meal pattern, it's great, but it's not a magic bullet, says Eileen Fitzpatrick, DrPH, and chair of the Nutrition Science Department at Sage Colleges.

Vinegar has been touted as a health aid since the 1800s says, Fitzpatrick. While apple cider vinegar is capturing most of the attention nowadays, Fitzpatrick says to select the vinegar you prefer. The benefits are the same across the board.

One such benefit: It's moderately effective in controlling blood sugar levels.

"There's some evidence that the acidic acid interferes with the enzyme that breaks down starch in the gut, which make it a little more like fiber and that may be why you don't get that rise in blood sugar after a starchy meal," says Fitzpatrick.

A salad dressed with oil and vinegar, eaten with that starchy meal, is what Fitzpatrick recommends. This way you're also adding more vegetables to your diet.

Vinegar consumption may also help, although minimally, with weight loss.

"It was a Japanese study, and it did show that 2 to 4 pounds of weight loss over 12 weeks," says Fitzpatrick.

Because vinegar is an acid, don't take it straight. One to two tablespoons in eight ounces of water once a day is sufficient, and you need to drink it along with a starchy meal for blood sugar control.

Which brings us back to Fitzpatrick's recommendation; use vinegar on a salad and choose the type you prefer.

"I think there's no point in doing it unless it tastes good," says Fitzpatrick.

Versatile vinegar is useful for cleaning and disinfecting too. Many use it for preserving food because its thought to kill E. coli.

So if it doesnt fit into your taste palette, there are many other benefits beyond a healthy diet.

2017 KING-TV

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Healthful benefits of vinegar in your diet - WTSP 10 News

As the CEO of SoulCycle, Melanie Whelan obviously spends a lot of time on a bike, which she balances with apple pie, burrata, and olive-oil cake. I love the experience and purpose of gathering everyone in the kitchen, or around the barbecue outside, she says. My kids like to help, and its nice to have something to do where were all equally skilled. (Her sons 8 and her daughters 5, so shes maybe selling herself short here.) This week, Whelan dined at her favorite restaurant, Nobu, before decamping to the Hamptons for a picnic on the beach, grilled corn with Old Bay, and frozen yogurt thats too good to be true. Read all about it in this weeks Grub Street Diet.

Thursday, August 24I start most days with a workout. Today, however, I didnt have enough time to take my usual class before an early meeting, so I made my favorite Gradys Cold Brew at home with a splash of almond milk and brought it along. I also start most days with a Lemon Popper, which is a Whelan-family classic. When we first got our SodaStream, my kids were obsessed with creating new recipes using all of the flavors. They created our signature family drink, which is 90 percent seltzer water and 10 percent limeade, and dubbed it the Lemon Popper. I feel like it should be trademarked because weve really spread the word about the Lemon Popper and have turned so many of our friends onto it. So, I had a Lemon Popper and threw a banana in my bag for later.

I was meeting with a candidate for our marketing team at 1 p.m. at our offices, so I offered to bring in smoothies for lunch. I like that you only need one hand to drink them, so I can multitask and work on something else at the same time. We have two Juice Press locations within one block of our office, so Im a frequent customer. I chose the F&%*ing Genius and our candidate got the Nurse Ginger Greene.

Each month, we celebrate our employees birthdays that fall during that month and we always have a different party theme. Today, we had the August birthday party, which was themed camp, so we had classic favorites like smores, chips, and candies in fun buckets, lake water (really an Arnold Palmer), and trail mixes. I didnt get to enjoy the treats because I was heading into a 5:30 p.m. 40th-birthday ride for a colleague, but took a sneak peek and grabbed some red Swedish fish for later.

After the ride, I met my husband at our favorite spot, Nobu. It used to be three blocks away from our apartment, but we recently moved to the Financial District, so we sadly dont go as often as we used to. It was our last night in the city before heading to the Hamptons for the last week of summer, and I was craving my usual order. My husband makes fun of me because I get the same thing every time. Dont need a menu. Its always the yellowtail sashimi with jalapeo, black-cod butter-lettuce wraps (no crunchy on top), and a spicy tuna hand roll without rice.I also got a tequila on the rocks with a splash of lime because, you know, its Thursday.

Friday, August 25My morning started with an early coffee that was scheduled at Tarallucci E Vino in Union Square. Im a creature of habit and go there all the time for meetings because its across the street from SoulCycle Union Square, has great booths for quiet meetings in the back, and its in such a central spot. But, when I pulled up, I was surprised to see that it was closed for last-minute renovations, so I went over to the W Union Square.They have a great fruit bowl and juices from Liquiteria, so I got the All Greens and a cold brew with almond milk.

After that, I went into the office for a day of internal meetings and grabbed a LaCroix pamplemousse (my favorite flavor) before heading up to our sixth floor to meet with the retail, development, and finance teams. We have summer Fridays, but I usually work a bit later, so I grabbed an RXBAR for the train and decided to save my calories for dinner that night with my family.

When I got in, my family and I went over to Cove Hollow Tavern, which is an adorable little spot in East Hampton. We always try to keep Friday nights for just us and make a commitment to spend the time together as a family, regardless of everyones schedules, so we can recap the week. My son loves their buttered pasta, and my daughter always goes for their burger with fries. I started with the ahi tuna, sneaked a bite of my kids fries, and then got the grilled halibut. It was delicious, and they presented it on a cedar plank, so it looked beautiful, too. To me, presentation is everything. And again, I sneaked a bite of Davids hanger steak. I also had a glass of cold Chardonnay, while my kids enjoyed Charlotte Temples our version of a kids cocktail named after my daughter seltzer water with cherries.

Saturday, August 26I went to an early SoulCycle class in our East Hampton studio. David and I have this thing called the parent handoff where one of us rides in one class, the other one brings the kids to the studio, and in the 15 minutes between classes, we swap, and the other parent rides in the second class. Its foolproof and works every time. So while he was in class, I took my kids to Carissas Breads, which opened next door to us earlier this summer.We grabbed some pastries and iced coffees and then stopped by the Balsam Farm Stand in Amagansett to pick up a bunch of stuff for the weekend. Lots of fresh fruit, veggies, and of course, the Blue Duck apple pie. Its incredible, and we never walk out of Balsam without one (or two). I recently discovered the gluten-free apple tart one of my best friends has celiac so we picked one up for her.

When we got home, we started on lunch. Ive been really into spaghetti squash lately, so I roasted some of the vegetables from the farm stand, mixed that with the spaghetti squash, and threw together a quick kale salad. For my kids, it was PB&J all day.

In the afternoon, I took a few bites of Halo Top mint-chip ice cream. I had heard so much about it and needed to try it.Its definitely not ice cream, but itll do the trick.

That night, we went to the beach for fireworks. Its an annual tradition, and a lot of our friends go with their kids, so its always a really fun night. I packed a massive cooler with grilled chicken, turkey sandwiches, Boom Chicka Pop kettle corn (my favorite), chips, pretzels, guacamole, hummus, you name it. I also stopped by the Red Horse Market to get a ton of prepared food.I grabbed a couple of pizza slices, some salads, and more chips because you can never have too many bags of chips. We set up a little picnic area on the beach, and I picked at our entire spread, but ended up mostly eating the grilled chicken and a million baby carrots and chips dipped in hummus.Literally, 1 million.

Sunday, August 27Sunday breakfast is a family tradition. Whether were in the city or the Hamptons, we always make pancakes together on Sunday. This week was chocolate chips, and my daughter, Charlotte, was very strategic about the location of each chocolate chip in each pancake (princess smiles). We also made happy trail mix, a family staple, which is Honey Nut Cheerios, Apple Cinnamon Chex, raisins, dried cranberries, coconut strips, and chocolate chips.Im not a huge cook, but I love cooking with my kids, and we end up spending so much time in the kitchen.

After a late-morning SoulCycle class, we had a friends birthday party in the afternoon in Sagaponack. As expected, knowing them, they had it catered for three times the amount of people who were there. I had grilled chicken and vegetables, and also some corn. I love corn on the cob.

That night, I went to the Girls Who Code event in Water Mill. Cocktail party canaps are not my jam, and I was trying to balance on heels in grass (#outfitfail) before hurrying home for a family dinner. We put salmon and turkey burgers on the grill, and also corn on the cob with Old Bay seasoning. Im originally from Maryland, so it really doesnt get any better than Old Bay and corn on the cob. We dropped David off at the Jitney, and then I took the kids to Scoop Du Jour where we met some friends. I always go for the vanilla-Heath-bar-crunch frozen yogurt. Its insane, I dont know how they do it, but I have my suspicions (not frozen yogurt).

Monday, August 28Days like today are my favorite. I get to wake up, cook a full breakfast for my kids before they head off to camp, and spend time together in the kitchen brainstorming all of our plans for when they get back from camp. I always try to get protein into their meals, so I made my moms world-famous cheesy scrambled eggs. Its all about the milk-to-yolk ratio. And as soon as you add the cheese, you pull the eggs out, and let them melt outside of the pan. That recipe requires real presence; its a ten-minute activity that youve got to be game-on the entire time. For me, I poached eggs in a separate pan with an egg poacher, which is the best $25 Ive ever spent. We all had a smoothie that I made using fruit from the weekend.My go-to recipe is kale, spinach, half a banana, almond milk, chia seeds, and a little PB2 powder, but for the kids, I have to keep it all fruit.

I had two meetings in the morning, one in East Hampton and one in Bridgehampton, and then I ran over to Sag Harbor for Pilates. I grabbed the Green Hornet smoothie at Jacks with a friend before I headed back to pick up my kids from camp.

For dinner, I met some friends at the Crows Nest. They have the most amazing view of the sunset, and their grilled octopus is incredible. We shared burrata as well (because who can pass up ordering burrata if its on a menu?), and the meze platter. Since I drove out to Montauk, I made the excuse that with no cocktails, I could compensate by splurging on dessert with a few bites of the olive-oil cake.

Tuesday, August 29Similar morning to the day before: I made my kids scrambled eggs and went to Jacks in Amagansett for a meeting. I had a cold brew with almond milk and the sunrise muffin, which Im obsessed with. Its packed with all these veggies like zucchini and carrots, and also grains and nuts. After that, I went to Stuarts, the best seafood shop on the East End, and picked up a ton of food for a dinner were having with some of the SoulCycle team.

For lunch, I made a big salad with fresh veggies and a turkey burger on top. Im also really into kombucha, so I grabbed a Health-Ade Pink Lady kombucha. Then, I got started on cooking dinner the menu included caprese salad, seaweed salad (fine, this was store-bought), Davids famous lobster with sriracha and chili paste, grilled swordfish, and grilled steak. Also, Lemon Poppers for everyone. As much as I love the summer diet, Im really looking forward to getting back to the city and ordering some Thai takeout.

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SoulCycle CEO Melanie Whelan Makes Pancakes on Sunday No Matter What - Grub Street

If theres one message that most people get about their diet, its to cut back on fat. Too much fat, especially the saturated fat and cholesterol found in animal meat, dairy products and cheese, can clog up arteries and lead to heart disease, stroke and obesity.

But fat may not be only culprit in those unhealthy conditions. In recent years, studies have revealed that cutting back on fat doesnt always contribute to a lower risk of heart disease or reduced chance of dying early. In fact, some studies show the opposite, that people who eat extremely low amounts of fat tend to die earlier.

MORE: Does a Low-Carb Diet Really Beat Low-Fat?

That may be because of something else theyre eating instead. In one of the most comprehensive studies to date looking at how diet affects health and mortality, researchers led by a team at McMaster University report that rather than lowering fat, more people might benefit from lowering the amount of carbohydrates they eat. In a study published in the Lancet, they found that people eating high quantities of carbohydrates, which are found in breads and rice, had a nearly 30% higher risk of dying during the study than people eating a low-carb diet. And people eating high-fat diets had a 23% lower chance of dying during the studys seven years of follow-up compared to people who ate less fat.

The results, say the authors, point to the fact that rather than focusing on fat, health experts should be advising people to lower the amount of carbohydrates they eat. In the study, which involved 135,000 people from 18 different countries, the average diet was made up of 61% carbohydrates, 23% fat and 15% protein. In some countries, like China, south Asia and Africa, however, the amount of carbohydrates in the diet was much higher, at 63% to 67%. More than half of the people in the study consumed high-carbohydrate diets.

MORE: Know Right Now: Why Low-Fat Diets Might Not Solve Your Health Problems

The findings add more data to the continuing debate over the best advice for healthy eating. When the focus on cholesterol emerged in the 1970s, connecting fatty foods and heart disease, doctors urged people to reduce the fat in their diet by cutting back on red meat, dairy products, eggs and fried foods. Food makers took up the mantra, and pumped out products low in fat. But they replaced the fat with carbohydrates, which scientists now understand may be just as unhealthy, if not more so, than fat.

Thats because carbohydrates are easily stored as glucose in the body, and they can raise blood sugar levels, contributing to obesity and diabetes both of which are also risk factors for heart disease.

MORE: The Case for Whole Milk

So why has there been so much focus on fat? The researchers say that the first studies to link fat to heart disease were conducted primarily in North America and Europe, which has the highest consumption of fat worldwide. Its possible that different diet advice may be needed for different populations. In western cultures, where there is an excess of fat, reducing fat may play a role in lowering heart disease, as long as people arent replacing the fat with carbohydrates.

MORE: Ending the War on Fat

In other parts of the world, where carbohydrates make up a large part of the diet, cutting back on carbs may make more sense than focusing on fat. Individuals with high carbohydrate intake might benefit from a reduction in carbohydrate intake and an increase in the consumption of fats, the study authors write.

More study will also be needed to figure out exactly how much fat and how much carbohydrates should be recommended for optimal health. The study did not compare, for example, people who ate low-fat diets to those who ate low-carb diets to see how their diets affected their mortality.

Read this article:
The Low-Fat vs. Low-Carb Diet Debate Has a New Answer - TIME

Butter, double cream, avocado - some of the richest, most delicious foods in the worlds are also the highest in fat.

But does that also mean theyre the most fattening? According to current wisdom, no.

30 min workout for your lunchbreak

This is a stark contrast from the consensus of even just 10 years ago, when we were all told to shun fat and supermarkets responded with shelves upon shelves of fat-free products.

In fact, the NHS still warns against having too much saturated fat in your diet because it raises cholesterol levels which can cause heart disease - the UK guidelines are no more than 30g saturated fat per day for men, and 20g for women.

But this seems to be behind recent research and current trends - sugar has replaced fat as public enemy number one, and weve realised that all the fat-free and low-fat products wed been consuming were laden with the sweet stuff to make up for the lack of fat.

And so fat is back in vogue. However theres also the risk that people will interpret this as meaning they can add an avocado to every meal and expect the pounds to drop off - that wont happen.

More and more health experts are advocates of high fat diets, and one of those is Zana Morris, author of The High Fat Diet.

Morris also runs three boutique gyms in London - The Library, The Clock and The Little Library - and she told me she could transform my body in just ten days if I followed her high-fat diet and worked out in the right way.

So I decided to try it out.

The plan is basically super low-carb, supposedly medium protein (although it seemed quite high to me) and high fat. It was not going to be easy.

On my plan, I couldnt eat any sugar or sweeteners, milk or yoghurt, fruit, bread or pastries of any kind, potatoes, pasta, rice, vegetables of any colour except green or white, sauces (except pesto and guacamole) or nuts (apart from walnuts and pine nuts).

Alcohol and all soft drinks apart from water were, of course, off the table too.

So what could I eat? Avocados, cream cheese, double cream, butter, coconut cream, all meats and fish (that don't have anything added), all green vegetables, nut oils, pesto, eggs and some cheeses (not the carbier ones like cheddar).

A food must contain 70 per cent of its calories from fat and have low carb levels to be considered fat on the plan, so feta, for example, counts as protein not fat.

I was meant to have up to 40g protein and at least 70g fat at breakfast; lunch would be 120g protein max, 70g veg max and 85g fat minimum; and for dinner, up to a sizeable 240g protein, 75g veg, and a minimum of 85g fat.

Its not a starvation diet, Zana told me, but if Im not hungry I shouldnt eat. In fact, she said many people drop down to two meals a day because what theyre eating is so rich and filling. Id be eating more calories than before, but supposedly losing weight. It sounded too good to be true.

Zana also warned me, however, that with this diet, cheating just a tiny bit could ruin everything. Gulp. So not even a sneaky mouthful of bread then? Or a splash of milk in my tea? Nope.

The reason for this is that even the tiniest morsel of sugar can offset everything and stop your body burning fat for a few days. I had been warned.

Its not a fat free-for-all either, sadly. Off the menu are man-made trans fats (eg. margarine), oxidised fats (eg. a packet of butter thats been opened and sitting in the fridge for weeks), vegetable oils and non-organic fat sources.

Zana says that by eating fat and practically no carbs, my body would burn fat - she likened it to adding logs to a fire to make it burn more. Eating fat doesnt trigger a rise in insulin in the body (like sugar does), so your body stops burning insulin as fuel.

This is where your body switched to a state of ketosis - yes, there are similarities with the currently very trendy keto diet - with the body turning to fat stores for energy.

Fat is also incredibly satiating. When most people embark on a low-fat diet in an attempt to lose weight, they end up hungry and dissatisfied with what theyre eating, thus end up craving sugary snacks. But this isnt the case with a high fat diet, which keeps your blood sugar stable too.

When most people lose weight, they sadly lose a lot of muscle as well as fat. So to combat this, Zana says you need to workout in a way that youre preventing muscle loss.

Retaining as much lean muscle mass as possible also helps you keeps the weight off afterwards - as you go about your daily life, muscle burns off roughly three times as many calories as fat does.

So strength training is key, as I was to learn in The Library and The Clock gyms. Its not just any weight training though, but high intensity resistance training.

On the plan, I trained five to six days a week, but crucially, each session was just 15-20 minutes long.

You work with big weights and have no rest time between exercises. If day one was legs, day two would be chest and back, and day three would be shoulders and arms. Each workout finished with abs too.

The diet kicked off with a cup of tea with double cream in. Yes, it was a bit weird. But not horrendous.

If I was at home, breakfast would be poached eggs, halloumi and avocado for breakfast, which was genuinely delicious.

Eating breakfast at work was a little tricker, but I got into the habit of making Zanas chocolate mousse: essentially, double cream whipped up with chocolate casein protein powder. This was actually a lifeline as it was the only sweet thing I could have - my sugar cravings did fade though.

Theres a lot of food-prep on the plan and you really cant take shortcuts - it turns out its really hard to find pre-cooked chicken that doesnt have added sugar.

Lunches consisted of salads mainly: lettuce, cauliflower rice, feta, chicken, avocado, pine nuts and broccoli, for example, or pesto courgetti with avocado, goats cheese, walnuts and green beans.

When it came to dinner, I found you could actually make pretty indulgent meals, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. A bun-less burger with avocado covered in melted boursin, perhaps, or you could have steak too.

Eating out, however, was an absolute nightmare. I found zero restaurants with items on their menu that would actually cater for the high-fat diet, and I hated having to be so fussy.

The best I could do was insist my friends and I go to burger restaurants where I would have bun-less burgers and salad with added avocado and no dressing.

Socialising was generally a bit of a nightmare - I hated not being able to have cocktails and puddings with my friends, but I suppose one plus-side is that my bill was cheaper.

A typical high fat breakfast

Similarly, not being able to tuck into Colin the Caterpillar with my colleagues at work wasnt much fun, but I suppose thats the way with any diet.

It also took me a few days to learn my portion sizes were too big and I also wasnt meant to be snacking in between meals - I certainly wasnt going to be going down to two meals a day as Zana suggested. I was starving!

It did become clear to me that fat does fill you up for a certain amount of time, but it doesnt leave youbloated like carbs do.

Two days in and Id lost three pounds, which was extremely motivating. I was craving fruit like mad though.

By the weekend - days six and seven - all I wanted was a glass of prosecco and a pizza with my pals. I wrote in my notes: Feels good to be healthy but is definitely less fun. This diet is boring. Weekends are rubbish when you cant eat or drink. Its ruining my social life. (I have been known to have a melodramatic side.)

However, my face looked slimmer and less puffy, which couldve been down to not drinking as much as anything else. My skin looked great, which I do think was thanks to the fat, but I didnt suddenly feel super fit.

By day nine, my trousers felt looser and my colleagues said I looked slimmer.

The workouts were extremely tough. As in, I-cant-do-it-makeup-melting-dripping-with-sweat-collapsing-on-the-floor tough. I regularly left the gym feeling slightly like I wanted to throw up, cry or faint. But on other occasions I came out feeling strong.

Any fitness expert will tell you not to measure your progress with the number on the scale, but we as a society are a bit obsessed with doing so.

Needless to say, I was chuffed to have lost seven pounds in ten days. Perhaps more importantly though, my body fat percentage had dropped four per cent.

Incredibly, I started to see the slighted bit of ab definition too and lost at least an inch all over my body.

The results of the diet are pretty astounding, but as with any quick weight loss programme, the question is: did I keep it off?

Well, largely, yes. Ive put on a few pounds in the weeks after, but my weight tends to fluctuate around a couple of pounds anyway. Zana actually recommended I switch to a low-fat diet afterwards if I wanted to continue losing weight, which was puzzling.

Theres a lot you can learn from the diet, but following it strictly just isnt practical, especially if you want to have a social life.

Its also an expensive diet to follow - lean meats, avocados and pine nuts sure do add up.

But would I do it again if I wanted to quickly trim down for a holiday or social event? If I was really desperate, probably yes.

You really can lose fat by eating fat, as long as you do it right.

Read more:
Is a high-fat diet the secret to burning fat? - The Independent