Warren Buffett celebrated this his 87th birthday Wednesday, with help from (or in spite of) McDonald's (MCD) , Utz, See's Chocolates, Dairy Queen and Coca-Cola (KO) .

The Oracle of Omaha has an estimated net worth of more than $70 billion, ranking him among the top five richest men in the world. Yet, the Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A) (BRK.B) CEO's private life has been defined more by comfort than conspicuous spending. He still lives in the same home he bought in 1958 for $31,500, which amounts to little more than $260,000 in 2017 dollars.

"My life couldn't be happier," Buffett said a Berkshire Hathaway shareholder's meeting in 2014. "In fact, it'd be worse if I had six or eight houses. So, I have everything I need to have, and I don't need any more."

However, what Buffett eats is just as interesting as how he spends his money. In 2015, in a lengthy discussion with Fortune, Buffett noted that he is "one-quarter Coca-Cola." While he only owns 9% of the Coca-Cola company itself, he says that a quarter of the estimated 2,700 calories he consumes each day come from the five Coca-Cola products he drinks each day. That includes original-recipe Coca-Cola consumed at work and the Cherry Coke he drinks at home.

Buffet will have a Coca-Cola with a breakfast of potato sticks made by Utz of Hanover, Pa., and will occasionally sub in a bowl of ice cream. However, Buffett has also stated in the HBO documentary Becoming Warren Buffett that he also pops into a local McDonald's each morning for breakfast. Before he ventures out, he tells his wife how much money to put in a cup in his car and, in exact change, buys breakfast based on how the stock market is performing.

"When I'm not feeling quite so prosperous, I might go with the $2.61, which is two sausage patties, and then I put them together and pour myself a Coke," he told director Peter Kunhardt in the documentary. "$3.17 is a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit, but the market's down this morning, so I'll pass up the $3.17 and go with the $2.95 [sausage, egg and cheese]."

This isn't a habit he restricts to breakfast, either. When he took Microsoft founder Bill Gates to lunch a few years ago, he decided on McDonald's as the venue. The result made it into Bill and Melinda Gates'2017 annual letter.

"Remember the laugh we had when we traveled together to Hong Kong and decided to get lunch at McDonald's?" Bill wrote. "You offered to pay, dug into your pocket, and pulled out coupons!"

But Buffett's diet doesn't make him cheap. In fact, it's cost him quite a bit of money in the past. Buffett bought See's Candies for $25 million in 1972 not just because he saw potential in it, but because he loved its nut fudge and peanut brittle. Buffett bought Dairy Queen for $585 million in 1997 not just for its low overhead and growth potential, but because he enjoys it himself.

"What I usually get is a sundae," Buffett told Yahoo Finance."I get the small sundae for the ice cream and the extra large sundae for the topping. So I mean, I just smother in the cherry topping and then pour a lot of nuts on it."

In fact, if you go to Omaha, you can visit Buffett's McDonald's, Dairy Queen and favorite steakhouse, Gorat's, and eat like a billionaire for less than $50. But should you? Last year, through journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin, a Berkshire Hathaway investor questioned Buffett's investment in Coca-Cola, saying it contributes to roughly 137,000 deaths a year from diabetes, 45,000 deaths from heart disease, and a few more thousand a year from cancer. A year earlier, Bill Ackman said Buffett's investment in Coca-Cola was immoral.

Buffett's answer? "There's no evidence that I will any better reach 100 if I had lived on broccoli and water," he said.

That doesn't necessarily mean that eating 2,700 calories of fast food, soda and snacks will get you to 87 years old.

Jessica Weneger, a registered dietitian in Buffett's hometown of Omaha, notes that it's difficult to hand out blanket nutrition recommendations without knowing Buffett's other eating habits, his medical diagnosis and what his current exercise plan looks like. Based on Buffett's own estimate of 2,700 calories per day, Wegener says that there is always a concern that it could lead to weight issues and obesity, which in turn can lead to chronic disease. She also says that high caloric content could also simply be a byproduct of unconscious overeating.

"I believe that no one can follow a diet of food that they don't like," Wegener says. "I would suggest decreasing total intake of higher calorie and saturated fat foods by eating smaller portions of his current favorites and add more fruits and vegetables to go alongside to balance out his less nutritious food choices. I would also discuss how he feels to find out if his diet could be effecting his overall health and wellness."

Buffett has made attempts to explain his high-sugar, high-salt diet in the past. In 2015, for example, he told Fortune, "I checked the actuarial tables, and the lowest death rate is among six-year-olds. So I decided to eat like a six-year-old. It's the safest course I can take." However, when a writer from Fusion attempted to eat like Buffett -- including his dinner favorite of chicken-fried steak with mashed potatoes and a strawberry malt -- she was sickened after one day. Omaha dietitian Wegener notes that dietary habits vary widely by individuals and that what works for Buffett, or even those who follow the kale trail and turn green just looking at what he eats in a day, won't necessarily work for others.

"For those people who use the excuse that Warren Buffett does it, I would encourage them to assess their current health, how they feel, their relationship with food and to not compare themselves to anyone, as no one has the same genetic make up that they do, unless they have an identical twin," Wegener says. "Each person needs to follow the plan or type of eating style that works best for them."

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By Janice Putnam / Special to the Times-News

There are benefits to healthy eating. In 2014, University College London conducted a study that found that eating seven or more servings of vegetables and fruit each day decreases your risk of death by 42 percent. Wow! There are many diet fads that guarantee quick weight loss. However, eating healthy isnot a diet trend or fad its a lifestyle.

Lets take a quick look at some recent diet trends and fads. Remember, you should always check with your health care provider before making changes to your diet.

Cleansing

The theory behind cleansing is that eating or drinking certain foods will cleanse your body. However, your body naturally cleanses itself. Your kidneys filter waste and then excrete the waste in urine. Your liver also removes toxins.

Several celebrities have their own cleansing diets. Foods included in the diet cleanse are low in important nutrients such as protein, calcium and Vitamin D.

The best way to keep your kidneys and liver healthyis by avoiding excess sugar and high fructose corn syrup, limiting alcohol, and by maintaining a good weight.

Detox

It is believed that the body needs to detox to rid itself of toxins in order to cleanse, repair and replace worn-out cells. Detox promotes eating certain foods while avoiding others. A guest doctor on a popular daytime talk show stated that 10 detox foods need to be consumed. They include but are not limited to green leafy and cruciferous vegetables, cold water fish and chicken, berries, and lemon water. A detox dietalso eliminatesfoods such as milk and other dairy products, eggs, gluten, sugar, soy, soda, and alcohol. Like cleansing, the detox diet also has several important nutrients missing, such as calcium and Vitamin D.

Raw foods diet

The raw foods diet suggests eating raw foods is healthier than eating cooked foods. Raw foods include fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds, and sprouted grains. Some raw foods diets may suggest raw eggs, milk and meat. Raw meat can be dangerous as it increases your risk of foodborne illness from bacteria such as listeria, salmonella and E. coli.

The theory behind eating raw foods suggests that cooking destroys nutrients. However, cooking may increase the nutrient availability in foods by increasing lycopene. Lycopene is an important antioxidant that may prevent certain diseases such as cancer. Cooking foods also helps decrease foodborne illness by destroying bacteria. Also, for those who have dental needs, raw foods are sometimes hard to chew.

It is important to properly clean raw food. Some foods are at higher risk of contamination such as sprouts, raspberries, green onions and lettuce. Pregnant women, elderly and those with a compromised immune system should not follow a raw food diet. As with all diets, before eating a raw food diet consult with your physician and work with a dietitian to help replace missing nutrients. In addition, when consuming raw food, drink plenty of water to avoid a bezoar. A bezoar is a solid mass of indigestible material that may accumulate in the digestive tract and cause blockage.

Alkaline diet

The alkaline diet promotes the idea that your body works better when its slightly alkaline. However, your body maintains the correct pH of 7.35-7.45, which is slightly alkaline regardless of the diet. Fruits and vegetables are allowed on this diet along with soy, nuts, seeds and legumes. Foods not allowed include dairy, meat, grains, processed foods, sugar, alcohol and caffeine. Major nutrients are also missing in this diet, including protein. Research has not found any health benefits in eating an alkaline diet. Before eating an alkaline diet,you should consult with your physician.

Gluten free

A gluten-free diet excludes foods that contain gluten, a protein found in foods such as wheat, barley and rye. Extensive label reading is required, and the missing B vitamins need to be replaced in this diet. Fruits and vegetables, meat, poultry, fish that is not breaded, and dairy are allowed in a gluten-free diet.

Some people who follow this diet say it helps with energy, brain fog and chronic fatigue as well as with aches and pains. Mainly people who have been diagnosed with Celiac disease or as gluten-intolerant should follow this diet. Check with your physician before deciding to try a gluten-free diet.

Atkins, South Beachand Weight Watchers

All three are long-standing diet plans that promote healthy eating by focusing on certain foods in varying amounts. As with all diets, check with your physician before trying these diets. They can help determine what is best for you.

If you have questions about fad diets or the latest diet trend, contact your physician or a registered dietician who can help you find the healthiest eating plan for you. Happy eating!

Janice Putnam is a nutritionist with the Alamance County Health Department.You can reach her at 336-570-6474 or at janice.putnam@alamance.nc.com.

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Thanks to all of the research and documentaries we have at our disposal that discuss vegan and vegetarianism, more people are becoming aware of the many health benefits your body can reap simply by going plant-based. I recently made the switch myself, and in addition to better digestion, clearer skin, and having more energy than I've ever had before, my PMSsymptoms have thoroughly improved. Of course, everywoman's menstrual cycle is unique, so how a vegan diet affects your period will depend on your individual body, and ultimately, how you take care of it in this new lifestyle.

Bottom line: There's a huge difference between eating meat and not. Meeting thenecessaryvitamins and nutrientsthrough fruits, vegetables, and legumes can be a challenge after consuming meat for so long. It's mostly trial and error, but it's more important now than ever to pay close attention to what foods you'reputting into your body.

Whitney Tingle and Danielle Duboise, co-founders of Sakara Life, tell Elite Daily,

Period irregularities are caused by hormone imbalances, so relying on nutrient-dense foods (like plants) is a great way to fight period pains and mood swings.

Instead of Advil, pop some vitamin E-rich almonds or dark leafy greens, which contain magnesium.

Not getting your period is a sign that something is off internally, but amping up your nutrition offers a natural solution to combat imbalances.

Similarly to how eating a square of dark chocolate might ease your period cramps, eating the correct variation of plant-based foods can greatly benefit your body during that time of the month.

Nationally renowned women's health expert Jennifer Wider, MD told POPSUGAR,

Many women who adopt a plant-based diet have touted the benefits when it comes to their monthly cycles. They describe lighter periods, less PMS symptoms including, mood swings, cramps, and even bloating.

The first thing I noticed after switching from meat-eater to plant-based was my otherwise heinous PMS cramping had dwindled. I still experience subtle pain, and my bowel movements are still plentiful, but I'm no longer cowering in fetal position for seven days straight.

And that water-retention baby I'd be carrying prior to, throughout, and post-period? It shrunk! Normally, I blow up like a balloon on my period, all thanks to the water weight as well as the salty-sweet cravings I give in to. Because I'm eating predominantly natural sugars, leafy greens, and less animal product, the swelling has gone down.

Dairy products, especially, can play a role in PMS symptoms hitting an all-time high. Beta-casein protein found in cow's milkcan cause serious cases of inflammation, which triggers physical PMS symptoms. So if you're not sold on going completely plant-based, it's definitely worth it to at least cut back on dairy.

And as for your actual flow, bleeding might be lighter than usual.

Dr. Prudence Hall, founder of The Hall Center in Santa Monica, CA, tells Elite Daily,

All of our hormones are derived from cholesterol, so we need to have adequate amounts of healthy fats in our diet that can ensure that we can make those hormones.

If we consume a diet that's primarily plant-based and mostly grain-based, that will negatively affect our menstrual cycle (by causing hormone disregulation with symptoms like moodiness, cramps, irritability, feeling emotional, and bloating).

Oftentimes, a plant-based diet turns out to be a simple carbohydrate diet, and that's not good for our hormones. It can cause inflammation, increase PMS symptoms, cause bloating, etc.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with adopting a plant-based diet, as long as you are getting the necessary vitamins and nutrients every human body needs to thrive. That being said, there are ways to take this lifestyle to an extreme and, as a result, put both your menstrual cycle and body at risk.

It all comes back to making sure all of the essential vitamins and nutrients are accounted for. In order to do this, it might be beneficial to review what you ate on a daily basis, take notes, do your research, and figure out what you're getting enough of, and what's missing from your diet. It should be easy to supplement from there.

Missing a period can be normal (stress, a vigorous fitness routine, or pregnancy could all be contributing factors), but generally, it's a red flag that shouldn't be ignored.

Oftentimes women who follow a strict vegan diet have a lowbody mass indexand depleting estrogen levels, which causes their menstrual cycle to significantly lighten up or disappear altogether. Coming from a woman who has had her period for over 14 years, this partially sounds like grounds for celebration, butwhen you get down to it, it really is a scary thought.

To lead a trulyhealthy lifestyle, whether you prefer for it to include animal meat or not, it's important to eat enough of the right foods. That means consuminghealthy fats, protein, and enough calories to sustain your energy throughout the day. Make sure all are accounted for, and it shouldn't be a problem.

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Big Bang Theory star Kaley Cuoco opened up about how she maintains a healthy diet in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly on Wednesday, August 30.

The 31-year-old actress, who partnered with Panera Bread to help introduce their new craft beverage station, revealed that she eats mostly clean, unprocessed foods. I haven't been eating that much meat lately, she told Us. So I'm kind of into tofu, which is a new thing for me and a lot of vegetables.

The star went on to say that she tries to avoid sugary drinks due to their high calorie content. I do think we forget how many calories are even in just like a juice no one realizes it's hundreds of calories!

As an alternative, the 8 Simple Rules alum turns to ice tea from Panera Bread as a low calorie substitution.

But the Wedding Ringer actress does allow herself to indulge. I do cheat. I love pizza every once in a while and honestly I love a soda every once in a while a real Cola! Until I saw that there were 17 spoonfuls of sugar in it and now I'm like, OK, maybe one sip and then throw it out.

And while the animal lover recognizes that its nice to occasionally indulge in junk food, she quipped: No one eats a giant meal and burger and a soda and feels great after. You feel good when it's happening.

When the California native does indulge, she told Us she prefers to dine at restaurants that display their calorie content upfront. I think it's nice when it's in front of your face. You know exactly the calories, you know what's going in, so it keeps you a little bit more accountable.

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'Big Bang' Star Kaley Cuoco Opens Up About Maintaining a Healthy Diet - Us Weekly

Dear Doctor: Are there foods and drinks that can help firm up loose stool, so that there isnt an occasional surprise when passing gas? Probiotics havent helped, and multiple tests have proven negative for anything but chronic inflammation.

Dear Reader: Were glad to hear that your doctor has ruled out a medical cause for your experience with loose stools. And since you havent referenced diarrhea, well assume thats not relevant to the issue youre having.

In many cases, this is the result of something in the diet, so lets start with the basics of digestion.

For the most part, digestion is a wet process. Food goes into our mouths and we chew, adding saliva to substances that, to some degree or other, already contain moisture. In the stomach, the chewed food gets further broken down by powerful acids, which deliver a liquid slurry to the small intestine.

Here, digestive juices from the pancreas, liver and intestine finish the dismantling process. The digested nutrients are then absorbed by the walls of the small intestine, where they enter the blood and are delivered to the rest of the body.

As the waste products that are left behind begin to move through the large intestine, the stool is formed. The job of the large intestine is to absorb water from these waste products, along with any stray nutrients. This process changes the waste from a liquid form into the firm mass of the stool. This is then stored in the rectum until a bowel movement occurs.

The upshot is that loose stool is the result of excess water that was not removed by the large intestine. Since illness and infection arent the cause, lets look at diet.

Dietary sugars, which can increase the absorption of water, may exacerbate loose stools. Thats in part because sugar is hygroscopic, which means it attracts and absorbs water. In addition, some people lack adequate enzymes to digest certain sugars. These sugars can include sorbitol, which is found in prunes, peaches and apples; mannitol, which is found in pineapples and asparagus; and xylitol, a sugar present in lettuce and strawberries. Each of these can have a laxative effect. The sugars in wine and beer can cause loose stools, as can lactose, the sugar found in milk products.

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Caffeinated beverages, fried foods, fatty meats and additives like MSG and artificial sweeteners can also cause problems. In fact, for many individuals who experience digestive problems, the question may be not what to add to your diet, but what to eliminate from it.

If youre up for it, you might try an addition diet. Start with a small but nutritious range of foods that result in normal bowel movements. Think lean meats, small portions of vegetables, and potassium-rich foods like bananas. Then, one by one, begin to expand the range of foods in your diet. There are probably certain foods that your body absorbs better than others.

By proceeding slowly and keeping a food diary, you may be able to pinpoint the culprits and tailor your diet to your specific needs.

Eve Glazier, M.D., MBA, is an internist and assistant professor of medicine at UCLA Health. Elizabeth Ko, M.D., is an internist and primary care physician at UCLA Health.

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Digestive problems could be solved by 'addition diet' - Elko Daily Free Press

At Shambala festival, during the hottest bank holiday on record, peace and love is about to turn sour. I am standing next to author Louise Gray, who is here to talk about wild alternatives to mass-produced meat. The cricket brownies are baked; we have been skinning squirrels and marinating them in satay, then decided to unwind by checking out a punk-reggae band in a nearby tent. That is when the singer announces his feelings about her presence there. Last year this festival was 100% meat- and fish-free. Now theyre saying we should eat pests and squirrels, he spits. Its 2017. If youre still eating the dead bodies of animals, you need to check your fucking privilege. The crowd cheers. I am worried we are about to be ethically eaten alive.

In the wake of The Ethical Carnivore, her award-winning account of the year she spent eating roadkill and animals she had killed herself, and investigating abattoirs, Gray received death threats and abuse. Images spring to mind of balaclava-clad activists chucking red paint and righteous invective. If it comes down to it, I am not with you, I tell her, gallantly.

The friction is hardly surprising. Shambala is a hippy sort of place, with as many recycling points as there are naked people painted blue, which is a lot. Ravers have to carry their own cups, and food stalls are entirely vegetarian. On the festivals Facebook page, protests over Grays talk quickly escalated into an argument about speciesism, human immigration and genocide. Onstage at the Garden o Feeden the festivals food and debate tent the edginess is palpable.

Lets hear her out and fight afterwards, the host pleads. In a craven attempt to fit in, I am wearing a full-length dress and Carmen Miranda fruit hat; Gray has nowhere to hide.

The debate around eating meat is hard to progress intellectually you either believe on some level that it is a natural part of the cycle of life, or an unnecessary moral wrong. Gray, the daughter of a farmer, is here to argue for an ecological, flexitarian position between the two.

Our current production model is energy-intensive, wasteful, cruel and unsustainable. We should be eating far less meat, and thinking more about it. Her book describes the year she spent eating only animals she had killed herself a common, if hypothetical, answer to the abstraction and scale of the mostly invisible meat industry. She cried after killing the first rabbit, and talks about her ambivalence at stalking and shooting a red stag. The responsibility of taking an animals life bears an emotional cost, she tells the crowd. Its pretty intense. It is also not something one can practically do in a city (unless you maybe fancy the urban equivalent of turducken, eating a fox that recently swallowed a pigeon, which last dined on KFC).

Yet there is a lesser explored alternative to factory meat, besides insects, roadkill or hunting your own: a diet of invasive species. I know whats coming: backstage I watched Gray skinning a bag of grey squirrels, carefully stripping pelts from flesh, cleaning out shot and slicing meat from bone. Several vegan chefs walked past, all of them fascinated, though one declared: Bit Hunger Games, innit? Or Winters Bone. Something with Jennifer Lawrence. Christ, I wish I hadnt seen that. She means the flayed legs of the skinned critter in front of her, rather than the film.

Out front, Grays cousin has been standing sidestage to provide security/hand out brownies. She presents us with a plate of grilled sticky squirrel skewers, which are passed around. I try one, then a few. Surprisingly, many others in the crowd do the same. The plates disappear. The flavour is potently gamey, not a bad accompaniment to the zesty lime and creamy satay. I have certainly eaten worse on a cheap pizza. The hair that sticks to my teeth is off-putting, though.

These squirrels are from Dumfries and Galloway, home to one of the few surviving red squirrel populations in the country, maintained by controlling greys. If we want to eat meat, the argument to get it from animals such as grey squirrels is persuasive. They are wild, organic and definitely free range. As with insects, the ick factor might just be something we have to get past.

This is the part of the message Crayfish Bob Ring has been trying to get out. A grizzled trapper of 15 years experience, I met him earlier at a picnic table outside the tent, smoking a roll-up pensively and squinting like Captain Quint. His passion is removing American crayfish from British waters and selling them at his restaurant pop-ups. The lobster-like signal crayfish were introduced in the 1970s to be a lucrative export to the Scandinavian market (which was soon dominated by cheaper imports of Chinese crayfish). The collapse of the scheme saw them escaping the fisheries, passing a deadly plague on to smaller, native white-clawed crayfish and destroying their numbers. The voracious predators eat fish and amphibian eggs, out-compete other species for habitat and burrow into river banks, causing their erosion and collapse. Crayfish Bob describes how they travel the country using the waterways, by hanging on to barges. I feel very conscious Im wearing a tutu.

Ive gone into this business with the objective of going bust due to lack of stock, he says vehemently. I would get so much satisfaction from getting rid of them. Neither Gray nor Crayfish Bob think eating grey squirrels or signal crayfish would make a dent in their numbers the species are here to stay, and their realistic concern is to level the ecological balance. The EU list 37 alien invasive species, including muntjack deer, Ruddy duck and Siberian chipmunk. Legally, the crayfish have to be controlled anyway, Ring reminds me, so are not being bred or killed primarily to be eaten. After he realised the scale of the problem, he founded the National Institute of Crayfish Trappers, and became Crayfish Bob, selling gumbos and crawfish boil. Ive had vegetarians come up to me and say: What you are doing challenges all the reasons I became vegetarian. They see it as a way they can eat some fish.

Of course, vegetarians who feel killing animals for any reason is wrong wont be convinced. Back in the tent, Dr Amelia Roberts, a member of Animal Aid and an animal rights advocate, is pushing back on a number of Grays points. Like many, she believes the American grey has been scape-squirreled. She cites evidence that the decline of their red cousins is mostly due to loss of habitat, a problem caused by people. And the fact is all invasive species were brought here by humans, something the rhetoric of the argument tends to obscure. Nonetheless, she says she agrees with 90% of what Gray has been saying, which seems positive.

After a lot of whoops and applause, Gray is relieved the talk has gone down well, like the satay. I am surprised when she announces that the festival should be totally vegan next year Its the most inspiring thing they could do.

She is all for people eating better meat, speaking to livestock farmers and being more conscientious. But she wryly acknowledges the difficulty in being an ethical meat-eater, especially in a market-led society that makes it difficult. You cant poke around peoples houses when you go around for dinner, or ask them to pick the label out of the bin. It is probably easier to just be vegetarian.

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A nice bit of squirrel: should we chow down a diet of invasive species? - The Guardian