If you want to lose weight, theres always the option of eating less. Of course, that may be too complicated a solution for many of us who want to see quick results, like losing eight pounds before going out for dinner tonight with friends we havent seen since high school.

Instead, you could always follow one of these popular dieting plans:

The Atkins Diet. Named after the renowned guitarist Chet Atkins, this diet requires you to try to eat while you are also trying to remember the chord progression of I Wanna Hold Your Hand. Nutritionally speaking, this is like trying to tap your head, pat your tummy and solve a quadratic equation at the same time. You will become so frustrated trying to do it all you will give up food completely during this diet and never be able to solve a quadratic equation.

The Low-Fat, High-Carb Diet. Whenever you sit down at the table, you divide your food into those with a low amount of fats, like celery stalks and facial tissues, which you put on the left. High-carb foods, like your Subarus carburetor, you put on the right. You stare at both piles, then you pull up pictures of Twinkies on your smartphone and begin to salivate, thus losing water weight.

The High-Fat, Low-Carb Diet. This is exactly like what the Low-Fat, High-Carb Diet feels like when it is staring in the mirror.

The South Beach Diet. Spend all the time you would normally devote to eating walking south on the beach and scorching your toes on burning hot sand. This will keep your mind off Twinkies, unless you happen to step on a discarded Twinkie wrapper. For dietary variety, step on some jagged sea shells, which will take your mind off your scorched toes.

The Mediterranean Diet. On this diet, you are allowed to only eat highly seasoned water that has been imported directly from the Mediterranean and put in an expensive bottle that you might be able to dangle from your belt loop. The premium version of the diet includes an all-expenses-paid trip to Greece and a stay at an AirBnB where the hosts are impossibly thin and extra virgin.

The Paleo Diet. The idea behind this diet is that if you could hunt and gather it, you can eat it. That means yes to meats, fruits and veggies, but no to Devil Dogs, caramel popcorn and Good & Plenty, unless you have a license to hunt Good & Plenty during the fall breeding season.

Remember, no cereal grains, legumes, dairy and potatoes on this diet, which makes it difficult. But while research isn't conclusive, one small study has found that after three weeks on this diet, subjects had dropped an average of five pounds, mainly by tearing their hair out.

The Good & Plenty Diet. For breakfast, eat the white ones first, then the pink ones. Then for lunch, work in the opposite direction, balancing your intake. For dinner, gobble them both up at the same time. You may not lose weight, but youll make your dentist happy.

Neil Offen can be reached at theneiloffencolumn@yahoo.com. Past columns can be found at http://www.theneiloffencolumn.wordpress.com.

Continue reading here:
Choosing your diet plan Neil Offen - Durham Herald Sun (blog)

To better understand the relationship between a Mediterranean diet and cardiovascular health, a team of Italian scientists recently turned to the data in the Moli-Sani cohort study, a longitudinal study of the cardiovascular health of thousands of people in southern Italy.

Across a sample of nearly 19,000 people aged 35 and older, researchers saw a 15% average decrease in participants risk of cardiovascular incidents for every two-point jump on the scientists nine-point scale of diet adherence. That wasnt terribly surprising: previous studies have linked the plant-rich diet to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

But upon closer inspection of the data, the researchers realized that those benefits werent equally distributed. They only appeared for the well-off and well-educated. Participants with post-secondary education saw a 57% decrease in cardiovascular risk after following the diet, and those earning more than 40,000 (about $47,000) a year saw a 61% decrease. Those of lower socioeconomic status saw no benefits.

Adhering optimally to a Mediterranean diet is not enough, co-author and epidemiologist Marialaura Bonaccio told Quartz via email. Other factors beyond quantity and frequency of Mediterranean food appear to influence future health outcomes: one of them may be quality of foods.

A Mediterranean diet consists primarily of plant-based foods, with smaller proportions of seafood, dairy products, and meat. Those broad guidelines allow for a lot of individual variation.

The foods eaten by subjects of this study varied widely depending on their socioeconomic status. The more educated the participants, the more likely they were to report eating a broader variety of vegetables, plus more whole grains and organic vegetables. More educated participants had daily diets that contained higher proportions of monounsaturated fats like those found in olive oil and nutrients like calcium, vitamin D, and fiber. Meanwhile, higher-income study subjects ate more whole grain breads, fruits, nuts, and fish, and fewer meat products than subjects with lower incomes.

The Italian study couldnt answer precisely why the diets effectiveness varied by income and education. Previous research in the US found nutritional inequalities between the rich and poor, driven by both knowledge of what constitutes nutritious food andmore importantlythe means to buy it.

It is reasonable to think that higher socioeconomic groups are more conscious of what a healthy diet is and have greater material resources to afford a healthy dietary style, Bonaccio said.

Read the original here:
The Mediterranean diet works for the wealthy and well-educated ... - Quartz

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Obesity is a risk factor for numerous disorders that afflict the human race, so understanding how to maintain a healthy body weight is one of the most urgent issues facing society. By 2025, it is estimated,18 percentof men and 21 percent of women will be obese worldwide.

In the U.S. alone, 68.8 percentof people are already classified as overweight or obese. The U.K., meanwhile, has one of the greatest problems in Western Europe67 percentof men, 57 percentof women and a quarter of children are overweight.

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In order to lose and maintain a healthy weight, public health policy typically advises eating fewer caloriesby reducing the calorie content of food items or reducing portion size, for example. We propose, however, that simply choosing food items with reduced calories is not necessarily the best way to maintain a low weight.

There are hundreds of diets that, for a period, reduce calorie intake and in this way decrease body weight. But the number of those who are dieting at any one time demonstrates that this is not a long-term solution. Every year in the U.K., 65 percentof women and 44 percentof men try to reduce their weight, by, for example, decreasing fatty or sugary foods or eating smaller portions.

It is estimated that a quarter of people are always trying to lose weight. Mason Masteka/Flickr

Surveys also estimate that a quarter of people are always trying to lose weight, or "yo-yo dieting." The constant dieting to lose weight, subsequent weight gain and further weight loss are part of a cycle that repeats itself for these people. Losing weight is much easier than maintaining weight loss, yet for health reasons we need to retain the lower weight.

Although cutting calories can cause weight loss, it does not follow that if a person returns to their usual diet they will maintain their new low weight. In fact, studies have found that after a low calorie diet, between one- and two-thirds of people regain more weight than they had lost initially.

The fundamental problem with cutting calories is that the human body defends its original weight. Evolution has produced a body that anticipates future famine, with the result that when you reduce calorie intake there are strong physiological pressures to replace the lost energy.

For example, dieting causes the gut to release a range of hormones that increase appetite: changes that are still apparent after the diet is over. Leptinwhich makes one feel satisfied and fullhas been found to be still reduced a year after dieting has finished, while ghrelin, a hormone which stimulates appetite, remains raised. So even a year after a person finishes their diet, they will feel hungrier than when they started dieting, and still anticipate a higher food consumption than before the diet.

Reducing food intake also reduces the bodys metabolic rate and production of body heat. The resulting lower energy consumption helps a more thrifty body to return to its initial weight, as fewer calories are needed to fulfill these basic bodily functions.

There is also increasing evidence that dieting changes taste-sensitivity. For example, those who have recently lost weight rate the taste of sugar as more pleasant.

Dieting makes sugar taste more appealing. USembassy.gov

When low-calorie versions of foods are unknowingly consumed, there is a subconscious tendency to replace lost calories by changing other aspects of the diet. In one study, researchers gave artificially sweetened drinks to unknowing participants who were used to drinking sugary drinks. The scientists found that although on the first day the participants consumed fewer carbohydrates, from the second to the seventh day, the overall energy intake was unaffected: They made up for the lack of calories in the sweetened drinks with energy from other foods and beverages.

The overwhelming message is that the price of freedom from obesity is eternal vigilance. When the initial attention associated with dieting dissipates, basic biology ensures that weight is regained. For the weight-conscious, actively counting calories can be successful, but losing weight and keeping it off can only work if ones calorie intake becomes an issue high on the agenda.

The passive removal of caloriesfor example, when a manufacturer reduces portion size, or a government requests that chocolate bars should not contain more than 250 calorieswill only be influential if an individual persistently monitors overall calorie consumption. Without this psychological engagement, basic human biology will take over, and any lost calories will be replaced.

David Bentonis professor of psychology atSwansea University.

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How to Lose Weight and Keep It Off? Eternal Dieting Vigilance - Newsweek

New research shows bear bait makes up more than 40 percent of a black bears diet in northern Wisconsin. Researchers say bait could be playing a role in the high density of bears up north. The region is home to around 20,400 bears.

Dave MacFarland, large carnivore specialist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, co-authored the findings published in the Journal of Wildlife Management last month.

"It was a study designed to better understand the ecology of bears in the state and the role that the various foods on the landscape play in the population," said MacFarland. "That gives us information on the impact of regulations. Its sort of a first step to better understanding the role of bait in bear diet."

Baits often consist of high-calorie foods like meat, candy or cookies.MacFarland, along with researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison,sampled bear bait and native foods in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest for the study. They then compared those samples to tissues taken from black bears during the 2011-2013 hunting seasons.

The study was restricted to areas that were primarily forest and wetlands to minimize the influence of crop cover on results.

The Wisconsin DNR estimates around 4 million gallons of bear bait are used annually on the landscape, and researchers noted northern Wisconsin black bears had a higher percentage of bait in their diets than food-conditioned bears in Yosemite National Park.

Female black bears that eat bait have been known to experience increased fertility, but researchers say further study is needed to assess the impact of baiting policies on the bear population.

"Itd also be interesting to see what in states with different policies and different regulations what role bait is playing in the diet of those bears, said MacFarland. "Theres some more work potentially to be done, but I think its an important first step in us better understanding this.

The baiting period in Wisconsin is roughly three times longer than neighboring states Michigan and Minnesota. The state allows baiting from April 15 through early October.

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Research Says Bait Makes Up More Than 40 Percent Of Bear Diets In Northern Wisconsin - Wisconsin Public Radio News

To the editor: The Times fails its readers with its sophomoric characterization and reductive understanding of the issue and the people affected. (Blowback over road diets, Editorial, July 30)

We are not "selfish," we are concerned residents who want safety and honest representation.

We want emergency personnel to move quickly, not be stuck in traffic.

We want to turn right without hitting cyclists.

We want local businesses to flourish, not lose money. We want [L.A. City Councilman Mike] Bonin to understand that surveys from 1% of Mar Vista's residents do not equal "extensive outreach" or "clamoring" for this change.

We want safe streets, not dangerously designed, clogged ones.

Catherine Melody, Mar Vista

..

To the editor: Your editorial was excellent, but missed a very important aspect of the problem.

Yes, our neighborhoods are drive-throughs for commuters. My street in Venice has become a narrow and dangerous freeway that is used by South Bay and Playa Vista drivers to get to jobs in Santa Monica. Most cars speed down the street and almost none stop at the stop signs. There is a park at the end of my street, and there are kids everywhere.

I have tried unsuccessfully to get traffic law enforcement or even just speed bumps. LAPD and Bonin say that they don't have any officers to ticket the speeders. Less enforcement results in more violations of the law.

It isnt the job of the L.A. city government to ease the drive of these people to and from work. It is their job to make our city streets safe. When will they start to do so?

Jack Schwartz, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: Regarding road diets, you point out that the loudest critics of the Vista del Mar reconfiguration dont live there.

Who lives there? Commuters were the only ones impacted.

You mention that taking half of the traffic lanes might slow traffic. Might? Really? Try standstill.

And why add bike lanes when just a few yards away theres a bike path on the beach?

Sure, cutting car speeds from 40 to 20 mph reduces the chance of pedestrian fatality. Why stop there? If we all travel at 10 miles per hour there will be no fatalities.

We dont do that because it makes no practical sense. Neither do road diets.

Paul Konwiser, Manhattan Beach

..

To the editor: The juvenile characterization of the hundreds of thousands of folks who live too far from their jobs to bicycle or use our meager transit system as homicidal narcissists is unworthy of an essay on the serious and complex issue of how to make this city work better.

At best, the so-called road diet is little more than a high visibility feel-good vote getter that may or may not actually save lives.

Allen Coulter, Burbank

..

To the editor: Your editorial depicting motorists as insensitive louts was ridiculous and an insult to every resident in this city who drives to work.

The fact of the matter is that because of the great distances in L.A., most people simply have no choice but to use their cars to reach their places of employment.

Thats how Los Angeles was designed from the beginning. Until the city can come up with a mass transit system that truly eliminates traffic, people will continue to commute by car.

The road diets were a bad idea, and worse than that, they were implemented without the publics input.

The resulting furor that it caused is a prime example of bad planning and ineffective city management.

Charles Reilly, Manhattan Beach

..

To the editor: Your editorial needed to spell out that some of the loudest critics of the traffic lane changes in Playa del Rey live in the affluent cities of Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach.

These rich commuters feel that they have a right to drive through L.A. city residential neighborhoods at high speeds to avoid 405 traffic. (The driving speeds in their safe beach cities are much lower.)

Meena Rao, Los Angeles

..

To the editor: I disagree strongly with your endorsement of the city's Vision Zero program. The reasons for eliminating traffic lanes may be very altruistic, but they are not realistic.

A large number of people cannot ride bikes or reach their destinations via public transportation.

The resulting horrific traffic jams lead to increasingly frustrated drivers, leading to more road rage.

Return our lanes, and continue to encourage people who can use alternative transportation to do so.

Myra Kraus, West Los Angeles

To the editor: The tone of the editorial that people from the South Bay are selfish and anti-safety is not true. Bonin's apology was condescending.

It's not about parents coming home late and missing reading time with their toddlers. Doctors, nurses, emergency workers and thousands of other people are impacted by the unpredictable extra road time every day.

The problem is with Bonin and L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti and their pet project to get cars off the road. It's certain to take a long time to get this vanity pilot project properly corrected, and at what cost to the citizens?

Joyce Handschmacher, Manhattan Beach

..

To the editor: It's true that residents of South Bay beach cities Manhattan, Hermosa, and to some extent Redondo use Vista del Mar as a way to commute to Culver City and the Westside.

They have done so for decades, thereby taking traffic away from the 405, which should merit applause, not criticism.

Julie Bisceglia, Manhattan Beach

..

To the editor: Venice Boulevard is the best way for those of us who live west of Lincoln to travel east weekday afternoons, since Washington is not direct and I-10 is nearly impassable.

The only thing wrong with the Venice road configuration is the section where Venice Boulevard loses a car lane on each side for about a mile, causing a bottleneck that slows traffic to a crawl, making it harder for emergency vehicles and buses to get through.

I write this as a man who cycles more than he drives, often down Venice Boulevard.

Bring back the old street configuration, with 3 lanes of traffic on each side, a lane for parking and a bike lane.

Paul Suchecki, Venice

..

To the editor: Is it possible that the government just might be totally wrong and the people absolutely right when it comes to the misguided notion that bicycles should have equal access to our city streets ?

Taking away needed traffic lanes in the name of increased bicycle use is a myth. All that has been created is an animosity that people trying to get to work in a reasonable amount of time are somehow the bad guys.

As an avid bicyclist, the changes that have been made make my plight more dangerous because drivers cannot see me at stop signs and intersections.

Im a member of the Parking and Transportation Committee for the Venice Neighborhood Council, and we had nearly 100 people at our recent meeting. An overwhelming number opposed these ridiculous changes.

The only ones in support were not-for-profit bicycling advocates, city bureaucrats and non-Venice residents pretending to speak for those phantom supporters of this ill-conceived and poorly planned proposal.

Nick Antonicello, Venice

The writer is a member of the Parking and Transportation Committee of the Venice Neighborhood Council

..

To the editor: I have lived three blocks from Venice and Centinela in Mar Vista for 40-plus years. I was ignorant of the fact that this intersection was included in the most dangerous in Los Angeles and worthy of a road diet.

I have utilized this intersection almost twice a day for most of those years going to work and back and have never witnessed an accident. I guess I'm not there at the appropriate time.

The new configuration of only two lanes in each direction on Venice is clearly a mess. It's one lane when someone tries to parallel park.

I did not receive any documentation for any kind of input, ideas and or suggestions pertaining to this Vision Zero concept. Just wait till school starts and the traffic increases.

The increased population density is the real problem.

Glenn Zweifel, Mar Vista

..

To the editor: The city needs to focus on creating win-win solutions, rather than pitting cyclists vs. motorists and making both sides more resentful of each other.

Los Angeles needs to crack down on hit-and-run drivers. Letting drivers who've injured people avoid accountability while punishing all motorists via lane removal is not useful.

Then the city needs to expand the network of cycling options on secondary streets, so cyclists can take advantage of lighter traffic and motorists can use major thoroughfares.

Finally, the city needs to look at repurposing/augmenting existing infrastructure for cyclists/pedestrians. There are lots of lesser-known aqueducts, access roads, and even larger storm drains (during the dry seasons) that could offer nonroad cycling and walking routes.

John Brown, Los Angeles

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Original post:
We want safe streets, not 'road diets' and we are not 'selfish' - Los Angeles Times

GIF

The late-night spoons of ready-made frosting were the best. The preteen thrill of sneaking downstairs to the fridge and plunging a spoon into an open can of sweet and creamy vanilla sludge made the treat all the sweeter as it melted over my tongue and then slid down my throat.

My parents caught onto my clandestine snacking. My pediatrician had already warned my parents to rein in my eating habits and my growing belly. Dadwho overindulged without shame in the light of dayteased me about it. Mom had even made me wear a snap-on modesty apron below my bikini top to hide the pooch.

So with the typical ambivalence of a tween girl, I felt both exposed and defiant. I plotted my next secret rebellion: lifting sugar packets from the table at restaurants when no one was looking, excusing myself to go to the restroom and, once safely hidden in a stall, pouring the crystals down my gullet. The seediness of the location made it feel all the more right.

My love affair with sugar was deep, unruly and destructive. Over the years, as my weight fluctuated, the affair would lure me into unhealthy and frequent transactions with the Carrot Cake Man of Philadelphia (his bakery was just down the street from my home!) and convince me that it was totally healthy to eat a massive slice of Mississippi mud pie in one sitting, as long as it was vegan. Even co-editing a book with the words Choosing Health and Wellness in its title and a chapter on Recognizing and Preventing Diabetes couldnt break up the affair. Sugar has the power to make hypocrites of us all.

Eventually I developed a pretty healthy lifestyle in order to control another health condition that I could not ignore: high blood pressure. I avoided most dairy items and fried foods, as well as sodas and sugary drinks. I even ran in the park a couple of days a week.

Then came a series of life-altering breakups. The first happened to my marriage, an upheaval that robbed me of sleep, sending me to the doctor in search of relief. She required me to go through a complete, standard physical exam, and then called me with the news that finally forced me to separate with sugar, too: I was within a hairs breadth of becoming diabetic.

The evidence was the results from an A1C test, one of several that reflect ones blood sugar level. A normal reading is below 5.7. A reading of 5.7 to 6.4 is considered prediabetic, which means that, like more than 1 in 3 Americans, you have a high risk of developing diabetes. Above that, you are diabetic. My reading was 6.3.

Shock is an inadequate word for what I was feeling. I had never had a prediabetic result that I could remember. Sure, I knew that African Americans are at a higher risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, the most common type, in which the body doesnt use insulin properly to move glucose (sugar) from the bloodstream into the bodys cells. (With the rarer Type 1 diabetes, insulin is not produced at all and must be injected.) I knew that I had high blood pressure, another risk factor, though it was being managed. I even knew I had relatives with Type 2 diabetesyet another risk factor. So why had the doctors diagnosis blindsided me?

It was because I had gotten the message from doctors and health organizations that people get diabetes when they indulge in an unhealthy lifestyle. Any black woman who consumes health information is likely to know that we have been singled out as the group with the highest rate of overweight or obesity in the U.S., exceptional for the wrong reason in a society where thin is in.

The diagnosis made me feel like the 11-year-old in the apron bikini pouring sugar down her throat all over again. Having a grandmother and an uncle who had developed diabetes in midlife was reason enough, said my doctor, interrupting my reverie. She advised me to cut back on sugar and food with high glycemic loads that could cause my blood sugar to spike quickly, such as complex carbohydrates (also known as starchy foods). I was to replace them in smaller portions with fiber-rich, low-glycemicload foods that are digested more slowly, and then come back in a month to see if I should be put on medication to avoid developing full-blown diabetes.

As I left her office, the specter of amputated limbs, blindness and painful neuropathyall complications of diabeteshaunted me. Oh no, I thought. That will not be me.

Desserts (yes, all desserts) and energy bars were replaced with homemade dried-fruit-and-nut trail mix and vegan fruit smoothies. As my palate adjusted to less sweetness, I stepped down to healthier fresh fruit, which, in moderation, is now the only type of dessert I haveexcept my once-yearly vegan birthday cupcake. Juicing, which concentrates sugar, is out. I dont miss it. Whole fruits and vegetables are better, and tasty when your palate is no longer stunned by sugar.

Proper portion control with complex carbs rather than simple carbs was the bigger challenge, because they were the real trigger foods for me. Remember the old saying, You cant just eat one potato chip; you have to finish the whole bag? That was me with white rice, regular pasta, noodles, potatoes and any kind of chips. I switched to smaller portions of the whole-grain versions, which made me feel full a lot sooner anyway.

Meanwhile, I had cranked up the twice-weekly running habit with a lifelong dream in my sights: to run the New York City Marathon.

Little more than a month later, I came back to the doctor. After a brief examination, during which she noted that I had lost more than 5 pounds, she said that nonetheless she would put me on medication to prevent diabetes. Most people cant move the needle in such a short time, she explained. Test my blood sugar first, I insisted.

When the results came back, it was time for the doctor to be shocked. My A1C was within normal range, and it has been ever since. Within six months, I would lose another 20 pounds. Within two years (and newly divorced), I ran the Chicago Marathon and, a year later, the New York City Marathon.

Five years since my prediabetes diagnosis, I still have normal blood sugar readings, a continued passion for running, and a clear understanding that I simply have to work harder than others to stay healthy and avoid diabetes. Its simply in my makeup, as it is for many other black people.

Getting past the feeling of being shamed came with having a frank conversation with my physician that went beyond lose weight to here are your numbers and the steps tailored to your life and physiology that you can take to improve them.

That customized approach is key. Theres not one diet that is appropriate for every person with diabetes, or prediabetes, explains William T. Cefalu, M.D., chief scientific, medical and mission officer at the American Diabetes Association. It needs to be a flexible nutrition plan, and it needs to be tailored to the individuals needs, their activityand, basically, what works for that patient. For some, medication is also necessary, he added.

As I had been, 90 percent of prediabetic people are unaware of their condition. With so many people at risk, I recommend that anyone reading this educate him- or herself at DoIHavePrediabetes.org or Diabetes.org. Theres no shame in itonly the risk of having a tawdry rendezvous with better health.

Sheryl Huggins Salomon is senior editor-at-large at The Root. Follow her on Twitter.

Continued here:
How Shame, Secrets and Sugar Get Between Us and Better Health - The Root

It's important to stay hydrated, especially in the summer.

Michelle Dunaway and Grace Derocha, a registered dietitian with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, explain you don't just have to hydrate using plain old water.

Studies show that 75 percent of Americans drink significantly less water than what is recommended daily. A common misconception is that dehydration results solely from water loss, however, it can also stem from chronic illness, medication, caffeine/alcohol intake and several other factors. Paired with long periods of time in the heat, cases of dehydration can escalate into more serious health issues including muscle cramps, severe exhaustion or heat stroke. Throughout summer, its important to keep in mind the dangers of dehydration and how to enjoy the warmer weather safely.

Learn the Signs

It can be easy to overlook some of the beginning stages of dehydration, especially on busy summer days. While it varies among individuals, some of the most common signs of dehydration include:

Confusion or lethargy

Decreased urine output

Diarrhea

Dizziness

Dry mouth

Dry skin

Fainting

Fever

Headache

Low blood pressure

Rapid heart rate

Thirst

Tired or sleepy

Urine is more yellow

Vomiting

Weakness

Whos at Risk?

Although dehydration is a leading cause of hospital visits for seniors, it affects people of all ages. The recommendation for water intake depends on a variety of factors including diet, lifestyle, activity levels, pre-existing conditions and environment. For five to eight-year-olds, the recommendation is one liter daily. Nine to 12-year-olds should get in 1.5 liters and children ages 13 and older should be consuming up to two liters of water each day. A general rule of thumb for adults is to aim for at least half ones body weight in ounces of water daily. Athletes and individuals managing diabetes or kidney disease, among other chronic illnesses, should consult their primary care provider to determine the appropriate daily water intake.

Simple, Safe Measures

Fortunately, there are a variety of convenient ways children, adults and seniors can stay hydrated. Some methods include:

Hydrating Foods: Approximately 80 percent of hydration comes from liquids, while 20 percent comes from foods. Incorporating a variety of vegetables and fruits that naturally hydrate is a great way to avoid dehydration. Water-dense foods include celery, cucumbers, strawberries and watermelon. Its also important to consume foods that increase the bodys electrolyte-count such as cheese, milk, pickles and yogurt.

Get Creative: For some, drinking water is a tedious task. To add flavor without compromising hydration, consider infusing fruits and herbs or freezing fusions into healthy, hydrating Popsicle. Another option is to drink coconut water, natural juices or a sparkling water beverage. Keep in mind that coffee, tea, pop and other caffeinated drinks are diuretics that naturally decrease the amount of fluid in the body.

Friendly Reminders: If staying hydrated throughout the day isnt a habit, consider setting an alarm that acts as a reminder to drink two or three times an hour. Another great way to keep track of water intake is to mark times on a bottle to follow how much should be consumed at any given time of the day.

Dress in Light Colors: While dark-colored clothing is great for UV-protection, it absorbs heat and can raise the bodys temperature quickly. Because sweating contributes to dehydration, its best to wear lightweight, light-colored clothing with sunblock outdoors.

Cool Off: Whether its at a park, beach or in the backyardremember to take breaks from the heat. For every hour of physical activity, drink 16-31 ounces of water.

Peach Blackberry and Cucumber Salad - Inspired by Chef Savvy

Ingredients

Salad

3 cups mixed greens

1 whole peach, pitted, rinsed and sliced

cup blackberries

cup of cucumbers, diced (de-seeding is optional)

2 tablespoons feta cheese

2 tablespoons pecans, chopped

Balsamic Vinaigrette

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1 teaspoon brown sugar

cup olive oil

Instructions

Salad

1. To assemble the salad fill two bowls with mixed greens.

2. Top with peaches, blackberries, cucumbers, feta cheese and pecans.

3. Drizzle with the Balsamic Vinaigrette and serve immediately.

Balsamic Vinaigrette

1. In a small bowl combine balsamic vinegar and brown sugar.

2. In a slow steady stream whisk in the oil until combined and thickened. Set aside until ready to serve with the salad. If oil and vinegar separate whisk again right before serving. Enjoy!

Infused Water with Cantaloupe, Raspberry and Mint

Ingredients

Cantaloupe, cut into balls or chunks

Raspberries

Mint leaves

Water

Ice, optional

Instructions

1. Place desired amount of cleaned cantaloupe, raspberry and mint into glass or pitcher.

2. Fill cup or pitcher with water and ice, if desired.

3. Allow to sit for as little as 10 minute to overnight before drinking. Enjoy!

For more health and wellness tips, click here.

See more here:
Wellness for the Family: Healthy Foods that Hydrate, Infuse Water - 9&10 News

I have been writing columnsmostly about physical activity and exercisefor this enewsletter for more than a decade, and I am grateful to DIC for allowing me to educate everyone on topics that I feel so strongly about. This month, I would like to switch gears a bit and share some of my personal story about why physical activity matters to me and how I have lived successfully with type 1 diabetes for almost 50 years to date.

My success with diabetes is directly and indirectly related to my decision to be physically active. However, the secret to my overall success, both professional and personal, is that I made a conscious choice to live my life by one guiding principle: Live life first, and be diabetic second. In the beginning, Im not sure it was even a conscious choice (I was only four years old when diagnosed with type 1 diabetes), but rather just an integral part of my personality. I am not one to let obstacles keep me from reaching my goals. Having diabetes has undeniably been one of the greatest challenges to living my life the way I want to, but it has almost never been an insurmountable one.

Its hard to even imagine life without diabetes when you get it as young as I did. I dont remember much about being diagnosed other than feeling sluggish and tired all the time. The biggest irony was that my mother had avoided becoming a nurse because she hated needles, but the doctors wouldnt let me out of the hospital before she learned how to give me shots. She apparently practiced for days shooting water from a syringe into an orange all week. When she gave me my first shot in my arm, she jabbed the needle so hard it rebounded back out. I am told I said, with tears streaming down my face, Mommy, go practice on the orange some more.

I always look for the silver lining in thingsalthough it is not always evident until days, months, or years later for some situations. Diabetes has, in many ways, been a blessing in disguise. It likely had a positive impact on my familys overall health because our whole family switched to the same diet that was prescribed for me at the timea balanced diet of carbs, protein, and fat with lots of vegetables, some fruit, and very limited intake of sweets and refined foods.

There is no doubt that having diabetes has also been a positive, shaping force in my life when it comes to exercise and physical activity. As such, I have amended my original guiding principle to include, and stay active for that reason: Live life first, be diabetic second, and stay active.

While many people view exercise as a punishment, I fully embrace using diabetes as an excuse to put my workouts first! I started exercising regularly way before it was trendy and known to be good for your health (and blood glucose). I was always active as a kid, playing in the woods, building forts, and just being a tomboy. As a preteen, I began exercising regularly on my own and doing organized sports because being active was the only thing that made me to feel like I had any control over my blood glucose. Way back then no one had blood glucose meters (only inaccurate urine testing), but I could tell being active helped with my blood glucose.

To this day, I still exercise six to seven days a week, and my passion is helping others with all types of diabetes do the samesafely, effectively, and for a lifetime. I personally vary my daily workouts to keep them fun and to stay injury-free and advise everyone else how to do so. When people ask me how I manage to do all I do, I tell them simply, I work out.

Diabetes also led me to an early calling as a healthy lifestyle and diabetes motion expert. When I was about twelve, I spent a week in Kansas with my grandmother, who had what they called borderline type 2 diabetes. She was on yet another diet to lose weight, and I decided to help her with dieting while I was thereacting like a personal trainer or fitness coach. I weighed her in every morning, helped her measure out her food (like cottage cheese), and made her jog laps around her back yard. At the start of the week, she agreed to pay me $1 for every pound she lost with my help. She lost eight pounds that weekwas I ever a rich kid! Little did I know back then that she likely lost a whole lot less after the first week and gained it all back over time. I just remember her always being about the same body size and shape every time I saw her.

Back then my grandmother was the only other person I knew with diabetes. Later, when I was in graduate school working on a degree in exercise physiology, she started suffering from myriad complications, including a heart attack, followed two years later by a major stroke and smaller ones that eventually left her incapacitated. She was bedbound and unable to communicate or feed herself for most of her last six years, and she had partial amputations of both of her legs due to chronic ulcers. During one visit, I looked at her and thought, I dont want to live like that.

Consequently, most of my life and career I have focused on how to stay healthy with diabetes and avoid complications. To me, whats most important is living well while you are alive. Thats why I preach about how important a healthy lifestyle is to maintaining your quality of life (whether you have diabetes or not) and that just living a long time without good health should not be your goal.

You certainly dont have to get a PhD in exercise physiology like I did to understand the metabolic changes that occur with exercise, but learning why it is so beneficial can be very motivating. You can virtually erase overeating mistakes with exercise, and you can keep yourself from getting other health conditions (like heart disease). Im sure that I am only in excellent health after almost 50 years with type 1 diabetes because of my lifestyle choicesand I want to stay that way until I reach my last day.

As I always say, Whats the point of living longer if you cant live well and feel your best every day of your life? Take my advice and live life first, be diabetic second, and stay as active as you possibly can every day of your healthy (and hopefully long) life.

In addition to my educational web site, Diabetes Motion (www.diabetesmotion.com), I also recently founded an academy for fitness and other professionals seeking continuing education enabling them to effectively work with people with diabetes and exercise: Diabetes Motion Academy, accessible at http://www.dmacademy.com. Please visit those sites and my personal one (www.shericolberg.com) for more useful information about being active with diabetes.

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And Stay Active: A Profile in Living Successfully with Diabetes - Diabetes In Control

On August 3, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe executed the most important cabinet reshuffle of his tenure, which will not only make or break his chances for extending his time as leader of Japan beyond 2018, but yields valuable insight into the near-term Japanese political landscape.While the possibility of a potential cabinet reshuffle during this summer has beenfloating around in the media since May, the reshuffle became a must-execute option for Abe, whose public approval ratings were falling fast amidst scandal, cabinet resignations, and other high profile issues.On the retreat, Abe had few options for this reshuffle he would have to placate potential rivals within his own Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) while seeking ways to shore up his own position as premier in the public eye.

In many ways, this reshuffle could have shown waning resolve from the prime minister, but on the contrary, Abes picks, though cautious, did not give too much ground. While there remain some important questions left to answer, this cabinet reshuffle showed that this administration still has a lot of fight left in it and that Abe still has his eyes set on key policy objectives through 2018 and beyond.

Setting for ThisReshuffle

The last cabinet reshuffle saw Abe stack the deck with members from his home Hosoda faction and other ideological allies from the party.That Cabinet did not work out for Abe, however.His justice minister (Katsutoshi Kaneda) mishandled the passage of the Anti-Conspiracy Law in the Diet, being unable to explain the details of the bill adequately in Diet interpellations and drawing unnecessary scrutiny.Abes original Reconstruction Minister Masahiro Imamura had to step down for repeated gaffes in press conferences.Defense Minister and protg Tomomi Inada tried to weather the storm surrounding several of her missteps so she could make it to the reshuffle without resigning but failed to do so, leaving her post with less than a week to go.All of this coincided with Abes own woes associated with two prominent scandals (the Moritomo and Kake school scandals).

Those missteps afforded space for LDP rivals to accelerate posturing for post-Abe party leadership.When Abe entered 2017 with historically high approval ratings (greater than 50 percent across most polls) it seemed unthinkable that he would depart any sooner than 2020, but rapidly falling public opinion opened the door for some in the LDP to accelerate their timelines, with eyes on the next party presidential election in September 2018. Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso formally merged his faction with the Santo Faction and Tanigaki Group, making it the second largest in the LDP behind Abes Hosoda Faction.LDP powerhouse Shigeru Ishiba stepped up his media engagements, openly voicing his criticism of the Abe administration. All of this made for a relatively hostile political environment heading into this latest cabinet reshuffle.

While Abe would have liked to have timed the cabinet reshuffle for a point when he was in full control of the situation, he was in retreat and needed intervention.In this cabinet reshuffle (like others) there were a total of 23 top-tier positions up for consideration, as well as the state/vice minister postings that will be announced later.Which factions would be favored?Would rivals seek to leave the Cabinet to isolate themselves from Abe? Would Abe be able to right his ship using this reshuffle? Those and other questions circled in the media ahead of the August 3 announcements.

The Result

The following table shows the major postings announced on August 3.

While plenty of moves happened during this cabinet reshuffle, some of the biggest names stayed put. As expected, Deputy Prime Minister/Finance Minister Taro Aso remained in his post, as didChief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai.

Of the 23 top-tier posts up for grabs, there were 18 moves; however, unlike the past few reshuffles, this time Abe focused on relying upon the skill of veteran parliamentarians rather than building the portfolios of newcomers to the cabinet. In one way, his aim was to rekindle some of the magic from earlier in his tenure as prime minister, as six members are returning from various postings in earlier Abe cabinets. Meanwhile, Abe was also looking to bring in steady hands who would avoid missteps or gaffesstorms his administration cannot weather at this time. Of those changes, some of the more notable moves are detailed below:

Foreign Minister:Taro Kono replaces Fumio Kishida

After earning the title as longest serving postwar Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida steps out of his position to move over to a LDP party leadership role. In his place moves Taro Kono, a favorite among many in U.S. policy circles. Son of former LDP powerhouse Yohei Kono, Taro Kono brings a mix of old school LDP lineage with international experience and appeal to the foreignminister position. He is also one of the more outspoken members of the LDP, though his actual ability to influence the Abe administrations foreign policy decisions remains to be seen.

Defense Minister:Itsunori Onodera fills vacancy left by Tomomi Inada

The shuffling out of Defense Minister Tomomi Inada has been a foregone conclusion for some time now.Among other mistakes, Inadas ties to the Moritomo Gakuen scandal, her involvement in the alleged cover-up of reports from the Self-Defense Forces mission in South Sudan, and her use of her position as defense minister in supporting LDP candidates in the July Tokyo Assembly elections sealed her fate.Replacing her is Itsunori Onodera, a practical choice.Onodera served as defense minister under Abe from 2012 to 2014 but has stayed active on defense matters even after leaving his post.He provides security policy continuity for Abe and a reliable figure in a high profile billet given increasing tensions in the region.

Education Minister:Yoshimasa Hayashi replaces Hirokazu Matsuno

For the first time since taking over as prime minister in 2012, Abe relinquished the Education Minister post over to a representative from another faction. Education has long been a policy focus for Abe, so it made sense that he would insert members whom he could easily influence from his own faction and inner circle. Still, by bringing in Yoshimasa Hayashi (a member of Kishidas faction), Abe invites a steady hand to the ministry that has given his administration the greatest grief as of late after all, it is the former administrative vice minister of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology who has fueled the Kake and Moritomo school scandals. Hayashi is an able politician who has held several high profile ministerial posts in the past, including minister of defense and minister of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (MAFF). This also is not the first time that he was brought in to play the role of fixer for Abe, as he took over the agriculturebillet in 2015 when Minister Koya Nishikawa was forced to step down due to scandal.

Minister of Internal Affairs and Communication:Seiko Noda replaces Sanae Takaichi

One stand-out selection that reinforces the notion that Abe is keeping his friends close and enemies closer is the introduction of Seiko Noda to the cabinet, replacing long-time Abe ally Sanae Takaichi.In the 2015 LDP presidential race, Noda was the only LDP member who attempted to run against Abe.Although she did not acquire the requisite number of supporters (only 20 names are required), she still represents the fringe population of the LDP that is willing to challenge Abes authority and would certainly do so again in 2018.By co-opting Noda, Abe not only offers a high-profile concession to the lawmaker, but keeps her in his immediate circle. He also may invite her to play the role of spoiler against other factions that seek to upset his plans for a legacy turnover, since she could potentially serve to split the vote against other anti-Abe LDP rivals in a party presidential race.

Managing Allies and Rivals

Kishida Faction

The most important person to watch in this reshuffle was Minister for Foreign Affairs turned LDP Policy Research Council Chair Fumio Kishida, the leader of the fourth largest faction and a potential post-Abe prime minister.Although Kishida may be a logical successor to Abe in the eyes of the public, he is not Abes first choice since his ideology and brand of politics differ from Abes own.It remains to be seen whether or not Abe would gracefully hand over the reins to Kishida rather than to a personal protg, and this cabinet reshuffle certainly did not offer any more insight into whether it would a peaceful transfer of power between the two.

Abe and Kishida held atwo hour, one-on-one meeting on July 20, and this reshuffle highlighted the results of that conference.Kishidas push for a spot among the LDP leadership ranks signals his intent to begin a run for the LDP presidency, but the secretary general position, which Toshihiro Nikai retained, would have been the position necessary to set Kishida up in time for the 2018 LDP presidential race if that was his intent. The Policy Research Council Chair is notable, but it is not a kingmaker position. Also, although Kishidas faction earned four additional postings in the Cabinet, three of those (Hayashi, Onodera, and Kamikawa) were fixer positions basically concessions to Kishida since previous choices were busts. Further, this time around Kishidas faction only matched the total number of postings it had back in 2014-15 back when Abe called a snap election and reshuffled the cabinet. In fact, whereas in 2014-15, Abes own camp only had one notable posting, here, he retained an equal number to Kishida, so it is difficult to say that this reshuffle gives Kishida any groundbreaking leg-up in a post-Abe party environment.

All told, Kishida did posture himself and his faction well for the long-run, but this was not thedefining moment for a Kishida-led post-Abe LDP that perhaps some expected.

Ishiba Faction

As mentioned earlier, one-time Abe ally Shigeru Ishiba has been increasingly outspoken about the administration in recent months, presumably to posture for a potential run at LDP presidency in the future. With this reshuffle, his small faction retains just one posting. Ishiba has always had strong ties to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, so it makes sense that he would want a member of his faction to maintain a foothold there. Ken Saito takes on that role while Ishiba keeps his personal distance from the cabinet and Abe-led LDP. Whether that is a result of Ishibas impotence compared to other LDP contenders or Ishibas own desire to remain isolated is difficult to say, but one can safely assume that Ishiba will continue to provide a dissenting voice ahead of the 2018 LDP presidential race.

Aso Faction

The push to merge with the Santo Faction and Tanigaki Group to form the second largest faction in the LDP did not result ina greater number of high profile positions for Asos faction. Certainly, the ascension of Taro Kono to the foreign minister billet was notable, especially since it puts an Aso-sponsored voice in Abes favored National Security Council, but the lack of other activity shows that Aso did not make any significant moves to influence the Abe administration in the near term.

Nikai andNukaga Factions

This reshuffle also represented the status quo for the Nikai and Nukaga factions, which had already cast their lot in with the Abe administration. Neither faction would be able to distinguish itself from the Abe camp if Abe fails to pull out of hispublic opinion nosedive, and it is unlikely that the LDP would want to repeat the mistakes of 2007-09 byputting forward the similarly minded Abe, Fukuda, and Aso in rapid succession, only to see them fail equally as rapidly. As such, these factions must bank on Abe being able to regain enough popularity to set the foundation for another predominantly right-leaning prime minister (which is what Nikai or Nukaga would offer) in the post-Abe LDP.

Komeito

The LDPs junior coalition partner Komeito made it out of this cabinet reshuffle right where they started going into it: one billet. This status quo is informative, however, since the cabinet reshuffle did not reflect any of the concerns voiced in the media about a potential schism between the LDP and Komeito at the central government level based on the outcome of the Komeitos support for the Tokyo Citizens First Party in the Tokyo Prefectural Assembly elections. Any big change in the coalition relationship at the national level likely would have impacted the reshuffle in some way, but status quo shows that such was not the case.

Outcomes

Although some observers and media outlets suggested that the Abe administration was on the ropes going into this reshuffle due to the various scandals and missteps by his former cabinet ministers, Abe certainly did not make decisions as if he was worried about the scorecards. Instead, he made sound appointments by bringing in veteran lawmakers, trying to rekindle the success of previous cabinets, and not conceding too much to other LDP leaders. In the end, it appears that Abe was able to placate rivals while retaining a respectable number of positions for members of his inner circle. In doing so, he has postured himself well for policymaking until the next scheduled test in the form of the party presidential election.

Of course, there are still questions that remain before labeling this reshuffle a total success. Will the public respond positively to these new cabinet appointments? Will Abe be able to overcome the Moritomo and Kake School Scandals? Will Abe be able to maintain patience and discipline in his management of other LDP leaders in pursuit of remaining agenda items?

If the answer to any of those questions is no, in the best case scenario, Abe will continue to fight against the political current with limited success, and in the worst case, he will be looking at an early exit. However, if all of the answers to those questions is yes, he will likely once again find himself in a position to pursue key policy objectives through 2018 and beyond.

Michael MacArthur Bosack is the former Deputy Chief of Government Relations at Headquarters, U.S. Forces, Japan. Prior to that, he served as a Mansfield Fellow, completing placements in Japans National Diet, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Defense. Follow him on twitter @MikeBosack.

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Abe's Cabinet Reshuffle, Explained - The Diplomat