Women's Health

People In The UK Are Going Crazy For This Diet, But Does It Work? Women's Health When you hear about a diet that allows you to eat whatever the eff you want and still lose weight, one question inevitably comes to mind: What's the catch? But apparently there is no catch with Slimming World, a popular U.K.-based program that's now ...

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People In The UK Are Going Crazy For This Diet, But Does It Work? - Women's Health

A couple of pounds here, a few more there. Weight gain for Matt Baretich, a biomedical engineer in Loveland, Colo., was insidious but steady. By his early 60s, he weighed 300 pounds.

"As I approached that number, I was aghast and began to stagger back from the brink," says Baretich, who's 5 feet 11 inches tall. "I managed to fitfully get myself down to 260 over the next several months, but I lost a lot of muscle along with the fat."

At 260 pounds, with his body mass still registering as obese, Baretich committed to a yearlong behavior-change program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center. The first week was immersion at the center. After that, coaching took place online or on the phone.

Eight months later, Baretich achieved his goal of 180 pounds. His waist measurement went from 50 inches to 38. Ceremoniously, he cut the extra length off his belt before setting out on a backpacking trip.

"It's difficult to overstate how much more fun backpacking is now that I'm 80 pounds lighter and a lot stronger," Baretich says. "Along with physical changes, I have regained self-confidence I had lost. I know I can accomplish difficult tasks. I eagerly look for challenges to overcome."

How's maintenance going?

"It's hard, but I know how to do it. Getting older and losing a lot of weight both cause metabolism to slow. The answer is to move away from food as a reward. I still enjoy good food, but it's fuel, not solace.

"Something the program taught me to say is this: 'Choose your hard.' It was hard to lose the weight. It's hard to keep it off. It's hard to find the time and willpower for exercise. But it was hard being fat too. In so many ways, the 'fat old days' were harder. It's important to keep that in mind when I'm tempted to snack instead of getting on my bicycle and hitting the road."

Behavior change like Baretich's is key to losing weight and maintaining, says Lauren Ott, registered dietitian at the center. Her tips for lasting change:

Plan ahead. Healthful, low-calorie meals and snacks don't just magically appear. Plan, buy and prepare before you're hungry.

Eat more vegetables. They're low-calorie and high-fiber.

Consume protein at each meal. It's key to feeling full.

Make your environment conducive to health. Keep fruit on the counter, and vegetables in plain sight.

Stash athletic shoes at work or in the car; you might find a few minutes to walk.

Change your route so you don't drive past favorite fast-food outlets.

Replace a happy-hour date with friends with a walk in the park.

Allow the occasional treat, and ditch any guilt. An all-or-nothing mindset can't last, and guilt pushes you off track.

Schedule workouts. Knowing when, where and how you're going to exercise beats a vague promise that you'll work out sometime this week.

People want a magic diet, but those don't change behavior, Ott says. Instead of fixating on carbs, as with the currently popular Paleo diet, fixate on behaviors. Think of how you can manage stress without food. Examine the messages you send yourself.

"Our thoughts define our reality," Ott says. "Telling yourself that you've failed before, and therefore will never succeed, is not reality. Instead, try: Yes, I've failed in the past, but I'm approaching it in a new way, with a new mindset, so it's likely I'll succeed."

Tammy Waldschmidt had tried and failed. In college she lost 76 pounds, but she gained it back. She started working and lost 35 pounds, but gained it back plus more. At age 34, a borderline diabetic, she lost 110 pounds, but gained most of it back. At one point, she weighed 316 pounds.

A computer engineer in Highlands Ranch, Colo., 5 feet 7 inches tall, now in her early 50s, Waldschmidt weighed 244 when she started at the center. Ten months later she hit 173, and she is working to lose more.

"Before, I really was not feeling alive," Waldschmidt says. "I felt hopeless about my personal future. My negative self-talk was out of control."

She says she now feels transformed. "I went zip lining! I went on a roller coaster. You couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I am full of energy. I can wear cute clothes. I've gone from size 24 to size 10. I go hiking, and walk or jog in 5Ks and 10Ks. I went speed dating, had a blast, and went on some dates. I'm excited to go dancing. I'm about to get rid of satellite TV; I don't have time to watch it. No more hiding on the sidelines and standing in the back row for pictures. No, I'm now in the front row of life!

"My big thing now is to pay it forward. I want to inspire people to get involved and live the life they want."

Like Baretich and Waldschmidt, Elaine Brown's weight loss boosted confidence. A nurse in Denver, Brown weighed 207 pounds when she started a 20-week program at the center. Six months later she was 147. At 5 feet 6 inches tall, she's kept her weight at 142 pounds for nearly two years.

"My whole life, from high school on, I weighed 180. At 40 years old, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Through chemo, steroids, stress and sadness eating made me feel better. After treatment, I went to 190 and 200. When I hit 207, I didn't want to do it anymore."

The behavior-change program taught her to question whether extra food was worth it. "I learned to recognize boredom or stress, and make better choices. Every day, I have two servings of fruit and three of vegetables. That was a big shift, and I've stuck with it."

Like Waldschmidt, Brown discovered new activities.

"I went spelunking! In my former body, I never would've fit through those cave holes," she said. "I can wear clothes that are fun, such as leggings and high boots.

"It's given me more confidence."

Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy is a freelancer.

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Magic diets don't change behavior. Tips to lose, keep off weight - Chicago Tribune

DR. DAVID LIPSCHITZ, MATTERS OF YOUR HEALTH 5:11 p.m. CT May 2, 2017

Dr. David Lipschitz(Photo: Matters Of Your Health)

At long last a very carefully designed research study compared weight loss when obese individuals were placed on one of four diets that can be described as follows: a low-fat normal protein diet,low-fat high protein diet,high-fat normal protein diet and a high-fat, high-protein diet.

The results have just been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and the results are quite clear. At one-year weight loss was similar in all four groups averaging approximately 6 Kg (13.2 pounds). At two years, most had gained some weight back, but they were all still on the average about 3 Kg (6.6 pounds) lighter than before the study was started.

No matter the diet used, the amount of weight loss depended on two important factors: first, the fewer calories consumed, the greater the weight loss and second those who attended regular meetings where they were weighed and counseled lost much more weight than those who did not attend meetings.

Furthermore, quality of life was the same in all four diets, including how hungry the dieters were, their level of satiety after eating and satisfaction with the diet plan. In every case weight loss led to reduction in cholesterol levels and decreased insulin resistance indicating a lower risk of diabetes.

An important message from this study is that if you want to lose weight and keep it off, try and participate in a research study. Almost invariably results are better in research subjects than in the average dieter, no matter what diet they chose.

Just like alcoholics and gamblers who benefit from having a sponsor and attending meetings, overweight individuals need as much help as they can get if their diet is to succeed. The statistics are not encouraging.

Most information indicates that more than95 percentof dieters who lose weight tend over time to regain the weight back, often becoming heavier than they were before beginning to diet. If you are dieting, make sure you identify a counselor (usually a dietitian or nutritionist) and a support group that you meet with frequently.

Continued reinforcement, encouragement, weigh-ins and assurance that diet is accompanied by exercise is the best way to reach a target weight and keep it there. A support group is clearly invaluable for those of us who for whatever reason start eating for whatever reason. Many individuals go on a food binge when they become upset, stressed or experience conflicts at home or work.

The other important lesson from this study is that it's not what you eat but how much that is the most important predictor of weight gain or weight loss.

In this study, the only measure that accurately determined how much weight was lost was how much food was taken in. The fewer calories consumed, the more the body must turn to its own fat and muscle for energy and the more weight will be lost.

It has been suggested that dieters who consume a high fat, low carbohydrate diet develop satiety more rapidly and may lose their appetite because a high-fat diet makes the blood slightly acidic due to an accumulation of ketones. Here though satiety was equal no matter the diet and satisfaction with the diet was equal in all four groups.

From this information, I believe more than ever that the best diet is the dont diet diet. Work on the healthiest diet possible, paying attention to portion sizes and reduce calorie intake by being prudent, avoiding too much fat and starches and, of course, eat slowly to optimize the chance that you will become satisfied before you have consumed too much.

The diet should contain lean meat and fatty fish, abundant fruit and vegetables and prudent intake of the right fats (monounsaturated fats from olive oil and omega three fatty acids from nuts) and the right starches that are complex and rich in fiber. And remember too much of a good thing is too much.

Finally, a prudent healthy diet must be accompanied by exercise and the more the better. Walk, raise your heart rate, and remember the importance of balance, stretching and resistance training with weights to build muscle.

The greater your problem with weight and exercise, the more important it is that you belong to a support group and receive counseling. A better weight and a healthier life is an option for everyone.

Dr. David Lipschitz is the medical director for the Mruk Family Education Center on Aging and the Fairlamb Senior Health Clinic. Contact him at askdrdavid@gmail.com

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Final Answer: If you want to lose weight eat less - Baxter Bulletin

Kunal Gir has been trainingRanbir Kapoor for theupcoming Sanjay Dutt biopic we well as Dragon, the film that follows later. He has also trained theBaahubali 2 star Rana Daggubati. So you can safely assume that he knows a thing or two about sculpted bodies. And while most of celebrities Instagram feeds would have you believe they spend large parts of their respective days sweating it out in the gym, Gir knows the harms of overtraining.Obviously, we wanted to know what we were doing wrong. And Kunal Gir was happy to oblige:

Eating all you want and trying to work out more to match it doesnt work. As for celebrity workouts theres an inherent problem with the approach, he argues. These dramatic transformations you see on screen arent something an average person should get inspired by. And this is especially true for people with a specific goal and specific timeline in mind. What it does is it gets people thinking they can eat whatever they want and train rigourously for three months before D-day and reach their targets. It doesnt work that way not even for celebrities.

The real truth about fitness is boring, says Kunal. People keep coming up with diets based on blood-groups and what not. The truth is there is no cutting edge to managing diets. Diet and how we process food mostly differs from species to species and not within a particular species. Laying the groundwork is very important. And quitting cold-turkey on something you like isnt the answer. Say, if youre someone who enjoys a drink, its important to keep in mind that you cant just quit it till youre training for a particular goal and then relapse again. Instead work around it. Find out how much you can consume without it hindering your training. Consult a specialist and find your sweet spot and strike a balance.

In another sharp departure from convention, Kunal says, when you work out in the day doesnt really matter as long as you do workout. I always tell my clients that if they cant be regimental in their routine, they dont have to. Train only when you feel like it and pick the time you feel good to hit the gym. As for the routine, Kunal says, 9-10 sets for any muscle group. You can be flexible how you divide it say three sets each for each exercise. And pick the weight thatll give you muscle fatigue in 6-10 reps. And make sure you take as much rest as you need to between sets. Thats all you need to do. And as long as your diets in control, you can keep cardio limited. The routine should last ideally about 45-minutes. So dont fall for it when you hear about people spending 2-3 hours in the gym, because that could be counter-productive.

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Here's how much Ranbir Kapoor's trainer wants you to train every day - GQ India

Kasmira Engichy , Pacific Daily News 6:40 p.m. ChT May 2, 2017

Shanice Devera, left, holds up her three trophies from her wins on April 15 at the 2017 NPC Charlotte Cup where she placed second overall and won in three other categories. Devera won in the Bikini Class A, the True Novice Bikini Class A, and the Bikini Overall.(Photo: Courtesy of Sheila Bickel)

About seven years ago Shanice Kayla Devera was a high school student-athlete at Okkodo, but fast forward to today and she is now a winning body builder in North Carolina.

On April 15 Devera made her bodybuilding debut in the 2017 National Physique Committee Charlotte Cup, winning in three categories:the Bikini Class A, the True Novice Class Aand the Bikini Novice overall. She won second in the Charlotte Cup, the highest honor.

Im proud of her, I congratulated her, told her to keep running for her dreams but as mother I would tell her to take it easy. She has some limitations, said Deveras mother Sheila Bickel We found out when she was younger that she had and still has scoliosis but despite that shes always excelled athletically and academically.

Bickel says her daughter was an excellent student and athlete who was in student government at Okkodo, into forensic science and participated in a sport every quarter.

Devera was involved in cross-country, track and field, rugby and paddling. She even received a few awards in these sports.

Shanices love of sports developed at Untalan Middle School with Rodney Pama. She then went to Simon Sanchez but due to overcrowding our district was reassigned to Okkodo, said Bickel, At Okkodo she really got into sport more than before.

Devera graduated Okkodo back in 2010 and was sworn into the US military in 2012. And in 2013 she attended basic training finishing at the top of her class in her technical school.

She then got assigned to Yongsan, South Korea in 2014.

In the army, physical fitness is our staple and while I in Korea, I needed to do something to pass the time so I went to the gym every day and it turned from being bored to something I really wanted to do, said Devera, People would ask me if I competed and I said no. The encouragement to compete continued until I just decided one day to go for it.

After a two-year assignment in Yongsan, South Korea, Devera was stationed at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina as an air traffic controller in the US Army.

Deveras training methods leading to her debut included a push and pull routine.

I worked on anything you needed to push one day and pulling the next day Monday Id do anything involving pushing away from the body like the bench press and the next day Ill do pulling exercises, she said, I do a lot of heavy weightlifting thats what helped me along with my diet but I say dont be afraid to go heavy just do it safely with a spotter.

It was evident that to be a winning body builder a lot of hard work, mental and physical strength had to be involved.

Just like my decision to join the army, doing body building kind of just happened. I later realized that both were a lot harder than I thought and the week before the competition, peak week, was the hardest week for me, said Devera, The diet messed with my mind because I was carb depleted, irritable, easily-angered, and hungry.

Deveras diet included egg whites, fish and asparagus.

Your body doesnt really change until three days before the competition though, she says, And I was down 4 percent of body fat it can make a person crazy so mental strength is huge.

The NPC Charlotte Cup featured around 200 competitors and Devera did not even think sheds place, but since the NPC Charlotte Cup is a national qualifier, Devera will continue her journey in Miami for the national competition.

I really didnt think Id place it didnt sink in right away, said Devera I am kind of shy and I dont do well in front of people let alone standing on stage in a two-piece bikini showing off my bod so it was surreal.

However, Im going to work hard because the competition is only going to get harder its not amateur. Ill be competing against girls who have worked for a long time to get their pro cards and Im going to work for that too but also for the experience.

As she prepares for the upcoming competition, Devera is still amazed about her win but she recalls the best part of the competition for her post-competition.

It was glorious I got to eat! I love food! The Bikini division was the last event of the night ending after midnight so the only place open was IHOP, which was two hours away, she said.

So, I smashed one box of pop tarts that I packed on the drive to Charlotte, ate half a dozen donuts and still went to IHOP I didnt know what I had until it was gone and a week after I went home to make spam and rice my comfort foods.

Devera bodybuilding career looks promising and shes thankful to a lot of people for their support.

I want to thank my mom, we are oceans apart but she is always encouraging me and is always saying shes proud, said Devera, Thanks to my friends supporting me from back home and random people who message me their words of encouragement help.

And to aspiring bodybuilders just do it. If I can do it, anyone can do it I say this because I love food. Stay consistent a lot of people revert because they lack consistency and we are not all are the same. The only competition you have is yourself so dont compare yourself to others.

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Devera debuts in bodybuilding - Pacific Daily News

Larry Borysyk takes Lucille Chartiers blood pressure as she exercises in Holyoke Hospitals cardiac rehabilitation gym.

Lucille Chartier had no idea she had heart problems until a day last October when she got out of the shower, began sweating, and felt like she was going to pass out.

I knew something was really wrong, said the 68-year-old Chicopee woman, who was diagnosed with a heart attack after an ambulance took her to the hospital.

While there, she was told about a cardiac-rehabilitation program in a gym, but wasnt given much information, and since she had never exercised on machines, she was hesitant to sign up.

Several months later, she spoke to Larry Borysyk at Holyoke Medical Center (HMC), and after he explained its program in detail and why it was important, Chartier decided to give it a try.

That was two months ago, and today she would advise anyone who has had a cardiac event to take part in cardiac rehabilitation. She enjoys walking on the treadmill as well as the camaraderie between staff and participants, and says it has helped her gain strength and confidence.

Borysyk, cardiac rehabilitation counselor at HMC, said Chartiers initial reaction was not unusual.

Cardiac rehabilitation is life-saving, but it can be a scary adjustment for people who have never exercised in a gym, so we try to reduce their mental and physical stress, he told BusinessWest, adding that individuals need to slowly acclimate to the equipment. Meanwhile, people who exercised on a regular basis before a cardiac event need to relearn what they can do, and how long and hard they can safely push themselves.

Exercise can be problematic because people can become hyper-vigilant after a heart attack and think any symptom is a precursor to another event. But cardiac rehabilitation can help them learn what is normal.

Each participant is assessed by a nurse while they are exercising to make sure they stay within their limits, said Kelley Weider, department director of Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation for Berkshire Medical Center, adding that patients are connected to wireless telemetry monitors, and if they experience symptoms during exercise they are worried about, they are immediately evaluated.

Holyoke, Baystate, and Berkshire medical centers all have cardiac-rehab programs, and participants exercise in their gyms two or three times a week for 10 to 12 weeks under close supervision. Their blood pressure, heart rate, and heart rhythm are measured during activity, and routines are tailored to meet individual needs and fitness levels.

Participants must have a doctors referral, and although the majority have had a heart attack or stent placement, others have had bypass surgery, a heart-valve replacement, congestive heart failure, a heart replacement, or angina.

Kelly Weider says studies show regular exercise can help decrease the risk of a second cardiac event.

In addition to monitoring that takes place during each session, participants receive education on topics that include diet, stress reduction, smoking cessation, and other factors that affect heart health, and slowly build strength, get used to exercising, and understand it needs to become part of their lifestyle.

People also learn the importance of genetics and how that factor and their lifestyle have affected their health. Heart disease does not happen overnight, Borysyk said.

For this issue, BusinessWest examines the importance of cardiac rehabilitation, how treatment has changed, and how it helps people understand what they do can safely and when symptoms should not be ignored.

Borysyk has worked in cardiac rehab since the early 70s, and has seen changes due to technology and medical advances that allow heart disease to be detected and treated earlier than in the past, which results in better outcomes.

Coronary-care units were set up in the 60s, but before that, nurses did everything for patients after a heart attack, including feeding them. They worried about compromising their damaged hearts, and as a result, people ended up as cardiac cripples, he said, noting that, in the late 70s and early 80s, people were kept in the hospital for two weeks after a heart attack, but today they are released after two or three days.

Cardiac procedures and surgeries are not done at Holyoke Medical Center, and in many instances patients who go to their emergency room are transported by ambulance to Baystate Medical Center.

Heidi Szalai, manager of Baystate Medical Centers cardiac-rehab program, which is the largest in the area, told BusinessWest that, although rehab doesnt usually start in the hospital, staff members get patients up and moving.

We want to make sure theyre walking and that it is safe for them to go home, she said, adding that healing speeds up when they leave the hospital and they are told about programs available to them when they are discharged.

However, cardiac rehab doesnt begin for a week or two after a person leaves a medical center, especially if they have had surgery, because the heart needs time to recover.

The programs start with individual assessments to determine the best plan of action. In addition to an exercise routine that is created for each participant, they are taught about risk factors that include high cholesterol, smoking, diabetes, stress, nutrition, and lack of exercise.

They are usually on new medications, and we need to make sure they understand them, Szalai said, explaining that some prescription drugs may slow their heart rates, and their doctors receive periodic reports about their blood pressure and how the heart responds during exercise, which helps them determine how well a medication is working and if adjustments need to be made.

Heidi Szalai said cardiac rehab helps patients know how they should feel when they exercise and when to seek medical help.

Lifestyle changes are also discussed. Some people have always eaten well and are doing everything they should, but need to learn to control stress and cope with it so it doesnt affect their heart, she continued, adding that patients have a clinician trained in mindfulness-based stress management. We tell people that exercise is a dose of medication and has positive affects on risk factors; it helps lower blood pressure, blood sugar, cholesterol, and improves their overall sense of well-being.

The goal is to get people exercising five days a week, which can make a profound difference because studies show finishing a cardiac-rehab program can lower the likelihood of another event.

Insurance typically covers the cost of the programs, but some people have high co-pays and cannot afford to attend all of the sessions.

When that occurs, staff in cardiac programs do their best in a limited number of sessions. Berkshire Medical Center has a program that pays half of co-pays of $15 or more for qualified individuals, and although it can help, it may not be enough.

Weve seen people with co-pays that are $80 a session, so even if they receive financial help, attending 36 sessions may be cost-prohibitive, Weider said, adding that, in some instances, they have modified the program into six sessions, which is less than ideal, but helps to give a patient security and knowledge about what they can do safely.

During the intake process, we get a sense of what theyve done in the past as well as their level of conditioning, she noted. About 90% of people havent been exercising on a regular basis, but some were running five miles a day.

Exercise machines are integral to the program and include different types of stationary bicycles, a treadmill, and resistance bands, which are used for strength training.

The final phase of the program is maintenance, and although people can join gyms or exercise on their own, if they still want to be monitored, most hospitals have ongoing exercise programs that cost $40 to $45 per month and are overseen by cardiac rehabilitation staff members who are available to take their blood pressure or put them on a cardiac monitor if they feel it is needed.

Some people like the idea of having that safety net ,and Weider said Berkshire Medical Centers maintenance program has about 320 participants who want the peace of mind that comes from knowing that, if any concerning symptoms arise, they can be assessed.

Weve sent some people to the emergency room, but many times they simply need to be checked out and reassured that they are OK, she said, noting that a nurse is always available.

Borysyk says people with cardiac conditions who dont exercise are at greater risk of not being able to do the things they want as they get older, especially if their diet is poor and they smoke. And although some people avoid cardiac rehab because they want to bury the memory of the event, learning what they can do safely is an excellent way to help ensure their heart health in the future.

Many studies show that exercise is the biggest modifiable factor to decrease the risk of another heart event, Weider said, citing one study showing that participants in a cardiac rehab program reduced their risk of another event by 25%.

In addition, it helps participants understand how they should feel when they exercise, what the red flags are, and when they need to call their doctor or go to the emergency room.

It helps them return to what is important to them in life and gets them into a routine of exercising 150 minutes a week that they can continue when they finish the program, Szalai said.

Its definitely an investment of time and money, but one that yields positive results and can lead to a healthier and happier lifestyle.

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Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs Help Keep Hearts Healthy - Business West (blog)

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Alberto Ruggieri/Illustration Works/Getty Images

Your child is diagnosed with a serious autoimmune disease and conventional treatments aren't proving to be effective. Doctors prescribe powerful medications that don't seem to work. Not only is your child not responding as hoped, he's withering from the side effects. What do you do? Journalist Susannah Meadows found herself having to answer this question when her son, Shepherd, was diagnosed at age 3 with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, joint inflammation that can last a lifetime.

When the drugs didn't work, Meadows was persuaded to look at his condition through a different prism and to consider the possibility that medications might not be the only answer. Meadows began speaking to parents who had sleuthed out alternative theories and tried things like radically changing their kids' diets and giving them Chinese herbal medicines. Like many parents of sick children, Meadows grew increasingly willing to venture outside of the standard treatments.

Her experiences spurred her to seek other stories of people with illnesses ranging from multiple sclerosis to epilepsy to ADHD who pursued unproven methods of treating their diseases. Their stories, as well as an account of her son's case, are compiled in The Other Side of Impossible: Ordinary People Who Faced Daunting Medical Challenges and Refused to Give Up, published Tuesday by Random House.

Shots sat down with Meadows to discuss her book. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

When Shepherd was diagnosed with a case of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, were you initially uncomfortable with him taking the standard drugs for the disease?

I was very comfortable when the first thing he was prescribed was naproxen, because that was familiar as a relative of ibuprofen. But when that didn't work and he was prescribed an immunosuppressant [methotrexate], I was troubled by the risks. It's a serious drug and it comes with an increased risk of lymphoma and liver disease and for sure, I was very uncomfortable with that.

And then in the immediate sense, taking the drug made him sick and he spent days on the couch, nauseous every week, and to me, that was an unacceptable life. I could not accept that that was going to be his life. I think the thing that really pushed me to explore other options was desperation.

In addition to keeping him on the methotrexate, we took gluten, dairy and sugar out of his diet. We gave him high doses of omega-3s in fish oil and a probiotic. His arthritis started to get better six weeks to the day after we started the new diet, and we weaned him off the methotrexate. He's now totally healthy, completely without pain, and has been off all arthritis medications for four years. It's impossible to know what made him better, but there's some science that suggests it could have been the diet.

Your book is a call to arms to think about diet and what we put in our bodies, whether you have serious illness or not. How did food play in the recovery of the people you wrote about?

Terry Wahls [had] multiple sclerosis and went from using a wheelchair to riding a bike again after she radically changed her diet to eat only nutritionally dense food. You can't come away without thinking, if that can do that for her, what could it do for me?

The pioneers in your book weren't the trained scientists or the doctors. They were the patients. What can you say about that?

Certainly doctors know more about disease than I ever will, but that doesn't mean that their expertise is universal. Our own doctor was a good partner in our weighing things to try. We were able to have good conversations about risk, and what I liked about him was his openness he made it clear to us that he didn't have to understand it if it worked, which to me is a great quality in a doctor. The best doctors recognize that they don't know everything.

Some key themes emerge in the book about the personality traits of those who seek different avenues of treatment. What are they?

One of the things that struck me about everybody in the book was extraordinary self-confidence, almost a stubbornness that they would find an answer. These people exhausted medicine's answers and kept looking. Another thing was hope. I used to think of hope as being about the known possibility. You could have hope if even 1 out of 100 people got better. But what was amazing about these people was that they had hope even without an example of one. There was nothing to point to. A woman with multiple sclerosis who's using a wheelchair, it's unheard of to come back from that. And yet she believed she could find a solution for herself. And to me that's extraordinary.

It seemed like many of the subjects of your book were financially comfortable, which gave them advantages such as moving across the country to be near a practitioner. How can people access experimental diets, supplements or interventions not covered by insurance?

To be sure, having resources helps, but one of the things that's so exciting about food being a potential solution for some diseases is that it's a lot cheaper than medication. Some medications for multiple sclerosis, for example, can be $80,000 a year. We have strong anecdotal evidence and in some cases, clinical evidence that food can improve symptoms for some chronic disease. The other virtue of food is that it's open to all of us to experiment with. Until we have the data to say this diet will benefit this disease, we are free to see as individuals what might help us.

Finally, how has the experience of dealing with your son's illness as well as meeting these other like-minded people changed you as a parent and as a person?

The biggest thing that I have learned is that when it seems as if there are no options, you can still look for them and maybe find them. That you have a choice to keep going when others say that you can't. I don't think I had that feeling when Shepherd was diagnosed, but I think his unlikely recovery taught me that.

Heather Won Tesoriero is a writer living in New York City. She's currently working on a narrative nonfiction book. The Class will be published in 2018 by Ballantine Books.

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A Child's Suffering Drives A Mother To Seek Untested Treatments - NPR

Alternate-day fasting diets are all the health buzz right now, but how effective are they, really?

According to new research published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine Monday, there isnt a significant difference between calorie restriction and intermittent fasting when it comes to weight loss.

To come up with the results, researchers studied 100 obese adults (86 women and 14 men) from October 2011 to January 2015 . The patients were placed into three separate groups: an alternate-day fasting group, traditional calorie restriction group and group with no diet intervention.

Those in the alternate-day fasting group consumed 25 percent of their calorie needs onfast days and 125 percent of their calorie needs onfeast days. The other group ate 75 percent of their calorie needs every day.

After one year, the team saw an average weight loss of 6 percent in the alternate-day fasting group and an average weight loss of 5.3 percent in the daily calorie restriction group. Both lost an average of 13 pounds.

Not only did the folks in the fasting group not see significantly different weight loss results compared to the tradition calorie restriction group, they didnt see any additional health benefits, either. In fact, more people dropped out of the fasting group during the course of the study.

Krista Varady, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Illinois and study author, said she was shocked at the results and expected people to have an easier time and better results on the alternate-day fasting diet.

Previous, Varadys studies suggested the alternate-day fasting diet helped people lose weight more quickly (with other added health benefits) and was easier to stick to once they moved past the challenging first two weeks.

But, according to the Verge, her previous studies only following participants for two to three months. This study is the first long-term assessment of alternate-day fasting diets.

Read this article:
The truth about alternate-day fasting diets: Are they better than traditional diets? - Atlanta Journal Constitution

D

r. Rebecca Carey admits to being a little embarrassed about what her son, Mark, eats every day. Hamburger patties for breakfast, or bacon. A pack of raisins and a cookie for lunch; a turkey and cheese sandwich if Im lucky, says Carey, but it usually comes back home. His favorite dinner is fish cakes and pasta, but all vegetables remain firmly untouched.

Its the kind of diet low in fruits and vegetables, high in carbs that a doctor like herself might caution against. But its also low in milk, sugar, and artificial food additives all things Carey believes worsen 10-year-old Marks attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, symptoms. Twice a day, in the morning at their home in Newburgh, Ind., and from the school nurse at lunch, he takes a vitamin and mineral supplement, which helps make up for the lack of veggies.

Its been six months on this diet, which Carey researched herself and tested out on Mark, and in that time he has transitioned off his ADHD medication. It wasnt all smooth sailing; there were fights in the candy section of the grocery store, and Carey struggled to find quick, high-protein breakfasts. But honestly, I would never go back, she said.

Carey is not the only one whos trying this approach. Medication and therapy remain the most effective treatments for ADHD. But driven by concerns about the short- and long-term side effects of psychiatric medications on children, some parents are looking for ways to keep their kids on lower doses of the drugs, or to quit the drugs entirely.

But addressing ADHD symptoms by changing diet can be a minefield. For one thing, while some diet interventions have scientific evidence to back them up, others dont and even the ones that do only seem effective for a subset of kids. Diet tweaks are oftentimes pretty harmless to try, but not universally so. And most pediatricians arent nearly as familiar with these approaches as they are with conventional medication.

So amid a lot of confusing and contradictory information on the internet, and a big nutrition knowledge gap in the medical system, parents at their wits end are mapping out their own treatment plans through trial and error over the dinner table.

As of 2011, the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show, at least 6.4 million children in the US had been diagnosed with ADHD. Only about 6 percent are taking medication for the condition. The vast majority, then, are doing something else perhaps counseling, or other forms of treatment, or nothing at all.

The most common types of drug used for ADHD are methylphenidate and amphetamine, both stimulants that work on the central nervous system, sold under brand names Ritalin and Adderall. These drugs are considered the most effective ADHD treatment. Less is known, however, about the drugs long-term effects. Common side effects include loss of appetite, trouble sleeping, and anxiousness.

Those side effects became a problem for Mark soon after he was first diagnosed with ADHD in kindergarten. At home, hed always been a sensitive, irritable child, but in the classroom he started having freakouts, said Carey: throwing things, hiding under his desk, biting other students. Careys pediatrician put Mark through a behavioral test, found he measured high on the ADHD spectrum, and prescribed him behavioral therapy and Concerta, another common brand of methylphenidate.

Tasty and easy to take, a new ADHD drug alarms some psychiatrists

Carey was uncomfortable with the medication from the beginning. It became a constant fight to get Mark to eat; he shedded weight, and couldnt fall asleep at night. Carey had a gnawing feeling that hed have to always be on the drug. And it wasnt helping his symptoms instead, he seemed to be getting worse. After a year, his psychiatrist thought he was showing signs of bipolar disorder, and prescribed medication for that.

I just felt in my heart of hearts there had to be a better way, said Carey. As a physician specializing in gastrointestinal disease, Carey had seen diet do tremendous things for her own patients. Marks diagnoses got her thinking about nutritions role in the brain, and she started to chart her own course of research and experimentation.

Dietary interventions tend to be relatively low-risk but the evidence base for most of them, in terms of improving ADHD symptoms, is still small.

To try to balance those factors against one another, a group of specialists in child and adolescent psychiatry at Ohio State University in 2011 devised what they call the SECS vs. RUDE test. Looking at the scientific literature surrounding 15 different dietary or nutritional interventions, they asked: Are they Safe, Easy, Cheap, and Sensible; or Risky, Unrealistic, Difficult, and Expensive?

SECS doesnt need as much evidence for someone to try it on an individual basis, said Dr. L. Eugene Arnold, a physician at Ohio States medical center who specializes in childhood ADHD and autism and who coauthored the 2011 study. You want more evidence before you invest a lot of money or undertake something risky.

Delaying standard treatment medication and behavioral therapy in favor of alternative approaches can be risky if it means symptoms go untreated, wrote Arnold and coauthors in their review. If a treatment doesnt work, there is also the loss of family resources, including time and money, to consider.

Some of the things their analysis found that fall under the SECS category are fattyacid supplements, specifically omega-3 supplements, which seem to improve ADHD symptoms.

I just felt in my heart of hearts there had to be a better way.

Dr. Rebecca Carey, parent of child with ADHD

Arnold and coauthors looked at five randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials (the gold standard of clinical research) that tested combinations of fattyacids on ADHD symptoms, in both children and adults. Four had a statistically significant positive effect on symptoms.

Omega-3 fatty acids, said Arnold, show small but significant benefits, and as long as these supplements are low in mercury, it makes sense to try.

Other interventions, however like homeopathic and herbal treatments were both uncertain and potentially risky, the analysis found.

A supplement with less evidence, but which still passes the SECS test, is the one that Mark Carey takes. Called EMPowerplus, the supplement contains 36 different vitamins and minerals, and is marketed to help with psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder, ADHD, and depression.

But only one of the studies done on the pill was placebo-controlled and double-blinded. It showed a reduction in ADHD symptoms in adults. More research is needed on EMPowerplus and similar broad-spectrum micronutrient supplements before conclusions about their effectiveness can be made, Arnold said.

More difficult interventions tend to be the ones that eliminate whole classes of foods. Elimination diets involve taking foods out of the diet one of the first iterations of which, for hyperactivity, was the Feingold Diet.

Developed back in the 1970s, the Feingold Diet focused on the link between artificial colors and flavorings and ADHD. Research since then has supported a link. A 2004 meta-analysis of only the gold standard of studies double-blind and placebo controlled concluded that artificial food colorings increase hyperactivity in kids with ADHD. And another 2004 study found that kids even without a hyperactive disorder experiencebehavioral effects of colorings. Preschoolers given a drink with artificial coloring were rated as more hyperactive by their parents than those given a naturally colored placebo. (The study was blinded, so parents didnt know which their kids received.)

Lidy Pelsser, a researcher at the Netherlands ADHD research center, led a trial in 2009 in which 100 families of children with ADHD were recruited to take part in a five-week few-foods experiment. Half were instructed to keep their kids on a healthy diet, and half were instructed to give their children only turkey, rice, some vegetables, and water and thats it, said Pelsser. Of the 41 families who completed the few-foods diet, 32 responded positively, with 60 to 70 percent improvements on ADHD tests compared to when theyd started.

Pelsser described this approach not as a cure, but as a diagnostic tool that is going to have different results depending on the child. If theres no improvement in behavior after five weeks, the child is allowed to eat everything again and medication would be appropriate, she said. If the child improves significantly, then the parents can start adding foods back in slowly and one at a time to figure out which may be triggers.

She warned that this approach is aggravating. It is low-risk, but also difficult for families.

When it works, it seems to work really well, said Pelsser, and families are increasingly willing to try. What I see is more awareness in parents that they do not want to give their medication and they are desperately looking for other ways to help their child.

A 2014 review estimated that a strict elimination diet may have a 10 to 30 percent chance of showing symptom improvements for ADHD.

Arnold also pointed out that these approaches dont have to replace medication.

We know that behavioral treatments tend to enhance the effects of medication, so that the patient can respond to a lower dose, said Arnold. Theres no reason to believe that wouldnt work the same way with diet and nutrition.

Although diet is widely promoted by doctors as an important lifestyle factor in managing ADHD, along with exercise, routine, and good sleep habits, the acceptance of diet and nutrition as an effective primary treatment is still very grassroots within the medical community, according to Dr. Anna Esparham, a Kansas-based pediatrician and member of the American Academy of Pediatricss integrative health unit.

Carey recalls a feeling of isolation. I was so despondent about where Mark was and despondent about the treatment options for him that I felt like I couldnt be the only one, she said.

So in September 2016, she started a support group for other parents like her who felt like they were struggling outside the mainstream. The first meetings were held at her church I didnt want it affiliated with anything, I just wanted to start it in the local community, she said but after six months the group had grown large enough and was taking up enough of Careys time that she needed help. She brought it to the medical director at St. Marys hospital, in Evansville, Ind., where Carey works, and now the hospital hosts the group, which draws about 30 peopleto its meetings.

Each week a different speaker comes to talk about topics that the parents indicated they were interested in in a poll at the beginning things like vision therapy, curbing screen time, and a behavioral therapy called the nurtured heart approach.

Carey acknowledges that these things might not be mainstream or have lots of randomized control trials behind them, but she figured parents including herself deserved to have a place could openly discuss alternatives to the status quo.

Ideally, someday, that place could also be the doctors office. Esparham thinks a big part of the reason parents and providers dont discuss diet interventions for ADHD is a general ignorance of nutrition in the medical field. A lot of doctors do not know how to give nutritional advice because they didnt get in school, in residency, in training, said Esparham.

Pelsser, the Dutch researcher, thinks it might take more than just education it might take a perspective shift as well. In the Netherlands as well as the United States there is a lot of skepticism about the effect of food on ADHD, despite the research, she said. I think its difficult to accept that things could be different from what we have been thinking all the time. It takes courage to say, well, after all, we may be wrong.

Link:
Seeking an alternative to medication, parents tinker with diet to treat ADHD - STAT

May 2, 2017 5:38 PM By Dr. Deanna Lites

DETROIT (WWJ) How would you like to be in good health and live longer? A special diet may be the answer saysWWJ health reporter Dr. Deanna Lites.

ProLon is a five-day fast-mimicking diet (FMD); meaning youre eating while getting the benefits of fasting like slowing the aging process of your cells to keep you living longer and healthier.

On this FMD youll eat froma meal plan thats low in carbohydrates and proteins and also contains good fatty acids. ProLon provides the meal plan through its website.

Calorie restriction or changes in dietary composition can enhance healthy aging, but the inability of most subjects to adhere to chronic and extreme diets, as well as potentially adverse effects, limits their application, states a research article in Science Translational Medicine.

Enhancing healthy aging is more internal beauty but during this diet you might drop a few pounds of belly fat in the process.

The diet was developed by researchers at the University of Southern California.

Fasting for consecutive days reverses your biological aging and pull you away from multiple chronic diseases, says Dr. Joseph Anton.

Self described foodie Andrea Guittlla decided to give the ProLon fast-mimicking diet a try.

For five days the 49-year-old Bloomfield Hills resident took the supplements, drank the energy drink and ate foods like tomato soup, kale crackers and green olives for a total of about 700 to 800 calories a day.

The food tasted great, I was never hungry I was a little concerned that I might feel weak or have headaches or feel lightheaded during the fast but I did not, said Andrea. And at the end, I definitely felt leaner and my clothes fit better although I only lost two pounds I definitely noticed that my body felt good and thinner.

Greg, another person who tried the fast-mimicking diet, says he didnt feel hungry while on the plan and he did feel leaner at the end.

But I only lost one pound. As for being younger and rejuvenated I dont know if during the process I shed the old cells in my body that had DNA damage and replaced them with young stem cells like the researchers say should happen but I did feel good.

For optimal results its recommended that you do the five-day ProLon diet threeto four times a year.

The food is completely natural and plant based.

ProLon is not sold in stores you have to get it through a healthcare provider or through their website You can find more information HERE.

Deanna Lites is an award-winning health reporter with more than 18 years of broadcast experience. Lites was the medical reporter for WFOR the CBS television station in Miami, WMAQ the NBC television station in Chicago and WHDH the NBC television...

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Could This Diet Prolong Your Life? 5-Day Fast-Mimicking Plan May Help Healthy Aging - CBS Detroit