Every week, theres a new miracle diet and every year you cant help but wonder: Is this the weight loss diet that will finally work, once and for all? There are weight loss programs that work, but there are many more fads out there that will temporarily drop your weight (or perhaps make you sick), only to have the pounds return in a few short weeks. Fad diets are tempting, but like eating a rich dessert when you already have a full stomach: resist, resist, resist. In the long run, you will be healthier and less frustrated.

Fad diets can be deceiving. They are usually described in detail by a book that has been written by an expert with a Ph.D., or a doctor who is an MD. There may be a list of scientific references that seem to back up the claims (that no one ever checks carefully to make sure they are true). And, tons of people (including all of your friends and family) seem to be following the diet and having great results.

Does this sound familiar? Here are some obvious clues that a diet is a fad rather than a recommended approach for permanent weight loss:

1. It sounds too good or easy to be true.

2. Promises rapid weight loss (5-10 pounds in a week) or miracle cures.

3. Allows only certain foods or food groups (cutting out others).

4. Promotes a product, special herb, vitamin or other compound.

5. Can only be followed temporarily, but its not supervised by a doctor.

6. Its hard to imagine or difficult to follow the diet forever.

7. It doesnt recommend a form of exercise or says that its unnecessary.

8. Warns that one food or food group will make you seriously ill or worse.

9. Makes recommendations based on published science that are not endorsed by credible organizations or peer reviewed by other scientists.

10. Cites research that is preliminary, based on animals or has very few subjects.

Kristin Bogdonas is the nutritionand wellness educator for University of Illinois Extension serving Henry, Mercer, Rock Island and Stark counties. To contact her about health and wellness programs, call 309-756-9978.

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Start the Week Off Right: How to spot a fad diet in 30 seconds or less - Muscatine Journal

Recently at the release of our book First Food: Culture of Taste, which discusses the link between biodiversity, nutrition and livelihoods, I was asked a question: Why do you not, as an environmentalist espousing the cause of traditional and local diets that are sustainable, condemn meat eating?

After all, meat production is bad for climateagriculture contributes roughly 15% of all greenhouse gas emissions and half of this comes from meat production. It also has a huge footprint in terms of land and water consumption since an estimated 30% of the worlds land not covered with ice is used to grow food, not for humans but for livestock. A 2014 University of Oxford study on British diets found that meat-rich dietsdefined as eating more than 100 grams of meat per day per personemitted about 7.2 kilograms (kg) of CO2 per day as compared to 2.9 kg of CO2 emitted by vegan diets. So, figuring out the sustainable diet should be a no-brainer, I was told.

I differed. As an Indian (I underline Indian) environmentalist I would not advocate vegetarianism for the following reasons.

One, India is a secular nation and the culture of eating food differs between communities, regions, and religions. This idea of India is non-negotiable for me as it reflects our richness and our reality. Two, meat is an important source of protein for a large number of people, hence, critical for their nutritional security.

Third, and this is what distinguishes my Indian position from the global, meat eating is not the key issue, it is the amount that is consumed and the manner in which it is produced. A recent global assessment, for instance, finds that Americans on an average eat 122 kg per year per person and Indians 3-5 kg per year per person. This high meat consumption is bad for health and the environment. In fact, the average American consumption of meat is 1.5 times the average protein requirement.

It should not surprise us that the bulk of the 95 million tonnes of beef produced in the world comes from cattle in Latin America, Europe, and North Americaall produced with extremely high environmental impacts. Meat production in the developing world is very different, says this assessment by the International Livestock Research Institute, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the International Institute for Applied System Analysis. Here livestock subsists largely on grasses and crop residue.

But the most important reason I, as an Indian environmentalist, would not support action against meat is that livestock is the most important economic security of farmers in our world. Indian farmers practise agro-silvo-pastoralism, that is, they use the land for crops and trees as well as for livestock. This is their real insurance system, not the banks. Livestock is also not kept by large meat businesses but by big, small, marginal and landless farmers. It works because the animals have a productive purpose: first, they give milk and manure and then, meat and leather. Take that away and you will take away the base of economic security of millions in the country, greatly impoverishing them.

Lets get the facts straight. In the past, cattle were kept for draught purposes. In the 1980s, the late N S Ramaswamy, the countrys only expert on animal energy, had calculated that the installed capacity of 90 million work animals was equal to the installed capacity of the electric power in the country. All this changed with mechanisation. By 2000, livestock was primarily kept for milk. This is why the males of cows and buffaloes have drastically reduced in each livestock census. Males are now roughly 28% of the total cattle population. Their main purpose is breeding. But cows and buffaloes give milk for seven-eight years of their 15-20 years of life. Farmers use this productive phase for the birth of calves and for milk sale. Maintaining animals is not cheap. My colleagues have calculated that if the animals are fed properly and looked after well it costs about Rs70,000 per animal per year. This is why farmers need options to take care of the animals not producing milk. Or they will have no options but to leave the animal stray, to eat the plastic cities throw away, and die.

This is why I would not support a ban on meat or leather. By doing this we are literally taking away half the potential income the livestock owner possesses. It is stealing from the poor, nothing less. Just imagine if government entered our homes and took away half our assets or made them valueless. What would we say? Banning meat is cruel demonetisation.

But I also understand that religious sentiments are strong. These demand that cattle (not buffalo) should not be killed. In this case, the answer is to buy back each cow from the farmer, build large gaushalas that can take care of them and find ways of dealing with the remains so that even after death, no product is sold or used. The answer is not militant vegetarianism. The answer is definitely not vandalism and violence.

This post was first published in Down To Earth magazine. We welcome your comments at ideas.india@qz.com.

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The unbearable cost of being a vegetarian in India - Quartz

Type 2 diabetes can require injections of insulin

David Hay Jones/Science Photo Library

By Andy Coghlan

No insulin injections, no avoiding sugar. A daily drug can reversediabetes symptoms in mice, opening up the possibility of a much easier way for diabetics to keep their blood sugar level within safe limits.

In 2016, the number of people living with diabetes in the UK surpassed 4 million an increase of 65 per cent over the course of a decade. Some 3.5 million have been diagnosed, but 550,000 are thought to have undiagnosed type 2 diabetes, which is linked to being overweight, and can develop later in life.

Many people develop type 2 diabetes as they age, as their bodys response to insulin a hormone that controls how much sugar circulates in our blood gets weaker. Some people can manage their symptoms by sticking to a restrictive diet, or using drugs to remove sugar from their system, although many of these have side effects, such as weight gain or diarrhoea.

These drugs can only help manage the disease they cannot reverse it. We dont have anything that can overcome insulin resistance, says Emily Burns of the charity Diabetes UK. As a result, many people end up having to inject insulin to make sure excess sugar is removed from their blood. Left untreated, type 2 diabetes can lead to heart and kidney disease, nerve damage, foot ulcers and vision problems.

A daily pill that restores the bodys sensitivity to insulin may make it easier to control the diabetes boom in rich nations where obesity is on the rise. Stephanie Stanfordof the University of California, San Diego, and her team have found that giving mice with diabetes a drug that affects insulin signalling restores their ability to control their blood sugar levels.

The drug was given daily, by mouth, and did not seem to have any side effects in the mice. The animals had developed the condition after a high-fat diet had made them obese.

This could lead to a new therapeutic strategy for treating type 2 diabetes, says Stanford, whose team believes that the drug could lead to fewer people with adult-onset diabetes becoming dependent on insulin injections. If this new drug works as described, it could be used to reverse insulin resistance, but we need to know first if it does that safely in people, says Burns.

The drug works by inhibiting an enzyme called low molecular weight protein tyrosine phosphatase (LMPTP), which seems to contribute to cells losing their sensitivity to insulin. By hindering LMPTP, the drug reawakens insulin receptors on the surface of cells especially in the liver which normally absorb excess sugar from the blood when they detect insulin.

The gene that makes LMPTP has previously been linked with diabetes-like problems in people, prompting the team to investigate further. When the group stopped the gene working in mice, the animals no longer developed diabetes if fed a high-fat diet.

Just stopping this gene in the liver was enough to produce the same effect. We found that LMPTP is a critical promoter of insulin resistance that develops during obesity, says Stanford.

So the team developed a drug to block the LMPTP enzymes actions in the liver. Our inhibitor increased activation of the insulin receptor in the liver, and reversed diabetes without any apparent negative side effects, says Stanford.

The elegant studies here provide proof of concept that targeting LMPTP in the liver improves glucose control and liver insulin signalling in animals, says Daniel Druckerofthe Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute in Toronto, Canada, who says that targeting enzymes like LMPTP has long been a goal for researchers tackling diabetes.

So far, most of these efforts have focused on another tyrosine phosphatase enzyme, but it has proven difficult to block this without also causing side effects, says Drucker.

Our compound is very specific for the target, and we do not see any side effects after treatment in mice for a month, but the next step is to rigorously establish if its safe for use in clinical trials, says Stanford.

Finding a way to make cells respond to insulin again is an important and exciting strategy, says Burns. So far, the drug has only been tested in mice, and while some research in human genetics suggests this approach could work in people too, we need more research before we know how relevant this could be for people with type 2 diabetes.

Stanfords team is now embarking on safety testing in animals. The next step towards the clinic is to understand whether the treatment will be safe for people, she says.

Journal reference: Nature Chemical Biology, DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.2344

Read more: Lets take a knife to the worlds rising tide of type 2 diabetes

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Diabetes drug could be the first to reverse the disease - New Scientist

Georgiann Potts 2:02 p.m. CT March 27, 2017

Lucy, a Labrador retriever, is always ready to haul in the ducks!(Photo: Georgiann Potts)

Writers note:Those of you who are regular Delta Style readers know that frequently I write a profile for these pages of an individual who is interesting and who has done interesting things worth knowing about. This month, Im doing something completely different. Im turning my attention to a small group of amazing dogs who live life on their own terms.

Lucy, Chewbacca, BooBoo, Gadget, Rouxand Luece certainly live very interesting lives. While their owners mistakenly believe they the owners are in charge, just a short conversation with the dogs dispels that myth. These dogs are clearly in charge of their world.

Six dogs. Six different backgrounds.

Some are rescue pups. Some are purebreds. One is a working retriever. One is a designer dog. Four prefer the creature comforts of inside the home. One much prefers the outdoors, especially on crisp, cold winter mornings when ducks are on the wing. One is too young to have a preference just yet. Each has his own philosophy about life, and each understands love when it is given. This is their story. Full disclosure: a French poodle also was invited to this interview, but she failed the sniff test.

Georgiann Potts:Good afternoon, pups! Thanks for agreeing to sit down with me and tell me what life is like for you these days. I know that some of you would rather be outside running around, marking territory and exploring. This wont take long, I promise, and you can be on your way. Why dont we start with you introducing yourselves?

Lucy: Me! Me! Let me go first! My full name is The Legendary Lucy but Im called Lucy. My human thought at first he would name me Molly but it wasnt a good fit. I am a black Labrador retriever, and my birthday is Oct.20. Im 4 years old. Can I go outside now? Can I? Can I?

GP: Not yet, Lucy. Whos next?

BooBoo is an accident-prone Chihuahua.(Photo: Debbie Dunn)

BooBoo:My name is Bucato Dunn. Bucato is Spanish for morsel, which works two ways for me. Im small like a morsel, and I love morsels of treats! My humans call me BooBoo because Im a little accident-prone. I am a Chihuahua, and Im 8 years old.

Gadget: Im next because I always follow BooBoo. My name is Gadget Dunn. My humans call me Gadget because when I see something that intimidates me, I can stretch myself out about three times my body length so I can safely get a good sniff. This reminded them of some character named Inspector Gadget from the cartoons so I got the name. I am 4 years oldbut much smarter than my older house-buddy, BooBoo. I am a Chihuahua.

Lucy: Can I go outside now?

GP: Not yet, Lucy.

Roux: My name is Roux Grace Grainger, but Im called Roux because my humans love Louisiana and everything about it. I am an apricot Goldendoodle.Im 7 years old. My humans had to fill out an 8-10-page application just to be able to buy me. Fortunately, they passed the test.

GP: What exactly is a Goldendoodle, Roux?

Roux: I am half standard poodle and half Golden retriever. In theory, Im easy to live with, and I dont shed. In theory.

GP:Next? How about you, Chewbacca? Youve been mighty quiet over there.

Chewbacca:I try to mind my manners and not interrupt others.Thats because Im a blue cream Shih Tzu (little lion in translation) and am from a nobler class than these other rascals. My ancestors lived in China in 8,000 B.C. and were guard dogs for royal humans. Im hardly a newcomer like some of the rest of you.

Chewbacca is a blue cream Shih Tzu and especially enjoys rides in his family's boats(Photo: Asha Rangaraj)

GP: How did you get your names?

Chewbacca: My humans are Star Wars fans and they decided that I looked like that Chewbacca character. When they bought me, my name was already Chester but they just didnt think that name suited me so I became Chewbacca. Later, because of some minor indiscretions on my part, they started calling me Chewy --- and not always in a pleasant tone. I am two and a half years old and perfectly suited for my humans.

GP: That brings us to you, our youngest pup.

Luece is a mixed breed puppy with a "thing" for cats.(Photo: Elizabeth Jones and Connor McKoin)

Leuce: My name is Leuce, a name my humans made up using a grandmothers name plus their initials. Im only about 8-10 weeks old, so I dont know much. Im still learning how to be a dog.

Lucy: You did that well, Luece! Can we go outside now?

GP: In a little while, Lucy. Try to be patient. Is there any other place where any of you would rather live than here in the South? If so, where?

BooBoo: If my humans are there, Ill be there. I do wish it were a little warmer in the winters here, though.

Gadget: Same here.

Lucy: Ill go wherever my human wants to go. Period. And well play outside when we get there.

Chewbacca: I am devoted to my human and will be with her wherever she is. I guard her most of the time, sort of. Maybe.

Roux:Im going wherever they go.

Luece: What other places are there? I havent seen much of the world yet.

GP: Because you are devoted to your humans, Id like to know how each of you ended up with them. BooBoo and Gadget, lets begin with you since you share the same humans.

BooBoo:I was in Canton, Texas, and saw them coming near. I turned on the charm (its considerable when I want it to be), she cuddled me, and he pulled out the checkbook. Weve been inseparable ever since.

Gadget: BooBoo had it easy. I didnt. My first humans decided that they didnt want me anymore. That was hard. Just when I was feeling the most rejected, these humans came along and rescued me. Ill make sure they are safe and happy for as long as they live for doing that for me.

Luece: Hey! I was rescued, too! My brothers and sisters and I got separated from our mother and ended up in tall grass, lost and afraid. I tumbled into a ditch and started whining for the others. Suddenly this big human reached down and scooped me up. He tried to find the others, but couldnt. He and his lady friend were lucky that day because I was available to be theirs. And now I am!

Lucy: I found my human only after he spent a lot of time begging to convince his mom that he really, really, really needed a dog. She wasnt easy to convince, but he finally did it. Christmas four years ago, I was his big surprise. He tells everybody that Im still the best thing hes ever awakened to on Christmas morning.

Roux: Like I said before, my humans had to pass a test to be able to get me. They already had a dog aGolden retriever named Gumbo and they thought that he needed a companion. We got along great as long as he lived. I followed him around and did what he did, and that pleased the humans . . . most of the time.

Roux is an apricot Goldendoodle who has a knack for mischief.(Photo: Leigh Grainger)

GP: Whats your story, Chewy?

Chewbacca:My humans hired me, actually. My job is to be a companion to the lady of the house, just like my ancestors were. The lady had lost her husband, and the family decided that she needed a dog to keep her company. A groomer in Ruston had me and other pups for sale, and when the humans saw my picture, that was all it took. In short order, I was in total control of the household even at a very young age.

GP: Do your humans give you special treats? Maybe things that you really, really love to eat?

Luece: Oh, let me tell! Let me! My humans give me these delicious green things they call dental sticks. That shows what THEY know --- sticks dont taste like that! I do love them, though, but not as much as something else that I have found in the house. There is a cat lurking around in my house, and he is not willing to play with me. I get him back for ignoring me by eating his food every chance I get! That stuff is delicious!

BooBoo:Gross, Luece. Gross. MY humans give me cheese --- cheddar --- my very favorite thing, when they are especially pleased with me. I gets lots of it.

Gadget:I get cheese, too, but Im cool with any kind they give me.

Lucy:There is no treat as great as splitting a honeybun with my human in the early morning on a cold, cold day while we are out hunting. Absolutely nothing.

Roux:Although my humans try very hard to keep me on a diet of dog food, its their food that I prefer. Ive been seen licking the outdoor grill on occasion, and then there have been a few times when Ive been caught rummaging through a trash can here and there. They now have a family routine when they are leaving the house that they call Roux-Proofing they close all doors and clear all of the countertops. Thats pretty rude, I think.

Chewbacca:My human situation is obviously different from the rest of you. My humans are Indian-American, which means that they came from far away and eat different food. My favorite treat is also cheese, the smellier, the better. But I sometimes get Indian food, and it is delicious! The spices are a little heavy occasionally, but not always. What I dont like is the packaged Shih Tzu food that my humans thought I should have. It was awful! Now I get cold cuts from the deli which is perfect for my refined palate.

GP: Whats your favorite thing to do, Pups?

BooBoo:I have two. Snuggling up next to my humans leg for a nap is just a perfect way to spend a day. If she is busy, I find a spot where the sun is shining and take my nap there.

Gadget:That lying around doesnt really suit my lifestyle. Works for BooBoo, but not for me. I much prefer getting my humans to throw a ball for me to chase and catch. Running and playing catch is just the best!

Roux: Gadget, Im with you on that ball business.I have several small humans in my family who love to throw and chase balls with me in my backyard. Im pretty good at it.

Luece: Im too little to do too much yet, but my favorite thing right now is to sneak around and find one of my humans shoes to play with. When they figure out what Im doing, they naturally take the shoe away from me. That just ups the game for me. I find the other one and play with it. I also like to chew on belts when I can find one. Theyve started putting them up higher, but Ill grow!

Lucy: Are you kidding? No matter the weather, Im always ready to GO! My human has a game that we play that I really get a kick out of. I will go outside and wait by our door until he calls. Then I go in and search everywhere until I find the tennis ball that he has hidden. Sometimes it takes a long time to find, but I always do! I remember every spot where the tennis ball has been hidden before, so I check those places first. During hunting season when its cold, sleeting, and the wind is howling, Im there doing my job. When my human hits a duck or goose, I dive in and get it for him. We are a great team! When its not hunting season, my favorite thing is to chase a frisbee that my human throws. Even when the summer heat is doing its worst, Im up for a game!

Chewbacca: My very favorite thing to do is to be captain on our boat when we take it out on the bayou. The humans put my snappy red life jacket on me and off we go. I stand at the helm, with my ears blowing in the wind. When we cant go out on the water, I enjoy exploring my humans gardens, looking for interesting things to see and sniff.

GP: This question may seem a bit too personal, but Im sure that our readers would love to know. Have any of you ever been naughty? Really gotten in trouble with your humans?

Lucy: Well, there was one time . . . If I tell, can I go outside now?

GP: Well see.

Lucy: The first year that I was old enough to go on a hunt, my human and his friends were having great luck killing the ducks. On their first hunt, eighthumans hunted together. Because I was young and inexperienced, I didnt get to go. The next morning it was finally my turn! A smaller group of humans were going to hunt and my human thought I could handle that. I sat there, watching as the birds flew closer. The humans started barking at them, so I joined in. I barked and barked! The birds flew away, and I got taken back for more training. I quickly learned that my job was to look, but not bark.

BooBoo: I havent made them angry, but I have frightened them. They left one time and when they came back, I had a badly damaged eye that my veterinarian had to remove. They never knew what happened, and I decided not to tell them. It wasnt their fault. Besides, I dont even miss it. When I had both of my eyes, I would get so excited that I would spin around, always spinning to my left. Now, without my eye, I always spin to the right. Weird, huh?

Gadget: About the only time they get upset is when the human I sleep with isnt home when Im ready for bed. If he isnt there, I cry for hours.

Roux:My humans dont really understand that I love to chew and eat things. The time I ate $200 in cash upset them. And then there was that passport. And the single shoe from several pairs of shoes that I enjoyed chewing. Ive also been known to eat stray socks. I suppose, though, the thing that got to them the most was when I swallowed a baby toy (hey! It was right there in front of me!) and had to have surgery to remove it. To be fair, I didnt enjoy that either.

Luece: I love chewing, too. Its one of my best tricks. Ill bet I chew things up as well as any of you! Out of all of the things that I enjoy chewing, I guess a roll of toilet paper is my favorite. When I was younger, I wasnt big enough to reach it. Now, though, Im bigger and I can chew and unroll it for as long as the humans are gone.

Chewbacca: I never annoy my humans, unless they ignore me when I want to play. Then I can make things interesting.

GP: Do any of you have a special toy, or a blanket, or anything that means everything to you? If so, what is it and why?

Lucy: I love Frisbees! My human has to get a new one about every two weeks because I destroy them in my eagerness to jump and catch them.

BooBoo: I love those cardboard insides that the humans paper towels are wrapped around. Whenever they are changing the old roll out, if it drops on the floor, its MINE! I grab it and run to my bed with it for safekeeping. I do not share.

Gadget: My ball. I have to know exactly where it is every single minute of every single day. If it gets out of place, its nervous breakdown time!

Luece: My stuffed giraffe. He sleeps with me and plays with me when that cat wont.

Roux: My blanket. It looks like a leopards skin. Fakes humans out.

Chewbacca: My yellow puppy toy is the best. Ive had it for as long as I can remember. It squeaks, and my humans say it is disgusting. If I bring it to a human, it is the highest compliment I can give.

GP: Last question, Pups! If you had one piece of advice for your humans, what would it be?

Lucy:Buy Frisbees by the case and spend more time outdoors with me.

BooBoo:Quit laughing every time I jump over the garden house. My legs are only 3 inches long and you have BIG hoses.

Gadget:Encourage other humans to rescue pups just like yall did me.

Roux: Quit changing the latches on the outside gate. Ill figure out every one of them.

Luece: Get rid of that cat. Leave his food, though.

Chewbacca: Remove all of the chameleons from my yard immediately. After that one latched onto my nose and wouldnt let go, Ive decided that they are unworthy of our care and attention.

GP: Thanks, everyone, for taking the time this afternoon. You may go outside now, if youd like. Lucy has already left.

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Delta dogs dish about life - Monroe News Star

Compared to leaf-eaters, primates who ate fruit had around 25 percent more brain tissue. Anup Shah/Getty Images hide caption

Compared to leaf-eaters, primates who ate fruit had around 25 percent more brain tissue.

Primate brains may have grown larger and more complex thanks to a fruit-filled diet, a new study suggests.

The researchers analyzed the brain sizes and diets of over 140 primate species spanning apes, monkeys, lemurs and lorises and found that those who munched on fruit instead of leaves had 25 percent more brain tissue, even when controlling for body size and species relatedness. Take spider monkeys and howler monkeys, for example. They both live in the rain forests of South America in groups of about 10. But where howler monkeys leisurely munch on trumpet tree leaves all day, spider monkeys venture out in small groups shortly after sunrise to forage for passion fruit and other ripe morsels. Despite their similar environments and social setting, spider monkeys have bigger brains than howlers.

Primates like this baboon may have evolved larger, more complex brains over generations of seeking out fruit rather than sticking to low-calorie leaves. Nature and the Nature Research Journals hide caption

Primates like this baboon may have evolved larger, more complex brains over generations of seeking out fruit rather than sticking to low-calorie leaves.

"If you are foraging on harder-to-access food, like fruit instead of leaves, then you need to have all the cognitive strategies to deal with that," says Alex DeCasien, a doctoral candidate at New York University and lead-author on the study. Fruit can vary from season to season, be tucked away in hard-to-reach nooks, and require skill and strength to crack into, smarter primates could be more apt to scope it out and reap its nutritious rewards. "All of that is so much more complicated than just grabbing a leaf and eating it," she says. And so, a diet of fruit may in turn have led to the evolution of the bigger brains over generations, she adds.

Monkeys and apes who incorporated animal proteins into their diets also had slightly larger brains than the leaf eaters, the Nature Ecology and Evolution study found. Again, the researchers speculate this could be because primates need more cognitive power to hunt and consume things like frogs, birds, and insects compared to the brain power needed to eat leaves. But DeCasien says she and her colleagues were surprised to find that these omnivores have significantly smaller brains than fruit-eaters. They suspect it could be because many of these omnivores, like lemurs and lorises, eat insects. "[Insects] may be abundant like leaves and might be easy to capture," she says.

The findings challenge a long-held scientific hypothesis that the size of social groups among primates is the biggest determinant of brain size. The bigger the social group, the more complex the social interactions, leading to the evolution of larger brains with more computing power, the theory suggests.

Previous studies have shown that larger groups of primates with more complex social structures are correlated with larger brains. In fact, scientists have used that idea called the social brain hypothesis to explain why humans and certain other primates like chimpanzees and bonobos have bigger brains than other primate species. (Now, diet is thought to have played a big role in making human brains bigger than any of our primate cousin's. As we've reported before, scientists think eating cooked meat gave our bodies some extra energy to fuel the building of bigger brains.)

But the authors of the new study compared body size, diet, and social lives (factors like whether they were solitary or lived in pairs, monogamous or polygynous, and the size of their groups) of these various primate species to their average brain sizes. Overall, diet appeared to be a more consistent predictor of brain size for a species than social complexity brain sized increased with fruit eating more consistently than with greater number of social connections.

From left to right: lemur, vervet monkey, baboon, chimpanzee, human (excluded in this study). Nature and the Nature Research Journals hide caption

"This study shows social group size is not a global predictor of brain size," says Stephen Montgomery, a researcher studying brain and behavioral evolution at the University of Cambridge who wasn't involved with the work. He adds that size of social groups don't always correlate with bigger brains. Montgomery says this is because primates are really diverse in behavior and habitat from solitary slow lorises that creep through swamp forests to zippy capuchin monkeys that live in groups nearing 40 members. So while a complex social life might drive one species to evolve bigger brains, another species' brain size might be influenced by other factors, like diet. "As the authors show, one exception may be diet," he says, "which directly relates to the basic currency of any biological system: energy."

But Robin Dunbar, a professor or evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford and creator of the social brain hypothesis isn't entirely convinced by the new findings. Dunbar has researched the social brain hypothesis for two decades but wasn't involved in the new study. "They assume that social group size and diet are two alternative explanations for brain evolution," he told The Salt in an email. "They are not," he says, suggesting that both could contribute together. Also, he adds that group size and social complexity is more of a predictor of the volume of the neocortex, a part of the brain that's responsible for sensory perception, language, cognition and more. In other words, the more complex a social group, the bigger the size of the neocortex, according to previous studies. The authors of the new study should have considered looking more closely at the neocortex, Dunbar suggests.

DeCasien agrees that diet and social lives are probably both at play here. "Diet, social structures, cognitive abilities they're likely to have co-evolved together in primates," DeCasien says. However, she is quick to note that these evolutionary trends take many generations and millions of years to manifest. So don't go looking to eat more fruit because of the new findings sure, they pack a nutritional punch, but it doesn't mean they will make you and I any smarter.

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What Gave Some Primates Bigger Brains? A Fruit-Filled Diet - NPR

What is it: The Sirtfood Diet, created by nutritionists Aidan Goggins and Glen Matten, and a favorite of trainer Pete Geracimo, who has all of his clients Adele and Pippa Middleton included follow the plan.

Who tried it: Julie Mazziotta, PEOPLE Writer/Reporter

Difficulty: 9/10 So. Hungry. (At least for the first three days!)

In between racking up Grammy Awards, recording three hit albums and becoming a mom, Adele has quietly slimmed down with the help of trainer Pete Geracimo. Under his instruction, the singer hits the gym (whether she wants to or not), and follows the Sirtfood Diet, which focuses on about 20 wonderfoods like arugula, celery, cocoa, coffee, red onion and more.

I have no kids and a terrible singing voice, so testing out the diet for myself seemed like my only option to become more like Adele. Plus, dieters are clinically proven to lose 7 lbs. in the first seven days on the program, and Id be A-Okay with that. So I gladly volunteered to try out week one.

Day 0:

Step one, before the diet actually started, was to read through The Sirtfood Diet and make a grocery list. On the first three days of the program I would be slurping down three green juices made up of kale, arugula, ginger, green apple, parsley, lemon and macha powder and just one meal per day. This should have triggered a giant red flag for me, but the meals I did get sounded great miso and sesame-glazed tofu with ginger and chili stir-fried greens, shrimp stir-fry with buckwheat noodles plus after three days you go up to two meals a day, and two green juices. So I happily went off to Whole Foods.

The recipes thankfully are filled with ingredients you can find at any grocery store, anywhere in the country except for one thing: buckwheat. I couldnt find it on my first shopping trip (the only reason why I went to Whole Foods for my groceries in the first place), and it took me another two tries to finally locate the grain (thanks, Chelsea Whole Foods!).

Buckwheat and the other sirtfoods are the focal points of the diet because theyre high in polyphenols a plant-based nutrient that Goggins and Matten say are great for the digestive system.

Polyphenolsactivate a powerful recycling process in the body which clears out cellular waste and burns fat, the duo write in the book. They do this by activating our sirtuin genes also known as our skinny genes. Indeed, these are the very same genes that are activated by fasting and exercise.

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Day 1:

That morning, perfectly content after enjoying my usual three (healthy-ish!) meals the day before, I cracked open my first green juice to start the diet (I will admit here that I cheated a bit from the start I dont have a juicer, nor the space in my apartment to store one, so I bought juices that matched the ingredients inSirtfoodsrecipe from Juice Press and Pressed Juicery in New York City). Pretty good! Ive never been a regular green juice-drinker, but this was enjoyable enough.

I kept sipping throughout the day, and started getting my usual hunger calls around 11 a.m. I have a pretty severe snack addiction, but I at least go for the healthy stuff, like pistachios and granola bars, and this was normally when I get my fix. But I pushed through. Goggins and Matten say that you can eat your one meal at any time of the day, so I decided to go for 4 p.m.

By 1 p.m., I was miserable and starving. The green juice did absolutely nothing to curb my hunger, which makes sense nothing in it has real staying power. I regularly write the What I Eat columns, and I kept thinking about the nutritionists who talk about the need for meals with protein to keep you satisfied, something I was severely lacking. My day piled up, so I somehow didnt actually eat until 5 p.m. Luckily, the meal was DELICIOUS. I went for the aforementioned miso-glazed tofu, and I would make this any day of the week. I even managed to save part of it to eat when I got home from work as a dinner (is it against the rules to split up the one meal? I was too hungry to care).

Day 2:

More green juice. More hunger.

Todays meal was harissa-baked tofu with cauliflower couscous. Im not vegetarian, but Im not a big fan of shrimp, the other option that day. I probably should have gone with it anyway though this meal was a big miss for me. It again lacked anything satisfying, so I was miserable the entire day, particularly when I somberly followed my friends to dinner at Sweetgreen (probably my all-time favorite fast-casual restaurant) that night and sipped the ubiquitous green juice as they munched on salads. Yes, I was jealous of salads.

Day 3:

You guessed it! I had green juice for breakfast.

My meal today was a kale and red onion dal with buckwheat, and WOW. I loved it. I wanted piles of it. But my one portion was surprisingly satisfying I think at this point my appetite had gone down from eating under 1,000 calories a day, plus the dal included plenty of satiating ingredients, like lentils, buckwheat (I found it!) and healthy fat-filled coconut milk. I dont weigh myself, but by day three I was comfortably wearing my tightest pair of skinny jeans, and my normally rounded stomach was much flatter.

The only remaining problem? Im someone who exercises regularly, and hard. I go to CrossFit three times a week, sometimes more, and I run or swim on the other days. With such a low calorie count that wasnt recommended (I emailed Goggins, who said, The mild calorie restriction plus the high intake of sirtuin-activating nutrients is creating a mild stress on our cells which causes sirtuin activity to strongly kick in. Too much exercise just causes too much stress, which could then be detrimental), but I love the head-clearing benefits of exercise. I went to CrossFit that night, and knowing I wanted to go again in the morning for the usual Saturday workout, I hard-boiled two eggs and ate them with Old Bay and drizzled extra-virgin olive oil, my favorite. It was beyond necessary.

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Day 4:

I could finally eat two meals a day hooray! But my tough workout unsurprisingly didnt go well on such little food over the last three days. So with the increase in food on the plan, I decided to switch things up I would go back to eating normally, and just try out the other recipes for the rest of the week. Im stubborn and highly competitive, so it was frustrating to fail at the diet, but I also really, really love food, and skipping one to two meals a day was not worth it to me.

The rest of the week:

The other meals I tried pan-fried salmon with caramelized endive, arugula and celery leaf salad (it also has avocado!); Tuscan bean stew; the sirt super salad; the sirtfood omelet were all similarly fantastic. I want to give a hearty props to Goggins and Matten for crafting recipes that are delicious and filled with normal ingredients plus they were often one-pan meals, which is key for someone without a dishwasher nor a person to do the dishes for you (which Im of course assuming Adele has livin the dream).

The Verdict:

If you are immune to hunger and really enjoy green juices, go for it (and check with your doctor beforehand)! If youre more like me, skip week one, and go straight to week two, when you get to enjoy three full and truly excellent meals a day. And you can still pretend to be Adele.

NOTE: It is recommended that women eat at least 1,200 calories per day, and men eat at least 1,800 calories per day.

More:
We Tried It: Adele's Slimming Sirtfood Diet - PEOPLE.com

Liver fully recovers from a low protein diet Science Daily After five weeks a normal protein diet was reintroduced to the malnourished group, leading to an 85% increase in the total number of uninucleate hepatocytes and a 1.5-fold increase in the volume of the liver. These findings demonstrate the liver's ... and more »

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The ketogenic diet has been quietly developing a cult following online. Maybe you've heard about it, or maybe you haven't. The main thing you need to know about "keto," the popular nickname for the diet, is that it's high-fat, moderate protein, and low-carb. Many people who have tried the diet say the results are unbelievable. It's known to help with more than just weight loss, too, and has been credited to helping with diabetes, Lyme disease, epilepsy, and anxiety.

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If you're interested in trying the diet, here's what you need to know first.

'Cause you can't have 'em! Technically speaking, you will have carbs about 20 grams (of net carbs) per day. The source of these carbs will be vegetables, probably. But the point of this diet is to get your body to stop running on carbs. So prepare to trade in pizza, bread, pasta, and even quinoa for salads, olive oil, avocado, and meat. BUT, before you say, "hell no, I won't go," know that you can have some of your favorites, like bacon, ranch dressing, and even butter.

Wait, is butter a carb? Kidding!

Fat is your new fuel. You're going to need lots of it: roughly 90 grams per day, depending on your body and weight loss goal. Finding sources of good fat isn't too difficult, though just reach for some almonds, macadamia nuts, and avocado.

And forget everything you've heard about fatty foods and don't even think about buying anything that's low-fat; that's the opposite of what you're trying to achieve here.

Think about it: Your body has to adjust to starchy carbs going MIA. You'll probably experience something that people refer to as "keto flu." Basically, when your body is going through the transition into ketosis, you'll feel some flu-like symptomsmostly headaches. But don't worry, it won't last too long.

Bacon will get you through. Of course, having bacon every day isn't a healthy choice, but having it at brunch will make you feel like you're still a human while your friends scarf down waffles, home fries, and toast.

If you think you can just eat keto-friendly foods and that will be all it takes, you're in for a real surprise. The truth is, you have to weigh everything you eat so that you can calculate everything you eat and keep track of your macronutrients. You're going to have daily goals of how much fat, protein, and carbs you should eat, and if you don't reach them, you won't see any results. In fact, if you start stuffing your face with all the bacon and cheese you can get, you might actually gain weight. So don't cut corners.

As part of the diet, you'll have to check for net carbs (total carbs minus dietary fiber) on food labels constantly. It's not really a bad thing, but get ready to be the person who says "there's way too many carbs in that!"

Going out to eat isn't the easiest thing in the world. There are absolutely keto options on almost every menu, but you're always going to be wondering, "what kind of oil was this cooked in?" Or "were these chicken wings breaded?" And nights out drinking with your friends? Be careful. You won't have the tolerance you had before (on the plus side, you'll save money on drinks) and you might not want to drink at all. Why mess up progress with alcohol?

It's hard to explain keto to others. If you want to fully emerge yourself in the diet, you need to a lot about it. And trying to regurgitate all of that info to someone who isn't on keto can be difficult. People will ask you why you want to deprive yourself of carbs, but you just have to keep your mind set on your goals.

I don't just mean your abs which will feel slim and less bloated. If you have stomach issues, like bloating, IBS, or just chronic food comas, you'll feel so much better on keto. You won't eat just to eat, you'll eat to reach your daily intake goals. For a lot of people on keto, they say they don't even feel hungry. Imagine that, being satisfied after your meal? #Goals.

If you feel like none of your friends understand the diet, don't worry about that. Not only can you google all of your burning keto questions, but you can find communities online of other people who are doing the diet. You can share recipes and success stories, struggles, and setbacks. You're never alone.

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Read the original here:
10 Things You Need To Know Before Trying The Ketogenic Diet - Delish

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Night-time urination reduced by cutting salt in diet - Science Daily