In the pantheon of fad diets, there is perhaps none more hated on than gluten-free. And despite how annoying fad dieters are (if I hear one more person order a salad because theyre gluten-free and then ask for croutons), its not unreasonable to want to avoid foods that might possibly be bad for you. But is gluten actually bad for people who dont have a problem with it?

Theres no real evidence that avoiding gluten leads to tangible health benefits, assuming that you dont have celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity. But there also havent been many studies that actually asked that questiontheres just not much information out there. On Thursday we got some preliminary answers...kind of.

People who eat low gluten diets are at a higher risk of getting type 2 diabetes, according to results presented on Thursday at the American Heart Association Meeting. Its crucial to point out here that these researchers werent looking at people on gluten-free diets. The researchers were only studying associations between eating less gluten and getting diabetes. Their study size was massive199,794 peoplebecause they looked at data from three of the largest long-term studies in the United States: the Nurses Health Study, the Nurses Health Study II, and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study. These studies have been following hundreds of thousands of medical professionals for decades, gathering data of all kinds about their lifestyles and overall health, with the intention of understanding more about disease risk. That gives scientists a plethora of data to figure out what lifestyle factors make you more likely to get particular diseases.

When these studies began in the 70s and 80s, though, gluten-free diets werent a thing. They were a thing if you were among the less than one percent of people with celiac disease, but beyond that most people had never even heard the word gluten. So instead the researchers had to estimate gluten intake based on the study participants' answers to questionnaires about their diet, and then look to see how many people who ate low or high gluten diets ended up with type 2 diabetes. These large data sets are perfect for finding significant links between certain lifestyles and diseases.

Theyre not so great at finding causesin that they cannot determine causality at all. For example, the data could tell you that theres a statistically significant link between eating nuts and heart health, but it cant tell you that eating nuts causes a healthier heart. It may be that people who eat nuts tend to exercise more, or that people who eat nuts also eat other foods that are good for the heart. Or maybe nuts really do directly improve your cardiac capabilitieswe just cant tell that from correlational data.

So its not that eating less gluten causes an increased risk of diabetes. Its that eating less gluten is associated with an increased risk. And theres an important confounding factor there: foods that are low in gluten also tend to be low in fiber, and eating fiber found in whole grains decreases your risk of stroke, heart disease, obesity andwait for ittype 2 diabetes. Its possible that gluten intake actually has nothing to do with diabetes risk, its that people who eat less gluten also eat less fiber, and the lack of fiber is whats affecting the likelihood of getting diabetes. We just dont know yet.

If what these researchers found has more to do with fiber intake, then at least this negative outcome of eating less gluten could be mitigated by eating foods high in fiber. There are plenty of gluten-free grains that have high fiber, like quinoa, sorghum, teff, buckwheat, and oats (especially steel-cut ones). Swapping in those grains could help compensate for a lack of wheat, barley, and rye, the three grains people avoiding gluten cannot touch.

But there are other potential problems with eating gluten-free if youre otherwise healthy, many of which come back to the way we make gluten-free substitutes for common bread products.

Because the goal is often to try to create something as close to the gluten-y counterpart as possible, companies use things like processed rice flours, potato and tapioca starch, or other refined grains that can work together to create something resembling white sandwich bread or dinner rolls. Those refined ingredients tend to lack not just fiber, but also iron, folate, vitamin B12, calcium, and other essential vitamins and minerals. Plus, as one 2010 study found that healthy people who went on gluten-free diets had significant changes in their microbiome. Wheat provides about 70 percent of two types of carbohydrates that promote growth of certain helpful kinds of gut bacteriacarbs that many other grains dont have. And again, if youre smart about your diet, you can easily eat a gluten-free diet thats also replete with the right nutrients. Substitute in high fiber, nutritious grains to compensate for the lack of vitamins and fiber. Eat more bananas, onions, and garlic to get those bacteria-promoting carbohydrates. But dont just change your diet without thinking about it.

Its easy to cut out gluten, feel better, and attribute that to the lack of gluten when really what youve done is reduced the amount of junk food you eat. Suddenly you cant eat the cupcakes that your coworker brought in, and that croissant staring at you as you order your coffee is off limits. Youre eating less sugar and fewer simple carbohydrates and wow, you feel so much better! The trouble is that long term youre likely to become deficient in other areas of your diet unless youre careful. Which many fad dieters may not be.

All this means that the upshot is more complicated than all you gluten-free dieters are idiots or see I told you that gluten wasnt bad for you! The upshot is something closer to be thoughtful about your diet. If you think you feel better not eating gluten, dont eat gluten. Whatever. Its frankly boring and obnoxious to sit around bashing other peoples food preferences to make yourself feel superior. Let people eat what they want. Just please take your diet seriously.

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How healthy are low-gluten diets anyway? - Popular Science

Over the course of my life, I have come up with great ideas for novels, only to see them published as I prepare to put pen to paper.

Game of Thrones, 2001, War and Peace, The Bible (King James Version), and now I find it happening again as I sat to write about gluten.

It just so happens that CNN came out with a very detailed article (found here) which does a truly excellent job of going through the whole history of the discovery of its role in celiac sprue, to todays toxin du jour.

I nearly gave up until I realized that most of my readers have fairly short attention spans, meaning that theyd much rather read a few paragraphs here, than an entire article.

So, without further ado, let me explain gluten.

Gluten is a protein found in wheat, rye and barley.

Patients with celiac sprue are now recognized to have an autoimmune disorder. Yes, they are allergic to gluten, but thats not the issue. The issue is that when their body is exposed to gluten, it attacks their intestines as well.

Our intestines are covered in villi which is where all of the absorption of liquids and nutrients occur. People with sprue attack that lining leaving the intestine unable to absorb. This will produce severe diarrhea.

Theres no cure, but, by simply avoiding gluten, these individuals can lead completely normal lives.

Now, Americans are usually loathe to let only a small group of individuals enjoy the notoriety of an uncommon disease. So gluten sensitivity evolved.

Which has created an entirely new line of foods at the grocery store, which proudly display the gluten free sign.

It is literally on everything, including things that one would never have imagined to have gluten anyway, like popcorn, which is made of corn (this is true).

Im waiting to see these labels on things like bleach soon.

It also allows them to be picky at dinner parties, without having to rely on the vegetarian excuse. (Which is a choice, as opposed to having a condition.)

But the real question is how did this come about?

The CNN article says it was started in the 1980s when a paper describing gluten sensitivity emerged. This meant some people suffered GI distress, like bloating, when they ate gluten, but did not have sprue.

I have another theory.

In the 80s and especially the 90s, the Atkins diet was all the rage.

Now, in this particular diet, which I will confess I tried, and lost 20 pounds, you avoid all carbs.

The good news is it really does work. The bad news is that you are constantly in a state of ketosis, meaning you have foul breath, are cranky and have no energy. Its a bad diet.

However, I believe that partly due to its success, variants arose, like the paleo diet, that didnt exclude good carbs, like fruits and vegetables, but left out things like bread.

These diets also work, and you dont have the side effects of the Atkins diet.

Once again, things like bread, were vilified, but now it was because of the fact it contains gluten.

Finally, as alluded to in the CNN article, gluten has now been associated with numerous diseases including schizophrenia and autism.

Because, why not.

After all, those societies that for millennia used wheat as a major component of their diet were all schizophrenic and autistic.

The bottom line is this.

Bread is not a bad food. Gluten, for the overwhelming majority of people, is not bad for you.

Too much bread is bad, because it will make your ass look big in those jeans.

And thats not glutens fault.

So, until next time: Stay Skeptical!

Please sign up for my blog, comment, and like!! Also, dont hesitate to send me ideas for future topics you might like to see.

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Health Care Mythologies - ChicagoNow (blog)

The below was originally posted in a blog on http://www.samkwhitaker.com

Low carb diets are becoming increasingly popular these days.

I'm sure many of you have heard about someone who's tried a low carb diet, maybe you've tried it yourself. It's almost become the trendy thing to do. But why? What's all the fuss about?

I think it partly comes down to our urge to simplify things down to absolutes; yes or no, good or bad, black or white.

With many people beginning to understand that dietary fat isn't the evil it was once thought, something else needs to take it's place.

If popularity is anything to go by, dietary carbohydrates seem to have taken the place of fat to be blamed for the obesity problem. At least in some circles.

So, is cutting out carbs necessary to lose weight?

In short, no.

Can cutting out carbs help you lose weight?

Yes.

Let me explain a little further...

To lose weight, first you need to create an energy imbalance.

Put another way, you need to consume less calories than you burn. Yep, those pesky little things called calories come into it.

Why low carb diets can work

If cutting carbohydrates out of your diet means you inadvertently consume fewer calories, then bingo, you will lose weight.

And in studies that don't tightly control food intake, low carb diets seem to work really well. But it's because they help people reduce their caloric intake, not because carbs are bad, carbs make you fat or anything like that.

The reality is, carbs tend to make up a high % of many peoples diet. So when they're told to cut out carbs, in most cases, it automatically reduces the amount of food they eat and therefore their caloric intake.

Many hyper palatable foods, (foods that are so deliciously awesome you struggle to stop eating them), are high in carbohydrates. So cutting out carbs will remove many of these hyper palatable foods from your diet. Therefore, reducing the chance of you overeating many deliciously awesome foods. The power of protein

A side effect of ditching carbs is that it tends to increase someones protein intake by limiting food choices. Which is another reason why in free living studies low carb diets do so well.

Increasing your protein intake can cause you to eat less without realising. This is because protein fills you up more than any other nutrient. So if you can maintain this way of eating for an extended period of time you'll likely be successful in reaching your weight loss goals. And it might be a really good approach for you to take.

Where low carb diets go wrong

However, if you find it difficult to stick to a low carb diet, for whatever reason, long term success will be hampered.

If you feel restricted or deprived by limiting your food choices to low carb options only, then you're less likely to be able to maintain this way of eating long enough to benefit from the reduced caloric intake.

A flaw that's common in people that fanatically promote a low carb approach, is that they think carbs are the single cause of weight gain. And keeping carbs in the diet will prevent weight loss.

If someone holds this belief, it's not unusual for them to completely overlook & disregard the role calories play. Combine this belief with the increased hunger that's inevitable on any diet, then it's easy to see how they might start eating more.

The disappearing advantage

So the low carb diet that helped them eat fewer calories to start with, turns into a low carb diet that no longer helps them eat fewer calories.

The advantage gained from cutting out carbs just vanished.

So while cutting out carbs can be a viable option to lose weight, just know that it won't always work out in the long run. It might do, but it's not a guarantee. Or a necessity.

With all that said, if you want to lose weight, the chances are you'll probably have to reduce your carbohydrate intake. But doing so is just a method of reducing your caloric intake.

As I mentioned above, many people's diets are comprised of a high % of carbohydrates. So it's almost by default that you'd reduce your carbohydrate intake, as a way to reduce your caloric intake.

(Please note the use of the word reduce rather than cut out.)

The calories need to be reduced from somewhere. And considering the advantages on satiety protein has, (among others), it probably shouldn't come from protein.

That leaves carbs & fat to reduce calories from. So it should be left to personal preference, the individuals situation, goals etc whether or not a low carb approach is a good choice.

Why am I telling you this?

I want to help you realise that carbs aren't the devil. They're not the primary cause of weight gain and you don't have to cut out all the carbs from your diet.

Viewed with the belief that carbs are to blame for the obesity problem, it's easy to run into trouble on your weight loss journey. And I want to help you along that journey with as few bumps in the road as possible.

If you believe dietary carbohydrates are the single reason you're overweight, and all you need to do to is cut them out, you're completely disregarding what really matters - calorie balance. Without being aware of the role calories play in weight loss, you could be left confused & frustrated you're not making progress.

Just to clarify, food quality does matter, I'm not saying calories are all that matter. But you need to understand that calorie balance needs to be taken into account, or you'll hit a roadblock.

The above was originally posted in a blog on http://www.samkwhitaker.com

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Low Carb Diets - Do You Really Need To Cut Out Carbs To Lose ... - Huffington Post UK

March begins wildcrafting season, when greens from natures salad bowl are tender and tasty, said University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein.

Spring greens from the woods can add nutrition and flavor to your diet.

March begins wildcrafting season, when greens from natures salad bowl are tender and tasty, said University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein.

Wildcrafting, the gathering of plants from the natural or wild habitat, is a throwback to our early ancestors who were hunters and gatherers. Their winter diets lacked the diversity of fresh produce enjoyed today. Therefore, when spring arrived, they combed the woods for wild edibles to add flavor and nutrition to their meals.

Trinklein cautions new wildcrafters to study plant identities before they begin.

The cardinal rule to remember when hunting wild greens is to be certain to know what you are gathering, he said. If in doubt about the identity of a plant, definitely pass it by.

Trinklein recommends the Missouri Department of Conservations book Missouri Wildflowers by Edgar Dennison as a reference to identify plants. He added that beginners benefit from going with seasoned wildcrafters until they learn what plants can be eaten safely.

Avoid roadside hunting, Trinklein said. Roadside plants may contain residue from vehicle exhaust or pesticides from adjoining cropland. Wash all plants at least twice after gathering, changing the water each time. Check for insects and debris. Eat small amounts when trying a new plant, he suggests, to avoid possible allergic reactions.

Prepare wildcrafted greens by putting them in a saucepan with a little water and salt. Cook until tender, but do not overcook. Mix bitter plants with sweeter ones. Add pan drippings, vinegar or lemon juice to taste. Drain water before serving. A common working mans diet in the past included soup beans, fried potatoes, cornbread, raw onions and wild greens.

Trinklein recommends the following common Missouri plants for wildcrafting:

Cutleaf toothwort (also known as crows foot). This low-growing plant is found in woodlands and on wooded slopes. It bears five narrow, deeply lobed leaves that look like the toes on the foot of a crow. The leaves are edible, but cutleaf toothwort is prized for its rhizomes. Their spicy, radish-like flavor livens up salads. Some ferment toothwort to sweeten it; others boil it.

Dandelion. Gardeners hate them; wildcrafters love them. Dandelions are rich in vitamin A and iron. Their flavor peaks during March and April. To gather, cut off the whole crown close to the soil, pluck out the flower stem and sort out any trash or debris.

Lambsquarter. This later-producing green, also known as wild spinach, is high in vitamins and minerals. Its oval- to lance-shaped light green leaves fare well throughout the summer. Pinch off young plants just above the ground and use the entire plant, or harvest just the leaves.

Nettle. Known for its unsocial behavior, stinging nettle is a popular source of springtime fare. It bears egg to oblong-shaped leaves with a heart-like base and toothed, bristly margins. Wear gloves to gather this green. Nettle tastes best in the early spring. It loses its bristly margins when boiled and tastes like spinach.

Shepherds purse. Named because of the shape of its seed pods, it springs to life from a prostrate rosette of deeply cut, lance-shaped leaves. It has long been used to pep up the taste of less savory greens like lambsquarter. Use it raw in tossed salads. Legend has it that old-time raftsmen floated downstream in great flotillas of logs to gather shepherds purse from riverbanks because of its pepper-like taste, Trinklein said.

Watercress. Related to mustard and radish, watercress floats on the surface of ponds, pasture creeks and cold springs. Its bright green leaves taste best April to June. Its pungent taste works well as a salad or meat garnish. Its high ascorbic acid content, along with other vitamins and minerals, made it a favorite with early pioneers to prevent scurvy.

Wild lettuce. This plant grows in lowland pastures and along stream banks. It becomes bitter after early April, so enjoy it in March and early April. Its smooth, deeply lobed, light-green leaves set it apart. When broken, the leaves produce a sticky, milk-like sap. Eat it raw or as wilted lettuce salad.

Winter cress. Called creasies in days gone by, it grows in fields, gardens and waste places. It is a superb potherb picked and enjoyed by generations, Trinklein said. Mature winter cress becomes bitter, so gather early in spring.

Trinklein also reminds wildcrafters that pokeweed is not on the list of recommended plants. Relished as poke salid in the past, its toxic compounds make it unsafe for consumption.

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MU Extension: Go wild, go green with wildcrafting this spring - Hannibal.net

Great Raft Brewing donates "spent grains" to Mahaffey Farms to feed livestock. Tiana Kennell/The Times

Jonathan Tolar at work at Great Raft Brewery.(Photo: Henrietta Wildsmith / The Times)Buy Photo

Local establishments are mixing business with apassion forpreserving the environment and giving back to thecommunity.

It begins with realizing there is a problem and resolving to find a solution.

Don OByrne, owner of Don Juanz Baja Beach Tacos, was unnerved by the lack of mandated environmental practices in the local restaurant industry. Sohe decided to enforce his own standards forrecycling and proper waste disposal training at his restaurants in Shreveport-Bossier City.

I know a lot of restaurateurs, including myself, who love to talk about how we source locally, source sustainably, that we manage fresh food and how we want the finest and freshest ingredients. But you dont hear a lot of guys talking about, Hey, heres what were trying to do to help the environment so that we can continue serving this clean, wholesome, fresh food, OByrne said. If we dont have a clean earth, we arent going to have any good, local or sustainable food.

Don O'Bryne, owner of Don Juanz Baja Beach Tacos, finds ways to recycle waste at his Shreveport-Bossier City restaurants.(Photo: Tiana Kennell/The Times)

Meanwhile, local microbrewery Great Raft Brewing has forged a relationship with Bossier Parishs Mahaffey Farms and other local farmersto remedy a unique problem for both parties. Instead of tossingused grains left from making a batch of beer, Great Raft donates themto feed their livestock.

Local farmers save money on feedand it helps us quickly and safely dispose of the grain that would turn pretty nasty in a few days, said Andrew Nations, president/owner of Great Raft Brewing in Shreveport. Its a great way for both of us to get the most out of our raw materials.

The environmentally-friendly practices are examples of what can be done to make a positive economically and ecological impact on a community. And the recycling trailblazers have found unique ways to unify their personal passion and business tactics to make itworthwhile.

What theyre doing and why:

Recycling is an old habit OByrne instillsin his staff at his two restaurants. Its a habit learned at home from his wife, Amy, he said.

NEW:Popular juice bar says so long Bossier, hello Highland

"It came down to just the bare facts of, 'Let's do something good for our environment,'" O'Byrne said.

Its a personal passion for him, but it became a business matter. OByrne, who opened his first Don Juanz ten years ago in Bossier City, realized early on that his restaurant produced a substantial amount of waste daily.OByrne was determined to decrease his ecological footprint, he said.

After learning the average restaurant meal produces 1.5 poundsof wasteand95 percent of restaurant waste could be diverted from the landfill with proper systems in place, we felt a need to create a change in the local dining culture, OByrne said.

Great Raft Brewings production warehouse and tap room opened more than three years ago in Shreveport. They now distribute to retail stores, restaurants and bars regionally.

Evan McCommon from Mahaffey Farms collects the spent grain from Great Raft Brewery that he then uses as part of his livestock diet. (Photo: Henrietta Wildsmith / The Times)

Each batch of beer brewed uses approximately 1,500 pounds of high quality malted barley, Nations said. After it has run its course, the spent grain leftover from the malted barley can no longer used by the microbrewery, but it still has value.

Once the color and sugar is removed in the brewing process, the grains are removed and no longer needed, Nations said. This spent grain still has nutritional value and can be recycled beyond the brewing process.

There is no alcohol in the grains.

The barley that Great Raft uses in making it's beer. (Photo: Henrietta Wildsmith / The Times)

Since 2013, Great Raft has opted to donate the spent grains to a few local farmers to feed to their livestock instead of sending it to a landfill.

Farmers pick up grain several times a week totaling in roughly 12,000 poundsof spent grain, Nations said. This year we will generate over 600,000 poundsof spent grain going directly to local farmers.

How it makes a difference:

Evan McCommon of Mahaffey Farms makes three to four trips to Great Raft to pick up two to four tons of the spent grain per week. He then transports the large bins to his Princeton farm and distributes it to a portion of his cattle, pigs and laying hens.

Mahaffey Farms is a regenerative farm with a focus on building soil and biodiversity to regenerate our land and produce nutrient dense, wholesome, foods, McCommon said.

Evan McCommon, owner of Mahaffey Farms, picks spent grain from Great Raft Brewing to fed his livestock.(Photo: Tiana Kennell/The Times)

Although Mahaffey Farms cattle are grass-fed, it isnt always enough for the livestocks diet. Due to the change in genetics over the years, McCommon said some cows have problems gaining weight on a grass-only diet or with producing milk. The spent grain, which is rich in protein and fiber, acts as a supplement so the animals can recover and become healthy.

Out of our 150 head of grass fed cattle we probably have about 20 to 30 that are getting the protein supplement from the grains for recovery, McCommon said. At any given time during the summer, we give the grains at a rate of about 10 to 15 percent of the daily ration to our pigs and laying hens. Its a nice filler and saves us a few percentage points in feed costs.

A worker at Mahaffey Farms transports spent grains from Great Raft Brewing to livestock in need of protein supplements.(Photo: Tiana Kennell/The Times)

Its a well-worth the effort of transporting, as it saves the farming company about 3percent off the bottom line, McCommon said, and makes the livestock healthier.

Its a really wonderful use of a waste product from another industry, McCommon said. The grains used from Great Raft are all non-GMO, so for me as an ecologically conscious farmer, Im trying to pay attention to what goes into my animals and what ultimately comes out of my product.

OByrne ends up paying more money than saving in order to recycle to the extent he desires.

Recycling isnt mandated for restaurants, he said, but he chooses to pay extra to have recycling receptacles at his Bossier City restaurant, as well as his second location that opened in Shreveport earlier this year.

Don O'Bryne, owner of Don Juanz Baja Beach Tacos, finds ways to recycle waste at his Shreveport-Bossier City restaurants.(Photo: Tiana Kennell/The Times)

He pays an additional $54 a month, per location, to have a cardboard recycling bin behind his restaurant. A plastic recycling container costs on average $45-$55 per month to use, he said.

To properly recycle oil and grease, he pays about $45 per month to have bins to dump used oil. The oil is then processed and reused for oil-based products, such as machine oils and lubricants, cleaners and soap.

And a recycling company from Dallas picks up Styrofoam products with the price varying $50-$60, depending on amount collected and how many stops the company makes in the area, he said.

He doesnt make any money on recycling, he said, but the costs of the bins of adding a team member to his staff to oversee recycling preparations are worth the costs.

Most people choose not to just because its an extra cost just to say youre recycling. But its something we believe in, OByrne said.

Leading by example:

The decisions made by the visionaries have a ripple effect beginning with benefits to the company and going further to impact their communities and further. But its an effort OByrne wants more people to be a part of, including local and state government.

Theres nothing set up yet as for the city as far as business entities go," he said. "Unless theres an outside corporation thats already set up to recycle, smaller, privately-owned businesses probably arent recycling like they could.

The City of Shreveport supplies blue recycling bins for residential homes, but not businesses, he said.

Don O'Byrne, owner of Don Juanz Baja Beach Tacos, shares his recycling methods and ideas to protect the environment and food sources. Tiana Kennell/The Times

Besides the saving the environment, recycling can benefit multiple parties, OByrne said. A city mandating recycling could make money by working with recycling companies and renting out receptacles to the businesses, he said. Also, recycling practices could make the city more marketable to companies and agencies considering coming to the area.

"It's a loophole that's just overlooked. If I wasn't in the taco business, I'd be in the recycling business because I believe there's a big opportunity for it here," he said. "It's already in place in most major cities and mandatory in some major cities, as well."

But these OByrne and some other local business leaders arent waiting for change from outside parties, they are taking it upon themselves to make the change.

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Turning plastic, grease and beer mash into cash - Shreveport Times

Professional athletes dont get to the top by accident. It takes superhuman levels of time, dedication, and focusand that includes paying attention to what they put in their bellies. In this series, GQ takes a look at what athletes in different sports eat on a daily basis to perform at their best. Heres a look at the steadfast daily diet of San Antonio Spurs star Kawhi Leonard, who swears by high-alkaline waters.

Kawhi Leonard is typically a man of few words, which actually makes him the perfect star to lead a postTim Duncan Spurs team. (And now hes even getting some MVP contention.) Also fitting: His diet mirrors that same no-nonsense attitude. Grill up some chicken, toss in some vegetables, and youre good to go! Dont make it any harder than it needs to be. Kawhis only real concern: making sure he doesnt have to rush off to the bathroom during a TV timeout.

GQ: Im catching you right in the midst of an eight-game road trip. How hard is it to keep a consistent diet when youre away from home and in a different city every night? Kawhi Leonard: You definitely have to be focused in on it, but its difficult trying to eat something thats good for you on the road. We usually have a nutritionist who will let us know what we should eat and what we shouldnt eat from the hotel menus. She looks all of that over for us throughout the whole year.

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Thats an incredible resource to have. So what is your usual go-to meal when you land in a new city? I just try to stay away from beef and pork. Ill try to get something like grilled chicken or fish. Something like that with some vegetables.

I know that there are some athletes who travel a lot who rely on places like Chipotle or Subway when theyre on the road. Is there somewhere like that youll go if you need a quick meal? I try to go to hole-in-the-wall sandwich places if I do need something quick. Someplace fresh and healthy, like a juice bar. There arent really any household names that I go to.

More local establishments? Mhmm. Exactly.

You always get a better feel for whatever city youre in when you go that route. Yeah, for sure. You could go to Subway anywhere, even in your own hometown.

When you are in San Antonio and you have more options around you, do you have a routine that youre into? Or are you a guy who will eat whatever you feel like eating on any given day? I pretty much keep it free when it comes to that. I dont eat the same meal or at the same time every single day. You get tired of that real quick. I just try to make sure whatever Im eating is fresh and clean and good for my body. Thats about it.

A few years back, I actually had some of the most insanely delicious pancakes of my life in San Antonio. Those probably dont fall into the category of fresh and clean and good for my body, though. Nah. I rarely eat breakfast because of our schedule, actually. If I do, though, Ill try to do an egg-white omelet with some bell peppers and mushrooms. Maybe a side of a bunch of different fruits.

Playing for the Spurs, youre typically making pretty deep runs into the playoffs. You tend to have a longer season than some other teams in the league. Does that force you to make any changes to your diet the deeper into the season it gets? It depends. As the season goes on into the playoffs, sometimes you do lose a little bit more weight. I usually just try to see where my weight is at and either add more vegetables or proteins to my meals to get my weight where I want it to be.

The Spurs are pretty renowned in every aspect as an organization. Have you picked up any tips from the staff members or the nutritionists you work with that have helped out your career? You know, theres definitely a big difference from college into the league. Being in college, you dont have the money to even get organic foods or eat only organic vegetables, organic drinks. You really just go with what you have in front of you. And the college I was at, we were a mid-major, so we didnt really have all the perks and stuff like that other teams might have. We ended up eating a lot of fast food. Obviously, the NBA is different. This is a professional job, and they want you to play at your highest level. So Ive learned a ton being with the Spurs just about basic nutrition.

Was that a tough transition, going from college to the league? It was actually pretty easy, because I really didnt enjoy eating fast food, especially as I got older. It just didnt taste good to me. Ive always liked home-cooked meals. And my mom moved to San Antonio my rookie year and would cook for me, so it was an easy transition.

Theres nothing like mom cooking you a good meal, right? Nothing. Plus, I wanted to better my eating habits before I even got drafted. That summer, there was a lockout, so I had a long time to get everything situated. It was like a four- or five-month wait until I was actually able to be seen by the Spurs. So learning throughout that entire time about good eating habits was a key.

As someone who used to play basketball, Ive always been interested by whether or not professional players eat right before a game. I was the type of player who was sort of superstitious about it. I didnt like to eat anything within two hours before a game. Then I had teammates chowing down on something right before warm-ups. Where do you fall in that spectrum? I definitely dont like to eat a lot before I play. I dont like to play on a full stomach. Sometimes, if Im feeling hungry before a game, Ill eat one of those protein bars, but thats it.

Something thatll give you energy but doesnt weigh you down? Exactly.

That was always the big thing for me. Theres nothing worse than when youre running up and down and jumping and you feel like there is something in your stomach. Yeah, you got guys in the locker room who will be eating a whole sandwich or something. They want to feel heavy or something, I guess.

Nope, not for me. I wasnt trying to go to the bathroom during the second quarter. Like, youve got other things to be worried about out there. I never wanted to feel like I had to shit my pants. Yeah, I definitely understand that.

One last question, just so were not leaving people with that mental image: Now that youre a veteran in the league, do you have any advice, nutrition-wise, for the young kids preparing to make the jump from college ball to the NBA? Id just tell them to try to eat more fresh and natural foods. Eat organic products. Also, watch the type of water youre drinking. Not all water is great for you. I drink a lot of water during the day, but I stay away from certain waters because their pH levels are low. Stick to alkaline waters with a higher pH. Trust me.

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The Real-Life Diet of Kawhi Leonard - GQ Magazine

People who ate least amount of this protein slightly more likely to develop type 2 disease, study suggests

By Amy Norton

HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, March 9, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- "Gluten-free" may be the latest diet fad, but new research casts some doubt on its presumed health benefits.

In a large study of U.S. health professionals, scientists found that those with the least gluten in their diets actually had a slightly higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes over a few decades.

The findings do not prove that a low-gluten diet somehow contributes to diabetes. But the study raises questions about the long-term benefits of avoiding gluten, which many people assume to be a healthy move.

Some people -- namely, those with the digestive disorder celiac disease -- do have to shun gluten, said lead researcher Geng Zong.

But there is little research on whether other people stand to gain from going gluten-free, said Zong. He is a research fellow in nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, in Boston.

That's a big evidence gap, according to Zong -- given the popularity and expense of gluten-free foods.

Gluten is a protein found in grains such as wheat, rye and barley. Gluten-free diets are a must for people with celiac disease -- an autoimmune disorder in which gluten-containing foods cause the immune system to attack the small intestine.

But gluten-free, or at least gluten-light, diets have caught on as a way for anyone to lose weight and improve their health.

One recent study found that the number of Americans who say they've gone gluten-free tripled between 2009 and 2014.

The new findings are based on nearly 200,000 U.S. health professionals whose health and lifestyle habits were followed over three decades.

The low-gluten fad did not exist when the study period began, in the 1980s, Zong pointed out. But participants' gluten intake naturally varied, based on how often they ate foods like bread, cereal and pasta.

Over 30 years, just under 16,000 study participants developed type 2 diabetes -- a disease in which blood sugar levels are persistently too high. Obesity is one of the major risk factors.

When Zong's team looked at people's gluten intake, the investigators found study participants who ate the least of it actually had a somewhat higher risk of developing diabetes over time.

Most people consumed no more than 12 grams of gluten each day, with the average being 6 to 7 grams. Those in the top 20 percent for gluten intake were 13 percent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes, versus those in the bottom 20 percent -- who typically ate fewer than 4 grams of gluten each day, the findings showed.

Zong's team did try to account for other factors, including people's exercise habits, weight, typical calorie intake and family history of diabetes.

However, lower gluten intake was still tied to a higher type 2 diabetes risk.

Zong was scheduled to present the findings Thursday at a meeting of the American Heart Association, in Portland, Ore.

The study does not prove that limiting gluten somehow causes diabetes, according to Lauri Wright, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Even though the researchers weighed other factors, she said it's still possible that people at heightened risk of diabetes tried to avoid the types of food that often contain gluten.

Wright, who was not involved in the study, is also director of the doctorate in clinical nutrition program at the University of North Florida, in Jacksonville.

The bottom line, according to Wright, is this: Unless you have celiac disease, focusing on the quality of your carbohydrates -- rather than gluten avoidance -- is the way to go.

Wright advised eating vegetables, fruit and fiber-rich whole grains, as opposed to refined carbohydrates.

"But be aware of the portion sizes, and be careful about what you add," Wright said. Cream sauces and butter, she noted, are examples of "additions" that can thwart your good intentions.

One concern with going low-gluten is that it could cut out major sources of dietary fiber -- which, research suggests, helps ward off type 2 diabetes and other chronic ills.

In this study, people with low gluten intakes did eat less grain-based fiber. And that seemed to partly account for their higher diabetes risk, Zong said.

He agreed that it's important to focus on eating a range of nutrient-rich whole foods, rather than obsessing over gluten.

Research presented at medical meetings should be viewed as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.

WebMD News from HealthDay

SOURCES: Geng Zong, Ph.D., research fellow, department of nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston; Lauri Wright, Ph.D., R.D.N., spokesperson, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, and director, doctorate in clinical nutrition program, University of North Florida, Jacksonville; March 9, 2017 presentation, American Heart Association Epidemiology and Prevention/Lifestyle and Cardiometabolic Health 2017 Scientific Sessions, Portland, Ore.

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Downside to Gluten-Free Diets: Diabetes Risk? - WebMD