February 22, 2017

An international clinical trial conducted by the University of Liverpool has shown that the drug liraglutide 3.0 mg may reduce diabetes risk by 80% in individuals with obesity and prediabetes according to a study published today in The Lancet.

This three-year SCALE obesity and prediabetes trial followed 2254 adults with prediabetes at 191 research sites in 27 countries worldwide. The aim was to evaluate whether liraglutide 3.0 mg can safely delay the onset of type 2 diabetes in participants with prediabetes.

Prediabetes, also commonly referred to as borderline diabetes, is a metabolic condition and growing global problem that is closely tied to obesity. If undiagnosed or untreated, prediabetes can develop into type 2 diabetes; which whilst treatable is currently not fully reversible.

Significant health cost

In the UK 1 in 10 of the population have prediabetes. The associated health care cost to the economy is significant. These individuals are at risk of a range of conditions that can affect their overall health including type 2 diabetes and its complications as well as cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Liraglutide promotes weight loss by interacting with the areas of the brain that control appetite and energy intake.

The participants in the study, which was conducted at University Hospital Aintree, were randomly allocated to either liraglutide 3.0 mg or a placebo delivered by injection under the skin once daily for 160 weeks. They were also placed on a reduced calorie diet and advised to increase their physical activity.

The study showed that three years of continuous treatment with once-daily liraglutide 3.0 mg, in combination with diet and increased physical activity, reduces the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 80% and results in greater sustained weight loss compared to the placebo.

New therapeutic approach

Professor John Wilding, Professor of Medicine at the University of Liverpool and Honorary Consultant Physician is an obesity specialist was an investigator in the trial and an author of this study.

Professor Wilding, said: "In this study, we wanted to see if this drug in combination with a reduced-calorie diet and lifestyle intervention could delay the onset of type 2 diabetes in a high-risk population with obesity and prediabetes.

"On the basis of our findings, liraglutide 3.0 mg can provide us with a new therapeutic approach for patients with obesity and prediabetes to substantially reduce their risk of developing type 2 diabetes and its related complications.

"As healthcare professionals, it is important that we can offer a treatment to our type 2 diabetes patients that we are confident will achieve results in the real-world that are consistent with the results of the clinical trial programme."

The study is a continuation of work started by Professor Wilding in 1996 when he was working at the Hammersmith Hospital in London, and was part of the team that first showed that the hormone GLP-1, on which liraglutide is based, was involved in the control of food intake. Professor Wilding adds "It is very exciting to see a laboratory observation translated into a medicine that has the potential to help so many people, even though it has taken over 20 years."

Explore further: Liraglutide may help nondiabetic overweight and obese adults lose weight and lower risks

More information: '3 years' of liraglutide versus placebo for type 2 diabetes risk reduction and weight management in individuals with prediabetes: a randomised, double-blind trial', dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30069-7

Journal reference: The Lancet

Provided by: University of Liverpool

For people with prediabetes who are overweight or obese, adding 3.0 mg of liraglutide for three years to a diet and exercise plan may lead to major health improvements, new industry-sponsored research suggests. The results ...

Nondiabetic obese and overweight people lose more weight, are more likely to reverse prediabetes and are slower to develop type 2 diabetes when they take the diabetes drug liraglutide in addition to dieting and exercising, ...

Among overweight and obese patients with type 2 diabetes, daily injection of the diabetes drug liraglutide with a modified insulin pen device, in addition to diet and exercise, resulted in greater weight loss over 56 weeks ...

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New approach to reduce risk of developing type 2 diabetes trialled in Liverpool - Medical Xpress

Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (press release)

Giant Panda Bao Bao Departs Smithsonian's National Zoo for China Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (press release) Bao Bao received her morning diet of 17 pounds (8 kilograms) of bamboo and 5.4 (150 grams) leafeater biscuits and spent time in her outdoor habitat. Already acclimated from daily training, keepers Marty Dearie and Laurie Thompson called Bao Bao back ... and more »

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Giant Panda Bao Bao Departs Smithsonian's National Zoo for China - Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (press release)

You've heard of low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets like the Atkins diet and Paleo diet. These and other so-called ketogenic diets are gaining in popularity due to their effectiveness, but do you know what, exactly, they do in your body to trigger weight loss?

In a standard carb-loaded American diet, the body burns glucose from carbohydrates as an energy source in a process called glycosis. But when you limit your carbs and increase your fat intake, your body moves into a metabolic state of ketosis, meaning that its burning fat stored in your body instead of glucose, according to Web MD. Ketosis also drastically reduces blood sugar and insulin resistance.

As Dr. Eric Westman, director of the Lifestyle Medicine Clinic at Duke University, told Time Magazine, "You determine what your body burns for fuel based on what you feed it.

Ketogenic diets have been used to treat pediatric epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and cancer. (Photo: Elena Shashkina/Shutterstock)

A ketogenic diet has been used for almost 100 years to treat pediatric epilepsy, Scientific American reports, because a ketogenic diet mimics fasting, which has long been known to have a therapeutic effect on seizures. Similar to a state of ketosis, the body also burns fat for energy during fasts. Usually, a pediatric ketogenic diet starts with 24 hours of fasting in a hospital setting, where doctors can monitor frequency of seizures, medication, and help educate the parents on the ins and outs of the diet.

Ketogenic diets may very well be able to delay symptoms of neurodegenerative diseases and even reverse them completely. Dr. Terry Wahls, whose lecture Minding your Mitochondria went viral a few years ago, summarily reversed the progression of her secondary progressive multiple sclerosis, following a Paleo ketogenic diet.

Dominic DAgostino, a Ph.D. and associate professor at University of San Francisco, recently told Mens Fitness that a ketogenic diet also could be the key to beating cancer. We think the majority of cancers could be metabolically managed through nutritional ketosis, either as a stand-alone pill or an adjunct to standard care, he said.

No matter what your reason is for considering a ketogenic diet, you should know that getting started may be a little rough on your body.

A true ketogenic diet can be hard to maintain, so do it under the care of a doctor or nutritionist to make sure you're getting adequate nutrition. (Photo: Elena Shashkina/Shutterstock)

Following a ketogenic diet is no small feat, because in order to start it, you have to go off carbohydrates almost entirely. Your body feels deprived. Its what many call a low-carb flu. But after you get through this initial roadblock, many report feeling sharper than before and more energized.

So what exactly can you eat on a ketogenic diet? Some options are below:

A true ketogenic diet can be hard to maintain, since carbohydrates from sugar in something as inconsequential as toothpaste or cookie crumbs can send your body back into glycosis.

If you want try a ketogenic diet, do it under the care of a doctor or nutritionist to make sure youre getting adequate nutrition. And though it may be difficult in the beginning, dont give up. The Mens Fitness article says that leading Boston College cancer researcher Thomas Seyfried, M.D., believes that a ketogenic diet is therapeutically even more valuable in fighting cancer than chemo.

A bold yet heartening statement.

See the article here:
What is a ketogenic diet? - Mother Nature Network

Its important to me that you know this isnt a diet book, writes author Jessica Murnane in her introduction to her cookbook, One Part Plant (Harper Wave, $27.99).

Murnanes book, instead, is what all cookbooks should be, a collection of enjoyable recipes meant to get you in the kitchen. Except thats not 100 percent true, because Murnane does have a bit of an agenda: She wants you to eat better, one plant at a time.

Her book, as its title suggests, advocates for a plant-based diet, but don't let that description deter you from cracking the spine. The book is not about what you cant eat, says Murnane, who will be in Chicago in March to promote the book. Im trying to get people to try something different, not deprive them of anything.

This approach is gaining her a lot of praise, not least of which from Lena Dunham, creator of the hit series Girls." In her foreword to One Part Plant, Dunham goes so far as to say the book will change your life.

Thats a high mark for a first-time cookbook author, but Murnane takes it in stride. Im not trying to shame anyone, she says. Im not here telling people to quit cheese forever just maybe eat more vegetables.

Murnane is the first to tell you that up until a few years ago, she wasnt really that into food or healthy eating, whatever that meant. As she writes on her website, her major food groups were Sour Patch Kids, Diet Coke, and Whatever Lean Cuisine Had the Most Cheese.

But then she was diagnosed with endometriosis, a painful reproductive system disorder that has few treatment options and no cures (Dunham also has it). In fact, it took a number of doctors to successfully determine the cause of her debilitating pain. After a number of surgeries and a cocktail of painkillers, therapy, yoga and even alternative medicines, she was faced with the possibility of a hysterectomy.

I thought that the surgery was my only option, she says, but then a friend shared with me a website explaining that a plant-based diet could help with the pain from endo. Murnane is quick to note that you should consult your doctors regarding treatment, but for her, the idea of surgery was daunting. All other options exhausted, she decided to try changing her diet before settling for the surgery.

At first, it was tough going. I was so mad and angry, like something was being taken away from me my first meal was a tortilla with salsa on it, and steamed vegetables. I thought, I think the hysterectomy would be easier. But Murnane stuck with the diet, skipping takeout and cutting out inflammation-causing foods, plus cooking for herself. And then she started to feel better, but not without some struggle.

When I started cooking, finding recipes was tough something easy that didnt take three hours to make and 10 minutes to eat, she recalls. Not finding any plant-based solutions in existing diet books everything was so restrictive, and no one likes to be told you cant eat this, dont eat that she set out to create her own recipes, while also obtaining a certification in plant-based nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Foundation.

Food should be nurturing, she says. You see people drinking kale smoothies, and you beat yourself up because maybe youll never be like them. That doesnt make dieting easier or fun. Thats the crux of her book: Changing a diet doesnt have to be all or nothing. It can come one meal, or one plant at a time.She personally doesnt identify as vegan (she still eats honey), but Murnane does avoid gluten, which can trigger pain and inflammation for sufferers of endometriosis. Going gluten-free isnt the answer for everyone, either, she notes.

The book itself is vibrant dishes pop off the page. The variety of foods, too, is impressive. Its not just salads here. Murnanes tacos (made with creamy butternut squash and lentils) look worthy of any taqueria, while her mushroom-spinach lasagna is so hearty and filling, youd never believe it didnt have cheese the creamy component is actually a surprisingly smooth and savory cashew sauce. A tomato-white bean panzanella (with bread!) is bright with smashed garlic but comes together in just a few minutes. Same goes for her roasted potato, corn and leek chowder, a hearty, comforting soup with only eight common ingredients. A dessert section features everything from a neon-red granita by fellow cookbook author and friend Julia Turshen, to chocolate chip cookies and a triple berry skillet cobbler.

Perhaps most impressively, none of the recipes look outright healthy in the way that many so-called diet books do. Theres no hit-you-over-the-head selling of a lifestyle, even as Murnane is the embodiment of a plant-based life by necessity. But ultimately, shes not here to convert you just encourage you to try going one part plant, one meal at a time.

(The book) is about more than just Meatless Monday, says Murnane. People hate Mondays already, and then youre going to tell them what they cant eat? Yeah, no.

Murnane, a former Chicagoan, is making a few stops in her old stomping grounds as part of herbook tour. She's partnered with local restaurants for plant-based promotions, including Do-Rite Donuts (223 E. Erie St.) for a 100 percent plant-based doughnut, available March 6-10,and Lula Cafe for a farm dinner March 6. Murnane will sign books at Foodease in the Water Tower Place, time to be determined, March 7. On March 8, she is hosting a party and book signing at Gather Home, 6-8 p.m. (2321 W. North Ave.). Email hola@onepartplant.com to RSVP. Visitonepartplant.com for more details.

jbhernandez@chicagotribune.com Twitter@joeybear85

Creamy mushroom lasagna

Makes: 8 servings

From "One Part Plant" by Jessica Murnane, who writes that she has enjoyed many pans of lasagna that sub vegetables for noodles, but for her, lasagna must have noodles.

Olive, grape seed, or coconut oil, or veggie broth for sauteing

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 pound mushrooms, chopped (you can use a mix of different mushrooms)

1 tablespoon tamari or coconut aminos

1 teaspoon dried thyme

3/4 cup raw cashews, soaked for a few hours (overnight is best), drained

1 cup veggie broth

2 big handfuls spinach

10 ounces gluten-free lasagna noodles (I love Tinkyadas brown rice pasta)

4 cups marinara sauce, store-bought (a 32-ounce jar) or homemade

Nutritional yeast (optional)

1 Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

2 In a large skillet, heat a glug of oil or veggie broth over medium. When the pan is hot, add the garlic and saute until it becomes fragrant. This will take about a minute. Add the mushrooms, tamari, and thyme. Cook, stirring every minute or so, for 6 to 8 minutes or until the mushrooms release their water and a little broth starts to form.

3 Combine the cashews and veggie broth in a high-speed blender and blend until the mixture is completely smooth. This might take up to 5 minutes, depending on the speed and power of your blender. Pour the cashew sauce into the pan with the mushrooms. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for a couple minutes to let the sauce thicken, stirring frequently. Throw in the spinach and stir for another minute.

4 Prepare the lasagna noodles according to the package instructions. Make sure to do this after your mushroom sauce is ready to go, so the noodles dont sit for too long and start sticking together.

5 Spread a third of the marinara sauce on the bottom of an 8-by-11-inch baking dish. Add a layer of noodles. Cover the noodles with half of the mushroom cream. Add a layer of noodles. Use another third of the marinara to cover these noodles. Add the remaining mushroom cream. Add the last layer of noodles and cover it with the remaining marinara sauce.

6 Cover the lasagna with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil, add a sprinkle of nutritional yeast over the top, if you like, and bake for another 15 minutes. Let the lasagna rest for 5 minutes before serving.

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'One Part Plant' is all about plant-based eating, but don't call it a diet book - Chicago Tribune

On any given day, just over 1 in 5 American adults are actively trying to lose weight. An additional 50% have tried dieting for some length of time, but have retreatedto old routines while mounting the will to try again.

Results will be mixed, ensuring the nations sprawling diet industry a steady flow of revenue. According to Marketdata Enterprises, which tracks the weight-loss industry, we spend more than $60 billion a year on diet foods, books, coaching, meetings, mobile apps and meal plans to help with weight loss.

Thoughdieters may be deadly serious in their objectives,roughly 4 in 5 shun expert guidance infavor of a do-it-yourself approach, according to Marketdata. These homemade strategies are based ondiet plans touted by celebrities or trumpeted in bookstores, online or on TV.

Fads come and go. Confusion reigns. And failure is common.

Physicians generally arentmuch help. Under the Affordable Care Act, whose future is uncertain, primary care doctors are expected to advise all obese patients to lose weight and counsel them on how to do so. Research tells us a doctors recommendation can be a powerful spur to weight loss. But few are equipped to lead patients to the specific plan that will work best for them.

It doesnt help that the science of what works is filled with gaps and contradictions, or that the diet plan that works for one person may not work well for another.

Its simple to say that to lose weight, calories out must exceed calories in and that to reverse obesity, just continue the process. But experts say that losing weight, and maintaining that loss, is vastly more complex.

Its a matter of evolution adaptations tofamine and drought have helped design the human body to abhor the loss of weight. As researchers demonstrated in a study of people who lost about 14% of their starting weight with a very-low-calorie diet, the body undergoes a host of changes to ensure that the weight is regained.

Metabolic rate drops, allowing the post-diet body to do more with fewer calories. Myriad hormonal signals shift in ways that boost appetite. Those changes endure for at least a year after weight is lost, the researchers found. Even after weight comes back, many of those changes persist, ensuring further weight gain.

These findings, which have been replicated by other studies, helpexplain why95% of dieters will regain all the weight they lost within five years, and most will gain a few extra pounds as well.

Resultslike that have fueleda growing expert consensus that dieting temporary adherence to a regimen of eating that causes weight loss is a fools errand. When weight must be lost, experts say, it should be with strategies and eating patterns that can be maintained over the long haul.

Those strategies should be flexible enough to withstand the plateaus of weight loss. They should be sustainable enough to support long-term health and nutrition while helping prevent Type 2 diabetes and other diseases linked to obesity. And they should be tolerable enough to stick with through a weight loss maintenance period that may last a lifetime.

In short, diets must become a way of life, not a painful interlude,says Dr. Louis J. Aronne , a weight-loss specialist at Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City who has developed an online program called BMIQ to guide physicians and obese patients on their choices.

The diet that people find easiest to comply with is the one that works best for them, Aronne says.

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Trying to lose weight? The key is to diet for the long term - Los Angeles Times

FORT MYERS Hes on a talk-free diet.

Pablo Sandoval has no problem sharing videos on social media to prove just how hard hes worked.

I just want to keep the fans updated (about) what I was doing, he said yesterday.

No videos of dinner time, though. What he eats apparently is off limits.

Everyone knew the guy could lose weight and exercise if he applied himself. The Red Sox third baseman did that in his San Francisco Giants days.

But what hes eating now, and how hes changed his diet, seems to be a sensitive topic.

I got a program. I got a program, its all included, Sandoval said. So I dont worry about that. I got a program, its all included. Im going to continue to keep doing my program. So thats my main goal.

Well, thats descriptive.

Maybe there are foods he likes that have been taken away. Lets start there.

What do you want me to say it is? Sandoval said. I dont miss anything, man. I dont miss anything.

The first man on earth to never miss anything while dieting, ladies and gentlemen. How about ice cream? Everyone likes ice cream. Can you still eat ice cream?

I dont want to tell you about my secrets, he said.

Cookies and cream now is proprietary information.

Why in the world would food be a secret?

No, Sandoval said. Everything.

Every bit of food the Sox third baseman eats is a secret. This makes a lot of sense.

Everything, Sandoval said. Why do you want me to tell you everything I do?

Theres nothing more American than baseball, apple pie and diets. Sandovals an unrelatable figure, making a ton of money while being out of shape for the past two years. But weight loss, or at least the attempt at it, average Joes can understand.

Now, Sandoval has no obligation to be relatable. Fans wont accept him unless he plays well, anyway. But letting people in on his calorie-control effort wouldnt be a bad olive branch.

But I dont want to tell them what Im going to do, Sandoval said. Its my program.

A big, secret program. Scott Lauber of ESPN.com reported Sandoval put his new wife, Yulimar, in charge of his low-carb diet, and that she worked with a nutritionist.

Perhaps its Red Sox nutritionist Glen Tobias, formerly of the New York Jets and hired ahead of this season, who is handling the matter.

Manager John Farrell said someone has been overseeing Sandoval.

Thats part of our medical staff, Farrell said, declining to name the person. We have our nutritionist.

The teams previous nutritionist, Nancy Clark, as well as a Red Sox source said she left the club under amicable conditions that were unrelated to Sandoval.

The person that hired me left, and new people bring in new people, said Clark, who has a private practice in Newton Highlands. I did it for three years, and Im very glad to have my summers back.

Pablo actually, when he was down in Fort Myers, he worked with another dietician who speaks Spanish and lives near Miami, and she did a lot of work with him.

He was a hard worker, Clark added. He spent this past year really getting things together. I mean he really wants to succeed. And he wants to prove himself, and thats what he was saying. ... Hes got a work ethic. I wish him the best.

Overeating, which Sandovals former trainer Ethan Banning has said was the third basemans pitfall, is no small concern. Psychology comes into play.

Hes worked on his all-around, Sox president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said when asked about dieting. Hes worked on nutrition, hes worked on conditioning, hes worked on mental, hes worked on a lot of different parts of the whole thing to make it work. But I think for him, its important to tackle all aspects of it, not just the conditioning end of it.

Farrell noted the importance of a diet, too.

I think if you just use the basic adage more out than more in, hes in the positive column, Farrell said. But its much more detailed than that. Theres been a combination of the work hes put in, the effort hes put in, and I guess a more scientific approach to his diet and what works best for him.

Unless Sandovals eating out of a test tube, science seems a stretch.

OK, lets make it real simple: Is your diet different than its ever been before?

No comment, Sandoval said.

Seems salty.

Originally posted here:
Drellich: Pablo Sandoval staying mum on his new diet - Boston Herald

Playing EXCLUSIVE: Mama June's Trainer Reveals Diet and Exercise Plan That Led to Her Stunning Weight Loss

Mama June had to change her entire lifestyle in order to dramatically drop the pounds.

ET sat down exclusively with Kenya Crooks -- Mama June's trainer on her new docu-dramedy,Mama June: From Not to Hot -- on Wednesday, when he revealed the steps the 37-year-old reality star had to take after undergoing weight loss surgery. ET also sat down with two of Mama June's daughters, 11-year-old Alana "Honey Boo Boo" Thompson and 17-year-old Lauryn "Pumpkin" Thompson, who've been keeping her on track.

Crooks started working with Mama June after she underwent gastric sleeve surgery in May 2015, which made her stomach smaller. However, when she couldn't lose any more weight, Crooks was brought in to help her get over the plateau. The celebrity trainer says the mother of four definitely wasn't a fan of exercise.

WATCH: EXCLUSIVE: Mama June's Weight Loss Surgeries Revealed -- How She Went From 460 Pounds to a Size 4

"Well, at first, it was a struggle," Crooks admits to ET's Jennifer Peros. "It was a struggle because, again, she didn't like to work out, but when she started seeing the weight drop, then it became an easy sell. We had to find some stuff that she could do and build upon that; once we found out what she could do, then we started killing it."

"We've done a lot of weight training, we've done a lot of plyometrics, doing a lot of running, but, you know, it's all about pressing past yourself, and that's what we've been able to do -- help her press past herself," he adds.

Of course, Mama June also had to start eating much healthier. Honey Boo Boo and Pumpkin share that sweets -- specifically Little Debbie cakes, which they call "fat cakes" -- have been the hardest for their mother to give up.

"She went to Dollar General and bought like five boxes of those things," Honey Boo Boo shares.

"She's not supposed to be eating what ... she was eating," Crooks jumps in. "But, long story short, everything is pretty much done in moderation. So, it's kind of like, you can have the shakes, and you can have, like, the small portions of lean meats, fruit and vegetables, but you have to understand that when you have those types of surgeries, you can't eat large. You really have to monitor the sizes."

"Something like a Little Debbie cake ... she can't eat that much of it," Pumpkin adds. "Because the gastric sleeve, they cut out the bottom half of your stomach, so, you can literally only eat that much."

Crooks says Mama June is now focused on keeping off the weight.

"I think that the most important thing that she has to understand is, yes, you can blow back up, and what you don't want to do is basically take a vacation from yourself," he stresses. "[If] you go back to eating the same way, you end up blowing up again. Again, we want to create change -- change that she can always maintain for the rest of her life."

Pumpkin is also diligently working to help her stay on track. "I tell her, like, 'Mama, you can't do that, you know,'" she says about Mama June's penchant for late-night snacking. "I have to show her [old] pictures of herself sometimes ... and I'm like, 'If you don't stop eating that junk, you're going to go right back.'"

WATCH: Mama June Drops Down to a Size 4 After Weighing 352 Pounds, Her New Show Teases

Though of course, Mama June is definitely loving the results.

"Like, every day, like at least three times a day, she was on the scale seeing how much weight she lost," Pumpkin recalls.

"There was one [Facebook photo] that popped up the other day, and I showed it to her, and she was like, 'I can't even believe that was me,'" she adds.

Watch the video below to hear Honey Boo Boo and Pumpkin break down their mother's weight loss surgeries, taking Mama June from 460 pounds to a reported size 4. Mama June: From Not to Hot debuts Friday, Feb. 24 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on WE tv.

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EXCLUSIVE: Mama June's Trainer Reveals Diet and Exercise Plan That Led to Her Stunning Weight Loss - Entertainment Tonight

Anita Curpier, Special to the Courier-Journal 7:03 a.m. ET Feb. 23, 2017

Salad with salmon(Photo: Adl Bkefi, Getty Images/Moment RF)

Why is it so hard to make meaningful changes in your diet? Lots of reasons. A big one is, at a very early age we decide what we like to eat and what we dont. This started a lifelong habit that most of us adhere to with remarkable consistency. In fact, although you may believe you have considerable variety in your diet, its more likely that your eating habits fall within a narrow range and you rarely venture far from it. If you are 60 years of age, you have a longtime habit to contend with when you try to change. Thats quite a challenge, and most give up despite good intentions.

Is restricting your food choices to a narrow range a problem? Yes, indeed, if your food choices are similar to those of most Americans, meaning high in processed foods loaded with fat and sugar. Its no secret that such a diet destroys health in many ways. Even so, we persist on the same course.

As a registered dietitian, I have counseled countless people over the years to help them improve their diet. When I worked in the hospital, many were heart attack victims and those having coronary artery bypass surgery, people who very much needed to make changes to reduce the odds of future heart problems. Unfortunately, I found most people reluctant to change, and not only because they were so used to eating in a certain way. My suggestions often were viewed as punitive, because I was telling them they needed to quit eating so many of the foods they enjoyed. And because there was a lack of understanding of basic dietary issues and the many ways diet can influence health, my suggestions often came across as too complicated and cumbersome, particularly for someone not highly motivated to change.

Today, I default to a more simplified approach to healthy eating, one that involves tiny steps that are easy to implement. For example, in a recent column, I emphasized the benefits of a higher protein diet as we get older to help counteract sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass). In that column, I provided an easy way to get more protein with a shake that works well as a nutritious lunch.

Heres another easy suggestion that pays big dividends. Eat more fish.

Fish is lean and high in protein, the perfect combination. Red meat also provides protein, but it comes with a lot of baggage like saturated fat. Unfortunately, we are a nation of meat eaters and fewer than 20 percent of us consume fish at least twice a week, and half of us eat fish only occasionally or not at all. The American Heart Association strongly promotes regular fish consumption because results from many research studies have shown that eating fish substantially reduces the risk of dying from heart disease.

One reason people avoid fish is the fear of pollutants and toxins, like mercury or pesticide residue. The Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration and other authoritative bodies have concluded from their studies that there is insufficient evidence to limit fish consumption in adults. However, if pollutants are a concern, an easy way to reduce risk is to eat a variety of fish and other seafood.

An additional benefit from fish besides being lean and high in protein is the rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, which help combat inflammation, a key contributing factor in atherosclerosis (clogging of the arteries).

Walnuts also are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and they offer other healthful advantages as well. A recent research study from the Prevention Research Center at Yale University asked participants to add 366 calories of walnuts to their diet every day for six months, then to avoid walnuts for the next six months. Researchers found that eating walnuts lowered total serum cholesterol and the bad LDL cholesterol significantly, thus reducing the risk of heart disease.

Another interesting finding was that despite adding 366 calories from walnuts, the weight of participants remained stable and they didnt gain any body fat. How is that possible? When comparing the diet participants followed with and without the walnuts, their diet was healthier with walnuts.

So, two simple tiny step changes that can add up to considerable health benefits include substituting fish for red meat at least twice a week, and making walnuts your new snack.

Anita Miles Curpier is a registered dietitian and has considerable experience in hospital and clinically based nutrition therapy. Contact her at boomingcj@gmail.com.

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Looking for a heart healthy diet? First step: Add fish, walnuts - The Courier-Journal

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 daily diet of L.A. Galaxy star Robbie Rogers.

Robbie Rogers is a year shy of 30, which is easy to forget once he starts talking about his career. Hes a unique case study: the professional athlete who is a veteran of his sport, yet still a relatively young member of, well, the human race. But a decade plus of traveling the world, kicking around a soccer ball, has given Rogers a certain informed gravitas. When he speaks, your natural reaction is to not only listen, but to lean in. That probably explains why 90 percent of my meals consisted of lentils and quinoa in the week after he broke down his vegetarian-esque diet for me.

GQ: Youve played professionally in the States, the UK, and in the Netherlands. Did you notice any differences with your diet when playing based on location?

Robbie Rogers: Yeah, a little bit. When I was in England, I became pretty much a vegetarian. I didnt really enjoy the meat over there, to be honest.

Yeah, its not the best.

No, its not. I mean, there are some good spots, but just in general I wasnt much of a fan. When I was in Holland, my diet was really different, but I was also really young. I would say that was more just with my age. I wasnt as aware of how important diet was, so I would still eat regular pasta and think that it was great for me. When I was younger, I would just be like, Oh, have some pasta and youll be good!

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A lot of people who grew up playing sports probably thought that. In high school, my basketball team would have pasta dinners the night before every game.

Yeah, the team going to Olive Garden and loading up on carbs! I would have bread and all this stuff that I thought was good for me. Then you realize its not. And I definitely feel a difference when Im really strict and on my diet for a few weeks versus if I cheat a little bit. I feel it in games and during training. It does make a huge difference and as you get older. You know, Im not as athletic as I was when I was younger, so I have to really focus on this stuff so I can keep that edge.

For you, was there a specific moment in your career where you really started to pay attention to your diet?

Probably right around when I was 24 or 25 years old. Before that I could just eat whatever and Id be fine. But then I realized that I like to play at a certain weight and I feel better when Im not eating too much sugar or when I eat at a certain time every day. Im 29 now, been a professional for 11 years. Ive done my own research but Ive also listened to the nutritionists around me and spoken to my teammates about what theyre doing and what works for them.

What have you realized works best for you in that time?

Just a much healthier diet with more vegetables and carbs that are actually going to work for me. Before, I never had quinoa or lentils, which are different things I try to focus on now. I do eat meat now, but not much. Maybe once every two weeks. I really try to eat more vegetables. Again, lentils and quinoa. Beans. Even brown rice. And obviously I try to stay extremely hydrated.

About two years ago, you made the switch from playing in the midfield to the backline. Were there any changes to your diet when you made that positional move?

No, not too much. Its still a lot of running, so just making sure I have those right kinds of carbs is important. Before and after games, actually, because you need those to recover. So I just try to read my body and see how Im feeling. See where my weights at. You know, there are times when well have three games in a week and I lose too much weight, too much muscle. So I have to make myself eat more, which sounds like a great problem, but sometimes its annoying.

Well, I feel like the sport has evolved so much over the last decade. Before everyone was focusing predominantly on cardio, but now strength training is a bigger and bigger sticking point.

Definitely. Its different for everyone, though. Some guys in different positions need to work more on their cardio and losing some of that big muscle because theyre just too heavy. But for me, especially as a runner, you can get little muscle injuries if youre not recovering well and if your muscles are too fatigued. For me, it was definitely finding the right diet to keep on weight and keep on lean muscle. Staying limber and lean, that way I can continue to run as much as I do.

So what types of eating patterns help you to best achieve that? Are you a strict breakfast, lunch, and dinner kind of guy?

I kind of am, yeah. With a snack after lunch sometimes, too.

Give me the full run-down. What does the typical day look like starting with breakfast?

I usually take Shakeology in the morning for breakfast. Just this massive shake with all this stuff in it. Ill add fruits and almond milk and cinnamon and flax seeds and omega fatty acids. Then Ill have some coffee and some water. I take a swig of apple cider vinegar each morning. And I also take one of those Bio-K probiotics every morning. That actually really helps me and my stomach. Then I head to the stadium, which is about a 45 minute drive for me. Ill have another coffee and banana there before we do all my prehab, all my rehab stuff and strengthening and everything. Then Ill go out to train, and in that time Im drinking a lot of water. Thats so important for us. After training, right around noon, Ill have another shake handed to me right as I get off the field, and then I go right into lifting.

At which point youre probably starving.

I eat lunch right after that. The team sets up a lunch for us, so Ill have a huge salad with some sort of vegetables, some fruit, some proteineither tempeh or tofu. Later on Ill have some more fruit, and then Ill have dinner. I actually try to have an earlier dinner, especially when Im cooking at the house. I live in L.A., so obviously there is always the temptation to go and eat out, but I try to limit that to once or twice a week. Dinner can be a bunch of different things. Last night I made vegetarian lasagna, which was really great. Every now and then Ill barbecue a steak, but thats maybe once a month. Some nights well make a vegetarian stew. My son will eat that now too.

Your son is almost a year old now. Has being a father had any effect on your diet at all?

Not really my diet, but I know I affect his diet. He also takes a Bio-K probiotic, which really helps his stomach, as well. But he loves vegetables and quinoa and lentils. Hell have potatoes here and there. So hes on a pretty great diet. Were introducing him to everything. We try to stay away from all those processed foods, but he has grandmas, so thats not always possible. But we just let him experiment and try different things.

My cousins all have young kids and I know they make some different products specifically for kids that they have actually gotten hooked on, like those fruit pouches.

I try everything he has, but I havent really gotten hooked on that stuff. There are some brands that do similar stuff. Like, theres Nomva, which Ill take. They have probiotics in them and its like a fruit of vegetable pouch. They sell them right at Whole Foods, and sometimes they have them at our stadium. Theyre really great.

Soccer players dont really get much of an off-season, but do you let yourself have some cheat meals during that time?

Oh, yeah, I always do. Im not crazy about everything. You know, I really love sushi and going to Izaka-Ya. On birthdays and holidays Ill have desserts. Im obsessed with popcorn, so whenever I go to the movies I have to get a popcorn. Ill be fighting with Greg [Berlanti, Rogerss fiance] over who gets to hold the popcorn.

No, I actually dont like that. Just the standard, salted, movie theatre popcorn. But in general, I try to stay on top of things because I do feel the difference during the season.

There has to be a balance.

Exactly. Youve got to enjoy life and enjoy peoples company and be able to do stuff with themeat out and enjoy different things. But when were in season, more days than not, youve got to be on top of things. Its your profession.

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The Real-Life Diet of Soccer Star Robbie Rogers, Who Is "Pretty Much" Vegetarian - GQ Magazine

Socialism: Want to lose weight fast? Don't worry about the latest fad diet. Just move to Venezuela. There, the new Socialist Diet has caused the population to lose millions of pounds in 12 months. Unwillingly, of course.

A new study of Venezuela's stunning decline under Hugo Chavez's socialist model, still followed faithfully by his lap dog successor, Nicolas Maduro, reports that the average Venezuelan lost 19 pounds in the last year. Today, the 2016 Living Conditions Survey finds, 32.5% of Venezuelans eat only once or twice a day, up from 11.3% just one year ago. And 93.3% of all people don't earn enough to buy sufficient food.

American Thinker blogger Ronald C. Tinnell called it "The Venezuelan Miracle Weight Loss Program."

We call it a shocking indictment of socialism, and should be a siren call to people around the world: Bring socialism to your country, and you bring misery. It's the one thing that socialism produces an abundance of.

It's a sad fact that Venezuela was once one of the wealthiest countries in South America, and even now has the second-largest oil reserves in the world. It should be a rich nation, filled with prosperous people worried about gaining too much weight, not losing it to hunger.

But as formerly middle-class Venezuelans scavenge for food some even stooping to dumpster diving and eating formerly beloved pets just to stay alive socialists allied with Maduro have changed nothing. Maduro followed Chavez's lead, spending all the money that the state-oil company earned on "social" programs, all the while attacking small businesses and companies and effectively nationalizing the supermarkets.

Meanwhile, inflation at close to 500% a year is the highest of any country on earth. Looking at the problems with declining food stocks and roaring inflation, Maduro decided to put the military in charge of the country's food distribution network. The result was predictable: Massive food shortages and rampant corruption, as armed military line their pockets by selling food on the black market.

"Mismanagement of the economy has created a humanitarian disaster beyond comprehension," wrote Ed Feulner and Ana Quintana in a piece that appeared on the RealClearPolitics website.

The country's infrastructure is collapsing from a lack of investment, while rule of law has been rejected for the rule of one tyrant. Children aren't spared; they're dying by the hundreds from curable diseases, a lack of medicine, electricity outages and no incubators for newborns. The resurgence of once vanquished contagious diseases is killing off the weak and the infirm. "Cases of diphtheria and malaria are re-emerging, and the number of Zika infections is estimated to be 'nearly 700,000', according to a Venezuelan health organization," wrote Feulner and Quintana.

Even worse is the chaos on the streets. Caracas' murder rate of 120 per each 100,000 inhabitants is the highest in the world. That's higher than in Damascus, Kabul or Tripoli.

It doesn't have to be this way. As recently as 21 years ago the Heritage Foundation gave Venezuela a 59.8 ranking on its Index of Freedom. Today it's at 27.0, just behind Cuba but barely ahead of last place North Korea. As with all nations that destroy freedom, socialist Venezuela has also destroyed whatever semblance of wealth it had.

If Venezuela seems remote and of little concern, consider this headline: "Democratic Socialists Make Headway In U.S. After Trump's Win." Yes, we know. The Democratic Socialists of America style themselves as kinder, gentler socialists. Think Sweden, they say, not Venezuela.

But the truth is, whoever practices it or whatever those who follow it call themselves, socialism is an economic system based on mass greed and class envy that has failed time and time again. There are no successful socialist nations, anywhere. Those that find this model appealing despite its obvious failures are the desperate, the poorly educated, the uninformed and those lacking entirely in basic common sense.

It is an economic philosophy of entitlement and grievance, one that always ends in poverty, wanton destruction, the breakdown of civilization and even death as the Venezuelans, who willingly handed control of their country over to the socialists, are now finding out.

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