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This is What Happened When I Started Counting My Vegan Calories Runner's World So, I can safely tack on another 450 calories. My lunch usually comes from the restaurant, too. If I sneak the guys in the kitchen enough cold brew, ... I did pretty alright crafting my own vegan meal plan just by following my gut (buh duh duh!), but ...

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THIS month we feature the Caracal (Rooikat, nDabushe), the largest predator to be found in the Kloof Gorge.

The caracal is a medium-size cat, normally golden or sand in colour, although in some areas they are grey. It has very distinguishing black edge to the ears with long tufts that give them an unmistakable appearance. They are often incorrectly called a lynx, but it is not related to the lynx family.

Caracal are active in the day and night. They are solitary, territorial animals and fearless hunters and will not hesitate to hunt a prey larger than themselves. Caracal have been known to leap up into the air to catch and kill flying birds.

Their diet consists mainly of rodents, rock hyrax, birds (including ostrich), small antelopes, and rabbits. In Krantzkloof their primary diet is most likely Rock Hyraxes.

The gestation period is approximately 68-81 days, and females produce a litter of one to four kittens, with two being the average. They are weaned at 10 weeks, and will remain with their mothers for up to a year.

It is believed the name is derived from a Turkish word karakulak meaning black ear.

Caracals are excellent acrobats and jumpers and can land safely. In the Middle-East caracal were often trained to hunt game birds.

Caracal are relatively new to Krantzkloof and the first sightings were recorded in 2010. Since then they have been frequently recorded on camera traps, and females with kittens have been seen in the reserve. Caracal are not known to be a threat to humans.

Security: walking in the reserve is safe normal precautions apply when walking in isolated areas. - Supplied

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Monday, Feb. 6, 2017 | 2 a.m.

The American Heart Association (AHA) estimates that 44 million women in the U.S. are affected by cardiovascular diseases, and when combined with stroke, these diseases kill an average of 1 woman every 80 seconds. Thats 1 in 3 female deaths annually, said Vanessa Gastwirth, MD, FACC, at MountainView Hospital.

While historically considered a mens disease, heart disease kills more women than men every year. Furthermore, the AHA reports that 90 percent of all women have at least one risk factor for heart disease or stroke.

Common risk factors include age, poor diet, sedentary lifestyle, smoking, genetics and, for some women, hormone levels.

Estrogen can affect your cholesterol levels

Naturally occurring estrogen tends to raise HDL cholesterol levels the good cholesterol that helps carry away artery-clogging LDL cholesterol.

As such, women generally have more HDL cholesterol than men. When estrogen levels peak for women during childbearing years, this HDL provides an extra level of protection from developing heart disease earlier in life.

Estrogen has favorable effects on health, including an improvement in cholesterol and on the function of blood vessel lining. However, it has adverse side effects as well, such as causing changes in blood proteins that can lead to blood clots, and increased production of inflammatory markers that can lead to vascular disease, Gastwirth said.

Higher estrogen levels may be protective against some heart diseases, but they are certainly not preventive. Further, menopause causes estrogen levels to drop drastically and can leave postmenopausal women more vulnerable to heart disease.

Menopause and heart disease

Menopause generally occurs in a womans late 40s to early 50s, the same age range that heart disease and risk factors begin to develop in both men and women. While postmenopausal women are more prone to heart disease than younger women, researchers arent sure how much hormones are at play.

A postmenopausal state and early natural menopause (occurring in women under 44) is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease. However, studies have not proven that menopause itself is a direct cause of cardiovascular disease. The increased rate of cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women may simply be due to the increased prevalence of other risk factors in older women, Gastwirth said.

The AHA reports that during menopause, womens blood pressure begins to rise, LDL (bad) cholesterol levels increase, HDL (good) cholesterol levels decline or remain the same, and triglycerides (certain types of fat in the blood) increase, as well.

For many years, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) used to treat symptoms of menopause was thought to also prevent heart disease, but this has since been disproven. In fact, some studies have indicated that prolonged use of HRT (more than five years) can actually increase the risks of heart disease for women.

While HRT continues to be safely prescribed to women for the purpose of easing significant menopausal symptoms, it no longer is considered a treatment method for heart disease. HRT should be administered conservatively, under a doctors close supervision and for no more than five years, or in women older than 65.

Preventing heart disease in women

While there are still many unknowns about heart disease in women the American College of Cardiology estimates that women comprise 27 percent of participants in all heart-related research studies we know that maintaining a healthy lifestyle can help slow its development and progression.

Prevention is extremely important in the management of cardiovascular diseases. Lifestyle modifications such as following a heart-healthy diet, maintaining a normal body weight, regular exercise, not smoking and limiting alcohol consumption can reduce the risk of heart disease and stroke, Gastwirth said.

She also recommends that women over 20 undergo a cardiovascular risk assessment every three to five years. This assessment should include an evaluation of blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, smoking habits, activity level and weight.

Birth control and heart disease

Menopause-aged women are not the only ones who need to be concerned about hormone levels and heart health. Hormonal birth control including pills, patches and rings can increase a womans risk of developing blood clots and cause high blood pressure.

For the average woman, this risk of a blood clot is very small. The National Blood Clot Alliance estimates that annually, 1 in 1,000 women taking birth control pills will develop a dangerous clot, but its especially important that these women do not compound the risk by smoking.

Birth control and smoking should never be combined. Women who do both are at a greatly increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease and blood clots, Gastwirth said.

Knowing your risk factors can save your life, so talk to your doctor if youre a smoker and currently taking birth control.

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Can hormones affect heart health in women? - Las Vegas Sun

New York Post

Walt Whitman's super trendy diet tips New York Post While Whitman's guidance can be a bit eccentric, some of his tips are right on the money (and others sound like precursors to the paleo and Whole30 diet trends). Here's a sampling of Walt's wisdom:./K. Be a carnivore: Let the main part of the diet be ...

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Joel Hammond (Timothy Olyphant) finds another use for a garden shovel in Netflix's 'Santa Clarita Diet.'(Photo: Saeed Adyani, Netflix)

Spoiler alert:This story contains details about Netflix's undead comedy Santa Clarita Diet.

TV isn't known for gory comedies, especially not centered on a tame married couple of Realtors. But when Sheila Hammond (Drew Barrymore) becomes undead in the premiere of Netflix's Santa Clarita Diet (now streaming), all hell breaks loose, even as her loving husband Joel (Timothy Olyphant) tries to help.

Victor Fresco, who created the series, describes it as a mashup of Desperate Housewives and The Walking Dead."I liked the lightness and the perfect organization of those planned suburbs, vs. the chaos that happensbehind closed doors," he says of the series, shot on location in the Los Angeles-area suburb.

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Drew Barrymore reveals the secret to the 'Santa Clarita Diet'

When he readthe script, Olyphant thought, "This is most outrageous thing I've ever read, and yet at the same time it's sort of oddly familiar and to some degree refreshingly old-fashioned," he says. And the fact that the unexpected circumstance awakens their vaguely discontented lives. "It's one of the best things that's happened in Joel's life in some time. It's definitely not the way he saw his day going. What's fun about the show is it's like any long-term relationship where someone decides to explore a side of themselves they've been afraid to explore in the past. It's the most thrilling thing that's happened, and also the scariest. Yougottadecide whether to step up and stay with her or cut bait and walk away." (Spoiler: He stays).

At first, Sheila seeks sustenance from raw hamburger meat, but quickly craves the human kind. Her first victim: Gary (Nathan Fillion), a creepy rival agentwhose intestines she snacks on in the yard of their split-level.

Nathan Fillion plays Gary, an ill-fated rival real-estate agent, on Netflix's 'Santa Clarita Diet.'(Photo: Saeed Adyani, Netflix)

"We wanted a big name in that role, where you'd be surprised that they die ... and get eaten," Fresco says. But "it was100 degrees in Santa Clarita," and Fillion was"outdoors all day, lying in the dirt. It was a lot to ask of him."

And for Barrymore, who takes to freezing body parts for later consumption. "I was literally in the shower at the end of every work day on the sound stages;I was covered in it," she says of the fake blood. (She didn't much care for the smell of the transformative, copious vomit in the series opener). "I invested in a lot of shaving cream because that was the only way to get that stuff off."

Dinner can be messy for Sheila Hammond (Drew Barrymore) in Netflix comedy 'Santa Clarita Diet.'(Photo: Erica Parise, Netflix)

Fresco says the realistic limbs and innards were made from red-beet paste, raw fishor a gummy-bear material that was sweet and elastic. (The beet paste was the most disgusting).

As the series progresses, Joel becomes an accomplice, providing new meals ofa Porsche-driving jerk and their cop neighbor (Ricardo Chavira), whom he dispatches with a shovel. The Hammonds' daughter (Liv Hewson) and her pal, a nerdy neighbor (Skyler Gisondo) also are drawn in.

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Review: Netflix's 'Santa Clarita' is a diet that's definitely worth keeping

And in the season's final episode, Portia de Rossi, who co-starred in Fresco's short-lived ABC comedy Better Off Ted, plays a woman similarly "steely, smart as hell, and completely disconnected emotionally," who might help Sheila find a cure to what ails her, after inevitable decay sets in.

But the end of the first 10-episode season brings an arrest and more trouble,"They're in very different places physically, and they're both in trouble in their own way," Fresco says. So what would a potential Season 2 look like? "What's strong from beginning to end is they love each other and they'll always love each other. So they're going to work together and they're going to figure this out and get through it."

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What kind of diet do they keep in 'Santa Clarita'? - USA TODAY

Forget New Years Day, the biggest diet start datefor men is the day after the Super Bowl, according to some nutrition companies.

According to a survey by Nutrisystem, one in four NFL fans pack on an average of 10 pounds during football season. And the diet company says at the official end of the season, men typically are ready to get rid of the excess.

The Big Game is like New Years and many mens resolutions do not start until the football season has officially come to a close. We see about double the mens orders on Super Monday, says Dawn Zier, CEO of Nutrisystem.

Former NFL quarterback and spokesman for Nutrisystem Dan Marino says he always resets around this time of the year because its easier to stick with it.

It seems that once [the] Super Bowl is over, many men are ready to get their diet started because for the last five months theyve been chowing down on wings, beer and pizza every Sunday as they watch the games, he says. And with only 16 weeks until summer and the distraction of Sunday football in the past, its easier to start a diet.

And, its not just football season overall, the Big Game is also a massive calorie killer on its own. According to the USDA, Super Bowl Sunday is the second highest day of food consumption in the United States, after Thanksgiving. Additionally, the Calorie Control Council reports that while Americans are watching Super Bowl 51, they will eat an estimated 30 million pounds of snacksand not particularly healthy ones either.

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To top it off, a 2013 study from Psychological Science found that fans of the losing team tend to load up on saturated fats and sugars, whereas fans of the winning team opt for healthier choices.

Monty Sharma, CEO of Jenny Craig, a diet plan initially aimed at women, has also seen opportunity in the male category in recent years. In 2011, the company launched Jen Works for Men, and in January of this year, they released a new male-focused campaign centered around a military veterans personal story.

In terms of Super Bowl Sunday itself, we never push out advertising that day as it is not a day that is typically focused on weight loss. However, the days following the Super Bowl tend to be a time when people get back on track with their New Years Resolutions and weight loss goals. As a result, we anticipate seeing men engage with dieting more and we will continue to run our male-focused campaign, Sharma tells FOX Business.

Marino, who lost over 22 pounds says its always great when someonewhether male or femaleapproaches him about their personal weight-loss story. He says that men should find a plan that works for them and stick with it long term.

Going on a diet doesnt have to mean you give up the things you love. Its just about making smarter choices along the way, he says.

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Diet Companies See an Uptick With Men After Super Bowl | Fox ... - Fox Business

PEOPLE.com

What Candace Cameron Bure Eats to Stay Healthy and When She Wants to Indulge PEOPLE.com Candace Cameron Bure's approach to eating well revolves around a sensible, achievable dietwith the occasional exceptions, of course. The majority of what I eat is plant-based and whole grains. If I do eat a meat protein, it's from fish, the actress ... and more »

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What Candace Cameron Bure Eats to Stay Healthy and When She Wants to Indulge - PEOPLE.com

Garlic is among the common foods eliminated, at least temporarily, on the low-FODMAP diet(Photo: Roger Lee)

Would a life without onions, garlic, apples and most bread be worth living?

For growing numbers of people suffering from digestive ills, the answer is "yes,"at least for a while.

They are trying something called the low-FODMAP diet, an experimental eating plan developed in Australia and now getting some scientific backing and commercial buzz in the United States. The diet is aimed primarily at people with irritable bowel syndrome, a common condition in which abdominal pain and irregular bowel habits with diarrhea, constipation or both can wax and wane for years.

Followersare asked to eliminate, and then try to reintroduce, a long list of foods containing certain carbohydrates that might trigger gas, bloating, pain and diarrhea. FODMAP is an acronym for those carbohydrates: fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols.

The theory is that FODMAPs, found in many fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy foods and sweeteners, are poorly digested by susceptible people. The undigested carbohydrates can draw extra fluid into the digestive tract and end up in the colon, where they are feasted upon and fermented by gut microbes, leading to all sorts of misery, says Lauren Van Dam, a registered dietitian at the University of Michigan.

If giving up some foods might lessen that misery, many people are game, she says. We have some patients that are literally housebound because they are worried they are going to have an accident or because they have terrible pain, Van Dam says.

Barbara DeLancey, a 63-year-old registered nurse from Ann Arbor, says she was crippled by 10-times-a-day diarrhea when she agreed to try the diet a year ago.I was resistant at first because it seemed so restrictive, she says. She got teary-eyed at the grocery store, seeing all the food she could not have.

But eventually shelearned she could tolerate and add back some favorites, including garlic and apples. She credits the diet, along with medication, with a big reduction in her symptoms, but says it has not been a miracle cure.

The diet has generated enough interest to prompt some food companies to introduce low-FODMAP products hoping for a market surpassing that for gluten-free foods, according to some industry reports.

In 2014,IBS treatment guidelinesfromthe American College of Gastroenterologysaid the diet showed promise, but that the quality of evidence was very low."

Since then, several studies have strengthened the case for the diet, says guideline co-author Brian Lacy, a professor of medicine and chief of gastroenterology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, N.H. Still, one study from Sweden showed no advantage over a less-restrictive dietary approach that eliminates fewer foods and stresses changes such as smaller, more frequent meals.

"The data are not overwhelming, Lacy says. But I think its a reasonable thing to try.

The largest study so far, with 92patients, was conducted at University of Michigan.It found that 52% of low-FODMAP patients and 41% of patients on a less-restrictive diet reported adequate relief.The difference was not statistically significant, says study co-authorWilliam Chey, a professor of gastroenterology. But low-FODMAP patients did get significantly better relief from pain and bloating and greater gains in mood, body image and overall quality of life, he says.

Medications, probiotics, fiber supplements and other approaches still have roles in treating IBS, and no one approach works for all patients, Chey and Lacy say.

Its not known if the diet leads to any nutritional deficiencies or keeps working in the long run especially for patients who get little support from doctors or dietitians.

Physicians are largely administering the diet by giving patients sheets of paper with foods to exclude, Chey says. Ideally, all would be referred to dietitians, Chey and Lacy agree. But few dietitians are trained in the diet, and insurers typically do not cover the visits, Lacy notes.

When patients do make their way to Kate Scarlata, a Boston area registered dietitian who specializes in the diet, the first thing she tells them is that it is a dietary experiment. Its a short-term learning diet.

Van Dam does the same explaining that after a few weeks she will help clients reintroduce foods one carbohydrate category at a time.

Most are able to identify some high-FODMAP foods they can tolerate very well and some they can tolerate a little, but not in high portions every day, she says. Our goal is for them to be on the most varied, nutritious diet possible.

The trickiest part is avoiding onions and garlic, the dietitians say. They teach clients strategies such as using (safe) garlic-infused oils,avoiding restaurant sauces and soupsand topping salads with oil and vinegar.

Mapping FODMAP

High- and low-FODMAP food lists are updated frequently at websites and apps run by the University of Michigan and Monash University in Australia.

Not even one apple a day is allowed during the most restrictive phase of the low-FODMAP diet(Photo: Photo Disc)

Here is a sampling from the Michigan site. (Note: the site receives funding from Nestle Health Science, which is marketing low-FODMAP products).

Foods to avoid Dairy: Milk, ice cream, yogurt, cottage and ricotta cheeses (except for lactose-free versions) Fruits: Apples, peaches, pears, watermelon, cherries, figs Vegetables: Garlic, onions, leeks, asparagus, cauliflower or large servings (more than cup) of broccoli and Brussels sprouts Grains: Wheat (except in sourdough bread), rye, barley Legumes and nuts: Cashews, kidney beans, soy beans and soy milk Sweeteners: Honey, fructose, xylitol, agave syrup

Foods to include Dairy and dairy substitutes: Kefir, almond milk, coconut milk Fruits: Bananas, blueberries, grapes, oranges, strawberries Vegetables: Carrots, green beans, bell peppers, potatoes, tomatoes Grains: Rice, oats, gluten-free bread (but check labels for high-FODMAP ingredients) Legumes and nuts: Peanuts, pecans, walnuts Sweeteners: Cane sugar, aspartame, stevia

Bananas and carrots are OK on the low-FODMAP diet(Photo: Jamen Percy, Getty Images/iStockphoto)

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