If you'relooking for easy ways to lose weight now, and want a list of healthy foods to eat that help burnfatnaturally, there are tricks to losing weight without dieting, butthey maynot be what you think. What does not work, science tells us, is extreme dieting and calorie restriction. As counterintuitive as it sounds, the secret to losing weight and keeping it offcan be foundin the produce aisle, not in extreme dieting. Counting calories is the opposite of what you need to do for lasting success. The key to losing weight and maintaining a healthy weight your whole life is fairly simple, and it involves prioritizing foods that are whole and plant-based, not processedor full of animal fat.

In a follow-up study that looked at 14 contestants from TheBiggest Losersix years later after being on the show, all of them had gained backweight, even after successfully shedding enormous amounts of fat on a quick-fix program, driven largely by extreme calorie restriction, exercise, and the motivation of being seen in spandex on national TV. The ratings were high, but the weight loss success was fleeting. That's because of what experts call "metabolic adaptation," where the body learns to slow down its metabolism in response to being starved. Long after the fad diet is over, the body still burns up to 500 fewer calories a day, which is significant, the study found.

According to an Australian study into why extreme diets don't work, people who try extreme calorie-restricting diets end up gaining more weightthan those who don't, since by virtually starving yourself, your body gets confused and believes that you're not kidding around; to survive, your brain tells the body to put itself into power-saving mode. When, after the extreme diet is done and you go back to eating normally, your body continues to storethe calories as fat, to insulate you against starvation. The result is that just by eating the same amount of calories as you did before, you gain weight. The researchers' conclusion: "Dieting to lose weight can contribute to the risk of future obesity and weight gain." Ouch.

So what does work for losing weight, when all is said and done? There are five basic rules that people who have lost weight and kept it off follow. These are not diets, nor do they require counting calories. They do require that you toss the junk food, the processed carbs, and the added sugar, oil, fat, and essentially anything that comes in a bag (chips) or a box (cookies) or lasts longer on a shelf than it logically should (pop-tarts). French fries are out (added oil, sorry), but a baked potato makes the cut (because it's a whole food).

Here are five easy rules to lose weight without dieting or counting calories and if you think these are "unsexy" and too much like your mom's best advice, that's because they work.

Eat a whole food plant-based diet. Carbs are not all created equal. What you get nutritionally from a blueberry is not the same as a blue M&M. Essentially, the trick to losing weight is to keep blood sugar steady, and not allow it to spike, by eating a bagel or donut or pastry for example these foods are full of empty calories and added sugar that rushes through the digestive system, get absorbed in minutes,and create a surge in glucose, then insulin, then fat. Add fiber to neutralize this. How does fiber magically prevent this, and boost weight loss?

Fiber acts as a miracle ingredient in the body, to slow down the absorption of your food, keeping the calorie flow to your bloodstream and cells down to a manageable trickle, and never flooding the body with more sugar than it needs at any given moment. (Essentially unless you are running a marathon and need a gu or gel to get to your muscles as quickly as possible, you don't need all that sugar all at once.)

Fast fact: Your bloodstream can only contain one teaspoon of sugar at a time.The bloodstream only holds four grams of glucose at a time, equal to just under a teaspoon full. After that, it forces sugar to go into storage, in the muscles, the liver, or cells that need energy because they are being used. If you have too much sugar and the cells are topped off, and your liver's glycogen storage is full, the excess gets stored as fat. Eat a donut and that sugar spikes, and in order to not have more than you can burn off right away, your insulin hormone goes into action and "sells" the calories to the cells. If your muscles and organs aren't buying the extra gets carted off to storage. That's fat.

In a recent study, adding a salad to a meal can keep blood sugar low or steady, even if the rest of the meal was high in carbs and fat. The idea then is to add high-fiber foods whenever possible. If you must have a slice of pizza, load it up with peppers, spinach, mushrooms, and onions, to add fiber so that your body slows down the absorption of calories from the dough. Rather than beat yourself up for eating extra calories add fiber to every meal to burn fat faster.

How do you get fiber? It's not in animal products like meat or dairy, but it is in things that grow in the ground, meaning all plant foods, since plants need fiber to reach for the sky. Eat anything you can or could grow: Vegetables, fruit, nuts, seeds, legumes, and whole grains that are as unprocessed as possible. The idea that carbs exist in starchy vegetables has been misconstrued by the low-carb dieting world. When you eat a carrot the carbs come with nutrients and vitamins, essential to your metabolism and healthy body functions. You also get plenty of fiber (so long as you don't cook it to mush).

Aim to get at least 21 to25 grams of fiberdaily (for a woman) and30 to 38 grams a day (for a man), according to the Mayo Clinic.Don't count calories but do add up your fiber. Remember that fiber is not just for old folks or to go to the bathroom regularly. It keeps blood sugar steady and normal, which means that your body, when it needs to burn calories because you're moving and active, will dip into storage for fuel, and burn fat as needed.

Here's a crazy thought: Your grandmother was smaller than you were at the same age. That's a guess but look back at her wedding photos, or any old photos for that matter. Chances are the people all look more slender than our contemporary Americans do today. The obesity epidemic only took flight in the 1980s when foods became packed with added sugar and drinks were sticky with high fructose corn syrup.

Back in the sixties and seventies,portions were smaller (by nearly half) and so were we. As Americans, we move less, eat more, and are subsequently larger than our ancestors. More than 40 percent of Americans are obese. Because of this, half of all Americans have heart disease (or 48 percent) who know it. Doctors believe many more have heart disease who don't know it yet.

Meanwhile, more than 1 in 3 adults or 88 million people have pre-diabetes and millions more have full-blown type 2 diabetes, which is a disease when the pancreas is unable to make insulin, so we need to replace it. But it didn't start out that way (unless you have type 1 diabetes which is considered genetic). The type that more Americans have is like an over-use injury. First, the insulin system gets put into overdrive when too many calories come in that can't get used up by normal cell function or muscle activity then it gets stuck in the "on" position, which is what happens during insulin resistance when your cells stop listening to the signal to use up the glucose in your bloodstream, or all these extra calories must get stored as fat, and the system wears out.

Simply put, we're eating too much. The average person eats about 3,600 calories a day. We only need, on average 2,000. For some people, even that's too much. If you're active or a large male you may need more. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN calculates how much energy a person needs to cover their basicmetabolism and their daily activity levels, and simply put, we are eating more than our fair share. We don't need almost double the number of calories in a day than we can burn. Nor does it do us any good.

Protein is good up to a point, and then after that, it's just extra calories. Eating more of anything, whether it's carbs or vegetable oil (which has seen the steepest rise of all calorie intake since 1961) or protein is just too much. Americans are obsessed with getting more protein, but once you eat more than you need, it just gets converted into sugar and stored as fat.

To compute how much protein you need, multiply your weight in kilograms by .8 grams. If you work out a lot or are older you may need more, so you can multiply your weight in kilograms by 1.4 grams. But beyond that, if you eat more, it just leads to gaining weight, which is why the obesity trend has risen up in the past few decades, along with our obsession with protein. We are just eating too much food, protein included, by a ratio of nearly 2 to 1.

Eating too much not only leads to weight gain and diabetes but cancer too. In his excellent book on the growth of cancer over the past few decades, Dr. Jason Fung connects the dots between the surge in calories to the body's insulin hormone, which signals the cells to "grow" and the growth in obesity-related cancers. The Cancer Codemakes a clear case for cutting our portions and eating less of everything. So rather than count calories, simply tell yourself to only eat half of what you would consider a normal potion.

The kind of sugar in fruit and the kind of oil in olives or avocados are fine. The problems come from added sugar, or extra oil, which are found in processed foods like crackers, chips, and cookies. Even tomato sauce bought at the store has added sugar. If you want to lose weight, make your own meals, cook your own (mostly) plant-based food, and don't buy store-bought anything, especially foods that are processed.

Animal products like meat and dairy, such as eggs and cheese, are high in omega-6 fatty acids that lead to inflammation, insulin insensitivity, and obesity, as well as mood disorders. The more packaged foods and animal products you eat, the higher your chance of having too many omega-6 fatty acids, and of gaining weight.

As our intake of omega-6s has gone up, our intake of omega-3s has not, contributing to the prevalence of obesity. "An increase in the omega-6/omega-3 fatty acid ratio increases the risk for obesity," researchers have found. To get more omega-3 in your diet eat chia seeds, walnuts, hemp seeds,edamame, kidneybeans, and other plant-based foods that are great sources of omega-3 healthy fats.

There are diets that restrict bananas and grapes, and any other high glycemic index foods that turn starchy vegetables like potatoes into sugar quickly but if you tried, you could not gain a lot of weight on whole foods, since they contain fiber. The kind of fructose in ahalf cup of berries is also packed with fiber, nutrients, vitamins and natural compounds that actually boost your metabolism and strengthen your immunity, so avoiding fruit is a terrible idea right now.

What isn't? Avoid processed food that masquerades as healthy when it is, in fact, junk. Get rid of cereals (unless it's oatmeal) and crackers, bread, pasta, and rice unless they have fiber content that is 3 to 4 grams per serving. Read every label and look for a carb to fiber ratio that is 5-to-1, meaning for 5 grams of carbs you need 1 gram of fiber. The more fiber the better. Multigrain Cheerios have a ratio of 7-to-1 so even if a boxed food sounds healthy, check it!

As for which whole plant-based foods are the best bargain, in terms of carbs to fiber, you can look at the net carbs of a food. No need to go crazy worrying about the carbs in whole foods, however since they are full of vitamins and minerals, phytochemicals, and immune-boosting antioxidants, but if your goal is to keep an eye on total carbs, just subtracts fiber from total carbs to calculate net carbs. Here is a quick glance at some of the best bargains in the produce aisle.

You don't need to intermittent fast in order to lose weight, but studies have shown that eating at the same time every day will help keep your blood sugar normal (not spiking) and that your body does best when you stick to eating within a window of 10 to 12 hours or evenfewer and allows it to take care of "other business" in the remaining hours.

So if you slightly delay eating in the morning to start at 10 am or 11 am and then eat a healthy whole foods diet throughout the day (skipping the processed food) and end at 7 pm. with an early supper, then tell yourself "kitchen is closed." It can help to take a shower, brush your teeth and settle in with a cup of herbal tea and a good book to wind down. If you want to watch TV, thendisassociate screens with snacking.Tell yourself you can enjoyyour Hulu habit or Netflix shows with mindlessly munching. One visual treat does not need to be accompanied by another type of sweet treat.

By quitting eating early you give your body time to do the important cleanup work it needs to do, in terms of immune system function and "search and destroy" missions that will let it find and sweep out any broken bits of viruses or invaders that are hoping to avert detection.

Called "autophagy," this clean-up work requires the body to not need to do the work of metabolizing the food and accompanying toxins that we eat. Studies show that intermittent fasting, or any kind of long stretch between eating (even if it's just 12 to 14 hours), can help the immune system fight off infection. So to lose weight and stay healthy, leave space and time between eating.

You know that exercise burns calories, and the longer you stay on your feet and in motion, the better for fat-burning purposes. Your body has a ready supply of energy packed into the muscles in the form of glycogen stored in your liver and this is your "first" energy system, but once it gets depleted after about 45 minutes of steady jogging, biking, or swimming, or other steady exertion, your body switches over to burning fat in the mix. But that's quite a long time to aska body to keep going, without actually seeing dramatic results other than slowly burning off the weight. If you work out for 45 minutes as a 150 person you can burn about 400 to 600 calories. But you can eat the same calories you burned, pretty easily, in about 10 minutes.

Build a better engine,don't just burn off the gas. Strength training helps you build more muscle fiber, which burns more calories at rest so just sitting there in your chair reading this, you'll burn more calories if you have more muscle tone than fat.

Because you lose muscle tone every decade after 30, strength train three times a week to keep your body healthy and toned and to burn more energy even at rest. Then add in HIIT or high-intensity interval training to your weekly schedule, and the three types of working out taken together: Cardio, Strength, and HIIT will ensure that you turn yourself into a calorie-burning machine. That's how you lose weight without dieting, and you can even enjoy more extra treats when you're working out on a daily basis.

The key to lasting weight loss is not calorie restriction, but focusing on eating a plant-based diet of whole foods that are high in fiber to slow down absorption and allow blood sugar to remain steady, and not spike. The other aspect is that since 1961 our calorie intake has soared, so to fight obesity and maintain a healthy weight, we should cut down on our portion sizes and eat about half of what we have gotten used to eating and stay away from junk food.

For more great nutrition, weight loss and healthy eating content check outThe Beet's story on Everything You Need to Know AboutWeight Loss on a Plant-Based Diet.

Link:
5 Easy No-Diet Tricks to Lose Weight Without Counting Calories - The Beet

Intermittent fasting is a diet plan that switches between fasting and regularly eating.

It works by prolonging the time between eating, so your body finishes burning calories and then begins to burn fat.

This type of eating not only helps you manage your weight but can prevent or even reverse some forms of disease. Experts say many people find intermittent eating more manageable and might stick with it longer than traditional dieting.

While some people use it to lose weight, the biggest benefit is that intermittent fasting seems to help stabilize insulin levels, said Dr. Mahmud Kara, the founder of KaraMD, a website promoting functional medicine.

When you dont eat, your body doesnt have carbohydrates to break down. If there are no carbohydrates, there is no glucose in your blood. And if there is no elevated blood glucose, there is no need for your pancreas to send out insulin, he said.

Intermittent fasting gives your pancreas a break and allows your body the opportunity to balance itself back out, Kara said. Make sure you consider how much you are eating. Its easy to eat too little (or too much).

One of the better-known intermittent fasting diets is the 5:2 plan.

Under this plan, you eat what you want for 5 days each week and then limit yourself to 500 calories on the other 2 days.

In a recent study conducted at Queen Mary University of London, researchers said the results of 5:2 intermittent fasting are similar in effectiveness to traditional dieting.

They also found, however, that people generally preferred intermittent fasting and were more willing to stick with it.

The study included 300 adults with obesity 100 received information on conventional dieting, 100 received information on intermittent fasting, and 100 received information on intermittent fasting along with 6 weeks of support.

The researchers followed participants for a year, noting weight loss. At the end of the study, they noted:

While weight loss was similar in the groups, the number of people who lost weight increased with intermittent fasting.

Researchers said the two groups who used the 5:2 diet had a more positive experience than people using the traditional diet.

This could be an essential factor for doctors recommending weight loss and weight management programs because they might be more likely to remain committed to the diet.

The best news is that there is no one-way to do it, Kara said. Depending on your schedule, personality, and lifestyle, you can pick a fasting protocol that best suits your needs.

No matter which type you choose, its important to remember to eat healthy foods during your chosen eating window, he said. These fasts wont work if you choose meals that are full of processed foods.

Besides the 5:2 plan, other types of intermittent fasting diets include:

There are numerous health benefits of intermittent fasting.

Intermittent fasting can lower cholesterol, reduce liver fat, enhance glucose management, and improve blood pressure, in addition to reducing body weight. Enhanced motor coordination, enhanced endurance, and better sleep have also been linked to intermittent fasting, Shauna Hatcher, MSPH, a certified nutritionist at The National Wellness and Public Health Network, told Healthline.

It can also lead to a longer life, a sharper mind, and protect against type 2 diabetes, heart disease, neurodegenerative disorders caused by age, inflammatory bowel disease, and some types of cancer.

It can take 2 to 4 weeks for your body to adjust to your new way of eating. During this time, you might experience headaches, said Hatcher.

Other possible side effects include digestive issues, such as nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and bloating. Low blood sugar caused by intermittent fasting might make you tired and weak. You might notice sleep disruptions, resulting in fatigue during the day, she said.

Experts say there are some groups of people who should not participate in intermittent fasting:

As helpful as intermittent fasting is, its not for everyone, said Kara. If you have a history of eating disorders or are taking medication that cannot be taken on an empty stomach, be sure to talk with your doctor or nutritionist before starting. The type of food you eat is equally, if not more important, than the time of day or hours you consume the food.

Link:
5:2 Intermittent Fasting Diet and Weight Loss - Healthline

Yesha Rughani opened up about the challenges she had to go through after finding out that she has PCOD (Polycystic Ovarian Disease). Yesha, in an exclusive interview with ETimes TV, shared that she, too, follows intermittent fasting to keep her weight in control, which helps her lead a healthy lifestyle. "I do intermittent fasting because I have the issue of PCOD to keep it in control and keep a track on it, I am following this healthy diet lifestyle. I do not step much on the weighing scale, but I have managed to lose 8 kgs. Honestly, it is very difficult when you have PCOD. You have to deal with weight issues. So, fortunately, I realised about it during lockdown when I underwent a weight loss programme. I started looking after myself, I used to eat and sleep on time. I used to keep myself hydrated, wake up on time, so I followed a proper routine and my mother took care of each and every small thing. I was not stressed, because I was at home in my comfort zone, not working and doing anything else, but concentrating on my health. So, it made things easier for me. Usually, we are working round the clock, we wake up late, sleep late, we work for long hours, we miss our lunches or dinner, so all this affects our health. It gets difficult to maintain," said the Hero - Gayab Mode On actress.

Read more:
Quitting roti, rice for years to following intermittent fasting; extreme diets followed by these TV celebs to lose weight - Times of India

MONDAY, Nov. 29, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Worried about climate change? You can do something about it every time you lift your fork, a new study suggests.

Folks can reduce their personal carbon footprint by eating less red meat, nibbling fewer sweets and cutting back on tea, coffee and booze, according to the findings.

"We all want to do our bit to help save the planet," said senior researcher Darren Greenwood, a senior lecturer in biostatistics at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. "Modifying our diet is one way we can do that."

And the nice part the foods that are best for the Earth are also really good for your health, in general.

"Most food that's healthy for us is likely to be better for the planet, too," Greenwood said.

It's a timely message as we enter the holiday season of big meals with family and friends.

For the study, Greenwood and his colleagues performed a detailed analysis of more than 3,000 different foods, assessing the greenhouse gas emissions generated during the production of each source of sustenance.

Meat was linked to 32% of diet-related greenhouse gas emissions, which didn't surprise environmental experts.

Fossil fuels are utilized in the pesticides and fertilizer used to grow animal feed, and waste gases and manure from livestock also add to meat's carbon footprint, said Sujatha Bergen, health campaigns director for the Natural Resources Defense Council's health and food division.

"Animals like cows and sheep produce a lot of methane, which is a very powerful greenhouse gas," Bergen said. "Beef is actually the biggest source of emissions in the U.S. diet. If every American cut on average one burger a day from their diet, it would be like taking 10 million cars off the road a year. It's a huge climate impact."

But the researchers also found that other foods had a large impact on the climate:

Overall, nonvegetarian diets had greenhouse gas emissions 59% higher than vegetarian diets, the researchers found.

Men's diets produce 41% higher greenhouse gas emissions than women's diets, primarily due to greater meat intake, the study authors said.

Lastly, people who limited their intake of saturated fats, carbohydrates and sodium to recommended daily amounts contributed less greenhouse gas emissions than people with less healthy diets.

The study was published online Nov. 24 in the journal PLOS ONE.

"Reducing our meat intake, particularly red meat, can make a big difference," Greenwood said. "But our work also shows that big gains can be made from small changes, like cutting out sweets, or potentially just by switching brands."

Tea, coffee and chocolate are linked to deforestation, which reduces the planet's ability to process excess atmospheric carbon, said Bergen and Geoff Horsfield, government affairs manager for the Environmental Working Group.

The foods identified by the researchers also tend to require lots of water, degrade the soil, need refrigeration and transportation to market, and are sold in packaging that adds to their carbon footprint, Greenwood said.

Agriculture is actually undermining the success we're having in reducing carbon emissions from other industries, Horsfield explained.

"U.S. methane emissions have decreased 18% since 1990, but methane emissions from agriculture have increased by over 16% over that same time period," Horsfield said. "While we address methane from things like natural gas and oil, methane from agriculture is only increasing."

More information

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has more about greenhouse gas sources.

SOURCES: Darren Greenwood, senior lecturer, biostatistics, University of Leeds, United Kingdom; Sujatha Bergen, MPH, director, health campaigns, Natural Resources Defense Council's health and food division; Geoff Horsfield, government affairs manager, Environmental Working Group; PLOS ONE, Nov. 24, 2021, online

Originally posted here:
Your Plant-Based Diet Could Really Help the Planet - HealthDay

Lemurs were just one of the many exotic animals Cheryl Morris formulated diets for at Omahas Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska. Her expertise in comparative nutrition was essential to carrying out her work.

By Amber Friedrichsen

If youve ever been to a zoo, youll recall how an animals enclosure resembles its natural habitat. Zoo animals diets are similar to what they would eat in the wild, too; however, there is little information about nutritional requirements for many exotic species. So, how do zoos ensure their animals are being properly fed?

This situation calls for a skilled comparative nutritionist, and Iowa State University is lucky to call one of these hard-to-find scientists its own. Cheryl Morris, associate professor of animal science, spent the last 15 years working as the vice president of conservation sciences at Omahas Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska. She returned to Iowa State this year and currently has an appointment in teaching and outreach.

While nutritional requirements have been established for horses, chickens, beef, and pigs, the same cannot be said for exotic species. In her position at the zoo, Morris formulated zoo animal diets by using her knowledge of production and companion animal physiology and nutrient needs. She crafted feeding plans for exotic species by comparing them to their domesticated counterparts.

A cat is anatomically set up like a tiger, therefore I could extrapolate a cats requirements to a tiger, Morris said. Or for instance, I didnt know for sure what the nutrient requirements were for a rhinoceros, but I knew their digestive physiology looks like that of a horse.

Despite their similarities, a key difference between production and exotic animals is how they are managed. Zoo animals are managed for longevity, so if they develop a chronic disease, they receive specialized care to help them live in spite of it. Oftentimes, this could be accomplished by adjusting what they eat.

A lot of my work focused on clinical diets, Morris said. If we had a gorilla with heart disease, a lemur with diabetes, or a big cat with inflammatory bowel disease, I focused on those individual cases and formulated diets specific to them.

Understanding nutritional requirements and addressing medical issues made Morriss job complex. Another challenge Morris faced was finding the right ingredients to make each diet. Whether an herbivore, omnivore, or carnivore, the food a zoo animal consumes in its native environment is likely hard to come by in the Midwest.

To overcome this, Morris studied what these species eat in the wild and searched for suitable substitutes. I had to look at the nutrients that are in feeds that we can get here in the central part of the U.S. and see how they can be matched to a species needs, Morris said. Alfalfa hay, for example, is not going to be something grown in Africa, but we used it to help formulate the diet of a giraffe. It was like a big puzzle.

When zoos have limited options for ingredients in animals diets, it is important they make the most of what they have access to. Jake Sterle, graduate student in business administration, learned how to do this during his internship at Omahas Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium three summers ago. A project he worked on involved manipulating what shrimp eat in order to enhance the diets of the jellyfish.

Jellyfish technically dont eat shrimp in the wild, but in captivity its the most efficient way to feed them, Sterle said. I was working in an aquarium to see how you can feed baby brine shrimp to give jellyfish the most nutrition.

This semester, Sterle is a teaching assistant for Animal Science 320: Animal Feeds and Feeding one of the classes Morris instructs. While there likely wont be any lessons on jellyfish and shrimp, he said feed efficiency is a key concept students learn in this class, and it can be applied to all kinds of species in a variety of settings.

Another course Morris is teaching this fall is Animal Science 224: Companion Animal Science. In this class, Morris emphasizes the importance of animal training, and she offers students examples from her time at the zoo. In mixed species exhibits, such as an aquarium, Morris said animals were trained to eat the correct food so they would receive the appropriate nutrients.

With multiple species of sharks, sea turtles, and other fish all in a big tank, youre having to get everyone fed, and some of those animals have unique requirements, Morris said. There is animal training that has to go into it, and animals are essentially separated for feeding.

Ava Frase, graduate student in animal science, is the teaching assistant for this course. She admires Morriss enthusiasm and her ability to share her expertise with students. Frase also interned at Omahas Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium and is happy to continue working alongside Morris. She hopes to pursue a career in wildlife conservation and exotic animal nutrition, and said Morris has been influential in helping her attain her professional goals.

Its really hard to get into a zoo career, and I think Dr. Morris is a really good resource for students who are interested in that because she is super knowledgeable about the industry and she has so much experience, Frase said. Im very excited to see what she is going to do in her classes and how she is going to introduce exotic nutrition and exotic everything to the students. She does a good job with that.

Although Morris is still settling in, she has plans for a new animal science course in the making. The basis of this class would be to examine how nutrition and reproduction techniques practiced on farms can be integrated into zoos. While it might be a few years before this course takes shape, Morris already has an idea of what it will look like.

The world of zoo management needs a lot of the same scientific disciplines that we need in animal science, Morris said. The point of this class would be to show how all the disciplines we teach students about cows and pigs and sheep are beneficial to our zoo animals, too.

See the original post:
Taking students on a walk to the wild side - College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

In 2015, Freya Robinson decided to go vegan. For more than a year, the 28-year-old from East Sussex did not consume a single animal product. Then, in 2016, on a family holiday in Bulgaria, she passed a steak restaurant and something inside her switched. I walked in and ordered the biggest steak I could have and completely inhaled it, she says. After finishing it, she ordered another.

For the previous year, Robinson had been suffering from various health problems low energy levels, brain fog, painful periods and dull skin which she now believes were the result of her diet. She says her decline was gradual and almost went unnoticed. Because its not an instant depletion, you dont suddenly feel bad the next day, its months down the line. Its very, very slow. In just over a year, the balanced plant-based food she cooked daily from scratch, using organic vegetables from the farm she works on, and legumes and nuts vital for protein, had, she felt, taken a toll on her body.

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The morning after the steak felt revelatory: I felt this surge of energy. My face was glowing again. I remember leaping out of bed and it was only in that moment I realised Id been slowly depleting my body of vital nutrients. She says that the days after the reintroduction of animal products to her diet saw her clarity and ability to cope with stress return. Minor inconveniences, such as dealing with a grumpy customer at the farms market stall, no longer seemed like a mammoth burden; the intense physical work on the farm felt less laboured. Having operated at what she describes as 60% both physically and mentally, she was now realising what normal should be.

In just over 75 years, veganism has grown from a fringe movement to a mainstream lifestyle choice practised by millions globally. In 2019, it was estimated that around 600,000 people in Britain were following a vegan diet up from approximately 150,000 people in 2014. This year saw the biggest number (more than 580,000 people) sign up for Veganuary, pledging to eat a plant-based diet for the month. Next year is likely to be even bigger. A host of new vegan brands, some owned by the major supermarkets, have made the once niche diet easy to follow.

Since its inception, the raison detre of western veganism has been the reduction of suffering caused to animals (the core value, according to the Vegan Society, is to exclude, as far as is possible and practicable, all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals). It has come to be thought of as a whole way of living, rather than a diet adherents typically eschew leather, honey and other things made from animal byproducts. But the food all plant-based, with no meat or dairy is what most people think of. And it is increasingly championed for its health benefits. Studies have shown a plant-based diet can be effective for losing weight. People do lose weight on a vegan diet. Thats quite common, says Tom Sanders, emeritus professor of nutrition and dietetics at Kings College London. It can also reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes and some cancers, lower cholesterol levels and reduce cardiovascular disease.

Many athletes who have gone vegan praise the diet for rejuvenating their careers. In 2017, England striker Jermain Defoe said a vegan diet was partly responsible for his continued career in the Premier League in his late 30s. Though now a pescatarian, hes still playing for Rangers at 39. Tennis superstar Venus Williams said in the same year that her raw vegan diet had given her a new burst of energy, and credited it with the return of her endurance and strength. Other sporting vegans include Lewis Hamilton and ultramarathon champion Scott Jurek.

Environmental factors strengthen the argument for a plant-based diet as research suggests individuals can reduce their carbon footprint from food by up to 73% by cutting out meat and dairy. The popularity of plant-based alternatives is now big business: the UKs meat-free food industry is predicted to generate around 658m in retail sales this year.

But just as hundreds of thousands in the UK adopt veganism, many are giving it up and face a fierce backlash from die-hard vegans for doing so. British freerunner and YouTuber Tim Shieff, who made his name as a passionate vegan athlete, but then admitted he had given up, faced a barrage of abuse. Meanwhile, Canadian fitness blogger Maddie Lymburner, who built up a huge following for her vegan recipes and workout videos, and then admitted she was adding some animal products to her diet, was forced to stop posting about food due to the vicious backlash.

In dedicated online communities across Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and other platforms, large groups of ex-vegans are sharing stories of declining physical and/or mental health that they believe was caused by their diet. These groups provide support and offer advice for reintroducing animal products. They are also a place to navigate the social fallout that can come when a person leaves a major part of their identity behind.

At first, Tommy Kelly felt his vegan diet was having a positive effect. The 41-year-old from Ayrshire in Scotland made the decision to go vegan for animal rights reasons in 2016 during his recovery from a severe eating disorder. Overseen by a team of specialists, including a nurse, dietitian and psychiatrist, he was consuming a high-calorie diet in order to steadily increase his body mass. I was constantly gaining weight, says Kelly. My health just seemed to be getting better and better and better.

But around year three, despite taking all the right supplements, problems began to arise. Kelly began noticing he was struggling to put on weight despite eating a calorific diet of grains, fruits and vegetables, proteins and plant fats. Digestive issues left him passing blood and going to the toilet up to 16 times a day there is evidence that for some people foods high in lectins, like legumes, grains, certain vegetables and nuts, can damage the gut lining if eaten in large quantities over a sustained period of time. Then came the short-term memory loss, mouth ulcers, dry skin, low libido and slow hair growth.

The migraines hed previously suffered a handful of times a year became daily and debilitating. My wife actually thought Id had a stroke at one point, he says, I was slurring my speech and I had this facial droop.

In January 2020, Kelly reluctantly made the decision to reintroduce ethically sourced animal products under advice from his dietitian and wider team. They had become worried about his weight loss, and suspected his decline was linked to the diet. It was a choice that left him racked with guilt. I didnt want to do it, because I was obviously really about the ethics, says Kelly. It took four to six months for me to even introduce eggs.

Shortly after he started eating local salmon and oily fish, he noticed a significant improvement in his symptoms, which he says have totally reversed. Now, having put on weight on an omnivorous diet despite eating fewer calories, he feels the best hes ever felt.

For the almost five years Kelly was vegan, he was immersed in the community, organising vigils outside abattoirs, signing up to animal rights group Anonymous for the Voiceless, and undertaking vegan outreach under the name Tofu Tommy. The veganism kind of becomes your identity, he says. After reintroducing animal products, and speaking out about his experiences, Kelly was branded a murderer and received death threats from strangers. They lash out at everybody and call you every name under the sun. Theyre supposed to be compassionate and theyre really not.

When Lymburner announced in an Instagram post in August 2020 that she had reintroduced eggs and fish after six years of being vegan, saying it was something I needed to do for my health and overall wellbeing, she faced a barrage of horrible comments. She explained that she had been suffering terrible period pains, was losing her hair and had bad acne. Reintroducing a small quantity of animal products allowed her to be a functioning human again, she said.

Lymburner had built up a following largely around plant-based nutrition and fitness, and had a combined following of almost 900,000 on YouTube and Instagram. (She has since launched a fitness channel which has almost 6.5m subscribers.) Although most comments were posted in support, the 26-year-old was also labelled a snake, a sellout and, from another plant-based influencer, a selfish narcissist who is going back to killing animals again.

For Chloe Reed (not her real name), the change after she became vegan was less physical than psychological. In 2017, she and her husband decided to go vegan for ethical reasons; like many others, they were inspired by watching influential pro-vegan documentaries such as Earthlings, Cowspiracy, The Game Changers and Seaspiracy. Food and nutrition documentaries like these have boomed in the past few years with the help of global streaming platforms, though some have faced questions over their scientific rigour. (The Game Changers claim, for example, that simply drinking cows milk can reduce testosterone and increase oestrogen in men, was based on a study of just 18 participants, of whom only seven were male.)

Adopting a well-planned wholefood diet using ingredients that have been processed or refined as little as possible Reed and her husband both lost weight. I felt amazing, she says. But the initial euphoria was short-lived. What had previously been manageable, in the background, intrusive thoughts she had lived with her whole life, became impossible to ignore.

The intrusive thoughts got so much worse and started happening more, says Reed, 32, who lives in Wiltshire. And I developed the most horrendous anxiety. After a year or so of being vegan, it got really bad and led me to seek help. I was diagnosed with OCD and anxiety.

This year, after seeking advice from a dietitian, she made the decision to reintroduce some fish and eggs from a local free-range farm into her diet for the first time in four years. It wasnt easy. The fear and guilt were massive, she says. But shes since seen a marked improvement in her mental health. Im as sure as anyone can be that it was caused by the diet. Ive only noticed a real improvement since eating animal products. Conscious that some will say the two issues are not connected, the breastfeeding mother of two believes she has definitely had more energy and even seen her milk supply increase. I dont think that can be a placebo, she says. Friends and colleagues took the news in their stride, but when she shared her experience on online forums she faced an onslaught mostly from those she refers to as dickheads on Reddit. She describes the vegan movement as toxic. Whatever the intended effect, it ended up calcifying my views even further, she says.

While veganism has never been so popular, it is a diet that defies the western meat-eating culture. Research suggests that vegans face negative bias from non-vegans, with one 2015 study finding that the only disparaged group viewed more negatively than vegans were drug addicts.

This may explain why many vegans seek comfort and belonging in a community. Depending on why people have decided to become vegan, you might find that some start to identify more with other vegans and veganism as a kind of group, says Dr Madeline Judge, assistant professor in social and environmental psychology at the University of Groningen. Its not just about diet, its about a way of living, and because it requires diverging from the norm, you often have to learn a new way of eating, new places to eat, and you might find that you differ in your values from your friends and family.

For others, Judge explains, being part of a collective that shares the same belief system can bolster efforts and enthusiasm to make a positive difference. Its difficult to make a difference in the world on your own. Its a lot easier if you have a group, she says.

Rebecca Jones, a practising GP who runs an advice website, The Vegan Doctor, advocates for a vegan diet as a lifestyle change for some patients especially those who are overweight or have cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol or diabetes. I always offer a plant-based diet as one of the ways of changing your health, says Jones. For me, its an ethical choice a bit like religion or politics. I dont want my patient to feel like Im telling them this is the only way.

Jones, 39, became vegan in 2017 and was vegetarian prior to that. While she acknowledges that there are barriers that can make veganism difficult for some people (cost, climate, location), she believes a nutritionally balanced and well-planned plant-based diet is for everyone. I think the important words here are well-planned, Jones says. Vegan junk food, for example, is high in calories but has very little nutritional value if eaten routinely without the addition of legumes, fresh produce, nuts, wholegrains, it can lead to nutritional deficiencies and is a potential pitfall for newer vegans. When it comes to purported health issues associated with the diet, she suspects the current popularity of veganism may be to blame. Many non-vegans will also be deficient in some micronutrients, but because veganism is currently very topical, its often blamed as the sole reason why somebody might feel under the weather.

People have different motivations for eating a plant-based diet, but some staunch proponents of animal rights believe that anyone describing themselves as a vegan should be doing it for the animals. I think the word veganism is thrown around a little bit too easily, says Jones, adding that people quitting kind of gives veganism a bad name because its seen as faddy and fashionable. If you identify as a vegan, then you are into animal rights. Its a plant-based diet thats quite fashionable. Veganism is what it always was.

Responsible messaging within the vegan community would keep people healthier and prevent many from feeling they have to turn their back on veganism, says Sophie Medlin, chair of the British Dietetic Association for London. This, she says, extends to advice around nutrition. There is a misconception that a vegan diet is nutritionally complete and provides all essential nutrients in adequate quantities.

Vitamin B12, which is required in the production of red blood cells, is only found naturally in animal foods such as meat and dairy, so vegans must get their B12 from supplements. One study found vegans have lower levels of B12 than both vegetarians and omnivores, and were at higher risk of developing symptoms related to deficiency. The risks of not supplementing on a vegan diet can be devastating, Medlin warns. Other deficiencies, in vitamins and minerals including calcium and vitamin D, can manifest in different ways, affecting bone health, for example. What were seeing now in the long-term follow-ups of vegans, compared with vegetarians and omnivores, is they actually have a greater risk of fractures, says Sanders, who has been studying vegan nutrition for almost 50 years.

For Chloe Reed, having to take supplements of B12, as well as iron, iodine, DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid) and calcium contributed to her decision to quit. Something made me think, you probably shouldnt be taking that many supplements if you havent got an existing health condition, she says. Freya Robinson agrees: I dont really believe that supplements are the answer to a healthy diet.

Why does veganism work well for some, but appear to have a detrimental effect on others? According to Sanders, while we all require the same diversity of nutrients, theres individual variation in requirements. When a person switches to a plant-based diet, they eat a whole host of foods their gut may not have encountered frequently on an omnivorous diet, including grains, fruits and other carbohydrates. One of the first things that changes when someone becomes vegan is their gut flora, and it may take a bit of time to settle down, says Sanders.

Genetics plays an important role in how efficiently we can convert essential fatty acids, Medlin says. For some, its genetically more difficult to convert the essential nutrients our body needs from plant-based sources into bioavailable versions our bodies can actually absorb and use. Some of us need more, and some will feel well with less.

No diet is a miracle cure. But when what you eat becomes a lifestyle an identity, and with it a membership of a community people can be left feeling as though they cant change their habits without letting others down.

Robinson hasnt looked back since that fateful steak in Bulgaria. She now identifies as an ethical omnivore, and believes meat should be treated as an infrequent luxury rather than a daily commodity: once a week is ample, she suggests. But attempts to debate this point with sections of the vegan community on social media often descend into abuse.

Beneath the often vitriolic online war of words, the two groups may find that common ground still exists. The ex-vegans I spoke to all continue to be conscientious about what theyre eating, examine the conditions in which animals are raised, and consider the impact their food consumption has on the environment. They have found that the fight to restore their health does not have to completely compromise the principles that originally drew them to veganism. Theres the health side, but theres also the planet side, Robinson says. And what cost can you really put on the planet?

Read more from the original source:
Abuse, intimidation, death threats: the vicious backlash facing former vegans - The Guardian

news, local-news, canberra times editorial, diabetes, type 2 diabetes

It's hard to fathom how many more times we need to be told, and in how many more ways. We eat too much sugar, our diets are terrible, and type 2 diabetes is now one of Australia's major health problems. The COVID pandemic has forced many of us to reassess the way we've been living, working and socialising. And in many cases we're changing things for the better. Intense disruption is often followed by a sense of clarity, a whittling down of the things that really matter in life - time with family, work-life balance, quality interactions with our communities. We should also be adding diet and lifestyle to this list. It became clear early on in the pandemic that people with underlying health issues had a reduced chance of beating the virus without serious health complications. Type 2 diabetes, and associated health conditions like obesity and heart disease, were significant factors when predicting how an individual might cope with COVID. But it's an epidemic that had been creeping up on hundreds of Australians every day long before. Almost 1.4 million Australians are living with some form of diabetes, with someone diagnosed every four-and-a-half minutes. But Diabetes Australia - the country's peak body - has now acknowledged it is possible for adults with type 2 diabetes to manage their condition, and even send it into remission, through weight loss. IN THE NEWS: This can be achieved through intensive dietary change (not to be confused with extreme dieting) and bariatric surgery, and is more achievable for those who've lived with type 2 diabetes for less than five years. It's not always a realistic aim for those with long-term conditions. But the organisation also emphasised weight loss and a healthy diet were worth aspiring to even without the prospect of remission. We all have the means to address our own physical health, but it can be hard to know how and where to begin. In the past week this newspaper has examined the causes and consequences of what we're calling Australia's "silent assassin". With the help of a number of the country's leading experts on the subject, we are committed to helping our readers better understand type 2 diabetes. We've also taken the extra step of partnering with sports medicine clinician Dr Peter Brukner to offer every reader free access to his Defeat Diabetes app for three months - a practical way for us to help people potentially on the path to a diabetes diagnosis to reclaim their health. Eye surgeon and 2020 Australian of the Year Dr James Muecke, writing for us last week, said our poor diet - a diet packed with sugar - was responsible for more disease and death than tobacco and alcohol combined. Eating better and moving more takes time and effort. It's more difficult than a couple of jabs in the arm. But we need to arrest this other stalking killer. Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/eV5wxSqxRk6zfLmD5bhc9J/25cc07cd-ce3a-4fd0-bdd6-2c7d75fdb0fe.jpg/r1_87_1697_1045_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

ANALYSIS

December 6 2021 - 8:00AM

It's hard to fathom how many more times we need to be told, and in how many more ways.

The COVID pandemic has forced many of us to reassess the way we've been living, working and socialising. And in many cases we're changing things for the better.

Intense disruption is often followed by a sense of clarity, a whittling down of the things that really matter in life - time with family, work-life balance, quality interactions with our communities. We should also be adding diet and lifestyle to this list.

We all have the means to address our own physical health, but it can be hard to know how and where to begin.

It became clear early on in the pandemic that people with underlying health issues had a reduced chance of beating the virus without serious health complications.

Type 2 diabetes, and associated health conditions like obesity and heart disease, were significant factors when predicting how an individual might cope with COVID.

But it's an epidemic that had been creeping up on hundreds of Australians every day long before.

Almost 1.4 million Australians are living with some form of diabetes, with someone diagnosed every four-and-a-half minutes.

But Diabetes Australia - the country's peak body - has now acknowledged it is possible for adults with type 2 diabetes to manage their condition, and even send it into remission, through weight loss.

This can be achieved through intensive dietary change (not to be confused with extreme dieting) and bariatric surgery, and is more achievable for those who've lived with type 2 diabetes for less than five years.

It's not always a realistic aim for those with long-term conditions. But the organisation also emphasised weight loss and a healthy diet were worth aspiring to even without the prospect of remission.

We all have the means to address our own physical health, but it can be hard to know how and where to begin.

In the past week this newspaper has examined the causes and consequences of what we're calling Australia's "silent assassin". With the help of a number of the country's leading experts on the subject, we are committed to helping our readers better understand type 2 diabetes.

We've also taken the extra step of partnering with sports medicine clinician Dr Peter Brukner to offer every reader free access to his Defeat Diabetes app for three months - a practical way for us to help people potentially on the path to a diabetes diagnosis to reclaim their health.

Eye surgeon and 2020 Australian of the Year Dr James Muecke, writing for us last week, said our poor diet - a diet packed with sugar - was responsible for more disease and death than tobacco and alcohol combined.

Eating better and moving more takes time and effort. It's more difficult than a couple of jabs in the arm. But we need to arrest this other stalking killer.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:

View post:
The pandemic should be all the impetus we need to properly address diabetes, the other silent assassin in our midst - Newcastle Herald

Kinetio, a patented technology under the NutriOpt brand of Trouw Nutrition, the animal nutrition division of Nutreco, has been co-developed with Dutch feed compounder, ForFarmers; it is aimed at optimizing the digestion of nutrients in young pigs.

Kinetio gives us a better understanding of feed ingredients, allowing us to use inputs not typically used in piglet diets, which can result in reduced feed costs, said Peter Ramaekers, application and solution specialist swine, Trouw Nutrition.

The technology is currently being used in the companys Milkiwean product range - the concept behind it is that nutrient absorption and delivery can be improved by considering the speed at which different ingredients in the piglets diet are digested.

It uses degradation kinetics to analyze insoluble and soluble dietary protein, starch and fiber in the feedstuffs. This information is then used to provide nutritional recommendations and formulate a piglet diet that supports optimal pre-digestion in the stomach, maximizes nutrient absorption in the small intestine and ensures a low amount of undigested protein in the large intestine.

Looking at the nutrient kinetics, Ramaekers said diets can be adjusted and optimized for optimal animal performance during challenging times, while, in healthy animals, the technology gives better margins for the business and reduces the need for antibiotics.

The swine nutrition specialist, along with Neil Jaworski, global nutritionist database and matrix, at Trouw Nutrition, talked to us about the evolution of the formulation tool.

They, along with others at Trouw Nutrition, and experts at Wageningen University, started this journey over five years ago.

One trigger for the development of the concept was the need to control post-weaning diarrhea given that the industry was under pressure to reduce antibiotic, copper and zinc oxide inclusion levels in piglet diets.

But they also wanted to determine what gaps remained in terms of feed ingredient evaluation work, beyond assessment of the ileal digestibility of amino acids (AAs) or the prediction of total tract energy digestibility, and they eventually realized a key part that was missing was the digestion rate of ingredients, that is how fast or how slow the digestion of AAs or protein or other nutrients is.

The validation process involved in the development of Kinetio comprised both proof of concept in-vitro studies in the lab and in vivo trials, including commercial scale farm studies, explained the experts.

Trial results indicated that applying formulation based on this technology in stressful situations like weaning results in 25% reduction in diarrhea, and 4% improvement in body weight, they said.

In non-challenged situations, piglets fed balanced diets, formulated with Kinetio, were 0.8 kg heavier at the end of the nursery period and the farms margin over feed cost was increased by 3.5%, they added.

The company can use all feedstuffs much more effectively now because of the insights gleaned about their nutrient digestion kinetics, said Jaworski.

But some raw materials will prove more favorable than others, he explained.

We actually see that sunflower seed meal is quite attractive for piglet diets, along with wheat gluten meal, blood plasma and soybean meal, in addition to cereals such as wheat, barley and rye.

Some of the data generated by Kinetio are surprising, though, in that they indicate that corn, rapeseed meal, fishmeal, potato protein concentrate, and soybean protein concentrate (SPC), ingredients typically earmarked for use in piglet diets, can be less than ideal, based on the speed of their digestion in the piglet, said Jaworski.

We investigated why this might be the case, and we saw that it is a result of what is happening in the piglets stomach.

The team learnt that when the environment is not optimal for piglets, such as around weaning, when the young animals face multiple stressors including an abrupt switching to solid feed from sow milk, and placement in group housing, the conditions in the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) are less favorable for digestion.

The piglet, as it is stressed, will increase passage rate, reducing the time available to digest the protein sources in those feed ingredients.

The poorly digested nutrients stay longer in the digestive tract of the animal and spur overgrowth of potential pathogenic bacteria in the large intestine. This in turn can lead to diarrhea, performance losses and mortality.

If that is our challenge, then we need protein sources that are rapidly digested, in the stomach, and in the presence of those stress-induced conditions in the GIT.

Using the Kinetio technology, the team has been simulating stressed piglet GIT conditions in an in vitro model. It involves a six hour incubation process, whereby we simulate the digestion in the stomach and also the small intestine of the piglet. We adjust pH and enzyme concentration to mimic that, and over the six hours, we take samples and we measure how much protein, starch, and fiber has been digested or fermented in that system to get the digestion kinetics.

They also work closely with key stakeholders, commercial nutritionists at compound feed players like ForFarmers and Nanta, to determine what the most beneficial ingredients might be.

Those nutritionists really challenged us on the science, they wanted to fully understand why the Kinetio metrics were showing that SPC, always perceived as a great protein source, and one that was highly digestible, was proving otherwise," saidJaworski.

The team, he said, investigated various SPCs, how they behaved in the Kinetio system, taking account of the processing technologies used to manufacture them, as well as how their findings differed from all other SPC research done to date, and a raft of other parameters. There was a lot of teeth pulling, but we learned together, and I think that was key, this co-development approach.

But the end goal of the Kinetio technology is not about discrimination against certain feed raw materials."What is important is that we set a formulation objective, whether that is gut health or feed efficiency, and we rely on the nutrient kinetics system to select which feed ingredients are optimal in that respect, explained Ramaekers.

Trouw Nutrition now has database of 200 ingredients that have been analyzed based on their nutrient digestion kinetics along with formulation recommendations for piglet diets.

Ultimately, the aim is to create feed formulations for piglets based on rapidly digestible nutrients and to have balanced fiber fermentation kinetics to ensure no post-weaning diarrhea and robust gut health in the young animals.

The company is planning to expand the application of the Kinetio technology in more countries.

More here:
Is nutrient kinetics the key to enhance piglet performance with lower production costs? - FeedNavigator.com

Ever notice how the last place we tend to lose fat is in the belly? Abdominal fat oftentimes seems impossible to lose and chances are it's because it's visceral fat"a type of body fat that's stored within the abdominal cavity between your vital organs: liver, intestines, pancreas, etc," says Jillian Michaelscreator of The Fitness App by Jillian Michaels. While it can be challenging to lose, there are ways to help reverse visceral fat and get rid of the stubborn excess weight. Eat This, Not That! Health talked to Michaels, a personal trainer, nutritionist, life coach and former Biggest Loser fitness instructor, who explained everything to know about visceral fat. Read onand to ensure your health and the health of others, don't miss these Sure Signs You've Already Had COVID.

In order to know how much visceral fat to lose, you should know how much you have first. Michaels explains how to measure. "Outside of an MRI or CT scan the best way to know if you have visceral fat is the waist to hip ratio calculation. You simply

In women, a waist circumference of 35 inches or larger is generally considered a sign of excess visceral fat. In men, it's 40."

Visceral fat can be difficult to lose. Michaels says, "There are several reasons why visceral fat is difficult to lose, but they all tie back to hormone imbalances. Visceral fat gets stored like all fat because we are eating too much and moving too little. However, the body first aims to store the fat subcutaneously (just under the skin). When we take on too much excess body fat it then gets stored viscerally. The habits that created this excess fat in the first place have hormonal consequences that then beget a bit of a catch 22.

For example, visceral fat is linked to insulin resistance from too much sugar and not enough fitness, elevated cortisol levels from too much stress, and the secretion of excess inflammatory proteins called cytokines. When it comes to metabolism (the rate we burn calories, when, how and where we store fat) are directly connected to our hormone balance. Once insulin resistance begins and cortisol levels surge it makes it that much harder to get our metabolism out of fat storage mode and into fat burning mode. Plus, the habits/lifestyle that got us into this position in the first place are often the hardest to break. From desk jobs and sugar addiction to long work days and age-related hormonal shifts it can seem like an uphill battle."

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You can absolutely lose visceral fat with diet and lifestyle changes. Michaels says, "there is a lot we can do. Let's sensitize your body to insulin again by cutting out processed carbs and refined sugars, so nothing white. No white flour and no white sugar. So avoid eating processed salty or sweet snacks. Choose whole grains, fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes instead."

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Michaels states, "Drink your water and keep sodium intake at bay. Try to avoid over 2000mg a day unless you sweat a ton and are very athletic and generally people with excess visceral fat aren't engaging in intense fitness training. Studies have linked excess sodium intake with increased insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and glucocorticoid production. An easy way to do this is to choose reduced sodium products, up your water intake, and don't salt your food."

RELATED: The #1 Habit That Ages Your Skin Faster

Michaels stresses how important it is to stay active. "Start moving your body. Exercise is the best way to get the body sensitized to insulin and reverse type two diabetes. If you have the ability, techniques like HIIT training and Strength training are the most effective for this. The Fitness App has many programs for this including HIIT workouts for beginners so you can be effective and safe."

RELATED: 5 Warning Signs Your Brain is in Trouble

Michaels says, "Get your 8 hours of shuteye. Lack of sleep increases our hunger hormones and dampens our satiety hormones making us feel the need to eat more. In addition, it inhibits our HGH production, which is a key hormone for muscle maintenance and fat metabolism. Lack of sleep is also associated with higher cortisol levels which is a hormone notorious for belly fat storage. So make sure to shut off the screens and get 7 to 8 hours of shut eye every night."

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Taking a break from life's daily stresses isn't just good for us mentally, but physically as well. Michaels reveals: "Take your vacations, manage your stress levels, try meditating anything that helps you manage stress. Cortisol is our fight or flight hormone and when we are constantly stressed it's constantly surging so work to find your chill!"

Michaels says, "Up your vitamin C intake! Early studies have shown that vitamin C can help reduce our cortisol secretion. So consider a supplement or just eat your citrus!"

RELATED: The #1 Worst Supplements That Are a Rip-Off

"Last, we want to do what is going to help us reduce body fat overall and that is eating less calories and moving more often," Michaels explains. "Fat is stored energy and the calories in our food are units of energy. No matter how "healthy" a food is you can still eat too much of it. Take an organic avocado for example it's loaded with vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats with likely zero chemical residue from pesticides, fungicides, herbicides etc. But it's very high in calories. If you eat too many calories than your body is burning in a day you will store that energy in your fat cells. So be mindful of your overall calorie intake. Cut the booze. Booze dampens fat metabolism by up to 73%. And as I mentioned repeatedly EXERCISE it burns calories and helps to bring our hormones back into balance." And to get through this pandemic at your healthiest, don't miss these 35 Places You're Most Likely to Catch COVID.

Read more here:
How to Reverse Visceral Fat, Say Experts Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That