Whether for health, ethical, environmental, or spiritual reasons, plant-based diets continue to grow in popularity, with nearly 10 million Americans adopting one. Here's what you need to know about plant-based diets and their potential risks and benefits.

A plant-based diet consists of mostly plant-based food sources like fruits, vegetables, beans, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and oils. However, some plant-based diets still include small amounts of animal products.

"A key point for those contemplating a plant-based diet is that it does not have to be an all or nothing proposition. Each change one is able to make whether it's eliminating some type of animal-based food or just reducing its frequency can have significant health impact when done the right way," says Mindy Haar, RDN, a clinical associate professor and chair of Interdisciplinary Health Sciences at New York Institute of Technology.

Plant-based diets require a diverse variety of foods in order to meet nutrient needs.

"Vegans who consume no animal products at all may be at risk for vitamin B12 deficiency and may consider supplementing this vitamin. Those who eliminate dairy products can still get enough calcium from fortified plant-based milks, calcium-fortified orange juice, and tofu," Haar says.

You should avoid or limit consumption of these foods:

Following a plant-based diet can be beneficial to both your health and the health of the environment.

1. Plant-based diets can help you lose weight

Research has found following a plant-based diet can decrease obesity risk and aid in weight loss.

Animal foods including meat and dairy products are often high in saturated fat and low in fiber. Research indicates consuming foods high in saturated fat is linked to obesity and heart disease. Meanwhile, high fiber foods like vegetables can help with weight loss.

"When one moves to a more plant-based diet, the animal-based foods are typically replaced with legumes, whole grains, and more fruits and vegetables. As these foods are filling, higher in fiber and nutrients, and lower in fat there is potentially reduced calorie intake leading to weight loss," Haar says.

What the research says: A small 2018 study found overweight people who followed a plant-based vegan diet for 16 weeks saw an improvement in body weight, fat mass, and insulin resistance markers compared to a control group. The decrease in fat was associated with an increased intake of plant protein, and decreased intake of animal protein.

2. Plant-based diets can reduce your risk of diabetes

Research has found plant-based diets are effective in reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes.

A large 2009 study found the prevalence of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes is significantly lower among people following plant-based eating patterns compared with those who eat meat.

The prevalence of type 2 diabetes decreased with a reduction in animal products: from 7.6% in non-vegetarians, 6.1% in semi-vegetarians, 4.8% in pesco-vegetarians, 3.2% in lacto-ovo vegetarians, and 2.9% in vegans.

Plant-based diets are typically full of high-fiber foods like vegetables, legumes, and fruits which Haar says can reduce glucose intolerance the high blood glucose levels seen in pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes.

3. Plant-based diets can reduce your risk of heart disease

Coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in the US, occurs when plaque builds up in the walls of arteries.

"Animal meats and processed snacks are notorious for being high in saturated fat, sodium, and cholesterol which can cause plaque buildup in arteries," says Kelly Springer, RD, the founder of nutrition program Kelly's Choice.

However, not all plant-based diets are created equal. A large 2017 study found those who followed a plant-based diet rich in "healthier" plant-based foods like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and legumes and low in "less healthy" plant-based foods like refined grains, potatoes, sweetened beverages, and desserts had lower rates of coronary heart disease (CHD).

Those who followed plant-based diets that emphasized "less healthy" plant foods experienced a significantly increased risk for CHD.

Plant-based diets are beneficial to all people, but experts warn that it's important to make sure you're consuming enough nutrients that are more commonly found in animal products like protein, vitamin D, and vitamin B12.

To make up for these discrepancies, people following plant-based diets should integrate fortified foods like almond milk or talk to their doctor about taking a multivitamin supplement.

Additionally, those recovering from eating disorders should avoid following a plant-based diet while still in the recovery process.

"Plant-based diets are restrictive and can limit the recovery process of someone learning that all foods fit in a healthy and balanced diet," Springer says.

A 2020 survey found 48% of people choose to follow a plant-based diet for environmental reasons, an increase of 17% since 2018.

Avoiding meat and dairy products is one of the most substantial ways to reduce your carbon footprint. Livestock production is responsible for 14.5% of greenhouse gas emissions the gases that trap heat in the atmosphere and contribute to climate change.

Animal products, particularly meat, are also significantly more resource-intensive to produce than plant-based foods. One pound of beef requires between 2,000 and 8,000 gallons of water to produce, while one pound of tofu requires 302 gallons. Therefore, cutting back on animal-based food can help prevent further water scarcity.

Plant-based diets are beneficial to most people and can help prevent chronic diseases, but changing your diet doesn't have to be an all or nothing operation. Integrating more fruits, whole grains, and vegetables into your diet while decreasing your consumption of animal products is a low-risk way to improve your overall health and reduce your carbon footprint.

Follow this link:
A beginner's guide to a plant-based diet and how it can benefit your health - Insider

Like taxes and death, nutrition is something we cant escape. Eating should be easy. Yet its also massively confusing, prone to misinformation, and utterly personal.

Take competitive eaters who regularly chow down on thousands of calories without gaining weight. Compare them to people who pack on pounds just looking at a French fry. Or compare people who can tolerate any food to those who are sensitive or allergic to entire food groups. Or people who thrive on a high-fat diet like keto, to unfortunate souls whowith the same dietneed to stay close to the bathroom.

You get the idea: no one diet fits all. Yet nutrition science has long relied on averages to make dietary recommendations. From the 80s fat is bad paradigm to todays sugar is horrible trend, its always been easy to vilify one food component, without digging into how each of us interact with the foodstuff we eat.

Now, thanks to a massive new project led by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), nutrition science is about to get the precision treatment. With a price tag of $156 million, the five-year-long study will examine how 10,000 Americans process food. The program, Nutrition for Precision Health, isnt pulling punches. Each person will be given a highly controlled diet to reduce variability. Theyll then be thoroughly monitored for everything from blood sugar levels to their genes, proteins, and gut microbiome composition. Using the massive dataset, the program can then develop AI-based algorithms to predict individual responses to foods and diets.

If successful, we may soon have a scientifically-proven way of optimizing our diet and health based on our genes and gut microbes. While the culinary astronauts among us may cringe at the idea, for those with metabolic disorders or food intolerances, the algorithms are a powerful tool to aid nutritionists in prescribing diets to those who seek help.

Nutrition science has had a bit of a fuzzy reputation. But its not through any fault of its own. The field faces two major unenviable challenges: one, the results are the average of entire study populations, and two, humans hate sticking to a strict diet for long enough to get consistent results. Ever tried a 14-day diet? Now imagine doing it for five years.

As Paul Coates, vice president of the American Society of Nutrition puts it, were all free-range eaters, which mucks up the resulting data.

Thats not to say classic nutrition science hasnt had major wins. Take the Framingham Heart Study, which launched in 1948 with over 5,000 people to better understand heart and blood vessel health. The study was a first population-level triumph in linking diet to cardiovascular diseases, which remains one of the top killers today.

But to NIHs director Dr. Francis Collins, its high time to bring nutrition science into the 21st century. In May 2020, the agency released a 10-year plan to dig into the nitty-gritty of nutrition, tackling the what, when, why, and how to eat to optimize health and reduce chronic health plagues such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.

Its looking to be a wild ride. For example, the ambitious effort doesnt just focus on the gut. Thanks to new research showing intimate connection between the gut and the braindubbed the gut-brain connectionthe plan also embraces neuroscience as a component. Given the link between longevity and diet, itll also study the role of nutrition across our lifespans, or even how to use food as medicine.

And underlying all these fundamental questions? Personalization: how each of us responds to the food we eat.

The new program will be housed under the NIHs flagship health project, All of Us. The research program aims to recruit one million people under its banner to build a Google Earth-style database of biology, health, lifestyle, and disease. The key is individuality: forget average treatments, personalization is the future.

To Dr. Griffin Rodgers, director of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDKK), now is the perfect time to explore precision nutrition. In a presentation last September, he laid out why. Were beginning to understand how the microbiome influences health. We can rapidly perform multi-omics studiesthat is, look at a persons whole system of genes, proteins, and metabolism. AI and machine learning make it easier to analyze these massive datasets. Finally, digital health tech, offered through smartphones or smartwatches, makes everyday health tracking simple and affordable.

The project is planned in three stages. Roughly 10,000 volunteers from All of Us will wear various monitorssimilar to Fitbitsto track their usual diets, physical activity, and blood sugar levels, creating a baseline. In the second stage, a subset of participants will regularly visit a clinic. There, theyll be given a controlled, specific meal, and be monitored for a series of biomarkers such as how their blood sugar levels change.

Another subset of volunteers will be given three different types of diets, one following another with a washout perioda breakin between. The prepared study foods will be eaten at home, so the participants can go about their daily lives.

Finally, up to 1,000 volunteers will stay at a clinic for three two-week-long holidays. Here, their three meals will be strictly controlled, and outside food not allowed. While seemingly harsh, going from free range to controlled is the gold standard for nutrition science, because it weeds out other variables.

While on the diet, all three groups will undergo a series of clinical tests, ranging from genetics and microbiome composition to blood sugar levels, metabolism, and urine. Psychology and behavior measures will also be assessed. Further on the docket are socioeconomic factors, such as zip code.

With these comprehensive measures, we are removing a lot of that noise that we had for years, created by the factors that we were not measuring before, said Dr. Jos Ordovs, a nutrition scientist at Tufts University.

As the study gathers data, on the back end, software engineers will begin building an infrastructure for storing, organizing, and searching the datasets. This library of data is then passed on to AI scientists to create models and algorithms that predict a persons individual response to a diet. Finally, another five-year period will validate those models in clinical trials.

Its not the first time a study has linked precision nutrition with AI. In 2015, an Israeli study of 800 people monitored their blood sugar levels and microbiome to parse out how individuals respond to different types of sugar intake. Using machine learning, the study built a software program to predict diets best suited for someone who is diabetic or hoping to lose weight.

But Nutrition for Precision Health is larger and far more sweeping than anything previously attempted. For now, the program is still at the planning stage, with a full launch expected in early 2023.

To Rodgers, the study isnt just about generating a wealth of data to fuel discovery science for years to come. The resulting tools, methods, and paradigm shift will have the potential to truly transform the field of nutrition science, he said.

Image Credit: bestbrk/Shutterstock.com

See original here:
Massive National Health Study Looks to Tailor Your Diet to Your Genetic Makeup - Singularity Hub

Ketogenic diets, which forgo carbohydratesto replace them with fats, have becomeextremely popular in recent years,rising to the top as themost-searched-for diet of 2020.Whilst these diets are effective in treating epilepsy and have applications in various other diseases, the evidence for use as a tool for weight loss in healthy individuals remains disputed.

In a recent study performed on rats,researchers have suggestedthat keto diets are having a dramatic impact on peoples hearts.The results showedthe high-fat-diet-induced changes within the rats hearts, reducing the production of mitochondria and creatingscar tissue.Their work was published in the journal Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy.

The basis of ketogenic diets revolves around bringing the body into a state of ketosis through consuming mostly fats.Ketosis is a normal metabolic response that kicks in when the body doesnt have enough glucoseto ensure enough energy is provided. The liver begins turning fat molecules into ketones, which are released into the bloodstream and used as an alternative energy source.

As this process consumes fat molecules and lowers blood glucose and insulin levels, the diet has become popular amongpeople looking for weight loss.The jury is still out on whether ketogenic diets are safe andeffective for long-term weight goals,with many swearing by the success they have had and others disputing it as an alternative to traditional weight-loss methods.

In the latest piece of research, a collaboration between Fudan University, Shanghai, andSichuan University, Chengdu, the researchers delveddeeperintothe cellular impacts of ketosis on the heart. The most abundant ketone body formed during ketosis is-OHB (70 percent of all ketones), which has been thought to have multiple secondary benefits for the immune system. However, researchhas suggested that elevated -OHB is linked with poorer cardiac health, alongside variousother concerning correlations between ketosis and mortality.

The study involvedthree groups of six rats that were fed either a ketogenic diet, normal diet, or calorie-restricteddiet over a period of four months.After the four months, the rats hearts wereanalyzedto look for cellular changes between each diet. In the ketogenic group, the rats demonstrated an increase in the ketone -OHB levels and a resulting activation of the geneSirt7, inhibiting the biogenesis of mitochondria. Furthermore, when this pathway was translated to human cultured cells, it led to apoptosis (celldeath) of cardiac cells and fibrosis (scarring).

These results do not provide clear evidence that ketogenic diets damage the human heart, nor that all ketogenic diets should be stopped. Cellular and animal models were used and there is no data onthe long-term effectsof ketosis on human organs, which would require more extensive testing and clinical trials. However, it does highlight an avenue of inquiry that should be followed to ensure ketogenic diets are safe for use as a weight-loss tool. The authors call for further trialsover a longer period, but in the meantime suggest ketogenic diets should be avoided for weight loss unless required by a health condition.

Original post:
Keto Diets Cause Scarring Of Heart Tissue And Inhibit Mitochondria Production In Rats - IFLScience

Eating a nutritious diet is important to improving your heart health. Pohley Richey, a registered dietitian and health coach with Saltzer Health, says that the Mediterranean diet is one way to minimize processed foods and sugar while increasing fiber in your daily meals.

The diet has evolved over the last 5,000 years in the Mediterranean region, she said.

It really came into popularity in the 1960s when people from the region were studied and shown to

have a lower incidence of heart disease, Richey said.

The Mediterranean diet is based on the traditional foods that people have eaten for generations in Italy,

Greece and other Mediterranean countries with an emphasis on:

Whole, unprocessed, natural foods

Less sugar

Local, seasonal fruits and vegetables

Whole grains

Heart healthy fats like nuts, olive oil, and other seeds

Protein from legumes, lentils, chickpeas, and seafood

Its not necessarily about a specific food per se but about this overall style of eating, Richey said.

Research has shown that the diet promotes wellness and decreases the risk of heart disease, cancer,

diabetes and other chronic conditions.

Richey describes the Mediterranean diet as super versatile.

It is super easy to implement. Its delicious. There is a lot of variety involved. It can be really simple,

easy, and a fun way to eat, she said.

Do you LOVE local news? Get Local News Headlines in your inbox daily.

Thanks! You'll start receiving the headlines tomorrow!

With any diet, Richey recommends starting small. If you are looking at making a complete revamp it

gets a little bit overwhelming, she said. Think of very specific things that you can pull from this dietary

pattern and implement.

To get started, she recommends:

Try going one meal a week meatless

Eat more legumes

Experiment with new foods like chickpeas or lentils

Shop at local farmers markets

Pohley Richey, RD, is a culinary instructor and health coach with Saltzer Health based at PIVOT. To learn more, visit saltzerhealth.com and heart.org.

A resident of Nampa, Martinez is a senior at NNU majoring in biology/pre-med and healthcare communications. He is a resident of Nampa. Martinez is a communications intern at Saltzer Health.

Link:
Improve your health with the Mediterranean diet - Idaho Press-Tribune

Study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center finds adding more foods that are part of Western diet may reduce cognitive benefits of Mediterranean diet.

A study by Rush researchers finds that adding more foods that are part of Western diet may reduce cognitive benefits of the Mediterranean diet.

Eating a healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, has a positive impact on health, but little is known about the effects of including unhealthy foods in an otherwise healthy diet. Now researchers at Rush University Medical Center have reported diminished benefits of a Mediterranean diet among those who frequently eatunhealthy foods. Results of their study were published in Alzheimers & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimers Association.

Eating a diet that emphasizes vegetables, fruit, fish and whole grains may positively affects a persons health, said Puja Agarwal, PhD, a nutritional epidemiologist and assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Rush Medical College. But when it is combined with fried food, sweets, refined grains, red meat, and processed meat, we observed that the benefits of eating the Mediterranean part of the diet seem to be diminished.

A Mediterranean diet is associated with slower rates of cognitive decline in older adults.

The observational study included 5,001 older adults living in Chicago who were part of the Chicago Health and Aging Project, an evaluation of cognitive health in adults over the age of 65 conducted from 1993 to 2012. Every three years, the study participants completed a cognitive assessment questionnaire that tested basic information processing skills and memory, and they filled out a questionnaire about the frequency with which they consumed 144 food items.

The researchers analyzed how closely each of the study participants adhered to a Mediterranean diet, which includes daily consumption of fruit, vegetables, legumes, olive oil, fish, potatoes and unrefined cereals, plus moderate wine consumption. They also assessed how much each participant followed a Western diet, which included fried foods, refined grains, sweets, red and processed meats, full-fat dairy products and pizza. They assigned scores of zero to five for each food item to compile a total Mediterranean diet score for each participant along a range from zero to 55.

The researchers then examined the association between Mediterranean diet scores and changes in participants global cognitive function, episodic memory and perceptual speed. Participants with slower cognitive decline over the years of follow up were those who adhered closest to the Mediterranean diet, along with limiting foods that are part of Western diet, whereas participants who ate more of the Western diet had no beneficial effect of healthy food components in slowing cognitive decline.

There was no significant interaction between age, sex, race or education and the association with cognitive decline in either high or low levels of Western diet foods. The study also included models for smoking status, body mass index and other potential variables such as cardiovascular conditions and findings remained the same.

Western diets may adversely affect cognitive health, Agarwal said. Individuals who had a high Mediterranean diet score compared to those who had the lowest score were equivalent to being 5.8 years younger in age cognitively.

Agarwal said that the results complement other studies showing that a Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of heart disease, certain cancers and diabetes and also support previous studies on Mediterranean diet and cognition. The study also notes that most of the dietary patterns that have shown improvement in cognitive function among older adults, including the Mediterranean, MIND, and DASH diets, have a unique scoring matrix based on the amount of servings consumed for each diet component.

The more we can incorporate green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, berries, olive oil, and fish into our diets, the better it is for our aging brains and bodies. Other studies show that red and processed meat, fried food and low whole grains intake are associated with higher inflammation and faster cognitive decline in older ages, Agarwal said. To benefit from diets such as the Mediterranean diet, or MIND diet, we would have to limit our consumption of processed foods and other unhealthy foods such as fried foods and sweets.

The study and its findings cannot be readily generalized. Future longitudinal studies on diet and cognition among the middle-aged population are needed to extend these findings.

Reference: Unhealthy foods may attenuate the beneficial relation of a Mediterranean diet to cognitive decline by Puja Agarwal, Klodian Dhana, Lisa L. Barnes, Thomas M Holland, Yanyu Zhang, Denis A. Evans and Martha Clare Morris, 7 January 2021, Alzheimers & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimers Association.DOI: 10.1002/alz.12277

Other researchers at Rush involved in the study at Rush were Klodian Dhana, PhD; Lisa Barnes, PhD; Thomas Holland, MD; Yanyu Zhang, MS; Denis Evans, MD; Martha Morris, ScD.

The study was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging.

Visit link:
Eating Unhealthy Foods May Diminish Positive Effects of an Otherwise Healthy Diet - SciTechDaily

Shopping for a new juicer is no easy task, which is why in the Good Housekeeping Kitchen Appliances Lab, we test juicers to find the best ones that are actually worth your money. We do so by juicing just about everything pulpy apples that have a large diameter and oxidize quickly, floppy kale which can often jam machines, and hard, fibrous carrots. We then measure multiple data points around key features to find the top juicers, including:

Output: How much juice does the machine create? How much pulp does it yield, and how dry is the pulp? (Hint: It should be dry, as this indicates more juice has been squeezed out.)

Taste: How sweet is the juice and how smooth is it? The sweeter and less pulp the better.

Temperature: What is the temperature of the resulting liquid? And how does it compare to others that are being tested at the same exact time?

Out of the dozen cold press juicers we tested, these are the best cold press juicers to buy in 2021, according to both Good Housekeeping Institute Lab tests and best-sellers with lots of glowing reviews online:

If you've been hearing a lot of buzz about cold press juicers lately, you may be wondering what exactly they are and how they differ from all the other types of juicers on the market. The key distinction is in how they work:

If you're looking to get more nutrients into your diet, most experts say a cold press juicer is the way to go because the slow juicing process is more gentle on ingredients and retains more nutrients though Stefani Sassos, MS, RDN, Registered Dietitian for the Good Housekeeping Institute, points out that recent research suggests juice storage may matter more than how exactly you make it.

It seems that storage conditions are more important when it comes to the nutrient capacity of juice, she says,so drink it immediately or store it in the coldest part of the fridge but dont let it sit out at room temperature. It's also worth noting that generally cold press juicers require a bit more prep work (read: you'll need to cut smaller chunks of fruits and vegetables) than centrifugal juicers due to their small feed tubes.

See the original post here:
Sneak More Fruits and Veggies Into Your Diet With a Top-Rated Cold Press Juicer - msnNOW

DEAR HARRIETTE: I did one of those popular diets for the month of January, and I am so mad. I did it because I need to lose weight; sitting around at home during COVID-19 and eating whenever I want to has not helped me at all. But starving myself for a month didn't help either. My stomach was constantly upset, and I didn't even lose much weight. I did notice what my cravings are because my patterns were disrupted. But still, I'm left in the same position that I started in: I need to lose weight. What should I do? -- Need To Lose

DEAR NEED TO LOSE: Go get a physical from your doctor. Figure out the status of your health, and ask for a referral to a nutritionist. You can work with this person to assess your current eating habits and consider healthier options. You should also incorporate exercise into your daily routine. Incorporate a few modifications into your daily life, and track your success.

DEAR HARRIETTE: I feel like I don't have any friends. When I was out and about, working and socializing, it felt completely different. I was always the belle of the ball, so to speak. My work was very social, and I knew a lot of people who acted like they wanted to be around me. Now that we can't go anywhere, I realize that most of those people have disappeared. I have one girlfriend who I have talked to consistently over all these months. When I have reached out to some of the people I thought were my friends, it fell flat. Should I just let them go? I feel like such a loser. -- No Friends

Read the original post:
Fad diet doesn't work | | thetandd.com - The Times and Democrat

The Blood-type diet for weight loss: Know what you should eat to lose weight according to your blood group  |  Photo Credit: iStock Images

New Delhi: Weight loss is a long and tedious process, which requires a consideration of every factor that incorporates your health. While diet and exercise are the two most important factors for weight loss, factors such as lifestyle, which shift you work, how well you sleep, may also have a result on your weight loss efforts. Existing health conditions can also affect how much weight you gain or lose, and so can your blood type.

Many people believe that a diet depending on your blood type may play a crucial role in weight loss. Different blood groups are more, or less susceptible to different diseases and conditions, research has found. This, in turn, can also affect your weight loss journey.

According to a study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, there does not exist any evidence to suggest that various diets work better for people of a certain blood type, as compared to another. Another study published in PLOS found that people who followed a certain diet did see improvements in their health, but those benefits were independent of the blood type.

More studies, conducted over time, have not found any specific link between blood type, and effects of weight-loss diets.

Even as research has not found any evidence to back the claim, some people still believe that since blood type has a link with diseases and the risk of some, they must consume a diet as per their blood group. If you are looking to lose weight according to your blood type, here is what you must eat.

A healthy diet comprising of the right quantities of all age groups, and regular exercise are key for weight loss. People looking to lose weight should avoid processed foods, sugary drinks, fried and refined foods. While the above foods are healthy, restrictive diets are not recommended for healthy weight loss, and should only be followed in consultation with expert nutritionists.

Disclaimer: Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are for general information purpose only and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a dietician before starting any fitness programme or making any changes to your diet.

Go here to read the rest:
The Blood-type diet for weight loss: Know what you should eat to lose weight according to your blood group - Times Now