By Natalie Blando-George

February 09, 2021

Customized diets and lifestyle changes could be key to optimizing mental health according to Binghamton University researcher Lina Begdache, PhD 08, whose work was published in Nutrients in December 2020.

There is increasing evidence that diet plays a major role in improving mental health, but everyone is talking about a healthy diet, said Begdache, an assistant professor in the Health and Wellness Studies Division of Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences.

We need to consider a spectrum of dietary and lifestyle changes based on different age groups and gender, she said. There is not one healthy diet that will work for everyone. There is not one fix.

Lina Begdache is an assistant professor in Binghamton University's Decker College of Nursing and Health Sciences. Image Credit: Jonathan Cohen.

She and her research team conducted an online survey to examine food intake, dietary practices, exercise and other lifestyle factors in these four subpopulations. Over a five-year period (2014-19), more than 2,600 participants completed the questionnaire after responding to social media posts advertising the survey. The team collected data at different timepoints and seasons and found important dietary and lifestyle contributors to mental distress defined as anxiety and depression in each of the groups.

Key findings of this study:

The study also found there were seasonal and geographic triggers that affect mental well-being.

Begdache and her team split the respondents into two age groups because human brain development continues into the late 20s. For young adults of both genders, quality of diet appears to have an impact on the developing brain.

Young adults are still forming new connections between brain cells as well as building structures; therefore, they need more energy and nutrients to do that, Begdache said.

As a result, young adults who consume a poor-quality diet and experience nutritional deficiencies may suffer from a higher degree of mental distress.

Age is also the reason high caffeine consumption was associated with mental distress in both young men and young women.

Caffeine is metabolized by the same enzyme that metabolizes the sex hormones testosterone and estrogen, and young adults have high levels of these hormones, Begdache said. When young men and women consume high levels of caffeine, it stays in their system for a long time and keeps stimulating the nervous system, which increases stress and eventually leads to anxiety.

This is an important finding, since young adults tend to consume high levels of coffee, energy drinks and soda, most of which are loaded with caffeine.

The team also split respondents based on biological sex, since brain morphology and connectivity differ between men and women. Put simply, the male brain is wired to enable perception and coordination, whereas the female brain is built to support analysis and intuition. Begdache and her team believe these differences may influence nutritional needs.

I have found it in my multiple studies so far, that men are less likely to be affected by diet than women are, said Begdache. As long as they eat a slightly healthy diet they will have good mental well-being. Its only when they consume mostly fast food that we start seeing mental distress.

Women, on the other hand, really need to be consuming a whole spectrum of healthy food and doing exercise in order to have positive mental well-being, she added. These two things are important for mental well-being in women across age groups.

While the research team didnt find many foods associated with mental distress in mature men, nuts were shown to have a positive effect on their mental health. Consuming nuts has been shown to strengthen the brainwave frequencies associated with different cortical regions in the brain.

Interestingly, men with a high level of education reported greater mental well-being than those with lower levels of education. According to Begdache, higher education improves brain efficiency and may alleviate the impact of age on brain function connectivity.

Education works the same way as exercise on the brain, Begdache said. Using your muscles causes the brain to release a growth factor that is the same one released doing cognitive functions.

According to Begdache, current recommendations for food intake are all based on physical health; there are no recommendations for mental health.

She hopes that will change and that her work will play a role in making those changes.

I hope to see more people doing research in this area and publishing on the customization of diet based on age and gender, she said. I hope that one day, institutions and governments will create dietary recommendations for brain health.

Diet, Exercise, Lifestyle and Mental Distress among Young and Mature Men and Women: A Repeated Cross-Sectional Study, appeared in the Dec. 23, 2020, issue of Nutrients.

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Bespoke nutrition and fitness: More than a fad, essential for mental health - Binghamton University

When was the last time you tried a new diet and felt great, got to eat what you loved, and successfully lost weight? It may have never happened. Most diets leave you feeling hungry, deprived and then when you inevitably "cheat" and eat satisfying food, you end up defeated.

Yet it is possible to fill up on healthy, satisfying foods, have energy, and successfully lose weight, according to nutrition expert Nicole Osinga, a Registered Dietician who created The VegStart Diet as a way of helpingyou lose weight the healthy way, while still eating what you love, and filling up on plant-based meals and snacks that are so full of healthy ingredients, energizing antioxidants and filling fiber, that you never feel deprived, hungry or sluggish, and you lose weight in a sustainable way that makes it easy to keep it off.

Last week,we hosted Osinga on Facebook Live to discuss the health benefits of a plant-based diet, weight loss, and everything you need to know about our most popular meal plan,The VegStart Diet.

Osinga, a well-known nutritionist, created healthy, filling, low-calorie recipesfor the VegStartDiet, which are designed to help you lose weight while eating the foods you love, like pasta and bread, comfort food like soup, and even tasty sweet or crunchy snacks. The recipes are delicious, as confirmed by the 1.2million TikTok viewers who loved the Roasted Carrot and White Bean Soup. Osingadoesn't believe in extreme dieting andconsiders The VegStart a "sustainable weight loss program," so there's no worry of going hungry.

The program also includes a full meal plan with breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and snacks for Monday through Sunday,helpful shopping lists, and expert tips, plus a supportive community group, and live videos with Osinga so you can ask her one-on-one questions.

Aside from the diet questions, Osinga speaks the truth about the importance ofindulgences like wine, chocolate, and desserts. She shared her go-to cheat meals, how totreat yourself the healthy way, plus the tastiest plant-based proteins, and the most useful ingredients that everyone should have on hand. If this is your first approach to a plant-baseddiet or you started eating plant-based a while back, when meat alternatives weren't around, you probably have a lot of questions. Here are the top questions about weight loss and plant-based dieting,explained and answered by Nicole Osinga.

Nicole Osinga RD:I don't believe in extremes. I believe in sustainable changes. I have a lot of conversations with people today about this topic. If we're looking to lose weight, The VegStart diet program is designed for weight loss but certainly, everyone's individual needs are different. The diet focuses on sustainable weight loss that is still going to keep you feeling satisfied and meet your nutrition needs because we don't want to become nutrient deficient when we're sort of trying to follow something.There's definitely a lifestyle change aspect to the diet if you're not plant-based already.

Nicole Osinga RD:It's a great evidence-based way of eating that has been shown to reduce the risk of various conditions like cardiovascular diseases, and a number of cancers. I'm working part-time at the hospital in the cancer care clinics. So, I deal with people often who have various diagnoses and Irecommend those patients eatplant-based foods.

Nicole Osinga RD:It might be overwhelming to find different ways to cook those plant-based proteins and how to incorporate them into your family's meals, but find those proteins you like and focus on incorporating them into your diet.

Nicole Osinga RD: Probably my favorite is tempeh, followed by tofu which is a big one, and edamame...I love the ease of cooking it like typically I buy it frozen. I might just thaw it or put it in like a stir fry.

Nicole Osinga RD: I'd have to say basil and oregano. Those are definitely my go-to spices. I also love paprika, cumin, and cinnamon. I certainly have a sweet tooth so I like to add cinnamon into my overnight oats. I like the smoky flavors of cumin and paprika on my tempeh.

Nicole Osinga RD: I take a B12 supplement and an iron supplement. I mean, just because you follow a plant-based doesn't mean you're going to be low in iron, but I'm a runner as well. I'm a female of childbearing age. So, I'm sort of at a higher risk for iron deficiency. But you can also get the B12 from nutritional yeast and plant-based milk instead of taking a supplement.Sometimes I will takea plant-based omega-3 supplement, but again, you can get omega-3s in flaxseeds, chia seeds, and walnuts. The bottom line is, you certainly don't have to supplement, you can get enough nutrients through food but those are just ones I take for extra assurance.

Nicole Osinga RD: Whenever we're enjoying desserts, I call them fun meals. They sure don't have a ton of nutrients as our other meals do, but whenever we're enjoying them, eat them without guilt because if we have guilt we won't have acceptance then that's when it turns into you eating the whole bag of chips or chocolates. When we feel good about eating something we're likely to acknowledge it quicker. I normally say to aim for 90% regular meals and 10% fun meals. It's ok to have three fun meals per week, and the rest should be healthy meals. Definitely leave some room for un!

Nicole Osinga RD: The biggest thing you want to do is to feel sated. Of course, you want to meet those nutrient needs because we're not going to hit those long-term weight loss goals if we're feeling deprived. Whatever changes you're going to make, just make sure you can sustain them. I see so many people in my practice that are yo-yo dieters give up. That cycle is going to continue if we do things that are so, so restrictive. I saw someone yesterday in my practice who was eating one meal a day, just, that's it. That system worked for them, but, for most people, that's not going to besustainable.

Nicole Osinga RD: Not necessarily. If you're eating a whole food plant-based diet, you're eating beans and tofu for protein, and tofu costs $1 or $2 for a block, and you can get beans for less than a dollar. If you live in a warmer climate you obviously have better access to fresh produce all year round, but it's okay if to use frozen produce like I do because I live in Canada. I think it's cheaper to eat plant-based and it's a great way to save money.

Nicole Osinga RD: Just keep going. The best part is, you can keep mixing those recipes into your day-to-day routine anduse those lessons and tips you learned from TheVegStart diet. If you started meal prepping and planning, keep going with that. The calorie level of the diet is around 1,400 a day and if that works for you, continue doing that buy you can always make modifications to the recipes. I would recommend making more plant-based meals. The Beetposts new recipes every day so you know where you can get them. Try to make a plant-based diet part of your lifestyle.

Nicole Osinga RD:Personally, when I first went plant-based, about 10 years ago or so, I had a slow transition but it only took a month after eating this way to feel a noticeable difference.

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How to Lose Weight and Still Eat What You Love By a Nutritionist - The Beet

Longform

With an overarching goal to have a healthier mindset around nutrition, we're working on eating and living guilt-free.

Veggie-forward dishes from fast-casual restaurant DIG in Rittenhouse. | Photograph by Jason Lecras

Its 2004, and Im celebrating my moms birthday in Northeast Philly with her six siblings and my 14 cousins. Our family is happily stuffing our faces with bubbling cheese pizza topped with sausage and mushrooms, lunch-meat-packed sandwiches from Marinuccis, and hearty slices of Stocks frosted pound cake. That is, everyone except the birthday girl. My mom is hunched over the kitchen counter, scribbling on what looks like a mini-golf scorecard. Next to her, a scant plate: a hoagie cut deliberately in half, and a few picked-off pizza mushrooms.

Though I didnt fully know it then, this kind of relationship with food isnt unique to my mom. Practices like counting calories and restricting portions pervaded the diet culture of the early 2000s. America was saturated with often-unsatisfactory weight-loss plans: Weight Watchers points were tallied religiously; devotees of the South Beach and Atkins diets requested bagels with the insides scooped out. Some people looking to lose weight may have seen success with these programs. But many didnt and, worse, many never learned the difference between nutrition and dieting. Despite some benefits, these plans never worked for everyone or made everyone feel good making the once-pervasive one-size-fits-all diet culture both frustrating and unrealistic.

Despite some benefits, these plans never worked for everyone or made everyone feel good making the once-pervasive one-size-fits-all diet culture both frustrating and unrealistic.

Diet programs have, thankfully, evolved since then, modifying their approaches to recognize that not all foods are created equal, nutritionally speaking. And of course, fad diets and calorie counting did (and continue to) work for some people my mom, for one, whos still tallying her numbers and eating half-sandwiches 20 years later. But over the decades, others became hungry for something new: an approach to nutrition that was not only less concerned with numbers and guilt, but more intuitive, personalized and practical.

In 2009, Whole30 emerged as an elimination diet: a method that involves removing certain food groups dairy, legumes, grains for a short period of time, then reintroducing them one by one in order to determine which might be causing GI distress, low energy or stress. It wasnt perfect, but this approach did shift American nutrition culture slightly. Diet was no longer strictly synonymous with weight loss, according to Theresa Shank, a licensed registered dietitian and owner of nutritional counseling service Philly Dietitian. Whole30 made people think about how food choices impact their nutrition, digestive health, mental health and overall wellness, says Shank. People went from being hyper-focused on calorie counts to taking a closer look at ingredients and quality.

It was around this time that many dietitians started changing their approaches, too, guiding clients to consume nutritionally dense food in order to boost health and reduce disease risk. Intuitive eating, or being mindful of and listening to your internal hunger cues, started to rise in popularity as well. Beth Auguste, a registered dietitian nutritionist and founder of BeWell with Beth, says that in the past decade, when clients started asking how to lose weight, she started asking why: It became important to find out what was really at stake for that desire, because it was usually rooted in another aspect of their general health, says Auguste.

It was becoming more widely known that everyones body responds differently to food, even if were all eating the same things. That means we cant all follow the same cookie-cutter nutrition plan and even if we did, we wouldnt all look or feel the same. Rather than logging each and every food item consumed throughout the day for the purpose of making the weekly weigh-in, folks were becoming more in tune with their bodies, figuring out which ingredients agreed with their own digestive systems, and embracing the notion that healthy can be defined in a multitude of ways not just by weight and size.

People were focused on coping with stress and how it can directly impact your consumption like emotional eating or food avoidance.

In 2010, Michelle Obama launched the Lets Move campaign, which encouraged families to make healthier food choices and keep kids active. The campaign successfully advocated for the passage of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, which, according to public health writer Steven Ross Johnson, allowed the U.S. Agriculture Department to set new nutritional standards for all food sold in schools for the first time in more than 30 years. It called for, he continued, increased servings of fruits, vegetables and whole grains in meals. Encouraged to adopt an abundance mind-set over an avoidance outlook, Americans were slowly learning that adding more greens and nutrient-dense grains into our diets rather than totally forgoing foods typically villainized in diet culture, like white bread, rice and pasta would help us feel better, longer.

Philly embraced these trends, too. In 2010, the citys Department of Public Health, in conjunction with the Food Trust, debuted Get Healthy Philly and its sub-initiative, Philadelphia Campaign for Healthier Schools, thanks to more than $20 million in grants from the CDC as part of a program focused on community-based preventative health care. The two initiatives sought to help Philadelphians make more informed food choices and view wellness as a celebration of healthy living, says Jiana Murdic, the founder of wellness organization Get Fresh Daily, who worked on a campaign called HYPE for the program. (Read more about how she expanded health and nutrition education and founded Get Fresh Daily here.)

Now, in 2020, its apparent that the citys eating scene has capitalized on the plant-forward trend. Farmers markets and community gardens are booming; HipCityVeg slings plant-based burgers and sandwiches, and spots like Blackbird Pizzeria in NoLibs and West Phillys Veganish are making vegetarian and vegan lifestyles more mainstream. The impact of these evolving perspectives can also be seen in Phillys exercise scene. Its a slow road, but: In 2010, fitness and nutrition were very segmented, says Britney Kennedy, founder and CEO of OnPoint Nutrition. You went to the gym to work out, and instructors approached exercise as a way to burn calories. That has changed, especially in the past five years. Studios now seem more committed to clients overall health and happiness, promoting exercise as a means to feel good no matter what kind of body youre in.

Registered dietitian Dalina Soto encourages her clients to be flexible with their nutrition planning and grocery shopping. | Photograph by Heather McBride

In 2020, Auguste noticed many clients investing in their mental health alongside their nutritional plans. People were focused on coping with stress and how it can directly impact your consumption like emotional eating or food avoidance, she says. The pandemic also amplified the citys long-existing divide between those who can access a variety of foods and have the freedom to choose what theyre eating, and those who lack food access and nutritional autonomy, says registered dietitian and Nutritiously Yours founder Dalina Soto.

For years, Philadelphia, the poorest major city in the U.S., has struggled with with food security. From 2015 to 2017, according to data from the USDA, 302,685 city residents one in five were deemed food insecure. And data from the 2019 Neighborhood Food Retail in Philadelphia report revealed that lower-income neighborhoods suffer from an oversupply of food high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats, making it more difficult for residents of these neighborhoods to obtain groceries that support long-term health. Organizations like the Food Trust and Philabundance are working to change this reality. They, along with groups like the Share Food Program and chef-led Everybody Eats, among many others, distributed boxes of healthy food to residents during the pandemic to mitigate this issue, but more significant long-term efforts need to come from policy changes at a government level.

Ask questions like, Can you cook? Where do you get your food? What factors impact your inability to access a grocery store? And then adapt nutritional plans.

Soto believes nutritionists can also help alleviate nutritional challenges by meeting clients where they are. In a city like Philly, she says, Ask questions like, Can you cook? Where do you get your food? What factors impact your inability to access a grocery store? And then adapt nutritional plans. Soto, who works with folks who live in low-income neighborhoods, reminds her clients that healthy food doesnt have to be expensive and that fresh isnt necessarily better than frozen or canned. The goal is consuming a variety of nutrient-dense foods in order to support long-term health, she says.

All in all, eating healthfully in 2020 has come to mean living healthfully pursuing a lifestyle that satisfies your mental, physical and emotional health. Our experts have seen more people intuitively eating and rejecting the diet mentality. Though intuitive eating doesnt account for underlying health or medical conditions that might impact a persons eating habits, it can help folks (especially those who dont see a nutritionist) avoid feeling guilty, pressured or restricted when it comes to food. (Here are some easy-to-implement at home nutrition tips from local pros.)

The goal is consuming a variety of nutrient-dense foods in order to support long-term health.

This anti-diet approach aligns with the newly popular framework Health At Every Size (HAES), which views health and wellness in inclusive, non-stigmatizing ways. Jenny Weinar, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist specializing in disordered eating and body image, says that HAES not only neutralizes weight in conversations about health; it also encourages health-promoting behaviors like joyful movement and intuitive eating, regardless of their outcome on weight.

So where is Phillys nutrition scene headed? Registered dietitian nutritionist Liz McMahon believes home cooking is here to stay, but healthy meal-delivery services will skyrocket we cant all be home chefs 24/7! Shank sees a deeper awareness of the connection between food and emotional health: Those modifying their diets these days might not be interested in losing weight, but instead determined to feel less sluggish and more alert during the workday. And with the overarching goal to have a healthier relationship with our eating habits, Soto hopes more people will stop banning certain foods (white rice! Pasta! Pecan freakin pie!) in order to eat and live guilt-free. See ya, celery juice.

This story was originally published in the Be Well Philly 2021 print issue as Our Plates, Evolved. A quote from Jenny Weinar has been updated for accuracy. To request a complimentary copy, follow this link.

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How Philly Is Learning to Ditch Dieting and Evolve Our Relationship With Food - Philadelphia magazine

There is a difference between eating healthy and eating right for your body.

Im not going to tell you to eat turkey and drink milk and so on to sleep better. The ways that food nourishes our body are much more complicated than that. I want to dive deeper into how to find out which foods are best for you individually so that you can be healthy and sleep well.

Im going to tell you about the importance of keeping your blood sugar levels steady, why you want to avoid foods youre sensitive to, how to balance your macronutrients for your metabolism and why low-carb, low-fat and plant-based diets and intermittent fasting arent good for you if you have trouble sleeping.

When your blood sugar levels fluctuate from extremely high to extremely low, youre on a blood sugar roller coaster that continues into the night. When levels get too high, your body releases insulin to lower blood sugar. When your blood sugar levels drop too low, your body feels stressed so it releases cortisol, which will wake you up if this happens in the night. You feel wired and awake from that cortisol. This is a common reason why many of my clients wake up around 2 a.m. and have a hard time falling back asleep.

The key to maintaining steady blood sugar levels is to avoid refined carbohydrates and sugars and to eat for your metabolic type (see below). Even if you dont eat many carbs or refined foods, your blood sugar system could be dysregulated from other systems in your body being out of balance, especially your hormones.

If you have blood sugar issues, a snack before bed can keep your blood sugar from falling too low at night and waking you up. Shoot for 100 to 200 calories with complex carbohydrates, protein and fat.

When you eat foods youre sensitive to, you have constant low-grade inflammation in your body. When your body is inflamed it releases cortisol, which is an anti-inflammatory hormone. When that happens in the night the cortisol wakes you up and makes it hard to go back to sleep.

Even healthy and easy-to-digest foods like rice and broccoli can sabotage your sleep if your body doesnt like those foods. Some of my clients start sleeping better just by avoiding foods theyre sensitive to.

Eating the correct balance of macronutrients (fat, protein and carbs) for your metabolism and body is key to being healthy, keeping your blood sugar levels steady and sleeping well. According to the metabolic typing diet, there are three types of ideal diets: protein, carbohydrate and mixed. Each type has its ideal ratios of fat, protein and carbs that you should eat.

If your body is meant to run on more carbs for fuel and youre giving it too much fat and protein, it will make you feel tired and cause cravings for sweets.

If your body needs more protein and fat for fuel and you eat too many carbs, its like injecting rocket fuel into your system. Your energy spikes, making you feel anxious, and then crashes, making you feel tired and depleted. This roller coaster ride triggers hormone fluctuations and energy deficits that can cause weight gain and poor sleep.

I start with the metabolic type assessment with my clients. I also use the Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis test that also shows their metabolism. Then I take it one step further to individualize their diet even more. Assessing how you feel after each meal and then fine-tuning your food ratios based on your bodys feedback will help you figure out your perfect ratios so you have energy all day and sleep well at night. You can get the Food Balance Log to assess your diet on my websites blog.

Vegetarian, vegan and low-fat diets arent the best for good sleep. The fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K are found exclusively in animal foods. These vitamins help make a lot of our hormones and neurotransmitters, like dopamine, serotonin and melatonin. You cant get all of these necessary nutrients from a plant diet. I recommend plenty of animal foods in the form of fats (like butter and full-fat dairy), eggs and organ meats to be healthy and sleep well.

Low-carb and ketogenic diets can also ruin your sleep. Everyone is different, and these diets are not good for everyone. You want to have carbohydrates at night so that your body releases insulin. Insulin helps clear out the amino acids that compete with tryptophan. Tryptophan converts to serotonin and melatonin so you can relax and go to sleep.

Intermittent fasting has become the new health craze. I do think it can benefit healthy people, but I also believe that it can be harmful if you arent in perfect health. If you arent sleeping, your body is already stressed. Adding intermittent fasting to insomnia creates even more stress and can wreck your sleep even more.

As you can see, food and sleep are complicated and intertwined. Figuring out your perfect diet based on food sensitivities, your metabolic type and blood sugar regulation will help you feel better, sleep better and improve your health.

As always, wishing you a good nights sleep.

Martha Lewis is a certified Sleep Sense consultant and owner of The Complete Sleep Solution. Follow her on Instagram and Facebook @completesleepsolution. Email her at completesleepsolution@gmail.com.

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Eat right for you and sleep better | Health | jhnewsandguide.com - Jackson Hole News&Guide

You would never run a marathon without having trained for it, right? While getting a vaccine isnt anywhere close to running a marathon, the concept is similar: Getting your body in shape before you get your shot can make any vaccine, the ones for COVID-19 included, more effective.

Learn what the science says and then start shifting your habits today, including eating more plant-based foods, exercising daily, and getting better sleep, so that you can optimizewhichevervaccine you end up getting.

You might think that getting a vaccine simply involves showing up for your appointment and rolling up your sleeve. Your immune system, however, might say otherwise, according to new research.

When doctors and researchers witnessed the rise in general stress, depression, andunhealthybehaviors during the pandemic,they became concerned that even when a vaccine was ready and available, our immune systems would not be up to the task of creating antibodies. Based on 30 years of research with a wide variety of vaccines and samples, we immediately recognized these as risk factors for a poorer immune response to vaccination, says Annelise Madison, lead author of a study published in Perspectives on Psychological Scienceand Ph.D. candidate in clinical psychology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine. She points to a study that showed that even young, healthy medical students who were stressed and anxious took longer to develop protective antibodies in response to the Hepatitis B vaccine than their less stressed,healthier peers. So we set out to review literature showing that we can take action now, prioritize our mental and physical health, and have more optimal responses to the vaccine.

After reviewing the data, they found that risk factors for a weaker vaccine response are numerous. They include not only chronic stress and depression but also poor sleep, anxiety, excessive alcohol use, smoking, being sedentary, and eating the standard American diet, which is high in saturated fat, sugar, and processed foods and causes inflammation in the body as a result.

When the body has to deal with theserisk factors, such as inflammation, neuroendocrine and immune function are affected. The upshot? The initial inflammatory response and the more delayed T-cell and antibody responses to the vaccines are altered, Madison says, meaning it does not work as fast or as well. These risk factors may reduce vaccine efficacy, increase side effect profiles, lengthen the time it takes to develop immunity after vaccination and decrease the duration of immunity. While the COVID-19 vaccines are too new to have been included in this research, Madison suspects the same would hold true for them.

Butthat this doesnt mean you wont have immunity if you get vaccinated in the absence of a squeaky clean lifestyle. Fortunately, the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines are highly efficacious, and most people who are vaccinated will develop immunity, Madison says.

The good news is thatby taking steps to improve your mental and physical health,yuo will help increase the efficacy of any vaccine you get. Andbeinghealthier now comes with a bonus during this pandemic: By taking these preventive measures, you can improve your weight, blood sugar, and lower your blood pressure, all of which lowers your risk of developing severesymptoms from COVID-19, according to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

So what can you do? For starters, if you are feeling anxious or depressed you can seek professional help and also work onmanaging stress through daily activities like mindfulness meditation, Madison says.Find something joyful that makes you happy and do it every day.

Prioritize getting better sleep and daily exercise, plus frequent walks or work breaks. And eat nutritious foods, choosing plant-based foods over animal foods, since saturated fat from animal products is known to raise cholesterol and lead to heart problems over time, whereas the antioxidants in fruit, vegetables, and legumes are the building blocks of a robust immune system.

The Western diet has fueled an epidemic of chronic inflammation and obesity, which can reduce vaccine efficacy, she says. Diet also helps shape the gut microbiota, which strongly impacts immune function and vaccine responses. For instance, dietary fiber intake can boost antibody responses to vaccines, and because fiber is found only in plant foods, it makes sense to eat more if not onlyplants.

Even if youre getting vaccinated in the next few days or weeks, Madisons research suggests that modest, short-term changes to switch to a healthy diet and daily exercise can boost vaccine response. For instance, the day before your vaccine, log a workout and get a good nights sleep. Proof that sleeping better can pay off: The flu vaccine appeared to be more effective in people who had gotten a healthy amount of sleep two nights before receiving their shot, according to this study from the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine.

Bottom line? Doing all of the above healthy immune-boosting strategies wont only prep your body forbetter vaccine outcomes, theyll also make you healthier until you get your shot, and for the long-term.

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You New Vaccine Strategy: Get Healthy Now to Make it Work Better - The Beet

Hydrogen sulfide is a stinky toxic gas, but it has health benefits when released in small amounts inside the body. Thats why eating more plant proteins is linked to longevity

High-protein diets are having a moment. In any grocery store you can now buy a protein bowl, pick up a protein box of eggs and nuts for lunch, or snack on a protein bar.

But theres evidence that restricting which proteins you eat particularly cutting back on meat could be important for healthy aging. The surprising reason: it forces the tissues to make hydrogen sulphide (H2S), a gas thats poisonous if inhaled and smells like rotten eggs, but promotes health inside the body.

As a physiology researcher, I have long been interested in the strange role of H2S in the body. This is not a gas anyone wants around. It stinks, is a component of flatulence, and its toxicity has been linked to at least one mass extinction.

And yet, the body naturally produces small amounts of it as a signalling molecule to act as a chemical messenger. Now, we are starting to understand the link between diet and H2S production.

Diet restrictions that increase longevity

Less can be more when it comes to food. When scientists have put organisms on carefully balanced but restricted diets, these organisms have substantially increased healthy lifespans.

This holds true for yeasts, fruit flies, worms and monkeys. In mice, such diets reduce cancer risk, strengthen the immune system and improve cognitive function.

But because aging and longevity are complex processes, it has been difficult for researchers to pin down the mechanisms at work. Recent studies have shed new light, and it is apparent that H2S plays a crucial role.

Studies since the 1990s have shown that reducing intake of certain sulphur-containing amino acids, the building blocks of proteins, can increase longevity in rats by around 30 per cent. More recently, a collaborative team involving me and led by scientists at Harvard, performed a series of animal studies in which we restricted the intake of two sulphur amino acids cysteine and methionine to study what effects this had.

It caused the animals to ramp up production of H2S in their tissues, which triggered a cascade of beneficial effects. These included increased new blood vessel generation, which promotes cardiovascular health, and better resistance to oxidative stress in the liver, which is linked to liver disease.

But it remained to be seen whether similar effects would occur in humans. Earlier this year, a study using data from the 11,576 adults in NHANES III, the U.S. national nutrition survey, delivered evidence that they do. It found that reduced dietary intake of these sulphur amino acids is linked to lower cardiometabolic risk factors, including lower levels of cholesterol and glucose in the blood. Cardiometabolic risk factors are those linked to heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

Eat less meat, live longer?

The upshot of this research is that theres good evidence that limiting intake of foods containing high levels of sulphur amino acids can reduce the risk of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease, and promote healthy aging. In North America, most of us are a long way from achieving this. Because these sulphur amino acids are abundant in meat, dairy and eggs, which feature prominently in our shopping carts, we eat on average 2.5 times our daily requirement of them.

Red meat is particularly high in sulphur amino acids, but fish and poultry white meat also contain a lot (the dark meat has less). Switching to plant-based proteins would help reduce this intake.

Beans, lentils and legumes are good sources of protein that are also low in sulphur amino acids. But beware: soy protein, which is the basis of foods like tofu, is surprisingly high in sulphur amino acids. Meanwhile, vegetables like broccoli contain lots of sulphur but not in amino acid form.

One important caveat is that sulphur amino acids play vital roles in growth, so children should not adopt diets that are low in them.

Other roles for H2S

It might seem odd that a toxic gas can help maintain health, but it may reflect the origins of life on early Earth when the atmosphere was much richer in sulphur gas than it is today. Indeed, we are starting to appreciate how fundamental H2S signalling may be. For example, it has also been shown to reduce inflammation, opening the door to potential new treatments for arthritis or potential use as a painkiller.

The trick is delivering H2S where its needed safely. Several pharmaceutical companies are working on compounds that bind it while in transit through the body, and release it in tiny doses in the tissues. In time, these could be used as preventive measures to support healthy aging. This would be useful because the drawback of a low-sulphur amino acid diet is that humans are notoriously bad at sticking to such plans long-term.

In the lab, we can control experimental diets. In the real world, people snack or grab a burger when they dont want to cook. If delivery mechanisms can be made reliably and cheaply enough, it could be possible to gain the health effects of increased tissue H2S without dictating what people eat.

Rui Wang, Dean, Faculty of Science, York University, Canada

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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BEYOND LOCAL: The scientific reason you should consider adding more plant protein to your diet - ThoroldNews.com

Mark Bittman may be the most important thinker in the food world. His number 1 bestselling book, VB6 6: Vegan Before 6, published in 2013,was one of the first momentswhenplant-leaning or plant-curious consumers felt they could take intermediate stepstowardeating plant-based, without going the whole way. And like the benevolent uncle who patiently explains why you should try something new, Bittman guided his audience toward plant-based habits without judgment or recrimination. In the eight years since he wrote theviral book, the rise of plant-leaning eating among self-described "flexitarians" has grown exponentially.In Bittman's world, you don't have to be all one thing or another, you just have to try to do betterfor yourself and the planetover time, which means eating more plant-based whenever possible.

Bittmantold us: When more people eat more plant-based,more of the time, then that's the bigger win for humanity and the planet than trying to convince people to eat strictly vegan all the time. Just 3 percent of Americans call themselves vegan, a statistic that has changed little over the decade, whereas a just-released survey found that 54 percent of Millennials define themselvesas "flexitarian." And surveys find that more Americans than ever are trying plant-based foods, especially since the pandemic.

These shifts have not come a moment too soon, Bittman says. How we eat and the typical American diet laden with junk foodand the agricultural systems that support it iskilling us andourplanet. This grim reality is the subject of his new book, out February 2nd, Animal, Vegetable Junk, which traces human history through the vantage pointof our food systems, and leads us to the unvarnished conclusion that we are all hastening our demise with chips. Spoiler alert: With the sub-title, From Sustainable to Suicidal, the picture it paintsisn't pretty. His message: We need to change the way we think about food, farming, and fueling ourselves, or we are doomed.

This may be a "tough topic" to get people to love reading about, but Bittman has the chops to pull it off; with anauthor bio that reads like the ambassador of food politics,Bittman is squarely in the "foodie" world. He talks the talk of someone who loves delicious dinners, finding fresh, nutritious, locally-grown ingredients at local farmers' markets, andrelaxing bycooking. He doesn't just want you to eat smartly butto enjoy it. As the author of 30 books, includingHow to Cook Everything,Food Matters, andhis#1bestseller VB6: Eat Vegan Before 6, Bittman is poised toteach us.An alternative title for Animal, Vegetable Junk might have been: Put down that potato chip:It's killing you. Or: Junk Food? How About Never.

We video called Bittman, who shared his latest thinking, but of course, if you really want to know how to eat to change the world, buy The book, which comes out on February 2nd,is on Amazon and is sure to be another bestseller.

"The history ofHomo sapiensis usually told as a story of technology or economics," the description of Animal, Vegetable Junk says. "But there is a more fundamental driver: food.How we hunted and gathered explains our emergence as a new species and our earliest technology; our first food systems, from fire to agriculture, tell where we settled and how civilizations expanded. The quest for food for growing populations drove exploration, colonialism, slavery, even capitalism."

Bittman took the time to answer howour food choices impact everything. Bittman says food is even more important than we believe it is since ittouches every part of our lives.

Mark Bittman: I realized the current American diet is unsustainable and current agriculture is unstainable. Cooking and eating and enjoying food are all very important, but food is a bigger topic. It is as important as anything and when I started to think about that ... in 2009 I started writing about food for the Times' Sunday Review section and in 2010, I went to the opinion editor and I said, 'if you have a columnist who writes about economics and about politics it's imperative to talk about food.' I convinced him

There was no one doing what I did. Nothing on opinion or news. I left the Times to write something longer than 1,000 words. I had written these columns of 1,000 words and the recipes, which are 400 words, and I wanted to write about something longer, that could address the big picture. So that led to me writing Animal Vegetable Junk.

Mark Bittman: I remember the first vegans I met who said I don't care if you are pure or not, but we care that you are moving in the right direction. To not be dogmatic or strident is the point. To say: It's in all of our best interests to be eating more plants. What matters is that you move on the spectrum toward eating more plants.

What changed was: The writing was on the wall. For the human race to survive and to have a diet that is better for us, we need to move toward a diet that is more plant-based. Let's just work on people just eating better. But I want to say this: There is another evolution of how to achieve this. You can address individual behavior, but it does also go beyond this because a lot of our calories could be more readily termed "poison" than food.

Mark Bittman: That is correct. The number one source of calories in America is junk food. Someone has to be eating that. For one reason or another, it's being eaten, because economically, it's cheaper to produce. Famers produce more soy and corn and wheat, and the majority of calories that are out there on shelves in our country are essentially poison. So as we talk abouteating plant-based, we need to talk about not eatingpoison.

Mark Bittman: It's a mistake because we have to think about how food is grown, how the soil is treated, how workers are treated, and what is left over whenour food is created. You can't just eat and not think about it. People are worried that if they look at where their food comes from, they may be unhappy about it. But, you can find out where your food comes from and feel good about it.

Mark Bittman:There is a human condition here and a social condition here. There is also a personal and planetary consideration. If you are in the right position or have the ability to do it, that is great, but not everyone is. If you have time and money, then better for you. If you can drive a Tesla, then good for you, but that way of thinking doesn't account for people who can't drive a Tesla and it does not account for people who can't find food in their neighborhood to make it easier to eat better. If you're asking me what's good, I'd say of course treat your body as well as you can, but also think about how food affects the planet.

Mark Bittman:Five of the worst paying jobs in this country are in the food sector. The people who bring us our food usually can't afford to eat as well as you or me. People say they don't want to think about it: Where their food comes from. If you don't want to feel bad about your food choices, then eat for the planet. People watched the Amazon fires and connected them to the agricultural systems there, but think about this: If there is pollution in Iowa then it's partly because we are eating more junk food. What you eat is a political act, and impacts air quality, water quality, and you can choose to act with the choices you make.

Mark Bittman:How can we feed 10 billion, or the world's population? It's not up to us to feedeveryone on the planet. It's up to us to get out of the way of them feeding themselves, their families, and their neighbors. And to do that we need to eat more plant-based foods. How are we going to feed the world's 10 billion people as a question is a hidden code for how do we get people to raise food that is junk food. The question is how do we get out of the way and let people eat healthier than we do by not eating the American diet.

Mark Bittman:Tricky question. It is true. To go back to the question before: There are enough calories right now to feed everyone on the planet. Are they all good calories? High-quality calories? No. They are non-nutritious. Is there enough food to go around? Yes, but it is junk food. Feeding people quality food means changing agriculture and what we eat.

What I call junk food, hyper-processed food or ultra-processed food, didn't exist 150 years ago and could not have come out of your grandmother's kitchen. Now, 60 percent of available calories in the US are closer to poison than nutrition. If X percent of calories are lucky charms and double cheeseburgers and Coke, then that is a percentage of what people are eating.

Mark Bittman: There just isn't enough good food to be available right now.It's not that there is a geopolitical area that supermarkets could not go into those areas where we associate food deserts, but that people don't want to spend on those foods. If you can afford to buy good food then you can go anywhere and buy it. But if you can't then you can't. Rather than food desert, I think of it as "Food Apartheid." There are places where people have money and can buy good food and places where people don't have enough money and a Whole Foods can't afford to go in there. When Whole Foods sees an opportunity it takes advantage. If it doesn't think it can make it in a certain area it won't. Not just Whole Foods but any major supermarket.

In places where there are support programs, there is no incentive for people to only use their SNAP dollars for good foods. They want it to be used for everything sold in the supermarket. There are programs encouraging people to use it on vegetables and fresh fruits and it is easier to use them on farmers markets and Community Supported Agriculture. SNAP is an essential program and allows people to eat but there is room for people to buy better food. It starts with the government and what we subsidize.

Mark Bittman: This is the easiest question you've asked so far. We all know that it's hard to change our diets, so how do you go to the root of that problem? You teach children about it. Untitl you teach 4-year-olds to eat good food, we are never going to have a generation of 40-year-olds or 30-year-olds eating good foods. If we want people to eat better in the future we have to have a new generation brought up on good foods.

That means discouraging sweetened baby foods and sweetened cereals, which are dessert foods that are masquerading as breakfast foods. It's a 20-year project, at best.

Kids learn from other kids and they learn in school. Changing diets one person at a time is great. But your have to change the foods that are available. How much do you have o fight with your kids? They are begging to go down that cereal aisle. How many times did you have that fight with your kids to not buy Lucky Charms? The idea is to not have to have that fight. Your kids were told Tony the Tiger was a hero. Some countries have banned hiim.

How do we teach children to eat better? You should talk to Alice Waters about this. She is the most articulate and passionate person about this. How do we teach our children? Everybody knows it is better to eat this way. We start at the beginning of their lives.

Our country is in crisiswhen it comes to our health. Every other person has heart disease, Aheart attack is nature's way of telling us to eat more plant-based.

The marketing for convenient food began with our mothers. They were told: "There's no need to cook, You can just mix in Campbell's soup and chicken and have dinner ready. Historically it has not changed much. There were attempts in the '70s and '80s to change that. Thanks to Ronald Regan, they tried to reign in the food companies and failed. There are 350 million people in this country. And the Federal Government, this branch of this country, has an impact on every single personand what we eat.

Good government would support food that is good for us and the planet. We have to convince the government it's worth doing agriculture better. The food lobby is the highest spending lobby after the defense lobby. The food lobby spends money to influence what our government subsidizes.

Mark Bittman: Animal agriculture and farming is the second-largest emissions created by humans after power. Those crops, which are heavily subsidized, emit greenhouse gases. And industrially produced animal products, which may or may not be as bad for us as junk food, are certainly as bad for the planet.

In Europe, the crop that creates junk food, like corn, isnot grownfor the people but for animal feed. If junk food were more expensive, if it cost the actual amount it costs for producing it, we wouldn't eat it as readily.

And if we take into account the climate costs of junk food we certainly wouldn't eat it.

The majority of calories available in the US are junk food. We can make regulations so that added sugar and processed food are not as cheap and are not marketed as effectively.

People around the world have figured it out. In Chile there is no Tony the Tiger. They killed him. But here its a freedom of speech issue. We need to make changes in the way food is grown, sold, and consumed.

Mark Bittman: Breakfast: Toast and I bake my own bread. It's whole grain.

Bean soup for lunch. I am pretty hungry. Pasta with clams for dinner. I always cooked a lot at home.

Now I cook 21 times a week.I live on a farm. I am an avid gardener. The farm produces a lot of stuff. There are no good supermarketsnearby. We go to the farmers' market. I get fish from him. There is a winter CSA. I eat a lot of root vegetables in the winter.

Cooking is how I relax. I don't recommend my habits to anyone else. I am extreme.

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Mark Bittman Says How We are Eating Is Killing Us and the Planet - The Beet

You're not alone if you've been extra stressed since the COVID-19 pandemic began last year. As you continue to practice social distancing and work from home in 2021, it's important to learn how to manage your stress levels to the best of your ability to keep your mental health and immune system in tip-top shape.

While you can't always control what happens during your workdayand you certainly can't predict what happens across the worldthere are small lifestyle changes you can make in your day-to-day routine that could actively lower your stress levels. (Related: 15 Underrated Weight Loss Tips That Actually Work).

From cutting too many calories to not getting enough shut-eye, here are five habits causing you to feel more stressed every day, plus suggestions for how to break them.

There are plenty of health benefits of drinking coffee, but there is also such a thing as drinking too much coffee. In fact, consuming high amounts of caffeine can elevate your cortisol levels, which can then intensify the effects of stress on your body. One 2013 study suggests that routinely high caffeine consumption could lead to weight gain or changes in moodor even more serious chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The solution? Limit yourself to just one to two cups of coffee per day.

Don't missDangerous Side Effects of Drinking Coffee, According to Science.

Do you ever feel stressed while following a restrictive diet? Chances are your cortisol levels are higher than normal. One 2010 study revealed that limiting calories increased the total output of cortisol, suggesting that dieting could be detrimental to psychological well-being. Intermittent fasting, which operates on strict windows of eating and long fasts, can cause blood sugar levels to drop, prompting you to become irritable or stressed.

In short, if you're trying to lose weight, it may be best to start by looking at the quality of the calories you're consuming versus the quantity. If you begin eating healthier foods, chances are you'll end up eating fewer calories without having to sacrifice feeling full.

Did you know that 95% of your body's supply of serotonin, aka the "feel good" hormone, lies within gut bacteria? However, if you're fueling your gut with heavily processed foods (i.e. high in sugar and saturated fats), this can negatively affect healthy gut bacteria and ultimately hike up your stress levelsand you may not even realize it.

To avoid this, make sure you're eating plenty of probiotic-rich foods, including yogurt, kombucha, kefir, sauerkraut, and tempeh. In addition, eating more foods with omega-3 fatty acids (think salmon) and vitamin C (think dark green vegetables) can also help keep cortisol levels in check. For tips on what foods to avoid, be sure to read The Worst Foods for Gut Health.

Oftentimes, we forget to make it a point to get up from our desks during the workday simply to move our bodies. Not only does regular physical activity help to support your immune system but also it helps you manage stress and regulate cortisol levels. According to Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health's Healthy Living Guide 2020/2021, scheduling 30 minutes of moderate exercise three to four days a week is the minimum you need to prevent various health conditions.

However, it's ideal that you engage in a range of different physical activities each week in order to work different muscles and keep your bones strong. For example, on Monday you could walk or jog for 30 minutes, on Wednesday you could do a 30-minute yoga session, and then on Friday, you could do a half-hour HIIT workout.

Not getting enough quality sleep each night can be extremely detrimental to overall health. According to the CDC, inadequate sleep can lead to myriad health issues, including depression, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. It can also hinder immune function, cause weight gain, and contribute to higher stress levels. If you can't get seven to nine hours of sleep each night, try taking two 30-minute naps to help manage stress levels and offset other adverse side effects of sleep deprivation.

For more, be sure to readCan't Sleep? Avoid These 17 Foods That Keep You Up at Night.

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5 Habits That Are Making You More Stressed, According to Science | Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

Consumer trends worldwideare increasingly shifting towards a plant-based diet, whetherthat be limiting meat or setting aside animal products altogether. The market is changing, and Unilever is determined to cash inand explore the spike in plant-based food. The company tooka strategic stance by making it a priority to follow the rapidlygrowin trend and adoption of plant-based diets across every country. Unilever CEO Alan Jope admitted that the trend would bea smart movefor the company,citing that every single country in the world is shifting towards more plant-based diets.

The CEOs announcement marks a greater movement that companies worldwide will need to follow the trend to stay afloat. The amount of plant-based consumers continues to grow every day, leaving companiesto decide how to best capture customersgiventhe new dietary demands.

The fast-growing trend is motivating companies like Unilever to start prioritizing plant-based food options. The company group set its annual global sales target at 1 billion for vegan products by the year 2027. This action by the company could encourage more and more largescale food companies and operations to do the same.

As youll know there is a secular trend toward us all eating a little more of a plant-based diet and we see all our vegetarian and vegan offerings growing very quickly, Jope said, sharing his optimism for the companys new strategy. The first thing were concerned to do is to make sure that our big brands like Knorr and Hellmann's have got attractive plant-based offerings. So thats really the main course.

The executive pointed out how unbelievable it was that the company has been able to successfully launch dairy-free Ben & Jerrys ice creams and a vegan Magnum frozen dessert. The success of those products showcased toUniliver the true demand and potentialin the plant-based industry. The profitability of these products does not just have the company celebrating, but the consumer as well: Plant-based eaters can expect to see a surge of products on both grocery shelves and in restaurants.

Well continue to roll outThe Vegetarian Butcher into more place both in retail and in partnership with our quick service restaurant partners, Jope continued.

Unilever is not stopping there: The company has recently invested $94 million into a food innovation center at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. The center plans to work with Unilever to develop new plant-based products and create sustainable food packaging. This investment comes after the company started working with biotech start-up Algenuity to develop vegan substitutes for eggs in products like mayonnaise, baked goods, and pasta. Eggwhites seem to be the hardest ingredient for plant-based products to leave behind, so the startup is working with microalgae as a viable replacement.

Unilevers move signals to the consumer that companies are now needing to meet the demands of this inexorable trend. The plant-basedcustomer's impact is rippling worldwide, causing a complete shift for the food industry. You can expect to see new plant-based products from the many brands in Unilever's portfolio cropping up on store shelves in the next few years.

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CEO of Unilever: "Every Country is Shifting Towards Plant-Based" - The Beet

My breakfast: I start my day with a glass of protein shake, oatmeal (milk+nuts+berries)

My lunch: Around 1:30 P.M., I have my lunch which is stir-fried chicken (250 grams) made in one tablespoon olive oil, green salad (300 grams) and yoghurt (125 grams).

At around 4 PM, I have tea (with sugar substitute) and one rusk or 30 grams peanuts.

My dinner:

I have my dinner at around 8:30 PM, which is usually two-three poached egg and one slice of whole-wheat brown bread.

Pre-workout meal:

In the morning after waking up, I have 5 overnight soaked almonds and a cup of hot black coffee before my workout. Post that I hit the gym for 60-90 mins.

Post-workout meal:

Post my workout I have a protein shake and eat oats in milk with nuts and berries (which is my breakfast)

I indulge in (What you eat on your cheat days):

Dark chocolate and stir-fried nuts

Low-calorie recipes I swear by:

Roasted chicken breast with broccoli and quinoa salad

Excerpt from:
Weight loss story: This nutritionist eats poached eggs with one slice of whole wheat bread for dinner - Times of India