Its easy to see the connection between an unhealthy diet and an expanding waistline. The connection between food and brain health can be harder to get your mind around.

But experts agree. Eating right is essential for brain health.

Of all the organs in our body, the brain is the one most easily damaged by a poor diet, said Dr. Lisa Mosconi, director of the Womens Brain Initiative and an associate professor of neuroscience in neurology and radiology at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. From its very architecture to its ability to perform, every aspect of the brain calls for proper food.

Mosconi, who has written books about the science of food and the brain, said many people have misconceptions about what proper food might be. One of the biggest fallacies shes been hearing lately is the idea that a very high-fat diet is somehow helpful to the brain.

This is not what most research shows, she said.

Dietary supplements are another area where people get misled, said Dr. Kristine Yaffe, professor of psychiatry, neurology and epidemiology at the University of California-San Francisco. Except when someone is deficient in a specific nutrient, vitamin supplements dont seem to improve brain health, she said.

Similarly, supplements that contain omega-3 fatty acids and fish oil have gotten a lot of attention. But while they might help certain heart patients when prescribed by a physician, research has not confirmed benefits for brain health. There have been a number of trials, and they havent borne out, said Yaffe, who was a co-author on a 2017 American Heart Association advisory on brain health.

So, what does work?

We still have a lot to learn about that, Yaffe said. But certain foods do seem to help when theyre part of an entire dietary pattern. And that diet looks similar to the ones physicians recommend for heart health.

A Mediterranean-style diet heavy in fruits, vegetables, fish and nuts lowers stroke risk in women and may lead to better cognitive ability in old age, studies have found. A 2018 study Mosconi led estimated it provided 1.5 to 3.5 years of protection against the development of biomarkers for Alzheimers disease. Another science-backed eating plan that limits red meat, sodium and added sugars and sweets, called DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), may reduce stroke risk.

Mosconi highlighted some nutrients antioxidants, such as vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotene, and anti-inflammatory B vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids that she said are important for the health of neurons.

But neither Yaffe nor Mosconi is a fan of singling out something as the perfect brain food.

I dont believe in superfoods, or that any one food or food group is key to brain health, Mosconi said.

And not that theres anything wrong with blueberries, Yaffe said, but you wouldnt want to be thinking, If I only eat blueberries, thats going to do it.

Its also important to think of foods that are potentially harmful to brain health, Mosconi said. Saturated fat, especially from animal sources, is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, she said. And some research also shows it increases the risk of cognitive problems.

When we eat a fatty, sugary meal and experience symptoms like sluggishness, brain fog and drowsiness these symptoms originate not in the stomach but in the brain, Mosconi said.

And the effects arent necessarily temporary.

Research indicates a poor diet may cause the loss of key structural and functional elements in the brain, she said, along with a higher vulnerability to brain aging and dementia.

A 2018 report from the Global Council on Brain Health, an independent group convened by the AARP, noted that foods and diets that are good for heart health are also good for brain health.

Yaffe, a member of that brain health council, said the mechanisms of the brain are complex, but it stands to reason that if youre eating a dietary pattern that is heart-healthy, its probably also healthy (for) the vessels in the brain.

She acknowledged that some people have a hard time seeing the connections between brain health and their diet or with other activities such as smoking, sleep and exercise.

Mosconi, also a member of the AARP brain health council, put it this way: Day after day, the foods we eat are broken down into nutrients, taken up into the bloodstream, and carried up into the brain. Once there, they replenish depleted storage, activate cellular reactions and, finally, become the very fabric of our brains.

Consider that the next time you reach for a brownie. Its ingredients will actually become part of your brain.

See the original post:
Brain power: The best foods for brain health - Newton Kansan

Should there even be any holiday eating rules? Maybe. But this year I say NO. This year I think we should have a pass and get to eat anything we want. We deserve it; it's been quite a year. I'm gonna enjoy my faves this year like eggnog, cookies and chips salsa. Of course in moderation along with exercise. I may throw in a healthy salad just for kicks and so I can feel better about all the eating I am going to do.

Well check this out. According tohuffpost,com, some "food rules" are actually just diets.

Theres nothing wrong with taking an everything in moderation approach at the dinner table, but other rules we establish for ourselves around the holidays can actually hinder rather than help our overall health. Think Ill work out extra hard so I can earn my holiday meal, or I want to eat clean this holiday, so Ill skip the pie.

You can read about those rules here.

What's one thing you love that you WILL be eating this year?

More:
Holiday Food Rules That Are Actually Just Diets - witl.com

You do everything you can to avoid catching the coronavirus: Social distancing, mask wearing and hand washing till you never want to hear HBD in your head again. But sometimes luck doesn't roll your way and despite all your precautions, someone you've been around texts you and tells you they have the virus. Ugh. Now what? We asked doctors for their best advice, and here, along with quarantining to not potentially spread the coronavirus (since even if you're asymptomatic, you could harbor and spread it to others) doctors advise that you eat a plant-based diet. Not because it prevents you from getting COVID-19, but because it can help you be healthier and that's the best way to avoid the worst symptoms if you do fall ill.

First, we would be remiss if we didn't state the obvious: Isolate yourself. The recent changes in the requirement that you quarantine for 14 days now urges you to quarantine for 7 days if you get a test three days after exposure (since it can take that long for the virus to show up in your system) and quarantine for ten days without a test. This is because why it's possible to be 14 days away from exposure and then come down with COVID-19 the more average cases show up within the first four or five days, or even a week. That said if you have symptoms the CDC warns that you should assume you have COVID-19 and not go to a place such as doctor's office where you can expose others but instead stay home unless you have trouble breathing or your symptoms get worse.

But the part of protecting yourself that the CDC doesn't tell you, but that doctor after doctor have recommended to patients and told to The Beet, is to switch to a plant-based diet full of vegetables and fruit, nuts and seeds, legumes and whole grains, and eat as little meat and dairy as possible, since studies show these can lead to inflammation in the body, and in the case of COVID-19, inflammation is what can lead to the worst symptoms that require treatment and hospitalization.

Here is what doctors have to say about going plant-based to lessen your chance of have a bad case of COVID-19. To be clear, no one isguaranteeing that eating plant-based will keep you from getting the virus (the roll of diet has yet to be researched) but it may help you skate through with fewer symptoms, and at the end of the day that is the ultimate goal: To return to full health as quickly and completely as possible.

As weve reported before, doctors tell their patients that although a plant-based diet wont prevent you from contracting COVID-19, it might prevent you from suffering from the viruss most deadly symptoms. Studies have shown time and time again that a plant-based diet can reduce levels of inflammation in the body. A plant-based diets ability to reduce inflammation is the reason doctors recommend it to treat conditions caused by inflammationheart disease, diabetes, and asthmaand why it might safeguard you from deadly complications. Conditions like heart disease, diabetes, and asthma put an individual at the most risk of death. These doctors agree that by adopting a plant-based diet now, youll keep your inflammation low and immune system high, preventing COVID-19s most deadly symptoms, or even reversing a condition caused by inflammation entirely.

--Dr. Millard D.Collins,Interim Chair and Associate Professor of Family & Community Medicine at Meharry Medical College in Nashville, the nation's oldest historically Black academic health science institution. Dr. Collins spoke to The Beet to stress the importance of eating healthy, especially among African American patients, to avoid conditions that often co-exist with the worst cases of COVID-19, such as high blood pressure, obesity and diabetes. He adds:

"We can adopt this lifestyle as a means to improve the co-morbid conditions that may already be present in patientsheart disease, lung disease, cardiovascular disease, and cancerthus strengthening ones immune system and chances of survival in the event that a person becomes infected.

"It is always challenging to adopt something new and make it sustainable. Articles such as this are a great first step. The adoption of a plant-based diet can do wonders to boost the immune system, improve energy, and improve chronic diseases. Thus, it can save lives. But it is critical to not confine a healthyapproach just in response to COVID-19. Health outcomes of African Americans need attention, and we must not miss this teaching moment the pandemic has provided to promote this strategy to our people. It can mean the difference between life and death.

"It is well documented the impact of a plant-based diet on obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes, and more, which all can lead to cardiovascular (heart) and cerebrovascular (brain) compromise. And we know how healthy plant-based eating can positively affect the body. Adopting a lifestyle such as [a healthy plant-based approach] can be truly lifesaving.

--Monica Aggarwal, M.D, director of Integrative Cardiology and Prevention at the University of Florida, Gainesville.Shewas interviewed in June for a story on The Beet,To Lower Complications of COVID-19 and Lose Weight, Eat Plant-Based,by Karen Asp. She added:

Lets make clear, nobodys saying that if you eat a plant-based diet you wont get COVID-19, yet eating a plant-based diet can help decrease your risk for these factors that increase your risk for COVID-19.

She cites a study that found the most common underlying health conditions among patients who suffer the worst, most serious symptoms of COVID-19 are: High blood pressure (affecting 57% of patients with COVID-19), obesity (affecting 42% of patients), and diabetes (affecting 34% of patients). .

--Vanita Rahman, M.D., an internal medicinedoctor with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, PCRM, which advocates a plant-based diet for optimal health. She also was interviewedin Junefor the story on The Beet:To Lower Complications of COVID-19 and Lose Weight, Eat Plant-Based, by Karen Asp.

People who eat a mostly plant-based diet have a lower body mass index (BMI) than those who eat a meat-filled diet, and the more animal foodsin your diet, the higheryour BMI is likely to be, according to this studyof different types of vegetarian diets and their impact on weight.

--T. Collin Campbell, renowned biochemist and co-author of The China Study, and a plant-based advocatefor health and founder of the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. Campbell was quoted in a podcast where he explained the importance of a whole food, plant-based diet to help strengthen the body's immune system and create antibodies.

Campbell hasstudied the roll of diet on the formation of antibodies to the Hepatitis B virus, and explains that while all viruses are different the way the body responds is essentially the same, since the creation of antibodies is the way we fight infection from invaders. Earlier this year Campbell said: "Diet plays a direct roll in how this plays out [your response to virus], since the healthier you eat the better.

Now not all viruses are the same," Campbellexplained, "but viruses, in terms of their infectivity, have some common features. When a virus enters the body and begins to do its dirty work," Campbell explains. "The body tries to create antibodies, which may or may not work. At that point, it is essentially a race: Can the body create effective antibodies quickly enough and in large enough quantities to fight off the virus before the virus ravages the cells and creates devastating outcomes? Diet plays a direct roll in how this plays out, since the healthier you eat, the better. And his book, The China Study, looked at populations in different areas of China, the Philippines and Japan, and found that plant-based eating lowered risk of heart disease, cancer and morbidity.

Eating a plant-based diet "would affect those people who test positive for the virus," Campbell has said." They would be affected less," in all probability, he adds, since a healthy diet is one way to bolster immunity. "If they do get the symptoms,it would be much less problematic."

In an articleby that title Susan Levin, RD, writes: My advice remains the same as always: Remember to eat as many fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans ... as circumstances allow to help boost immunity and reduce the risk of heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and asthmaconditions which now put tens of millions of Americans at greater risk for COVID-19 complications.

-- Susan Levin, MS, RD with Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

While many factors can increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes, and lung disease, research shows that a plant-based diet can help lower the risk of these conditions, which is why a diet focused on plant foods is more crucial now than ever.

Fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans are also loaded with nutrientslike beta-carotene, vitamin C, vitamin E, and zincthat can boost immune function, something we should all be trying to do right now. While a plant-based diet cant prevent COVID-19, it can treat the underlying conditions that can exacerbate its severity.

She cites a CDCstudy that concludes that eating a plant-based diet can lower the incidents of diseases like high blood pressure that often coincide with the worst cases of COVID-19. Meanwhile another study found that eating a plant-based diet has been shown to improve asthma symptoms, which can cause complications for patients with COVID-19, whileeating processed food, dairy, and meat can lead to inflammation and worsen asthma symptoms.

--Dr. Baxter Montgomeryrecentlymade this point when talking with Chuck Carroll on The Exam Room podcast, produced for PCRM.Montgomery, a Board Certified Cardiologist and founder of The Montgomery Heart & Wellness Center in Houston, Texas.On the podcast he details "the remarkable recovery of one particular patient who developed double pneumonia during their bout with the coronavirus and has already laced up their sneakers to resume running."

--Dr. Kim Williams,former president of the American College of Cardiology. Speaking on MedPage Today withAndrew Perry, MD, he explained that going vegan or plant-based can make you feel protected but you still need to take precautions. He adds:

I'm speaking to the people who are interested in plant-based nutrition who are all pretty much feeling well and feeling like they are sort of immune from it.I would just say that please still do the very wise: Cut down unnecessary travel, wash the hands very frequently, look at all the surfaces and clean them as much as you can because we do have a very big difference in the plant-based community. We don't get as sick.

"But guess what? Just like with the flu, we can become asymptomatic carriers. Just because we don't get sick doesn't mean that we haven't been infected. I would encourage everybody who's feeling good about the fact that they get less ill than they did 10 years ago when they weren't vegan, it's true, at least in my experience, and everyone around me who's plant-based is so much better off than they were before. But still be careful. Still use those precautions, because we don't want to become the vegan asymptomatic carriers that are helping to spread the disease around.

He cites a study that found that eating awhole food plant-baseddiet resulted in better treatment outcomes for high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and more.

At The Beet we are advocates of eating more plant-based foods for health and wellbeing, but if you want to also supplement with vitamin C, zinc and D, especially after being exposed to the virus, those vitamins have been shown to be beneficial, but just don't overdo it. In a recent paper, doctors wrote up patients who were coming into the hospital with kidney stones and even kidney failure after overdosing on vitamin D to fight the virus. So while a healthy amount can be beneficial too much D can cause complications.

Meanwhile advice given to one of our editors (who did get coronavirus early on in the pandemic) was to make sure to hydrate, and drink plenty of fluids, since the virus takes a toll on the body and you make not realize you are dehydrated.

As with colds and flu, drinking plenty of fluids can help your body flush out toxins, especially if you are supplementing with vitamins C, D and zinc, drink plenty of water. For the right amount of vitamin D to take, see this story, which cites a study that shows taking a recommended amount of D (between 600 to 800 IUs a day, but not more than that) can be protective against the most serious symptoms of COVID-19. But as always, before you self-treat talk to your doctor since he or she should be your first line of information when faced with this or any other illness.

Read more here:
If You're Exposed to COVID-19, Doctors Say Here's What to Do Next - The Beet

Often confused, veganism largely differs from vegetarianism. While a vegetarian diet does not allow the intake of eggs, meat, and seafood, it does accept diary and other by-products. Veganism, on the other hand, takes this idea to the next level, avoiding all animal products and is entirely plant-based. Recent years have seen veganism go from a trend to a way of life with several people across the world, including celebrities and even athletes adopting a vegan diet.

A vegan lifestyle offers a plethora of benefits be it maintaining a healthy immune system or avoiding the implications of consuming meat, a vegan diet has become an ideal choice for many. However, there are certain drawbacks to veganism. It is easy to overlook some aspects and since the food consumed in a vegan diet is so selective, people often miss out on important nutrients. Entre, vegan supplements. Proper nutrient supply is required to ensure that we do not become victims of our busy lifestyles. On that note, here are some vital nutrients to include in your diet that are available as supplements. (Image: Canva)

More here:
Supplementing vegan diet with the right nutrients - Times of India

For years, my husband and I have toyed with the idea of opening a retail store in McCook with the business divided into two distinct sides.

One half would feature all our favorite junk foods, using machines we have accumulated over the years. Reminiscent of the county fair or childhood summers, the store would feature cotton candy in every flavor and color imaginable, funnel cakes piled high with fruit toppings, and popcorn covered in so many different seasonings, your head would spin. And of course, there would be chocolate because how can you have a store of favorites without chocolates in every form and style possible.

If you notice, there is little redeeming nutritional value in any of these items, with the exception of the fruit toppings but even that would be mostly sugar.

Hence, the reason for the other half of the store. To balance out the lack of nutrition on one side and to assuage our guilt over such indulgent offerings, the other side would essentially be a health food store featuring foods we all know we should eat, but struggle to get enough of in our diets.

Whole-grain foods, fruits and vegetables, vitamins, smoothies, even kombucha which people may claim to like but no one does really. But lets be honest ... we know which side is going to be busier and more profitable: the junk food side.

While junk food is okay in moderation, it cannot be the sole basis of a diet. As we told our kids when they were little, there are sometimes food and often food. We learned early on that anytime you labeled something a never food, it became irresistible with wrappers hidden under the mattress.

There needs to be a variety of foods from both sides of the aisle, or in this case, both sides of the store.

The same concept holds true for our news and entertainment consumption. We cannot subsist on just junk news or junk entertainment. We need to make the conscious step of adding a variety of healthy, informative news to our information diet.

Yes, there are times when I want to watch a mindless TV show or binge-watch an entire series with no redeeming quality, just so I can have a giant bowl of popcorn.

But on the flip side, I regularly listen to news programs, subscribe to several newspapers, download innumerable podcasts and am mid-way through multiple books on my nightstand.

Think of learning and reading and researching as healthy food. You need it to keep your mind functioning, to have intelligent conversations, to open yourself up to the possibility that not only do you not know something, but also that you might be wrong.

And perhaps even more importantly, it is not just one news program or news outlet; it is not just one podcast, one author or one journalist. Just like our diets, our minds need variety.

If we want to have intelligent and meaningful conversations, we need to have a variety of healthy information. If we are going to move our community forward and to be able to work together, we need to have a variety of sources to make fact-based decisions.

While it may be easier to rely on junk food or junk information, we need to make the effort to make ourselves healthier - both physically and mentally - if we want our community to come together and make it an even better place to call home.

More here:
Food or news, it can't all be junk - McCook Daily Gazette

My mom is my biggest motivator, she always used to inspire me and boost my spirits. You need to have a strong support system rather than relying on any other thing.

Whenever I feel demotivated, I usually go through my old photos where I look unhealthy. That motivates me to keep working on myself.

How do you ensure you dont lose focus?

If you are too passionate about your goal, your mind will never waver. Yes, everyone loses focus momentarily, but it's important to stay determined in your life. That will only happen when you enjoy the process whole-heartedly.

I have also added in yoga and meditation to my fitness regime, which has been a ray of sunshine and achieved the next level of fitness.

What the most difficult part of being overweight?

When you are overweight, it lowers down your confidence, vital health markers and ruins body posture. I couldn't play my favourite sports and tired easily. Buying big sized clothes was something I didn't really like. My body strength and stamina levels were also not upto the mark while doing simple activities like walking.

What shape do you see yourself 10 years down the line?

I want to achieve a fit and effective body, which inspires everyone and exudes confidence.

Read more here:
Weight loss story: "I had green tea, almonds and oats every morning" - Times of India

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RALEIGH, NC (December 9, 2020) Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler announced the addition of three new members to the N.C. Agricultural Hall of Fame John Holman Cyrus of Raleigh, Fred N. Colvard of Jefferson and Marshall W. Grant of Garysburg.

Established in 1953, the Agricultural Hall of Fame posthumously recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to agriculture in the state and beyond. All three men had broad agricultural backgrounds and have made lasting contributions to the industry.

North Carolinas agricultural roots run deep and our state has been looked to as a model for others because of a long history of outstanding leadership, Troxler said. The scope of contributions all three of these men have made is truly impressive, and it is an honor to recognize them.

Fred N. ColvardFred Colvard was a progressive and entrepreneurial farmer who helped develop crops suited to the North Carolina mountain areas. He was one of the first to commit 40 to 50 acres of land to growing Christmas trees in the area, ushering in a new crop on a commercial scale. He also was among the first to use irrigation in the area to ensure high quality crops.

But Colvard was better known for developing the blight-resistant Sequoia potato, which is credited with ending a potato famine in Peru.

In nominating Colvard, Sam Shumate wrote, when I decided to write an article on Colvard Farms for a monthly series, my research revealed a progressive farmer far ahead of his time.

In developing the potato, Colvard leased an island off the coast of Florida where he planted the potatoes. The sub-tropical climate there allowed him to plant two crops of potatoes in a season, cutting his experiment time in half.

When potato blight threatened a variety that was significant part of Peruvian diets, an agricultural delegation from the country went to the Colvard Farm to see more about his work with a blight-resistant potato. The delegation returned to Peru with some of the newly developed seed potatoes, leading to the end of the famine.

Around that time, a potato that was a significant part of Peruvian diets was blighting. A Peruvian agriculture delegation was sent to the Colvard farm.

John Holman CyrusJohn Holman Cyrus was a pivotal figure with regards to the states tobacco industry, serving for 37 years with the N.C. Department of Agriculture in various capacities, including Tobacco Program Administrator. During his tenure, tobacco was the states top commodity and top crop grown by thousands of farmers statewide. The industrys influence stretched well beyond the farms and rural communities to larger cities where tobacco manufacturing and warehouses employed many workers and supported hospitals, universities and cultural programs.

In the early 1950s, Cyrus established an annual comprehensive tobacco market report. Later, he planned and developed a service program focused on improving quality and marketing practices. That program also encouraged closer cooperation and understanding between tobacco growers, warehousemen, dealers and manufacturers.

In nominating Cyrus, N.C. State Grange President Jimmy Gentry noted that he helped facilitate change in the growing and marketing of tobacco, working with growers to keep lower stalk leaf off the market to improve prices, and in the transition from selling tied tobacco to loose leaf tobacco. The loose-leaf system lead to innovative handling and packaging practices at the warehouse.Following his retirement from NCDA, Cyrus continued his work on behalf of the industry, serving with the Tobacco Advisory Council, the Tobacco Tax Council and N.C. State University Tobacco Foundation. He also served as a lobbyist and consultant on tobacco issues for the N.C. State Grange for over 20 years.

Marshall W. GrantMarshall W. Grants name will likely forever be linked to cotton, thanks to his vision, drive and leadership in helping establish the Boll Weevil Eradication Program, a voluntary assessment program for cotton farmers which continues today.

In nominating Grant, David Parrish, chief operating officer of the N.C. Cotton Producers Association, credits Grants work to leading to the eradication of the most destructive pest in the history of cotton, thereby restoring the economic viability of cotton production for generations of farmers in North Carolina and across the Cotton Belt.

By the late 1970s, North Carolina had seen cotton production drop from a high of almost 2 million acres to around 40,000 acres because of the destruction by the boll weevil.

Grant organized a group to hire cotton scouts and began regional control efforts, but soon realized that to be effective these efforts would need to be broader to keep the boll weevils from migrating to nearby fields, other regions and other states.

When the National Cotton Council decided to proceed with a full-scale boll weevil eradication trial, Grant volunteered for North Carolina to be a trial location and then traveled extensively across the state helping organize eradication committees and educating producers on the programs importance and the need for grower funding.

That early trial helped establish the foundation and structure for the Boll Weevil Eradication Program that exists today. In 1985, North Carolina declared the state boll weevil free and cotton production today has returned to a 500,000-acre level. Today monitoring and trapping of cotton fields continue to ensure any re-emergence of the destructive pest is dealt with quickly.

The economic benefits of the Boll Weevil Eradication Program to producers are estimated at $644 million annually. It is also estimated that 10 million pounds fewer insecticides are used to produce the U.S. cotton crop.

All three nominations received unanimous approval from the Hall of Fame Board of Directors. A ceremony honoring the three will be held at a later date.

View post:
Three to join the N.C. Agricultural Hall of Fame - Caldwell Journal

Stu Wall is a technology executive and entrepreneur who founded Signpost, a cloud-based customer communication platform that helps small businesses scale.

The coronavirus pandemic accelerated Americas addiction to technology, and its making us sad, anxious and unproductive.

Companies like Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat earn more advertising revenue the more frequently we use their products. These firms use push notifications and personalized feeds to capture our attention, manipulate our emotions and influence our actions.

Business is good. Americans now spend more than five hours each day on their devices.

So what? As discussed in Netflixs The Social Dilemma, tech firms will continue to follow their profit motive to capture our attention. Governments are no more likely to help manage unhealthy tech consumption than consumption of sugar or illegal drugs. We need to take control.

My perspective is as a former tech CEO and technology addict. The marketing platform I founded raised over $100 million, grew to 350 employees and sold to a private equity firm last year. Along the way I picked up some terrible tech habits; I checked email constantly and allowed push notifications to interrupt every in-person interaction.

My tech use hit rock bottom last year on a visit with family. I resolved to put down my phone and garden with my mom, who has advanced Parkinsons and moves slowly and with intention.

I felt like an addict in withdrawal. My phone was like a magnet pulling me to check for missed work emails or breaking news. Tech overuse had rewired my brain, lowered the quality of everyday consciousness and prevented me from being present.

I stepped down as CEO of my company earlier this year. Ive spent my time off learning about mindfulness, neuroplasticity and technology addiction. Most importantly, I developed a strategy for managing my tech use thats made me happier and more productive.

Heres what I learned.

In their quest for our attention, some tech firms target the oldest parts of our brain, what UCLA psychiatrist Daniel Siegel calls the downstairs brain. The downstairs brain includes your brainstem and limbic regions, which control innate reactions and impulses (fight or flight) and strong emotion (like anger and fear). In contrast, your upstairs brain, including your cerebral cortex, is where intricate mental processes take place, like thinking, imagining and planning.

The downstairs brain is reactive. Its designed to protect us in emergencies; it can make quick judgements, hijack our consciousness and drive action through strong emotion. The downstairs brain is what is targeted by attention-seeking products. Headlines that make us feel outraged and TikTok notifications that make us feel reactive appeal to our downstairs brain.

Our brains change with training. Research has shown that our brains are reprogrammed with the firing patterns of neurons. Our nervous system can be rewired and transformed through repetitive, focused attention or activity in a process called neuroplasticity.

Repetitive device usage is a perfect example of neuroplasticity at work. The more time we spend responding to push notifications, watching videos in infinite scroll or looking for social validation from social media, the more our brains will rewire to want the same.

While many tech firms acknowledge problems from overusing their products, none will make radical changes needed to decrease their share of the attention profit pool. If they did, someone else would eat their lunch.

These firms are selling us sugary drinks. The taste is improving exponentially and the sweetest drinks havent been invented yet. The more we drink, the harder it gets to stop. We need to take control of our consumption and habits we need to follow a technology diet or we will suffer the mental equivalent of morbid obesity.

If we think of technology consumption as an analog to food consumption, tech products fall into four food groups based on the quality of information and method of delivery. Content quality is important: Some content is valuable (e.g., MITs online courseware) or critical (work email), while most is not useful (TikTok) .

The delivery model is also important. Healthy platforms give agency to the user and allow us to pull content thats useful when we need it. Conversely, harmful platforms often rely on push, sending us information thats often not useful at a time when were doing something else. Based on my experience, here are three steps we can take to implement a tech diet:

Willpower is finite. If we dont want sugary drinks, dont keep them in the house. We keep the most distracting applications ever developed within arms reach at all times. These applications prey on our downstairs brain, which hijacks our better intentions and delivers negative value for most people. I believe our best defense is abstinence; we shouldnt use these apps.

Tip: I use Apples Content Restrictions on the iPhone and MacBook. I added the obvious offenders: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and some specific to me, which includes Zillow, StreetEasy and NYPost. My spouse has the override code. I can break it if needed, but the process is hard enough that it doesnt enter everyday consciousness.

Good content expands our knowledge and skills and may contribute to rewiring our upstairs brain in a way that adds to our empathy, imagination and mindfulness.

Consuming good content is rewarding but effortful. It requires uninterrupted focus. Unlike sugary beverages, which were wired to consume subconsciously, leafy greens have to be consumed intentionally.

Tip: Make a list of your favorite leafy greens. For me, this includes Kindle, Feedly, tech periodicals and my favorite curation platforms: HackerNews and Product Hunt. Calm, one of several booming mindfulness apps, also makes the list. These are the only apps on my home screen, which encourages me to use them more often. Like a food diet, I set attainable goals for good consumption and monitor my progress.

I recommend fasting on technology periodically; I leave my phone at home for walks with my son and dinner with friends. I also recommend nontech activities that promote upstairs brain rewiring like an outdoor hike or learning to play an instrument.

Email is required for most people. It has the potential to make us productive. But the average message quality is low, and the always-on, high frequency, push-by-default design prevents us from doing our best work.

Tip: Ive turned off notifications on everything thats not meant for urgent or timely messages (e.g., texts, Lyft, Tovala oven). Boomerangs Chrome Extensioncan be set up to deliver all of your emails every hour on the hour. Batch processing email every hour dramatically reduces the volume of interruption without impacting my responsiveness.

We live in relative abundance, with food, goods and security that would make even our recent ancestors envious. But abundance doesnt make us happy; were the least happy on record. We seem to be living in a collective state of downstairs brain, a continuous adult temper tantrum focused on strong feelings, emotion and impulsiveness.

But theres hope.

As individuals, I found that even a few months of technology dieting helped me become less impulsive and more mindful. As employees, we can stop working for companies that profit from the attention economy. As managers, we can insist that our teams turn off their devices at night, turn off their Slack notifications and take real vacations. As parents, we can help our children develop healthy consumption patterns.

Collective action and rewiring of our brains could change the course of our politics and our ability to collaborate and solve the most important challenges of the 21st century.

American innovation dominates the attention economy. Its time for American innovation to dominate the way we use technology.

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COVID-19 made our tech addiction worse: Its time to do something about it - TechCrunch

"Processed food was my emotional outlet.I consideredit to be my best friend and put it above anyone else." says 44-year-old Evon Dennis. It led her to become depressed, and at her highest, she weighed 250 pounds. She remembersbeing too embarrassed to go out, so instead, she would send her oldest daughter, then a teenager, to the grocery store to buy her next fix: Potato chips, sugary cereals, processed cheeses, and more.For Evon, it felt like her identity was taken over by being a junk food junkie. Now looking back, Evon wants to share her story of how she found help, went plant "exclusive" (all you consume are plants), and essentially saved her life. Today she weighs 110 pounds and is fit, happy and most of all, proud of the example she is setting her daughters, now 24 and 17 years old.

Evon tells the story of her darkest years, when her food addiction took over her life, until five years ago when she started to turn things around. Up until that point, year by year, her eating addiction progressed which is what happens with addiction: you need more and more of a fix to satisfy your urges, in order to get that high from your drug, in this case, junk food, cheese, and sugar. Evon recalls feeling overwhelmed andsad, especially knowing that she was raising her children around a mother who couldn't help herself. At her highest, she weighed250 pounds. By 2015, she had had enough and knew she needed help.She researched her options and foundOver Eater's Anonymous, where she discovered her struggles with food were not simply a matter of will power: She learned that her level of overeating was classified as an addiction, and it comforted her to know that she was not alone in her battle.

By attending group OA sessions, Evon was able to work on herself step by step. First, she cut out dairy which contains casein, an extremely addictive protein, which had been driving a powerful addiction to cheese, This helped her dull down her intense food cravings to other foods as well, like sweets and processed bags of chips.

A note about casein: When people say "I'm addicted to cheese," they may be half-joking but there is some truth to it, according toDr. Neal Barnard, founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine(PCRM), who has written a book about cheese addiction,He calls casein "dairy crack," because the "dairy proteins incheese can act as mild opiates. Fragments of casein protein, opioid peptides called casomorphins, attach to the same brain receptors as heroin and other narcotics. As a result, each bite of cheese produces a tiny hit of dopamine." When that rush subsides, it leaves your brain craving more, therefore you seek more cheese to get your fix.

For Evon dairy was the last step in making a transition to a whole-food plant "exclusive". Years ago she had given up meat and seafood, so dairy was the final step. She had a "come to Jesus" moment when she decided to ditch dairy and go on what she won't call a "diet" but prefers to call a "live-it" since it was her choice to stop killing herself and instead choose a path that took her toward a healthier lifestyle, one that allowed her to lose weight and kick her food addiction, get healthy and lead an exemplary existence for her kids.

She dove into a dairy-free, processed food free plant "exclusive" andchallenged herself to stay on track. "The challenge was difficult," she admits, but eating aplant exclusive "liveit" changed her life for good. "The weightstarted comingoff immediately," and she felt more energized with processed foods out of her system. "I felt fantastic," she recalls, and the weight dropped off, 40 pounds in the first four months.

Within the same year,Evon was doing well until she was faced with a family trauma,which sparked her to go off her healthy diet, and she found herself back at square one, fully in the thralls of food addiction all over again.Her long battle back left her depleted and feeling powerless, and depressed by the fact that she had gone back to her old ways. She was also feeling sick and had a nervous break-down landed in and out of the hospital,seemingly worse off than ever. Evon was emitted to the psychiatric unit and was diagnosed with mental illnesses, PTSD, anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. Still, she couldn't help but remember how good she felt when she had started eating salt-free, oil-free, flour-free, alcohol-free, sugar-free, whole food plant "exclusive." She resolved to get back on track. One day, just like that, she decided to relive those moments.

Evon marked the date of her fourth attempt toeat this way as her"live-it" since she chose to live, not die. It was January 2020, but she was more committed than ever this time. She was determined to make the switch stick, not only for herself but for her children. Within the first month, she felt like a new person. " I couldn't be happier, I felt free, and the weight started quickly coming off again" she remembers."I was 174 pounds at the beginning of this year, and in less than 8 months she got down to 110 pounds."

Evon shared her vegan journey with The Beet,including hersecrets to success and motivation, and offering helpful advice for anyone struggling with food addiction. In the interview below, learn from Evon's challenges and how the power of a plant "exclusive" can help overcome life's biggest hurdles, by creating a path to "live-it!"

Evon Dennis: For my entire adult life, I struggled with overeating. I joined Over Eaters Anonymous in 2015 for the first time, and thats when I discovered my overeating was an addiction. It changed everything for me. I finally understood that my problem with overeating wasnt my fault. At the beginning of 2017, I decided to cut dairy out to heal my food addiction. I already had stopped eating meat 14 years ago and stopped eating seafood in 2015.

By 2017, I was ready to cut out dairy and become entirely plant-based. I was nervous about taking that final step, so I created a challenge for myself: I would only eat the food I made from scratch. It was a massive deal for me because as a single mom of two girls, I relied on boxed, canned, and prepared foods to feed them because I had convinced myself I didnt know how to cook. The challenge worked because it was so difficult; suddenly, cutting dairy out didnt seem so hard!

ED: During the challenge, I was continually thinking about and craving processed food, and I wanted to figure out why that was. I hated feeling like Im a prisoner of anything, person, or situation. I started researching, and I found so much information about refined food addiction. When I first stopped eating meat, my goal was to improve my health by eating more plants. I never forgot my initial plan, and once I realized that I was struggling with processed food addiction and over-eating, I was able to remember why I stopped eating meat in the first place. I had always wanted to eat plants, not just processed vegan junk food.

ED:The weight started coming off immediately, and now that I have all thesesubstances out of my system, I feel fantastic. I dropped 64 pounds in less than 8 months this year. When I first discovered this way of eating, at the beginning of 2017, I had lost 40, but then struggled to keep it off because I went through family trauma. I tried a few times between 2017 and the beginning of this year to eat this way again, but I committed myself fully to eating the way I do now at the beginning of this year. I was 174 pounds at the beginning of this year, and Im now 110 pounds.

ED: Processed food was my emotional outlet. I considered food to be my best friend and put it above anyone else. My children grew up seeing me like that, and at my worst, Id send my oldest to the store to buy more junk food. When I would have an over-eating episode, I would be ashamed to go outside because Id convince myself everyone who saw me would judge me for gaining weight. I was trying to drown out my feelings with processed foods, and I taught my children that. My children have born the brunt of my struggles of being around me at my worst, which keeps me inspired to stay well.

ED: I missed the freedom of not continually thinking about processed food. It was so painful to have to always think about food. Now, I have so much more energy and space in my brain to do incredible things: I just took my first lesson on how to fly a plane! I knew I wanted to get back to this kind of freedom.

ED: I did research on others who had successfully transitioned to asalt, oil, flour, alcohol sugar-free whole food plant exclusive.After all of my research, I felt like I had learned what I needed to fix my mind to eat this way successfully. One of the things I learned was the importance of starting my day off with leafy greens. I had seen research that showed that leafy greens were able to cut cravings, and thats exactly what I needed to happen. I knew it was vital for me to fall in love with the natural taste of whole food plants. I also made sure to stay hydrated and stop focusing so much on people-pleasing.

To make such a significant life change, I knew I had to stop caring about other peoples judgments. The other big realization I had was that I needed to change the way I labeled food. I had to stop using words I had specific associations with for food, like cheat days or falling off the wagon. When I stopped using those kinds of judgment words, I finally could succeed in overcoming my addiction: I remembered that Im just a human being and that theres no such thing as perfection.

ED: I like to call it a live-it, not a diet because Im eating for my life! I eat salt, oil, alcohol, flour, and sugar-free whole food plant exclusively. I use the word plant exclusive instead of plant-based to make sure its clear that Im just eating whole-food plants. I only eat fruit, veggies, whole grains, and legumes. Im also a spontaneous person, so when I was getting back into cooking, I did a whole lot of playing around in the kitchen, just figuring out how to all these new things. Im an excellent chef now! I found that once Id abstained from sugar, salt, flour, alcohol, and oil for a certain amount of time, my cravings essentially went away. The only food cravings I feel now are related to good memories or environments. Now, I just eat whenever my body needs fuel.

ED: All things are working for my good. I love that one because what it means to me is: Ive already been through so much, and if Ive made it this far, I can keep going. I can keep pushing for myself, for my girls, because thats what mamas do.

ED: Be comfortable with yourself. Its a journey were going to be on for the rest of our lives, so we might as well get comfortable. Make this journey your own; its not anybody else. Dont let people interfere with your journey; it doesnt have to look like anybody elses. If you learn how to listen to yourself, youll learn when something isnt serving you.

If you loved Evon's story and want to keep in touch,visit her websiteto learn more and contact her on Instagram.

Read more here:
This Mom Kicked Food Addiction and Lost 140 Pounds. Find Out How - The Beet

Wild animal species like deer, antelope, gazelle, hares, birds, and riverine/marine resources are also found in small proportions in the faunal assemblages of both rural and urban Indus sites suggesting that these diverse resources had a place in the Indus diet, the study notes.

The pattern is similar at the sites in northwest India, where domestic and wild mammals, and smaller proportions of birds, reptiles, riverine fish, and molluscs were consumed.

This study is unique in that it has gotten to look at the contents of the vessels. Normally there would be access to seeds or plant remains. But through the lipid residue analysis, we can confidently ascertain that consumption of beef, goat, sheep and pig was widespread, and especially of beef, said Suryanarayan.

There is also evidence of hares and birds being eaten, although little evidence of chicken being a part of the diet, according to the study. Ledge-shouldered jars and large storage jars at Harappa have been linked to storage of liquids such as wine and oil, it says.

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Dominance of meat in the diet of people Indus Valley civilisation, says new study - National Herald