Whether its the 5:2 or 16:8 plans, fasting diets have won celebrity fans in recent years, including Jennifer Aniston.

The Morning Show and Friends star revealed last year that she avoids solid foods for 16 hours of every day, only eating during a restricted eight-hour window to help control her weight.

The 5:2 plan, under which you eat normally for five days and then strictly control calories for two, also has its share of followers, with Phillip Schofield and model Miranda Kerr among those reported to have used it to keep in shape.

But research from the University of California, San Francisco, recently poured cold water on the idea that simply restricting your hours of eating was enough to shift the pounds.

They tasked a group of volunteers with following a 16:8 fasting diet, while others ate three meals a day whenever they wanted.

Both groups saw a modest fall in their weight, suggesting the fasting plan made virtually no difference.

The diet is based on the 8 Hour Diet book, by author David Zinczenko and editor-in-chief of Mens Health Peter Moore, who argue that a daily fasting period gives the body the time it needs to process food and burn away extra fat.

Scottish dietitian Dr Carrie Ruxton, who herself follows a 16:8 type plan, believes limiting your hours of eating can be useful but only if you are cutting out calories within that timeframe.

She said: My take on this study is its good news that you can lose weight either way. For a long time Ive believed there are many ways to lose weight and it depends on your own personal circumstances, preferences and the way you want to live your life. Too many people have been given the lie that theres a perfect diet that you have to follow if you want to lose weight or be healthy and youre made to feel guilty.

If you eat carbohydrates youre told, Oh no, you shouldnt be having that, or its the same if you eat fat, so its almost like for everything you want to eat theres somebody leaning over your shoulder telling you you cant eat it.

It comes down to calories at the end of the day so whichever method works for you to cut your calories and create a calorie deficit, that is how you will lose weight best.

Im careful with my weight because I have quite a sedentary job. Even though I exercise I spend most of my day in front of my computer. So I tend to do the 16:8. This morning I got up and made my breakfast, put it in the fridge and ate it around noon. I go and do something active in the morning and then I have a late breakfast and at eight at night I stop eating and thats it for the rest of the day. That works for me.

I dont have a lot of weight to come off, its just sometimes Ill stand on the scales and think, Oh dear, thats another couple of pounds I need to lose, so I do the 16:8 for a week or so and it gets back under control again.

Its something I do on and off. There have been studies showing that people who will manage to stay in a healthy weight range for all of their adult life, are people who are just now and again doing a little check and keeping an eye on it so that they arent going too far out of their range. Those who deny it and let the problem build up will find it harder.

Carrie believes the best way to keep your weight under control is to do frequent, but not daily, checks so that you can act quickly if you happen to have gained a couple of pounds.

She said: The better way of doing it is every week or two just have a little check, it could be by trying on the same pair of jeans or trousers, or it could be standing on the scales, and if you see your weight creeping up tackle it quickly by limiting calories.

You could eat less at mealtimes with a smaller plate of food, or follow 5:2 it doesnt work for me because I cant eat a small amount for a whole day, but some people like that or you could try 16:8, or go to a slimmers club for moral support, or see if your gym does a healthy eating plan. Even the liquid diets are worth considering. There is evidence showing this is very helpful for reversing diabetes, so there are lots of options and its about finding whats right for you.

In 2012, the BBC broadcast a Horizon episode called Eat, Fast and Live Longer, presented by Dr Michael Mosley in which the idea of intermittent fasting was first introduced on a major platform. He then published The Fast Diet book in January 2013, which was closely followed by a similar book from former BBC journalist, Kate Harrison called The 5:2 Diet Book. Their similar plans proved to be the order of the day, with both books becoming bestsellers.

Under the 5:2 diet, you eat broadly what you like five days a week within the recommended calorie range. Dieters are then recommended to eat just a quarter of their usual calorie intake so going down to 500 calories for women and 600 for men for two consecutive days.

16: 8

This diet is potentially a little easier to follow, but it is a seven-day-a-week plan which sees you only eat solids eight hours out of 24.

Generally, followers of the plan will eat between midday and 8pm and, outside of those eight hours, will stick to unsweetened liquids such as water, tea and coffee.

Could soups and shakes replacing meals help type 2 diabetes-sufferers put the disease into remission?

Read more here:
Intermittent fasting for weight loss: Does it work and what's the best plan for you? - Press and Journal

This post was first published in 2017 but has been reviewed and updated in October 2020.

Theres a lot of confusing information and advice out there around sugar.

Does it cause cancer? Does sugar feed cancer cells, making them grow more aggressively? And how does the sugar we consume through food and drink affect our health, and what can be done about this?

In this post were taking a long hard look at sugar.

Well focus specifically on sugar and cancer, busting some myths and covering what researchers are studying in the hopes of finding new ways to treat people with cancer.

And well cover why the amount of sugar in our diets is cause for concern. A high-sugar diet can be bad news when it comes to cancer risk, but not for the reasons that often appear in the headlines.

But first the basics, what our bodies need sugar for and where it comes from in our diet.

Search for sugar and cancer on the internet and it doesnt take long to find alarming warnings that sugar is the white death and cancers favourite food.

But this idea that sugar is responsible for kick-starting or fuelling a cancers growth is an over-simplification of some complicated biology. Lets start with what sugar actually is.

Sugar comes in many different forms. The simplest form is just as a single molecule, such as glucose and fructose. These molecules of simple sugars can also stick together, either in pairs or as longer chains of molecules. All of these combinations of molecules are carbohydrates, and are our bodys main source of energy.

The form of sugar most of us will be familiar with is table sugar, which is a simple sugar that dissolves in water and gives things a sweet taste. Its proper name is sucrose, and its made up of crystals of glucose and fructose. Table sugar is refined, meaning its been processed to extract it from a natural source (usually sugar beet). Unprocessed foods can be high in simple sugars too, for example honey (also made mostly of glucose and fructose) is nearly pure sugar.

As chains of sugar get longer, they lose their sweet taste and wont dissolve in water anymore. These chains are called polysaccharides and form a large component of starchy foods. Starchy foods such as rice, bread, pasta and vegetables like potatoes might not taste sweet, but they are high in carbohydrate too.

Sugar, in some form, is in many things we eat. And this is good, because our bodies rely heavily on it to work.

Nearly every single part of our body is made of living cells. And its these cells that help us see, breathe, feel, think and much more.

While their jobs in the body may differ, one thing all these cells have in common is that they need energy to survive and perform their duties.

Cells somehow need to turn nutrients in our diet into a form of energy that they can use, called ATP. It would take a long time to explain this (if youre interested you might want to read more), but simplistically the process starts with glucose.

Glucose is the basic fuel that powers every single one of our cells. If we eat or drink things that are high in glucose, such as fizzy drinks, the glucose gets absorbed straight into our blood ready for our cells to use. If a starchy food, such as pasta, is on the menu, the enzymes in our saliva and digestive juices break it down and convert it into glucose. And if for some reason theres no carbohydrate in our diet, cells can turn fat and protein into glucose as a last resort, because they need glucose to survive.

Its here that sugar and cancer start to collide, because cancer is a disease of cells.

Cancer cells usually grow quickly, multiplying at a fast rate, which takes a lot of energy. This means they need lots of glucose. Cancer cells also need lots of other nutrients too, such as amino acids and fats; its not just sugar they crave.

Heres where the myth that sugar fuels cancer was born: if cancer cells need lots of glucose, then cutting sugar out of our diet must help stop cancer growing, and could even stop it developing in the first place. Unfortunately, its not that simple. All our healthy cells need glucose too, and theres no way of telling our bodies to let healthy cells have the glucose they need, but not give it to cancer cells.

Theres no evidence that following a sugar-free diet lowers the risk of getting cancer, or boosts the chances of surviving if you are diagnosed.

And following severely restricted diets with very low amounts of carbohydrate could damage health in the long term by eliminating foods that are good sources of fibre and vitamins.

This is particularly important for cancer patients, because some treatments can result in weight loss and put the body under a lot of stress. So poor nutrition from restrictive diets could also hamper recovery, or even be life-threatening.

Although theres no evidence that cutting carbohydrates from our diet will help treat cancer, important research has shown that understanding the abnormal ways that cancer cells make energy could lead to new treatments.

Back in the 50s, a scientist called Otto Warburg noticed that cancer cells use a different chemical process from normal cells to turn glucose into energy.

Healthy cells use a series of chemical reactions in small cellular batteries called mitochondria. The Warburg Effect, as it was dubbed following Ottos discovery, describes how cancer cells bypass their batteries to generate energy more rapidly to meet demand.

This shortcut for making energy might be a weakness for some cancers that gives researchers an advantage for developing new treatments.

Firstly, it opens up the potential for developing drugs that shut down cancer cells energy-making processes but dont stop healthy cells making energy. And researchers are testing drugs that work in this way.

Secondly, the abnormal processes in cancer cells can also leave them less able to adapt when faced with a lack of other nutrients, like amino acids. These potential vulnerabilities could lead to treatments too.

But these approaches are still experimental, and we dont know yet if treatments that starve cancer cells are safe or if they work.

Its certainly not grounds for cancer patients to try and do it themselves by restricting their diet during treatment and going back to our earlier point, it could be dangerous to do so.

If cutting out sugar doesnt help treat cancer, why then do we encourage people to cut down on sugary foods in our diet advice?

Thats because there is an indirect link between cancer risk and sugar. Eating lots of sugar over time can cause you to gain weight, and robust scientific evidence shows that being overweight or obeseincreases the risk of 13 different types of cancer. In fact, obesityis the single biggest preventable cause of cancer after smoking, which weve written about many times before.

And a study published in 2019 suggested there could be something else going on. Researchers found that people who drank more sugary drinks had a slightly increased risk of cancer, regardless of body weight. The study took weight in to account, but there are still lots of answered questions. More studies will be needed to investigate this.

Its free (or added) sugar were mainly concerned with when it comes to weight gain, not sugar that is naturally found in foods like fruits and milk or healthy starchy foods like wholegrains and pulses (which people should be eating more of*).

One ofthe easiest waysto lower youradded sugaris tocut down on sugary drinks, which are the largest source of sugar in the UK diet.

Some sugary drinks, such as fizzy drinks and energy drinks, can have more than the recommended daily maximum amount offree sugar in one serving alone. And while these extra calories promote weight gain, they offer no other nutritional benefits.

Other obviously sugary foods such as sweets, chocolate, cakes and biscuits are all best kept as treats too. But some foods that have hidden high amounts of added sugar may surprise you. Some breakfast cereals,ready meals (including healthy ones), pasta sauces and yoghurts can have shocking amounts of sugar added to them. Reading nutrition information labels and checking the ingredients list can help you choose lower sugar options.

While there are steps you and your family can take to cut down on added sugar, making these changes can be easier said than done. And its here that governments need to lend a hand.

Multiple cues push us as customers to stack junk food into our shopping baskets, even if we werent planning to, says Professor Linda Bauld, our cancer prevention champion based at the University ofEdinburgh. Thats why we want the Government to help create a better food environment where the healthy choice is the easy choice for everyone.

Were delighted that thesugar tax (Soft Drinks Industry Levy), which came into effect in April 2018, has been successful in removing a huge amount of sugar from fizzy drinks and our diets. This alongside other measures announced in the UK Governments 2020 obesity strategy should help to prevent millions of cases of overweight and obesity, and cancers linked to excess weight in the future, by reducing the amount of sugar the nation consumes.

But the Government hasnt made much progress in its plan to reduce the amount of sugar in the types of foods that are very popular with children. Four years into the programme, industry has failed to meet the voluntary targets set by Government, showing that a voluntary approach just isnt effective. This is also true for front-of-pack nutrition labelling where we want to see a consistent and mandatory approach.

Its also essential that reducing free sugars in our diets alongside other public health considerations be put at the forefront of the UK Governments upcoming trade deal negotiations in 2020 and beyond.

The story about sugar and cancer is complicated.

On the one hand, sugar itself doesnt cause cancer, and theres no way (at the moment) of specifically starving cancer cells of glucose without harming healthy cells too.

Theres also no evidence that adopting a diet very low in carbohydrate will lower your cancer risk or help as a treatment. And for patients, getting adequate nutrition is important for helping their bodies cope with treatment.

But were concerned about the amount of added sugar people are consuming because its promoting weight gain. And being overweight or obese increases the risk of least 13 types of cancer.

So the take home message is that although banishing sugar wont stop cancer in its tracks, we can all reduce our risk of getting cancer by making healthy choices, and lowering the amount of added sugar in our diets is a good way to help maintain a healthy body weight.

Emma

*While foods like fruit, milk and healthy starchy foods are high in carbohydrate, they have other important nutritional benefits. We should all be eating more whole fruits, vegetables, wholegrains and pulses as these nutritious foods are also high in fibre this not only helps your body digest the natural sugar more slowly (which helps you keep a healthy weight), it also reduces the risk of bowel cancer.

More on this topic

See the rest here:
Sugar and cancer what you need to know - Cancer Research UK - Science Blog

Busy schedules and work leaves many with little time to devote to physical activity, 29-year-old Jay was in for a rude shock when he happened to check his weight- a whopping 136 kilos! This was the much-needed reality check he needed to correct his lifestyle and he spent the next six months transforming himself. His weight loss journey is an incredibly motivating example of how the right diet and workout can change your life. Read to know more!

Name: Jay Thaker

Age: 29 years

Height: 6 feet 1 inch

City: Mumbai

Highest weight recorded: 136 kilos

Weight lost: 32 kilos

Duration it took me to lose weight: 6 months and 12 days

The turning point: I have always been on the heavier side and used to weigh 120-125 kilos! I spent so much money on gym memberships, but since I have a travelling job, it was difficult to take time out for exercise. Having a 'sorted' routine was something I could just wish for. However, the day reality hit me is when I happened to weigh myself while I was working and saw my weight was 136 kilos! I just stood there in shock, it hit me so hard!

My diet: My weight loss journey started in December 2019. I started following Intermittent Fasting, with a relatively smaller fasting window (14:10). By February 2020, I was able to stretch it to 16:8. And then, the pandemic happened. While there were so many negatives to the lockdown, I got the best gift I had been wanting for long- TIME.

March was the time when I actually brought in more focus on my journey. The plan was to create a calorie deficit. I used an app, tracked my calories, and ate two meals a day (just lunch and dinner). Apart from this, I never indulged in snacking. Green tea/ coconut water were the only two things I drank. Day by day, with the help of exercise and strict diet, I managed to sustain my deficit and lose weight, the way I wanted. There were weeks I even lost more than a kilo!

My breakfast: Since I dont eat anything in the morning, I just have a cup of green tea with lemon drops (zero calories, hence its allowed in my fasting hours)

My lunch: Lunch is the best part of the day for me and I ensure that my meal has wholesome nourishment. I have a complete meal (approximately 900-1000 calories), which has 2 rotis, vegetable subzi, a bowl of dal (moong, arhar), very little rice and some curd/ chaas to finish my meal.

My dinner: While lunch is heavy, I keep my dinners light. It is usually something like a large bowl of salad (carrots, beets, tomatoes, cucumbers, apples, pomegranates) with curd. Sometimes, I have a bowl of warm tomato soup.

Pre-workout meal: I used to work out in the morning time, i.e., during my fasting window. Hence, green tea is all I had.

Post-workout meal: I have a scoop of protein shake powder with water after the 2nd round of my workout and sometimes after dinner as well (maintaining an hours gap).

I indulge in: I enjoy everything home-cooked, which is balanced with carbs, proteins and fat. I have to give all the credit to my mom, who helped me! But, if I ever want to snack on something, it would be my favourite bajra thepla or pav bhaji!

My workout: Exercise is something I never compromise on now! I have a fixed 2-hour workout session in the morning- one hour of rigorous badminton and an hour walking/jogging. I do the same in the evenings. Apart from this, I also try and take out 30 minutes during the day to indulge in ab workouts and weight training exercises at home. I use a resistance band which ensures that isn't too much muscle loss due to extensive cardio.

Low-calorie recipes I swear by: Veggies+fruit salad with curd and brown bread sandwich once in a while.

Fitness secrets I unveiled: If you want to start your weight loss journey, learn two words and implement them CALORIE DEFICIT. Intermittent fasting worked really well for me for keeping myself off snacking and ensuring that I create maximum calorie deficit! Additionally, I ensured to stay consistent with my efforts, eat healthily and stay hydrated.

How do I stay motivated? I received unconditional support from my family and friends. However, I do have to say that there is no bigger motivation than stepping on the weighing scale and seeing the reduction for yourself. I was so happy to see the number change from 131 to 98 kilos! Once I started seeing visible results, there was no looking back. Every day felt like a new learning experience for me.

How do you ensure you dont lose focus? Discipline is the key and the belief that nothing happens overnight. Even if at some point if the results arent as per what I desire, I keep on going.

What shape do you see yourself 10 years down the line? I see myself as a very healthy and active individual with a bit of muscle gain.

What are the lifestyle changes you made? I made a lot of lifestyle changes to reach my weight loss goal. Some of them included:1. Eating balanced meals2. Following the 3 Cs for weight loss lots of Cardio, consume fewer Carbs, be Consistent3. Discipline and determination. I started to enjoy my journey, rather than detesting it.

Read the original here:
Weight loss: This guy exercised for 2 hours everyday in the lockdown and lost 32 kilos! - Times of India

The sweepstakes are easy to enter. Just fill in your boss's first and last name, their email address, and 500 characters or less about why you think your boss deserves the grand prize. Then you just need to fill in your own name, email address, and date of birth, and you're good to go. Entrants have until 11:59 pm ET on November 16th, a month after National Boss Day, to submit their forms, according to theDiet Coke National Boss's Day Sweepstakes Official Rules.

You can nominate up to four times before the deadline, but each nomination has to be unique. So basically, if you work under multiple people and want to nominate a few of them, go ahead you don't have to choose. But for obvious reasons, you can't nominate any of them more than once.

Don't sweat about composing theperfect description of your boss's Diet-Coke-worthiness. The judging organization "will select the names of the potential winning Nominees in a random drawing of all eligible entries received during the Promotion Period."So go ahead, enter your boss. If they're areally good boss, maybe they'll share a couple of their 365 cans of Diet Coke with you.

Continued here:
How to win a year's worth of free Diet Coke - Mashed

Cooking with oils is a big part of meal prep, adding flavor to many dishes. But navigating which oils are best or worst for you and your food can be a challenge.

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Confused about which oils are healthy and which arent? Registered dietitian Julia Zumpano, RD, explains how to choose the best oil for you and other ways to keep your oil consumption honest.

Because there are so many cooking oils available to use, its important to understand the different types of fats, both good and bad, that make up these oils. By knowing which fats provide health benefits and which fats are a detriment to your diet, your choice in cooking oils will be easier to make.

Saturated fats: The fewer you have of these fats, the better. Less than 7% of your daily fat calories should come from saturated fats. To cut back on saturated fats, limit:

Trans fats: Eliminate trans fats from your diet by staying away from foods that contain partially hydrogenated oils. Many packaged or processed foods contain these oils, so scan the ingredient list.

Monounsaturated fats: Get the benefits of these fats from olives, avocados and nuts. Use extra virgin olive oil as often as possible. For higher heat cooking or baking, consider almond, peanut oil or avocado oil for good ways to get monounsaturated fats.

Polyunsaturated fats (omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids): Focus on eating more foods packed with omega-3s. Choose oily fish (salmon, herring, mackerel) and walnuts, chia seeds and flaxseeds. The American diet tends to be omega-6 heavy, so no need to worry about adding those in.

When youre cooking with oils, you dont have to choose between taste and health. But remember that less quantity is more quality. To use the least amount of fat and get the most taste and health benefits, Zumpano recommends the following.

Oil is a fat, regardless of what kind you use. At 9 calories per gram, fats are far more calorie-dense than carbohydrates or protein which have 4 calories per gram. Even healthier oils, such as avocado and olive oil, are still fats. Keep your fat intake between 25-35% of your total daily calories.

Olive oil has been proven to lower LDL (bad cholesterol) and raise HDL (good cholesterol) levels when used to replace saturated fat such as butter. It also contains beta carotene, vitamins A, E, D and K plus many more healthful nutrients. Research shows these nutrients have beneficial effects on almost every bodily function.

Extra-virgin olive oil has the lowest oxidation rate of cooking oils. Oxidation promotes free radicals, chemicals that are highly reactive and can damage cells. Some of this damage may lead to cancer and other disease states. It is also an excellent source of antioxidants, which also protect cells from damage and oxidation.

Extra-virgin olive oil also has an amazing skin- and body-protecting polyphenol called hydroxytyrosol. Studies show that hydroxytyrosol has among the greatest free-radical absorbing capacities.

Restrictive diets that cut fat often add sugar to compensate for the loss in taste which isnt exactly a healthy alternative. Think about everything you eat and aim for a nutritionally balanced mix that includes moderate amounts of healthy fats.

Pan-frying uses a substantial amount of oil and higher heat for longer periods. Deep fat frying also uses a lot of oil at high heats but can be done for shorter periods. But frying foods in oil or any kind of fat promotes free radicals.

Sauting cooks small pieces of food in small amounts of fat for less time. Plan meals with foods that dont need frying. When you bake, grill or quickly saut your food, you reduce the amount of fat you consume. And remember: all oils that are safe to use at very high heat should be consumed in the least amount possible.

When you buy many oil varieties and store them for long periods, they eventually oxidize and develop free radicals. Instead, buy just a few kinds of oil in small amounts. Store them in a cool, dark and dry place and be sure to replace any that smell bitter or off. Check the best-by date because oils should be used within 30-60 days after opening.

Grapeseed and walnut oils are an exception: Store them in the refrigerator so they dont become rancid. The cloudiness in refrigerated oils will clear once they return to room temperature.

Many spray oils claim to have no trans-fat. Manufacturers can say this because theyre allowed to round down to zero if a serving size is less than half a gram. (Most spray oils list the serving size at a quarter-second spray.) To keep things honest, get the same results by using a towel or brush to wipe on the bottom of your pan.

You could also try PFOA-free nonstick or ceramic pans. Hand wash them with a soft, nonabrasive sponge or cloth to protect the surface and keep them in good shape.

If youre eating healthy fats by dunking your ciabatta bread in olive oil or frying foods in canola oil, you arent getting the biggest bang for your buck. Use oil instead to extract, extend and infuse flavors or create new ones.

For example, instead of dipping your bread in a few tablespoons of olive oil, use the same amount of oil in a flavorful dish that several people can share such as roasted vegetables or as a dressing for your salad. Or get a healthier, more flavorful meal by pan-searing fish with a little oil instead of frying battered fish in a pot of it.

Choose unsaturated fats as often as possible. They help round out a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, seeds and whole grains. Limit animal fats (saturated fats) and completely avoid trans-fats when possible.

The smoke point is the temperature that causes oil to start smoking, which produces toxic fumes and free radicals. Because of their chemical makeup, different oils have different smoke points. Some oils are better suited for cooking at higher temperatures. Generally, the more refined the oil, the higher the smoke point. (Note: Smoke point relates only to fresh oil; oil thats used for cooking and then strained and reused loses its integrity.)

Oils with a high smoke point

These oils are best for searing, browning and deep frying (which you should avoid).

Oils with a medium-high smoke point

These oils are best for baking, oven cooking or stir-frying.

Oils with a medium smoke point

These oils are best for light sauting, sauces and low-heat baking.

*Virgin coconut oil contains lauric acid, a medium-chain triglyceride that raises good and bad cholesterol levels.

No-heat oils*

These oils are best for making dressings, dips or marinades.

*Toasted sesame and extra virgin olive oils also work well.

The rest is here:
How to Choose and Use Healthy Cooking Oils - Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic