You can be a healthy vegan or an unhealthy vegan, depending on what you consume.

Dr Derbyshire said: Vegans should follow healthy eating guidelines which include at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day and keep fully hydrated.

Meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, opting for wholegrain if possible and include some dairy alternatives, such as soya drinks and yoghurts.

A variety of plant-based protein sources should be eaten and plenty of fluid consumed throughout the day ideally drinking 6-8 cups or glasses which does not need to be just water.

Drinking herbal, plant-based teas, like Rooibos, can contribute to fluid intakes and research has found they are just as hydrating.

A new study on Rooibos also found evidence for cholesterol reduction, blood glucose control, bone health, memory function, sperm viability, immune balance, anti-inflammatory effects plus anti-allergy effects.

Read the rest here:
Veganism benefits: Should I go vegan? Will I lose weight from being vegan? - Express

Avoid sugar and unhealthy snacking when you are doing intermittent fasting

Intermittent fasting is a popular eating pattern which can help with weight loss, improve fitness and regulate sleep cycle. It can help in detoxifying your body and even reversing type 2 diabetes. However, the same lifestyle pattern can affect your health in a negative way if you constantly change the fasting period. To make intermittent fasting work for you, it is important that you eat right foods during the eating phase, not eat anything except drinking water during the fasting phase, and you don't starve yourself.

What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern in which your day is divided into two phases: the eating phase and the fasting phase. As the name suggests, you are required to eat only during the eating phase and fast during fasting phase. During the fasting phase, you are only allowed to drink water (not even tea or coffee). Lifestyle coach Luke Coutinho believes that your fasting phase can last for as long as you want: 10 hours, 12 hours, 14 hours or 16 hours.

Also read:10 Tips To Make Intermittent Fasting Work For You

An easy way to follow intermittent fasting is having an early dinner by 8 pm latest. You can then begin your fast overnight and have your next meal accordingly. But it may be easier said than done. What you eat during eating phase and your physical activity are important factors to consider, especially if you want to reach a health goal.

Nutritionist Ishi Khosla, in an Instagram post, shares a few tips that can help you reach your health goals while practicing intermittent fasting.

1. Eat healthy: Intermittent fasting is a few of those diet plans which does not involve any restrictions. But, it is important to eat healthy foods and stay away from refined grains and sugar. Your diet should include fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, healthy grains, proteins and healthy fats. You can have the Mediterranean diet, recommends Khosla in her post.

Eat healthy, home-cooked meals in controlled proportions during eating phase of intermittent fastingPhoto Credit: iStock

2. Avoid snacking: Allow your body to burn fat in between meals and avoid snacking. Be active throughout the day and make sure exercising is a part of your routine. Yoga, light weight lifting and some form of aerobics can be beneficial.

Also read:6 Fibre-Rich Snacks That Can Help You With Weight Loss And Better Digestion

3. Limit the hours of day when you eat: According to Khosla, it is better to eat more in earlier parts of the day. She writes that you can divide your eating time between 7 am to 3 pm and 10 am to 6 pm. Avoid eating in evening before bed.

4. Do not eat all the time. Eat small meals and eat only till the point it satisfies your hunger.

Also read:Break Your Fast With These 5 Weight Loss-Friendly Foods In Intermittent Fasting

(Ishi Khosla is a practicing clinical nutritionist, columnist and author)

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.

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4 Ways To Reach Your Target Health Goal When Doing Intermittent Fasting - NDTV

After months spent in lockdown - many of us have become all too friendly with Mr Fridge.

That, teamed with moving less and sitting more has meant some people are looking for ways to shed those extra pounds.

The 1:1 Diet otherwise known as The Cambridge Weight Plan replaces meals with shakes, soups and bars to help people cut and control calories.

But critics say it's not always the healthiest or most sustainable way to lose weight.

So we have separated the fact from the fiction to give you a comprehensive guide to the Cambridge diet.

Other popular NHS diets include Slimming World, Weight Watchers, The F Plan and The South Beach Diet.

The 1:1 diet is a meal replacement diet formally known as The Cambridge Weight Plan.

In 2019, the Cambridge Weight Plan had a rebrand under the new name of the 1:1 diet. It does the same thing, but the brand says the new name emphasises the one-to-one relationship between dieter and consultant.

In terms of food and what you can eat it means swapping out normal meals for shakes, soups, porridges and snack bars.

These are designed to fulfil all of your daily nutritional requirements, while cutting out hundreds of calories.

By following its strict rules, it claims it can help dieters lose up to a stone a month.

There are a total of six variations of the plan, ranging from 440 to 1,500 calories a day, depending on factors such as your starting weight and weight-loss goals.

Step one, or 'Sole Source', is the most austere, asking dieters to cut out all 'normal' daily foods and solely eat from Cambridge Weight Plan's own-brand, low-calorie range of products, along with 2.5 litres of water.

Later stages - like step six, or 'Maintenance' - are more flexible, allowing room for some meals, interspersed with a few meal-replacements.

So, you start at step one, and then slowly introduce solid foods as you begin to shed weight.

The idea is that you eat so few calories that your body is forced into a state of 'ketosis' where it starts to burn fat stores as a survival method.

The Cambridge Diet claims to be safe and healthy to follow, but some experts and nutritionists say they do not recommend diets restricted to under 600 calories per day.

Max Bridger, a personal trainer from LDN Muscle (ldnmuscle.com), says: "It's not something I would recommend to any of my clients.

Sure, eating under 500 calories for 12 weeks will make you drop weight fast, but you'll also lose a lot of muscle too - so don't expect an athletic, toned physique at the end."

Due to the highly-restrictive nature of the diet, critics also say it does not equip dieters for long-term weight-loss.

"Don't expect to keep the weight off when you return to normal eating," says Bridger. "You may put the weight you lost while on the Cambridge Weight Plan back on, once finished and returned to your normal lifestyle, as your metabolism will likely have adapted to the restricted calories by slowing down.

"Ketosis is a state not many people will realistically achieve either," he continues. "As well as being very tough to achieve, ketosis is easy to lose, and comes with side effects like bad breath, digestive discomfort, nausea and even hair thinning in some cases."

The bottom line, Bridger says, is that extreme weight-loss plans are not something every day people should really utilise, as there is nothing to prevent rebound weight gain.

"If you do opt for something like the Cambridge Diet, you certainly do not need to spend money on very expensive foods and shakes to help you eat the bare minimum calories to function," he adds.

Before making any extreme changes to your diet, you should always speak to your GP to discuss any potential concerns or side effects.

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Cambridge diet: 1:1 Weight loss plan - How it works and the facts you need to know - Cambridgeshire Live

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Osteoporosis can sneak up on you. In fact, most people dont even know they have it until they break a bone. Knowing youre prone to osteoporosis is one of the best ways to catch the condition before something snaps or even prevent it from developing in the first place. Bone up on the biggest osteoporosis risk factors.

Osteoporosis fittingly translates to porous bones. Its a condition that can occur when you have low bone density; when you lose too much of the minerals that make your bones strong (mainly calcium), your bones become spongy and brittle on the inside, causing them to weaken as bone hollows out. Once that happens, they may fracture (the medical term for break) from very little impact or trauma (like a stumble or even coughing too hard).

How do bones become fragile? Bone development begins in utero, but its when youre a kid running, jumping, skipping and drinking your milk like Mom asked that youre building the bulk of your bone mass. By age 30, youll reach whats called your peak bone mass: the maximum amount of bone youll have in your lifetime. Youll continue to make new bone and lose some bone (a process called remodeling), but your overall bone density should remain fairly stable.

As you enter your 50s, you start losing bone mass more rapidly. Why? With age, osteoblasts (cells that form new bone) slow down and osteoclasts (cells that break down old bone and release calcium into your blood) rev up. If you didnt have a great peak bone mass to begin with, or youre losing more bone than you can replace, you may wind up with weak bones and whats known as senile osteoporosis, an age-related form of the bone disease.

The other main type is postmenopausal osteoporosis, which occurs when bone loss accelerates after menopause (more on that below). Osteoporosis typically strikes older adults, but it can affect children and teens, usually due to underlying health conditions and medications.

Experts typically split risk factors into two categories: the ones you cant control and the factors you can control.

About 80 percent of your peak bone mass is determined by genetics. If youve had relatives diagnosed with low bone density or osteoporosis of the spine or hip, youre more likely to develop it too.

Knowing your family history is key, but we may be getting close to a clinical genetic test: Researchers from Stanford University School of Medicine recently developed a genetic screening based on almost 900 genes associated with low bone density, 613 of which have never been identified before. People considered at risk because of these genes were 117 times more likely to develop osteoporosis and twice as likely to suffer a fracture in their lifetime than those not at risk.

Osteoporosis affects both sexes, but more so females. Of the 10 million Americans who have osteoporosis, eight million are women. By nature, females have smaller, thinner bones than men, so their peak bone mass isnt as high. Ethnicity seems to play a role as well. Osteoporosis is more commonly seen in Caucasian and Asian-American women; 20 percent of women in these groups over the age of 50 have the brittle bone condition. Latina and African American women have the lowest rates of osteoporosis: just 10 and five percent over age 50 respectively.

Menopause also puts women at risk, due to a swift decline in estrogen. When estrogen diminishes, bone mass tends to ebb as well. Its estimated that women can lose up to 20 percent of their bone mass in the first five to seven years after menopause. That means if you start menopause with a low peak bone mass, youre at greater risk of developing osteoporosis. Men, of course, dont have to contend with estrogen-related osteoporosis, but they can develop brittle bones due to low levels of androgens, aka male hormones.

While your weight may fluctuate (more on that below), your frame doesnt change. That whole big-boned or small-boned thing is real. Someone who is small framed has smaller, thinner bones, and therefore, a lower peak bone mass to begin with, so when they start losing more bone mass with age, theres less to take from, putting their bones at risk for osteoporosis.

Theres no way around it: loss of bone mass comes with age, laying the groundwork for low bone density and the potential of osteoporosis. We typically lose bone mass starting at age 40 and one in two women and one in four men over the age of 50 will fracture a bone at some point.

Certain medical conditions can affect how fast or slow you build and lose bone mass and lead to whats called secondary osteoporosis. This list includes: kidney failure, rheumatoid arthritis, untreated celiac disease, multiple sclerosis, Cushings disease, scurvy, hyperparathyroidism, hyperthyroidism, diabetes, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, Parkinsons disease, and cancers including multiple myeloma, leukemia, and metastatic bone diseases. Getting treatment for these conditions may help reduce your risk of osteoporosis and your doctor may also prescribe a preventative osteoporosis drug.

Prescription medications can have side effects and in some cases, this includes low bone density. A few drugs that impact bone loss are:

Multiple studies have linked air pollution and low bone density and osteoporosis. One in Lancet Planet Health found that osteoporotic bone fractures were higher in areas with higher levels of particulate matter in the air (teeny-tiny particles of dust, soot, smoke, and chemicals).

Bone is mostly made of calcium, which means this mineral is vital for building healthy bone early on. Calcium is also important for:

If youre not getting enough calcium, your body will take it from your bones (breaking down bone to release calcium into your blood). Having a calcium deficiency at a young age can lead to a lower peak bone mass and if youre not getting enough of the mineral with age, youll lose bone mass faster than someone with adequate levels.

Ideally, calcium should come from foods. To add more calcium to your diet, the best sources are:

A supplement can close the gap, but our bodies cant absorb large doses of calcium, so it's better to take smaller doses (500 mg) once or twice a day, rather than one megadose. Talk to your doctor before starting a supplement.

If your levels still fall short (which a doctor can check with a blood test), you can supplement with vitamin D2 or D3. The recommended vitamin D levels are:

Beyond calcium and vitamins, an eating approach that plays favorites with lean proteins, fruit, vegetables and omega fatty acids seems to help bone health. Those who have had eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa or bulimia, as well as those who have undergone bariatric surgery are also at risk due to vitamin deficiency and fluctuating hormone levels.

Weight-bearing exercise (those that require you to support your body weight, like walking or jogging) helps build strong bones. A bit of stress on your bones stimulates new bone growth, so if you had a health condition as a child that kept you from running and jumping, you may end up with a lower peak bone mass.

As an adult, weight-bearing exercise can boost your bone density and help keep it stable as you naturally lose bone mass with age. Aim for 30 minutes of weight-bearing exercise most days of the week, suggests the National Osteoporosis Foundation. If you dont do weight-bearing exercise (say, you swim for exercise) or are sedentary, youre at risk of developing disuse osteoporosis, which stems from not putting that good pressure or stress on your bones.

Chronic stress is linked to low bone density. Studies have shown those with PTSD have a higher chance of developing osteoporosis later in life than those without the condition. Likewise, stress in postmenopausal women is tied to low bone density, according to a study in a recent study in the Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health. The connection isnt well understood yet, but researchers suspect that the increased inflammation that comes along with stress can affect the cells that boost and break down bone.

It seems you need some meat on your bones to ward off osteoporosis as weighing less than 127 pounds or having a BMI of less than 21 seems to increase your risk. Women who are naturally thin can have low bone mass; its not just extreme dieting or an eating disorder that leads to the condition, according to a study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. On the flip side, being extremely overweight puts you at risk for diseases such as diabetes, which can lead to lower bone density and fractures, research has shown.

Experts know smoking is bad for your bones but theyre not exactly sure why. What we do know: Smoking reduces blood circulation to the bones (among other organs) and may also inhibit osteoblasts (those critical bone-building cells), affect calcium absorption, and reduce your hormone levels all of which can weaken bone density. Plus, smoking can slow down the healing process when you do have a bone fracture. Bottom line: Quit!

A glass or two of alcohol a day isnt going to hurt you and may even protect bone health, according to studies, but research has shown that chronic, heavy drinking (more than two drinks per day) can lower your bone density. What you drink may matter too. Men who had more than two drinks of liquor per day had lower bone mineral density in their hips and spine as opposed to those who drank wine and beer, a study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed.

Lack of sleep has been linked to bone health, according to a study in The Journal of Bone and Mineral Research. Scientists reviewed the data on 11,000 postmenopausal women from the Womens Health Initiative (a long-term national study focused on womens health) and found that short sleep duration was associated with lower bone mineral density and a higher risk of osteoporosis. This is yet another reason to prioritize getting seven to eight hours nightly.

Take a closer look at your own circumstances and daily habits. What does your level of risk look like, and what small shifts can you make to keep your bones strong? Asking these questions and acting on the answers is vital to staying strong, healthy, and injury-free for the long haul.

The majority of your peak bone mass the most amount of bone mass youll reach in your lifetime is determined by genetics. Meaning, low bone density can simply run in your family putting you at risk for developing osteoporosis. If one or both of your parents have fractured a bone from little impact, you may consider a bone density screening to see how strong (or weak) your bones are. Screenings are typically done after menopause for at-risk women, or by age 65 for the general population, and after age 70 for men.

Osteoporosis is spurred by low bone density, or bones that are low in minerals primarily calcium which is found in the hard part of bones. When you start to lose bone density, bones get brittle, porous and can break from the slightest impact. Low bone density has many possible causes, including lack of hormones (estrogen in women and androgens in men), your natural bone structure, underlying medical conditions, medications, poor nutrition, a sedentary lifestyle, and more.

The condition is typically not detected until you have a fracture, but a nagging backache can be a sign of osteoporosis pain, and more specifically, collapsed vertebrae (a common complication of the disease). Other telltale signs can include shrinking in height. Because there are rarely symptoms, its important to know if youre at risk so you can take steps to boost your bone health.

Yes, you can. You cant do much about your gender, bone size, and the natural aging process, so preventing osteoporosis comes down to changing the risk factors you do have influence over. Eating a diet that includes bone-boosting calcium and vitamin D, refraining from smoking, keeping drinking in check, maintaining a healthy weight, and doing weight-bearing exercise regularly may prevent your bone density from getting dangerously low.

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What are the Risk Factors for Osteoporosis? - HealthCentral.com

If youve changed your eating habits to focus on healthier foods and gotten serious about your workouts, you might expect to start shedding pounds. But the reality is that despite what youve been led to believe, weight loss is more complicated than calories in versus calories out. If youre trying to lose weight, check out these habits that might be interfering with your efforts.

If you typically eat a muffin or avocado toast for breakfast, you might need to boost your protein intake. Research suggests that a protein-rich breakfast can help manage hunger better, which may make you less tempted to supplement with a mid-morning snack.

Protein is important at lunch and dinner, too. If youre routinely eating salads or sipping on gazpacho without any protein accompaniments like a boiled egg, yogurt, beans, meat, poultry or fish it could lead to declining muscle tissue over time, which means your metabolism will start to slow down and make it harder for you to lose weight. Aim for 20 to 35 grams of protein per meal (a portion about the size of a smartphone). But keep in mind that to boost weight loss, you may need to cut down on something else, like the starchy portion of your meal.

When youre short on sleep, it alters your bodys appetite-regulating hormones, spiking the levels of the hormones that tell you when youre hungry and reducing levels of the ones that tell you when youve had enough to eat. The net-net: Youre hungrier than normal. In one study, women who slept for five hours a night (instead of the recommended seven hours) were 32% more likely to experience a 30-plus pound weight gain during the 16-year study period.

Trending stories,celebrity news and all the best of TODAY.

When youre sleep deprived, the type of food you crave can change, too. Studies suggest that it leads to an increase in activity levels of the reward circuitry in your brain, so donuts and other high-calorie foods are more irresistible. If you arent meeting the sleep guidelines, start off by creating a set sleep schedule, setting an alarm to go to bed earlier at night and staying consistent about going to bed and waking at routine times every day.

A mere 5% of adults are participating in exercise for 30 minutes a day, so any exercise deserves props. Physical activity is tied to a lower risk of heart disease and diabetes, and staying active can help you maintain your weight more easily. But if youre exercising to drop pounds (rather than maintain your weight), you might need to re-think your motives. Time and again, research points to the fact that when people exercise, theyre hungrier and therefore, eat more enough to make up for the calories they worked off.

Studies also show that when coupled with diet, exercise produces virtually the same weight loss as diet alone. Exercise because it makes you feel better, lifts your spirits and makes you feel stronger, more energetic and empowered. These motivators might even help you lean in toward activities you enjoy rather than ones you think you should be doing, which ups the odds youll stick with your fitness routine. Youll get health benefits from as little as 15 minutes of exercise a day the benefits drop off after 60 minutes a day, so aim to get somewhere in that range.

A little stress here and there isnt a big deal, but when its persistent, your body responds by continuing to pump out the hormone, cortisol, which leads to an increase in appetite and eating. Stress also impacts your food choices. Theres a reason why you crave comfort food, like pizza, instead of a salad when youre stressed out.

And heres the kicker: Studies suggest that when you actively try to lose weight by restricting what you eat, it ups your stress and cortisol levels, which is counterproductive. Exercise, meditation and hugs (be it cuddling a pet or hugging a housemate) are a few good ways to help lower cortisol levels, even when stressful circumstances are beyond your control.

Your body tells you when its hungry and when youve had enough to eat, but over time, you might have learned to override these signals. When you tune in to what your body tells you, you can respond more appropriately, say, by finding an activity when youre bored (instead of rummaging through the cabinets for a snack) or by wrapping up a meal when youre satiated, instead of when youve had too much to eat. Developing these listening skills takes practice, but over time, can help you reduce stress eating, minimize overeating and enjoy meals more.

Its possible to overeat very healthful foods, like avocados, nuts and quinoa, and this can influence your ability to lose weight. These foods can absolutely be part of a weight-loss eating plan, but your portion sizes may need some fine-tuning. For instance, a portion of pasta even healthier whole grain, lentil and chickpea versions is 1/2 cup (about the size of a teacup). A serving of nuts is an ounce, or the amount that would fill a mint tin. For nut or seed butter, the serving size is two tablespoons, or the size of a golf ball. An easy hack to help you fill up on proper portions is to reverse your ratio of grains to veggies on your plate, having twice the amount of veggies as grains or pasta. This trick helps downsize grain and pasta portions while keeping your plate full of food.

Theres a strong link between eating processed foods and your weight. One possible, science-backed explanation: You eat faster and dont fill up as quickly on very processed foods, so you wind up eating more. Just think how much easier and faster it is to wolf down a fast food burger than it is to consume a piece of salmon with a side of broccoli and brown rice. Or compare how quickly you can eat an oat-based granola bar to a bowl of oatmeal.

In one year-long study, dieters were assigned to either a low-fat or low-carb eating meal plan, with both groups losing a similar amount of weight. Despite the different dietary approaches, there were some commonalities about how both groups ate. Both limited sugar and overly processed foods and amped their veggie intake while also eating more whole foods. If you want to simplify your eating habits and lose weight, this is a good way to go.

Continued here:
7 things you may be doing that can prevent weight loss - TODAY

Good news, carb-lovers you may not have to cut back on bread even if you're trying to lose weight, according to experts.

"People have demonized carbs as one of the main things behind gaining weight when that's not proven by evidence," nutrition coach and author Graeme Tomlinson told Insider. "It's 'calories in' versus 'calories out' [that] are going to determine whether you gain or lose weight."

Tomlinson, also known as "The Fitness Chef," recently posted on Instagram to illustrate how a humble slice of bread is often blamed for weight gain, when it is, in fact, what's on the bread that can tip dieters into a calorie surplus.

That's because, no matter how much you enjoy bread, it's rare to just snack on a slice alone. Typically, bread is eaten with toppings, Tomlinson said, such as toast with butter, peanut butter and/or jam, or as a sandwich.

Those toppings, particularly when they're calorie-dense foods like cheese or nut butter, can end up being double or quadruple the calories of the bread itself, he explained.

When trying to reduce or maintain body weight, many continue to assume that bread must be abolished from their diet. In terms of energy, there is no difference between white or brown bread. And whilst the latter contains more fibre [which may increase satiety], one would be better placed to evaluate total ingredients consumed with bread in order to determine a more holistic perspective. Not least because bread is rarely consumed alone. These additional ingredients equate to additional calories. In this example, smearing on a few of generous knifes of peanut butter and jam (components of a hearty PB & jelly sandwich) more than quadruples the total calorie content of the consumed food. Consequently, all of a sudden the debate is not about consumption of bread in the first instance, or its colour in the second. Adding an often invisible 10g of butter to a warm slice of bread will result in the calorie value of the bread increasing from 95 calories to 169. Thus, though its visibility is dormant, it is the butter that nearly doubles the calorie value of what we often perceive as the consequence of eating bread. Standing alone, bread is merely one calorie variable. Using the examples shown in my graphic, there can be multiple additional calorie variables. The quantity of additional variables will influence the overall calorie value of that eating episode. Bread may not be the problem after all. This principle can be applied to ones rationale when assessing and addressing their overall diet. In doing so, one can move away from unwarranted demonisation of a food which can be utilized as energy like any other. Of course, one may over consume bread. But unless their diet comprises of only bread, this is a mere contribution to a bigger sequence of variables. To catastrophize bread as a nutritional problem is to catastrophize a minuscule variable out of many. A calorie surplus over time results in weight gain, not bread. - - #portioncontrol #bread #toast #snacks #peanutbutter #jam #carbs #snackfood #fatlosstips #fatlosshelp #caloriecontrol #losefat #caloriesincaloriesout #losingfat

A post shared by Graeme Tomlinson (@thefitnesschef_) on Jun 17, 2020 at 10:38am PDTJun 17, 2020 at 10:38am PDT

This is true not only of bread, but other carb-heavy staples like potatoes,according to Bonnie Taub-Dix, registered dietitian nutritionist, creator of BetterThanDieting.com, author of Read It Before You Eat It - Taking You from Label to Table, and @bonnietaubdix on Instagram.

"It's not about the carbs, it's about the company they keep," Taub-Dix told Insider. Condiments and spread can quickly and surreptitiously raise the total calorie of your meal or snack and make it harder to keep track, she said.

However, cutting out the carbs themselves could actually backfire, Taub-Dix added, since there's some evidence that carbs, especially high fiber versions like whole grains, are linked to feeling fuller and more satisfied after eating. Carbs could even boost mood, according to some research.

"It's not just about what bread is providing nutritionally speaking but emotionally speaking," Taub-Dix said."If you're having turkey rolled up in cheese and lettuce, you can have 20 of them and not feel satisfied. If youwould have just put that on a sandwich, you would have feel like you had a decent meal."

As such, carbs can potentially be a useful tool for weight loss if they can help stave off snacking later in the day, she added.

Taub-Dix recommends trying to include some of each macronutrient carbs, fat, and protein when you sit down to eat so your meal or snack is nutritionally balanced but also enjoyable.

"That combination is satisfying for your body but also for your mouth and your mind," she said.

Mariana L/Shutterstock

Cutting out bread, or carbs, entirely can also backfire if it makes you crave those foods intensely, leading to overindulgence later.

"If you're cutting things out, those are the foods that come back with a vengeance when you're off the diet and you'll gain back any weight you lost," Taub-Dix said.

If weight-loss is a goal for you, Tomlinson advises focusing on the total meal, including any toppings on your bread. This means using a kitchen scale or other tools to measure out serving sizes and see exactly what it looks like compared to how much you typically use.

"It can be a bit of an eye opener to see how many calories you were eating vs how many you want to meet your target," Tomlinson said."You can eat a lot of the foods you enjoy, you just have to understand portion sizes so you can eat those things and still meet your goals."

You don't have to constantly measure out everything you eat, though just try it a few times so you can get better at estimating a portion size, and how it fits into your own nutritional goals, he suggests.

With that in mind, including some bread in your diet can actually help with weight loss goals, Tomlinson said, since a diet of foods you enjoy is more likely to be a diet you can stick to.

"If you enjoy a type of food, you should include it. People will end up depriving themselves can end up over-consuming enjoyed food," Tomlinson said. "If you can take the diet you have and make the smallest change with the biggest impact, that's sustainable. It's about a lot of small little tweaks."

Read more:

Huge doses of vitamin D will not cure or protect you from the coronavirus, a new report says

Demand is rising for Adele's rumored weight-loss plan, the sirtfood diet. Here's how it works.

How to safely go to the gym and reduce your risk of getting the coronavirus

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Bread won't make you gain weight. It's the toppings, nutritionists say - Insider - INSIDER

64 participants with type 2 diabetes were recruited, all of whom were aged between 30 and 60.

They consumed camomile tea three times per day immediately after meals for eight weeks.

A control group also followed this routine, but they drank water instead.

The camomile tea group had significantly reduced HbA1c (your average blood glucose (sugar) levels for the last two to three months) and serum insulin levels, as well as significantly increased total antioxidant capacity compared to those in the control group.

It shows how quickly each food affects your blood sugar (glucose) level when that food is eaten on its own.

Foods with a high GI ranking will send blood sugar levels soaring so are best to be avoided.

These include:

Type 2 diabetes often goes undetected because the symptoms are often subtle or non-existent in the initial stages.

If you experience symptoms, the most common include:

See more here:
Type 2 diabetes: Drink this tea daily to reduce blood sugar and boost insulin sensitivity - Express

Good news, carb-lovers you may not have to cut back on bread even if you're trying to lose weight, according to experts.

"People have demonized carbs as one of the main things behind gaining weight when that's not proven by evidence," nutrition coach and author Graeme Tomlinson told Insider. "It's 'calories in' versus 'calories out' [that] are going to determine whether you gain or lose weight."

Those toppings, particularly when they're calorie-dense foods like cheese or nut butter, can end up being double or quadruple the calories of the bread itself, he explained.

When trying to reduce or maintain body weight, many continue to assume that bread must be abolished from their diet. In terms of energy, there is no difference between white or brown bread. And whilst the latter contains more fibre [which may increase satiety], one would be better placed to evaluate total ingredients consumed with bread in order to determine a more holistic perspective. Not least because bread is rarely consumed alone. These additional ingredients equate to additional calories. In this example, smearing on a few of generous knifes of peanut butter and jam (components of a hearty PB & jelly sandwich) more than quadruples the total calorie content of the consumed food. Consequently, all of a sudden the debate is not about consumption of bread in the first instance, or its colour in the second. Adding an often invisible 10g of butter to a warm slice of bread will result in the calorie value of the bread increasing from 95 calories to 169. Thus, though its visibility is dormant, it is the butter that nearly doubles the calorie value of what we often perceive as the consequence of eating bread. Standing alone, bread is merely one calorie variable. Using the examples shown in my graphic, there can be multiple additional calorie variables. The quantity of additional variables will influence the overall calorie value of that eating episode. Bread may not be the problem after all. This principle can be applied to ones rationale when assessing and addressing their overall diet. In doing so, one can move away from unwarranted demonisation of a food which can be utilized as energy like any other. Of course, one may over consume bread. But unless their diet comprises of only bread, this is a mere contribution to a bigger sequence of variables. To catastrophize bread as a nutritional problem is to catastrophize a minuscule variable out of many. A calorie surplus over time results in weight gain, not bread. - - #portioncontrol #bread #toast #snacks #peanutbutter #jam #carbs #snackfood #fatlosstips #fatlosshelp #caloriecontrol #losefat #caloriesincaloriesout #losingfat

A post shared by Graeme Tomlinson (@thefitnesschef_) on Jun 17, 2020 at 10:38am PDTJun 17, 2020 at 10:38am PDT

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"It's not about the carbs, it's about the company they keep," Taub-Dix told Insider. Condiments and spread can quickly and surreptitiously raise the total calorie of your meal or snack and make it harder to keep track, she said.

As such, carbs can potentially be a useful tool for weight loss if they can help stave off snacking later in the day, she added.

Taub-Dix recommends trying to include some of each macronutrient carbs, fat, and protein when you sit down to eat so your meal or snack is nutritionally balanced but also enjoyable.

Cutting out bread, or carbs, entirely can also backfire if it makes you crave those foods intensely, leading to overindulgence later.

"It can be a bit of an eye opener to see how many calories you were eating vs how many you want to meet your target," Tomlinson said. "You can eat a lot of the foods you enjoy, you just have to understand portion sizes so you can eat those things and still meet your goals."

With that in mind, including some bread in your diet can actually help with weight loss goals, Tomlinson said, since a diet of foods you enjoy is more likely to be a diet you can stick to.

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Stop worrying about bread, nutritionists say the toppings you put on your carbs are more likely to influence - Business Insider India

Apple cider vinegar is more than just a tangy salad dressing ingredient. It has been found to have some health benefits for weight loss, gut health, and blood sugar. Here's what the research says about the benefits of apple cider vinegar.

Apple cider vinegar is made from apples using a three-step process:

According to a series of small, preliminary studies, apple cider vinegar may help you lose weight.

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For example, a study published in 2009 in Bioscience, Biotechnology, and Biochemistry followed 175 participants who went about their usual diet and exercise patterns for 12 weeks, but added a drink of one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar diluted in 250 ml of liquid twice per day one dose after breakfast and the other after dinner. The researchers found that people who drank the vinegar solutions lost on average 4.5 pounds by the end of those 12 weeks.

However, if you are looking to lose weight, apple cider vinegar probably won't be enough on its own, Shibeeb says. In order to get the best results from apple cider vinegar, you should combine it with exercise and lower calorie intake.

The type of apple cider vinegar you buy determines whether or not it will contain probiotics, live microorganisms that may support gut health.

Experts believe that the probiotics in apple cider vinegar may be beneficial for gut health, but this has not been researched.

Early studies suggest that drinking apple cider vinegar after a meal can help control blood sugar for people with diabetes.

Researchers believe that apple cider vinegar helps control blood sugar because it makes your body more sensitive to insulin, the hormone that regulates your blood sugar levels. This is important because over time, people with diabetes can lose sensitivity to insulin, making it harder for their bodies to balance blood sugar after a high-carb meal.

Drinking too much apple cider vinegar can have negative consequences.

Apple cider vinegar generally comes in liquid form, but you can find apple cider vinegar tablets. However, there is little research on whether these tablets provide any health benefits.

In order to avoid health risks and negative side effects, Shibeeb says that you should drink no more than 2 to 3 tablespoons of vinegar in 12 oz glass of water each day.

Read more here:
Apple cider vinegar may help with weight loss here's what the research says - Business Insider India

When it comes to mental health, lockdown has affected almost everyone in some way.

And today, in the fourth part of our Helping Hand series, we look at the struggles people have been facing and how to tackle some of the most common issues such as how we can all be mentally weighed down literally.

Ever since I can remember, Ive had an issue with my weight. When I was six, my mum bought me a new swimsuit for my holiday and asked me to try it on to show my auntie.

I remember feeling very self-conscious and came downstairs covering my tummy with my arms. My mum told me I was being silly, but I felt so uncomfortable.

The negative comments started in primary school, but it was when I went to secondary school that the bullying went up a notch.

Ill never forget the day a girl pushed me off the parked school bus shouting: Youre too heavy, the bus cant take it!

Back home, safely hidden from the bullies, Id comfort myself with huge portions of steak pie and rice pudding.

Years passed and though I tried to put school behind me, my anxiety didnt go away. I loathed anyone looking at me, ever after all, theyd have nothing nice to say.

Even surrounded by my loving family my parents Kevin and Helen, my husband Mark, and my children, Jamie and Louise my happiness was always clouded by my low self-esteem.

My mental health was at an all-time low, and physically my health was very poor, I had crippling IBS and problems with mobility.

I knew I had to do something about my weight.

Leaving the house became a huge hassle. If I had to walk, I knew I couldnt go far, my back, knees and ankles would throb, Id be sweating after a short distance and I would get so anxious of being seen and judged.

I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall when I tried to lose weight. I tried so many plans and fad diets and I couldnt stick to any of them.

Id try my hardest then fall back into bad habits a quick chocolate bar for breakfast and snacking on crisps and sweets.

Then in 2014 my grandfather, who I called Papa, fell ill with cancer. We were very close, and I was visiting him in hospital when he said: Im not scared of dying because Ive lived a wonderful life now, lass, its time you started getting out and living yours.

It was with his words ringing in my ears that I walked into a Slimming World group. It was the only plan I hadnt tried.

I asked a mum outside school, a nurse, about it. She said shed heard it was very good.

The first time I went to the group was nerve-wracking, I felt sick. Ive always been shy and not very good in social situations, but I neednt have worried.

Everybody was so nice. There was no judgement, no humiliation and people were being honest, I thought it was amazing.

I decided to go back the following week. Standing in the queue for weigh-in, I started to panic Id be the first one to gain on their first week.

I thought there was no way I could eat so much and still lose weight.

I couldnt believe it. After a week of cooking from scratch, eating lots of fantastic food and feeling fuller than ever.

Id eaten lasagne, sweet and sour chicken with egg fried rice, mince and potatoes and Id lost 4lb.

This was no diet. This was a sensible healthy eating plan, and the lifestyle change I was looking for.

I lost weight every week. My family all commented on the improvement to not only my figure but my self-esteem.

When my husband was posted to the Falklands for five months, I worried it might send me back to comfort eating.

But my group kept me motivated. When he came back, he hardly recognised me. I had lost an extra 3st while he had been away.

In two years, I lost 9st and now I am happier and more confident than ever.

I feel I am a better role model for my children too with my positive attitude to healthy meals that they love helping to prepare.

Were much more active now too. Before I lost weight I used to joke I was allergic to exercise but now I love walking and Im no longer afraid of people looking at me, my confidence has grown so much.

I often think about how proud Papa would be of me, socialising with friends Ive made in my group while wearing a size-10 dress.

Im enjoying life for the first time in years. I know I can be there for my parents as they get older. I am there for my children and my husband and I now enjoy a social life.

The future is bright now where before it was a dark place. I am forever grateful to my group and to Slimming World.

I feel Ive got my life back and given my husband a happy confident wife and my kids the mum they deserve.

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Kindness of others inspires woman to lose nine stone in just two years - Mirror Online