By Graham Lawton

Aaron Amat / Alamy

There is no such thing as a healthy diet that will work for everyone. People respond to food in such idiosyncratic ways that everybody needs a personalised eating plan, according to results from a study that looked at the effects of genetics, the microbiome and lifestyle factors on metabolism.

The study fed 1102 healthy people identical meals for two weeks and measured their metabolic responses. These varied wildly, with up to tenfold differences, meaning that a healthy diet for one person could be unhealthy for another. Everyone reacts differently to identical foods, says Tim Spector at Kings College London.

He and his colleagues measured levels of glucose, insulin and triglyceride fats in the volunteers blood. High levels of all three after eating are a risk factor for obesity, while people who show glucose and triglyceride spikes after eating are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

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The team also tracked the volunteers sleep, exercise and hunger levels, and took stool samples to assay their gut microbes. Spector, a geneticist, says he expected to find a strong genetic component to the metabolic responses, but actually saw very little. The volunteers included several pairs of identical twins and even they showed very different responses to the same meal.

That told us straight away that genes dont play a major part, says Spector. How we respond to a fatty meal has virtually no genetic component at all, for example. His team found that only about 30 per cent of glucose response is genetic.

Other factors such as gut microbes, circadian rhythms and sleep and exercise are more important, says Spector. The timing of meals also matters. Some people metabolise food better in the morning while others saw no difference in their ability to metabolise food throughout the day.

This suggests that it would be more effective to design a tailored heathy-eating programme for individuals rather than recommending a one-size-fits-all diet.

The results can be surprising, says Spector. He says he ate tuna and sweetcorn sandwiches for years thinking they were good for him, but recently found out that his metabolism responds very badly to them.

Spector and his team have also developed an AI tool to predict peoples responses to food, based on their genes, gut microbes, exercise and sleep patterns and metabolic responses to food. A UK-based company called Zoe has turned this into a consumer test and smartphone app that will be rolled out in the US next month and the UK later this year.

Its a very exciting study, says Bernadette Moore at the University of Leeds, UK. The really significant factor for me is that they did it in twins, so they had a really powerful design to examine the genetics. However, there is still more work to be done to fully understand individual responses to food, she says.

The study findings are impressive, says Yiannis Mavrommatis at St Marys University, London. Its initial findings will shape the future of nutrition science.

Journal reference: Nature Medicine, DOI: 10.1038/s41591-020-0934-0

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There is no perfect diet that works for every metabolism or body type - New Scientist News

Due to high caffeine content, coffee is not considered good for health. But when we talk about weight loss it can be quite beneficial. Coffee decreases your appetite, increases calorie burn and fat breakdown. All of these things can be beneficial when trying to shed kilos. But by coffee, we mean black coffee, not the regular one laden with sugar and milk.

How to have it: Have 200-250 ml of coffee twice daily.Due to high caffeine content, coffee is not considered good for health. But when we talk about weight loss it can be quite beneficial. Coffee decreases your appetite, increases calorie burn and fat breakdown. All of these things can be beneficial when trying to shed kilos. But by coffee, we mean black coffee, not the regular one laden with sugar and milk.

How to have it: Have 200-250 ml of coffee twice daily.

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6 natural appetite suppressants that you must include in your diet to avoid binge eating - Times of India

And differences between popular diet plan programs are usually small to insignificant.

Reasonably good evidence suggests that the majority of diets lead to comparable modest weight-loss and enhancements in cardiovascular risk aspects over a duration of six months, compared to a typical diet, finds a research study published by The BMJ today.

Weight decrease at the 12 month follow-up diminished, and improvements in cardiovascular risk aspects mainly vanished, except in association with the Mediterranean diet plan, which saw a small however crucial reduction in bad LDL cholesterol.

As such, at least for short-term benefits, the researchers suggest that people must select the diet plan they choose without issue about the size of benefits.

Weight problems has nearly tripled worldwide considering that 1975, prompting a variety of dietary suggestions for weight management and cardiovascular threat decrease.

However so far, there has been no detailed analysis comparing the relative impact of various diet plans for weight-loss and enhancing cardiovascular risk elements, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

To resolve this, a group of global scientists set out to identify the relative efficiency of dietary patterns and popular named diets among obese or overweight adults.

Their findings are based on the results of 121 randomised trials with 21,942 patients (average age 49) who followed a popular named diet plan or an alternative control diet and reported weight loss, and modifications in cardiovascular risk elements.

The studies were designed differently, and were of differing quality, however the scientists had the ability to permit that in their analysis.

They grouped diets by macronutrient patterns (low carb, low fat, and moderate macronutrient similar to low fat, but slightly more fat and slightly less carb) and according to 14 popular named dietary programmes (Atkins, DASH, Mediteranean, etc).

Compared with a typical diet, low carbohydrate and low fat diets resulted in a similar modest reduction in weight (in between 4 and 5 kg) and decreases in high blood pressure at six months. Moderate macronutrient diet plans led to slightly less weight-loss and high blood pressure reductions.

Amongst popular so called diets, Atkins, DASH, and Zone had the largest impact on weight reduction (in between 3.5 and 5.5 kg) and high blood pressure compared to a normal diet at 6 months. No diet plans significantly enhanced levels of good HDL cholesterol or C reactive protein (a chemical associated with inflammation) at six months.

In general, weight reduction lessened at 12 months amongst all dietary patterns and popular called diet plans, while the advantages for cardiovascular danger aspects of all diet plans, except the Mediterranean diet, basically vanished.

The researchers point to some study constraints that could have impacted the accuracy of their price quotes. But state their comprehensive search and comprehensive analyses supports the effectiveness of the results.

As such, they say moderate certainty evidence reveals that a lot of macronutrient diets lead to modest weight-loss and considerable enhancements in cardiovascular threat elements, especially high blood pressure, at six however not 12 months.

Differences between diets are, however, usually insignificant to little, indicating that for short-term cardiovascular advantage people can choose the diet they choose from amongst a lot of the readily available diets without concern about the magnitude of advantages, they conclude.

The substantial series of popular diet plans analysed provides a myriad of option however no clear winner, state scientists at Monash University, Australia in a linked editorial.

As such, they suggest discussions should shift away from particular option of diet, and focus instead on how finest to keep any weight-loss attained.

As nationwide dietary guidelines stop working to resonate with the general public, taking a food-based technique with people and encouraging them to consume more vegetables, legumes, and entire grains and less sugar, salt and alcohol is sound advice, they include.

If we are to alter the weight trajectory of whole populations, we may discover more from understanding how industrial diet plan business engage and retain their clients, and equate that understanding into more reliable health promo campaigns, they conclude.

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Most diet plans cause weight loss and lower blood pressure, but effects disappear after a year - Drew Reports News

DEAR DR. ROACH: My husband is a 50-year-old prediabetic who has recently experienced burning feet. He refuses to think its his high-carb diet (bread three times a day, chips, ice cream) and instead thinks he just needs some vitamins for foot pain. Could you please explain why and how what he eats affects everything hes experiencing? Anonymous

ANSWER: Diabetic neuropathy is a condition found in people who have had diabetes for years. It causes different symptoms in different people, but pain (often burning in character) and numbness are most common. The underlying cause is uncertain, but seems to be a combination of factors leading to nerve damage.

Prediabetes, often along with the other components of metabolic syndrome including high blood pressure, excess abdominal fat and high cholesterol or triglycerides may also bring on a neuropathy with very similar symptoms. Other causes, especially vitamin B12 deficiency, are appropriate to evaluate before determining the condition is most likely due to diabetes or prediabetes.

There are no specific treatments for the neuropathy, although there are medications to ease symptoms. Treatment of the underlying metabolic syndrome is therefore of the utmost importance, and the two most important treatments are diet and exercise. Avoiding simple carbohydrates, such as found in bread and chips, or the sugars in ice cream, is paramount. Regular exercise has an independent effect that adds to the effectiveness of the dietary changes.

Your husband is at risk, and the fact that the symptoms are recent means he should look at this as a wake-up call. Changing his lifestyle dramatically now can lead not only to improvement in symptoms (or at least they wont get worse), but it will also reduce his risk of heart attack and stroke.

There are many places to get help: His doctor, a registered dietitian nutritionist and a diabetes nurse educator all are excellent potential sources of information, but he has to make the decision to start the lifestyle change. Vitamins do not help diabetic neuropathy. If he can start making the changes, I hope he will find, as most people have, that his quality of life and sense of well-being are so much better that he will not want to stop his healthier lifestyle. Medications may be helpful, but the primary treatment is diet and exercise.

DEAR DR. ROACH: My wife smoked for many years and finally quit with the help of nicotine gum that is 4 milligrams each. Since quitting almost 20 years ago, she continues to use about 12 pieces of nicotine gum per day. Does ingesting this much nicotine in this manner put her at risk for developing some type of cancer from the nicotine? T.D.

ANSWER: No, nicotine is not carcinogenic, that is to say cancer-causing. In large doses, it is dangerous, but the doses she is taking are not at least, for a person used to them. Early signs of nicotine toxicity are excess salivation, nausea and vomiting.

There are many toxic substances in tobacco, some of which are cancer-causing. The tobacco does not need to be burned; chewing tobacco and snuff increase the risk of oral cancer. About half of all people who smoke will die because of smoking-related illness. Even one cigarette a day has significant long-term health risks.

Although its not ideal that she continues to use nicotine gum (and its not cheap), there is no doubt that the gum is much, much safer for her than continuing to smoke.

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To Your Good Health: Diet and exercise are first prescription to try for prediabetes - Arizona Daily Star

GoPro image of a great white shark taken off the coast at Evans Head, NSW. Photo: Richard Grainger

Dr Vic Peddemorsa co-author from the NSW Department of Primary Industries (Fisheries), said: We discovered that although mid-water fish, especially eastern Australian salmon, were the predominant prey for juvenile white sharks in NSW, stomach contents highlighted that these sharks also feed at or near the seabed.

Mr Grainger said: This evidence matches data we have from tagging white sharks that shows them spending a lot of time many metres below the surface.

The study examined the stomach contents of 40 juvenile white sharks (Carcharodon carcharias) caught in theNSW Shark Meshing Program. The scientists compared this with published data elsewhere in the world, mainly South Africa, to establish a nutritional framework for the species.

Understanding the nutritional goals of these cryptic predators and how these relate to migration patterns will give insights into what drives human-shark conflict and how we can best protect this species, saidDr Gabriel Machovsky-Capuska, an adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Charles Perkins Centre and a co-author of the study.

Mr Grainger said: White sharks have a varied diet. As well as east Australian salmon, we found evidence of other bony fish including eels, whiting, mullet and wrasses. We found that rays were also an important dietary component, including small bottom-dwelling stingrays and electric rays.

Eagle rays are also hunted, although this can be difficult for the sharks given how fast the rays can swim.

The study found that based on abundance, the sharks diet relied mostly on:

The remainder was unidentified fish or less abundant prey. Mr Grainger said that marine mammals, other sharks and cephalopods (squid and cuttlefish) were eaten less frequently.

The hunting of bigger prey, including other sharks and marine mammals such as dolphin, is not likely to happen until the sharks reach about 2.2 metres in length, Mr Grainger said.

Read more:
Great white shark diet surprises scientists - News - The University of Sydney

15 June 2020

As men get older, heart health becomes a major priority. Not only are heart disease and stroke the leading causes of death globally, but experts say that they're more likely to affect men than women too.

Mens Health Week: 5 heart-healthy foods to incorporate into your diet

"The average human heart pumps around 9,000 litres of blood around the body every day. It's a relentless job, and one that needs our support," says Dr. Earim Chaudry, medical director at men's health platform Manual.

"If you're a man, taking care of your heart is doubly important quite literally, as studies have shown men are twice as likely to have a heart attack as women."

Earim says that medical professionals aren't sure what causes this difference. "Some believe it's a result of men being more likely to partake in damaging lifestyle choices, whereas other studies have linked it to protective qualities in oestrogen, meaning women are less exposed until they are post-menopausal."

He adds: "Men also tend to experience heart problems at a younger age than women, making them susceptible for a larger portion of their lives. In the US, for example, the average age for a first heart attack is 65 in men, compared with 72 in women."

The fact stands that if you're a man, it pays to start thinking about heart health sooner rather than later.

Quitting smoking, exercising daily and limiting alcohol are some important things you can do to reduce your risk of heart issues later down the line, but making smart food choices is also key.

As today marks the start of Men's Health Week, we've found a handful of heart-healthy foods to load onto your plate more often.

1. Berries

When it comes to keeping your heart healthy, berries are nutritional powerhouses that all men could benefit from eating more of.

Common varieties like strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries are packed with anthocyanins a type of flavonoid that's responsible for giving berries, as well as other fruit and veg, their red, purple or blue colour.

Anthocyanins are good for us as they can protect the body against the oxidative stress that can contribute to health problems like heart disease.

Try sprinkling a berry mix onto breakfast porridge or simply wash and plate them up as a healthy afternoon snack.

2. Fatty fish

The essential fatty acids in fish like tuna, salmon and mackerel are vital for maintaining men's heart health, especially as they age. This is because fatty fish is packed with Omega-3, a type unsaturated fatty acid that's long been studied for its anti-inflammatory effects.

In fact, a 2009 study found that eating salmon three times a week, over the course of two months could significantly decrease blood pressure in some adults.

Experts recommend eating at least one portion of oily fish a week to reap the health benefits.

3. Seeds and nuts

Research has found that people who are in danger of a heart attack can cut their risk by including more nuts into their diet.

A 2014 study found that eating walnuts, in particular, can reduce 'bad' LDL cholesterol in the body, which can play a key role in the build up of deposits in your arteries.

Other nutrient-dense nuts to add into salads and snacking include almonds, pistachios and cashews, which are also good sources of dietary fibre and protein.

4. Olive oil

Olive oil is a key staple of the Mediterranean diet, which has been linked with overall good health, including a healthier heart.

The diet incorporates many of the eating habits of countries that border the Mediterranean Sea, with an emphasis on plant-based foods and fish, rather than meat and dairy.

A 2014 study of 7,216 adults also found that those who included olive oil in their diet had a 35% lower risk of developing heart disease, and that the extra-virgin variety gave extra protection.

5. Leafy greens

Leafy greens such as kale and spinach are not only low in calories but are packed with disease-fighting vitamins, minerals and fibre.

Notably, they're a great source of vitamin K, which is vital for proper blood clotting in the body, and could help protect against osteoporosis and inflammatory disease.

Green leafy vegetables are also jam-packed with nitrates, which a 2015 study suggested can reduce blood pressure.

If you don't love the taste of fresh greens in a salad or nourish bowl, you could try whizzing them up in a morning smoothie with some fresh fruit to sweeten the bitter taste.

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Men's Health Week: 5 Heart-Healthy Foods to Incorporate Into Your Diet - FemaleFirst.co.uk

The keto diet involves eating as little as 20 grams of carbohydrates a day, which is less than a tenth of the recommended daily intake for women.

But unlike other low-carb diets such as the Atkins and paleo plans which put an emphasis on protein, the keto plan focuses on increasing your fat intake.

With carbs usually being the main source of your bodys energy, a diet that doesnt include enough will lead to the body finding energy elsewhere, by using up stores in the liver and even the muscles.

But doing this on an ongoing basis can lead to ketosis, where the body uses fat and protein to create ketone bodies in the liver; this is often seen as the goal for those following the diet, but its incredibly hard to maintain and not without its side effects.

READ MORE:Keto diet: Best snacks to help lose weight fast

Though some studies have suggested the keto diet plan can be good for heart health, this could simply be down to the resulting weight loss that can ease some of the strain on the heart.

In fact, Consultant Dietitian Maeve Hanan believes the keto diet could have a negative effect on your health.

The expert, who has written extensively on health for The Food Medic website as well as in her own book, Your No-Nonsense Guide to Eating Well (out this month)has warned of the potential downsides of the keto plan.

As well as worrying that the restrictive diet could lead to an unhealthy relationship with food, Hanan cautioned that the high fat, low-carb nature of the plan could pose a health risk for some people.

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A low intake of wholegrains, a more restricted intake of fruit and vegetables and a higher intake of saturated fat may lead to a higher risk of constipation, bowel cancer and heart disease over time, Maeve explained.

Higher-carb vegetables such as potatoes, squashes and carrots are all out of bounds on the diet plan, which prioritises low-carb options such as broccoli, kale, spinach and mushrooms.

Grains and foods such as pasta and couscous are also off limits in the restrictive plan, as well as beans, peas, lentils and chickpeas.

Even fruit is discouraged, with food such as butter, oils, avocados, chicken, eggs and cheese on the menu instead, in order to up your fat intake.

Maeve also warns that the diet can have a serious effect on your energy levels - which may affect your workouts.

Carbs are the main fuel for our brain and body, and a keto diet can lead to a very low energy intake which could lead to burning muscle for energy and reduced exercise performance, explained Maeve.

Theres even a condition thats known as "keto flu", caused by the restrictive nature of the high fat plan.

The phenomenon can cause symptoms such as tiredness, headaches, diarrhoea, cramps, and weakness.

But Maeve is especially wary of the keto plan when it comes to women who are looking to lose weight, as it could have much wider health implications.

It can contribute to triggering a type of 'starvation mode' called relative energy deficiency in sports (RED-S), Maeve noted, which is most likely to occur in active women who don't consume enough calories - this can lead to issues with fertility, the immune system, bone health and more.

Similarly, there is research emerging that a very low carbohydrate intake (such as the keto diet) may disrupt hormonal function for pre-menopausal women.

Any new diet that involves cutting out food groups or significantly reducing calories should be talked through with a professional first to ensure its right for you, and that it's not going to interfere with any medical conditions or health worries.

Read more from the original source:
Keto diet: Expert warns that the low-carb diet could pose surprising health risks - Express

While many are hailing the coronavirus pandemic for, at least momentarily, getting cars off the road and encouraging people to cycle more in the future, researchers have said that cyclists needing to eat more could also be bad for the environment.

A paper published in the international journal, Scientific Reports, says that more people switching from driving to walking or cycling will lead to an increase in food-production related emissions.

This takes away from the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions caused by so-called passive modes of transport, such as driving.

Therefore, lead researcher Dr. Anja Mizdrak from the University of Otago in New Zealand says people need to be encouraged to take low-carbon dietary options for the necessary extra calories, meaning less meat, dairy and processed food, and more food grown locally and seasonally.

>>> Meet the man cycling 100km a day for 100 days

We have a conundrum but a solvable one. To maximise the benefit on greenhouse gas emissions achieved by increasing active transport, we need to also address dietary patterns. Emissions associated with active transport will be lower if walking and cycling are powered by low-carbon dietary options, Mizdrak said.

The study, the first of its kind to estimate greenhouse gas emissions caused by food intake due to active transport, says the extra food consumption caused by travel would raise greenhouse gas emissions by 0.26 kilograms CO2-equivalents per kilometre for walking and 0.14 kilograms CO2-equivalents per kilometre for cycling, at least in economically developed countries.

To maximise the effect on greenhouse gas emissions achieved by increasing active transport, we need to address dietary patterns too. Emissions associated with active transport will be lower if walking and cycling are powered by low-carbon dietary options, Mizdrak says, urging people to shift away from meat consumption and towards more vegetables, whole grains and fruits.

Given emissions associated with different food groups range widely from 0.02 for vegetables to 5.6 grams CO2-equivalents per kilocalorie for beef and lamb in one global study, consumers switching to foods with lower emissions could reduce overall dietary emissions by up to 80 per cent, adds Dr Cristina Cleghorn.

Of course, health benefits would come around not just from the change in diet added to more people taking up walking and cycling, but more active transport would reduce air pollution and improve the quality of life in urban environments.

In the UK, Greater Manchesters Cycling and Walking Commissioner, the former Olympian Chris Boardman, says the Governments planned 2bn investment in cycling is unprecedented and will help solve short-term issues and will hopefully pave the way for longer-term problems to also be dealt with.

More important than cash, the government has given cycling as a mode of transport a new status, not for ideological reasons but for practical ones, its the most logical solution to short-term problems and then, if we choose, itll help us tackle long-term ones, Boardman told Cycling Weekly.

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Diets have to change for world to experience benefits of increased cycling, new research suggests - Cycling Weekly

The coronavirus pandemic has pushed health to the forefront of many peoples minds. And while the best way to avoid COVID-19 is not to catch the virus in the first place, were starting to understand why some people become seriously ill with the disease while others have only mild or no symptoms.

Age and frailty are the most important risk factors for severe COVID-19, but data from our COVID Symptom Study app, used by nearly four million people, has shown that diet-related conditions, such as obesity, heart disease and type 2 diabetes, are significant risk factors for ending up in hospital with the disease.

In the UK, around one in three adults are obese and many more are overweight. In the US, around two in five adults and nearly one in five children are obese. From generalised government nutritional guidelines to Instagram-worthy fad diets, theres no end of advice on how to lose weight. Clearly, it isnt working.

This is a complex problem to unpick. Factors such as sex, ethnicity, socioeconomic status and availability of healthy food all play a part. But on an individual level, we still understand relatively little about how each person should eat to optimise their health and weight.

In search of answers, our research team at Kings College London together with our colleagues at Massachusetts General Hospital, Stanford University and health science company ZOE launched PREDICT, the largest ongoing nutritional study of its kind in the world. Our first results have now been published in Nature Medicine.

PREDICT-1, the first phase of the PREDICT research programme, involved more than 1,000 adults (including hundreds of pairs of twins) who were continuously monitored for two weeks to discover how they respond to different foods.

Participants had an initial set-up day in hospital for detailed blood measurements and testing of responses after eating carefully designed set meals. They then carried out the rest of the study at home, following a schedule of set meals and their own free choice of foods. We measured a wide range of markers of nutritional responses and health from blood glucose, fat, insulin and inflammation levels to exercise, sleep and gut bacteria (microbiome) diversity.

This kind of detailed, ongoing analysis was made possible through the use of wearable technologies. These included continuous blood glucose monitors and digital activity trackers, which meant we could keep track of our participants blood sugar and activity levels 24/7. Simple finger-prick blood tests also allowed us to measure their blood fat levels on a regular basis.

All these measurements added up to millions of datapoints, which needed to be analysed with sophisticated machine learning techniques (a type of artificial intelligence) in order to spot patterns and make predictions.

The first thing we noticed was the wide variation in individual insulin, blood sugar and blood fat responses to the same meals, even for identical twins. For example, one twin might have healthy responses to eating carbohydrates but not fat, while the other twin is the opposite. Straight away, this tells us that we are all unique and that there is no perfect diet or correct way to eat that will work for everyone.

The observation that genetics only plays a minor role in determining how we respond to food also tells us that simple genetic tests claiming to determine the right diet for your genes are ineffective and misleading. Curiously, identical twins only shared around a third of the same gut microbe species, which may help to explain some of the variation in nutritional responses and also points towards an opportunity to improve health and weight by manipulating the microbiome.

We also discovered that the timing of meals affects nutritional responses in a personalised way. The same meal at breakfast caused a different nutritional response in some people when eaten for lunch. But in other people there was no difference, busting the myth that there are correct mealtimes that will work for all.

Another surprise was finding that the composition of meals in terms of calories, fat, carbohydrates, proteins and fibre (macronutrients or macros) also had a highly individualised effect on nutritional responses. Some people handle carbs better than fat, for example, while others have the opposite response. So prescriptive diets based on fixed calorie counts or macronutrient ratios are too simplistic and will not work for everyone.

However, despite the wide variability between participants, each persons own responses to identical meals eaten at the same times on different days were remarkably consistent. This makes it possible to predict how someone might respond to any food based on knowledge of their underlying metabolism.

Intriguingly, we found that the levels of inflammatory molecules in the blood varied by up to tenfold, even in seemingly healthy people, and that a rise in these inflammation markers was linked to having unhealthy responses to fat.

We use the term dietary inflammation to refer to these unhealthy metabolic effects that are triggered after eating. Repeatedly experiencing dietary inflammation brought on by excessive blood sugar and fat responses is linked with an increased risk of conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and obesity.

On a more positive note, our findings suggest that it might be possible to improve weight management and long-term health by eating in a more personalised way designed to avoid triggering unhealthy inflammatory responses after meals.

When it comes to weight, weve traditionally put a huge emphasis on factors we have no control over, especially genetics. The fact is, while genetics plays a role, many more important factors affect how our metabolism, weight and health. Its time to move away from overly generalised guidelines, fad diets and one-size-fits-all plans and develop more personalised, scientific approaches to nutrition that understand and work together with our bodies, not against them.

Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology, Kings College London

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

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Why fad diets for weight loss and health dont work, according to science - iNews

ORANGE, Calif. The novel coronavirus is among the top health concerns for most, if not all of society in 2020. Its effects and implications extend far beyond just physical health, though. COVID-19 has changed virtually all aspects of life for Americans. An extensive new survey reveals how the pandemic is influencing Americans mental health, relationships, and encounters with discrimination or prejudice.

Put together by Chapman University, the survey includes 4,149 adults living in the United States and was conducted at the end of April.

Some of the surveys findings were fairly predictable. For example, 89% of Americans are staying home more often than usual. Moreover, 61% feelmore stressed, 60% more anxious, and 45% are more depressed or hopeless. Many Americans have also seen their healthy habits take a big hit during the pandemic. For example, 37% say theyre eating more because of all that stress, and 41% are eating more junk food specifically. Another 35% admit they arent exercising as much as they did in 2019.

As a nation, we have focused a lot of attention on the physical health risks of COVID-19 and not nearly as much on the mental health, says research leader David Frederick, Ph.D., an associate professor of health psychology at Chapman University, in a release. We know from past research that natural disasters, epidemics and chronic stressors all harm our mental health, but what were experiencing now is radically different than any of those previous experiences. The scale is so much larger.

Upsettingly, the research also reveals that Americans currently working public-facing jobs (grocery store clerks, delivery drivers, restaurant employees) are suffering from poor mental health, anxiety, and loneliness more frequently than other groups right now. This group also reports more bouts of flu-like symptoms.

Over half of Americans (54%) are still very concerned about catching COVID-19. But, 42% say they dont think theyre at a high risk of contracting the coronavirus. Surprisingly, essential workers, healthcare professionals, and police officers all mostly indicate that they arent any more worried about catching the coronavirus than other groups.

Of those surveyed, 2,702 people report being in a long-term romantic relationship. Among that group, 64% say theyve been spending more time with their partner. The average couple during this pandemic has snuggled four times and said I love you six times just over the past week. Some couples are fighting less during lockdown (24%) while others bicker more (25%).

Most people are spending more time with their romantic partner. For some couples, the silver lining is that they are getting to connect with their partner. For others, staying home together allows little stressors to build and blow up which then promotes conflict over existing disagreements, Frederick explains.

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As far as sex, 31% agree that lockdown has made them want to have sex with their partner more often. Conversely, 22% say that theyre less interested in sex. Only 19% of participants are actually having more sex right now.

Regarding discriminatory experiences, 32% of surveyed Asian Americans and 38% of surveyed Chinese Americans said theyve dealt with at least one racial incident since the pandemic started. In fact, 25% of Chinese Americans have experienced three or most racist incidents over the past few months. Examples of such incidents include name calling, racial slurs, being told to go back to your country, and even being physically threatened.

African Americans have also had to deal with more racist experiences lately as well; 26% have had at least one negative racial experience and 21% have experienced three or more. No matter the persons race, such incidents are linked to greater feelings of anxiety, depression, loneliness, and hopelessness.

I am troubled by these findings, says Jason Douglas, Ph.D., assistant professor of public health at Chapman and one of the surveys researchers. We need clear and consistent messaging to indicate that viral pandemics do not stem from our ethnocultural minority communities. Rather, residents living in disadvantaged, ethnocultural minority communities are at greater risk for COVID-19 related morbidity and mortality due to longstanding systemic inequities that unfairly limit access to health-protective resources.

These are stressful times, and the survey shows that Americans are utilizing a number of different coping strategies. Most Americans try to take their mind off the pandemic by gardening, exercising, or watching TV (69%). Close to half (48%) are also doing their best to find some meaning and positivity in the midst of this health crisis.

It was nice to see that 36% of Americans have received comfort from a friend or family member. Almost a third (31%) find strength in their religion.

Perhaps one of the surveys most telling findings: Americans who have tried making the best out of this pandemic seem to be faring better from a mental health perspective than their neighbors and peers who have turned to temporary solutions like alcohol.

Those interested in participating in the next leg of the survey can do sohere.

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Better Love Life, Worse Diet: COVID-19 Outbreak Taking All Types of Tolls on Americans - Study Finds