This story is an update of a story that was first published on January 3, 2019.

But there's a delicious and healthy way to cut back on your use of meat while it's expensive and scarce: Start cooking like you live in one of the 21 sun-soaked countries that surround the Mediterranean Sea.

"Even though it's called the Mediterranean diet, it's not really a diet," said Atlanta registered dietitian Rahaf Al Bochi, a spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, in a prior interview with CNN.

"It doesn't tell you what to eat and not eat. It's a lifestyle that encourages consuming all food groups but gives more weight to those which have the most health benefits," said Al Bochi.

That means an emphasis on plants: fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds. Fish and other seafood are consumed at least twice a week. Cheese and yogurt show up daily to weekly, in moderate portions; chicken and eggs are okay on occasion, but the use of other meats and sweets is very limited.

A diet in which meat is as rare as sweets? For anyone who thinks a meal is built around a portion of red meat, pork or chicken, the thought of a plant-based diet can seem overwhelming.

"It doesn't have to be a complete overhaul overnight," registered dietitian Kelly Toups said in a prior interview, "or be all-or-nothing for you to start to shift your health. When it comes to healthy eating, every bite counts."

Toups is the nutrition director for Oldways, a nonprofit nutrition organization dedicated to guiding people "to good health through heritage."

On the Mediterranean diet, you'll eat a lot of veggies and use all kinds and colors to get the broadest range of nutrients, phytochemicals and fiber. Cook, roast or garnish them with herbs and a bit of extra virgin olive oil.

Stay away from coconut and palm oil, warns Al Bochi. Even though they are plant-based, those oils are high in saturated fats that will raise bad cholesterol.

Add whole grains and fruit to every meal, but use nuts and seeds as a garnish or small snack due to their high calorie and fat content.

Eating this way, research shows, has tons of health benefits.

"From a health perspective it's great because people typically will reduce weight without trying so hard," said registered dietitian Stella Volpe who chairs the Department of Nutrition Sciences at Drexel University. "Plant-based foods are lower in energy and calories."

Whole grains an easy start

One of the easiest steps to take when starting the Mediterranean diet, Toups says, is to replace refined grains with whole grains. Choose whole-wheat bread and pasta, and replace white rice with brown or wild rice.

"If you're comparing two different loaves of bread, for example, one might have 18 grams of whole grain per slice, and one might have 22," Toups said. "So if you're new to whole grains, perhaps you want to start lower and work your way up." (Eating a lot of fiber all at once can cause constipation.) Sandee to confirm addition.

Grains that have changed little over the centuries, known as "ancient grains," are also a key feature of the Mediterranean diet. Quinoa, amaranth, millet, farro, spelt, Kamut (a wheat grain said to be discovered in an Egyptian tomb) and teff (an Ethiopian grain about the size of a poppy seed) are some examples of ancient grains.

Each has a different taste and texture, so Toups suggests trying out one a month at home or at a restaurant.

"Mediterranean cuisine has been a popular trend for a while now," Toups said. "It's pretty easy to sample different Mediterranean grains and foods because these types of ingredients have become so popular in mainstream restaurants."

At least six servings of grains, maybe more, are suggested each day, and at least half of those should be whole grain, Toups says. If you're worried about the effect of carbs on your waistline, she suggests you look at the longer-term benefits.

"We definitely get questions about these low-carb diets," Toups said. "Just because something might help you lose weight quickly doesn't mean it was healthy for your body to do it that way. You can lose weight by catching malaria too, but that doesn't mean you should do that."

Rethink your protein

To maximize the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, varied sources of protein are key. That works beautifully for cutting back on meat products.

"You don't need to be eating meat and poultry every single day to get your protein requirements," Al Bochi said. "Beans and lentils are great sources of protein, as well. They also give you fiber, vitamins and a lot of antioxidants."

An easy way to start, Al Bochi says, is to cook one meal each week based on beans, whole grains and vegetables, using herbs and spices to add punch. When one night a week is a breeze, add two, and build your non-meat meals from there.

To do that easily, Al Bochi suggests stocking your pantry with easy-to-use ingredients. Some of her favorite protein sources are lentils, canned beans and chickpeas. Lentils take only 25 minutes to cook on the stove, she says, with no overnight soaking needed; canned beans and chickpeas only need to be rinsed before they can be tossed into soups and salads or used to make quesadillas or burgers.

When you eat meat, have small amounts. For a main course, that means no more than 3 ounces of chicken or lean meat. Better yet: Use small pieces of chicken or slices of lean meat to flavor a veggie-based meal, such as a stir fry.

Two servings a week of fatty fish such as salmon, herring, sardines and albacore tuna are a must on the Mediterranean diet due to their high content of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, a key to lowering your risk for heart disease.

The association suggests eating a wide variety of seafood to minimize any adverse effects. Shrimp, salmon, pollock, canned light tuna and catfish tend to have the lowest levels of mercury, the group says, while swordfish, shark, mackerel and tilefish have the highest levels and should be avoided, especially by children and pregnant women.

Dairy products are also a great source of protein. Eating Greek yogurt for breakfast or a cube of cheese as a snack is encouraged on the Mediterranean diet, as long as it's in moderation.

"In the Mediterranean, cheese is eaten in small quantities, such as a sprinkle of grated Parmesan on a soup or vegetable dish," Toups said, "and not in a four-cheese pizza sort of way."

Don't skip breakfast

Oldway's Mediterranean plan encourages breakfast. Otherwise, your body thinks food is scarce and slows your metabolism, contributing to weight gain.

Choose between whole-grain toast, bagels, pita or English muffins, spread with soft cheese, hummus, avocado or any nut butter. You can also substitute whole-grain cereal, such as oatmeal or granola, with up to a cup of milk, yogurt and soy or nut milk.

Add a small to medium fruit or a cup of berries, instead of fruit juice, as the fiber will help fill you up. To make that fullness last until lunch, the plan suggests adding an egg, yogurt or handful of nuts to the meal.

If you're not pressed for time in the morning, breakfast can be a much larger affair. A breakfast wrap, veggie omelet or frittata, or a whole-grain pancake with fresh berries and yogurt are all good choices.

You can also think outside the box. Why not try leftover soup or a big plate of roasted veggies for breakfast?

"Many people in the Mediterranean eat small platters of food for breakfast," Al Bochi said. "A few olives, some cheese, some honey and fruit, things like that."

Rethink dessert

Daily dessert within a Mediterranean diet is also different than the typical American selection.

"Eating fruit that is in season is the dessert of choice in the Mediterranean region," Al Bochi said, "rather than our typical pastries, cookies and cakes."

If you tire of eating raw fresh fruit, get creative. Poach pears in pomegranate juice with a bit of honey, then reduce the sauce and serve over Greek yogurt. Grill pineapple or other fruits and drizzle with honey. Make a sorbet out of fruit, including avocado (it's really a fruit). Stuff a fig or date with goat cheese and sprinkle on a few nuts. Create a brown rice apple crisp or even a whole-wheat fruit tart.

Some cultures in the Mediterranean add a glass of red wine to their daily meal.

But if you enjoy vino, it's fine to treat yourself with a small glass of red wine at dinnertime as part of the Mediterranean diet, says Al Bochi. It's also okay to add the occasional bakery treat or other guilty pleasure. After all, there is no food that is truly off-limits.

"People have this mentality of 'OK, I need to cut sugar out, cut carbs out,' " Al Bochi said. "But I encourage you to think, 'what can I add to my diet?' Where can you add more fruits and vegetables? Where can you add more beans and lentils and whole grains? Where can you add some of those healthy fats?"

"So that's the mentality I encourage," she said. "A more positive approach to creating healthy behaviors."

Add joyful movement and socialize

Interestingly, the underlying principle of the Mediterranean diet isn't about food. Instead, the greatest emphasis is placed on exercise, mindfully eating with friends and family, and socializing over meals.

"We encourage at least 20 minutes per meal," Al Bochi said. "I understand that can be hard for a lot of people to implement, but start small. Turn off the TV, put away the cell phone, focus on meaningful conversations, chew slowly and pause between bites. That could be the start to your mindful eating journey."

As for exercise, it doesn't have to be in a gym.

"The Mediterranean lifestyle is walking with friends and family," Toups said. "Instead of thinking of exercise as something that you have to do, just walk or dance or move in joyful ways."

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Overcome the coronavirus meat shortage by adopting one of the world's healthiest diets - CNN

This is a Salmon Wasabi burger and, yes, its as delicious as it looks. Its recipe is below too.

Christopher Testani

DIETING IS FOR losers. Keto, Paelo, Whole 30: America loves itself a fad diet, and some of them may even help you lose weight. Except that weight loss is only one of many reasons to eat a healthy diet.

The other reasons include fighting disease-stoking inflammation, keeping your cholesterol in check, fortifying your immunity, staving off (or blunting the effects of) diabetes, nourishing your brain, elevating your energy, and building strength.

For people who are serious about getting in shape and building muscle, that last word is critical.Diet is a key piece of building strength, says Brian St. Pierre, C.S.C.S., R.D., director of nutrition at Precision Nutrition, a company whose clients include the Carolina Panthers and the San Antonio Spurs.

Without adequate calories, macronutrients, and micronutrients, you will not be able to maximize strength, adequately recover, or perform at your peak," St. Pierre says.

And that kind of strength doesnt just apply to your workouts but to everything in between: at work, with your family, during downtime.

Will you likely lose weight on this program, too? For sure.

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Will you gain muscle? Absolutelyalthough a strength diet considers not just mass but other factors in overall health.

The true strength of the Strength Diet, devised with the guidance of St. Pierre, is less about what you lose and more about what you gain: vitality, longevity, and simplicity.

Christopher Testani

Okay, this involves (a very little bit of) math. But the rest is way, way more delicious. Promise.

If you want to maintain your current bodyweight but add strength, your total daily caloric goal should be about 15 times your current bodyweight. So if you weigh 150 pounds, thats 2,250 calories daily (150 x 15).

This essential nutrient builds muscle and fills you up. The oft-cited target of eating about 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight is the gold standard. So if you weigh 150, thats 150 grams of protein, spread throughout the day. Target zoonutrients, such as creatine, that occur only in animal foods, to further stoke muscle power and strength.

You need at least 20 percent of your calories to come from fats in order to maintain your hormone levels, says St. Pierre. And prize healthy fats. They lower inflammation, improve immunity, and boost your health. (So you never miss a workout.)

Start with a base of 20 percent. Pierre recommends diversifying the carbs you eat, making sure to include phytonutrients (nutrients that occur only in plant foods, with distinct colors signifying different types, to boost health and manage) and myconutrients (nutrients that occur only in mushrooms and other fungi, to avoid deficiencies that hamper physical function and strength).

You may want to tinker with this percentage as you adapt the diet to suit your tastes and needs.

Youll notice you have some calories left over, about 750. From here, how you allocate those nutrients is up to you. St. Pierre says to play around with adding more fat or more carbs until you find a balance that satisfies your stomach and your taste buds.

(If youre not sure where to start, split the remaining calories into carbs and fat and see how that feels.)

Use Precision Nutrition's calculator to do the work. Just plug in your data and choose Body Recomposition as your goal. Select your eating style and customize your macros (balanced, low-carb, low-fat, etc.). The formula will spit out a plan to maximize your strength.

Christopher Testani

How you choose to enjoy your Strength Diet is up to you. But heres roughly what a typical day might look like for that soon-to-be-strong-as-hell 150-pound guy.

Savory Oatmeal Bowl

2 soft-boiled eggs; 2 cups sauteed spinach; 4 cremini mushrooms (quartered); and 2 slices torn prosciutto (sizzled) over 1 cup cooked oatmeal, drizzled with olive oil and topped with freshly ground black pepper.

Nutrition: 449 calories, 30g protein, 38g carbs (7g fiber), 21g fat

3 large pieces beef jerky

Nutrition: 246 calories, 20g protein, 7g carbs (1g fiber), 15g fat

Salmon Burger with Wasabi Mayo

4 oz cooked salmon tucked inside a whole-grain burger bun and loaded up with 1 cup pea shoots, 1/2 avocado (sliced), and 1 Tbsp mayo mixed with 1/2 tsp wasabi powder. Serve with a ripe Asian pear.

618 calories, 37g protein, 47g carbs (14g fiber), 33g fat

2 scoops protein powder in water

220 calories, 48g protein, 4g carbs (0g fiber), 1g fat

Apricot Pork Chop with Kale-Cherry-Quinoa Salad

4 oz pork chop seared with 1/2 red onion (quartered) and 3 apricots (pitted and quartered). Serve with 1 cup cooked quinoa mixed with 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1 cup kale (finely chopped), 1 Tbsp apple-cider vinegar, 1/2 cup cherries (pitted and halved), and salt and pepper to taste.

653 calories, 39g protein, 76g carbs (11g fiber), 23g fat

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The Strength Diet - What to Eat for More Muscle and Power - menshealth.com

Deprivation is often the deal breaker of many diets. Weight loss on restrictive plans may occur in the beginning, but humans are wired to return to their comfort zones. In 2000, a diet called Volumetrics emerged as a way to enable weight loss without the additional challenge of feeling like youre giving something up.

Created by Barbara Rolls, the author of several books on the Volumetrics diet, this eating plan is structured around foods that are lower in calories yet high in nutrients like fiber-rich cruciferous vegetables, whole grains and water-based broths. The theory is that this combination of low-energy-dense but high-nutrient-dense foods could make you feel full on fewer calories.

The plan is divided into four groups based on how nutritious the foods are and how many calories they provide and it offers a road map for portions, which is essentially to eat more of groups 1 and 2 and taper off portions and frequency in groups 3 and 4.

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Group 1 includes non-starchy fruits and vegetables, nonfat milk and broth-based soups that are considered free foods. Groups 2 (lean sources of meat, starchy plants like legumes, and starchy fruits and vegetables) and 3 (salad dressing, cheese and pizza) have foods that must be carefully portioned. Lastly, group 4 includes crackers, chips, chocolate candies, cookies, nuts, butter and oil all foods you should minimize. In addition to the food groupings, Rolls recommends about 30 minutes per day of physical activity.

Maya Feller a Brooklyn-based dietitian and author of The Southern Comfort Foods Diabetes Cookbook, says the Volumetrics diet is truly "a no diet diet. A key strength of the eating plan, she points out, is its simplicity. Feller adds that since the Volumetrics diet focuses on types of foods that promote satiety, it may be easier for individuals to follow the diet and remain motivated during the first days, which can be the hardest psychologically.

The Volumetrics diet supports beneficial diet and lifestyle changes and its efficacy is backed by science, so its generally regarded as a sound eating plan, says Feller. In 2014, a small randomized control trial analyzed various methods for weight loss, including the Volumetrics diet approach of consuming low energy dense foods. The study included 132 participants and while all participants lost weight, those following a Volumetrics approach showed superior results in weight loss and were able to maintain it more effectively compared to the other groups. Additional research with a larger sample size of 9551 adults found that individuals following low energy dense eating patterns had significantly lower BMI, smaller waist circumference and were less likely to be obese.

Julia Zumpano, a dietitian with the Cleveland Clinic, says that the diet was designed to provide more sustained long-term weight loss, adding that there is certainly potential for short-term weight loss, especially if you significantly minimize category 3 and category 4 for the short term and adhere to exercise guidelines. Zumpano likes that the diet focuses on vegetables, fruits and foods that provide fiber, fullness and satiety. Like Feller, Zumpano believes the plan is simple to follow, suitable for dietary restrictions and various dietary preferences and backed by research.

There are, however, a few downfalls to the diet. Feller cautions that the meal planning aspect could be challenging and says that for people who don't cook at home, preparing all meals may be a barrier. She points out that eating out is allowed on the diet. But, she says, navigating a restaurant menu may be challenging when eating low energy density foods. She also mentioned that when following any diet from a book, the person misses the individualization and guidance that comes from working with a registered dietitian.

Zumpano further adds that watching portion sizes for category 3 and minimizing intake of category 4 is vague and self-directed, which can lead to consuming higher quantities of these foods than intended by the diet. In fact, a 2020 animal study found that highly palatable foods (as found mostly in category 4) impacted pleasure receptors in the brain that led to overeating and obesity. This could counteract the effectiveness of the plan and force Volumetrics dieters back into their comfort zones. Finally, Zumpano cautions that the diet may not meet the needs of those that would benefit from more structure.

If youve struggled with restrictive diets in the past and are seeking a more phased in approach, then the Volumetrics diet may be a good fit. However, both Feller and Zumpano believe that success with this diet ultimately depends on the individual.

The Volumetrics diet is one of the smarter and safer approaches that you can consider. Working with a dietitian or physician to structure a more personalized approach one that involves a plan for portion control in groups 3 and 4 and meal planning could be the healthy eating solution youve been looking for.

Kristin Kirkpatrick

Kristin Kirkpatrick is the lead dietitian at Cleveland Clinic Wellness & Preventive Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio. She is a best-selling author and an award winning dietitian.

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What is the Volumetrics diet and should you try it? - TODAY

When researchers asked prospective study participants who they would like to see in videos promoting healthy lifestyle behaviors, the answer was unequivocal: They wanted to see themselves that is, other mothers living in low-income households who were overweight or obese.

The researchers obliged. And the intervention they designed produced the desired results when it came to improving participants diet. As a group, the women in the study who watched the videos and talked to their peers over 16 weeks were more likely to have reduced their fat consumption than women in a comparison group who were given print materials about lifestyle change.

The participants were women who face stubborn health challenges highly stressed overweight low-income mothers of young children who, for example, tend to retain 10 or more pounds of pregnancy weight after childbirth and are likely to eat high-fat foods. They are at risk for life-long obesity and potential problems for themselves and new babies if they become pregnant again.

I asked them during focus groups who should be in the videos, and they said, We want to see us. And our children. Do not lie to us and hire professionals, because well be able to tell, said Mei-Wei Chang, lead author of the study and associate professor of nursing at The Ohio State University.

They said, We want to see them before the change and the struggles they had, and what happened after that.

Chang and colleagues identified two factors that led to the interventions success: The study was designed to appeal to the participants personal values and instill in these mothers enough confidence to take on the challenge of living a healthier life.

My experience with this population is that they really want to make a change. Some might perceive that they dont want to. But they do they just dont know how to, Chang said.

The research is published online in the journal Appetite and will appear in the August print issue.

The two psychosocial factors Chang and colleagues examined in this study are known as autonomous motivation (whats important in a persons life) and self-efficacy (a persons confidence in her ability to carry out a behavior or task). Previous research has shown that poverty can lead to low self-efficacy.

Autonomous motivation differs by population. In this study, the participants told researchers in focus groups before the intervention began that they wanted to be role models for their children. They hoped to be less stressed and happier, and to maintain good family relationships.

Chang recruited participants from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which serves low-income pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women and children up to age 5. Those eligible for the program must have an annual household income no higher than 185 percent of the federal poverty line.

The mothers were between the ages of 18 and 39 and their body mass index ranged from 25.0 to 39.9 from the lowest indicator of being overweight to just below the extreme obesity range. The intervention was aimed at preventing weight gain by promoting stress management, healthy eating and physical activity. This study analyzed only the diet-related results.

During the trial, the 212 participants randomized into the intervention group watched a total of 10 videos in which women like them gave testimonials about healthy eating and food preparation, managing their stress and being physically active.

In the videos, the women wore casual clothes and told their stories, unscripted. They demonstrated meal prep with familiar foods and showed that simple, practical steps like reading food labels could gradually lead to a healthier lifestyle.

They talked about a lot of things I didnt know, said Chang, who has worked with women enrolled in WIC for about 20 years. They spoke their mind about what was important like how they mentally dealt with changing behavior but not losing weight. And about being afraid to fail.

The participants also dialed in to 10 peer support group teleconferences over the course of the study.

In phone interviews, the researchers asked the mothers about what they were eating, their confidence in sticking to a low-fat diet and why they wanted to eat more healthfully.

Based on those surveys, the researchers determined that, compared to the group reading print materials, the mothers who watched videos and spoke with their peers reported larger increases in autonomous motivation and self-efficacy and a more significant decrease in fat intake after the 16-week intervention.

Essentially, they said, If she could do it, I could do it. Thats why we used peers to develop the intervention, Chang said.

The researchers are still analyzing data related to physical activity results, and have found that the interventions emphasis on coping self-efficacy helped reduce participants stress. The videos are now part of WICs continuing education series for mothers.

This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Co-authors included Alai Tan and Duane Wegener from Ohio State and Jiying Ling and Lorraine Robbins from Michigan State University.

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Inspiring stories from women like themselves helped these moms improve their diet - The Ohio State University News

Its 9 a.m. and a small breathalyzer-like device called a Lumen which looks sort of like a bulbous silicone vape is about to tell me what I already know. I sleepily inhale through it, hold my breath for 10 seconds, then exhale back through the device and wait for the results to come in on the Lumen app. Yes, it's confirmed: I overdid it on the tacos and wings last night.

Lumen is a new health product that officially launches Tuesday. Through the device and app, Lumen aims to give people more information about how they process food in order to achieve fitness and weight loss goals by "hacking" their metabolism. Each time you breathe into it, the device analyzes your breath, giving you a score on a scale of 1 to 5 to tell you whether your body is running on energy from your fat stores (the ideal "fat burning" 1 or 2 state), the carbohydrates youve consumed (a 4 or 5), or a combination of both (a 3). It follows with a recommended meal plan of approximately how many carb, fat, and protein servings you should be eating, with the ultimate goal of making your metabolism more efficient.

Lumen comes to answer some very basic questions users have ... how my body's functioning, how the things that I did in the past few days affected me, and what should I do today, what should I eat in order to achieve my goals? Michal Mor, one of Lumens co-founders, told Mashable.

The Lumen breathalyzer and app

Michal Mor and her twin sister Merav Mor are both Israeli physiology PhDs and triathletes who co-founded Lumen in 2016. Lumen ran an explosive IndieGoGo campaign in 2018, raising over $2.3 million with nearly 10,000 backers. Since then, the company has raised over $17 million in venture capital, according to Crunchbase, and has received press and praise for the innovation of bringing a test thats usually done in a lab environment to a compact consumer device. It distributed its first orders to backers earlier this year, and begins shipping out orders of the product, which you can buy for $299 on Lumen's website (that includes the device and app), Tuesday.

To actually understand Lumen, you need to know a bit about metabolism science, so bear with us for a sec. Measuring a persons metabolism usually takes place in a lab, and is not typically something people do regularly let alone daily. Surprisingly, the amount of oxygen you breathe in, and CO2 you exhale, can contain a lot of information about how you process food. When you go in for a metabolism assessment, one number you'll get back is your Respiratory Exchange Ratio (RER), which is the amount of CO2 expelled divided by the amount of oxygen inhaled. This ratio reveals what kind of fuel a person is running on; lower ratio means fat, higher means carbs.

Lumens internal studies and a study conducted by San Francisco State University have found that Lumens measurements are comparable to an RER measurement taken by a traditional device. However, the experts Mashable consulted two members of U.C. Davis Health Sports Medicine program aren't entirely convinced of its accuracy, or usefulness. The SFSU study concludes that "Lumen can be seen to be an effective instrument for monitoring relative, individual changes in metabolic responses (within-subject consistency), rather than a substitute for laboratory-grade RER measurements." In other words, the Lumen scale is a relative score that can track change over time, but is not an analog for a measurement you'd take in a lab.

Without knowing how that correlates, its difficult to judge their scientific standard, Dr. Brandee Waite, the Director of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at U.C. Davis, said.

Ive been trying out Lumen for the past two weeks and am intrigued, if not totally sold. It has certainly made me more mindful of how the amount of carbs I eat, and the late-night snacks I consume Lumen recommends overnight fasts of around 12 hours might be undermining my weight goals in more physiologically complex ways than just packing in extra calories. For example, a Sunday Chinese food binge could prevent me from going into fat-burn mode for days. However, the daily breathing in the morning, and at additional times depending on other information the app asks for, is a bit of a slog, and Im not sure the information Lumen gives me is something I cant pretty much intuit for myself.

If the device is helping you figure things out, awesome, Judd Van Sickle, the head of the UC Davis Sports Performance and Wellness program, who runs a metabolic measurement lab, told Mashable. If not, it's a lot of breathing.

If the device is helping you figure things out, awesome.

Using my Lumen on day one started with an exciting unboxing. The actual Lumen device is sleek, friendly, and comfortable to hold, and the box greets you with a friendly "Hello, I'm Lumen." My new pal!

First off, I had to download the Lumen app, connect my device, and answer a series of questions about my health goals, physiology, and lifestyle. After a set-up day comes a "calibration day," which is when the actual breathing fun begins. On calibration day, you breathe into the device multiple times at certain intervals after waking up and eating. This is how Lumen gets to know your lung capacity, and what the founders describe as your baseline for how you metabolize carbohydrates, since that differs from person to person.

After that, Lumen is supposed to become a daily part of your routine. For the past two weeks, my morning has gone like this: First thing, I roll out of bed and make coffee (duh). But before I drink that coffee, eat, or do much of anything at all, I bust out my Lumen. The app guides me through a couple Lumen breaths, which involve inhaling steadily into the device, holding my breath for 10 seconds, and exhaling steadily until a soothing circle on the screen disappears. The design of the whole experience is easy to understand and almost meditative in its own right. There are worse ways to start a day than taking some deep breaths.

Once Ive breathed two to three times, Lumen gives me a score out of five. The ideal zone in the morning is a 1 or a 2 because it means my overnight fast successfully switched me into a fat-burning state. It's OK even good to score higher after carb-heavy meals. However, if I score above a 1 or 2 in the morning despite an overnight fast, which naturally depletes the energy from carbs (called glycogen), that seems to mean Im still burning the calories Ive consumed the previous day. The morning after the tacos and wings? I scored a 4. Yikes. On the flip side, on the mornings I woke up with a 1 or a 2, I felt triumphant.

Based on my morning score, and the scores over the past few days, Lumen delivers a daily food plan. This isnt a detailed menu, but rather a guide about whether you should be eating a low-carb, medium-carb, or high-carb diet that day.

We are not trying to recommend a specific food, [like] today eat chicken with rice and some vegetables," Michal Mor said. Thats not sustainable.

Instead, they want to empower users to make their own food choices, guided by the carb, fat, and protein serving parameters the plan suggests that day. The Lumen founders even promised me that on some days, Lumen would actually recommend I eat a high-carb diet. After three days of recommended low-carb diets (to which I thought, duh), I was amazed and, to be honest, THRILLED when Lumen suggested I have a medium-carb day. Lumen mixes in medium- and high-carb days when youve been in a fat-burning state for a while, to make sure your body doesnt get too carb-starved and start squirreling away carbs when it gets them, instead of using them like its supposed to (this is a popular criticism of the keto diet, which attempts to cut out almost all carbs).

My daily plan wasn't always low carb, and that was amazing.

I like that Lumen has education modules, presented sort of like social media stories, that taught me about metabolism, diet, and food. They were comprehensible and as easy to consume as delicious, delicious carbs except they were about topics like how exercise affects your metabolism. While the main time to use Lumen is first thing in the morning, Lumen also encourages users to get their Lumen score before a workout, to help determine if theyre sufficiently fueled up. Then, 30 minutes after a workout, you can take your Lumen score again to see how running, weightlifting, or yoga affected your metabolism. Seeing my score decline after a hard workout was gratifying.

After one month of using Lumen, and in subsequent months, I'll get what the company calls a Flex score. This is the long game of Lumen: to improve a persons metabolic flexibility, which is how capable a persons body is at switching between fuel sources at appropriate times. The daily plans of low-carb days with medium- and high-carb days in between are all in the service of working your metabolisms agility.

Metabolic flexibility is the main player that extends behind everything, Michal Mor said. Behind performance, weight loss, longevity, energy. So, we first want our user to achieve healthy metabolism, a flexible metabolism, and the outcome of that is weight-loss improvement."

While some recent studies and experts endorse the general idea of metabolic flexibility, the "flex score" is a calculation of Lumens own creation based on the weeks of data users submit. There is not a scientific analog of the score.

"I like the idea of metabolic flexibility," Van Sickle said. "What I see is that most people are metabolically inflexible in that they can't use fat appropriately, because of too much glycemic load [carbohydrates] in their meal for their activity levels. So, if we have a tool to help guide us towards better fat utilization, that's good."

I havent received my flex score yet, but I can see how monthly attempts to improve it would be motivating.

And thats how Ive come to see Lumen, mostly: as another tool for motivation. I cant say that Ive stuck to its daily plans in order to truly hack my metabolism, but seeing numerically that my metabolism is working the way its supposed to and working in overdrive when I house too many wings was great feedback for how I treat my body. The Lumen founders agree that this is one of its main benefits.

I think every diet, if youre sticking to it and making sure that you're eating healthy food I mean real food will work, Merav Mor said. The question is, how can you help everyone to stick to it? I think that [Lumens] feedback loop, once you see how the things that you did yesterday, how they help you and for how they affected you, will provide you with the motivation to keep to the healthy diet.

I've come to see Lumen mostly as a tool for motivation.

While the promise of a consumer metabolism device is appealing, experts still have doubts about Lumen's approach and some of the claims Lumen makes about its ability to hack your metabolism. Both Van Sickle and Waite of the UC Davis Physical Medicine department had a few main problems with Lumen.

First, they were not convinced of the devices accuracy overall. And even after reviewing the scientific literature sent by Lumen, the way the scores track with RER was a source of confusion.

Lumens home page says it's been scientifically proven to meet the gold standard of metabolic measurement, Van Sickle said. But when you look on their how it works page, it says Lumen exhibits similar trends to the gold standard. So, that's not the same thing.

There were some bigger picture concerns, too. Waite explained that a persons resting RER does not typically change day to day, so did not see the value in measuring it daily. She suggested that its a measurement you would typically take before and after, say, a month of trying a diet or fitness regime, to see how its affecting you. It's unclear how the fact that Lumen is a relative score not an RER score changes this assessment.

Metabolism measurement or mindfulness device?

Image: rachel kraus / mashable

Additionally, Van Sickle was curious about the premise of the device as a whole: that you base a diet around your metabolic state in the first place, rather than the activities youre going to be doing that day. He also questioned whether the goal of metabolic flexibility is really so well-reflected in a Lumen score. For example, if you eat a high-carb meal, but youre not partaking in physical activity, the fact that your body is running primarily on carbs afterward is not necessarily a good thing for him. I explained to him that the morning after I ate a big, delicious cookie shortly before I went to bed, I got a 3 lumen score in the morning, despite having a low-carb day otherwise.

That's where I get a little confused, Van Sickle said. So, they might say that's a sign of good metabolic flexibility, when I would think of that as not necessarily good flexibility because your body doesn't know what to do with that cookie. I'm not sure what the optimal case is.

Overall, Van Sickle and Waite had too many questions about the scientific claims and assumptions Lumen makes about both its technology, and understanding of metabolism and diet, to be enthusiastic about it. However, both saw its value in helping people be more thoughtful about diet and exercise. (As always, seek advice from a doctor before starting any heath or diet plan.)

It's definitely going to be making you more mindful about what you're doing, Van Sickle said. Some of the underpinnings I'm not quite sold on. But big picture, as a mindfulness device, I don't think its the worst thing you could do.

In the tech wellness landscape of devices that purport to help you by quantifying every aspect of your physiology, that larger assessment is all too common.

Sometimes new technology, whether it really does what it says it does, if it gets people eating right and being more active, the side effect of having a more healthy approach to your lifestyle is a good thing, Waite said.

Whether that good thing is worth a hefty price tag is up to you to decide.

Excerpt from:
Lumen claims to 'hack' your metabolism. I put it to the test. - Mashable