This @EducationGovUK operational guidance provides further detailed information on new arrangements and responses to questions for organisations delivering further education including general further education colleges, sixth form colleges, and other providers.

David Hughes, CEO, AoC, said:

Tonights guidance will help colleges to make the right decisions in the best interests of their students, whilst maximising the safety of staff. We are advising every college to make their own decisions on their assessment of priorities, needs, the context in which they operate and individual risk assessments and we are confident that is what the Government wants.

"The guidance makes clear that 1 June is not set as a rigid date for re-opening. It is also clear that there is no expectation that all students will go back this term, and certainly not full-time. The guidance is there to support colleges to help students benefit from some pastoral support, advice or teaching and training face to face in a managed, phased and prioritised way.

"There are also a range of complex practical issues which each college will be navigating. We know, for instance that two weeks may not be sufficient notice for campuses which have been closed and need significant adaptation, cleaning and set-up. There is also the tricky issue of additional costs for colleges when considering transport, modifications and class sizes which we are discussing with officials.

"I am pleased with the hard work which our member colleges are doing with us to develop a framework of principles which embed compliance with safety standards and ensure a safe return for all students and staff.

The guidance relates to the announcement made by the Secretary of State for Education on 18 March 2020 regarding cessation of classroom delivery for most learners due to outbreak of coronavirus (COVID-19). It also covers wider areas as announced subsequently. The guidance will be updated and expanded as further information becomes available and in response to questions from colleges and other providers.

On 11 May, the Department for Education published guidance on aphased wider opening of schools, colleges and nurseriesand setting outactions for education and childcare settings to prepare for wider opening. Because the transmission rate of coronavirus (COVID-19) has decreased, we anticipate that with further progress, from the week commencing 1 June at the earliest, more 16-19 learners in key assessment years, in addition to vulnerable learners and the children of critical workers, will be able to attend further education settings. We are therefore asking schools, colleges and childcare providers to plan on this basis.

This means that from the week commencing 1 June at the earliest, sixth-form colleges should offer some face to face contact to learners in year 12, alongside their existing offer to vulnerable learners and the children of critical workers. Further education (FE) colleges should also offer some contact to 16-19 learners who are due to take key examinations and assessments next academic year along with those in priority groups. Further information on what this means in practice is included below, under section 1 on changes to delivery. Special post-16 institutions will work towards a phased return of more children and young people without a focus on specific year groups.

Advertisement

You are using adblocker please support us by whitelisting http://www.fenews.co.uk

A new paper from @FETforL "#FE and #Skills and Shame in Organisational

Has the apprenticeship levy been a success?This week I wanted to talk

The economics of furloughFurlough is a term few of us were aware of un

The focus on face to face contact is for 16 to 19 learners; we appreciate there will be some courses that include learners within a class that are over 19 (for example where learners have dropped out of school and restarted in college), providers may use discretion here within a focus that is clearly on 16 to 19 delivery.

We have been guided by the scientific advice at every stage. The latest scientific advice to government is that:

We want to get allFElearners back into education as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn, and because we know how important it is for their mental wellbeing to have social interactions with their peers and teachers.

Guidance onActions for education and childcare settings to prepare for wider opening from 1 June 2020was published by the Department on 11 May. We will provide all educational and childcare settings with further guidance and support to help them to prepare for wider opening over the coming weeks and continue to work closely with the sector.

Guidance forapprentices, employers, training providers and assessment organisationsrelating to the apprenticeships programme in response to the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) is available.

Further information on the financial support that is available for different types of education, early years and childrens social care providers in England is available inCoronavirus (COVID-19): financial support for education, early years and childrens social care. This includes information on access to the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) for furloughed workers and the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFAs) response to the Cabinet Offices Procurement Policy Note 02/20.

For colleges in significant financial difficulties, the existing support arrangements remain in place including short term solvency support through emergency funding

We are immensely grateful to providers for the vital role they are playing in supporting the national response to coronavirus (COVID-19). We recognise the significant efforts the vast majority ofFEproviders have taken to shift to delivering remote teaching and learning, and know that many have stayed open to support vulnerable learners and dependents of critical workers.

On-site provision should continue to be offered to vulnerable young people and the children of key workers in accordance with the published definitions, and this should have priority over other learning.

From the week commencing 1 June at the earliest,FEproviders should offer some face to face contact for 16 to 19 learners on the first year of two-year programmes (e.g. a two year vocational course, equivalent to year 12 in schools), alongside the provision they are offering to priority groups.

This will primarily impact schools and colleges, but will also include a small number of Local Authority providers, specialist post-16 institutions and independent training providers.

We understand that there may need to be some flexibility in place due to the variety of learners and courses offered inFEsettings, therefore:

In order to determine what level of attendance is appropriate within any of the options stated above, colleges and other providers should conduct risk assessments in order to understand:

Learners will need to stay within their new class/group wherever possible and we will ask settings to implement a range ofprotective measuresincluding increased cleaning, reducing pinch points (such as at the start and end of day), and utilising outdoor space. Any additional costs arising from wider opening, such as personal protective equipment (PPE) will be funded from existing college budgets. Staff and learners will be eligible for testing if they become ill with coronavirus symptoms, as will members of their households. A negative test will enable learners and staff to get back to their education. A positive test will ensure rapid action to protect their classmates and staff in their setting. Those who are clinically vulnerable, or are living with someone who is, should follow ourprotective measures guidance.

In line with implementing protective measures and reducing contacts, colleges and other providers should limit the attendance of learners in the setting at any one time and keep learners in small groups. They should also consider ways to minimise use of public transport to get to and from theFEprovider at peak times in consultation with local authorities. We will be consulting with sector representatives in order to develop some models of how this could operate, and this will be published along with further guidance for secondary schools and colleges and other providers in the week commencing 18 May.

The Departments guidance onimplementing protective measures in education and childcare settingscontains detailed advice on:

We recognise that for some programmes, online learning will be working effectively with a high degree of learner engagement (while some families may, for example, include family members who are shielding and therefore learners are not able to physically attend). Colleges and other providers will have flexibility to decide the appropriate mix of online and face to face content for each programme, reflecting what will maximise learner engagement as well as supporting more vulnerable learners, and enabling the provider as a whole to minimise transmission risk.

For 16 to 19-year-old learners eligible to return, in balancing on-site and online delivery, colleges may consider the following issues:

Parents whose work is critical to the coronavirus (COVID-19) response include those who work in health and social care, in the education and children sector (including further education) and in other key sectors outlined in thecritical worker list.

We recommend you ask for simple evidence that the parent in question is a critical worker, such as their work ID badge or pay slip. It would be overly burdensome on key sectors at this critical time to ask employers to write a letter on behalf of their employees.

Vulnerable children and young people for the purposes of continued educational provision during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak are those across all year groups who:

More information, including the expectations around attendance and encouraging attendance for different groups of vulnerable young people, can be found inSupporting vulnerable children and young people during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

From the week commencing 1 June at the earliest, we will be asking colleges and other providers to invite increasing numbers of young people to return to on-site provision, alongside priority groups (vulnerable young people and children of critical workers). Special post-16 institutions will work towards a phased return of more young people without a focus on specific year groups. The government has set outguidance on staying alert and safe (social distancing)to help educational settings support safe provision for everyone who attends.

Many colleges and other providers have already taken steps to support vulnerable young people, and the children of critical workers who cannot be supported elsewhere, and we are grateful to providers for the vital role they are playing in supporting the national response to coronavirus.

Specifically, we are asking that colleges and other providers:

continue to provide a safe space and encourage attendance: Being in an educational setting can be an important lifeline for many vulnerable young people, particularly where their needs cannot be met safely at home or where they may be at risk of harm.

There is a continuing expectation now and throughout the period from the week commencing 1 June at the earliest that vulnerable young people regardless of year group will attend educational provision, where it is safe and appropriate for them do so.

From the week commencing 1 June at the earliest, young people in returning year groups including vulnerable young people - are strongly encouraged to attend their educational setting where possible, unless they are ill, or guidance says they should not attend.

Providers are expected to follow the process set out on encouraging, enabling and monitoring attendance and following up on non-attendance, seeSupporting vulnerable children and young people during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Section 15 below is a collection of examples from providers who are successfully engaging vulnerable young people. It is intended to provide an opportunity for colleges and other providers to learn from each others emerging practice and develop their approach to engaging vulnerable learners in education.

Colleges and other providers should continue to comply with theKeeping children safe in education statutory guidance. There is further information on safeguarding inCoronavirus (COVID-19): safeguarding in schools, colleges and other providers.

Young people up to the age of 25 withEHCplans in colleges and other providers should, like their peers, go back to college and other providers if they are in the target year groups, and where medical advice suggests they are notclinically extremely vulnerableto coronavirus.

For all young people withEHCplans , we would encourage colleges, other providers and local authorities to assure themselves that risk assessments remain current (seeSENDRisk Assessment Guidance). Colleges and other providers should encourage any learners to return to education settings, if the provider judges that this would be beneficial, for example where it is no longer sustainable for a student to be at home week-round.

We encourage colleges and other providers to pay particular attention to learners withEHCplans who are about to make a transition to another setting or to adult life, including those starting or finishing a supported internship. These learners may need some form of face to face transition, even if they are not attending their usual place of education.

We recognise that as some young people withSEND, whether they have anEHCplan or not, will need careful preparation for their return (for example, social stories to help with the transition, or routes round the college marked in Braille or with other meaningful symbols to maintain social distancing). The increase in attendance for those withEHCplans in target year groups may be gradual and take place over a period of time.

Special post-16 institutions will work towards a phased return of more children and young people without a focus on specific year groups. More details will be published shortly.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) may make it more difficult for a local authority or health commissioning body to secure or arrange all the elements of the specified special educational and health provision in anEHCplan as required by section 42 of the Children and Families Act 2014. Due to the unprecedented circumstances presented by coronavirus (COVID-19), the section 42 duty has been temporarily modified, so that local authorities and health commissioning bodies can discharge this duty by using their reasonable endeavours. We have publisheddetailed guidance on these temporary legislative changes.

The duty on education settings including colleges and other providers to co-operate with the local authority in the performance of itsSENDduties remains in place. Close working and communication between all parties is a central element in ensuring that young people do receive appropriate provision.

Colleges, other providers, social workers, local authorities and other professionals will want to work together to ensure adequate and appropriate arrangements are in place to keep in touch with vulnerable young people (whether they are attending provision, or not attending for an agreed or non-agreed reason).

Local authorities have the key day-to-day responsibility for delivery of children and young peoples social care. Social workers and Virtual School Heads (VSH) will continue to work with vulnerable young people in this difficult period.

Where vulnerable young people with a social worker do not take up their place in educational settings or discontinue attendance, the provider should notify their social worker.

If there are challenges contacting and engaging looked after children, providers should discuss concerns with their local virtual school heads (VSH) in the first instance.

Colleges and other providers are encouraged to share their lists of vulnerable young people who should be attending provision with their local authority.

It is particularly important for college and provider staff to work with and support childrens social workers and the local authorityVSHfor looked-after and previously looked-after children.

Colleges and other providers should continue to have regard to statutory safeguarding guidance on inter-agency working, set out inWorking Together to Safeguard Children. Providers should also refer toKeeping Children Safe in Education 2019andCoronavirus (Covid-19): safeguarding in schools, colleges and other providers.

Many learners will be feeling uncertain and anxious and it is vital that they can still access the mental health support they need. Providers will need to consider their learners mental health and wellbeing and identify learners who may need additional support.

All NHS mental health trusts are setting up 24/7 helplines and seeking to use digital and virtual channels to continue delivering support during the pandemic.

Social connections, alongside exercise, sleep, a healthy diet and routine, are important protective factors for mental health. Resources to promote and support mental wellbeing are included in the list ofonline resourceswe have published to help children and young people to learn at home.

Public Health England have also publishedmore extensive guidanceon supporting children and young peoples mental health and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is providing 5m of additional funding for mental health charities (to support adults and children).

Digital support includes:

Mental health is also covered in theinterim safeguarding guidance, and the principles inKeeping children safe in education(KCSIE) continue to apply. Below are some suggestions as to how providers have supported their learners with their mental health:

We are expecting residential further education providers to keep their residential provision open where necessary, and decisions will have to happen on a case by case basis. It is especially important that residential providers remain open to those who have particular needs that cannot be accommodated safely at home, and those who do not have suitable alternative accommodation.

In collaboration with Public Health England and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), we have producedguidance on isolation for residential educational settings, including further education providers with residential accommodation and residential special colleges. This contains advice on managing the setting in the case of self-isolation or infection.

We recognise that the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak carries financial implications for many providers, and we are working to make changes where we can. We set out below the flexibilities we are introducing to support grant funded providers to continue to deliver learning.

To help manage the financial implications, we can confirm that the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) will continue to pay grant funded providers their scheduled monthly profiled payments for the remainder of the 2019/20 funding year.

ESFAallocations for 2020/21 have been confirmed, and payments will be made in line with the national profile which will be confirmed in the relevant 2020/21 Funding Rules.

As we will use data from the 2019/20 academic year to calculate 16 to 19 allocations for 2021/22, theESFAmay need to apply a different approach to a number of elements within 16 to 19 funding. Where appropriate we will therefore use alternative data sources to calculate allocations for 2021/22 to ensure as far as possible that there is not a disproportionate impact on funding.

If learners are unable to complete their study programme as a result of coronavirus (COVID-19) and are recorded as withdrawn in end-year data this could impact on the retention factor used to calculate 16 to 19 allocations for 2021/22. We will therefore review the data we use to calculate this as the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) becomes clearer.

We currently use the profile of recruitment throughout the year to determine the lagged student numbers used in 16 to 19 allocations. For providers who recruit learners later in the year rather than purely at the beginning of the academic year, and whose enrolment of new learners in the summer term will have ceased, we will determine a way to ensure this does not have an unfairly detrimental impact on future allocations. For example, we could still apply the current approach of identifying what proportion of student numbers were recruited after we take the initial data return in the autumn but use full year data from 2018/19.

Three elements within the 16 to 19 funding formula use students prior attainment in English and/or maths, namely:

We anticipate that these will continue to be calculated as now following the alternative plans that have now been published to award grades to students in the absence of GCSE exams this summer, and so providers will still be allocated additional funding for young people with low prior attainment in GCSE English or maths. As further details are published for how the replacement for exams will work, we will consider these elements in more detail.

Allocations have been made to providers who will be delivering the first wave of T levels in 2020 to 2021 based on planned T level student numbers. We have already published the approach for applying a tolerance where enrolment of T level students is below the planned number.

Due to the lagged student number approach, where the level of T level students recruited means the tolerance would be implemented, only the numbers above the tolerance would be converted to a full-time band 5 student. Read more about the tolerance in theHow T levels will be funded in 2020 to 2021guidance.

We will monitor the suitability of this approach over the coming months as we get nearer to the introduction of T levels.

The unprecedented impact of coronavirus (COVID-19) has meant that it is currently extremely difficult for providers to continue to organise and deliver industry placements through the Capacity and Delivery Fund (CDF).

Given these exceptional and unprecedented circumstances, providers will not be penalised for missing specificCDFindustry placement targets this academic year. Funding will not be clawed back if providers can demonstrate how the funding has and will continue to support your work on industry placement delivery. We want to make sure that providers are able to maximise the activity that they are able to carry out during this period to continue to support the delivery of placements, and to prepare to deliver placements in 2020 to 2021. Activities we would expect to continue to go ahead:

We will ask for evidence of this through the usual autumnCDFmonitoring process in order to minimise reporting burdens, and we will still look to claw back funding under the usual arrangements should providers fail to demonstrate they have continued to support the delivery of industry placements. Providers must avoid the risk of double funding. We will seek to claw back funding should providers furlough staff involved in these activities.

We expect further education institutions to continue to support students who are eligible for, and usually receive, free meals in further education, or are newly eligible, whether they are continuing to attend the provider or are studying remotely due to coronavirus (COVID-19) related issues. Read further guidance onfree meals in further education funded institutions for 2019 to 2020.

Colleges and other providers will continue to receive from theESFAallocations of high needs place funding (at 6,000 per place per annum) for the remainder of the academic year 2019 to 2020.

Local authorities will also continue to receive their high needs funding for the financial year beginning April 2020, and should continue to pay high needs top-up funding to colleges, special post-16 institutions and other providers at the rates they have determined. This will ensure that the institutions employment and payment of staff supporting students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) can continue. If placements for the summer term, and top-up funding, were anticipated but have not yet been agreed, the local authority should consider funding the institution on the basis of previous patterns of placements and commissioning, so as to make sure that the staff can remain in employment and be available for when the special provision is needed. Staff in institutions who support vulnerable students should also be available for redeployment if their services are needed elsewhere, or they can provide support in different ways. Co-ordination between institutions, and with local authorities, will be important in arranging this.

For providers funded through a contract for service forAEBand Advanced Learner Loans Bursary, we will remove the financial year controls set out in thefunding and performance management rules for 2019 to 2020.

This means we will pay any over delivery in the August 2019 to March 2020 period by utilising the April 2020 to August 2020 period funding, up to the full 12 month contract value. The commitment to fund delivery up to 103% of adult skills and 110% of traineeships contract values will still apply over the full funding year.

The 2019-20funding claims guidancerequires providers with the allocations listed below to complete a year-end forecast funding claim:

As part of theESFAs coronavirus response, theESFAwill now not require your organisation to complete a year-end claims forecast due in June 2020.

For 2019 to 2020 only, theESFAwill not carry out the final reconciliation for grant funded providers in receipt ofESFAfundedAEB(adult skills, community learning, learner and learning support and 19 to 24 traineeships) and the advanced learner loans bursary fund. These providers will be funded in line with the current agreement schedule with no clawback.

Providers must:

Where it is not possible to deliver online, for example where learning requires physical access to specialist equipment or materials, providers should keep and provide records of where this applies and keep evidence of efforts made to remain in contact with learners and prepare them for a return to learning in the future.

However, there will be exceptions for grant funded providers who had already forecast significant under-delivery in their mid-year returns forESFAfundedAEBand/or advanced learner loans bursary fund, in advance of the impact of coronavirus (COVID-19).ESFAwill contact affected providers to discuss their forecasts and potential clawback. We also reserve the right to clawback funds where it can be demonstrated that a grant funded provider has not sought to continue delivery wherever possible online or otherwise, either directly or forESFAfundedAEBthrough their existing subcontractors.

When planningESFAfundedAEBallocations for 2021 to 2022, we will consider how we set a fair baseline given our default position would have been to use funded delivery in 2019 to 2020.

With regard to advanced learner loans, the Student Loans Company (SLC) will continue to make scheduled fee payments to all providers with a loans facility. Providers must continue to inform theSLCif and when a learners circumstances change.

From 1 August 2019, theAEBis apportioned between theESFAand 6 mayoral combined authorities (MCAs) and the Greater London Authority (GLA) and theESFAis no longer accountable for administeringAEBin those devolved areas. The MCA orGLAwill be responsible for agreeing arrangements with their providers in respect of devolvedAEB.

It is our priority to support learners and providers to continue with their learning online during this period, ensuring that where breaks in learning are required, learners are able to resume their classroom learning and continue to a successful completion, while maintaining quality.

ESFAfundedAEBand advanced learner loans (including bursary fund) funding rules for 2019 to 2020 already make provision for breaks in learning for a range of circumstances.

You and the learner can agree to suspend learning while the learner takes a break. This allows the learner to continue later with the same eligibility that applied when they first started their learning.

We are extending the current breaks in learning rules forESFAfundedAEBand advanced learner loans to:

Where some learning aims have been delivered, this should be evidenced in the usual way. However, where a break in learning is now beginning or expected, providers should include these learners in their individualised learner record (ILR) submission and record breaks in learning as starting on the date of the last learning activity for the aim. It is likely that these aims will have been suspended knowing that it will be reviewed at stages over the coming months. Under no circumstances should the current planned end date be changed.

Excerpt from:
Maintaining education and skills training provision: further education providers - FE News

Buddha might have taught about dieting hundreds of years ago. Raised in luxury, the young prince Siddhartha had a taste of decadence before he lived as a wandering ascetic, starving himself nearly to death. The insights of food restrictions Buddha gleaned from his quest can be enlightening for the modern dieter.

And you dont have to be Buddhist to try it. All you need is a clock, an open mind, and the willingness to endure it.

Deepika Wadhwa, a practitioner of Nichiren Daishonin Buddhism says, During his lifetime, the Buddha concentrated on defining the basic principles or premises according to which people should live and left it to his adherents to consider exactly how these principles were to be carried out. The principle of oneness of mind and body teaches that a healthy body can only be achieved if the mind is kept strong and vice versa. Hence, a strong belief in leading a healthy lifestyle is as important as incorporating healthy foods and exercise in ones life. Eating at the right time and in right quantity is the Buddhist way of healthy nourishment.

Like many religions, Buddhism has food restrictions and traditions and is based on three dietary aspects- vegetarianism, alcohol restriction and fasting. Buddhist philosophy condemns any killing as every being has right to live. Manish Khatri, a follower of Buddhism says, Dietics, under the Buddhist tradition, is based on the principle of non harming. One of the moral percept in the Buddhist noble eight fold path is right conduct, which puts an onus on Buddhist adherents to refrain from harming or killing any living form. Thus, any individual who is treading the Buddhist path, a vegan diet is a must.

Read: Boost your immunity with a healthy diet, say experts

The mindful eating of Buddhist monks include green food only. Gurdev Singh, Shaolin Kung Fu disciple says, Once I asked my Shifu in Shaolin about the reason we were fed with only greens. He gave me an example of a lion who just eats flesh and an elephant who feeds on green vegetation. He said, A lion can fight for up to 3 hours continuously but gets tired soon. However, an elephant can fight continuously for 20 hours. Hence, green food has more power than flesh. Scientifically proven, a 100g non veg has less protein than 100g green food and it takes longer to digest. Thats why Buddhist people follow a green diet to keep their internal energy activated and immune system strong.

The Buddhist diet involves avoiding onions, garlic, fatty oil and poultry products. Trishant Srivastava, a a folower of Buddhism says, Its basically a kind of keto diet without any food high in calories. Some monks eat meat but only if its not sacrificed for them. In our diet plan we eat only at noon or night because earlier during the 5th century, monks or bhikshu could only go outside during that time. He adds, Another ethical teaching of Buddhism prohibits alcohol because it clouds the mind and lead you to break religious rules.

Read: Proper diet, sleep can treat asymptomatic patients

For those planning to switch to Buddhist dietary habits during lockdown, Nidhi Shukla Pandey, diet and nutrition consultant lists some benefits of it.

1. Buddhist principles believe in intermittent fasting as a practice of self-control. They abstain from food and drinks from noon until the dawn of the following day. This resembles the intermittent diet plan, which has been popular among health-conscious people. You may find fasting convenient and helpful for weight loss, if thats a goal of yours.

2. They eat their meals early which you should also try because it boosts metabolism and helps detox your body.

3. Avoiding food items like onion, chives, garlic, etc. is good because they aggravate the digestive system. It also calms the mind and body and Buddhists are strong believer of meditation.

5. They practice mindful eating which means whenever you eat you focus only on your plate because when you put your heart and soul into the food - it starts acting like a medicine. According to modern nutrition science, if you are distracted from your food, it would impact the digestive process adversely.

6. A Buddhist diet follows a primarily plant-based diet rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, legumes and beans which provides important compounds, such as antioxidants, phytochemicals, vitamins, minerals and fibre and also benefit your waistline.

Follow HT Life&Style for more updates.

More here:
Is the Buddhist Diet the calm we need right now? - Hindustan Times

When Alexander Hodge got the call that hed be returning for Insecures fourth season, he knew it was inevitable: the shirt, sooner or later, would be coming off.

When Hodge originally joined the cast of HBO's hit show in 2018, his character was into Issa's BFF, Molly, but she didnt quite share his enthusiasm: he wasnt quite as chiseled as the other guys onscreen, his man-bun earned some roasts, and the show, to its credit, openly wrestled with the fact that Andrew is an Asian man, a demographic thats notoriously undersexed on TV. Then, last April, Hodge got the news that his character, Andrew, was being upgraded to full-fledged boyfriend status. By the time shooting began in August, Hodge had moved out to L.A., hired a trainer, and gone totally organic and alcohol-freeall in the name of, as he put it, doing justice to the character. Which he's done, as the Insecure's new beefcakebrimming with confidence, dripping in Valentino, and routinely shirtless.

These days, Hodge is sheltering in place with his girlfriend at their home in L.A., and live-tweeting Insecure episodes every Sunday night. He's getting his workouts back on track after a brief post-season-wrap hiatus, and is committed to a dairy-free pescatarian diet. A few hours after Insecure was renewed for a fifth season, Hodge called up GQ to tell us how he got in shape for the roleand he shared a few hot culinary takes.

GQ: How much time did you have to get in shape before shooting?

Alexander Hodge: For four months I was working out on my own at a gym in New York. Then I had to move out here [to L.A.] to shoot, so I ended up working with a trainer while I was shooting. With the added motivation of knowing I had to take my shirt off onscreen, it was the perfect storm needed to get me to the gym. It was equal-parts me not wanting to look like crap on the camera, and also wanting to do justice to the character.

I was doing a lot of strength-and-conditioning stuffmajor muscle group movements and high-intensity interval training. We'd do circuits of tri-sets: a push, a pull, and cardio, just to burn as many calories as possible while also trying to build a little muscle. Working with a trainer really elevated my workouts. It's hard to push yourself to the sickening lengths that a trainer will do, gleefully. And then I would do cardio on my ownI'd go for runs.

Story continues

Did you keep that routine up once the season had wrapped?

Oh, no. I let myself go completely. I took a long break over Christmaslonger than I should'veso I actually was struggling to get back on track, and quarantine has been really good for me because of all the time I have at home. I go crazy if I sit still for too long. So it's actually really motivated me to get moving on my own and get outside.

At the moment, I'm working out a minimum of 35 minutes a day, maximum two and a half hours, depending on what I have to do. If I don't start a workout before midday, it's not gonna happen, so I do 10 a.m. home HIIT workouts with my girlfriend. YouTube has been our personal trainer for the last two months. Sometimes well go for runs or stair climbs. After that, Ill usually do my own second thing and my girlfriend will do her yoga separately. This week I bought a barbell and some bumper plates, so I've been doing some deadlifts in the living room, much to my girlfriend's chagrin. We've been going for 14-mile walks just to spend some time outdoors in the sun. I recently bought a bicycle, so I'll also go for two-hour rides.

I give myself one day off a week, just to give my body some recovery time, and also let myself be a lazy slob because that's my true form. Don't tell anyone.

Did you play any sports when you were growing up?

I played rugby through high school, and I really wanted to be a professional rugby player. But unfortunately, around 2011, I suffered a pretty horrific knee injury. Somebody shoulder-tagged me, I woke up on the floor, and that was the last time I walked for about 3 months. I tore my ACL, MCL, PSL, PCL, dislocated my patella, fractured my femur, tore my lateral and medial meniscus, all in one. It was kind of like a car crash. I ended up having to get a complete knee reconstruction, and I was in a wheelchair for a few months and had to learn how to walk again.

Do you still need to do maintenance for the injured knee?

I ride my bike a lot more than I run, because my knee really struggles. I have to listen to my body a lot when I'm working out. Some days I can do calisthenics, some days I just gotta keep my two feet on the floor. I'm just grateful to be able to move still.

And I have to stretch. Especially when working outor even just being sedentary during this quarantined timeit can start really pulling on the muscles and the tendons. I try to get at least 15 minutes of stretching in every day.

What other changes did you make to your routine to prepare for the Andrew we see in Season 4?

I was really intentional about getting good sleep. I would make sure to get at least six hours, and ideally eight hours. I switched to eating only organic food, which I try to maintain now. Even when it came time to having a cheat meal, I would still make sure all the ingredients were really good quality, and everything was pesticide-free or hormone-free. And I gave up drinking, which also helped cut the calories. While I was shooting, I was intermittent fasting. I was doing 16:8, so starting eating around 12 pm and finishing at 8 pm every day.

I imagine thats a pretty challenging regiment to keep up on a shoot schedule.

It's stupid and I don't recommend it. But switching to all-organic is easy when you don't have places to be, though my grocery bill pretty much doubled. I've recently gone pescatarian and non-dairy, and I thought that would lower my grocery bill. I'm still spending ridiculous amounts of money on food. But it gives me a lot more energy, and I feel satisfied and full for longer.

I like cooking in the kitchen, so I've actually had a lot of fun going online and researching different recipes and trying to make vegan versions or healthier versions of things I love. My next mission is to find a healthy brownie. That's the final frontier for me.

I've... had a lot of brownies lately. But because I've been cooking all my meals, I'm controlling everything that goes into them. There's not too much salt, there's not too much fat. I'm making a lot of stir fries and curries and vegan pastas. I made a vegan carbonara that was a hit. I did jerk salmon tacos, and I baked my own vegan pot pie.

I read that youre not a fan of red velvet cake.

Red velvet is trash! Youre not eating anything, youre just eating food dye. I would rather have a regular, non-dyed cupcake. Red velvet is just a vanilla cupcake thats been dyed.

What did you eat growing up in Australia?

Australia has a largely multicultural eating experience, because there are so many different immigrant cultures that have strong international roots there. My mom is one of those phenoms in the kitchen. She can make anything. She'll taste it once and she can make it. I grew up eating Italian, Chinese, Thai, and British cuisines. We also definitely ate Spam. I don't know if that was something that was widely consumed amongst other people...

Do you want to defend Spam to balance out your red velvet cake take?

I'll defend Spam to the grave. Spam is basically sausage in a can. If you don't like Spam but you eat sausages, you've gotta take a long, hard look at yourself in the mirror. Spam is kind of like the meat version of tofuyou can cut it and cook it and do whatever you want with it. It's really versatile in that way. Spam and rice. Little bit of ketchup? Undefeated.

What about visiting Singapore with your motherwas experiencing the food culture there formative for you?

Theres no place I love more than a hawker center. You end up with things like roti in the same stands as a char kway teow noodle dish. These are very much comfort foods for me. Just being able to say the words makes me feel like I'm a little bit closer to my home and my mother.

You've spoken about how Andrew as a character is much more calm and level-headed than you are. How do you ground yourself if you feel like you're spinning out?

I have breathing exercises that help me regulate my breathing patterns. A voice coach once taught me that your body never has a problem with bringing air in. The issue is with exhaling. So I'll just focus on trying to remove as much air as possible, and counting there until I absolutely need to take a breath. Once I take that breath, it's usually a very deep, calming breath. It helps me reset.

I'm having a really hard time breathing at the moment. I feel really lame saying that quarantine is making me anxious, because I'm not an essential worker, I'm not a front-line worker, and I'm not battling COVID-19. And yet I still feel a level of anxiety, and I still struggle to maintain a sense of normalcy. I've been working on that with my therapist, to understand that there can be a duality in being appreciative of the privilege and luxury that I have right now, but also not understanding what else we have to go back to.

Above all else, exercise is the number one thing for me. When I become agitated, I just remember that I should go for a run or do a little workout. It tends to really help bring my feet back to Earth and give me a little bit of breathing space again. I also meditate in the mornings for 10 minutes. When I'm really good in my practice, I can get up to 20, but right now I'm at 10 minutes, and that's about all I can muster before I start distracting myself.

I have one more thing: plants. I love taking care of my plants, and sometimes I'll just hang out with them and they'll calm me down.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Real-Life Diet is a series in which GQ talks to athletes, celebrities, and everyone in-between about their diets and exercise routines: what's worked, what hasn't, and where they're still improving. Keep in mind, what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.

The Real-Life Diet of Ethan Zohn, A Three-Season Survivor Legend

The cancer survivor can tell you a thing or two about living off of just green bananas.

Originally Appeared on GQ

Go here to see the original:
The Real-Life Diet of Insecure's Alexander Hodge, Who Worked Hard for His Shirtless Moment - Yahoo Lifestyle

Its all about balance. Adele wowed the world when she showed off her slimmed-down figure earlier this month. After the reveal, Dr. Dominique Fradin-Read, who has worked with the singer, shared her tips and tricks for healthy living and weight loss.

I start by telling my patients that when it comes to weight loss, diet and exercisealonewill not be enough in most cases, the physician toldUs Weeklyexclusively on Monday, May 11. That is why many patients that come to us have tried to lose weight, they did lose somewhat but put everything back on and often even more.For a successful and sustainable weight loss, we need to look at the whole person and not just address the weight upfront.

She continued: We look at the metabolic function is the patient starting to develop insulin resistance?We look at hormones such an important part of weight gain at menopause.We look at thyroid levels and cortisol levels. We look at habits why is it that most of us will be good all day and crash at night?We evaluate stress and sleep.We talk about mood and mentalhealth.When all these elements are addressed, then we can start a personalized diet and recommend exercise as needed andit will work.

As for her connection to Adele, 32, she toldUs: As a physician, I have both moral and legal obligations to protect the privacy of all patients my own and others.That commitment is absolute, and thus I can neither confirm nor deny any information about any individual who may or may not be my patient or with whom I may have had any other personal or professional interaction.While I am happy to discuss my work as a physician and the various treatments, therapies, products and services that my practice provides, I can provide no information about specific individuals.

Fradin-Read, who is MD-board certified in preventative medicine and anti-aging medicine with a university degree in nutrition, works toward more intensive treatments after she begins her process with patients. I combine all the tools and methods in our therapeutic arsenal, starting with the most natural approaches and lifestyle changes, vitamins/supplements, to recommending peptides, rebalancing hormones and finally prescribing medications as appropriately for each patient, she explained.

The doctor recommends food choices based on the Mediterranean diet, along with chef Michel Gurards gastronomic slimming cuisine. In turn, she provides meal plans that focus on balance, personalization and flexibility.

I try to make it visual and have everyone imagine a plate divided into several parts: thegreen veggies should take approximately two-thirds of the plate, the protein of good source one-third andthe last part is reserved to the carbs, she noted. And on top, some good fat, such as olive oil or avocado or nuts, can be added.

Fradin-Read also revealed that the notion of pleasurewhen eating is at the base of [a] successful diet on the long run. Additionally, there is no one-fits-all diet and there is no constant diet for the same person. We are all more or less moving targets when it come to our weight and that is why the same diet might not work for everyone and not even for the same person for the rest of his life/her life.

The VitaLifeMD founder suggested a diet made up of nutrient-rich food, protein, good carbohydrates, good fats, dairy and a glass of wine a few days a week.

Fradin-Read also offers skin rejuvenation and an anti-aging program for patients. She hopes to give them a new way of aging healthily and beautifully in the near future with her TruAge test. This test will allow us to assess the current status of a patient by evaluating 850,000 genes points on the DNA that can be used to identify ones bodys strengths and weaknesses for the future, she said. TruAge determines your biological age, which is more accurate at predicting health span (how healthy you are) and lifespan (how long you will live) than any previous molecular biomarker and can be correlated to age-related conditions such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimers disease, cancer and more.

With reporting by Carly Sloane

Read the original here:
Adeles Doctor Details the Healthy Diet She Recommends for Successful and Sustainable Weight Loss - Us Weekly

This is a precarious and frightening time for all of us, but hope is not lost: We can protect ourselves from the coronavirus and prevent pandemics like this from happening again by the simple, individual action of eating a plant-based diet.

Covid-19 jumped into the human population from bats via a pangolin, a delicacy in China found in many wet markets selling wild and exotic animals for consumption. As a matter of fact, the majority of infectious diseases have come from animals. Ten thousand years ago, mankind started having close contact with animals when we began domesticating them for food and labor, and with this contact came bacterial and viral sicknesses. Diseases passed from animals to humans are called zoonoses and infect us through bacteria or viruses. There are more than three dozen we can catch directly through touch and more than four dozen that result from bites. The common cold came from camels in the Middle East, mad cow disease comes from cattle, and influenza comes from pigs and birds.

Our current method of raising animals for food in tight quartersaccounting for 99 percent of all productionprovides the perfect breeding ground for these nasty and deadly bacteria and viruses. A 2007 article published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information states, Influenza pandemics occur when a novel influenza strain, often of animal origin, becomes transmissible between humans. Domestic animal species such as poultry or swine in confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) could serve as local amplifiers for such a new strain of influenza.

Changing to a plant-based diet will reduce the demand for meatand boost your immune system. A recent article by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D., titled Our Most Important Defense Against Covid-19: Finding Hope Through Scientific Evidence, states that people can defend themselves against the worst effects of the Covid-19 infection, and help flatten the curve of hospitalizations, by strengthening their immune systems through their food choices. It is well-known that people over 60 years of age with pre-existing disease conditions are most vulnerable to Covid-19. And it is also known that most of these diseases are the result of poor nutrition.

Dr. Campbell cites numerous studies showing the links between viruses and cancers and how plant-based nutrition inactivates viruses prior to causing the cancer. Studies of the hepatitis B virus and liver cancer showed that Higher consumption of thiamine, plant protein, dietary fiber, and polyunsaturated fatty acids as well as blood levels of antioxidants (all from plant-based food) was associated with lower blood levels of active virus (antigen) and higher levels of inactive virus (inactive virus, immunity)all statistically significant. The reverse was true for indicators of animal-based food consumption.

We are at a crossroads. We have a real chance to not only greatly improve our health, but also reduce the probability of more pandemics by reducing our consumption of animal products. Our food system continues to be a breeding ground for these terrible illnesses as long as demand continues. The current administration has invoked the Defense Production Act to keep meat plants open and the supply of animal products flowing while ignoring the need for more test kits. I am afraid change is up to each of us.

Dave Osborn is a semi-retired contractor who lives in Point Reyes Station.

See original here:
Covid-19 and diet - Point Reyes Light

An off-label experiment in mice using disulfiram, which has been used to treat alcohol use disorder for more than 50 years, consistently normalized body weight and reversed metabolic damage in obese middle-aged mice of both sexes. The international study was led by researchers at the National Institute on Aging (NIA), part of the National Institutes of Health . The results were published online in the journal Cell Metabolism on May 14.

The scientific team studied groups of 9-month-old lab mice who had been fed a high-fat diet for 12 weeks. As expected, this diet made the mice overweight and they started to show signs of pre-diabetes-like metabolic problems, such as insulin resistance and elevated fasting blood sugar levels. Next, the scientists divided these mice into four groups to be fed four different diets for an additional 12 weeks: a standard diet alone, a high-fat diet alone, a high-fat diet with a low amount of disulfiram, or a high-fat diet with a higher amount of disulfiram. As expected, the mice who stayed on the high-fat diet alone continued to gain weight and show metabolic problems. Mice who switched to standard diet alone gradually saw their body weight, fat composition and blood sugar levels return to normal.

The mice in the remaining two groups, with either a low or high dose of disulfiram added to their still-fatty food, showed a dramatic decrease in their weight and related metabolic damage. Mice on the high disulfiram dose lost as much as 40% of their body weight in just four weeks, effectively normalizing their weight to that of obese mice who were switched back to standard diet. Mice in either disulfiram dose diet group became leaner and showed significant improvement in blood glucose levels on par with the mice who were returned to standard diet. Disulfiram treatment, which has few harmful side effects in humans, also appeared to protect the pancreas and liver from damage caused by pre-diabetic type metabolic changes and fat build up usually caused by eating a high-fat diet.

The NIA scientists, Michel Bernier, Ph.D., and Rafael de Cabo, Ph.D., collaborate frequently with researchers at NIH and beyond on studies into how changes in dietary patterns like intermittent fasting could lead to cognitive and physical health benefits. They first became interested in disulfiram after reading about the benefits this class of drug has shown in treating type 2 diabetes in rats, coupled with the growing interest in repurposing drugs that may also improve healthy aging.

When we first went down this path, we did not know what to expect, but once we started to see data showing dramatic weight loss and leaner body mass in the mice, we turned to each other and couldnt quite believe our eyes, Bernier said.

According to studys research team, the key to the positive results seem to stem from disulfirams anti-inflammatory properties, which helped the mice avoid imbalances in fasting glucose and protected them from the damage of fatty diet and weight gain while improving metabolic efficiency. Both groups of obese mice (control and disulfiram) were not subjected to any form of exercise, nor did they demonstrate noticeable spontaneous behavioral changes. Based on the evidence they observed, the researchers believe the beneficial results of disulfiram stem solely from the drug. They did not observe any negative side effects from disulfiram in the mice.

The research team stresses that these results are based on animal studies, and they cannot be extrapolated to any potential benefits for human at this point. It is recommended that disulfiram not be used off-label for weight management outside of the context of clinical trials. Still, given the findings, they are planning future steps for studying disulfirams potential, including a controlled clinical study to test if it could help individuals with morbid obesity lose weight, as well as deeper investigation into the drugs molecular mechanisms and potential for combining with other therapeutic interventions.

The research was supported by NIA through its intramural research program, NIA grants AG031782 and AG038072, in collaboration with colleagues from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Yale University, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, and University of Sydney, Australia.

This press release describes a basic research finding. Basic research increases our understanding of human behavior and biology, which is foundational to advancing new and better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat disease. Science is an unpredictable and incremental process each research advance builds on past discoveries, often in unexpected ways. Most clinical advances would not be possible without the knowledge of fundamental basic research.

Reference:

Bernier et al. Disulfiram prevents and treats diet-induced obesity and related co-morbidities in mice. Cell Metabolism. 2020 May 14. doi: /10.1016/j.cmet.2020.04.019

About the National Institute on Aging (NIA): NIA leads the U.S. federal government effort to conduct and support research on aging and the health and well-being of older people. Learn more about age-related cognitive change and neurodegenerative diseases via NIAs Alzheimer's and related Dementias Education and Referral (ADEAR) Center website. For information about a broad range of aging topics, visit the main NIA website and stay connected.

About the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA): The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, is the primary U.S. agency for conducting and supporting research on the causes, consequences, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of alcohol use disorder. NIAAA also disseminates research findings to general, professional, and academic audiences. Additional alcohol research information and publications are available at https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit https://www.nih.gov/.

NIH...Turning Discovery Into Health

Visit link:
Repurposed drug helps obese mice lose weight, improve metabolic function - National Institute on Aging

In a study published in Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, researchers found a potential correlation between mean levels of Vitamin D and the number of cases and rates of mortality caused by COVID-19.

The study (tinyurl.com/yc4dnk5j) can provide guidance about the potential protective factor of Vitamin D in treating individuals infected with COVID-19 and is particularly important for individuals who are presently deficient in Vitamin D.

How can you use this information? Take these steps to make sure you are getting enough Vitamin D.

Pay attention to your Vitamin D levels. According to the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, the recommended daily dosage of Vitamin D should be 600-800 IU for most people.

Spend time in the sunlight. It is important to protect yourself from too much sun, but getting adequate doses of Vitamin D takes very little unprotected sun exposure. Health experts recommend 8 to 15 minutes of sunlight for those with lighter skin and possibly longer for those with darker skin.

Take a supplement. Most people can make sure they are getting the daily recommended amount of Vitamin D by taking a supplement. Between 1,000 and 4,000 IU is considered a safe dose for maintaining healthy levels of Vitamin D.

Eat fatty fish and seafood. Fatty fish and seafood are among the highest dietary sources of Vitamin D. Those highest in Vitamin D include wild salmon (farmed has been shown to have up to 25 percent less), mackerel, tuna, oysters, shrimp, sardines and anchovies.

Eat mushrooms. Mushrooms are the only complete plant-source of Vitamin D. Wild mushrooms such as maitakes have been shown to be higher than others in Vitamin D levels, but always make sure to carefully identify mushrooms to be sure they are edible.

Consider adding fortified foods to your diet. Because very few foods contain naturally high levels of Vitamin D, you can increase your levels by eating foods fortified with Vitamin D. Some of these foods are: cows milk; plant-based milk alternatives like almond, hemp and soy; tofu; orange juice; some cereals and certain types of yogurt

A deficiency in Vitamin D is a major public health concern throughout the world in all age groups, but is of particular concern for those over 70. Vitamin D levels deteriorate with age from decreased sun exposure and cutaneous synthesis.

Previous studies have examined the role Vitamin D supplementation plays in protecting against acute respiratory tract infections.

A 2017 meta-analysis revealed that patients who were Vitamin D deficient, often those over 70, experienced the greatest benefit.

Additional studies have demonstrated that Vitamin D plays numerous roles in the immune system response to infection, including impairing macrophages from maturing and producing antigens.

The major limitation of this study is that Vitamin D levels are not currently available for COVID-19 patients.

Researchers relied on previously established links between Vitamin D and the immune response to respiratory tract infections.

Based on these links, the researchers in this study were able to establish a correlation between Vitamin D levels and the rate of COVID-19 deaths; however, further research is needed to account for other factors through direct measurement of Vitamin D levels among COVID-19 patients.

Diet Detective Inc., headed by Charles Platkin, Ph.D., anutrition, fitness and public health advocate, is a not-for-profit organization working to uncover the mysteries and myths surrounding food, nutrition, fitness and medicine with the goal of educating, engaging, inspiring and creating a catalyst for meaningful change in personal and community health and wellness. Find out more at dietdetective.com.

View original post here:
Diet Detective: What you need to know about vitamin D and coronavirus - Conway Daily Sun

Vitamin D is a crucial nutrient for your health and wellbeing. Now, research suggests it may play a role in preventing more severe coronavirus cases.

A major natural source of vitamin D is sunlight, and quarantine and social distancing can make it hard to get as much of that as we used to. Side effects of low vitamin D can include fatigue, more frequent infections (including cold and flu), and depressed mood.

But you can also supplement vitamin D or get it through your diet.

"Years ago, when testing vitamin D levels became more widespread, we discovered that so many people of all ages were shown to have low levels," Bonnie Taub-Dix, registered dietitian nutritionist, author of Read It Before You Eat It Taking You from Label to Table, told Insider. "A vitamin D deficiency appears to increase your susceptibility to infection."

Here are the best ways to add more vitamin D to your routine.

Sunlight is the best natural source of vitamin D, according to Taub-Dix. However, in order to get it, your skin needs to be directly exposed so your body can produce the nutrient.

"There's a myth that we get vitamin D from simply basking in the sun, but what actually happens is that compounds (like prohormone) in your skin react with the sun's UVB rays to make vitamin D, which means our skin actually has to be exposed to reap the glowing benefits," she said.

If you're able to spend time outside, that can help make sure you're getting enough vitamin D.

While sunscreen is important to protect the health of your skin, it can interfere with this process, Taub-Dix added. Aging can also make the process less efficient.

Even if you're getting lots of sun, it isn't realistic to rely on it as yourprimary vitamin D, Taub-Dix said.

Nigel O'Neil/Getty Images

Vitamin D can be easily added to your diet in the form of natural foods.

Fatty fish, including tuna and salmon, are high in vitamin D, and hat's true whether you get them fresh, frozen, or from a can, Taub-Dix said.

Eggs are also a good source, with about a tenth of your recommended vitamin D needs per serving, so a hearty omelet could get you 25% of the way to your daily dose.

Beef liver, while not everyone's favorite food, is also a good source of vitamin D in addition to other essential nutrients Taub-Dix recommends sauteing it with onions or enjoying it as a pate on crackers as easy ways to incorporate it into your diet.

Surprisingly, the richest dietary source of vitamin D doesn't come from animals at all. The humble mushroom is a great source of the nutrient, and often even more so when dried, since it's been treated with UV light as part of its processing, Taub-Dix said.

Fresh shiitake mushrooms provide about a quarter of your daily vitamin D needs, and dried shiitakes provide a full day's worth, she said.

If you're still concerned about meeting your daily vitamin needs, supplements can help. Many foods are already fortified with vitamin D when you buy them in the store these include milk (including nondairy varieties), breakfast cereal, bread, and orange juice.

If that's not enough, you can consider a supplement. Recently, a top nutritionist in the UK recommended that people supplement vitamin D during the pandemic.

However, since supplements aren't regulated by the FDA, it can be hard to know what you're getting, so it's best to leave the vitamin pills as a last resort.

No amount of vitamins can prevent or cure any disease, including the coronavirus. Too much can even make you sick.

So keep a healthy diet and get outside when possible, but don't forget to wash your hands and get plenty of sleep, too.

Read more:

Vitamin D deficiency may be tied to a higher risk of severe coronavirus infection

What is vitamin D deficiency? How less sun can make you vulnerable to infection

Take vitamin D supplements to make up for lost sunshine while quarantined indoors, the UK's top nutritionist says

Read more:
Vitamin D could play a role in fighting the coronavirus. Here's how to get more in your diet. - Insider - INSIDER

High blood pressure is a common condition that affects more than a quarter of all adults in the UK. But, you could lower your risk of developing hypertension by following the DASH diet, it's been claimed.

High blood pressure - which is also known as hypertension - puts extra stress on blood vessels and vital organs.

The condition could lead to some deadly complications, including strokes and heart attacks.

It could be caused by eating an unhealthy diet, or by not doing enough exercise.

But, following the DASH diet could help to protect against deadly hypertension.

READ MORE: High blood pressure - home exercise to prevent hypertension

"Eat the DASH way - research has demonstrated that the DASH diet is effective for high blood pressure," said registered nutritionist Harriet Smith.

She told Express Health: "This way of eating includes foods rich in potassium, calcium and magnesium; which can help to lower blood pressure.

"Try to include fruits and vegetables, wholegrains, dairy, nuts, seeds, pulses, lean meat and fish and healthy fats such as olive or rapeseed oil in your diet."

The DASH diet has also been claimed to protect against osteoporosis, diabetes, and even some cancers.

Link:
High blood pressure - the best diet plan to lower your risk of deadly hypertension - Express

All featured products are curated independently by our editors. When you buy something through our retail links, we may receive a commission.

Gluten-free food is everywhere these days, but if you dont have celiac disease, do you need to eat it? In honor of Celiac Awareness Month (and because the interest in GF everything doesnt seem to be waning), weve refreshed our guide to going gluten-freewhich also touches on why some people really shouldnt.

You cant shop the aisles of a supermarket, peruse a fast-casual restaurant menu, or scan a rack of food magazines without seeing it, the GF tag: gluten-free. No movement has consumed contemporary food like the gluten-free one, though keto may be coming close. Once a heavily restricted survival diet for those who suffered from celiac disease, gluten-free has become a mode of eating of choice for most of us, a way to battle mild to moderate wheat allergies weve only become aware of, cut down on carbs, or just to eat healthier, and with more intention.

Along with ubiquity comes easy adoption, or relatively so. Thanks to a host of food products, from raw ingredients like gluten-free flours to GF prepared foods, its possible to live a gluten-free lifestyle without major disruptions in your daily life. You can go out to eat (though if you do have severe gluten allergies, that can still be dicey), and cook pretty much the same types of foods you always did, without much in the way of major inconvenience.

Disclaimer: It was in 2016 that we wrote that, and in 2014 Sarah Henry covered the then-current state of the gluten-free movement for us; its safe to say, its even more mainstream these days (and GFF Magazine has outlasted Lucky Peach). So well say it again: Gluten-free is still the new normal. Or maybe just normal.

If you havent yet taken the plunge, going gluten-free does take some reflection, and vigilance. So herefor anyone thinking of taking up gluten-free eating for the first time, or being more conscious about gluten and its adjustmentswe offer this guide.

Getty Images / fcafotodigital

Gluten-free foods were originally prescribed for people with celiac disease, a serious genetic autoimmune condition that occurs when gluten causes the body to destroy its own intestinal lining. Celiac sufferers have no choice but to avoid gluten, since failure to do so can lead to serious complications, including cancer of the small intestine. (Scroll down for more information on CD.)

Thanks to a slew of high-profile advocates for the gluten-free lifestyleincluding Wheat Bellys William Davis and David Perlmutter, author of Grain Brain (not to mention various celebrities)a growing number of us believe we suffer from a less severe gluten intolerance, non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS), and that its the cause of maladies like joint pain, skin conditions, arthritis, and adrenal fatigue.

Because NCGS doesnt have a specific set of symptoms, doctors rarely diagnose it; some dont believe it even exists. Still, researchers say that as many as 18 million Americans could have some adverse reaction to wheat products, a problem attributed to everything from wheats changing genetics to FODMAPs, a group of carbohydrates that often cause abdominal pain and bloating.

If you have no adverse physical reactions to foods containing gluten, nutritionists advise against a restrictive diet, since it can do more harm than good. It makes you prone to having low levels of certain vitamins and minerals, and gluten-free versions of processed foods can be costly, and in some cases contain more fat, carbs, sugar, and sodium than their standard counterparts.

Gluten is kind of a catch-all name for particular types of proteins that are in many grains, including the most common types of cereal grains: wheat, rye, and barley, but also kamut, spelt, and other wheat relatives.

(Oats are technically gluten-free, but run into trouble from cross-contamination with wheat in milling facilities. Whats more, theres a protein in oats thats similar to the one in gluten and that can affect people with celiac disease. For nonceliac sufferers, it is now possible to buy oats that are certified gluten-freescroll down for more on what you can buy, and what to avoid.)

The combination of proteins that makes up gluten coalesces into an elastic network that gives structure to pasta, breads, and other baked goods. So far, so good. The difficulty comes from all the sneaky gluten lurking in unexpected foods, like some vanilla extracts you might pick up, unsuspectingly, at the supermarket.

Chowhound

Celiac disease, commonly referred to as CD, is a genetic disorder. When someone with CD eats food containing gluten (even small amounts), they experience an immune-mediated toxic reaction that afflicts the small intestine, preventing the food from being absorbed. Even if they dont experience immediate symptoms, damage to the small bowel can result. A recent study conducted by NYU Grossman School of Medicine researchers suggests there may be a link between pesticides and celiac disease; the same study also cites chemicals in some nonstick cookware as potential triggers for CD in young girls (and celiac disease seems to occur at much higher rates in the female population in general).

If youre thinking of going gluten-free because you suspect you have a sensitivity to wheat and other grains, you should probably begin by talking to a health care provider. He or she might refer you to a gastroenterologist and/or require tests, which you should doits never a bad idea to check in with a doctor before changing your diet.

For more information on CD, check out the Center for Celiac Research, the Gluten Intolerance Group, and Beyond Celiac.

Chowound

You may be wondering: If a gluten-free diet is only truly necessary for celiac or NCGS sufferers, then why are so many people insistent that going gluten-free has helped them lose weight? Some researchers are quick to point out that there are no published reports showing that a gluten-free diet produces weight loss in people without celiac disease or gluten sensitivity. But take away gluten from an unprocessed diet, and youll find yourself eliminating starchy, refined grains like bread, pasta, cake, and other sweets. What youre left with are meats, seafood, beans, nuts, seeds, dairy, and fats, a preponderance of nutrient-dense foods that make you feel satiated more quickly, thanks to healthy fats and fibers.

Gluten-Free GroceriesThe Best Gluten-Free Snacks to Buy OnlineAccording to Shauna James Ahern, creator of the popular blog Gluten-Free Girl, wheat is where youll find gluten 90 percent of the time in the American diet. Along with types of wheat (barley, rye, triticale, kamut, spelt), look for wheat products referred to a number of different ways, such as durum, farina, graham flour, and semolina.

And while it may be obvious that gluten lurks in flour-based products like cake, cereal, breading, and pasta, you may not realize that its often present in chocolate, condiments, soft and hard candy, bouillon, soy sauce, and salad dressings, too. Even pills and vitamins sometimes use gluten as a binding agent.

So always read labels, and when in doubt, ask (especially when dining out).

When it comes to baking (and breading things), good replacements for wheat flour are no longer hard to come by. Companies like Glutino, Cup4Cup, and King Arthur Flour offer widely distributed flour substitutes. As an alternative, you can make your own gluten-free flour mix at home, and customize it however you want.

Chowhound

Related Reading: The Best Flour Substitute for Whatever Youre Baking or Cooking

Beware that wheat-free doesnt necessarily mean free of gluten, and some grains, like oats, are naturally gluten-free, but often contaminated with wheat during production, so look for a certified gluten-free label.

Beans, eggs, meats, seafood, and fruits and vegetables are all naturally gluten-free; make them at home, and you wont have concerns about wheat contamination. For a quick starch fix, rice, potatoes, and corn-based products like polenta make nice stand-ins for breads, noodles, and pasta (though plenty of gluten-free pasta options do exist now too).

With some exceptions, wines, spirits, and vinegars are gluten-free (but you should always double check, and beware of malt). And youre in the clear eating any of the following, as long as they havent been processed with other gluten-containing grains: amaranth, arrowroot, buckwheat, cornmeal, flax, rice flour, soy, quinoa, millet, rice, sorghum, tapioca, teff, xanthan gum, potato flour, chickpea flour, and plantain flour.

Grain-like plants that contain no gluten:

Gluten-free flours made from the above list, as well as those made from nuts (like almond flour), potatoes, plantains, beans, and coconut. Make sure theyre labeled gluten-free, to avoid cross-contamination.

Dairy products, including milk, butter, margarine, real cheese, plain yogurt, and ice creams (as long as theyre free of gluten-containing add-ins like cookie dough!)

Vegetable oils (including canola oil)

Plain fruits, vegetables, meat, seafood, potatoes, eggs, nuts, nut butters, beans, and legumes (many of which are nutritionally dense superfoods)

Distilled vinegar

Mono and diglycerides

Spices (beware of blends and always read the ingredients list for hidden glutenbut if there are no ingredients listed, that means the jar contains only the spice or spices on the label)

Hard liquor and wine (almost always)

Wheat in all forms (spelt, kamut, triticale, durum, einkorn, farro, farina, semolina, cake flour, matzo, and couscous)

Barley and malt, which is usually made from barley, including malt syrup, malt extract, malt flavoring and malt vinegar

Rye

Breaded or floured meat, poultry, seafood, and vegetables, when the breading is made with wheat

Soy and teriyaki sauces (and any meat, poultry, or vegetables with a sauce or marinade that contains these); coconut aminos can be a good substitute

Foods fried in the same oil as breaded products

Licorice, which is made with wheat flour, and other candies containing wheat or barley (againget used to reading labels)

Beer is gluten-free when made from gluten-free grains. Beer made from barley processed to remove the gluten is not considered to be gluten-free. (Read more about the difference between gluten-free and gluten-removed beer.)

Flavorings are usually gluten-free, but in rare instances can contain wheat or barley.

Wheat starch is allowed in gluten-free foods if the wheat starch has been processed to remove the gluten protein.

Oats are considered safe on the gluten-free diet if they have been specially processed to prevent cross-contamination by gluten-containing grains. They should be specifically labeled gluten-free.

Processed cheese (spray cheese, for example) may contain gluten; real cheese is gluten-free.

Products labeled as wheat-free are not necessarily gluten-free. They could still contain spelt, rye, or barley-based ingredients. Another reason to always, always read the label, especially if gluten truly makes you ill.

You can find gluten-free recipes in tons of places these days, from cookbooks to blogs (and of course, on Chowhound), but you dont necessarily have to search for gluten-free in particularif you get familiar with which ingredients are safe and which ones arent, youll recognize that plenty of standard recipes are naturally gluten-free, or are easily made that way with minor substitutions. Because the paleo and Whole30 diets exclude gluten, any recipes with those labels should also be safe. Here are some basic gluten-free recipes to get you started and keep you satisfied, morning, noon, and night.

Slather these flaky biscuits with butter and jam, smother them in gravy, or serve them on the side of nearly any dinner (or breakfast) you like. Get our Gluten-Free Buttermilk Biscuits recipe.

A light brush of olive oil helps our homemade our Gluten-Free Pizza Crust recipe crisp up in the ovenbut for an easier option, our Cauliflower Pizza Crust recipe is also gluten-free.

Chowhound

A mix of four different flours gives these GF pancakes a similar flavor and texture to traditional ones. (Luckily, maple syrup is GF, but some pancake syrup can contain gluten in the form of malt.) Get our Gluten-Free Pancakes recipe.

Chowhound

Americas best-loved cookies go gluten-free. This recipe uses a mix of milk and semisweet chocolate chips, but if you love dark chocolate feel free to use bittersweet. Get our Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe.

Chowhound

No flavor sacrificed in these GF chocolate treats. Get our Gluten-Free Brownies recipe.

Note: This article was originally published in 2016, and has been updated with new images, links, and text.

Header image courtesy of Shutterstock.

Go here to read the rest:
Gluten-Free 101: Everything You Need to Know About Gluten & Avoiding It - Chowhound