Category Archives: Diet And Food

Ottawa social worker Elaine Birchall can tell you all about people who keep way too much stuff, how youll know if youre one of them and what to do about it.

There are a lot of misconceptions about hoarding, starting with the one that those who hoard are survivors of the Depression or other deep deprivation.

Not true, says Birchall. While there is such as thing as adaptive hoarding people who acquire and save things because they know theyll need them the other kind is maladaptive or compulsive hoarding. Whatever that person intended to do with all those things, that has broken down.

Some of the nicest people I know are people who hoard, said Birchall, the founder of the Canadian National Hoarding Coalition, who has since trained mental health professional health professionals across North America. Her book, Conquer the Clutter, was published this month.

One of those is Lucy, an Ottawa woman who ended up the curator of the possessions of seven family members after they died and couldnt bear to part with any of it without total anguish. That included seven sets of china.

Every piece of china had been passed own to me in a custodial manner. And I was to hold it in the same esteem, said Lucy. I got to the point where I couldnt deal with it.

Birchall has worked more than 600 people who hoard. Her book, Conquer the Clutter, includes examples of interventions and therapeutic plans for some of the clients she and her clutter coaches have worked with.

Spoiler alert: Its not always happily-ever-after. Lucy is now down to four sets of china. Its a work in progress, she said.

Birchall was hired as a social worker with Ottawa Public Health in 2002 and tasked with continuing the research the municipal agency had started about a new type of referral. No one quite understood what it was. It felt different. Ottawa Public Health wanted to know what they were dealing with, said Birchall./

She went into private practice in 2007 and founded Birchall Consulting to work as a hoarding behaviour and intervention specialist.

Hoarding affects so many municipal departments fire, police, bylaw and public housing, to name a few. It was a lot bigger than anything we ever imagined. I was getting calls from the fire marshals office in Toronto. Hoarding has a direct correlation to homelessness and the risk of homelessness, she said. Not every hoarding situation is that severe. But it is a compulsive disorder.

About 15 years ago, researchers believed that one or two per cent of the population hoarded. It used to be considered a syndrome of obsessive-compulsive disorder, but became a distinct disorder in its own right in the DSM-5, the diagnostic manual of psychiatric disorders, in 2013.

Now were talking about five or six per cent. But that cant be accurate. I cant go anywhere without someone self-identifying as hoarding, or telling me theyre worried about someone. Even if its only five or six per cent, we need better research, said Birchall.

There are three paths that put people at higher risk of hoarding behaviour. One of these is genetic. Research shows that 84 per cent of people with obsessive compulsive disorder who hoard have a mother, father, sister or brother who also hoards, said Birchall. Then you add the power of modelling behaviour. When children grow up in a very cluttered, chaotic environment, they either react with extreme minimalism or they cant find the skills to simplify their lives.

The second path is having a high-risk co-morbid factor like depression, social isolation or an addiction. It makes it more difficult for people to manage.

The third path is for those are even mildly disorganized, then becoming vulnerable and overwhelmed. It could be a major event, like a death in the family or a health crisis, or a series of smaller events. Sometimes people acquire and save things to soothe themselves. In other cases, they compartmentalize their lives. They go to work and pretend that everything is fine, but they go home to a hoarded house. Theres a whole section in the book on online shopping, said Birchall.

Birchall decided to write Conquer the Clutter because she believes those who struggle with such a private, personal challenge as hoarding disorder have credibility. I wanted a legacy of the last 18 years of what I had learned professionally, and what I had been taught by my clients.

Among them was a couple who decided to surrender their three boys to child protective services because they could not declutter their house to make it safe. Sometimes even the threat of official intervention isnt enough motivation to change.

The most heart-wrenching situations are those when people know that they are not able to resolve the problem, said Birchall.

She often gets asked about Japanese organizing guru Marie Kondos method of tidying up.

The method of choosing things that spark joy is a recipe for disaster for people who hoard. For them, everything sparks joy. There are people who are really motivated by her method and theyre able to maintain it. These are not people who hoard. I had a client who could organize her underwear drawer, but could not apply it to the rest of her home.

In order to change, people have to change their relationship with their things, so they dont use them to cope with something else, said Birchall. She challenges her clients to face their fears, beliefs, fundamental values, things that they had been taught as children and their sentimental attachments to their possessions.

The younger people are when they start the hoarding behaviour, and the longer they engage in the behaviour, the harder they will have to work on their mental processes. At a minimum, I believe people can learn to manage and understand what their triggers are and avoid those triggers. Its like a diet. Sometimes that chocolate cake is going to look really good. The trick is to know yourself and respect yourself, she said.

If you have a one-thing-in-one-thing-out system, then youre not in danger. But some people cant discard things. Were not organizers. I dont do the cleanup unless the person engages in a counselling relationship. I dont shame and blame.

Lucy has been working with Birchall for years.

There was no shame or condemnation, unlike the (Hoarders) TV show. They go in, they blitz it, and they dont deal with the underlying issue, she said.

Lucy has no family to inherit the things that have been entrusted to her. Her way of letting go has been to donate her things, but to choose the charity.

It was a matter of letting it go in stages and not be torn up about it.

(Conquer the Clutter, co-written with Suzanne Cronkwright, is available through Birchall Consulting, Amazon.com through Amazon.ca next month, and Chapters Indigo in the Ottawa area.)

1. Indiscriminate hoarding: These people acquire different kinds of stuff and hold on to it until they are discovered and persuaded to reduce their collections. Given enough time and without treatment, indiscriminate hoarders create personal and public health and safety hazards.

2. Discriminate hoarding: These people accumulate things they see as attractive and valuable. They see themselves as collectors.

3. Combination hoarding: Valued items are mixed up in piles with unimportant things. These people often fail to discard everyday items such as food containers, garbage, newspapers and unused furniture.

4. Hoarding in Diogenes syndrome: Often called senior squalor syndrome, this is a situation featuring extreme neglect, domestic squalor and social isolation as well as apathy. These people are often suspicious and paranoid about public officials.

5. Animal hoarding: These people have so many animals that both human and animal health and safety are compromised.

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She conquers the clutter: Ottawa's Elaine Birchall has written the book on hoarding - Ottawa Citizen

LifestyleWellbeingIrritable and snappy just before lunch? Its not just in your head needing a snack can severely affect your mood, says Ellen Manning

Tuesday, 15th October 2019, 14:45 pm

Most of us have experienced the feeling. You havent eaten, youre irritable, grumpy and cant concentrate. Youre hangry.

Theres science behind it, too. Last year, researchers at the University of Guelph in Canada discovered that feeling angry when youre hungry is due to a sudden drop in glucose levels, which can have a lasting effect on your mood. They studied the impact of such a sharp drop on the emotional behaviour of rats.

One group of rats was injected with a glucose metabolism blocker and put in a specific chamber. Another group was injected with water and put in a different chamber. When the rats were later given the choice of which chamber to go back into, most avoided the one where they had suffered the drop in glucose, or suffered hypoglycaemia. This suggests they recognise that this caused them stress and anxiety, say the researchers.

Hunger and anger can look the same in the brain

Some of the chemical signals that are released when were hungry are the same as when we are angry, explains Sophie Medlin, consultant dietitian and director of CityDietitians. This means that the same pathways in our brains are triggered when were hungry as when were angry, making the two feelings difficult to distinguish between. When our blood sugars drop, these signals are released and we become motivated to find food.

However, Kristen Lindquist, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of North Carolina, who carried out research into hanger with PhD candidate Jennifer MacCormack, says its a bit more complicated than this. People commonly confuse body states with emotions, such as a rapidly beating heart for anxiety, feelings of hunger for anger, she says.

Lindquist says her research with MacCormack looked at the way context can influence how people interpret those hunger pangs, and what happens to make them manifest themselves as hanger.

Why hanger happens

Hanger occurs when were feeling the sensations associated with being hungry unpleasantness, high energy, a clenched stomach but we are in a context associated with anger. For example, someone criticises us or violates a norm, she says. In those cases, we interpret our bodily feelings as hunger instead of anger. Critically, this doesnt happen just any time youre hungry. The context needs to be right. Our findings show that if youre in a positive or neutral environment you wont feel hanger. You need to have the opportunity to infer that your body state is about anger.

So, if you are suffering from hanger, what actually happens to you? According to Geeta Sidhu-Robb, nutritionist and founder of health foods brand Nosh Detox, hanger can sap our productivity and affect our decision-making and perception of risk as well as our mood.

Our bodies release hormones when we are hungry. These in turn lead to the cravings that we find all too familiar, she says. However, when we are not able to sate our bodys needs, we become fatigued, less enthused and irritable.

Snappy and irritable

It also affects the way we interact, she adds. Hunger makes us snappy and irritable and actually more desperate. In a working environment it is becoming ever more important to sustain healthy professional relationships with colleagues and clients. If you arent feeling yourself, this isnt going to be the case as you take it out on those nearest to you.

There is an unlucky portion of society that is more likely to suffer with hanger. Our anger response is partly dictated by genetics and environmental experiences as well as by hormones, Medlin explains. Men typically release greater levels of the chemicals that trigger anger and have more of the receptors for them, but women may experience different levels of hanger as their hormones fluctuate through their menstrual cycle.

So how do you combat hanger? Sidhu-Robb says there are fixes that can help alleviate symptoms. These include eating fruit to keep cravings at bay as well as drinking water. A final fix is setting a regular eating schedule. Random snacking can confuse our brains into producing hunger hormones irregularly. The body loves rituals and regularity. The more you offer that the happier you and your body will be.

Don't go too long between meals

Medlin agrees, suggesting that people plan meals and snacks that stabilise blood sugars and try to not go too long in between meals. She suggests high-fibre, high-protein foods, as well as lots of vegetables and in general, keeping blood sugars stable.

There is arguably a longer-term benefit to keeping things a bit more stable when it comes to your food. The researchers who carried out tests on rats believed that missing meals regularly could affect your overall mood. PhD student Thomas Horman, who led that study, said poor mood and poor eating could become a vicious cycle.

The general effect of food on our mood and mental health is something to which Dr Sally Bell thinks we should all pay a bit more attention. She has been a doctor for 20 years, and helps people by looking at elements of their life such as food, sleep and movement and encouraging them to make changes that could help. She runs workshops at Hampton Manor in the Midlands, where guests hear about the role food plays in mood while eating a specially designed dinner designed to illustrate some of the points.

When Im dealing with mood issues the first place I will go to is the gut, says Dr Bell. Theres really robust research now that the health of our gut bacteria, our microbiome, is very much linked to mental health issues. And we know that the health of that bacteria and the integrity of that gut lining is influenced by what we eat.

Stopping hunger turning into hanger

For Lindquist, awareness is also key helping you to deal with the way you interpret your feelings of hunger and avoid them turning intohanger.

If youre aware of your emotions, you can short-circuit hanger, perhaps because you can regulate your feelings or recognise that you just need to eat something. People can become more aware of their body sensations, the context that they are in, and how they are interpreting their feelings.

If theyre feeling frustrated while trying to complete a task at work right before lunch, they may just have low blood sugar. Dont have a tense conversation with your spouse while making dinner wait until after youve eaten something.

We know this is the case for little kids, but seem to have forgotten that hunger can make us irritable as adults, too.

Foods to avoid if youre feeling hangry

The best things to eat if youre feeling hangry

Go here to read the rest:
The science behind why we really get 'hangry' before eating and how to prevent it - iNews

How many diets have you started? After that initial high where youre absolutely killing it, once you start thinking, Can I never have ice cream again?, how many diets have you stopped? Our culture puts a big emphasis on diets that centers nearly exclusively around what youre eating and how much. Of course, this is huge: any diet addresses the food youre eating. But why youre eating all the triggers besides hunger that cause you to graze is at the core of why diets succeed or fail.

Noom is an app that takes a holistic, mindful approach to healthy dieting. Its a meal tracker, sure, but it also provides a customized plan for altering negative thought patterns around food, a curriculum thats been developed based on psychological studies. They use tons of research to create game plans (not meal plans) that help you break bad habits, set actionable goals, and identify deeper motivations for dieting all of which help keep you pushing when the new-diet shine fades and you want to dive into a swimming pool filled with of mint chocolate chip mouth first.

Users new to Noom answer questions to build a demographic profile to create a plan that makes sense for them. The questions vary from the obvious (age, weight, eating habits) to the nuanced (medical issues, geographic location, attitude toward dieting). Interested in seeing what your personalized plan looks like? Head to noom.com to get started! | Start at Noom >

Scouted is internet shopping with a pulse. Follow us on Twitter and sign up for our newsletter for even more recommendations and exclusive content. Please note that if you buy something featured in one of our posts, The Daily Beast may collect a share of sales.

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3 AN APP FOR THAT Noom's Weight-Loss App Is About More Than Tracking Calories The - The Daily Beast

Enjoying healthy fats lately? You can probably thank the ketogenic diet for bringing these wonderful macronutrients back into the fold of a well-balanced diet.For years, the wordfat was condemned, ringing fear into the hearts of health-conscious folks. Yet, due to the science of lipidologists and researchers, this vital macronutrient has made the ultimate comeback.

Healthy fat is not only essential for a healthy functioning brain and nervous system, but its also been found to be an important nutrient for lowering cholesterol levels, promoting a healthy heart, reducing inflammation, and even boosting the health of skin, hair, and eyes.

Yet, one of the most surprising health benefits of high fat, low carb diet essentially the ketogenic diet is its effect on cancer cells. In fact, the keto diet is now being considered an adjunct therapy in addition to chemotherapy and radiation, boosting the efficacy of these treatments, while also nourishing the body and fighting cancer at its core.

Lets take a deeper dive into the keto diets amazing effects on cancer!

The keto diet short for ketogenic diet focuses on pushing your body into a state of ketosis a normal metabolic process in which the body does not have enough glucose for energy and therefore it burns stored fat instead [which] results in a build-up of acids called ketones within the body. In order to reach a state of ketosis, you must reduce your intake of glucose basically, arbs and sugar which forces your body to turn to other sources of energy.

The One Green Planet article entitled Breaking Down the Ketogenic Diet for Plant-Based Eaters breaks down the ketogenic diet succinctly:

The ketogenic dietrelies on three specific dietary elements: extremely low-carb intake, very high-healthy fat intake, and, depending on the type of keto diet, a certain intake of protein. By reducing carbohydrates such asstarches, fruits, and breadsthat are loaded with glucose youll push your body towards fat burning. By increasing healthy fat intake, your body will become an efficient fat-burning machine! Along with burning fat (revealed aspossibly the superior source of energy), ketosis accomplished via the ketogenic diet has also been shown tolower blood sugar and insulin levelsleading to a healthy insulinsensitive state.

There are four types of ketogenic dieting to choose from, all of which aim to achieve ketosis, yet for different reasons. The standard ketogenic diet focuses on 75 percent fat, 20 percent protein, and only five percent carbs. Cyclical ketogenic dieting allows for periods of carbohydrate ingesting mixed with periods of strict ketogenic dieting. Targeted ketogenic dieting allows for carbohydrate ingestion around high-intensity workouts, while following a keto diet at all other times. The high-protein ketogenic diet allows for 60 percent fat, 35 percent protein, and five percent carbs.

Depending on what you aim to achieve with ketosis, youll want to choose wisely with the type of keto diet!

kkolosov/Pixabay

While there are many health benefits that come from following the keto diet healthy weight management, reducing the risk of heart disease, lower risk of Alzheimers, and aiding with acne prevention and treatment, to name just a few one of the most profound currently being researched is the keto diets affect on cancer.

Cancer cells require a large amount of glucose to satisfy their energy needs and have demonstrated increased glucose metabolism compared with normal cells. Knowing this simple fact about cancer cells, the ketogenic diet is proposed as a potential adjuvant therapy by exploiting these differences between cancer and normal cells. Not only does the keto diet lower blood glucose levels, but it also promotes the creation of ketones which are not cancer-friendly when it comes to energy pathways, therefore you are decreasing the food supply for cancer cells and hopefully starving them out.

This relationship is specifically prevalent when it comes to certain types of tumors.

In a recent study published byCell Reports, it was discovered that restricting your blood sugar might also help combat certain cancerous tumor growths. While this specific research study is truly in its infancy, the findings are incredibly illuminating, especially when it comes to the relationship between sugar and cancer. In particular, it helped boost the validity of a study in 2017 which suggested that a specific type of cancer called squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) was particularly reliant on glucose to sustain itself and survive. By removing its main food source, patients were seeing positive outcomes.

While this specific study is new, the ketogenic diet has already been targeted much earlier on as a form of adjuvant therapy for cancer patients.

Way back in 2014, researchers were already looking at the keto diet for its ability to fight cancer identifying the keto diet as an adjuvant therapy to conventional radiation and chemotherapies' due to its ability to regulate blood sugar levels and selectively induce metabolic oxidative stress in cancer cells. This study hypothesized that the ketogenic diet could make cancer cells more sensitive to treatments like chemotherapy and radiation and therefore make them more effective.

1643606/Pixabay

If you venture down the keto diet path, youll notice that it oftentimes focuses on meat and meat-based products (such as butter and full-fat dairy) in order to obtain that coveted 75 percent fat daily content. So, how do you go about practicing a keto diet when youre a practicing vegetarian or vegan? Turns out there is a whole diet that focuses on this practice called ketotarian. Take the ketogenic diet, remove all animal products, divvy up your carbs a bit differently (up your intake of carbs to around 15 percent instead of the traditional 5), and up in the intake of healthy fat-filled plant-based foods. This is the ketotarian diet. If you want to start practicing a ketotarian diet, here are a few tried and true healthy plant-based fat sources to get you going!

If youre not a fan of avocado and youre switching to a ketotarian diet, you may need to change your tune and reprogram those taste buds. Avocados are one of the best sources of healthy fats, vitamins, minerals, and fiber in the plant-based kingdom. One pitted fruit offers a whopping 21 grams of fat 13 grams of monounsaturated, 2.5 grams of polyunsaturated, almost 3 grams of saturated, 150 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids and 2298 milligrams of omega-6 fatty acids. With that said, one of the most important aspects of a balanced diet is the inclusion of a variety of nutrients in one simple package. Along with healthy fat, that one avocado also provides 9 grams of dietary fiber, 2.7 grams of protein, vitamins (C, E, and K, in particular), as well as folate, choline, niacin, calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium.

One of my favorite guilty pleasures is eating avocado raw, straight from the peel! Simply remove the pit and fill the crate with your choice of oil I do extra-virgin olive oil some balsamic vinaigrette, salt, and a dash of pepper. If youre not an avocado lover, try integrating avocado into recipes that mask the flavor a bit such as this Chocolate Banana Avocado Pudding, this Grilled Mexican Quesadilla with Lentils, or this super flavorful, yet raw Basil Mustard Salad.

Raw Chocolate Energy Bars/One Green Planet

I cant say enough wonderful things about these plant-based foods! Both nuts and seeds pretty much any type that you choose provide a plentiful source of healthy fats including monounsaturated, polyunsaturated, saturated, and the omegas. Yet, nuts and seeds provide much more! Depending on the type of nut or seed, youll also get a helping of vitamins, minerals, protein, and fiber.

For instance, one cup of almonds one of the keto diet staples has over 20 grams of protein, over 11 grams of fiber, vitamins A and E, folate, niacin, choline, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, selenium and over 40 grams of fat 29.3 grams of monounsaturated, 11.5 grams of polyunsaturated, 3.5 grams saturated, and around 11,466 milligrams of the omegas.

Another great example are sunflower seeds. One cup of dry roasted sunflower seed kernels as over 24 grams of protein, over 11 grams of fiber, vitamins A, C, E, K, B6, niacin, folate, choline, calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, selenium and over 63 grams of fat 12.2 grams of monounsaturated, 42.1 grams of polyunsaturated, 6.7 grams of saturated, and around 42,053 milligrams of the omegas.

These are just two examples sourced from a plethora of options including cashews, macadamias, brazil nuts, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, chia seed, and flaxseed, to mention just a few. When it comes to the keto diet, nuts are a great source of both fat and protein, which are both essential for energy. Try incorporating nuts and seeds in your keto-friendly daily regimen so that they work for you by boosting energy such as these Almond Cashew Coconut Energy Bites, this Adaptogenic Nut-Granola, these Raw Chocolate Energy Bars,

Keep in mind that youll want to avoid sugar to meet keto demands, so for the above-mentioned recipes reduce or remove the use of sugar-filled ingredients such as maple syrup. You can always replace these sugary ingredients with keto-friendly sweet options such as monk fruit sweetener.

Peanut Tofu Stir-Fry/One Green Planet

If youre like me, then integrating fat into your diet is a bit scary. All of our lives weve been warned against fat with most marketing geared towards low-fat options. Healthy, fat-filled oil was one of the more difficult ingredients for me to integrate into my diet based around this fear. Yet, once you start youll never go back! Healthy oils are not only rich and satiating, but they also boost the overall flavor profile of your food, especially when it comes to vegetables. Plus, they offer that second layer of healthy fat via plant-based sources to help you reach ketosis for your keto diet.

As a ketotarian, what oils can you depend on?

First and foremost, youll want to try out extra-virgin coconut oil. Youll hear a lot of controversy around coconut oil due to the fact that 90 percent of the fat content is sourced from saturated fat. Yet, recent studies have started to illuminate that healthily sourced saturated fat may not be as bad for you as they once believed. While saturated fats are commonly found in red meat, whole milk and other whole-milk dairy foods, cheese and many commercially prepared baked goodsunprocessed and healthy saturated fat is found in plant-based sources such as coconut oil. Coconut oil is one of the safest oils to cook due to its stability and its an excellent trade out for butter in a vegan diet. You can use it to bind such as in this Superfood Chocolate Bark recipe or this Banana Bread. Its a great coconut flavoring and fatty addition to energy-boosting smoothies such as this Turmeric Smoothie. Even stir-fry safely to get crispy veggies such as in this Peanut Tofu Stir-Fry, simply swap out sesame oil for coconut!

Next up, extra-virgin olive oil. Youve probably heard a lot about how healthy this oil is for you and, based on the research, its all true! Olive oil is simply squeezed from olives which also happen to be one of the best sources of plant-based fat bottled and sold. Some favor olive oil over coconut due to the fact that it has a lower percentage of saturated fat 13.8 percent with a largely monounsaturated fat content 73 percent while also offering a healthy dose of the omegas and vitamins E and K. This makes it a wonderful fat for plant-based keto diets! On top of that, olive oil is riddled with antioxidants, most notably anti-inflammatory oleocanthal, as well as oleuropein, a substance that protects LDL cholesterol from oxidation. One of the best uses of extra-virgin olive oil is raw. Its got a rich flavor that satiates, boosting flavor palates, which is makes this oil wonderful to use as a dressing like this Apple Cider Dijon Vinaigrette on neutral-flavored salads such as Spinach and Fig Salad, this Eat the Rainbow, or this Lentil Salad with Crunchy Veggies and Herbs.

We also highly recommend downloading ourFood Monster App, which is available foriPhone, and can also be found onInstagramandFacebook. The app has more than 15,000 plant-based, allergy-friendly recipes, and subscribers gain access to new recipes every day. Check it out!

For more Vegan Food, Health, Recipe, Animal, and Life content published daily, dont forget to subscribe to theOne Green Planet Newsletter!

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The Cancer-Fighting Properties of a Plant-Based Keto Diet - One Green Planet

Police are searching for a 3-year-old girl who was abducted from a birthday party on Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama. Kamille Cupcake McKinney vanished while outside with other kids. According to the children, a black male and white female in a dark SUV took McKinney. The vehicle was described as a dark blue or green Toyota Sequoia with damage to the rear bumper. According to an 11-year-old boy at the party, the man got out of the SUV, picked up McKinney, and put her in the vehicle. On Sunday night, police stopped a vehicle matching the description of the Sequoia in Birmingham and took a man into custody for questioning, AL.com reports.

Police do not believe the abduction is related to a custodial issue.

I just want my daughter back. Ill pay anything, Ill put up anything, Kamilles father, Dominic McKinney, said. Everybody knows Cupcake and Ill do anything to bring that baby back home. Her father said he has no idea why someone would take his daughter. Shes scared, shes lonely, she doesnt know whats going on. Shes just a baby, he said. She was reportedly wearing a pink shirt with a Minnie Mouse and leopard print design and leopard print shorts, and had yellow, white, and blue bows in her hair at the time she disappeared. Her shoes were found in the parking lot.

An abduction like this, a child just being taken off the street, is in no way common to the city of Birmingham, said Birmingham police Deputy Chief Scott Praytor. Were trying to make sure we get this child back to her family. Police on Sunday added a new tip line for the case. Anyone with information is urged to call 205-297-8413.

Read more from the original source:
Three-Year-Old Girl Abducted From Birthday Party in Alabama - The Daily Beast

The Justice Department filed a brief on Friday asking a federal appeals court to block the release of President Trump's tax returns to the Manhattan district attorney's office, claiming that local prosecutors needed to meet a high legal threshold before investigating Trump. According to The New York Times, the department appeared to side with the arguments made in Trumps lawsuit seeking to block the release of the tax returns, writing that the lawsuit had raised a number of significant constitutional issues that potentially implicate the interests of the United States. The department also argued against local prosecutors investigating a sitting president, and said avoiding state criminal procedures while Trump was in office would not place him above the law. Rather, it merely postpones initiation of any potential criminal prosecution until his term of office ends.

Earlier this week, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero ruled that Trump's tax returns could be released to Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr., who subpoenaed accounting firm Mazars USA for Trump's personal and corporate financial documents dating back to 2011. Judge Marrero rejected Trump's legal argument, which posited that the Constitution prevented current presidents from being criminally investigated by local prosecutors like Vance.

Continued here:
Justice Department Asks Appeals Court to Block Release of Trump Tax Returns - The Daily Beast

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More than three decades ago, my mom took me on my first camping trip. She was celebrating a year of sobriety and this excursion was completely uncharacteristic for my family. We hadnt spent a lot of time together during my childhood, so at eight years old, I was a little nervous about how this was going to go.

On the drive up, she told me that getting outside and being active had given her the space she needed to sort some things out. She explained that life was different in the woods, and that the rest of the world would just melt away. Skeptical, I helped her set up the tent silently pretending not to see all the spiders. Fighting back tears, I wondered what wed even eat while we were out there.

That first night, my mom unpacked what seemed like an entire kitchen. Relief washed over me as we sat by a fire roasting hot dogs, marshmallows and sipping on fresh water. Despite my initial trepidation, food tasted better, laughter felt deeper and sleep came easier than it had in a very long time. It was a pivotal moment in my life and Ill always be grateful for it.

The Benefits of Camping

We spend a lot of time hunched over smartphones and desks these days, so it shouldnt be surprising that stepping away is good for us. Being out in the fresh air, far from the hustle and bustle, can feel like a much-needed physical and mental detox. Along with that sense of wellness, here are some other benefits:

Theres just something about being out in the fresh air that can make you feel more alive. The weather can get a little brisk at night this time of year, but thats what flannel is for!

Food and Drinks Safety

Even if youre completely off the grid and unplugged from society, youve still got to eat. Of course, without modern amenities, food safety for campers can become a concern. You definitely want to make sure you pack the right gear to keep your food and drink safe, because who wants to get sick out in the wilderness?

Stanley

Its hard to imagine a more iconic brand than Stanley. When my mom unpacked the car all those years ago, it looked like she had raided the Stanley section of an outdoor camping store! Plus, weve all seen the Classic Legendary green vacuum bottle in films and television shows for decades.

You can easily set up base camp with your items stored safely in a cooler and then whip up your meals in some convenient camp cookware. Staying hydrated is easy with the Classic Trigger Action Mug, which is now available in two fall colors (Nightfall and Wine), or Ceramicvac bottle. You can even enjoy fresh brew on your hike with the Classic Travel Mug French Press. Im not a coffee drinker, but I do own the Adventure Happy Hour Cocktail Shaker Set; perfect for when a great day of adventuring calls for a nightcap!

Outdoor Cooking

While simple sandwiches are always a good option, you can use the unique opportunity to make fresh, delicious meals. Preparing something healthy doesnt require a gourmet kitchen you just need the right tools.

Camp Chef

Camp Chef specializes in portable, yet powerful, cooking gear for outdoor enthusiasts. They carry flat grills, camp stoves, fire pits, smokers, portable ovens and so much more. Cooking with cast iron even has health benefits, as I learned years ago after being encouraged to use it by my doctor following an anemia diagnosis.

Recently, a group of us headed to Jackson Hole for a few days and we used the Mini Dutch Oven to make our own chili a great option for people with individual preferences and dietary needs. At less than $25 its a great option because its affordable and versatile use it for stew, hot dogs and beans, or even a peach cobbler!

A Better Hot Dog

It takes a little more planning to prepare food while camping, so why not make it worth the effort? Ill admit that we keep things simple for breakfast when were on the go, but even if its just for one meal, well splurge on something extra special.

If youre a regular reader, youll know that I typically follow a keto diet. While its possible to be vegan or vegetarian on keto, most of us are heavy meat eaters. Whenever I can, I try to buy products that are as natural as possible, which is why Ive had KC Cattle Company on my radar for a while.

KC Cattle Company

This veteran-owned butcher shop carries incredible wagyu meat; from filet mignon and brisket to summer sausage and short ribs. People love to roast hot dogs while camping, and KC Cattle Companys uncured wagyu hot dogs can really elevate the experience. They contain no added nitrites and come fully cooked, making them an incredibly tasty and healthy choice for a weekend out in nature.

Ill always be grateful for that very first camping trip, but Ill readily admit that Im more of a glamping person and hypervigilant about food safety. When Im confident about my equipment and the food Ive packed, it helps me relax so I can focus on more important things like running from spiders in my tent. So gear up and hit the great outdoors one last time this camping season!

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Its Fall Camping Season. Make It Healthy and Delicious - Forbes

The maker of an underwear bomb that was worn by a terrorist on a Detroit-bound Christmas Day flight in 2009 has been killed, the White House confirmed Thursday. In a statement, the White House said senior al Qaeda bomb maker and terror coordinator Ibrahim al-Asiri was killed two years ago during a U.S. operation in Yemen. The Trump administration also said Al-Asiri was behind three other failed or foiled bombing attempts: a printer cartridge bomb plot in 2010, a 2012 bomb that was meant to be used against a passenger aircraft, and a device in the attempted assassination of the former crown prince of Saudi Arabia.

Al-Asiris death significantly handicapped al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula, the statement read. The United States will continue to hunt down terrorists like al-Asiri until they no longer pose a threat to our great Nation. According to USA Today, al-Asiris device was worn in 23-year-old Umar Farouk Abdulmutallabs underwear and it was supposed to detonate over U.S. soil. Abdulmutallab is reportedly serving a life sentence in a maximum security Colorado prison after pleading guilty to terrorism charges.

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Al Qaeda Underwear Bomb Maker Died in US Operation Two Years Ago: White House - The Daily Beast

NHS guidelines recommend that pregnant women drink the equivalent of two cups of instant coffee a dayGETTY IMAGES

Women who are trying to conceive or are pregnant, particularly during the first eight weeks, should cut out caffeine entirely to minimise the risk of losing their baby, according to research to be presented this week.

Guidelines from the NHS and in the US recommend pregnant women limit the caffeine they drink to 200 milligrams a day, equivalent to two mugs of instant coffee.

Researchers at the US National Institutes of Health will present a study to the American Society for Reproductive Medicines (ASRM) congress in Philadelphia arguing that even this is too much and that caffeine should be eliminated entirely.

The team found: Any level of caffeine intake during pregnancy may increase risk of pregnancy loss, particularly in the first eight weeks gestation. Women

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Cut out coffee to minimise risk of losing baby, pregnant women told - The Times

Dear Nutritionist,I enjoy reading the articles in the Bradford newspaper. I have a question about snack ideas for the kids and also myself - I have a big sweet tooth! I was baking homemade cookies and rice krispie squares last year but these dont do anything for my figure and you suggest not to eat grains. Well what should I do then for snacks? Thank you!Samantha

Dear Samantha,Thank you for writing in! I highly suspect you arent going to like my answer, but I dont believe in sugar coating the truth (or anything), so Im going to give you my take straight up!

There is no reason for humans to be snacking unless they are athletes. Meals are enough. You do not need the extra calories and will actually shorten your life and increase your disease risk by snacking. I strongly feel fuller meals are a better solution for a few reasons. You might want to put this down now because its not the answer you were seeking, but dont stop reading yet! The meals can be really snacky and enjoyable. Read on and I will share!

First, I suggest more satisfying meals instead of snacks because often snacks are sweet while meals are savoury. People who become accustomed to sweet foods quickly lose their appetite for healthier, more savoury dishes. They will even get to a point where meat makes them gag and savoury dishes need to be followed by sweets immediately. I highly suspect this is because of a candida overgrowth in the gastrointestinal tract. I have come to believe it has a consciousness that somehow communicates to our bodies to create sweet cravings to the exclusion of other foods. Yes, this sounds like hocus pocus. But its actually not unheard of with parasitic organisms. There are other behaviour altering parasites known to infect insects and cause the insect to position itself such that it is likely to be eaten by a predator that the host wants/needs to infect. I am not making this up! I have been researching candida for about 22 years and that is my current theory on how it impacts our cravings. It needs sweets and starches to survive so it hijacks our brains somehow to elicit strong cravings for them. Whether it is the candida expressing its needs, as I suspect, or just our taste buds becoming acclimatized to sweets, once we start replacing savoury with sweet flavours our bodies start to want sweets to the exclusion of savoury dishes.

Second, people who snack tend to unconsciously skip meals because they arent hungry, only to later eat snack foods instead. This becomes a cycle: because they snacked just before meal time, when the next meal comes around they arent hungry again. So they skip that meal, too. That means they need something later, but dont want to cook because now its late. So they snack again. I see this all the time. Whats worse, I see parents allowing children to do it. When this is allowed in childhood the children do not learn healthy food habits for the foundation of good health in adulthood.

Third, we usually perceive meals as something we need to prepare and which should be well rounded. Snacks are not. There is no thought to what the snack should be paired with to be nutritionally complete. Snacks are often chosen not for their nutritional value, but for their mouth feel, crunch, or flavour profile. This is all referred to as the bliss point in food science. What it means is the exact texture, sweetness, saltiness, etc. that is going to make you want more and more of that product. Snack foods are actually manufactured to create addictive eating! Which brings me to my next point.

Fourth, snack foods are often consumed without awareness, out of the bag, or out of a package of some kind, with no portion control, and while doing something else. So we arent aware of when its time to stop. We are just mindlessly reaching into that bag, while driving, working, watching TV. With a meal we sit at the table, serve the food on plates or in bowls, eat with intention and, hopefully, gratitude. And, we know that it takes about 20 minutes after the body has enough food for leptin, the satiety hormone, to be signalled. So you can keep eating for 20 minutes after youre actually full and not even know it if youre not listening to your body. And if you eat too much junk food for too long, guess what happens to leptin? You become resistant to it and never feel satisfied. This is very closely tied to insulin resistance (read sugars and excess carbs). So youre starting to see why I really dont suggest snacking.

Snacking is quite simply a recipe for disaster in terms of health outcomes. It shouldnt need saying, but our public healthcare system was never meant to be a substitute for common sense. Replacing meals with convenience food (snacks) has many many repercussions on our health and our collective healthcare system. Its really in nobodys best interest. Except, of course, the processed food manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies.

Having said that, there are ways to enjoy nutritious munchie foods without detriment to your health. One is by making the snacks so healthy they can be a meal replacement and the other is by learning how to safely have one cheat night every week or two. This is something I teach all my clients after they have effectively stabilized their blood sugar response (insulin/ leptin).

If you are hungry between meals the real reason is not hunger, but insulin resistance, related to repeated blood sugar spikes. I call it gremlins. You know it: that growly, rumbly tummy feeling! Its a clear sign you have been running on sugar and your body wants another fix. Anyone who suffers this needs to see me or another professional who can guide them to get it under control because hunger between meals is not a normal or healthy metabolic state. Especially when we are fat, which the body should know how to break down for fuel. Thats the entire biological purpose of it, after all!

And these gremlins are not actually hunger pains, as we have been taught to believe. They are cravings and nothing more. They pass within 20-40 minutes of starting if you wait long enough to let them pass. I suggest clients have a coffee or tea or cup of bouillon/ bone broth and focus on something else. They are surprised how well this works.

In fact, snacking between meals is not something that even entices us once our bodies are fat adapted. This is why people talk about intermittent fasting as easy in this state - because skipping meals doesnt even cause hunger once we are burning ketones or able to switch into that state, and we have any excess adipose (fat) tissue to burn. So the first part of my answer is that its best for adults to keep snacking to one night per week and otherwise as part of a meal or an occasional meal replacement if the snack is in line with their diet, like fat bombs, for example. By doing this, the snack is at the same time the meal normally happens, which ensures it doesnt turn into a cycle that gets out of control. It should happen with clear boundaries and a plate or bowl and portion control and intentional eating, where you are at a table, focused on your food and not at a screen or activity of some kind.

Some healthy snack ideas I have are:Crudites and healthy dip or hummusGrain free crackers and hummus (bean or cashew) or guacamoleSalmon salad on celery sticksNut butter on celery sticksCucumber rounds with flavoured sour creamKale chips as part of a larger mealHomemade yogurt with fresh fruitOrganic popping corn with grass fed butter and nutritional yeastKombuchaSalted nutsToasted seeds (with or without a bit of honey and sea salt)Homemade sugar free granola (low in grains)Sweet potato flatbreads with dip, sliced boiled eggs, sproutsDevilled eggsPickled eggsPickles (sugar-free)Natural smoked / preserved meatsCheesesMeatballsMini quicheLow sugar omg organic haystacks (my recipe)And many many more!

Samantha, I hope this doesnt discourage you! Of course, one night a week if you feel you would like cheese puffs or something else you know is probably not very wholesome, like grandmas cookies, or sweet pumpkin pie and ice cream for example, try to eat it after a well rounded meal to make sure it doesnt spike your insulin too high. And serve it on a plate with portion control, instead of eating out of the bag. This even works for pizza to help us know how much weve had! Setting aside a day each weekend for that treat will also help you in making sure you dont slide. If you need help getting control over cravings, contact me directly. We should be able to choose our food with a clear head, and be able to say no when it serves us.

As always, if you have your own health questions, dont hesitate to send me an email.Namaste! Nonie Nutritionista

Nonie De Long is a registered orthomolecular nutritionist with a clinic in Bradford West Gwillimbury, where she offers holistic, integrative health care for physical and mental health issues. Check out her website here.

Do you have a question about health and wellness? Emailnonienutritionista@gmail.com

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Ask The Nutritionist: What are some healthy snack ideas? - BradfordToday