Category Archives: Diet And Food

The first sign that something was wrong was that the female hamsters were really active in their cages. These were European hamsters, a species that is endangered in France and thought to be on the decline in the rest of their Eurasian range. But in a lab at the University of Strasbourg in France, the hamsters were oddly aggressive, and they didnt give birth in their nests.

Mathilde Tissier, a conservation biologist at the University of Strasbourg, remembers seeing the newly born pups alone, spread around in the cages, while their mothers ran about. Then, the mother hamsters would take their pups and put them in the piles of corn they had stored in the cage, Tissier says, and eat their babies alive.

I had some really bad moments, she says. I thought I had done something wrong.

Tissier and her colleagues had been looking into the effect of wheat- and corn-based diets in European hamsters because the rodents population in France was quickly disappearing. It now numbers only about 1,000 animals, most of which live in farm fields. The hamsters, being burrowers, are important for the local ecosystem and can promote soil health. But more than that, theyre an umbrella species, Tissier notes. Protect them, and their habitat, and there will be benefits for the many other farmland species that are declining.

A typical corn field is some seven times larger than the home range for a female hamster, so the animals that live in these agricultural areas eat mostly corn or whatever other crop is growing in that field. But not all crops provide the same level of nutrition, and Tissier and her colleagues were curious about how that might affect the hamsters. Perhaps there would be differences in litter size or pup growth, they surmised. So they began an experiment, feeding hamsters wheat or corn in the lab, with either clover or earthworms to better reflect the animals normal, omnivorous diets.

We thought [the diets] would create some [nutritional] deficiencies, Tissier says. But instead, Tissier and her colleagues saw something very different. All the female hamsters were able to successfully reproduce, but those fed corn showed abnormal behaviors before giving birth. They then gave birth outside their nests and most ate their young on the first day after birth. Only one female weaned her pups, though that didnt have a happy ending either the two brothers ate their female siblings, Tissier and her colleagues report January 18 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

Tissier spent a year trying to figure out what was going on. Hamsters and other rodents will eat their young, but it is usually when a baby has died and the mother hamster wants to keep her nest clean. They dont normally eat healthy babies alive. The researchers reared more hamsters in the lab, this time supplementing their maize and earthworm diet with a solution of niacin. This time, the hamsters raised their young normally, and not as a snack.

Unlike wheat, corn lacks a number of micronutrients, including niacin. In people who subsist on a diet of mostly corn, that niacin deficiency can result in a disease called pellagra. The disease emerged in the 1700s in Europe after corn became a dietary staple. People with pellagra experienced horrible rashes, diarrhea and dementia. Until the diseases cause was identified in the mid-20th century, millions of people suffered and thousands died. (The meso-Americans who domesticated corn largely did not have this problem because they processed corn with a technique called nixtamalization, which frees bound niacin in corn and makes it available as a nutrient. The Europeans who brought corn back to their home countries didnt bring back this process.)

The European hamsters fed corn-based diets exhibited symptoms similar to pellagra, and this is probably happening in the wild, Tissier says. She notes that officials with the French National Office for Hunting and Wildlife have seen hamsters in the wild subsisting on mostly corn and eating their pups.

Tissier and her colleagues are now working to find ways to improve diversity in agricultural systems, so that hamsters and other creatures can eat a more well-balanced diet. The idea is not only to protect the hamster, she says, but to protect the entire biodiversity and to restore good ecosystems, even in farmland.

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A diet of corn turns wild hamsters into cannibals | Science News - Science News (blog)

Children who consume a Mediterranean diet are less likely to be diagnosed with attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a new study led by researchers at the University of Barcelona.

The Mediterranean diet includes large amounts of fruits, vegetables, olive oil, beans, and cereal grains such as wheat and rice, moderate amounts of fish, dairy, and wine, and limited red meat and poultry.

The team also found a higher prevalence of ADHD among children who consumed high levels of candy and sugary drinks and low levels of fatty fish.

The study, published in the journal Pediatrics, is the first to investigate the link between the Mediterranean diet and ADHD in children and adolescents. The findings suggest that unhealthy eating habits could play a role in the development of the disorder.

However, the authors say that more research is necessary to firmly establish causality between nutrient-poor eating habits and ADHD.

The study involved 120 children and adolescents (60 diagnosed with ADHD and 60 controls) between the ages of six and 16. The childrens dietary patterns were assessed using food frequency questionnaires. The findings show that children with low adherence to the Mediterranean diet were more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD compared to those with high adherence.

Furthermore, the team identified a higher prevalence of ADHD among children who consumed high amounts of candy and sugary drinks, but low amounts of fatty fish.

The exact mechanisms linking a low-quality diet and ADHD are still unknown. Previous scientific studies have associated some dietary patterns (diets with processed food and low in fruit and vegetables) with ADHD. It is also known that an unbalanced dietary pattern can lead to deficiencies in essential nutrients (iron, zinc, magnesium, omega-3 fatty acids, etc.) that appear to play an essential role in the etiology of ADHD.

While the new research doesnt establish a direct cause-effect relationship between dietary patterns and ADHD, it can help determine specific dietary strategies to help improve the quality of life for both the affected patients and their families, say the researchers.

Furthermore, the link between an unhealthy diet and ADHD could be an example of reverse causation. For example, said Dr. Jos ngel Alda, a psychiatrist at Sant Joan de Du University Hospital, its unclear whether kids develop ADHD because of an unhealthy diet or perhaps the disorder itself causes them to eat an excess of fat and sugar to balance their impulsiveness or emotional distress.

We believe this is a vicious circle, said Alda, meaning that the impulsiveness of children with ADHD could make them eat unhealthily, and therefore they dont eat the nutrients they need and it all worsens their symptoms.

Source: University of Barcelona

APA Reference Pedersen, T. (2017). Mediterranean Diet Tied to Fewer ADHD Diagnoses. Psych Central. Retrieved on February 8, 2017, from https://psychcentral.com/news/2017/02/07/mediterranean-diet-tied-to-fewer-adhd-diagnoses/116142.html

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Mediterranean Diet Tied to Fewer ADHD Diagnoses - PsychCentral.com

Knowing a thing means you dont need to believe in it. Whatever can be known, or proven by logic or evidence, doesnt need to be taken on faith. Certain details of nutrition and the physiology of eating are known and knowable: the fact that humans require certain nutrients; the fact that our bodies convert food into energy and then into new flesh (and back to energy again when needed). But there are bigger questions that dont have definitive answers, like what is the best diet for all people? For me?

Nutrition is a young science that lies at the intersection of several complex disciplineschemistry, biochemistry, physiology, microbiology, psychologyand though we are far from having figured it all out, we still have to eat to survive. When there are no guarantees or easy answers, every act of eating is something like a leap of faith.

Eating is the first magic ritual, an act that transmits life energy from one object to another, according to cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker in his posthumously published book Escape From Evil. All animals must feed on other life to sustain themselves, whether in the form of breastmilk, plants, or the corpses of other animals. The act of incorporation, of taking a once-living thing into your own body, is necessary for all animals existence. It is also disturbing and unsavory to think about, since it draws a direct connection between eating and death.

Human self-awareness means that, from a relatively early age, we are also aware of death. In his Pulitzer prize-winning book, The Denial of Death, Becker hypothesized that the fear of deathand the need to suppress that fearis what drives much of human behavior. This idea went on, in social psychology, to the form the basis of Terror Management Theory.

Ancient humans must have decided, once their bellies were full, that there was more to life than mere survival and staring mortality in the face. They went on to build things in which they could find distraction, comfort, recreation, and meaning. They built cultures in which death became another rite of passage, not the end of everything. They made structures to live in, wrote songs to sing to each other, and added spices to their food, which they cooked in different styles. Humans are supported by a self-created system of meanings, symbols, rituals, and etiquette. Food and eating are part of this.

The act of ingestion is embroidered with so much cultural meaning that, for most people, its roots in spare, brutal survival are entirely hidden. Even for people in extreme poverty, for whom survival is a more immediate concern, the cultural meanings of food remain critical. Wealthy or poor, we eat to celebrate, we eat to mourn, we eat because its mealtime, we eat as a way to bond with others, we eat for entertainment and pleasure. It is not a coincidence that the survival function of food is buried beneath all of thiswho wants to think about staving off death each time they tuck into a bowl of cereal? Forgetting about death is the entire point of food culture.

When it comes to food, Becker said that humans quickly saw beyond mere physical nourishment, and that the desire for more lifenot just delaying death today, but clearing the bar of mortality entirelygrew into an obsession with transforming the self into a perfected object that might achieve a sort of immorality. Diet culture and its variations, such as clean eating, are cultural structures we have built to attempt to transcend our animality.

By creating and following diets, humans not only eat to stay alive, but they fit themselves into a cultural edifice that is larger, and more permanent, than their bodies. It is a sort of immortality ritual, and rituals must be performed socially. Clean eating rarely, if ever, occurs in secret. If you havent evangelized about it, joined a movement around it, or been praised publicly for it, have you truly cleansed?

As humans, we are possibly the most promiscuous omnivores ever to wander the earth. We dine on animals, insects, plants, marine life, and occasionally non-food: dirt, clay, chalk, even once, famously, bicycles and airplanes.

We are not pandas, chastely satisfied with munching through a square mile of bamboo. We seek variety and novelty, and at the same time, we carry an innate fear of food. This is described by the famous omnivores paradox, which (Michael Pollan notwithstanding) is not mere confusion about choosing what to eat in a cluttered food marketplace. The omnivores paradox was originally defined by psychological researcher Paul Rozin as the anxiety that arises from our desire to try new foods (neophilia) paired with our inherited fear of unknown foods (neophobia) that could turn out to be toxic. All omnivores feel these twin pressures, but none more acutely than humans. If it werent for the small chance of death lurking behind every food choice and every dietary ideology, choosing what to eat from a crowded marketplace wouldnt be considered a dilemma. Instead, we would call it the omnivores fun time at the supermarket, and people wouldnt repost so many Facebook memes about the necessity of drinking a gallon of water daily, or the magical properties of apple cider vinegar and coconut oil. Everyone would be just a little bit calmer about food.

Humans do not have a single, definitive rulebook to direct our eating, despite the many attempts nutrition scientists, dietitians, chefs, and celebrities have made to write one. Each of us has to negotiate the desire for food and fear of the unknown when we are still too young to read, calculate calories, or understand abstract ideas about nutrition. Almost all children go through a phase of pickiness with eating. It seems to be an evolved survival mechanism that prevents usonce we are mobile enough to put things in our mouths, but not experienced enough to know the difference between safe and dangerous foodsfrom eating something toxic. We have all been children trying to shove the world in our mouths, even while we spit out our strained peas.

Our omnivorousness gives us an exhilarating and terrifying amount of freedom. As social creatures, we seek safety from that freedom in our culture, and in a certain amount of conformity. We prefer to follow leaders weve invested with authority to blaze a path to safety.

The heroes of contemporary diet culture are wellness gurus who claim to have cured themselves of fatness, disease, and meaninglessness through the unimpeachable purity of cold-pressed vegetable juice. Many traditional heroes earn their status by confronting and defeating death, like Hercules, who was granted immortality after a lifetime of capturing or killing a menagerie of dangerous beasts, including the three-headed dog of Hades himself. Wellness gurus are the glamorously clean eaters whose triumph over sad, dirty animality is evidenced by fresh, thoughtfully-lit photographs of green smoothies in wholesome Mason jars, and by their own bodies, beautifully rendered.

There are no such heroes to be found in a peer-reviewed paper with a large, anonymous sample, and small effect sizes, written in impenetrable statistician-ese, and hedged with disclosures about limitations. But the image of a person you can relate to on a human level, smiling out at you from the screen, standing in a before-and-after, shoulder-to-shoulder with their former, lesser, processed-food-eating self, is something else altogether. Their creation myth and redemptionhow they were lost but now are foundis undeniably compelling.

There are twin motives underlying human behavior, according to Beckerthe urge for heroism and the desire for atonement. At a fundamental level, people may feel a twinge of guilty for having a body, taking up space, and having appetites that devour the living things around us. They may crave expiation of this guilt, and culture provides not only the means to achieve plentiful material comfort, but also ways to sacrifice part of that comfort to achieve redemption. It is not enough for wellness gurus to simply amass the riches of health, beauty, and statusthey must also deny themselves sugar, grains, and flesh. They must pay.

Only those with status and resources to spare can afford the most impressive gestures of renunciation. Look at all they have! The steel-and-granite kitchen! The Le Creuset collection! The Vitamix! The otherworldly glow! They could afford to eat cake, should the bread run out, but they quit sugar. Theyre only eating twigs and moss now. What more glamorous way to triumph over dirt and animality and death? And you can, too. That is, if you have the time and money to spend juicing all that moss and boiling the twigs until theyre soft enough to eat.

This is how the omnivores paradox breeds diet culture: Overwhelmed by choice, by the dim threat of mortality that lurks beneath any wrong choice, people crave rules from outside themselves, and successful heroes to guide them to safety. People willingly, happily, hand over their freedom in exchange for the bondage of a diet that forbids their most cherished foods, that forces them to rely on the unfamiliar, unpalatable, or inaccessible, all for the promise of relief from choice and the attendant responsibility. If you are free to choose, you can be blamed for anything that happens to you: weight gain, illness, agingin short, your share in the human condition, including the random whims of luck and your own inescapable mortality.

Humans are the only animals aware of our mortality, and we all want to be the person whose death comes as a surprise rather than a pathetic inevitability. We want to be the one of whom people say, But she did everything right. If we cannot escape death, maybe we can find a way to be declared innocent and undeserving of it.

But diet culture is constantly shifting. Todays token foods of health may seem tainted or pass tomorrow, and within diet culture, there are contradictory ideologies: what is safe and clean to one is filth and decadence to another. Legumes and grains are wholesome, life-giving staples to many vegan eaters, while they represent the corrupting influences of agriculture on the state of nature to those who prefer a meat-heavy, grain-free Paleo diet.

Nutrition science itself is a self-correcting series of refutations. There is no certain path to purity and blamelessness through food. The only common thread between competing dietary ideologies is the belief that by adhering to them, one can escape the human condition, and become a purer, less animal, kind of being.

This is why arguments about diet get so vicious, so quickly. You are not merely disputing facts, you are pitting your wild gamble to avoid death against someone elses. You are poking at their life raft. But if their diet proves to be the One True Diet, yours must not be. If they are right, you are wrong. This is why diet culture seems so religious. People adhere to a dietary faith in the hope they will be saved. That if theyre good enough, pure enough in their eating, they can keep illness and mortality at bay. And the pursuit of life everlasting always requires a leap of faith.

To eat without restriction, on the other hand, is to risk being unclean, and to beat your own uncertain path. It is admitting your mortality, your limitations and messiness as a biological creature, while accepting the freedoms and pleasures of eating, and taking responsibility for choosing them.

Unclean, agnostic eating means taking your best stab in the dark, accepting that there is much we dont know. But we do know that there is no One True Diet. There may be as many right ways to eat as there are peoplenone of whom can live forever, all of whom must make of eating and their lives some personal, temporary meaning.

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Diet Culture Exists to Fight Off the Fear of Death - The Atlantic - The Atlantic

Less than a month into Donald Trumps term in office, there are already countless distinctions between the Trump administration and the Obama administration. Americans are passionately debating the implications of the policy distinctions Trump is drawing on a daily basis.

However, Axios recently focused on a slightly less critical, although certainly potentially important, difference between Trump and Obama.

President Obama and his wife Michelle made fitness, diet and health priorities while in office, but Trumps diet seems more appropriate for a college dorm room than the White House. His eating habits even provided some excellent free product placement for top brands from time to time.

Aides report that Trump was constantly guzzling The Coca-Cola Co (NYSE: KO)'s Diet Coke on the campaign trail.

One aide referred to Dominos Pizza, Inc. (NYSE: DPZ), McDonalds Corporation (NYSE: MCD) and Yum! Brands, Inc. (NYSE: YUM)'s KFC as the three staples of the Trump campaign trail diet. Trump apparently has a special place in his heart (and his stomach) for the Big Mac.

While some Trump critics rolled their eyes at pictures of Trump eating Big Macs and fries on his private jet, aides say these occasions weren't simply photo ops to make Trump seem more relatable to voters; He frequently had Big Macs served to him on a silver platter, according to the Axios report.

In addition to fast food, Trump frequently snacks on PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP)'s Lays potato chips and Kellogg Company (NYSE: K)'s Keebler Vienna Fingers.

Why should this unhealthy lifestyle concern Americans? At age 70, Trump is the oldest president ever elected. In addition to his poor eating habits, aides also report that Trump doesnt exercise, other than playing an occasional round of golf.

Trump hasnt had any major health issues up to this point, and aides report his diet has improved somewhat since the campaign ended. Trump also enjoys steaks (well done), potatoes, fish, seafood and vegetables. He doesnt smoke and doesnt drink alcohol at all.

For better or worse, Trump is certainly following through with his campaign promises when it comes to policy. As noted by Axios, aides report he's also a man of his word when it comes to Oreo cookies as well. Trump apparently used to love snacking on Oreos, but he gave them up entirely after Mondelez International Inc (NASDAQ: MDLZ) moved an Oreo plant from the U.S. to Mexico.

Posted-In: Axios Big Mac Diet Coke Donald TrumpPolitics Restaurants Media General Best of Benzinga

2017 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.

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The Trump Diet: Fried Chicken, Diet Coke And Big Macs Served On A Silver Platter - Benzinga

I just read Calories Dont Count, (1961 (before I was born) Simon and Schuster, New York,) by Herman Taller, M.D. It sold over 2 million copies back then and is interesting because it was prescient but also quaint. In those days obesity was a whopping 20% of American adults (36% today.)

This was the first widespread popularization of the low carb, high fat diet for weight loss. That idea has come back in style and gone out of style and is presently back in style again. This is the Atkins diet and today there are many experts (Dr. David Ludwig) who say that carbohydrates and especially sugar, are particularly pernicious apart from their caloric value. Other experts (me) say that the way that low carb diets work, in so far as they might work, is because while a diet of steak and eggs may seem like something you could get used to, in the long run it is unappetizing, even unpalatable. And so you eat less of it and calories do count.

Back then Dr. Taller already knew that blood cholesterol was bad and that you had to eat the right kinds of fat. He also points out the abundantly obvious fact that low-calorie diets dont work because when you lose weight you get hungry and miserable and have to eat again. So in the case of a low-calorie diets at least, calories do count.

Herman Taller was Romanian and tells us his personal story. He went to medical school in Italy and then, fleeing the turmoil before World War II, worked in Chile, and Ecuador before landing in New York. He came from a fat family and wrestled with obesity most of his life until he discovered that calories dont count etc.. and lost 65 pounds. He spoke Romanian, German, French, Italian and Spanish before he learned English and says, I played bridge, so I had no problem making friends.

The rest is the quaint part. He says many times that 95% of obesity cases are because of poor diet and 5% are glandular. The reason his diet works is cockamamie. The fat burned by your body burns clean and hot. The carbohydrates are what your metabolism burns improperly. Instead of converting them to energy, carbon dioxide and water, it converts some of them only to the substance called pyruvic acid. And later pyruvic acid becomes fat. (p 112) He says that good fat is soft. Fat made from carbohydrates is hard and tough. One of the liabilities of being fat that he talks about is his experience with husbands who had stopped having sexual relations with their wives, apparently because of their obesity. Im sure that many of the 2 million copies of this book were sold to women but today that point of view might not be so cool, except for Trump.

On page 127 of my copy there is a note at the bottom that says Page numbers 125 and 126 do not appear. The omission is a purely mechanical error; the text is complete.

The last chapter of Calories Dont Count gives Dr Taller an out. He says that some cases of obesity are caused by a psychological problem. So if his diet does not work it may be because some people just cant do the right thing because of that psychological hang up of habitually eating carbohydrates.

Dr. Taller did get into trouble from the medical establishment of that day, for violating what they were saying and from the government, for improperly peddling safflower oil capsules, but he still did very well by his ideas. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

John DiTraglia M.D. is a Pediatrician in Portsmouth. He can be reached by e-mail- jditrag@zoomnet.net or phone-354-6605.

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Calories don't count - Portsmouth Daily Times

Have you heard of the concept of food as medicine? Have you ever wondered about the Blood Type Diet or the Ketogenic Diet? These are the three questions covered in this week's Housecall.

Food as Medicine

Our first question comes from Chrysanne who asked, "Is it really worth it to spend extra money on good food? Does it make a difference?"

The food industry likes to trick us into thinking that eating healthy is expensive, but this is far from the truth. My friends at the Environmental Working Group created an easy-to-use, comprehensive guide, called Good Food on a Tight Budget, to help consumers make the best food choices without breaking the bank.

When people tell me they cannot afford organic produce or healthy cuts of meat, I ask them to consider the gargantuan markup of many convenience foods. Manufacturers package them in "value-priced jumbo sized" containers and grocery stores promote them with price cuts to create the illusion that we are getting value.

Relying on inexpensive, overly processed food is tempting, given our demanding lifestyles and schedules, but the cost to our health is quite large. Feasting on the sodium, fat and sugar bombs disguised as food can lead to serious diseases that cost hundreds of dollars in doctor's visits and prescription drugs.

Food is not just calories; food is information. I've seen thousands of people transform simply by changing their diet, so why not give it a shot? You will only feel better. Here are my tips for eating well on a tight budget.

The Blood Type Diet

Our next question comes from Jenna who asked, "Eating for your blood type advocates say that those with O blood type shouldn't eat anything with coconut, but it's so good for you. What are your thoughts on this?"

I believe in the personalization of our diets. We are learning more and more about how to customize diets for every individual based on their genetics, metabolic type and more. The blood type diet was one of the first customizable diets, but it only focuses on one bit of information: your blood type.

Instead, I recommend looking at the whole picture. When I see a patient, I look at their genetics, predisposition to diabetes, food intolerances, detoxification symptoms and other factors.

My hope is that in five years or less, we will be able to customize our diets based on a simple drop of blood. But until then, my advice is to look at the whole picture instead of just one factor. You can do this by working with a Functional Medicine practitioner who can test you for food intolerances, check out the state of your gut, identify nutritional deficiencies among other factors, to give you a complete picture of the state of your body. From there, they can create a plan to customize your diet to get you back on track and optimize your nutritional intake.

Also, you know your body better than anyone else. If coconut oil works for you, use it. The smartest doctor in the whole room is your own body. Take note of how you feel after you eat certain foods. If you dig a bit deeper, you can find out what works for you and what doesn't.

The Ketogenic Diet

Our final question comes from Deanna who asked, "Is there such a thing as a vegetarian or a vegan ketogenic diet?"

I'm not going to lie to you, it is absolutely tougher to be vegan or vegetarian on a ketogenic diet, but it is possible.

You need to focus on two important groups to maintain a vegetarian ketogenic diet: proteins and fats. In fact, studies have shown that a low-carb vegan diet with higher amounts of plant-based fats and proteins has advantages over a high-carb, low-fat dietincluding increased weight loss and improvement in heart disease risk factors.

Sources of vegetarian protein include:

Sources of plant-based fats:

Here's an easy guide to a vegan ketogenic diet.

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The Blood Type Diet: Does It Work? - EcoWatch - EcoWatch

This new year is still fresh. But before we even get too deep into 2017, theres an important subject to talk about: Dont begin by falling victim to a detox because its a hoax.

As new years resolutions go, its common for many people to cleanse themselves and eliminate toxins from their bodies. But we humans already have two amazing organs that are doing this job for us: our liver and kidneys. The kidneys and liver are quite effective at filtering and eliminating most ingested toxins, says Katherine Zeratsky, R.D., L.D of The Mayo Clinic. In fact, if you think that by ingesting digestive enzymes, shakes or laxative-based teas will help speed up this process, the reality is theres no scientific evidence to prove it does assist.

The Myth:

According to Christy Brissette, M.S., R.D., and President of 80 Twenty Nutrition, the idea of detoxifying and cleansing the body and mind is not a new concept it goes back thousands of years and is still part of many religious practices such as Judaism, Christianity and Islam. But unlike religious fasting to attain spiritual enlightenment, the detoxes we are exposed to are done in hopes of losing weight or ridding oneself of toxins weve accumulated over the holidays. It is why we often see a plethora of new or revised detoxes (sometimes advocated by the latest celebrity or influencer) that promise that youll feel better and get what is perceived as a reset button for the body to begin the new year refreshed and rejuvenated.

Whether you hear the terms cleanse or detox, Brissette explains that theyre used interchangeably: With a cleanse, it usually involves ingesting a special product to go with the diet, items such as juices, soups and even charcoal nowin the hopes that it will not only clean your insides but that it will also assist with weight loss. In fact, Brissette says that there is often this mentality that our body is dirty and that there is a buildup of toxins we need to eliminate. Moreover, Brissette says that detoxes continue to pique the interest of many people, even those who are not regular dieters, because of the claims that this method of cleaning is completely natural and quick.

The Truth:

The Placebo Effect Detoxes and cleanses that claim to be quick, effective and natural appear to work because of the placebo effect. Brissette explains, Firstly, youve adopted the mentality that youre going to eat healthy, so when you switch from heavy indulgences to salads, nuts and fibrous foods, youre going to feel betterregardless if youre on a cleanse or not. A detox plan will also tell you to cut out alcohol, refined sugars and junk food. Any time you eliminate any of these foods, youre obviously going to feel less fatigued and have more energy. In actuality, the detox has nothing to do with you feeling better. Its just a matter of supporting what your body needs: healthy food and water.

Purging Fat From The Body The myth that your body is congested from all the fatty and rich foods consumed over the holidays doesnt exist. Brissette says that there is no evidence or research to prove this is true. Your liver and kidneys are natural filters. You dont need to clean them. If anything, we need to focus on healthy eating year-round.

Detoxes Are NOT Safe More dangerous is the fallacy that natural detoxes are safe. Oftentimes detoxes and cleanses will encourage a low-calorie diet along with the consumption of special herb shakes, laxative teas and other supplements. But this can cause more harm to your body than help it. Brissette says that if you use laxative-based products for an extended period of time, your body will begin to rely on them for bowel movement. Brissette also notes that overconsumption of laxative teas is not only stressful on the digestive system, but that youll also be dehydrated and lose electrolytes, sodium and potassium. The latter two are essential for regulating your blood pressure and heart rate. In extreme cases, if you lose too much sodium and potassium as a result of diarrhea or dilution (via excess consumption of fluids), you can actually suffer or even die from a cardiac arrest. Brissette advises that before considering any form of dieting or detox, you should always consult your physician or a dietitian.

Losing Weight And/Or Fat Despite celebrity endorsements and faux-doctors claiming that the miracle of a detox will assist with weight loss, the reverse is actually true: youll gain weight. You wont lose weight or fat, even though it may seem like you are. In fact, these individuals are most likely depleted of essential nutrients and proteins. This results in decreased muscle mass and a slower metabolism because your body thinks it has entered a state of starvation and is now trying to conserve calories rather than burn them off. Inevitably, doing this kind of detox will make you ravenous. When you succumb to your cravings and overeat, the now slowed metabolism will cause you to gain extra weight, and as a result, youll be heavier than when you began.

Realistic Practices For Good Health:

We all lead busy lives and have respective game plans to manage the chaos, so the same mentality should be adopted when it comes to our eating habits. But this doesnt mean obsessive calorie counting or shortcut detoxes which make unrealistic promises. Generally speaking, the pressure of a new years resolution is a fast-track to failure. Whats more realistic is small sustainable changes overtime, which will result in long-term, positive effects. Always strive to eat fiber-rich foods such as beans and lentils, healthy protein such as almonds and complex carbs such as whole grain bread and pasta.

How To Eat Well: Its easy to fall into mindless eating traps; from social engagements to working at your desk, the first step is to have an awareness of what youre putting into your mouthto chew and savor your food. And if you are constantly plagued with distractions, Brissette suggests keeping a simple food journal that tracks not only what you eat but notes when youre most hungry. This way, youll be ready and have a quality snack on hand, such as walnuts or almonds. This will not only prevent that 3pm energy lull, but you wont be tempted to make a trip to the coffee shop or vending machine for that cookie or bag of chips. Whether you like to snack or have several small meals a day, Brissette advises the following: Structure eating times around your schedule. And dont go more than 4 hours without eating something; otherwise, you may fall victim to a hunger attack and eat anything in sight.

Eating Healthy Should Not Mean Suffering: Eating should always be a joyful and pleasurable experience. Anything fat-free, low-fat or low carb will not offer satiation. Brissette explains: For instance, if youre having a salad for lunch, opt for full-fat dressing made with olive oil. Not only will this healthy fat keep you satisfied, but it will aid in the absorption of the leafy greens and vegetables youre eating.

Rather than succumb to the extremes of fad detoxes that can put your body into shock and make you miserable, Brissette endorses her 80/20 rule: 80 percent of the time, eat whole grains, vegetables, fruits, nuts, beans and lentils; and 20 percent of the time, allow yourself that splurge on your favorite beer or burger.

Trust the wisdom and design of your body; thank your liver and kidneys for a job well done, and for the new year, try Brissettes mindful method of eating and avoid being ensnared by a detox trap.

Tiffany Leigh is a Toronto-based food, travel, and science writer.

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Why Detox Diets Don't Work - Paste Magazine

I know Democrats and progressives are going nuts over President Trumps first few weeks in office I know the Middle East is a mess and that we have no small number of incredible challenges at home but I have my own worries.

Like millions of other Americans, Im on my annual February diet.

You see, its not easy to be trim and fit in America. Our culture is saturated with an abundance of high-calorie, processed foods that turn into instant fat.

We work long and hard in sedentary office jobs, then eat our stress away, two or three fast-food treats at a time.

Weve become so fat, to quote Rodney Dangerfield, that our bathtubs have stretch marks.

We know our increasing tubbiness isnt healthy. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity-associated diseases such as diabetes have soared in recent years. Gallbladder diseases, sleep apnea, high blood pressure and heart disease are all caused by carrying too much weight.

And so we are on a continuous mission to lose weight. Our challenge is that the fad diets that promise to get us there go in and out of fashion faster than the white patent leather shoes and belts my father used to wear to church.

According to the website The Daily Meal ( thedailymeal.com ), the Mediterranean Diet it features natural, plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts is in.

So, too, is the Paleo Diet, which apparently is similar to the Mediterranean Diet, except legumes are forbidden.

Which is a shame, too, because I just learned that legumes include alfalfa, clover, peas, beans, lentils, lupin beans, mesquite, carob, soybeans, peanuts and tamarind which go well with the bourbon I am driven to drink as I try to figure out which diet to go on.

Volumetrics is another in diet. It encourages the consumption of low-energy-density foods, which make you feel full with fewer calories than high-energy-density foods. It also sounds like too much math is involved.

The Gluten Diet is on the outs, though, according to The Daily Meal. Apparently, it puts people at risk for different deficiencies such as B vitamin deficiencies, calcium, fiber, vitamin D, and iron.

The Daily Meal no longer favors the Atkins Diet, either, which makes me sore.

Dr. Atkins said we could eat delicious steaks, pork, chicken and fish. He said we could eat as much eggs and cheese and other tasty no-sugar treats as we could stuff into our bellies. His diet was all the rage for years.

But now The Daily Meal says his diet is a no go? That it is not heart-healthy and that most users are not compliant over the long term?

Not so fast! Several prominent studies have concluded that old Doc Atkins was onto something. Low-carbohydrate diets may actually take off more weight than low-fat diets and may be surprisingly better for cholesterol, too.

One of my greatest dieting disappointments of the last 20 years, though, was the failure of the exercise pill, which had shown promise at Duke University around 2002.

Researchers had located the chemical pathways that muscle cells use to build strength and endurance. With that knowledge in hand, there was hope that a pill could be created that would pump up muscle cells without the need for actual exercise.

Dieting Americans could have sat on the couch, chomping potato chips and dip, while their biceps got as round as cantaloupes and their abs got as hard as stone but this uniquely American dieting innovation wasnt to be.

I think Ill try a new, restrictive diet this February: the Democrats in Congress Diet.

Ill deny myself everything.

Email Tom Purcell, author of Misadventures of a 1970s Childhood and Wicked Is the Whiskey, at Tom@TomPurcell.com.

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TOM PURCELL: Still searching for a diet panacea - The Albany Herald

THIS month we feature the Caracal (Rooikat, nDabushe), the largest predator to be found in the Kloof Gorge.

The caracal is a medium-size cat, normally golden or sand in colour, although in some areas they are grey. It has very distinguishing black edge to the ears with long tufts that give them an unmistakable appearance. They are often incorrectly called a lynx, but it is not related to the lynx family.

Caracal are active in the day and night. They are solitary, territorial animals and fearless hunters and will not hesitate to hunt a prey larger than themselves. Caracal have been known to leap up into the air to catch and kill flying birds.

Their diet consists mainly of rodents, rock hyrax, birds (including ostrich), small antelopes, and rabbits. In Krantzkloof their primary diet is most likely Rock Hyraxes.

The gestation period is approximately 68-81 days, and females produce a litter of one to four kittens, with two being the average. They are weaned at 10 weeks, and will remain with their mothers for up to a year.

It is believed the name is derived from a Turkish word karakulak meaning black ear.

Caracals are excellent acrobats and jumpers and can land safely. In the Middle-East caracal were often trained to hunt game birds.

Caracal are relatively new to Krantzkloof and the first sightings were recorded in 2010. Since then they have been frequently recorded on camera traps, and females with kittens have been seen in the reserve. Caracal are not known to be a threat to humans.

Security: walking in the reserve is safe normal precautions apply when walking in isolated areas. - Supplied

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In the gorge with Kloof Conservancy - News24

Runner's World

This is What Happened When I Started Counting My Vegan Calories Runner's World So, I can safely tack on another 450 calories. My lunch usually comes from the restaurant, too. If I sneak the guys in the kitchen enough cold brew, ... I did pretty alright crafting my own vegan meal plan just by following my gut (buh duh duh!), but ...

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This is What Happened When I Started Counting My Vegan Calories - Runner's World