It's a way of thinking about eating that takes you back to babyhood, when you ate what you wanted for as long as you wanted and when full, turned away.

Intuitively, your baby self knew when you'd had enough, thank you, so you shut your mouth. And you didn't open it to food again until you were hungry.

"It's a backlash to diet culture. People are getting sick of being told what to do," said Tribole, who has authored nine books on nutrition.

"It's time to let go of a dieting system that is toxic," said Resch, a nutrition therapist who specializes in eating disorders. "The data show that 95% of people who go on diets fail at them, and if they've lost weight, two thirds of them gain even more weight back."

"The only alternative is to start trusting the body and feeling the freedom and enjoyment of food that comes with that," she said.

So forget the word "diet." Intuitive eating teaches you to listen to your body's cues about food, once your mind is free of the "dos and don'ts" of eating.

10 Principles

The scientific mechanism behind intuitive eating is called "interoceptive awareness," or the ability to perceive physical sensations that arise within the body.

"Intuitive eating is really instinct, emotion and thought," Resch said. "It's the instinct, hunger, fullness. What we like, what we don't like. But you also monitor your emotions and your thoughts because the cognitive distortions, the diet myths that are in our culture, can affect our eating."

Studies show people who are in touch with their body's needs have enhanced wellbeing and quality of life, Tribole said.

"People who score high on intuitive eating have more body appreciation, they enjoy their eating better, they have less disordered eating," such as restrictive eating, meal skipping, chronic dieting, and feelings of guilt and shame about food, Tribole said.

How does one learn -- or relearn -- how to become an intuitive eater? By following 10 basic principles, say Tribole and Resch.

Discover the satisfaction factor

If you aren't experiencing pleasure from the food you eat, then you'll never feel satisfied by eating. Yet many people deny themselves foods that will "hit the spot."

"To me, satisfaction is the guiding force of intuitive eating because if you put your focus on being satisfied, then it's going to inform hunger, fullness and respecting your body, and it's going to inform making peace with food," Resch said.

"Satisfaction is the vehicle to get you to decide to start eating when comfortably hungry, rather than not hungry at all," she adds, while stressing that weight control is not a part of intuitive eating.

Reject the diet culture

This is a key principle in intuitive eating -- rejecting the "toxic" diet culture that says you have to look a certain way in order to be an acceptable person worthy of love and acceptance.

You will never -- ever -- get on a scale while eating intuitively, say Resch and Tribole.

"Weight stigma, which is part of diet culture, basically says there's something wrong with you if you're not conforming to that culturally thin ideal," Resch said. "But what if you are DNA programmed to be in a larger body? It's cruel and toxic to tell people that they need to shrink to conform."

The danger of dieting, said Tribole, is that it works in the short term. But she added science has shown that within two to five years, the weight comes back -- in spades.

"Our model is about engaging in healthy behaviors that are sustainable," Tribole said. "Weight is not a behavior. So intuitive eating is all about taking the focus off weight."

Make peace with food

Once you have a "don't eat" sign on a food, Resch said, you'll only want it more.

"The brilliant survival part of our brain recognizes that the organism is in danger and is being starved, and sends out chemicals to get you to overeat emotionally," she said.

To combat this, Tribole suggests listing all the foods you reject or restrict, and then rank them from "scariest" -- what you think is worse for you or makes you gain weight -- to least "scary."

Pick one (maybe the least scary, Tribole suggests) and then a couple of hours after a meal, find a calm, quiet place and eat as much of that food as you like.

"Making peace with food means giving yourself license to eat. There's no judgment. There's no good food, there's no bad food," Resch said.

By bringing out the "peace pipe" with that food, you end its power over you, she said.

"It will help you make sure that all foods are 'emotionally equivalent,' " Resch said. "They may not be nutritionally equivalent, but they're emotionally equivalent, meaning that you have the same emotional reaction to whatever you eat -- you don't feel guilty or bad about eating something."

Sound too good to be true?

"After a couple of days, all my clients end up with really great balance," Resch said. "They want a salad because that instinct in your body wants balance."

Honor your hunger

Hunger is not the enemy, say Resch and Tribole. It's your body's signal for survival, and thus deserves to be treated with respect. By learning to "honor" your hunger, they say, you can heal your relationship with food -- and learn to trust your body.

A key principle is not waiting until you're ravenously hungry to eat.

"Then you're in that primal hunger, as we call it, where you can't think straight and you just got to get the food in as fast as you can," Resch said.

Signs of hunger may vary from person to person. Some might feel a "subtle gnawing" in the throat or esophagus; other might get sleepy and lethargic; still others might get a headache; or have no signs at all until they begin to eat (and overeat). Those signs can flux when sleep deprived, traveling or stressed at work as well.

Learning your unique signs of hunger will put you on the path to getting back in touch with your body's needs, say Resch and Tribole.

Feel the fullness

Once you've learned how to recognize your hunger, it's time to feel the fullness. That's difficult in a busy culture which encourages eating while working, on our smartphones or driving in the car.

To counter that, the intuitive eating philosophy recommends making meals "sacred time," as much as possible. The idea, Tribole said, is to create a space free of distraction, including TVs, smartphones and other electronics. Eat sitting down. In the middle of the meal, pause, and ask yourself how you feel -- any signs of fullness?

If that's tough, Tribole has a "3-bite option." After the first bite, check in and see how you feel about the food -- pleasant, unpleasant or neutral? In the middle of the meal, pause for bite two and do the same while checking for signs of fullness. At your last bite check in again and rate your fullness -- does it feel good, bad or neutral?

She even has another tip: Try eating a meal with your non-dominant hand. That's one way to get your mind to pay attention!

Challenge the food police

At some point along the intuitive eating journey, the food police ingrained in your brain will begin to guilt you, say Tribole and Resch. How could it not when you've spent your life in a culture that tells you what is good and bad to eat? Or shames you for the size and shape of your body?

"The psychological part of it is so powerful," Resch said. "We have to be aware of what is accurate thinking and what is distortive thinking by diet culture."

The solution is to say a loud "No!" to those thoughts in your head, she said. If you have trouble, reach out to a trained nutritionist or counselor.

Cope with emotions without using food

Everyone eats for comfort now and again. That's ok, Resch said, and becoming connected with your body will allow you to recognize when you're stress eating or sad eating. That's because you'll realize you're not hungry.

"We have to be aware of how our emotions may cause us to make different decisions about eating," Resch said. "It's getting to the point where you can separate the emotions of comfort from using food in a destructive way."

Food doesn't fix feelings, Tribole said. Try reaching out to friends and family, taking a walkabout in nature, meditating, even reading or playing with a pet. You could also find a good counselor.

"Talking about your wellness and health can lead to increased physical health and emotional health," Resch said. "And then we just have to really listen to hunger and fullness and get back in tune with that."

Respect your body | Feel the difference | Gentle nutrition

These last three pillars of intuitive eating are broader than just understanding your relationship with food.

"The whole point of intuitive eating is about either healing or cultivating a healthy relationship with food, mind and body," Tribole said. "It's really an inside job. It's listening to what's going on with your entire body."

That means addressing all aspects of health, Resch said: "Enough sleep, stress reduction, work-life balance, exercise that makes you happy, all the things that you do as part of self-care and wellness."

But be careful about embracing the "wellness movement" until you have freed yourself from the diet culture, Resch said.

"So many people are avoiding certain foods and saying it's for wellness, but really the intent is to change their bodies, she said. "The wellness movement can be a cover for getting thinner.

"Anytime there is a focus on weight loss, it will sabotage the intuitive eating process, " Resch added, "because someone will eat something that is not on the diet and get into that same cycle of, 'I feel bad that I ate it. Now I'm broken it and I'll keep eating it.' "

Resch said it also means rejecting society's negative opinion about your body -- if you have experienced that -- and banishing your own sense of shame. Bodies come in all shapes and sizes.

"I've been in practice 38 years and there are many people who are just absolutely in tune with their bodies, and with eating, and they live in larger bodies," Resch said. "They've been larger all their lives and they are healthy -- great cholesterol, great blood pressure -- cause their bodies are meant to be there."

"The majority of us are born with all of this internal wisdom about eating," Resch said. "We just need to listen to it."

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Intuitive eating: The anti-diet, or how pleasure from food is the answer, say its creators - CNN

Many of us had a great time during the holiday season, visiting friends and family, watching football, and probably eating more food than we needed. What the heck. It was the holidays and all that home cooking was too good to pass up, right?

Unfortunately, for too many of us the overeating never stops. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) more than 39% of American adults are considered obese, overweight; thats 93 million people, not including children, with a Body Mass Index (BMI) over 30. The BMI is simply a fatness measurement determined as follows: BMI= weight in pounds multiplied by 703, then divided by height in inches squared. For example: (180 lb x 703 = 126,540) divided by (60x 60 = 3,600) equals BMI of 35.

In many survival situations things can happen beyond our control such as accidents or storms, but losing weight and getting in shape is completely within our control and nothing is more important to our personal survival. And, just like wilderness survival the key to success is knowing exactly what to do and then having enough want to to turn that knowledge into effective survival action.

While many diet plans and weight loss programs can be confusing and hard to follow, I use a very straightforward weight loss routine. I call it 5N4 and I created it as a universal method for my overweight wilderness survival students to get back in shape. Ive had students drop 12 pounds in six weeks just by sticking with 5N4.

Lets start by looking at what might be considered a typical day of food consumption for millions of adults in America. The calorie counts shown are the general amounts for the particular food and serving size.

Starting with breakfast: cereal, whole milk, wheat toast, butter, orange juice; 600 calories. Lunch might include a hamburger with fries and a flavored soft drink; 850 calories. Dinner might consist of grilled chicken breast, rice, green beans, wheat roll, and an oatmeal cookie for desert; 730 calories. And, add a beer or glass of wine with dinner (120 calories) and a candy bar (200) mid-day snack, and were talking about a daily total of 2,500 calories.

According to Web MD, that many calories might be OK to sustain a 30-50 year old male who walks 3-4 miles every single day at a brisk pace of 3 miles per hour, in addition to doing their typical daily life activities. But, keep in mind that if that same individual is trying to lose any weight at all then the solution has to include a whole lot more exercise and cutting way back on caloric intake.

The 5N4 routine can help us to do both. It consists of five rules and four principles, all easy to remember and follow for as long as needed to lose weight.

Rule One: Cut out all deserts, sweets, crackers, chips, and bread of any kind. No cookies, candy, pie, cake, sweetened drinks, rolls, bagels, or toast.

Rule Two: Cut out all spirits and alcohol. No wine, beer, whiskey, scotch, bourbon, gin, rum, brandy, shine or any related drinks. This rule is more difficult because alcohol itself is habit forming. Simply having a beer every day after work creates its own physical and psychological craving that must be interrupted.

Rule Three: No seconds at any meal.

Rule Four: No snacks between meals.

Rule Five: No sitting; that is no prolonged sedentary activity such as spending hours at a time watching television, working on the computer, or playing video games. Cut back on sitting time with an active hobby or taking exercise breaks to go walking or jogging.

The Four Principles are just as easy to follow: limit lunch to just fruit or salad, drink plenty of water every day, eat only half of a restaurant dinner entree (save half for another dinner), and eat nothing after 9 p.m.

Always consult a physician before starting this or any other weight loss program. The 5N4 program should work for those who are willing to make the commitment. Learn more about survival and upcoming programs at http://www.mountaineerwilderness.com.

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Surviving the typical American diet | News, Sports, Jobs - The Inter-Mountain

American doctors at Yale University have studied the effects of a ketogenic diet in mice to measure the benefits of this increasingly popular regimen, which involves eating more fat and less carbohydrates.

Very popular in recent years, ketogenic diets are based on higher consumption of fat and lower consumption of carbohydrates. In concrete terms, a person who follows a ketogenic diet will, for example, eat a lot of smoked salmon and avocado, but will avoid cakes, sweets and other sugar-rich foods, including certain varieties of fruit (grapes, mangoes, bananas).

Apart from its rapid and effective slimming effect, a ketogenic diet may also help protect against diabetes, explain researchers at Yale University. Published inNature Metabolism, a study by the researchers showed a reduction of glucose in the blood of mice one week after following a ketogenic diet.

Read also: 2019 dietary 'trend': Out with Ketogenic, in with Mediterranean

When the body lacks sugar, it draws on its reserves of fat and begins to produce ketogenic bodies, which provide an alternative source of energy. At the same time, the body also produces gamma delta T-lymphocytes, and the study found that it is precisely these immune system cells that help to ward off diabetes and the risk of inflammation.

However, the study also showed that the opposite effect may occur if a ketogenic diet extends beyond one week: When mice continue to eat the high-fat, low-carb diet beyond one week, they consume more fat than they can burn, and develop diabetes and obesity. They lose the protective gamma delta T-cells in the fat, points out Vishwa Deep Dixit, a professor of immunobiology at the Yale School of Medicine and the main author of the study.

Our findings highlight the interplay between metabolism and the immune system, and how it coordinates maintenance of healthy tissue function, adds Emily Goldberg, a postdoctoral fellow in comparative medicine and the co-author of the study.

The ideal duration to maximize the health benefits of a ketogenic diet has yet to be determined, however, the researchers concluded that ketogenic diets work best in small doses and over a short period of time (less than a week).

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Ketogenic diets are effective but may be harmful over time - The Jakarta Post - Jakarta Post

Vegetarianism is having a moment in the sun. Record numbers of people are giving it a try, the number of places offering vegetarian food is ever-increasing, and the variety and quality of vegetarian alternatives to meat products are rising with it.

But, is this all just misplaced environmental concern, sentimentality, and hippie mumbo jumbo? After all, the stereotype of a vegetarian remains less than flattering. Or is there a method to the bacon-denying madness? Today, we'll look at three philosophies that endorse vegetarianism, look at their arguments, and consider if you should put that piece of steak down.

Peter Singer is an Australian philosopher well known for his work in Utilitarian ethics. His 1975 book Animal Liberation is a groundbreaking work in the field of animal rights and presents a bold program for treating animals much better than we currently do.

He begins with a simple idea; that animals have interests that should be considered equal to the similar interests of human beings. If it is wrong to inflict unnecessary pain on human beings, then it is also wrong to do it to animals.

While it is true that many arguments have been made to separate humans and animals because of differences between them, Singer points out that we never apply them to other members of the human race. If we can't hurt and eat people with very low intelligence or who cannot use language, then why do we justify eating animals because they don't use syntax? Since animals clearly can feel, why should we not consider them as equal when calculating the net pleasure and pain caused by an action?

He argues that any attempt to morally separate humans from other animals when it comes to whose pain matters is based primarily on speciesism, prejudice against other animals, rather than a consistent logic and should be rejected. He then concludes, given the nature of industrial farming and the suffering many animals endure because of it, that we should switch to vegetarian and vegan diets to maximize the total happiness.

There are two subtleties to his arguments that must be remembered. The first is that he is not talking about "animal rights" in the pure sense. He certainly isn't arguing that an elephant be given the right to vote. He is arguing only that the difference between pain in humans and elephants is morally irrelevant and that the elephant's interests should be considered as equal to a humans' when deciding what to do.

Secondly, he is a utilitarian, and some apparent contradictions come with that. Most notably, he argues that some medical experimentation on animals is morally justifiable, as the benefits of the research will significantly outweigh the pain caused to the animal in the laboratory. Similarly, while he likes free-range farming as an idea, he doesn't encourage it in all cases as it can be worse for the environment than factory farming. The cost to benefit ratio doesn't quite work out for him.

His work has been widely influential, and most of the modern animal liberation movement cites him as a major influence. However, some philosophers, such as Richard Sorabji, have argued that his moral theory is simplistic and gives rise to strange moral instructions in some situations.

Many religions have lines of scripture that are commonly interpreted as encouraging or even mandating vegetarianism.

The Dharmic Religions of India are well known for their tendency towards vegetarianism. In Jainism, vegetarianism is mandatory, as harming animals is considered bad karma. Hinduism and Buddhism also have scripture forbidding violence against animals, but how much that applies to the killing of animals for food is still debated. For those who do eat meat, ritualized methods of minimizing the suffering of the animal before death exist.

A third of Hindus are vegetarians. The number of vegetarian Buddhists is not known with certainty. The Dali Lama tried the diet for a while himself but was forced back to omnivorism again for health reasons. He continues to encourage vegetarianism in the name of reducing the suffering of animals.

Pythagoras, of the theorem, encouraged an entire way of life named for him which included vegetarianism. This was perhaps motivated by his belief in reincarnation and aversion to violence.

Lastly, many more recent thinkers have put forward arguments based on the environmental costs of industrial animal farming as a reason to cut back on our animal consumption. Thinkers like Steve Best and Peter Singer have made this argument. They point to studies like one in Nature, which reminds us of how much of the carbon footprint of meat production we'll have to cut back on if we want to reach our goals in the fight against climate change.

You might have noticed that most of these schools and thinkers share a common theme; they tend to object to the production of meat, the killing and suffering of the animal, rather than the actual act of eating it. Some people make arguments along these lines, but they are in the minority.

Most, if not all, of the thinkers mentioned above would undoubtedly be fine with lab-grown meat if the energy costs of producing it could be lowered. Similarly, many debates over if it is alright to eat oysters, which probably can't feel pain and are rather plant-like, have taken place as part of the broader discussion of moral vegetarianism.

There you have it; serious thinkers are often behind vegetarianism, and they make very good arguments as to why you should eat less meat -if any at all. While they won't convince everybody to switch to tofu, they do provide an excellent starting point for any discussion of what an ethical diet is.

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Why some philosophers think you should be a vegetarian - Big Think

Sacramento, La Quinta and San Luis Obispo are among the cities that have been awarded gas tax dollars to create protected bike lanes by eliminating or reducing the size of lanes used by motor vehicles.

When Governor Newsom signedExecutive Order N-19-19 September 20, he directed the already controversial, voter-approved gas tax money away from fixing local highways (as voters were promised) in favor of rail projects. Simultaneously, cities have been using the funding not to improve roads or increase auto lanes, but instead for ongoing road diets and increasing bicycle lanes.

But the attempt to get California drivers out of their cars and onto public transit or bicycles isnt working out as central planners hoped.

Newsoms latest road plan for California eliminates two important highway expansion projects on vital freight corridors in Central California. Plans to increase stretches of Highway 99 from four to six lanes in the Central Valley have been put on the back burner.

Governor Newsom is intentionally starving us out of our roads, Assemblyman Jim Patterson told California Globe in October. Voters approved SB 1 with the promise that our crumbling highways would get the attention they deserve. Instead of building capacity, our gas tax funds are being siphoned off to fund Newsoms favored pet-projects, Patterson said. Governor Newsoms promise not to forget about the Central Valley is full of hot air, just like his climate plan.

Its as if the Governor wants California residents to reach back to the 19th Century when bicycles and trains were the only transportation, other than horses and wagons.

Coinciding with Californias reduction of automobile lanes and the increase of bicycle lanes in congested cities comes a new report from California Healthline showing that more cyclists died in traffic accidents from 2016 through 2018 across the state than during any three-year period in the past 25 years. California Healthline is a service of theCalifornia Health Care Foundation, which says it is especially focused on strengthening Medi-Cal.

However the article claims the increase in bicycle fatalities is because there are more autos on the road and bigger autos like SUVs often have larger blind spots than those of smaller cars, making it more difficult to see a cyclist. And it was not noted that California routinely has the highest number of bicycle-related fatalities of any statein the United States.

The article also omitted how many bicyclists were not wearing helmets.

The more people are driving, the higher the probability of an incident, said Jennifer Boldry, director of research at PeopleForBikes, a national nonprofit that advocates for greater bike access and safety, California Healthline reported.

The obvious conclusion for the pro-cycling, anti-auto crowd is to reduce auto lanes, reduce speed limits, encourage more bicycling and less auto driving. It might be a nice goal, but in California it is not realistic with the state spread out across more than 160,000 miles.

Sacramento, La Quinta and San Luis Obispo are among the cities that have been awarded gas tax dollars to create protected bike lanes by eliminating or reducing the size of lanes used by motor vehicles, the Los Angeles Times reported. The goal of the project is not just to make Sacramento a more bicycle-friendly city but also to improve public safety, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg said.

These were streets with some of the highest numbers of fatal and serious crashes in the city, Steinberg said. When we looked at why, the primary collision factor on the streets was unsafe speeds. And one of the easiest and most cost-effective ways to reduce the speeds is to reduce the number of travel lanes.

Sacramento has implemented this scheme by removing lanes for autos, and adding bicycle lanes right next to traffic. This has caused daily lengthy backups on major arteries leading into and out of downtown. This has also caused many drivers to cut through residential areas, adding significant traffic on streets once reserved for children riding bikes, mothers pushing strollers, walkers, joggers and dog walkers.

And, doesnt idling traffic also emit more of the dreaded greenhouse gas?

Matt Rocco, a spokesman for the California Department of Transportation said, Road diets, like other operational improvements, can help improve the flow of traffic and improve safety for the motorists, bicyclist and pedestrians.

Attempts to force people out of their cars have not worked. Lane and road diets only cause more congestion and pollution and bicycle fatalities when autos and bicycles are forced to share the road.

According to the National Motorist Association, increased traffic on residential streets is often caused by the mismanagement of the main arterials and collector streets. When cities improperly install stop signs, mistime traffic signals and underpost speed limits that have no relation to actual vehicle speeds, drivers will find other streets that flow better.

The City of Sacramento has been implementing road diets for many years, creating total chaos downtown, and in urban residential areas. Streets that were once two-way with four lanes are now one way with two lanes, or with one lane and increased bicycle lanes.

Roundabouts have been added in some downtown urban residential and light commercial areas with disastrous results; emergency vehicles cannot navigate around them.

And autos have fewer places to park. What the central planners fail to take into consideration is that not everyone in Californias big cities lives and works downtown. Even people who choose to live downtown dont all work within walking distance some actually leave downtown daily to work in large data centers in the suburbs, manufacturing factories in the outlying industrial areas, retail areas, and office complexes away from downtown.

In May, the state Senate approved a bill requiring Caltrans to develop policies that encourage the creation of more bikeways, sidewalks and crosswalks on state highways that are surface streets, the LA Times reported.

Motorists are fighting back, the National Motorists Association reported. In 2017, commuters using two important commuting thoroughfares in Playa del Rey became so enraged that they not only formed two groups to fight city hall but also started a recall campaign against the city councilman who championed the road diet in the first place. In October, the city reversed the road diet.

Bicycle fatalities will continue as long as urban planners continue to try and force people out of their cars. Motorists deserve roads that not only work, but can also be put to work, National Motorists Association said. That means allowing people the freedom to travel to the destination of their choice when they want with the least amount of interference. That is a fundamental principle of the American way of life. It also means keeping roads open for the movement of goods and services that is essential for society as a whole.

In 2016, the National Motorists Association launched aSTREETS THAT WORKinitiative designed to influence lawmakers and educate the public on the societal benefits of freedom of mobility.The NMA initiative is the antidote for Vision Zero, which aspires by government mandate and at great cost fiscally and in terms of personal autonomy to reshape urban transportation.

STREETS THAT WORKadvocates for:

As for the California Healthline article, they never questioned anyone except bicycle advocates. Consequently, there was no discussion of the physics involved when bicycles and autos mush share the road physics always wins.

Dave Snyder, executive director of the California Bicycle Coalition, or CalBike, said many California cities have made significant progress in improving infrastructure in recent years, resulting in safer roads for cyclists. Still, he said, more needs to be done in more places, California Healthline reported.

Some people see 2,000-pound or larger vehicles going 40 to 60 miles per hour within a few feet of them, and they think, No way. Thats not safe, and its not fun, Snyder said. Theres no reason why that has to be. Theres no reason why we cant create networks of bikeways, even on the main streets, that are protected from that high-speed traffic.

As the National Motorists Association concludes, motorists have the largest majority of any interest group in the country. Collectively, we have a mighty big voice when it comes to things like road diets and traffic calming.

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Governor's Theft of Gas Tax Funding: Reduction in Auto Lanes, Increased Bike Fatalities - California Globe

Most people have heard about the necessity of including omega-3 fats in their diets, but they are unsure of the food sources that supply them. Busy work schedules and long days tempt people to eat quick and easy meals from a fast food restaurant or pre-made dinners from the freezer. A steady diet of manufactured foods can lead to vitamin and mineral deficiencies, as well as a lack of essential omega-3 fats.

Omega-3 fats are essential to good heart health. The inclusion of omega-3 rich foods in the diet are believed to considerably lower the risk of fatal heart attacks. Over the centuries, the human diet has changed drastically. The hunter-gatherers who subsisted on their hunting and fishing skills along with the natural plant life they gathered, had a diet that contained a balance of omega-6 and omega-3 fats.

Most of the food they consumed was low in total fat and saturated fat. As humans have become more dependent on manufactured foods, including vegetable oils and margarine, the ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fats is out of balance from the original 2:1 to 10-20:1.

The primary benefit of omega-3 fats is improved heart health. Your cardiovascular health benefits from lower blood pressure, fewer triglyceride concentrations, and an improved endothelial function, which promotes the growth of new blood vessels.

Omega-3 fats also contribute to healthier and stronger bones, protection against both osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, reduced risk of Crohns disease, and lessens the chance of developing autoimmune disorders, such as lupus and nephropathy.

Medical research has determined omega-3 fats assist in promoting the growth of new blood vessels and are antiarrhythmic, antithrombotic, antiatherosclerotic, and anti-inflammatory. Some research suggests omega-3 fats also reduce the risk of Parkinsons and Alzheimers disease.

The foods listed here contain natural omega-3 fats. Avoid processed foods that have added omega-3 fats.

These are just a few of foods containing omega-3 fats, and the list starts with items containing the highest quantity. An online search will provide you with many more foods, and you are sure to find some you will enjoy adding to your diet.

Omega-3 fats are necessary for good heart function and health. If you havent been getting an adequate supply in your diet, start adding omega-3 fat-rich foods to your daily meals. Your whole body will benefit from this essential food element.

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The Importance of Omega-3 Fats to Overall Health - Taste Terminal

Its known that drinking more water can help lower the likelihood of urinary tract infections (UTIs) by flushing out bacteria present in the urinary tract. But what about the food we consume? Can what we eat (or avoid) help reduce the risk of a UTI?

The answer is yes, according to new research, published January 30 in Scientific Reports, which found that the overall risk of developing a UTI was lower in vegetarians compared with meat eaters.

RELATED: Is There a UTI-Causing Superbug Lurking in Your Gut?

The study took place in Taiwan, where investigators recruited participants from among volunteers of Tzu Chi, an organization of Buddhists who participate in a variety of charity and disaster-relief efforts. About one-third of the members are vegetarians, and all volunteers must agree to swear off alcohol and smoking to join the group.

Participants completed a food frequency questionnaire, which included whether they identified as a vegetarian. Individuals who said they were vegetarian but reported eating meat or fish as part of their diet were classified as non-vegetarians. After researchers excluded people under 20, those with incomplete questionnaires, and those with a history of UTI, 9,724 subjects remained: 3,257 vegetarians and 6,467 non-vegetarians.

Investigators followed participants from 2005 to 2014 through the National Health Insurance Program, which covers nearly 100 percent of the population, to identify any diagnosis of a UTI. At the end of the study period, 217 people in the vegetarian group had been diagnosed with a UTI compared with 444 people in the non-vegetarian group.

RELATED: What Is a Flexitarian Diet? What to Eat and How to Follow the Plan

That difference translated into a 16 percent lower overall risk of UTI for vegetarians compared with non-vegetarians. In a further subgroup analysis, a vegetarian diet was significantly associated with a reduced risk of UTI mainly in females, according to the authors.

After adjusting for various chronic conditions like hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol, the vegetarian diet seemed to have a protective effect against UTIs for women, but no distinct difference was found in males, the authors write. The risk reduction was also present in nonsmokers for uncomplicated UTIs which are those that crop up in otherwise healthy people.

Women are more likely than men to get a UTI; 60 percent of women will have at least one UTI in their lifetime compared with only 12 percent of men. This is because women have shorter urethras than men, meaning that bacteria has a shorter distance to travel to get to the bladder, according to the Urology Care Foundation.

Because vegetarian diets are associated with different bacteria flora in the gastrointestinal system, it isnt surprising that the risk of UTI was lower in this group, says Chin-Lon Lin, MD, the lead author and a professor at Tzu Chi University in Taiwan.

Dr. Lin suspects that the risk reduction is due to the combination of more vegetables and the elimination of meat. But we do think meat plays a more important role because it changes the intestinal flora, says Lin.

The strains of E. coli that cause the majority of UTIs are known as extraintestinal pathogenic Escherichia coli (ExPEC), and they can colonize and infect normally sterile body sites. Researchers theorize that by eliminating meat, particularly pork and poultry, which are known to contain these strains of E. coli bacteria, people are less likely to introduce the bacteria into their bowel and therefore lower the risk that the bacteria will travel to the urethra.

Another potential contributor could be the high fiber content in vegetarian diets. Because of the way fiber is metabolized, it decreases the pH in the gut, which in turn may inhibit the growth of E. coli, the authors write.

RELATED: 9 Things You Should Know Before You Go Vegetarian

Although these findings are intriguing, there are a number of other factors in the Buddhist lifestyle beyond dietary ones, says Yufang Lin, MD, an integrative internal medicine doctor at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, who was not involved in this research. This makes it difficult to attribute the reductions in urinary tract infections to the effects of diet alone, she says. While I dont think this study provides conclusive evidence that a vegetarian diet reduces UTI risk, there are a number of things about the vegetarian diet that can support the reduction of UTI, says Dr. Lin.

The study authors acknowledge their findings have a few key limitations. They based the presence (or absence) of a UTI on the coding of the healthcare provider (ICD-9) rather than the gold standard, which would have been clinical symptoms and lab tests, including a urine culture. Factors that are known to influence UTIs, such as water intake and sexual activity, were not measured or accounted for in the findings.

According to Dr. Chin-Lon Lin, further research should include more analysis of the strains of bacteria that are responsible for UTI, which will shed light on the mechanism of the apparent protective effect of vegetarian diets.

In addition to reducing exposure to E. coli by eliminating meat, there are ways that eating more vegetables can reduce the risk of UTI, according to Dr. Yufang Lin. Many plant-based foods, particularly herbs or bitter foods, have antimicrobial properties and are also antioxidants, she says.

A vegetarian diet is often rich in components that are antimicrobial, says Lin. Antimicrobial means it has the ability to fight the presence of microbes, including bacteria. These work to suppress bacterial growth in the food that we eat as well as suppress bacterial growth in the gut, she says.

This is combination reduces the amount of bacteria in our intestinal environment, which in turn reduces the possibility of bacteria going to our bladder, she explains. This is how a vegetarian diet that has a lot of antimicrobials can be very beneficial, says Lin.

As part of the vegetarian diet youre also going to get a lot of foods that are antioxidants, says Lin. They are also supportive of our own immune system and as a result can also promote our ability to fight off infection, she says.

Finally, fruits and vegetables are rich in nutrients, which help support the bodys functions in general, says Lin. There are a lot of factors that support having a plant-based diet. You dont necessarily have to be a vegan for better health, she adds.

I absolutely think when you eat lots of whole foods, vegetables, fresh fruits, things of that nature, youre going to get multiple benefits and the potential to reduce UTIs, Lin says. For someone whose immune system is a little bit weaker, she recommends cooking with lots of spices such as garlic, onion, rosemary, thyme, oregano, ginger, all of which are antimicrobials and antioxidants, she says.

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Urinary Track Infection (UTI) Risk Reduced With Vegetarian Diet - Everyday Health