Did you over-indulge during the festive season? Too much alcohol, too many mince pies, chocolates and snacks, or maybe just a few too many big heavy meals eaten late at night?

(Btw, we all did!)

If your digestion is now struggling and youve put on a few extra pounds, you might have already planned yourself a healthy dry January when you cut out everything bad from your diet to get your flat tummy back and to feel healthy again? Maybe you are determined to start a juice cleanse or a detox diet with BIG promises to lose those extra pounds?

STOP right there!

Not only are these restrictive diets extremely hard to do, particularly in the cold winter moths when your body craves and needs comforting and nourishing foods, but they can also do more harm than good. You really dont need to punish yourself with a detox diet just because you allowed yourself some festive enjoyment!

Start supporting your body every single day

Every day, our bodies are exposed to thousands of compounds, naturally occurring and synthetic, that need to be eliminated safely from the body. Some of these compounds are naturally occurring in the body as by-products of metabolism, some come from the diet (alcohol, caffeine, heavy metals, pesticides, burned foods) and some from the environment and the lifestyles we lead (e.g. medications, air pollution, plastics, synthetic chemicals in cosmetics and cleaning products, furnishings).

The body has several systems that are working hard every single second to make toxic compounds less harmful and ready for removal from the body. These are organs such as the liver, kidneys, skin, lungs, lymphatic system and the gut microbiome; the liver being the bodys main detoxification organ. But all of these systems need our support every single day to function optimally.

A short-term restrictive detox diet or juice cleanse is not going to help these systems in the long run. Its much better to help them every day with simple, sensible dietary and lifestyle choices that are much easier than restrictive diets.

My top tips for supporting the bodys detox functions all year round:

Want to learn more about detoxification, nutrition and healthy diet? Visit my website (below) or come and join me on Facebook @metawell or @Healthy New You For Life and Instagram @minna.wood.

To get advice for adopting a healthy eating plan that supports your bodys natural detoxification systems, gut health and overall health, book your free 30-minute mini-consultation with Minna here: https://calendly.com/metawell/

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Forget Detox Diets! and Support Your Body's Detoxification Naturally Every Single Day Tips from a Registered Nutritionist - The Wokingham Paper

According to Catherine Greenleaf, director of St. Francis Wild Bird Center in Lyme, New Hampshire, it would be hard to miss the pileated woodpecker because of its red, black and white coat, but also due to its large size, as it is second only to the ivory billed woodpecker.

Greenleaf, who rehabilitates injured and orphaned birds, said the pileated's ivory billed cousin is likely extinct, as no one has seen one in some time. Although some claim to have heard the call of the ivory billed woodpecker deep in the Louisiana swamps, she likens the claim to the hunt for Bigfoot.

Here in Pine Island, however, there is a large colony of the pileated woodpecker. Greenleaf, a part-time island resident, notes that Pineland holds a dense population of these birds, since they seem to like wooded areas. She also said their love for pine trees is born from a sweet tooth they can satisfy with sap.

Two pileated woodpeckers on a tree.

MARTHA HUARD

A pileated woodpecker feeding its baby, which is poking its head out of the side of a tree.

MARTHA HUARD

"Pine trees emit a sap, made of mostly water," said Greenleaf. "But it's got sugar and minerals in it that gives the pileated the energy it needs to get through the day."

She went on to explain the bird's sap hunting process, which is not too far removed from that of the hummingbird. The pileated woodpecker drills into the pine tree, causing sap to run, which not only benefits them, but many other birds as well, who are able to make a meal of the sap. Greenleaf further explained the pileated's love for pine resin, which may be tied to the fact that it is a natural anti-bacterial. Insects are vitally important for survival, just as they are for most birds that depend on the protein found in the insects. Greenleaf contends that contrary to the popular opinion, that birds love to eat seeds, given the choice. She said they much prefer protein-enriched insects, and in fact, will choose seeds only over starvation.

"Pileated woodpeckers," said Greenleaf, "are very beneficial to have around, because they love termites. Termites and carpenter ants are two of their favorite foods, so you won't end up with termites in your house if they are around."

The woodpecker's love for insects doesn't stop there however. According to Greenleaf, they will even drill into a tree to get to the larvae before they hatch. Ranking highly on their list of diet choices are beetles, cockroaches and grasshoppers. Insects, she explains, are roughly 90% of the pileated woodpecker's diet, with the other 10% consisting of mostly fruits and nuts.

"Dead trees are very beneficial to the pileated," said Greenleaf. "Because they have more insects in them then live trees. A lot of people don't realize that dead trees are loaded with insects. There is a vicious cycle going on. When people buy lots if they could just leave trees standing, rather than having them cleared out, the birds would have a wildlife environment."

She wants people to know about a movement called, "One Third For the Birds," which is an organizational effort to get people to leave one third of their property to surrounding wildlife. She maintains that doing this will allow the birds to go about their business in the wild, while the homeowner gets to enjoy the scenery. She believes that if trees have fallen in a place that's safely out of the way, the trees can be left for the birds to drill through, which will keep them from drilling into someone's home. She points out that the developing lands are driving the pileated woodpecker into more suburban areas around the island, which is why they have become more and more visible.

"They're a very shy bird," said Greenleaf. "They really don't prefer to fly across busy roads. The solution is to work with the wildlife that's here, and try to have as little impact as possible. It's possible to live in harmony with all of the birds, including the pileated woodpecker."

Greenleaf, who has been in bird rehabilitation for 20 years, spends the entire month of March on Pine Island every year, because of the large bird population. She has been asked to give a presentation on the pileated woodpecker at the Greater Pine Island Civic Association Board meeting Tuesday, March 3, at the Elks Club at Pine Island Center. The meeting is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m.

Go here to see the original:
Greenleaf: Pine Island has large population of pileated woodpeckers - Pine Island Eagle

EVERY January millions of us vow to get healthier and fitter, which will usually involve getting our heart rates up with some extra cardio, whether that's running, walking, cycling or swimming.

And this is excellent for boosting heart health, lowering blood pressure and supporting the immune system. Plus, if you're looking to lose excess weight, teaming cardio with a healthy, balanced diet can help shift pounds.

However, there's a big area of fitness that experts say millions of people are ignoring in their health-kick: building muscle. Strength training is often far down people's priority lists, particularly if their main aim is weight-loss, or if the weight section of a gym simply seems alien. But it seems we could be missing a trick.

"Being stronger is vital for health, sports performance, losing weight, gaining muscle, recovering from an injury and improving mobility," says human movement and performance coach Luke Worthington (lukeworthington.com), who describes strength as the "most important facet of a fitness programme".

Here are some of the reasons maintaining and/or building muscle is a vital part of overall fitness whatever your age or gender...

To do cardio safely, you need strength

Worthington says uptake in participation in fitness at this time of year is only ever a good thing, but he adds: "Jumping headfirst into hours of repetitive cardio isn't always a good idea.

"Cardiovascular exercise, especially when on a new year health-kick, often involves repeating the same action over and over again, so in other words, producing and absorbing the same forces for multiple repetitions. To do this effectively and safely requires strength."

Muscle is a great fat-burning tool

What if you could burn fat by lazing around in from of the TV? Well, actually you can if you've done the work in the gym first. "The more muscle mass you have, the higher your basal metabolic rate will be," explains head of fitness at Fiit (fiit.tv), Gede Foster.

Figures vary in different studies but Foster says: "Muscle tissue burns seven to 10 calories daily per pound, while fat burns two to three. So the more muscle you have, the more calories you'll burn just sitting on the sofa."

Nutrition and fitness expert Tom Jenane (natureshealthbox.co.uk), adds: "Strength training also helps the transportation of glucose to the muscle, which helps you to control your blood sugar levels." Which, in turn, can help regulate weight.

Those who most need to build muscle are often most likely to skip it

"The people most likely to avoid strength training are women, those trying to lose weight, and the elderly. These are, however, the three populations for which strength training is the most important," says Worthington.

As people get older, muscles lose strength and mass, known as sarcopenia. Therefore strength training for older people can be particularly important.

"As well as [helping] keep you mobile and pain-free, strength training is essential for maintaining bone mineral content and reducing the risk of osteoporosis," he says. "It's fundamental to joint health and pain prevention."

It can be empowering

"Strength training in women of all ages promotes bone density and healthy hormonal balance," says Worthington. "Aside from the physical benefits, I find with all my female clients that strength train is very empowering, giving a real and tangible goal of, for example, completing your first pull up."

Foster adds: "After the age of 30, women's bone density and muscle mass start to decrease if we don't do something about it. It's literally the 'use it or lose it' saying."

Being stronger can help prevent injuries, aches and pains

It's generally acknowledged that having a strong core is better for posture, and a good posture means some people are less likely to have back pain (but the causes of back pain can be many different things).

"One of the most overlooked areas is how it can actually help to prevent injuries," says Jenane. "A huge portion of the time, when people have lower back pain, it is because they haven't used the muscles enough and fat has built up where the muscle should be. If those muscles have become weak over time then they are over relying on the connecting tendons."

No, it won't make you bulky

Worthington says putting on muscle is actually a "very hard" thing to do. "Broadly speaking, a healthy male training and eating specifically to build muscle, is physiologically capable of putting on muscle at a rate of 1 per cent of their body weight per month and that's someone really trying their hardest to!

"Not wanting to work with weights for fear of becoming too bulky is a little like not taking your driving lessons through fear of accidentally winning the F1," he says.

You don't need to lift heavy weights

A 2016 study by McMaster University in the Journal of Applied Physiology challenged the traditional notion of heavy weightlifting, saying that lifting lighter weights (like smaller dumbbells) was often as efficient as lifting heavy weights with fewer repetitions.

Personal Trainer Kira Mahal, founder of MotivatePT (motivatept.co.uk) and Reset LDN, says: "Whilst many people think you need to be squatting or dead-lifting large bars to increase your muscle mass, this is simply untrue. You don't need to spend hours in the weights room at the gym; it's as easy as using basic equipment like ankle weights and resistance bands which drive muscle growth by activating the fibres in the muscle."

Small, light dumbbells are also a good place to start but body-weight exercises using your own body as resistance instead of weights can do wonders. Mahal recommends incorporating this into your training two to four times a week, and says the best body-weight exercises to start with are push-ups, squats, lunges and planks.

She says: "Make sure you are progressively overloading by increasing the number of reps for the allocated time limit in body-weight training every couple of sessions, and moving from easier to more difficult variations of the moves, as well as steadily increasing your weight or resistance if using extra equipment."

Always seek advice from your own doctor or physio before starting a new training regime, especially if you have a history of injuries or health problems

See the rest here:
Why avoiding strength training as part of your new fitness regime is a mistake - The Irish News

DASH diet: Healthy eating to lower your blood pressure

The DASH diet emphasizes the right portion sizes, variety of foods and nutrients. Discover how DASH can improve your health and lower your blood pressure.

DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. The DASH diet is a lifelong approach to healthy eating that's designed to help treat or prevent high blood pressure (hypertension). The DASH diet plan was developed to lower blood pressure without medication in research sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.

The DASH diet encourages you to reduce the sodium in your diet and eat a variety of foods rich in nutrients that help lower blood pressure, such as potassium, calcium and magnesium.

By following the DASH diet, you may be able to reduce your blood pressure by a few points in just two weeks. Over time, the top number of your blood pressure (systolic blood pressure) could drop by eight to 14 points, which can make a significant difference in your health risks.

Because the DASH diet is a healthy way of eating, it offers health benefits besides just lowering blood pressure. The DASH diet is also in line with dietary recommendations to prevent osteoporosis, cancer, heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

The DASH diet emphasizes vegetables, fruits and low-fat dairy foods and moderate amounts of whole grains, fish, poultry and nuts.

In addition to the standard DASH diet, there is also a lower sodium version of the diet. You can choose the version of the diet that meets your health needs:

Both versions of the DASH diet aim to reduce the amount of sodium in your diet compared with what you might get in a typical American diet, which can amount to a whopping 3,400 mg of sodium a day or more.

The standard DASH diet meets the recommendation from the Dietary Guidelines for Americans to keep daily sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg a day.

The American Heart Association recommends 1,500 mg a day of sodium as an upper limit for all adults. If you aren't sure what sodium level is right for you, talk to your doctor.

Both versions of the DASH diet include lots of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and low-fat dairy products. The DASH diet also includes some fish, poultry and legumes, and encourages a small amount of nuts and seeds a few times a week.

You can eat red meat, sweets and fats in small amounts. The DASH diet is low in saturated fat, trans fat and total fat.

Here's a look at the recommended servings from each food group for the 2,000-calorie-a-day DASH diet.

Grains include bread, cereal, rice and pasta. Examples of one serving of grains include 1 slice whole-wheat bread, 1 ounce dry cereal, or 1/2 cup cooked cereal, rice or pasta.

Tomatoes, carrots, broccoli, sweet potatoes, greens and other vegetables are full of fiber, vitamins, and such minerals as potassium and magnesium. Examples of one serving include 1 cup raw leafy green vegetables or 1/2 cup cut-up raw or cooked vegetables.

Many fruits need little preparation to become a healthy part of a meal or snack. Like vegetables, they're packed with fiber, potassium and magnesium and are typically low in fat coconuts are an exception.

Examples of one serving include one medium fruit, 1/2 cup fresh, frozen or canned fruit, or 4 ounces of juice.

Milk, yogurt, cheese and other dairy products are major sources of calcium, vitamin D and protein. But the key is to make sure that you choose dairy products that are low-fat or fat-free because otherwise they can be a major source of fat and most of it is saturated.

Examples of one serving include 1 cup skim or 1 percent milk, 1 cup low-fat yogurt, or 1 1/2 ounces part-skim cheese.

Meat can be a rich source of protein, B vitamins, iron and zinc. Choose lean varieties and aim for no more than 6 one-ounce servings a day. Cutting back on your meat portion will allow room for more vegetables.

Examples of one serving include 1 egg or 1 ounce of cooked meat, poultry or fish.

Almonds, sunflower seeds, kidney beans, peas, lentils and other foods in this family are good sources of magnesium, potassium and protein.

They're also full of fiber and phytochemicals, which are plant compounds that may protect against some cancers and cardiovascular disease.

Serving sizes are small and are intended to be consumed only a few times a week because these foods are higher in calories.

Examples of one serving include 1/3 cup nuts, 2 tablespoons seeds or nut butter, or 1/2 cup cooked beans or peas.

Fat helps your body absorb essential vitamins and helps your body's immune system. But too much fat increases your risk of heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

The DASH diet strives for a healthy balance by limiting total fat to less than 30 percent of daily calories from fat, with a focus on the healthier monounsaturated fats.

Examples of one serving include 1 teaspoon soft margarine, 1 tablespoon mayonnaise or 2 tablespoons salad dressing.

You don't have to banish sweets entirely while following the DASH diet just go easy on them. Examples of one serving include 1 tablespoon sugar, jelly or jam, 1/2 cup sorbet, or 1 cup lemonade.

Drinking too much alcohol can increase blood pressure. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that men limit alcohol to no more than two drinks a day and women to one or less.

The DASH diet doesn't address caffeine consumption. The influence of caffeine on blood pressure remains unclear. But caffeine can cause your blood pressure to rise at least temporarily.

If you already have high blood pressure or if you think caffeine is affecting your blood pressure, talk to your doctor about your caffeine consumption.

While the DASH diet is not a weight-loss program, you may indeed lose unwanted pounds because it can help guide you toward healthier food choices.

The DASH diet generally includes about 2,000 calories a day. If you're trying to lose weight, you may need to eat fewer calories. You may also need to adjust your serving goals based on your individual circumstances something your health care team can help you decide.

The foods at the core of the DASH diet are naturally low in sodium. So just by following the DASH diet, you're likely to reduce your sodium intake. You also reduce sodium further by:

One teaspoon of table salt has 2,325 mg of sodium. When you read food labels, you may be surprised at just how much sodium some processed foods contain.

Even low-fat soups, canned vegetables, ready-to-eat cereals and sliced turkey from the local deli foods you may have considered healthy often have lots of sodium.

You may notice a difference in taste when you choose low-sodium food and beverages. If things seem too bland, gradually introduce low-sodium foods and cut back on table salt until you reach your sodium goal. That'll give your palate time to adjust.

Using salt-free seasoning blends or herbs and spices may also ease the transition. It can take several weeks for your taste buds to get used to less salty foods.

Try these strategies to get started on the DASH diet:

Remember, healthy eating isn't an all-or-nothing proposition. What's most important is that, on average, you eat healthier foods with plenty of variety both to keep your diet nutritious and to avoid boredom or extremes. And with the DASH diet, you can have both.

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More here:
DASH diet: Healthy eating to lower your blood pressure ...

Greenwood, MS, Jan. 23, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The popular Military Diet has been around for a few years now and doesnt appear to have any chances of slowing down despite having no connection to the actual military. The high protein, low-calorie diet is used to help people lose weight within a few weeks under a restricted meal plan three days per week. Dieters will eat three low-calorie meals per day to ramp up metabolism, while the other four days are free to consume a little bit more. Meals include hard boiled eggs, toast, some fruit, crackers, coffee or tea, and yes ice cream. Despite its claims of 10 lbs. per week of weight loss, there have been very few studies conducted on the military diet to show its efficacy. Dr. Tom Burns of the nationally recognized Diet Demand says that This style of dieting never gets past the glycogen use phase and into the extended fast loss phase. Meaning, people may see a drop in weight on the scale, but fat loss will most likely be minimal and unsustainable. This is due to the use of glycogen stores which will shed more water than fat. People might enjoy the benefits initially, butwater weight regain is likely as soon as they start eating normally again.Given the calories in vs calories out model, cutting calories three times a week can potentially generate some weight loss, but again the diet itself simply is not sustainable in for any long-term period.

Furthermore, the Military Diet does not emphasize healthy whole foods that support long-term weight loss and maintenance. Instead, Diet Demand recommends a well-balanced diet of vegetables, proteins and healthy fats for both initial and long-term fat loss. For anyone looking for quick and encouraging weight loss results that are sustainable and also encourage improved health markers, Dr. Burns recommends a much better option Diet Demands Jumpstart Diet. This combination of doctor-supervised diet planning and potent prescription aids to control appetite and discourage bad eating habits, is currently helping patients quickly lose up to 20 pounds per month.

Ready for your FREE Diet Demand consultation to assess your need for safe and quick diet results by visiting https: http://www.dietdemand.com/ to complete an initial comprehensive, yet simple, health questionnaire and schedule an immediate personal, no-cost consultation. DietDemands physicians all received specialized training in nutritional science and fast weight loss. DietDemand reviews each patients health history to create a personalized diet plan geared for fast weight loss, or that addresses life-long issues causing weight loss to slow down or stop. Nutritionists work personally with each patient and use their own algorithm to craft meal and snack plans that are compatible with each patients age, gender, activity level, food preferences, nutritional needs and medical conditions. They combine these state of the art diet plans with pure, prescription diet products that enable their patients to resist the temptation to reach for sugary snacks, eliminate fatigue and curb the appetite. Over 97% of DietDemand patients report incredible weight loss results with the majority losing 20 or more pounds per month.

At DietDemand, all patients gain unlimited access to the best minds in the business. Their staff of doctors, nurses, nutritionists and coaches are available six days per week to answer questions, offer suggestions, address concerns and lend their professional guidance and support. Because of this, more and more people are turning to DietDemand for their weight management needs. Diet plans are tailored to be specific to the needs of those of any age, gender, shape or size and for those who are struggling to lose that final 10-20 pounds to those who must lose 100 pounds or more. Call today to request a private, confidential, no-cost online consultation.

About the Company:

DietDemand is the nation's leader in medical, weight loss offering a full line of prescription medication, doctor, nurse and nutritional coaching support. For over a decade, DietDemand has produced a sophisticated, doctor designed weight loss program that addresses each individual specific health need to promote fast, safe and long-term weight loss.

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Diet Demand Finds Flaws in the Military Diet Says There Are Much Better Options for Weight Loss - Yahoo Finance

The number of people cutting down on meat and dairy, or cutting these foods from their diets entirely, has been rising over the last decade. The number of vegans in the UK, for example, quadrupled between 2006 and 2018, according to research by The Vegan Society.

One common motivation for shunning steak and stilton and going vegan is the promised health benefits. The vegan diet is generally considered to be higher in fibre and lower in cholesterol, protein, calcium and salt than an omnivorous diet but there are still misconceptions and concerns around cutting meat, fish, eggs and dairy completely from our diets.

One common concern is whether a vegan diet provides enough vitamin B12. B12 helps prevent nerve damage, and is found in meat, fish, eggs and dairy, but not in fruit or vegetables. It's recommended that adults consume 1.5 micrograms of the vitamin per day.

A B12 deficiency can lead to neurological symptoms such as numbness, and its irreversible if the deficiency is present for too long, says Janet Cade, of the Nutritional Epidemiology Group, School of Food Science and Nutrition.

Read more from The Vegan Factor on BBC Good Food

A recent study involving 48,000 people over 18 years compared the health of meat-eaters, pescatarians who eat fish and dairy but not meat and vegetarians, including some vegans. They found that people who eat vegan and vegetarian diets have a lower risk of heart disease, but a higher risk of stroke, possibly partly due to a lack of B12.

The researchers found that those who didnt eat meat had 10 fewer cases of heart disease and three more strokes per 1,000 people compared with the meat-eaters. Researcher Tammy Tong, nutritional epidemiologist at the University of Oxford, says the higher risk of haemorrhagic stroke could be for several reasons.

Haemorrhagic stroke is caused by a bleeding in the brain. While low cholesterol is protective for heart disease and ischemic stroke, theres some evidence showing that low cholesterol levels (associated with the vegan and vegetarian diet) may be linked to a small risk of haemorrhagic stroke.

Originally posted here:
Are there health benefits to going vegan? - BBC News

Millennials are dieting - but unlike older generations, they arent really doing so in order to drop a few pounds or look great in a bathing suit come summertime. Rather, many Millennials are changing their diets in pursuit of both physical and mental wellness, along with a desire to reduce their climate footprints.

New data from YouGov finds that Millennials are more likely than other generations to say that they have changed their diet in order to improve their mental health (30%) or reduce their impact on the planet (20%).

Millennials (17%) are also more likely than Gen Xers (10%) or Baby Boomers (10%) to say theyve gone on a diet to accommodate food allergies.

Across generations, over half of US adults say that theyve gone on a diet to improve their physical health. For Millennials, improving physical health is the most commonly-named incentive for going on a diet. Among members of Generation X and Baby Boomers, losing weight is the most common reason for changing their diets.

Some scientific studies suggest that eating less meat and cutting down on dairy products could help people reduce their impact on the environment. And it seems Millennials may be taking note.

YouGovs research finds that Millennials (22%) are far more likely than Gen Xers (13%) and Baby Boomers (11%) to say theyve adopted a vegetarian diet at some point. Similarly, Millennials are also more likely to say theyve tried a vegan diet: 16% of Millennials have gone vegan at some point, along with 7% of Generation X and 8% of Baby Boomers.

Others are turning to a dairy-free lifestyle. Almost one in five (18%) Millennials has tried a dairy-free diet, which is about twice the number of Gen Xers (7%) and Baby Boomers (9%) who have tried this diet.

A 2019 poll from YouGovs Daily Agenda found that more than one in five young Americans say they would be willing to eliminate meat from their diet in order to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change. Among 18-to 24-year-olds, 23 percent said they would do this, along with 22 percent of 25-to 34-year-olds. A plurality (42%) of US adults in the survey said they would be willing to reduce their meat consumption, but would not be willing to eliminate meat from their diets altogether.

Additional data from YouGov Profiles suggests that following an environmentally-conscious diet is important to many millennials.

Data from YouGov Profiles finds that 45 percent of Millennials agreed with the statement Im actively trying to reduce my meat consumption. A majority in the same group (55%) also agree with the statement I am open to substituting meat/dairy products with healthy alternatives, while 37 percent go so far as to agree with the statement A meatless diet is the healthier option.

According to YouGovs sustainability segmentation, a measure of where consumers land on the spectrum of beliefs around sustainability, the countrys most engaged environmentalists are more likely to consider a raw diet (i.e. unprocessed, plant-based, organic) compared to the rest of US adults. This segment is also more likely to consider the South Beach, Whole30 and Paleo diets. YouGovs sustainability segments are based on a dataset that spans five attitudes about sustainability, from skeptic to enthusiast.

See the full survey resultsand sign up to be a part of the YouGov panel.

Related: Millennials food choices are driven by quality and theyre willing to pay more for it

Methodology: Total unweighted sample size was 1,241 US adults, which included 391 Millennials, 316 members of Generation X, and 444 Baby Boomers. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (ages 18+). Interviews were conducted online between January 3 - 6, 2020. Total weighted sample for the Daily Agenda question on August 8, 2019, How willing would you be to eliminate meat from your diet in order to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change? was 1,501 US adults. Total unweighted sample sizes for YouGov Profiles statements: Im actively trying to reduce my meat consumption was 2,845 Millennials; I am open to substituting meat/dairy products with healthy alternatives, was 3,091 Millennials; A meatless diet is the healthier option, with 12,059 Millennials. All figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (ages 18+).

Image: Getty

See the article here:
One in five Millennials has changed their diet to reduce their impact on the planet - YouGov US

The South Beach Diet has two decades of history guiding dieters towards their weight loss goals. Created during a time when the wellness industry was kind of obsessed with the low-carb diet, this is a program that aimed to enable weight loss with a slightly less restrictive approach to carbohydrates.

Founder Dr. Arthur Agatstonlives and practices medicine in Miami, which provided the inspiration for the name of this modified low-carb diet. In the mid-90s, before he published his first book about the diet, he was helping the patients at his cardiology practice lose weight with a specific set of eating guidelines. In an effort to evolve with changing thoughts about healthy eating, Agatston has recently released a new book outlining the details of what he calls a keto-friendly South Beach diet.

The South Beach Diet has been called a modified low-carb diet becauseit doesnt require dieters to count carbs. Instead, this is a program that encourages fewer carbohydratesand when you do eat carbs, theyre supposed to be good carbs. According to the plan, foods with a high glycemic index should be avoided while carbs with a lower glycemic index are allowed in moderate portions.

Additionally, dieters are instructed to focus on eating healthier fats. This is what sets the South Beach Diet apart from other low-carb diets that allow more saturated fats. Instead, dieters can eat plenty of good fats, like those from olive oil, fatty fish and avocados while avoiding the saturated fat of dairy and animal products.

The main goal of this diet is weight loss and this is a diet that boasts quick results. During the first phase of the diet, which lasts two weeks, the average weight loss is 8 to 13 pounds. Another well-noted benefit of this diet is that it is a heart-healthy diet. It was created by a cardiologist who wanted to provide his patients with the weight loss success he was witnessing with other low-carb diets without encouraging them to saturated fats that would be bad for the long-term health of their hearts.

Related: Rob Lowe on the Tricks He Uses to Stay Low-Carb and Why Ice Cream Is His Kryptonite

Because this diet encourages eating patterns that have long been associated with reduced risk of heart disease and stroke, there is nothing unsafe about following the South Beach program. While other low-carb diets might allow or encourage foods that are high in saturated fats, this diet doesnt. This would allow anyone, even individuals with a risk of heart disease, to commit to this way of eating for the long term and rest easy knowing the health of their heart is being protected by the foods they are eating

One known side effect of the south beach diet is ketosis. Eating a lower carbohydrate diet may put the body into ketosis, which does speed up weight loss, but might also come with a few unpleasant symptoms popularly called the keto flu: irritability, nausea, fatigue and body aches. This side effect can be avoided if you are careful.

The South Beach Diet can be modified for different people and preferences. Recently, the creators of the diet published a new book that explains how the South Beach Diet can be adjusted to be keto-friendly. This would mean fewer carbs to encourage ketosis while eating more healthy fats. In ketosis, your body has made the switch to burning fat for energy. This is why people on the keto diet often lose weight quickly.

On the Keto Friendly South Beach Diet, the goal is to keep your daily net carb intake less than 50 grams of net carbs each day, explains Courtney McCormick, RD, South Beach Diet corporate dietitian.

Despite there being quite a few rules about what you can and cant eat on the South Beach Diet, there is still a wide range of foods that are encouraged for those who are following this eating plan. For starters, non-starchy vegetables are one food you can eat as much as you want on the South Beach diet. This would include greens, certain low-glycemic squashes like zucchini, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower to name a few.

Because South Beach Diet is a diet that has phases, there are some foods that arent allowed during Phase 1 but can be eaten in small amounts later on in the diet. Fruit is one of these foods and isnt allowed at all during the first two weeks. During Phase 2 and Phase 3, youll be able to eat small amounts of starchy fruits and larger portions of fruits with a lower glycemic index like berries. You will also be able to introduce starchy vegetables.

Lean protein is a big part of the South Beach Diet, so youll want to make sure your fridge and freezer are loaded with fish, chicken breasts, and ground chicken and ground turkey. Small amounts of legumes are allowed on this diet, as well.

Depending on what phase of the South Beach Diet you are in, you will need to avoid different foods. During every phase of the diet, youll avoid high-glycemic fruits and vegetables:

Refined grains, like white rice, bread, and white pasta should also be avoided.

During the first two weeks of the diet, the list of foods to avoid it is a bit longer. This is because all fruits are avoided during this phase.

You will want to ensure that your meals provide a good balance of lean proteins, healthy fats and non-starchy vegetables, says McCormick. So, for lunch a large salad with grilled fish or chicken topped with an olive oil vinaigrette, and for dinner a beef stir-fry with lots of veggies sauted in coconut oil over cauliflower rice makes a delicious keto-friendly option.

Fatty fish are an important part of this diet because of its focus on heart-healthy eating. If youre about to start South Beach, youll want to have several recipes handy so you can look forward to a variety of flavors while eating the same fish week in and week out. Start with a great, basic, Oven-Steamed Salmon and when you are ready to branch out, this Baked Salmon with Arugula Salsa Verde cant be beat.

Related: Life Will Never Be the Same After You Try These 25 Creative Cauliflower Rice Recipes

Snacks are required on the South Beach Diet, usually two to three times a day. Some of the best snacks are nuts, fresh veggies and dip, and fruit. During Phase 1, avoid the fruit, but feel free to integrate it in small portions once youve moved past the first two weeks. Homemade guacamole is a great snack that will keep you full until mealtime and you can substitute tortilla chips for red pepper slices to keep it on-plan. If guacamole isnt your thing, or youre craving a replacement for your favorite store-bought dip, this Creamy Herb Dip is the perfect accompaniment for your favorite veggies.

During every phase of the South Beach Diet, you are encouraged to eat a dessert as one of your snacks. This can help with those sneaky sugar cravings that threaten to derail you with a late-night, ice cream run. One of the most popular desserts on the South Beach Diet is a Lemon Ricotta Cream. Once you have reached Phase 2, you can satisfy your chocolate cravings with these Flourless Black Bean Brownies.

For breakfast, a scramble like this Smoked Sausage Breakfast Scramble is a great way to make sure youre eating plenty of veggies to kick off your day. Once youve reached Phase 2 of the diet, thin-sliced, whole grain bread is allowed in small portions so a great breakfast sandwich recipe can really come in handy and this Zucchini-Tomato Frittata Sandwich is loaded with veggies. The only adjustment that needs to be made to the recipe swapping out the Italian bread for something South Beach friendly.

Learn more about Whole30, another popular low-carb diet.

Link:
What is the South Beach DietHow Does It Work and Is It Keto-Friendly? - Parade

By Steven PetersJanuary 22, 2020 9:11 pm

The American diet is not a healthy one. Typical eating patterns dont match current dietary guidelines set by federal health agencies, according to the Department of Health. The majority of people dont eat enough vegetables or fruits, yet eat too much sugar, saturated fats, and salt.

Whether it is to lose weight for appearances sake or for health, people sometimes change their diet. Food trends develop every year, and 2019 was no exception. 24/7 Tempo spoke to nutritionists with years of experience to find out how American diet has changed over the last year.

Many people go to great lengths to shed a few pounds from following very restrictive diets that health experts warn are not sustainable long-term to spending a lot of money on foods that ingredients labels deceivingly describe as healthy. Fad diets seem to be popping up in greater numbers these days, but the basics of healthy eating are simple these are 29 healthy eating habits that will change your life.

Click here for the 16 ways the American diet has changed over the last year.

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16 Ways American Diet Has Changed Over the Last Year - 24/7 Wall St.

Learn about recent research on popular diets and how to advise patients with and without diabetes about consuming healthier foods and beverages.

Christopher Gardner, PhD, talks about his research on popular weight-loss diets, the four fundamental principles of healthy eating, and how health care professionals can help patients find an eating pattern that works for them.

Q: What are the biggest challenges to understanding the way Americans think about diets?

A: Diet is a really fascinating word for me. As a nutrition professional, I think of the Mediterranean diet, the Asian diet, a weight-gain diet, a weight-loss diet, and so on. But the American public thinks of a diet as something youre going to go on, which is the worst possible way to think of it. If youre going on something, that almost definitively means youre going to go off it when youre done.

People tend to go off diets for two reasons. First, they try it, it doesnt work, and they give up. Second, they go on an extreme diet until they achieve a certain weight-loss goal, and then they go off the diet and everything goes back to the way it was before.

If a diet is something that you go on and off, its not going to help you. Instead you should have an eating pattern, not necessarily a diet, that you enjoy and can see doing for the rest of your life, and you can keep modifying and improving it.

Q: Can you talk about your research on popular diets?

A: Ive done a number of weight-loss studies, including the Diet Intervention Examining The Factors Interacting with Treatment Success (DIETFITS) study, that we finished recently. I never intended to study weight-loss diets. When I got a PhD in nutrition science, I was interested in studying the health benefits of phytochemicals. I once gave an hour-long talk on the phytochemicals in garlic, but the audience only asked questions about whether the Zone or Atkins diet was better. And so, I wrote a grant and did a study comparing popular weight-loss diets.

As I reviewed the literature on diets, I was frustrated to see that some studies were biased. For example, a study comparing low-carb and low-fat diets might make the low-carb diet more interesting and rigorous, with no added sugar but plenty of fiber, and just give the low-fat group a booklet and allow them to eat refined grains and added sugar. Refined grains and added sugar are low-fat, but thats a low-quality, low-fat diet.

In my diet studies, we tried to get rid of any bias by designing the best versions of these diets to put them on equal ground. For the DIETFITS study, which compared low-carb and low-fat diets, both diets shared four fundamental principles:

The study looked at whether a genetic marker or a metabolic marker would predict who would do better on a low-fat or low-carb diet, but both of those markers failed to differentiate success. Both groups were successful in losing weight, but there was an enormous amount of individual variability. Within each group, somebody lost 60 pounds, and somebody gained 20 pounds, and the rest of the participants were on a continuum in between. I believe we had the wrong markers, not that personalization is impossible. The results led me to believe that those four fundamental principles work for everybody, and theres still room for personalization.

Anecdotally, some people seemed to feel more satiated on a low-carb diet, others on a low-fat diet. And for some people, certain foods are more pleasurable than others. Over time, nutrition professionals have gotten so hung up on health issues that weve lost the idea of joy and pleasure in food. If we tell somebody to change the foods and beverages theyre consuming, and they dont like it or theyre hungry, they wont stick to it.

Q: What research is being done to help us better understand dieting and diabetes?

A: Some studies using continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) have shown that different people eating the same exact food have different blood glucose responses, and the same person eating the same food in different contexts has different blood glucose responses.

Were starting to do some studies with CGMs, and study participants are fascinated when looking at the blood glucose spikes that occur in response to foods and how spikes go down and get blunted when they experiment with portion size, timing, and what else they eat. CGMs allow people to personalize what they eat to have a more stable blood glucose level.

Another hot topic of research is intermittent fasting. However, its going to be difficult to answer questions about intermittent fasting because there are so many different ways to intermittently fast: no food every other day, eating half the calories every other day, eating only between certain hours, and so on. Another problem is ensuring and assessing participant adherence. Its going to take a long time to have evidence about intermittent fasting. And even if intermittent fasting does work, different patterns probably work for different people.

Q: How can health care professionals educate patients about nutrition, dieting, and the risks of fad or extreme diets?

A: Health care professionals should dissuade patients from trying fad diets and extreme diets. Fad diets, by their very definition, dont last. Researchers cant get funding to study a fad diet. Studies require years to recruit and follow participants; by the time the study is finished, a fad diet would be out of fashion. Proponents of a fad diet can say that theres no evidence against it, but I would say, theres no evidence for it.

Extreme diets are the hardest to keep up. For the DIETFITS study, we did a sub-analysis of the 5 to 10 percent of participants who achieved the best adherencethe lowest carb diets or lowest fat dietsin the first 3 months of the study. At 12 months, there were very few metabolic or weight differences between the most adherent low-carb and low-fat groups; both groups did fabulously well. However, there was massive recidivism among those extreme adherents; they couldnt keep it up.

Health care professionals should also walk their own talk and spend more time on food and cooking. Data show that when doctors exercise more, cook more, and eat better and tell their patients to try it, their patients are much more likely to do it.

Q: How should health care professionals talk with patients who have diabetes about diets and healthy eating patterns?

A: Health care professionals can find advice for working with patients with diabetes in Nutrition Therapy for Adults With Diabetes or Prediabetes: A Consensus Report. For that report, we worked really hard to look at all the new evidence on nutrition for people with diabetes and prediabetes. We dont have perfect evidence, but we came together as a group of research experts to evaluate the evidence that we do have and come to a consensus. These are the statements that you could and should feel comfortable using with your patients. In the report, bullets and shaded boxes highlight the major takeaways.

As I mentioned, studies using CGMs have shown that different people have different blood glucose responses to foods, and people have different blood glucose responses to the same food in different contexts. If CGMs become more accessible, in theory, people could wear a CGM for a time to learn more about their metabolism and personalize their own strategy. But until CGMs are more common, health care professionals can convey that different people have different blood glucose responses to foods and beverages, which has to do with timing, portion size, and what you eat and drink before and after.

How do you address popular diets and weight loss with your patients who have diabetes? Tell us below in the comments.

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Popular Diets and Patient Support - National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)