DASH stands for dietary approaches to stop hypertension and was developed in the early 1990s when the National Institutes of Health was researching ways to lower blood pressure.

Since then, studies have found that the DASH diet can help lower blood pressure and prevent heart disease in people over time.

Here's what you need to know about the DASH diet.

The DASH diet focuses on nutrient-rich foods that are low in sodium, like many fruits and vegetables.

"For too long we focused just on cutting down on sodium," said Lisa Sasson, a registered dietitian and clinical professor of nutrition and food studies at New York University. "We now know that including more of the other minerals that are in plant-based foods is very helpful and beneficial."

The NIH offers a helpful guide for following the DASH eating plan, with recommended serving sizes based on your daily calories and examples of the best foods to eat. It mainly recommends:

So if you're following a diet of 2,000 daily calories, a day on DASH might look like this:

Specifically, you'll want to eat foods that are high in potassium, magnesium, calcium, and fiber. Some examples of DASH-approved foods are oatmeal, leafy greens, potatoes, apples, bananas, oranges, fish, and mixed nuts.

A 2017 study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology examined 412 participants with pre-hypertension or stage-one hypertension. The study found that the participants who followed the DASH diet and reduced their sodium intake to 1,150 milligrams per day for 30 days straight saw a greater reduction in their systolic blood pressure than participants who ate a standard American diet.

Moreover, the higher a person's systolic blood pressure was at the start of the study, the greater the improvement they saw from following a low-sodium DASH diet. For example, people whose original systolic blood pressure was greater than 150 mm Hg saw a decrease of as much as 15.54 mm Hg, whereas people whose original systolic blood pressure was less than 130 mm Hg saw a drop of as much as 2.07 mm Hg.

A 2014 review in the journal Nutrition, Metabolism & Cardiovascular Disease found that the DASH diet was also associated with lower diastolic blood pressure as well as systolic blood pressure.

And while these two studies didn't examine the diet's effect on blood pressure in the long term, a 2014 study published in the American Journal of Hypertension found that a 16-week structured DASH diet was associated with lower systolic blood pressure for the next eight months.

Moreover, a2018 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition of 1,409 participants over 24 to 28 years found that living by a DASH diet might also improve a person's cardiovascular health, as it was associated with higher levels of HDL cholesterol and lower pulse wave velocity, a measure of a person's arterial health. Cardiovascular health was even better for people who paired the DASH diet with regular exercise, the study found.

However, the benefits of this diet may extend beyond hypertension and heart health.

"Although the original research was about the benefits of the DASH diet on hypertension, it would be a diet I recommend for everyone," Sasson said.

She said it's a diet that's easy to follow, since it isn't very specific and there aren't many restrictions, aside from cutting out excessive sweets the NIH recommends five servings of sweets a week at most.

"The diet is very safe and sustainable for anybody who's looking to eat healthier," Sasson said. "It's exactly how we would advise all people to eat."

While the main focus of this diet is not weight loss, Sasson said many people do end up losing some weight on the diet, since many of them are eating healthier, less processed foods, and cutting back on snacking. A 2016 study found that the DASH diet was more effective for weight loss than other low-energy diets, especially for participants who were overweight or obese.

According to Sasson, the DASH diet is also a good way to educate people on what healthy meals look like, especially when so many of us eat on the go and opt for processed foods.

"We should look at it as one of the healthiest ways to eat," she said.

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The DASH diet is one of the healthiest ways to eat - INSIDER

One study of master athletes noted a 33- to 38-per-cent increase in muscle mass and strength among those who consistently consumed a high-protein post-weight-training snack compared to those who didnt. Dave Sidaway / Montreal Gazette file photo

The last decade has seen a steep increase in the number of athletes achieving personal bests in their 40s and beyond. This group of dedicated older athletes has redefined the idea of aging, rewriting the record books with performances in the pool, on the track, and in the saddle. So remarkable are their achievements, exercise scientists have been busy studying their training and lifestyle habits to see if they can gather more information on what successful aging looks like.

According to a group of French researchers, there is still a dearth of published research on the link between nutrition and performance in master athletes. In particular, do older athletes have a different set of nutritional needs than their younger counterparts?

We proposed to identify the metabolic challenges that master athletes may face and that require specific nutritional recommendations, said the French researchers in their article Nutrition for Master Athletes: Is There a Need for Specific Recommendations.

One of the primary nutritional goals of any athlete is to adequately fuel training and performance. Active individuals who engage in a high volume of exercise need to consume more calories than someone who is sedentary, based on a greater number of calories expended while training and competing. But nutritional strategies for athletes go far beyond counting calories. Knowing when to eat and what to eat is also key to maximizing performance.

A slowing metabolism and gradual loss of muscle mass, estimated to be six to eight per cent per decade after the age of 30, are two markers of aging that impact performance and nutritional needs. Optimizing the diet of master athletes so as to slow down the physiological changes that occur as the decades add up is an important strategy when it comes to sustaining the volume and intensity needed to maximize potential.

Master athletes who are able to maintain a high training volume and sufficient energy intake with age could maintain their body composition, metabolism and ultimately, resting metabolic rate (the amount of energy expended at rest and during the activities of everyday life), said the research team.

To assist in meeting these goals, master athletes need to consume more protein than younger athletes and their sedentary age-matched peers. The current recommendation for older adults is 30 grams of protein per meal, 10 grams more than recommended for younger adults. For master athletes however, 35-40 grams of protein at four-hour intervals throughout the day is considered crucial to repair and rebuild muscles utilized during exercise.

Practically, this recommendation corresponds to a minimum of four portions of >30g proteins per day, for breakfast (8 a.m.), lunch (12 p.m.), afternoon snack (4 p.m.) and dinner (8 p.m.) for a total of around 120 g protein or 1.5 g/kg body mass per day for an 80-kg athlete, said the French researchers.

In addition, a protein-rich snack should be consumed immediately post-exercise (within the first 60 minutes) for master athletes with high training loads or after an intense workout. A pre-bedtime glass of milk will also aid in muscle recovery especially after a tough day at the gym. Any source of protein, animal or plant-based will do the trick, though there is some suggestion that protein-rich dairy products may be some of the best options.

How effective are those extra few grams of protein? One study of master athletes noted a 33- to 38-per-cent increase in muscle mass and strength among those who consistently consumed a high-protein post-weight-training snack compared to those who didnt.

Still, as attentive as master athletes are to their diet and training schedules, injury and short-term health issues are common. A forced interruption from training and competition is a fact of life for athletes of all ages, but for master athletes even brief periods of inactivity can lead to a decrease in precious muscles mass. Maintaining a protein-rich diet while on the mend can help minimize some of that loss.

As for fat and carbohydrates, carbs should be periodized based on the volume of training with fewer carbs consumed on rest or easy days and greater amounts consumed pre, during and post workouts on days when training volume is high. Fat should be ingested in moderate amounts with an emphasis on foods rich in anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids, like nuts, avocados and fatty fish such as salmon and tuna.

Keep in mind that athletes should always rely on a food-first approach to realizing their dietary goals, versus consuming supplements in the form of powder, shakes, gels or pills. Theres no replacing the synergy of the macro and micronutrients found in food versus a manufactured product that often promises more than it delivers.

Also important to remember is that older athletes who limit themselves to moderate workouts of less than an hour, need nothing more than a healthy, protein rich diet to fuel their workouts. But for master athletes with performance goals and a rigorous training and competition schedule, its always wise to seek professional advice from a certified dietitian/sport nutrition specialist who can further individualize the special dietary needs of master athletes.

Excerpt from:
Fitness: A healthy and well-timed diet fuels muscles of master athletes - Montreal Gazette

Another year, another skirmish in the culture war. The launch of Greggs latest offering, a plant-based steak bake, has revived the kerfuffle that surrounded the bakery chains vegan sausage roll. Amid a flurry of hot takes and taste tests, up popped Piers Morgan to complain: A meatless steak is not a bloody steak.

Meanwhile, some vegans have been complaining about KFC and Burger King adding plant-based burgers to their menus. One animal rights activist told the Guardian last week: Theyre trying to buy us off with these products, and pretending theyre our friends. Happy Veganuary, everyone.

This may seem a peculiarly modern obsession can science produce something that has a similar taste, appearance and texture to meat, but isnt meat? but it has been simmering for over a millennium. As early as 965, the frugal-minded Chinese magistrate Shi Ji was promoting tofu as mock lamb chops, according to William Shurtleff and Akiko Aoyagis study, History of Meat Alternatives.

The Chinese often used tofu (made from soya) and seitan (from wheat gluten) because of their availability and physical properties. You can manufacture them into squishy, lightly fibrous substances, says Malte Rdl, a research associate at the University of Manchesters Sustainable Consumption Institute. By the 1620s, the process was so advanced that Buddhist monks at a banquet had to be reassured: This is vegetarian food made to look like meat.

In Victorian Britain, where the first vegetarians were motivated by health concerns as well as a belief that eating animals was immoral, meat, though expensive, was central to an aspirational diet. So early vegetarian propaganda emphasised the poor quality of most cheap meat, as well as the virtues of self-denial and thrift not so different from the modern fixation with wellness and minimalism. The debate among vegetarians over how much to sacrifice their ideals in order to appeal to those still eating a mixed diet is also reminiscent of the current scepticism about fast food chains.

The Victorian vegetarians were very concerned with not wanting to be like meat-eaters, says Rdl. Some people say: We shouldnt give in, but then other people say: We need to become more popular.

But the repetitiveness and simplicity of a diet of mostly vegetables hamstrung the efforts of reformers, with the Daily News reporting in 1897 that the vegetarian movement had yet to make their fare appetising. And so, from the late 19th century, meat substitutes started to emerge, made from nuts, seeds or grains.

Many came via the Seventh Day Adventist church in the US. As director of the churchs Battle Creek Sanatarium in Michigan, Dr John Harvey Kellogg pioneered several meat substitutes, among them protose, a nut-cereal preparation which, he said, resembled meat to a considerable degree having a slight fibre like potted meat.

But in general throughout history, meat substitutes have suffered from the curse of comparison to the real thing, says Rdl as though there were even one single thing to aim for. All meat tastes differently depending on how it is cured, who manufactured it, what spices are added, he points out. There might be some meat that you like, or dont like, but you wouldnt say its not meat, because its from an animal but for meat alternatives, that argument doesnt work.

If people dont like it, theyll say its not like meat, therefore its not good. As soon as you know its not an animal that youre eating, you are immediately more critical.

The idea of meat alternatives as a second-rate option was reinforced during wartime, when consumption of less meat was either encouraged or mandated through rationing. During the first world war, nut meat was advertised in national newspapers, and even wholegrain bread was marketed as a meat alternative, on the strength of having a higher protein content than white bread. These meatless and less-meat diets predictably receded in peacetime.

During the second world war, soya was used to replace or fortify products though not very palatably. Soya was left with an image problem that persisted until the 1960s, when the US company Archer Daniels Midland developed the meal extender textured vegetable protein (TVP), offering all the protein but less of the unpleasant aftertaste.

In 1971, Frances Moore Lapps bestseller Diet for a Small Planet was credited with making vegetarianism fashionable in the US. Seth Tibbott, then a college student in Ohio, was among those to convert, although plant-based products were not widely available at the time. He recalls eating soy grit burgers: ground-up soya beans combined with wheat flour and fried: They tasted horrible, but they digested worse. I was very keen to find a soy product that digested well and tasted good.

In the 1980s, he went into business producing tempeh, made from fermented soya beans. It wasnt very profitable, he admits. It was way before there was any interest in plant-based foods, thats for sure.

Then, in 1995, spotting a gap in the market for Thanksgiving, he created a turkey substitute from wheat protein and tofu and named it Tofurky. It really hit a chord, he says. No meat alternative had caught fire in the way Tofurky did then, and in the way that Beyond Burger and Impossible Burger are catching fire now. It just became part of American culture.

But the potential of soya, and TVP in particular, was viewed with scepticism in the UK. A 1975 Guardian editorial headlined A soya point arched an eyebrow at the faux-bacon, ham and sausages on sale in the US, noting: No one has yet managed to produce a meat flavour which is totally convincing, particularly beef.

In 1960s Britain, meat alternatives had been mostly associated with the hippy movement, and the macrobiotic food trend from Japan. Gregory Sams, who is credited with inventing the veggie burger, fashioned a patty from seitan at his London restaurant Seed, which was frequented by John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Later, in 1983, Sams sesame- and soya-based VegeBurger got a commercial release; an Observer report remarked on its pleasant texture and agreeable, if a little bland taste.

Then, in 1985, along came an undisputed hit in the form of Quorn, a low-cost meat substitute based on a microorganism in the fungi family and a process of fermentation. It had been 20 years in the making one decade in development, another awaiting food safety approval. Key to its popularity were the meat-free mince, sausages, patties and even pepperoni and nuggets that could be seamlessly subbed in for meat products. Today it features in Greggs sausage roll and steak bake. Rdl says people are far more receptive to plant-based proxies for processed meats than they are to, say, a soya steak (although, he adds, there are now really nice ones available).

Where we started with the Quorn pieces and vegetable pie, we now have over 120 products in the UK market, says spokesman Alex Glen. This makes it very easy for people to replicate their animal diets. Yet, until relatively recently, Quorn was mostly targeted at vegetarians and vegans, rather than meat reducers: people who have no intention of giving up meat altogether but want to eat less, typically for health reasons. That market emerged in the 1990s, says Tony Watson, who in 2012 founded the soya-based brand Meat the Alternative.

The former butcher saw the writing on the wall and switched to working on improving meat analogue technologies for the DuPont organisation. Those technologies have not changed much in the past 15 years, says Watson pea is increasingly being used as a meat substitute, but still has a long way to go with regards to texture but the market has, with phenomenal growth in the number of consumers eating less meat in the past two years.

YouGov research carried out for Waitrose last year found that a third of Britons were eating less meat and fish than two years ago, with 32% planning to reduce their consumption even further. Just about every high-street chain, including Pret a Manger and Wetherspoons, is increasing their meat-free offerings as result.

But Watson says it is frustrating to see many companies throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks, being overly led by the tiny but vocal vegan community (less than 1% of the British population, he points out) and producing poor-quality products not suitable for meat-reducers. He expects many small meat-proxy producers to be driven out of business by rivals with bigger budgets for product development or marketing.

Among the biggest are Impossible Foods and Beyond Burger (which became a publicly listed company last year), both offering plant-based patties that are sweeping fast-food menus in the US and UK for their similarity to beef down to the blood. Their success and the momentum it is creating for meat alternatives has great impact for sustainability, says Rdl.

But it also highlights a strange paradox underpinning the centuries-long pursuit of the perfect meat proxy: by trying to seamlessly remove meat from our diets, we are actually reinforcing its importance. Theres this kind of association of meat and the good life a bit of luxury, a nutritious diet that means people want to replicate it in vegetarian terms, says Rdl. Because meat is so entangled with how we understand diets historically, its really hard to imagine ways outside of it.

He points to a vegetarian sausage producer he interviewed for his PhD thesis on meat alternatives. She had no desire to replicate the texture or flavour of meat in her vegetable-only products but nonetheless spoke with pride of the traditional springiness of the casing. In other words, she was congratulating herself on enveloping her meat-free product with something modelled on animal intestine.

When we successfully replace meat with a meat-free substitute, we overlook the possibility of a diet that is free of it altogether. It just kind of keeps this idea of meat-eating as the centrepiece, says Rdl of food culture, if not our diet. Counterintuitively, the strange and storied history of the hunt for the perfect proxy really proves the point: We dont have an exit strategy from meat.

Seth Tibbotts memoir, Search for the Wild Tofurky, will be published in April.

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From tofu lamb chops to vegan steak bakes: the 1,000-year history of fake meat - The Guardian

RINGSIDE 12/01/2020

WBC NUTRITION COMMITTEE: Yes, Your Diet Affects Your Mood and Mental Health

According to lead author Dr. Kirsten Tillisch:

Time and time again, we hear from patients that they never felt depressed or anxious until they started experiencing problems with their gut. Our study shows that the gutbrain connection is a two-way street When we consider the implications of this work, the old sayings you are what you eat and gut feelings take on new meaning.'

The implications are particularly significant in our current era of rampant depression and emotional malaise. And as stated in the featured article, the drug treatments available today are no better than they were 50 years ago. Clearly, we need a new approach, and diet is an obvious place to start.

Previous studies have confirmed that what you eat can alter the composition of your gut flora. Specifically, eating a high-vegetable, fiber-based diet produces a profoundly different composition of microbiota than a more typical Western diet high in carbs and processed fats.

The featured research tells us that the composition of your gut flora not only affects your physical health, but also has a significant impact on your brain function and mental state. Previous research has also shown that certain probiotics can help alleviate anxiety:

The Journal of Neurogastroenterology and Motility5 reported the probiotic known as Bifidobacterium longum NCC3001 normalized anxiety-like behavior in mice with infectious colitis by modulating the vagal pathways within the gut-brain.

Other research found that the probiotic Lactobacillus rhamnosus had a marked effect on GABA levelsan inhibitory neurotransmitter that is significantly involved in regulating many physiological and psychological processesin certain brain regions and lowered the stress-induced hormone corticosterone, resulting in reduced anxiety- and depression-related behavior.

It is likely other lactobacillus species also provide this benefit, but this was the only one that was tested.

Its important to realize that you have neurons both in your brain and your gut including neurons that produce neurotransmitters like serotonin.

In fact, the greatest concentration of serotonin, which is involved in mood control, depression and aggression, is found in your intestines, not your brain! Perhaps this is one reason why antidepressants, which raise serotonin levels in your brain, are often ineffective in treating depression, whereas proper dietary changes often help

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Boxing Nutrition: How diet affects mood and mental health - WBN - World Boxing News

Somehow we all relate weight loss with fancy meals like salads and juices, but thats not always the case. It might sound boring and extreme but even eating the same food every day can also help you lose weight. Yes, you read that right. If you trying to shed those extra kilos, read this.The diet includes eating the same thing for breakfast, dinner and lunch every day and has become a trend among weight watchers.The dietAccording to experts, it might sound boring to eat the same food every day, but the trick can really do wonders for your weight loss. When you eat the same food every day, it leads to the bodys decreased response of stimulus, which can be a tool for tackling obesity.

Also, research has shown that more dietary variety is associated with fat and increased body weight. This is surely true for people who have an assortment of snacks instead of just one. Also, research shows that different tastes and textures can encourage overeating. When people are giving limited options to eat, they tend to eat less.

Also, if you eat the same meals every day, you actually dont need a lot of planning. No hauling the recipe books and no panic attack at lunch about what you will eat at dinner. All this saves your time.

When the choices are limited, its easy for you to pay attention to your body signals and know when you are full. Not understanding when you are full and overeating is one of the causes of extra weight gain.

Cons of same meal diet

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Can eating the same food everyday help you lose weight? - Times of India

(StatePoint) With colder weather comes an increase in weather-related illness and health issues. From activity levels to mood, diet and more, seasonal weather affects all areas of your life.

But, dont let the winter blues get you down follow these tips to help keep your family healthy and happy during the cold-weather months.

Winterize your diet

Some fresh fruits and veggies can be hard to find in winter. The Cleveland Clinic suggests turning to root vegetables like beets, carrots and turnips since they can withstand cold temperatures, making them easier to find. Also on their list of suggested foods are oatmeal, soup (without a lot of salt), sushi, broccoli and cauliflower all of which provide essential nutrients to support immunity and boost vitamin levels.

Also, be sure to work vitamin D into your system. It aids bone health and muscle strength, but during shorter, cloudy days of winter, you might not get the necessary amount you need. Harvard School of Public Health recommends daily 15-minute walks outside to get some sun and eating vitamin D-rich foods such as dairy products, breakfast cereals and fish like salmon and tuna. You may also consider a supplement.

Studies show daily exercise and activity offer immune-boosting benefits. People who exercise 30 to 45 minutes a day experience a 40 to 50 percent reduction in the number of days they get sick, according to studies at Appalachian State Universitys Human Performance Lab.

Encourage the family to get active with step or fitness trackers. Daily or weekly step goals and challenges with siblings or spouses are fun ways to keep everyone moving. FitBit, Garmin and Jawbone all make trackers with corresponding mobile apps to help monitor goals.

And, when cabin fever sets in, grab the kids and head outside. Cold weather activities nearby or on a trip away, such as sledding, skiing and snowboarding, can offer additional exercise outside the normal indoor routine.

When the weather gets cold, the risk of certain illnesses like cold and flu rise. Whats in your feel-better-fast kit when your family gets sick? Items doctors recommend to have when a cold or the flu hits include: pain and fever relief (ibuprofen, acetaminophen), tissues, fluids (especially cool water), soup and tea, throat lozenges and a digital temperature monitor.

Instead of waking young children to get accurate temperature readings with a digital thermometer, consider picking up TempTraq the next time youre at Target, CVS or Walgreens. Its a wearable, Bluetooth monitor that safely and continuously senses, records and transmits body temperature for 24 hours through its free TempTraq app. You can even receive fever alerts so you can eliminate poking or prodding kids in the middle of the night, providing peace of mind for you and much needed rest for them during sick days.

For a happy and healthy winter, use these tips to inspire your family to eat right, get active and be prepared for colder weather.

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SAVE NOW: Tips to keep your family happy and healthy this winter - Suburban Journals

Gundry makes a lot of claims about what his diet can do for your health, including reducing gas and bloating, boosting energy, improving mood, reducing your chances of getting sick, healing your gut, and helping with weight loss. (2)

Theres no proof of these claims, though.

Specifically, Derocha says theres no evidence that eliminating a certain food can clean your gut, though avoiding lectins has the potential to benefit certain groups. If that describes you, be sure to clear this new diet with your doctor first.

Lectins are proteins that can stick to cell membranes of the digestive tract, so people with GI issues or chronic conditions like colitis or Crohns disease may benefit from avoiding them, says Derocha. When eaten in large quantities, lectins can also disrupt the digestive process, due to the sticky nature of the proteins and their impact.

Remember though, there are many caveats.

First, its unclear what dose of lectins could potentially be harmful. Not to mention, many of the foods potent in lectins (think: beans, lentils) are rarely eaten raw, when lectin levels are highest, notes the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. (4) Also realize that many foods that contain lectins are packed with prebiotics a type of fiber that the Mayo Clinic notes can feed healthy gut flora. (5) Therefore, avoiding these can lead to constipation, says Derocha.

In reality, there are many unknowns about lectins, and its not the open-and-shut case thats presented in Gundrys book.

While there is not enough research to fully show the pros or cons of a lectin-free diet or the amount of lectin that could make a difference, there is some concern about lectins due to the potential impact of how it affects absorption of some nutrients, says Derocha. [High levels of] lectins are known to cluster red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body. If red blood cells cluster due to excess lectin again, the amount of lectin thats considered harmful is unknown we may be at risk of organs and muscles not getting enough oxygen to work as efficiently as they could, she says.

Authors of an article published in June 2019 in the World Journal of Gastroenterology raise these same concerns but note that more studies are needed. (6)

Lectins may specifically affect how your body absorbs minerals like calcium, iron, phosphorous, and zinc, Derocha says. This means that lectins are considered anti-nutrients, according to Harvard, though its noted that this may be a particular concern in developing countries where people are at risk for malnutrition or have limited food available to them. (4)

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Lectin-Free Diet: Benefits, Risks, Food Choices, and More - Everyday Health