MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. --

Mike Polis, 42nd Aerospace Medicine Squadron dietician, and Josh Hale, 42nd Force Support Squadron personal trainer, are working together to help create and foster an environment here on base that is health and fitness conscious.

As a way to better spread the word about their areas of expertise, Polis and Hale have been conducting briefings to interested organizations.

During the briefings, they explain the most effective ways to get the most out of ones diet and exercise routines, and answer any questions.

Were trying to re-work the culture and transition the culture more into a [health and fitness] realm, Polis said.

By educating the base population, Polis and Hale hope to eliminate the many diet and fitness misconceptions that prove to be either ineffective or harmful.

Polis said the most prevalent nutrition misconceptions include the perceived usefulness of fad diets and a general misunderstanding of healthy eating habits.

I think there is a misconception that if you have a [physical training] test coming up, then its time to change your eating habits, he said. Why dont we just go ahead and start changing your eating habits now? So were always mission ready, always combat ready and always ready for that PT test.

As with nutrition, Hale said he often sees mistakes being made at the gym that stem from not having the right information.

Hale said he sees people on base trying to achieve their fitness goals succumbing to injuries because of bad information coming from irrelevant sources. He said that when they work with Polis and himself, they are receiving current information coming from the appropriate level.

Hale and Polis said they have yet to have a student fail a PT test.

Were literally killing the game right now. I dont think we ever lose when it comes to passing a PT test or losing some weight and getting some muscles, Hale said.

To schedule an appointment with either of them one-on-one, or to schedule a group briefing, contact Polis at 334-953-7890 and Hale at 334-953-7894 for more information.

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Maxwell dietician and personal trainer strive to create a health conscious environment - Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base

There have been plenty of diets and nutritional guidelines out there over the years, some much more bizarre (and potentially dangerous) than others.

To name a few examples, there's the watermelon diet,the baby food diet, the lemonade master cleanse diet.

Apparently, at one point, there was even a diet suggesting you eat a cotton ball every so often to stave off hunger (super healthy, and delicious, amirite??!?).

As strange as some of those diets may be, breatharianism might be the strangest, most like-a-damn-science-fiction-novel of all.

It's a lifestyle centered around the idea that you don't need food or water.

Although not the originators of this strange and difficult-to-spell diet, breatharian loversAkahi Ricardo and Camila Castello have been grabbing attention with their claims that all they need to survive areair and the good vibes of the universe.

Ya-huh.

The two of them slowly weaned off of food together, starting with a vegetarian diet, and slowly working their way to, like, nothing.

The plans for weaning yourself off sustenance of any kind have guidelines that begin with eight- to 21-day plans, in an attempt to rid people of the dependencyon food.

Castello even says she went through an entire pregnancy without consumingvirtually anything, except the universal vibes.

If she eats nowadays, it's with her children to experience the joy of taste (jeez, at least the kids get to eat).

Practitioners of breatharianism say you can train yourself to subsist off of prana (which is what they call all the cosmic energy in the world, or the vital life force in Hinduism).

The main source of prana isthe sun, so that's where they claim you can get everything you need to lead a balanced lifestyle just deep breaths and a little natural vitamin D.

There have been practices based on the same eat-only-air claims dating back to Hindu religious texts and the Renaissance.

In America, breatharianism has been attributed to Wiley Brooksback in the '80s.

Brooks told Vice he is from another planet, and that eating food traps you in the 3-D world.

OK, whatever you say, bro.

While some people work periodic fasting into their lives, it's definitely not something to do without professional guidelines.

And, let me be clear, breatharianismis not a nutrition plan.In fact, some people have actuallydied from trying it.

Doctors are pretty unanimous in calling the idea a lethal pseudoscienceand not a good idea at all.They say it's stilla prettyuniversal truth that humans need food and water to survive and thrive.

And while I may be a bitof a hippie myself at the end of the day, I'm not convinced on this one by a long shot.

I say, if you're interested in trying new dietary or nutritional guidelines, do lots of research and ask for help.

For now, I'm going to stick to eating and drinking.

And yeah, I guess I'll welcome some universal sunlight energy vibes, too.

Subscribe to Elite Daily's official newsletter, The Edge, for more stories you don't want to miss.

Annakeara is a writer and all around barrel of laughs based in Brooklyn.

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What Even Is Breatharianism, And What You Should Know About The Dangerous Trend - Elite Daily

Blueberries, olive oil, kefir, walnuts, leafy greens, oatmeal, bananas, and algal oil. These are some of the foods that could play a role in helping to keep the brain healthy throughout life, according to scientific experts interviewed by CBS News.

The brain is the "motherboard of reality," said Dr. Joel Salinas, a neurologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. "The better we can take care of this organ that is so deeply tied to who we are as a person, to this universe that we exist in, the more fulfilling of a life we'll be able to live."

"Brain health" encompasses a person's ability to remember things as well as avoidance of dementia and Alzheimer's disease, said Francine Grodstein, Sc.D., a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dementia is a broad term referring to a decline in mental ability, including problems with memory, communication, focus, and reasoning. Although dementia is more common in older adults, it is not part of the normal aging process.Alzheimer's disease, which affects about 5.5 million Americans, is the most common type of dementia, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

But doctors and scientists still have much to learn about how our eating habits may affect brain health.

"It's important to emphasize that research and understanding of the possible impact of diet on brain health is a relatively new field," Grodstein said.

Yet even as that work continues, a person is never too young to start caring for their brain health, said Salinas. "Much like we brush our teeth every day and see a dentist regularly, we should place that same kind of value on our brains," he said.

Oatmeal, pulpy orange juice, bran cereal, bananas, fruit smoothies from unpeeled fruits, and other fiber-containing foods are all prebiotics.

"Prebiotics means fiber and roughage that's helping to promote the growth of the beneficial bacteria in your gut. It's making the existing bacteria in your gut happy," explainedRudy Tanzi, Ph.D., a professor of neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital and director of the Alzheimer's Genome Project.

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Probiotic foods include yogurt, kefir (a liquid yogurt), and fermented foods like sauerkraut, pickles, and kimchi. Probiotic supplements also contain billions of live bacteria.

"Probiotics are actually adding bacteria to your gut that's beneficial, the types of bacteria you see on the back of your yogurt cup," according to Tanzi. "You want to add both prebiotics and probiotics to your diet."

Our intestines are filled with bacteria that are a normal part of the digestive process. The large intestine has the most bacteria and is where the "gut controls inflammation in the brain," Tanzi said.

Prebiotic and probiotic foods can reduce harmful inflammation in the brain, called neuroinflammation, said Tanzi. "First and foremost is keeping the bacteria in your gut happy."

"There is exciting preliminary evidence of blueberries for brain health." said Grodstein. Blueberries have high levels of flavonoids, a compound in food that reduces oxidation in the body. Over time, oxidation can damage cells and contribute to aging.

Blueberries help "fight inflammation," according to Tanzi.

Berries are also on the list of foods that Salinas recommends to his patients. "Overall, what I tell people who come to me in clinic is you want to eat a diet that's high in fish, berries, leafy greens, and whole grains."

And even the experts eat berries. "I have started eating lots of berries and more nuts in recent years," said Grodstein.

Green, leafy vegetables such as romaine, arugula, kale, collard greens, broccoli, spinach, and Swiss chard are among the foods that support brain health.

"Across several studies there is fairly consistent findings that green, leafy vegetables do seem to be related to decreased risk of cognitive impairments or dementia," said Grodstein.

Vegetables are also a key component of the MIND Diet. Developed by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, the MIND diet was shown to reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in one study.

MIND stands for "Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay." It bases its healthy food choices on principles of the Mediterranean diet and the heart-healthyDASH diet, both of which are grounded in scientific research.

The experts recommended replacing saturated fats from red meat with fats from fish, tree nuts, and healthy oils. The better-for-your-brain options include salmon, tuna, walnuts, pistachios, almonds, olive oil, and algae oil.

"People whose diets have more fish in them do seem to be less likely to develop memory problems," said Grodstein.

Certain fish and nuts contain high levels of omega-3 fatty acids, a specific type of fat that has been shown to provide health benefits, including reducing neuroinflammation, according to Tanzi.

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"There's good evidence that these omega-3 fatty acids help to lower LDL, the 'bad cholesterol' that increases risk of stroke or heart attack," said Dean Hartley, Ph.D., director of science initiatives at the Alzheimer's Association. "With my diet, I do try to go more toward the Mediterranean diet, including things like olive oil and salmon."

A word of warning from Dr. Tanzi: Fish oil supplements are sometimes contaminated with heavy metals, which can actually end up killing cells in the brain.

"Fish oil comes from fatty fish, which live in the ocean. Our oceans are now unfortunately contaminated with heavy metals like mercury, cesium, cadmium, and lead," said Tanzi.

"You can gamble and hope you're buying the best possible fish oil, or you can buy a vegan, omega-3 supplement that comes from algae. And you aren't going to get the heavy metals, because it's not coming from fish."

Tanzi recommends an algal oil supplement high in DHA and EPA. "Those are the compounds you really need."

Research on animals has shown that caloric restriction eating fewer calories in a strategic way helps prevent several diseases, but there isn't enough evidence to recommend fasting as a preventative measure for brain health, according to Hartley.

Salinas agrees. "I think the verdict is still out with regard to fasting."

"In fact, one of the problems that we often see is that people with Alzheimer's disease have a failure to thrive," said Hartley. "They are not necessarily able to take in the proper calories."

Although the effects of fasting and caloric restriction on brain health aren't fully understood in people, limiting food to a certain extent may improve other aspects of health, according to Josh Mitteldorf, Ph.D., an independent scientist who writes about aging and evolutionary biology. He's the author of "Cracking the Aging Code: The New Science of Growing Old And What It Means for Staying Young."

"The body is trying to kill itself," said Mitteldorf. "Aging is programmed into our genes." He argues that, like the surge of growth hormones in our youth and sex hormones during puberty, there are genes that get "turned on" during the twilight of life that serve to age and ultimately kill us. "This is done with programmed cell death. It's done with inflammation. It's done by shutting down the immune system, which is so important to protecting us."

How does one slow down that aging process? "You've got to find some way convince the body not to kill itself," said Mitteldorf. "Natural approaches to anti-aging is an oxymoron. You're going to have to trick the body."

Periodic fasting might be one way to "trick the body" into living longer, he suggested. But how much longer? "My guess is five years," said Mitteldorf.

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These foods may help keep the brain young - CBS News

According to national figures diabetes is the fastest growing health threat in the UK, with numbers of people living with type 2 diabetes having doubled since 1996. Last year 14 billion pounds were spent on treating the disease, equating to 25,000 every minute.

Our increased consumption of sugar is largely to blame, along with more sedentary lifestyles, poor nutrition in general and a lack of exercise.

Some nutritionists would argue that sugar is sugar, regardless of the source. The fructose in fruit has the same effect on blood sugars as a processed sugar added to food. It causes a rapid rise in blood sugar levels; this causes a release of insulin into the blood telling the cells to dispose of the sugar through storage in the liver, muscles and fat cells.

If someone is eating too much sugar over a period of time, then the constant release of insulin leads to diabetes the insulin is no longer working properly; its worn out.

Despite nutritionists, bodybuilders and trainers knowing the effects of sugar for decades, its only recently that the media has begun to demonise it. So as we turn away from added sugars, sweet breakfast cereals, soft drinks and biscuits, its easy for sugar to be a villain. Even the sugar in fruit.

An unintended consequence of this new eating pattern is avoidance of fruit, particularly fruit that is high in sugar. As our nutritional knowledge grows, we begin to judge and choose food by the macro nutrients in it; often we are guided by the nutrition label. If the carbohydrate content is high, and the sugars are high, we might avoid that food regardless of any other qualities it might contain.

By this logic an orange can be compared to a full fat coke. Both have 9g of sugar per 100g; but the orange is much more than just sugar, and even the nutritional label bears this out. It contains fibre (helping you to feel full), lots of vitamin C and lots of micro-nutrients. These include carotenoids and phytochemicals that have been shown to prevent obesity and polyphenols which are also great for health.

The coke, on the other hand, is just empty calories; sugar, water and chemicals not the good ones.

So although high in sugar, the orange has much more bang for the buck than its empty counterpart. Is it part of a healthy diet, eaten in sensible quantities? Most certainly. Thus when you consider fruits contribution to overall health and longevity then it should not be avoided.

Some fruits are better than others berries, for example, have low sugar but high nutrient and fibre content. But as part of a balanced diet they are all excellent.

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Diets Don't Work: Is it OK to eat fruit? It's high in sugar, right? - Maidenhead Advertiser

Education and Technology:

Microsoft Learning Tools is software that helps improve reading skills by reducing visual crowding, highlighting words, and reading text aloud, so students can engage with words in a whole new way.

Again?

CJSapong plays to his own beat. Hes a yogi, a dancer, and a gardener interested in spending his free time researching gardening and hydroponics. The Philadelphia Union forward has spent the past seven years leading the line in Major League Soccer while showcasing his larger-than-life personality. The former rookie of the year has two caps for the U.S. Mens National Team and won the MLS Cup and the U.S. Open Cup with his former club, Sporting Kansas City, and now hes trying to relive those highs in Philadelphia. Hes having one of his best seasons playing for the Unionhes scored eight goals in 13 gamesbut what he really wants to talk about is food deserts and helping children in Philadelphia reach their potential through a better diet. He told his story to Kevin Kowczara.

Six years ago, I traveled to Ghana with a bag of soccer balls. I thought I was doing my part bringing them to kids less fortunate than me. My parents immigrated to the United States from Ghana and I wanted to give back to their home country.

The kids were ecstatic when I dropped off the balls. But the instant gratification subsided as the bigger kids stole the balls from younger ones, who were left crying. It made me wonder if I was really helping the situation. When I returned home, I started brainstorming better ways to have impact on and off the field. I wanted to find a way to give back to the community around me, where I could monitor the benefits and make something that lasted more than a few minutes.

My realization of how I could help came through my own setbacks. After some incidents that nearly derailed my career, improving my eating habits helped me get back on the field. My experience opened my eyes to the importance of diet, and as I looked around, I could see kids werent getting the nutrients they needed, either. But for them, it wasnt a choice. In Philadelphia, the city Ive come to call home.I could see food deserts depriving kids of their basic needs. So I began brainstorming ideas on how to bring healthy, nutritious food to less-fortunate children. I just needed to home in my vision and make something that empowered kids to take charge of their own diet while getting their hands dirty.

Image via Instagram/CJ Sapong

My journey began back when I still played for Sporting Kansas City. We were a young team on the rise, with a U.S. Open Cup win in my second season and an MLS Cup title in 2013. But in that MLS championship year, I was injured. During that season as I jumped for a routine header, I felt a knee in my back and then nothing. I collapsed. The trainers ran onto the field to try and revive me. It was a play that happens a dozen times a game, but this time something went wrong, horribly wrong. I was stretchered off the field but refused to sit out. I needed to get back on the field to help my team win, but it got worse from there.

What started out as an innocuous knock became a series of cascading injuries that short-circuited my body. If I turned my head too quickly while walking down the street, my neck would lock up and Id be stuck. Sometimes my arm would flail as if it was controlled by someone else.

After working with team doctors and trainers didnt work, I began researching ways to rejuvenate my body and heal it for the long-term. My reading took me down a path that extends beyond the playing field and into the garden.

I discovered that I needed to begin to treat my body better. Nutrients were the key to my recovery. I needed more iron in my diet, so, like any good millennial, I started taking supplements. I found myself feeling better and my body loosening up, but it wasnt a total fix. The supplement and vitamin world is a messy place full of false advertising and larger-than-life promisesif a no-work fat-burning drug was created, it surely wouldnt be available for less than $20 over the counter. SoI looked at the food I was eating and discovered the benefits of microgreens.

After months of research into growing microgreens, which vary from cress to kale to sunflower sprouts and everything in between, I decided to buy my first hydroponics grow system. I wanted to start growing my own food to enhance my diet. After a few failed attempts where I worked out the kinks, I was on to something. Then, in 2014, I was traded to the Philadelphia Union.

Image via Instagram/The Sacred Seeds

The move to Philadelphia wasnt easy. I got arrested for a DUI in May 2015the DUI charges were dropped in April 2016and missed time because Major League Soccer put me in a mandatory substance-abuse program. The time away from the game allowed me to work on my body and my garden experiment. It allowed me to dream up Sacred Seeds.

There is a serious problem in Philadelphia and other majorcities with food deserts. A food desert is a part of a countryor a city, in a lot of caseswhere access to fresh fruit and vegetables is nonexistent because of a lack of of grocery stores or farmersmarkets. Usually occurring in impoverished neighborhoods, food deserts have a negative impact on the people living in them. Research shows the importance of a healthy diet affects not only our bodies, but also our minds. A healthy diet helps quell things like anxiety, depression, lethargy, and behavioral issues. With that in mind, I wanted to combine my research into microgreens to help combat food deserts in Philadelphia.

I started to form a business plan. I worked on a plan to bring positive energy and the clear mind that a healthy diet and growing my own food had given me. The concept grew into a plan to build self-sustaining aquaculture microgreen-growing greenhouses across the city using recycled materials, like used and discarded tires dumped around the city. I found other institutions in Philadelphia like Temple University and Drexel University were interested in trying to push more nutritious food into schools around the city, and we have begun a partnership.

At first, were implementing hydroponics in the greenhouses but want to eventually move towards aquaculture in the greenhouses. By using aquaculture technologywhere plants grow in an environment that is fed by fish that live in a tank under the grow pads, feeding the plants on constant loop while the plants provide nutrients back to the fishthe greenhouses would almost maintain themselves while providing children and neighborhoods with nutrient-rich food for their diets.

With Sacred Seeds initiative to grow food, we also also want the kids in Philadelphia to take ownership of it. I didnt know about dieting and the importance of what I put into my body like I should have, and I was a professional athlete. We need to teach kids about food and feel the positive energy that comes with harvesting something you created. We want them to get their hands dirty, to dig and grow their food. Nothing tastes as good as the food you make and grow. Theres love in it. The best chefs in the world say love is a vital ingredient to making the best food. Even if you cant see it, you can feel it and taste it. I want to give some love back to Philly.

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Soccer Star CJ Sapong On His Fight For Urban Farms - GOOD Magazine

The belly of a pregnant surrogate mother from Mumbai. Eggs from Europeans, semen from wealthy Westerners and embryos planted in desperate womens bodies. The Indian baby factories have become a growing multi-billion dollar industry. Photograph: Jonas Gratzer/Getty Images

Indias government is advising pregnant women to avoid all meat, eggs and lustful thoughts.

Doctors say the advice is preposterous, and even dangerous, considering Indias already poor record with maternal health. Women are often the last to eat or receive health care in traditionally patriarchal Indian households.

Malnutrition and anaemia, or iron deficiency, are key factors behind India having one of the worlds highest rates of maternal mortality, with 174 of every 100,000 pregnancies resulting in the mothers death in 2015. Thats better than five years earlier, when the maternal mortality rate was 205 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, but still far worse than Chinas 27 per 100,000 or the United States 14 per 100,000, according to Unicef.

The government is doling out unscientific and irrational advice, instead of ensuring that poor pregnant women get to eat a nutritious, high-protein diet, said gynaecologist Arun Gadre, who is based in the western Indian city of Pune but works in rural areas.

The government booklet, titled Mother and Child Care, smacked of religious dogma and ignored widely accepted medical evidence that pregnant women benefit from eating protein-rich meats and can safely engage in sex, doctors said.

It says pregnant women should also shun impure thoughts and look at pictures of beautiful babies to benefit the foetus.

Pregnant women should detach themselves from desire, anger, attachment, hatred and lust, reads the booklet, released last week by the Central Council for Research in Yoga and Naturopathy, a part of the governments ministry that promotes traditional and alternative medicine.

Pregnant women should detach themselves from desire, anger, attachment, hatred and lust.

The traditional medicine minister defended the booklet as containing wisdom accumulated over many centuries and said it did not advise specifically against sex, only against all thoughts of desire or lust.

The booklet puts together relevant facts culled out from clinical practice in the fields of yoga and naturopathy, Minister Shripad Naik said.

It is the latest push for vegetarianism by prime minister Narendra Modis Hindu-nationalist government, which already advocates avoiding beef and strictly limits the transportation and slaughter of cows, which are considered sacred by Hindus.

But the latest homily to pregnant women has outraged the medical community.

This is a national shame. If the calories of expectant mothers are further reduced by asking them to shun meat and eggs, this situation will only worsen, Gadre said. This is absurd advice to be giving to pregnant women in a country like India.

About a third of Indias 1.3 billion people live on less than $2 a day. Many are lucky to eat more than one full meal a day, and women often give their portions up to their hungry children or husbands.

Malnourished women are more likely to give birth to underweight babies, who then are in danger of being stunted or not growing to their full height and weight. A full 48% of all Indian children under the age of five are considered stunted, according to a 2015 report by Unicef.

Undernourished girls grow into undernourished women. Married by their families while still in their teens, these girls become pregnant by the time they are 17 or 18, when their bodies have not matured enough to safely deliver a child, said Amit Sengupta, a physician and health care activist with the Delhi Science Forum, a public advocacy organisation.

He said the governments advice to pregnant women betrayed backward thinking and hostility toward evidence-based science.

This kind of advice is detrimental to womens health, he said.

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Indian government: pregnant women should shun meat, eggs and lustful thoughts of sex - The Guardian