I have been writing columnsmostly about physical activity and exercisefor this enewsletter for more than a decade, and I am grateful to DIC for allowing me to educate everyone on topics that I feel so strongly about. This month, I would like to switch gears a bit and share some of my personal story about why physical activity matters to me and how I have lived successfully with type 1 diabetes for almost 50 years to date.

My success with diabetes is directly and indirectly related to my decision to be physically active. However, the secret to my overall success, both professional and personal, is that I made a conscious choice to live my life by one guiding principle: Live life first, and be diabetic second. In the beginning, Im not sure it was even a conscious choice (I was only four years old when diagnosed with type 1 diabetes), but rather just an integral part of my personality. I am not one to let obstacles keep me from reaching my goals. Having diabetes has undeniably been one of the greatest challenges to living my life the way I want to, but it has almost never been an insurmountable one.

Its hard to even imagine life without diabetes when you get it as young as I did. I dont remember much about being diagnosed other than feeling sluggish and tired all the time. The biggest irony was that my mother had avoided becoming a nurse because she hated needles, but the doctors wouldnt let me out of the hospital before she learned how to give me shots. She apparently practiced for days shooting water from a syringe into an orange all week. When she gave me my first shot in my arm, she jabbed the needle so hard it rebounded back out. I am told I said, with tears streaming down my face, Mommy, go practice on the orange some more.

I always look for the silver lining in thingsalthough it is not always evident until days, months, or years later for some situations. Diabetes has, in many ways, been a blessing in disguise. It likely had a positive impact on my familys overall health because our whole family switched to the same diet that was prescribed for me at the timea balanced diet of carbs, protein, and fat with lots of vegetables, some fruit, and very limited intake of sweets and refined foods.

There is no doubt that having diabetes has also been a positive, shaping force in my life when it comes to exercise and physical activity. As such, I have amended my original guiding principle to include, and stay active for that reason: Live life first, be diabetic second, and stay active.

While many people view exercise as a punishment, I fully embrace using diabetes as an excuse to put my workouts first! I started exercising regularly way before it was trendy and known to be good for your health (and blood glucose). I was always active as a kid, playing in the woods, building forts, and just being a tomboy. As a preteen, I began exercising regularly on my own and doing organized sports because being active was the only thing that made me to feel like I had any control over my blood glucose. Way back then no one had blood glucose meters (only inaccurate urine testing), but I could tell being active helped with my blood glucose.

To this day, I still exercise six to seven days a week, and my passion is helping others with all types of diabetes do the samesafely, effectively, and for a lifetime. I personally vary my daily workouts to keep them fun and to stay injury-free and advise everyone else how to do so. When people ask me how I manage to do all I do, I tell them simply, I work out.

Diabetes also led me to an early calling as a healthy lifestyle and diabetes motion expert. When I was about twelve, I spent a week in Kansas with my grandmother, who had what they called borderline type 2 diabetes. She was on yet another diet to lose weight, and I decided to help her with dieting while I was thereacting like a personal trainer or fitness coach. I weighed her in every morning, helped her measure out her food (like cottage cheese), and made her jog laps around her back yard. At the start of the week, she agreed to pay me $1 for every pound she lost with my help. She lost eight pounds that weekwas I ever a rich kid! Little did I know back then that she likely lost a whole lot less after the first week and gained it all back over time. I just remember her always being about the same body size and shape every time I saw her.

Back then my grandmother was the only other person I knew with diabetes. Later, when I was in graduate school working on a degree in exercise physiology, she started suffering from myriad complications, including a heart attack, followed two years later by a major stroke and smaller ones that eventually left her incapacitated. She was bedbound and unable to communicate or feed herself for most of her last six years, and she had partial amputations of both of her legs due to chronic ulcers. During one visit, I looked at her and thought, I dont want to live like that.

Consequently, most of my life and career I have focused on how to stay healthy with diabetes and avoid complications. To me, whats most important is living well while you are alive. Thats why I preach about how important a healthy lifestyle is to maintaining your quality of life (whether you have diabetes or not) and that just living a long time without good health should not be your goal.

You certainly dont have to get a PhD in exercise physiology like I did to understand the metabolic changes that occur with exercise, but learning why it is so beneficial can be very motivating. You can virtually erase overeating mistakes with exercise, and you can keep yourself from getting other health conditions (like heart disease). Im sure that I am only in excellent health after almost 50 years with type 1 diabetes because of my lifestyle choicesand I want to stay that way until I reach my last day.

As I always say, Whats the point of living longer if you cant live well and feel your best every day of your life? Take my advice and live life first, be diabetic second, and stay as active as you possibly can every day of your healthy (and hopefully long) life.

In addition to my educational web site, Diabetes Motion (www.diabetesmotion.com), I also recently founded an academy for fitness and other professionals seeking continuing education enabling them to effectively work with people with diabetes and exercise: Diabetes Motion Academy, accessible at http://www.dmacademy.com. Please visit those sites and my personal one (www.shericolberg.com) for more useful information about being active with diabetes.

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And Stay Active: A Profile in Living Successfully with Diabetes - Diabetes In Control

On August 3, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe executed the most important cabinet reshuffle of his tenure, which will not only make or break his chances for extending his time as leader of Japan beyond 2018, but yields valuable insight into the near-term Japanese political landscape.While the possibility of a potential cabinet reshuffle during this summer has beenfloating around in the media since May, the reshuffle became a must-execute option for Abe, whose public approval ratings were falling fast amidst scandal, cabinet resignations, and other high profile issues.On the retreat, Abe had few options for this reshuffle he would have to placate potential rivals within his own Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) while seeking ways to shore up his own position as premier in the public eye.

In many ways, this reshuffle could have shown waning resolve from the prime minister, but on the contrary, Abes picks, though cautious, did not give too much ground. While there remain some important questions left to answer, this cabinet reshuffle showed that this administration still has a lot of fight left in it and that Abe still has his eyes set on key policy objectives through 2018 and beyond.

Setting for ThisReshuffle

The last cabinet reshuffle saw Abe stack the deck with members from his home Hosoda faction and other ideological allies from the party.That Cabinet did not work out for Abe, however.His justice minister (Katsutoshi Kaneda) mishandled the passage of the Anti-Conspiracy Law in the Diet, being unable to explain the details of the bill adequately in Diet interpellations and drawing unnecessary scrutiny.Abes original Reconstruction Minister Masahiro Imamura had to step down for repeated gaffes in press conferences.Defense Minister and protg Tomomi Inada tried to weather the storm surrounding several of her missteps so she could make it to the reshuffle without resigning but failed to do so, leaving her post with less than a week to go.All of this coincided with Abes own woes associated with two prominent scandals (the Moritomo and Kake school scandals).

Those missteps afforded space for LDP rivals to accelerate posturing for post-Abe party leadership.When Abe entered 2017 with historically high approval ratings (greater than 50 percent across most polls) it seemed unthinkable that he would depart any sooner than 2020, but rapidly falling public opinion opened the door for some in the LDP to accelerate their timelines, with eyes on the next party presidential election in September 2018. Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso formally merged his faction with the Santo Faction and Tanigaki Group, making it the second largest in the LDP behind Abes Hosoda Faction.LDP powerhouse Shigeru Ishiba stepped up his media engagements, openly voicing his criticism of the Abe administration. All of this made for a relatively hostile political environment heading into this latest cabinet reshuffle.

While Abe would have liked to have timed the cabinet reshuffle for a point when he was in full control of the situation, he was in retreat and needed intervention.In this cabinet reshuffle (like others) there were a total of 23 top-tier positions up for consideration, as well as the state/vice minister postings that will be announced later.Which factions would be favored?Would rivals seek to leave the Cabinet to isolate themselves from Abe? Would Abe be able to right his ship using this reshuffle? Those and other questions circled in the media ahead of the August 3 announcements.

The Result

The following table shows the major postings announced on August 3.

While plenty of moves happened during this cabinet reshuffle, some of the biggest names stayed put. As expected, Deputy Prime Minister/Finance Minister Taro Aso remained in his post, as didChief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga and LDP Secretary General Toshihiro Nikai.

Of the 23 top-tier posts up for grabs, there were 18 moves; however, unlike the past few reshuffles, this time Abe focused on relying upon the skill of veteran parliamentarians rather than building the portfolios of newcomers to the cabinet. In one way, his aim was to rekindle some of the magic from earlier in his tenure as prime minister, as six members are returning from various postings in earlier Abe cabinets. Meanwhile, Abe was also looking to bring in steady hands who would avoid missteps or gaffesstorms his administration cannot weather at this time. Of those changes, some of the more notable moves are detailed below:

Foreign Minister:Taro Kono replaces Fumio Kishida

After earning the title as longest serving postwar Foreign Minister, Fumio Kishida steps out of his position to move over to a LDP party leadership role. In his place moves Taro Kono, a favorite among many in U.S. policy circles. Son of former LDP powerhouse Yohei Kono, Taro Kono brings a mix of old school LDP lineage with international experience and appeal to the foreignminister position. He is also one of the more outspoken members of the LDP, though his actual ability to influence the Abe administrations foreign policy decisions remains to be seen.

Defense Minister:Itsunori Onodera fills vacancy left by Tomomi Inada

The shuffling out of Defense Minister Tomomi Inada has been a foregone conclusion for some time now.Among other mistakes, Inadas ties to the Moritomo Gakuen scandal, her involvement in the alleged cover-up of reports from the Self-Defense Forces mission in South Sudan, and her use of her position as defense minister in supporting LDP candidates in the July Tokyo Assembly elections sealed her fate.Replacing her is Itsunori Onodera, a practical choice.Onodera served as defense minister under Abe from 2012 to 2014 but has stayed active on defense matters even after leaving his post.He provides security policy continuity for Abe and a reliable figure in a high profile billet given increasing tensions in the region.

Education Minister:Yoshimasa Hayashi replaces Hirokazu Matsuno

For the first time since taking over as prime minister in 2012, Abe relinquished the Education Minister post over to a representative from another faction. Education has long been a policy focus for Abe, so it made sense that he would insert members whom he could easily influence from his own faction and inner circle. Still, by bringing in Yoshimasa Hayashi (a member of Kishidas faction), Abe invites a steady hand to the ministry that has given his administration the greatest grief as of late after all, it is the former administrative vice minister of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology who has fueled the Kake and Moritomo school scandals. Hayashi is an able politician who has held several high profile ministerial posts in the past, including minister of defense and minister of agriculture, forestry, and fisheries (MAFF). This also is not the first time that he was brought in to play the role of fixer for Abe, as he took over the agriculturebillet in 2015 when Minister Koya Nishikawa was forced to step down due to scandal.

Minister of Internal Affairs and Communication:Seiko Noda replaces Sanae Takaichi

One stand-out selection that reinforces the notion that Abe is keeping his friends close and enemies closer is the introduction of Seiko Noda to the cabinet, replacing long-time Abe ally Sanae Takaichi.In the 2015 LDP presidential race, Noda was the only LDP member who attempted to run against Abe.Although she did not acquire the requisite number of supporters (only 20 names are required), she still represents the fringe population of the LDP that is willing to challenge Abes authority and would certainly do so again in 2018.By co-opting Noda, Abe not only offers a high-profile concession to the lawmaker, but keeps her in his immediate circle. He also may invite her to play the role of spoiler against other factions that seek to upset his plans for a legacy turnover, since she could potentially serve to split the vote against other anti-Abe LDP rivals in a party presidential race.

Managing Allies and Rivals

Kishida Faction

The most important person to watch in this reshuffle was Minister for Foreign Affairs turned LDP Policy Research Council Chair Fumio Kishida, the leader of the fourth largest faction and a potential post-Abe prime minister.Although Kishida may be a logical successor to Abe in the eyes of the public, he is not Abes first choice since his ideology and brand of politics differ from Abes own.It remains to be seen whether or not Abe would gracefully hand over the reins to Kishida rather than to a personal protg, and this cabinet reshuffle certainly did not offer any more insight into whether it would a peaceful transfer of power between the two.

Abe and Kishida held atwo hour, one-on-one meeting on July 20, and this reshuffle highlighted the results of that conference.Kishidas push for a spot among the LDP leadership ranks signals his intent to begin a run for the LDP presidency, but the secretary general position, which Toshihiro Nikai retained, would have been the position necessary to set Kishida up in time for the 2018 LDP presidential race if that was his intent. The Policy Research Council Chair is notable, but it is not a kingmaker position. Also, although Kishidas faction earned four additional postings in the Cabinet, three of those (Hayashi, Onodera, and Kamikawa) were fixer positions basically concessions to Kishida since previous choices were busts. Further, this time around Kishidas faction only matched the total number of postings it had back in 2014-15 back when Abe called a snap election and reshuffled the cabinet. In fact, whereas in 2014-15, Abes own camp only had one notable posting, here, he retained an equal number to Kishida, so it is difficult to say that this reshuffle gives Kishida any groundbreaking leg-up in a post-Abe party environment.

All told, Kishida did posture himself and his faction well for the long-run, but this was not thedefining moment for a Kishida-led post-Abe LDP that perhaps some expected.

Ishiba Faction

As mentioned earlier, one-time Abe ally Shigeru Ishiba has been increasingly outspoken about the administration in recent months, presumably to posture for a potential run at LDP presidency in the future. With this reshuffle, his small faction retains just one posting. Ishiba has always had strong ties to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries, so it makes sense that he would want a member of his faction to maintain a foothold there. Ken Saito takes on that role while Ishiba keeps his personal distance from the cabinet and Abe-led LDP. Whether that is a result of Ishibas impotence compared to other LDP contenders or Ishibas own desire to remain isolated is difficult to say, but one can safely assume that Ishiba will continue to provide a dissenting voice ahead of the 2018 LDP presidential race.

Aso Faction

The push to merge with the Santo Faction and Tanigaki Group to form the second largest faction in the LDP did not result ina greater number of high profile positions for Asos faction. Certainly, the ascension of Taro Kono to the foreign minister billet was notable, especially since it puts an Aso-sponsored voice in Abes favored National Security Council, but the lack of other activity shows that Aso did not make any significant moves to influence the Abe administration in the near term.

Nikai andNukaga Factions

This reshuffle also represented the status quo for the Nikai and Nukaga factions, which had already cast their lot in with the Abe administration. Neither faction would be able to distinguish itself from the Abe camp if Abe fails to pull out of hispublic opinion nosedive, and it is unlikely that the LDP would want to repeat the mistakes of 2007-09 byputting forward the similarly minded Abe, Fukuda, and Aso in rapid succession, only to see them fail equally as rapidly. As such, these factions must bank on Abe being able to regain enough popularity to set the foundation for another predominantly right-leaning prime minister (which is what Nikai or Nukaga would offer) in the post-Abe LDP.

Komeito

The LDPs junior coalition partner Komeito made it out of this cabinet reshuffle right where they started going into it: one billet. This status quo is informative, however, since the cabinet reshuffle did not reflect any of the concerns voiced in the media about a potential schism between the LDP and Komeito at the central government level based on the outcome of the Komeitos support for the Tokyo Citizens First Party in the Tokyo Prefectural Assembly elections. Any big change in the coalition relationship at the national level likely would have impacted the reshuffle in some way, but status quo shows that such was not the case.

Outcomes

Although some observers and media outlets suggested that the Abe administration was on the ropes going into this reshuffle due to the various scandals and missteps by his former cabinet ministers, Abe certainly did not make decisions as if he was worried about the scorecards. Instead, he made sound appointments by bringing in veteran lawmakers, trying to rekindle the success of previous cabinets, and not conceding too much to other LDP leaders. In the end, it appears that Abe was able to placate rivals while retaining a respectable number of positions for members of his inner circle. In doing so, he has postured himself well for policymaking until the next scheduled test in the form of the party presidential election.

Of course, there are still questions that remain before labeling this reshuffle a total success. Will the public respond positively to these new cabinet appointments? Will Abe be able to overcome the Moritomo and Kake School Scandals? Will Abe be able to maintain patience and discipline in his management of other LDP leaders in pursuit of remaining agenda items?

If the answer to any of those questions is no, in the best case scenario, Abe will continue to fight against the political current with limited success, and in the worst case, he will be looking at an early exit. However, if all of the answers to those questions is yes, he will likely once again find himself in a position to pursue key policy objectives through 2018 and beyond.

Michael MacArthur Bosack is the former Deputy Chief of Government Relations at Headquarters, U.S. Forces, Japan. Prior to that, he served as a Mansfield Fellow, completing placements in Japans National Diet, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Defense. Follow him on twitter @MikeBosack.

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Abe's Cabinet Reshuffle, Explained - The Diplomat

(Reuters Health) - People who eat a lot of saturated fat - the bad kind of fat thats abundant in foods like butter and beef - are more likely to develop lung cancer than individuals on low-fat diets, a recent study suggests.

Compared to adults who didnt get a lot of fat in their diets, people who ate the most total fat and saturated fat were 14 percent more likely to get lung malignancies, the study found. For current and former smokers, the added risk of a high fat diet was 15 percent.

While the best way to lower the risk of lung cancer is to not smoke, a healthy diet may also help reduce lung cancer risk, said study co-author Danxia Yu of Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Specifically, our findings suggest that increasing polyunsaturated fat intake while reducing saturated fat intake, especially among smokers and recent quitters, may (help prevent) not only cardiovascular disease but also lung cancer, she said.

The American Heart Association recommends the Dietary Approaches To Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet or a Mediterranean-style diet to help prevent cardiovascular disease. Both diets emphasize cooking with vegetable oils with unsaturated fats, eating nuts, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy products, whole grains, fish and poultry, and limiting red meat and added sugars and salt.

Those guidelines are the same for avoiding heart disease, stroke and diabetes, and I would say they are also exactly the same for helping with cancer prevention in general and lung cancer in particular, said Dr. Nathan Berger, a researcher at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center who wasnt involved in the study.

This doesnt mean you need to throw away all the steak and butter in your freezer, but cutting back to once a week would be good for you, Berger said in a phone interview.

For the current study, researchers examined data from 10 previously published studies in the United States, Europe and Asia that looked at how dietary fat intake influences the odds of lung malignancies.

Combined, the smaller studies had more than 1.4 million participants, including 18,822 with cases of lung cancer identified during an average follow-up of more than nine years.

Researchers sorted participants into five categories, from lowest to highest consumption of total and saturated fats. They also sorted participants into five groups ranging from the lowest to highest amounts of dietary unsaturated fats.

Overall, people who ate the most unsaturated fats were 8 percent less likely to develop lung cancer than people who ate the least amounts, researchers report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Substituting five percent of calories from saturated fat with unsaturated fat was associated with a 16 percent lower risk of small cell lung cancer and 17 percent lower odds of another type of lung malignancy known as squamous cell carcinoma.

One limitation of the study is that dietary information was only obtained at one point, the authors note. This makes it impossible to track how changes in eating habits might influence the odds of cancer.

They also didnt account for two other things that may contribute to cancer sugar and trans fats, Glen Lawrence, a biochemistry researcher at Long Island University in Brooklyn, New York, said by email. Previous research has also found that unsaturated oils may increase the risk of certain cancers, added Lawrence, who wasnt involved in the current study.

Its also possible that other bad eating habits, not fat, contribute to the increased risk of lung cancer, said Ursula Schwab of the Institute of Public Health and Clinical Nutrition at the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio.

We need antioxidants, vitamins and minerals as well as unsaturated fatty acids, Schwab, who wasnt involved in the study, said by email. A typical Western diet has a low content of these essential nutrients and a high content of saturated fat.

SOURCE: bit.ly/2wsZteB Journal of Clinical Oncology, online July 25, 2017.

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High-fat diet linked to lung cancer risk - Reuters

Body by Fisher: Jake Fisher thinks his solid play is tied to his diet.

One of the keys to the return of The Jungle just might be the animal grazing on Jake Fishers menu that has fed his career revival.

Bison. And plenty of it.

Thats been Fishers favorite since he decided to re-invent his body after last season. "Lean, quality," he says. Its also his lunch as gets ready for Thursdays practice, already cooked and delivered by his personal chef.

Bison. Potato. Corn. Theres an avocado on top of the take-home box. A steak waits for after practice. Then therell be a delivery some time Thursday to load him up for next week.

The avocado is for electrolytes. Its a science, man, Fisher says.

You don't have to exactly be a scientist to realize that Fisher, one of those two young tackles taking over for departed left tackle Andrew Whitworth and transitioning right tackle turned right guard Andre Smith, is under enormous pressure. Yet he has quietly emerged during the first week of training camp. If you listen to enough camp scuttlebutt, it tells you Fisher is the most consistent offensive lineman of the first week of work.

As much as hes getting raves for his play, hes raving about his diet that has not only beefed him up to 310 pounds but has purged his psyche. He says he hasnt taken any medications since October in an effort to avoid post-career side effects. He says even his immune system is stronger and he rarely gets sick.

I feel way better. More healthy. Mentally and physically, Fisher says. Guys get soaked up a lot of times in what a coach wants them to be at weight-wise that they sacrifice. I just didnt sacrifice ... Everyone has their own way of doing things. Fine tuning. It takes effort. In my third year I have it down pretty well."

Now ensconced at right tackle after two years of playing everywhere but where they drafted him to play, Fisher has re-made his body. At one point last season as he fought nagging injuries and moved around while Cedric Ogbuehi tried right tackle, Fisher slid to 279 pounds at his lightest. As soon as the season ended with Fisher playing the last three games at right tackle, he recruited a South Florida nutritionist.

Multi positions. Not being consistent. Playing tight end, KOR (kick-off return). All kinds of different things, says Fisher of the reasons for his weight loss. Now that Im at a spot where I earned a spot on the line I can really keep my weight up and really focus on what specific things Im doing.

One of the reasons the Bengals drafted Fisher two years ago is because of how conscientious he is. That was the scouting report on him coming out of Oregon it was obvious when they brought him to Paul Brown Stadium for a pre-draft visit. Now its come to the forefront.

Its hard, but its what I want to do. To be great, Fisher says. Its not what Im eating. Its when Im eating, how Im eating. Portions. Timing. Morning and night. Its really just a matter of realizing that everyones body is different. Its not if its more or less, but its quality. Im not sacrificing quality to eat more quantity. Im eating more often. Never allowing myself to be hungry. Eat more often. Always have your body pumping Insulin.

Fisher says he crushed, weights in the offseason on the road to a happy and healthy 310. But he also says, Its what you eat.

Thursday dinner after practice? A rib-eye steak. Some potatoes. Carrots. A little shake. Then before bed, pasta. And when he gets up, more pasta. The week-long reserve is stashed in a locker room refrigerator.

Keep the Insulin level high throughout the night when I sleep, Fisher says.

But it looks like no one is sleeping on Fisher during this steady diet of solid play.

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Fisher's steady diet of play has roots in his diet - Bengals.com

One of the worst places for impatience to set in is on an airplane. When your dry mouth hits at a high altitude, its like a perfect storm for grumpy behavior.

Some advice: dont order a Diet Coke if youre ever in this situation.

According to a flight attendant on flight blog These Gold Wings, Diet Coke takes the longest to pour. The flight attendant says the high altitude makes carbonated drinks foam up more, and Diet Coke is the worst. In fact, the soft drink is so slow, they can usually fulfill three other drink orders in the time that's wasted waiting for the bubbles to go down on one Diet Coke.

This all might seem minor, but the flight attendant explains that on full-service flights, it can make a huge difference, writing: "Pouring Diet Coke is one of the biggest slow-downs in the bar service and on the shorter flights those precious seconds count!"

But the flight attendant does share a handy way of speeding up the Diet Coke pouring process. The method involves turning the can fully upside down and pouring carefully inside the cup.

The Diet Coke doesnt come out of the can when flipped upside down until you lift it up and tilt it slightly. This is because the air pressure is keeping the Coke in the can. It makes pouring the Diet Coke very controllable and reduces the chances of spilling or overflow, the flight attendant writes.

Using this method means also rinsing or somehow disinfecting the surface of the can before pouring, so as not to contaminate the drink with any germs.

A study by Illinois State University also confirms that Diet Coke has higher levels of carbon dioxide than regular Coke, which means it is more fizzy.

Diet Coke drinkers will just have to be patient or hope theyre on one of those magic flights where they get to keep the whole can.

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Why flight attendants hate serving you a Diet Coke - Fox News

Every other month, some new diet is trending. Remember that time when South Beach was huge? Or when you walked into a CrossFit box and heard the word "paleo" 32 times within five minutes? Sure, buzzy diets go in and out of the limelight, but one recent GrubHub study reveals that the raw food diet is soaring in popularity. With a 92 percent increase in raw food orders over the past year, it appears that customers like their food uncooked and with a lack of preservatives.

But why? Well, eating a slew of raw foods means you're getting an abundance of good-for-you minerals, vitamins, phytochemicals, and fiber in your diet. One University of Giessen study of 200 people eating a raw food diet found that they had higher levels of beta-carotene, which is commonly associated with disease prevention. But what other reasons are there to hop on board the raw food diet train? Here's everything you need to know about the raw food diet.

The raw food diet involves exactly what it sounds like: a whole lot of raw food. The foods you consume can be raw (cold) or slightly warm, but nothing can be over 118 degrees. While some followers of the raw food diet allow raw fish, eggs, meat, and unpasteurized dairy into their ingredients list, it's more common to stick to mostly organic, uncooked, and unprocessed foods. Think vegetables, nuts, seeds, fruits, and some sprouted grains. Vegans and vegetarians may feel right at home on this plan.

Off-limits? A whole lot. Essentially anything on the inside aisles of your grocery store is out of the picture here, like pasta, junk food, salt, flours, sugars, juices, and anything processed or pasteurized.

And although everything is raw, you'll need to channel your inner Martha Stewart if you want to do this diet well and not just eat salad after salad. But where there's a will, there's a way. Through preparation techniques involving blending, dehydrating, and food processing, you can make loads of meal options. For example, you can make zucchini chips that fall into the green zone of this diet by slicing zucchini thinly and dehydrating for about 24 hours until they're dry.

Cooking food may decrease the amount of certain water-soluble vitamins and minerals. Plus, a diet high in fruits and vegetables can be great for digestion and lower blood pressure, according to one University of Southern California study. It can also lower your chance of stomach cancer and stroke, and halt the progression of kidney disease.

And there are some unique benefits of consuming produce raw: "Raw foods require more chewing than cooked food," says Deanna Minich, Ph.D., C.N., author of The Complete Handbook of Quantum Healing. "And when we chew, we stimulate different parts of the brain that correspond to learning and memory." One Cardiff University study of 133 volunteers zeroed in on the benefits of chewing gum (which isn't allowed on the raw food diet, FTR) during a testing period. Those who chewed gum reported a more positive mood, greater alertness, and improved selective and sustained attention than those who didn't.

Plus, eating a raw food diet means you're slashing the consumption of processed foods. That's a good-for-you idea whether or not you're following the raw food diet, as cutting them out could prevent weight gain, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Researchers analyzed the diets of more than 120,000 Americans over two decades, and they found that people who consumed sugary drinks, processed meat, and chips regularly were most likely to put on the pounds.

First off, it's really restrictive. Limiting yourself to raw foods means you unfortunately need to cut out some healthy non-raw foods, like a lot of whole grains (think quinoa, brown rice, freekeh). No one wants to feel frustrated when they walk into their kitchen, and just like with any diet, that's possible here when you're tired of eating the same things day after day. If that's not enough, you'll likely have to skip out on the restaurants. As with any diet, it's tough to eat out when you have so many limitations.

It's also pretty pricey. Shopping organic can cost an average of 47 percent more than standard produce. While you can follow a raw diet without going organic, most traditionalists would say you're not doing it right because, well, chemicals. The pesticides applied to food can have detrimental effects on the body (ruining some of the purposes of going raw in the first place).

Eating raw or undercooked foods can also put you at risk for food poisoning, as bacteria, molds, and parasites might be in your eats (eeek!). Just because you may not be cooking your food doesn't mean you can't protect yourself, though. The FDA recommends you run both fruits and vegetables under water before eating or cutting them.

And although losing excess weight can be great for your health and a major reason why most women choose diets in the first place, this meal plan may take you a step too far. Dieter, beware: In the numerous studies done on the raw food diet, experts agree that weight loss should be monitored. One University of Giessen study cautions fans of the trend, saying that 30 percent of the 297 women under age 45 who were involved in the study developed partial or complete amenorrhea (akalosing your period, which isn't a good thing). Make sure to continually check in on your progress. Evidence shows that people who lose pounds gradually and steadily (at a rate of 1 to 2 pounds per week) are more successful at keeping weight off, according to the CDC.

First and foremost, Minich recommends that anyone who is interested in starting a raw food diet consult with a health professional. If you get the go-ahead and feel like you have all the tools to execute this new diet safely, make sure to do a pulse check every once in a while and gauge how you're feeling.

"Always be in tune with your body," says Minich. "You're not supposed to feel horrible, and if you do, the diet isn't for you."

If you want to give it a try, consider not going 100 percent raw. Instead, tryeating high raw (80 to 99 percent raw foods) or what is commonly referred to as "raw until dinner." Making a gradual transition to raw can help ease into a new habit and make it easier to maintain.

Link:
The Raw Food Diet Facts You Need to Know - Shape Magazine

Age-related memory loss is to be expected. But can it be mitigated?

There are many different steps we can take to help maintain and even improve our memories as we age. One of these steps is to make a few simple dietary changes. The following shortened excerpt from The Seven Steps to Managing Your Memory lists dietary basics that can benefit memory.

Omega- 3 fatty acids (often shortened to omega- 3s) are important for a number of functions in the body, including the proper function of our brain cells and reduction of inflammation. Although our bodies make many of the fats we need, we cannot make omega- 3s, and so we need to get them from food. There are three main types of omega- 3s and, because you may have heard claims about each of them, well mention them briefly (despite their long names). Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) has been associated with brain health and cognitive function, control of inflammation, as well as heart health. Eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) has been associated with heart health and control of inflammation. Alpha- linoleic acid (ALA) is a source of energy and also a building block for both DHA and EPA. Scientific studies examining the benefits of omega- 3s have been mixed, but some research suggests that they may benefit brain health.

Our recommendation is to make sure your balanced diet does include some omega- 3 fatty acids. The most common sources of omega- 3s include fish (particularly fatty fishes such as salmon and tuna), walnuts, green leafy vegetables (such as kale), flaxseeds, and flaxseed oil. Other foods are now being fortified with omega- 3s. You may find eggs, milk, juice, and yogurt fortified with omega- 3s in your local grocery store.

Vitamin D is essential for brain health. In one study, individuals with low levels of vitamin D were about twice as likely to develop dementia and Alzheimers disease compared to those whose levels were normal. Most older adults dont have enough vitamin D. Although you can make vitamin D through your skin, to do so you would need to spend a lot of time outside without sunblock, which you shouldnt do. We recommend a daily intake of 2,000 IU of vitamin D3, usually from supplement pills. You can also get vitamin D from fatty fish (such as tuna and salmon), portobello mushrooms grown under an ultraviolet light, and foods fortified with vitamin D including milk, cereal, and orange juice. Be sure to read the label to see if the product you buy is fortified or not. Lastly, there are some important interactions between vitamin D and some prescription medications, so you should speak with your doctor prior to taking vitamin D supplements.

Antioxidants can defend the body against the harmful effects of free radicals chemicals that can damage cells, including brain cells. Some of the most common antioxidants are vitamins A, C, and E, along with flavonoids and beta- carotene. Most studies looking at the impact of antioxidant supplementation through pills have offered little support that taking these antioxidant pills improves thinking and memory. In fact, taking high doses of antioxidants in pill form can be problematic, with some studies showing that high intake of antioxidants is associated with an increased risk of cancer and death and can negatively interact with certain medications. Thus, although some clinicians would recommend taking antioxidant supplements, such as vitamin E, we do not.

The evidence suggests that eating antioxidant- rich foods, such as fruits and vegetables, can reduce the risk of chronic health conditions such as heart disease and stroke, which, in turn, can improve the health of the brain. Many researchers now believe that it is the types and variety of antioxidant foods that people are consuming that matters most, rather than simply the total amount of antioxidants consumed. We therefore recommend eating fruits and vegetables as part of a balanced diet.

One of the most important ideas that has emerged from the scientific literature is that it may not be any one dietary item that makes a difference in the health of our brains. Instead, it is likely that the complex combination of nutrients obtained through a balanced diet is best. The Mediterranean diet is one such balanced diet that has shown promise for brain health. This diet calls for high consumptions of fruit, whole grains (like bulgur, barley, and brown rice), beans, and vegetables at every meal. The diet is low in saturated fats (the bad fats) but encourages the intake of monounsaturated good fats that lower the bad cholesterol. These healthy fats, found in olive oil, avocados, and nuts, should be eaten frequently. Fish is recommended at least twice a week. Low to moderate amounts of dairy products such as yogurt and cheese can be consumed daily or weekly. Red wine is also a staple of the Mediterranean diet. Red meat and sweets (such as candy, cookies, cake, and ice cream) should be consumed sparingly.

One way the Mediterranean diet helps the brain is by reducing risk factors for stroke such as high cholesterol and diabetes. One study showed that brain volumes were larger for those who followed the Mediterranean diet, equivalent to being five years younger! Other studies have shown that people who eat a Mediterranean diet have a lower risk of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimers disease dementia compared to those who ate a more typical diet. Not all studies support the idea that the Mediterranean diet is good for cognition and reduced risk of memory loss, but many studies do, and none of the studies reported any side effects that would caution against adopting such a diet in an effort to keep the brain healthy. We therefore recommend a Mediterranean- type diet to everyone looking to modify their lifestyle in a way that benefits brain health.

Featured image credit: food-avocado-healthy-fresh by gutolordello. CC0 via Pixabay.

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Diet and age-related memory loss [excerpt] - OUPblog (blog)

Maybe John F. Kelly can actually do it. If so, he will be the first.

Politico reports that the new White House chief of staff plans to restrict the flow of information to President Trump including news media reports in the hope of keeping the boss on a more even keel. Here's a bit from reporter Josh Dawsey:

When new White House Chief of Staff John F. Kelly huddled with senior staff on his first day at work, he outlined a key problem in President Donald Trumps White House that he planned to fix: bad information getting into the presidents hands.

Kelly told the staff that information needed to flow through him whether on paper or in briefings because the president would make better decisions if given good information.

Kelly's diagnosis makes perfect sense, but others have tried and failed to tame Trump by monitoring his media diet.

President Trump's relationship with television goes back decades and now that he's in the White House, his TV-watching habit is still going strong. (Peter Stevenson/The Washington Post)

If candidate Trump was upset about unfair coverage, it was productive to show him that he was getting fair coverage from outlets that were persuadable, Sam Nunberg, a former campaign adviser, told Politico in February.

Politico's Tara Palmeri wrote at the time that the key to keeping Trumps Twitter habit under control, according to six former campaign officials, is to ensure that his personal media consumption includes a steady stream of praise.

Okay. But the idea that Trump's Twitter habit has ever been under control is laughable. Maybe these campaign officials know something the rest of us don't that Trump's tweets would have been even more inflammatory if not for their interventions.

We'll probably never know about tweets that Trump didn't send. If his staffersmanaged to him out of trouble even a few times, then their efforts were worthwhile. But no one has been able to consistently prevent Trump from stirring up controversy.

Part of the problem is that in a White House composed of competing factions, people invariably try to advance their agendas by presenting Trump with material which may or may not be reliable that promotes their worldviews.

Politico all over this story reported in May on advisers' penchants for strategically feeding dubious information to the president. This was one example, described by reporter Shane Goldmacher:

Current and former Trump officials say Trump can react volcanically to negative press clips, especially those with damaging leaks, becoming engrossed in finding out where they originated.

That is what happened in late February when someone mischievously gave the president a printed copy of an article from GotNews.com, the website of Internet provocateur Charles C. Johnson, which accused deputy chief of staff Katie Walsh of being the source behind a bunch of leaks in the White House.

No matter that Johnson had been permanently banned from Twitter for harassment or that he offered no concrete evidence or that he had lobbed false accusations in the past and recanted them. Trump read the article and began asking staff about Walsh.

Goldmacher added that then-chief of staff Reince Priebus and White House staff secretary Rob Porter have tried to implement a system to manage and document the paperwork Trump receives. How'd that work out?

Kelly is trying to do the same thing, three months later. Perhaps he will prove a more effective manager than Priebus, but Trump is still his impulsive self, and his aides are still vying for influence. Those immutable factors will make Kelly's mission very difficult.

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Trump's new chief of staff plans to restrict the president's media diet. Others have tried and failed. - Washington Post

Ancel Keys, arguably the most influential nutrition scientist of the past half century or so, died in 2004 at the age of 100. Keys invented the K ration, named for him, that provided our deployed military with portable and complete nutrition.He was among the first, if not the first, to hypothesize that heart disease was not an inevitable consequence of aging, but likely related to diet and lifestyle.Obvious as that now seems, someone had to be the first to consider it- and that someone was Ancel Keys.He developed and directed the Seven Countries Study, a colossal undertaking, that tested the above hypothesis, concluding that variation in dietary sources of saturated fat- notably meat and dairy- contributed importantly to cardiovascular risk.

Throughout most of his life, Keys was celebrated as a public health hero.He graced the cover of TIME Magazine as such in 1961, as shown in the image above.

In the years leading up to his death, however, and in the decade since, much of the public commentary about Keys, his lifes work, his seminal Seven Countries Study, and his integrity has been derogatory.There are five apparent reasons for this.

The first is perhaps best described as Newtonian: for every action, an equal and opposite reaction.Maybe we simply cant resist the inclination, whenever someone settles securely on a pedestal weve placed under them, to shift our efforts to knocking them down.

The second might best be described as Aesopian, as in the Aesops Fable that says: we are all judged by the company we keep.The latter years of Keys life, and those since his death, were concurrent with misguided forays into low-fat dietary boondoggles, and somebody had to be blamed.In many quarters, that somebody wound up being Ancel Keys, for having pointed out the harms of dietary fat- albeit only certain dietary fat- in the first place.

The third reason is that everyone seems to love a good conspiracy theory.So, there were careers to launch and books to sell, as there are today, by telling us all that everything authorities had advised was wrong, that the real truth was being concealed, distorted, or suppressed.As one of the worlds preeminent epidemiologists, Keys was among such authorities, and thus an obvious target of conspiracy theory, revisionist history, and alternative facts.

The fourth reason was the advent of the Internet.Once upon a time, you needed actually to know something to broadcast expertise, because an editorial filter stood between you and the public at large.There were ways around this, of course, such as the reliance on celebrity as an alternative to content knowledge as a basis for selling books, lotions, potions, or programs.But even so, the means of disseminating messages favored those with some claim to genuine merit. Now, anyone with Internet access can broadcast opinion, masquerading as expert opinion, into the echo chambers of cyberspace, where those who owned the same opinion already will amplify it.So, for instance, those totally devoted to eating- or selling- meat, butter, and cheese are also apt to eat up, and regurgitate, any allegations against those pointing out the related liabilities.

The fifth is the most obvious: along with not wearing plaid, dead men dont fight back very effectively, either.Keys has mostly been turned into a scapegoat since dying.By way of reminder, he lived to 100, and applied what he thought he knew about diet and lifestyle to himself.That alone would make him a candidate for both celebrity and expert status today.One imagines the book: Diet of the Century.

The allegations against Keys come in four basic flavors: (1) he cherry picked countries to enroll in his study to align with the beliefs he already held; (2) he fudged or selectively presented data to make a case aligned with the beliefs he favored; (3) he either failed to study sugar, or misrepresented findings about it; and (4) he advocated for a now generally discredited low fat dietary pattern.

These are not matters of historical interest; these are matters of current urgency, for two reasons.First, diet is now widely recognized as the single greatest, modifiable influence on human health, and has comparably massive implications for the health of the planet.We really do need to know whether dietary sources of saturated fat are the bad idea Keys told us they were.

Second, as ominously pointed out by Vladimir Lenin, a lie repeated often enough becomes the truth.Well, it never becomes the truth, of course- it jus replaces the truth.The alternative narrative about Keys, and his work, is doing just that.The allegations against Keys have spread through so much terrain in cyberspace that no one seeking information on the man, his work, saturated fat, or heart disease risk can avoid tripping over them.This has caused some perfectly legitimate and widely respected scientists to conflate prevalence for reliability, and propound what they have found- adding further to the cycle of repetition.

All of which begs the critical question: did they find truth, or lies?

The only way to answer that reliably was with hard work.The now popular allegations against Keys, and the Seven Countries Study, would have to be turned into questions, such as: how were countries selected and enrolled?Were all of the relevant data published?Was sugar studied in the same ways as saturated fat or not?Then, these questions would have to be answered not with the most readily available or oft-repeated claims, but based on the original source materials dating back, in some cases, more than half a century- and on interviews with Keys co-investigators who were directly involved and there at the time.

The True Health Initiative, a 501c3 non-profit organization I founded to identify and disseminate the fundamental truths about lifestyle and the health of people and planet alike, based on the weight of evidence and the global consensus of experts, commissioned a White Paper to do exactly that.The paper, with its extensive and fully transparent bibliography of primary source material, was just released, and is accessible to all. The basic conclusion is that all popular disparagements of Keys and his research arelies.

To be fair, they are likely lies of two varieties.There is the truly bad, I know that what I am saying is untrue, but it suits my agenda to say it anyway kind.There is the less bad, I found information I liked or found persuasive, and repeated it before verifying it was true kind.The latter is not about willful dishonesty, just carelessness.But since both varieties promulgate misinformation, both kinds are harmful.

Lies repeated often enough never actually become the truth; they simply threaten to smother the truth.After a decade of lies about Ancel Keys and the Seven Countries Study, its time for the truth to break free, and strike back- clad in plaid, or otherwise.

Senior Medical Advisor, Verywell.com

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A Decade Of Diet Lies - HuffPost