Search Weight Loss Topics:

Page 1,537«..1020..1,5361,5371,5381,539..1,5501,560..»

How to lose weight in 15 days – GQ India

Posted: June 2, 2017 at 5:43 am

Its the first week ofthe sixth month of 2017 and you have probably run out of all excuses to finally get started on your New Years Resolution.Trying to lose weight is often synonymous with surviving massive hunger pangs and giving up all that you love to eat but not anymore. These weight loss tips are backed by science, and are easy to follow, making it possible for you to lose weight in 15 days.

A weight-loss plan that requires you to crash diet will deplete your energy levels, making it difficult for you to sustain the plan, and also negatively impact your metabolism.To make sure you do it the right way and get the best results, follow a plan that allows you to:

Here is a step-by-step guide on how you can lose a significant amount of weight in 15 days.

mixed with a tablespoon of honey and lemon juice. Youve probably read about this several times before but heres why you need to actually start with it. Warm water increases your bodys temperature, which improves your metabolism rate and helps to burn calories. Honey helps to cut down the stored fat in your body and also gives your body some much-needed energy in the morning. Lime juice is rich in vitamin C, which can help to break down your body fat when you exercise. Alternatively, mix a pinch each of cinnamon powder, dry ginger powder, black pepper powder, turmeric powder and fennel seeds powder in a glass of warm water. Cinnamon helps to reduce the amount of fat that gets stored in your body, dry ginger makes you feel more satiated and reduces the urge to overeat andimproves pancreatic activity and production of bile salts, thus making your body store less fat. Black pepper improves your metabolism and digestion, and speeds up the breakdown of fat cells. Turmeric contains curcumin which is known to metabolize the fat in your body, while fennel seeds act as a diuretic and produce more urine, thereby helping to flush out toxins and decreasing the amount of fluid in your body.

It is easy to go down the slippery slope when you have junk food stashed in your kitchen.To make the most of your 15-day weight loss plan, clear out your fridge and remove anything that is packaged or processed. Also make sure to remove any form of fizzy and aerated drinks. Almost all processed foods contain some form of refined fructose, which makes your body absorb and store more calories and fat, making it difficult to lose weight. Drinking aerated drinks over a period of time, even the diet variety, can stop you from losing weight, as they contain high amounts of calories, sugar and artificial sweeteners that deplete your bodys reserves of calcium, magnesium and vitamin A, all of which are important for a healthy and safe weight loss.

Not all fats are bad; but you probably knew that already. Consuminghealthy fats while you are trying to lose weight in a short amount of time can actually speed up the weight loss process. Healthy fats, also known as unsaturated fats, will help to lower your cholesterol levels, control your hunger levels, reduce the amount of calories you end up eating in a day, and also improve your rate of metabolism, helping your body to burn the unhealthy fats faster. Include sources of healthy fat such as fatty fish, nuts, chia seeds, avocados, olive oil, coconut, almonds and even whole eggs in your diet.

Research has proventhat those who eat their last meal of the day, or even any form of snack or light foods, before 7 pm, tend to not gain weight as easily as those who have their meals later in the evening. Eating the last meal of the day before 7 pm will help your body burn more calories and thus help you lose weight faster.

It goes without saying that the best results from your weight loss plan will come when you combine the right way of eating with the right way of workout. It is important to eat the right type of foods when you are on a quick and healthy weight loss mission, as it will give your body the energy it requires and also keep you hydrated, all of which will enable you to perform better and help you loseweight faster.

NOW SEE

Celebrities who can do the full split

The ultimate last-minute summer diet to get your body ready(ish) for the sun

Zac Efron reveals how he got insanely jacked for Baywatch

> More on Fitness

YOU HAVE READ OF 10 STORIES THIS MONTH

Read the original:
How to lose weight in 15 days - GQ India

4 Obvious Metaphors to Show Why Diets are Freaking DUMB! – The Good Men Project (blog)

Posted: June 1, 2017 at 2:42 am

When a baby is learning how to crawl, its parents dont say, Thats not good enough; you have to walk! And when that baby does start to walkafter countless failed attempts without any loss of enthusiasmthe parents dont say, Not good enough! You must run!

When you want to get fitter, you dont run a marathon straight away. That would be insane and you could seriously injure or exhaust yourself. Instead, youd start by running for 10 minutes. Thats enough.

Its the same if you want to start lifting weights. You dont put the heaviest weight on the bar and try to lift it; you should load the lightest amount that seems a minor challenge, see how you do, and adjust from there.

Ditto forwhen someone starts playing basketball. If they tried shooting three-pointers right away, theyd probably miss every single one because theyd have no idea what they were doing; their only strategy would be to throw and hope. Then theyd feel discouraged, figure that basketball just wasnt for them, and probably give up (especially if they have a fixed mindset.)

How would this approach ever lead to success? How would this not lead to failure?

And yetthis is exactly how weve been told to diet.

By going from one extreme to the other.

One day, youre eating anything you want and completely over-indulging. Pizza, cakes, sweets, chips, caramel macchiatos. The next day, youre expected to not only cut all those things out, but to starve yourself. Because, supposedly, thats how you lose weight.

For some reason, most of us have accepted this reality. Weve accepted that this is the way to diet and lose weighteven though when we see the metaphors above we immediately know they lack any kind of strategy, are as close to impossible as you can get, and will inevitably lead to failure.

A baby isnt born with the skills to crawl or walk. A baby has to learn them. A baby has to invest in its many, many, many inevitable failures in order to learn how to even crawl, let alone walk. A baby cannot be forced to crawl or walk. It just doesnt work that way.

If you want to get fitter and increase your endurance, you dont start by running a marathon. You run for 10 minutes for a few days a week. 15 the next week. Then 20. Then half an hour. In other words, you practice getting fitter. And, eventually, a marathon would be a realistic goal. A challenge, yes, but a realistic one.

When you start lifting weights, you start small. You start with something thats a little bit uncomfortable but still doable. You dont walk into the gym, try to lift the heaviest weight, fail miserably, and then get angry and sad and start crying because you cant do it; it would be outrageous to expect that you could. Eventually, though, after practicing for long enough, you will easily lift weights you couldnt even pick up before. Its inevitable.

Same with basketball. Youd start working on your shot by going as close to the basket as possible and getting your technique rightyour footwork, where you hold the ball, how you release it. Whether you scored or not at the beginning wouldnt even matterit would only be about developing your technique, and ingraining it through practicing it over and over.

And yetAnd yetAnd yet!

I mean, you can see it, right? This is exactly what dieting is. You expect, with no practice whatsoever, to change years (and probably decades) of eating habits literally overnight, and then keep this up forever.

And you wonder why dieting doesnt work? Why you hate going on a diet?

Going on a diet is exactly why going on a diet fails.

Well, thank goodness theres another way.

A way that involves not starving and restricting yourself, but eating enough of the good stuff. A way that involves practicing making healthy choices, thats all about developing a healthier relationship with food.

Let me be clear: you are making it SO hard for yourself, and it doesnt need to be.

None of them happen overnight and youre totally OK with that concept. You understand it, you get itto be frank its f*cking obvious!

Your relationship with food is the same. Its a practice, not some arbitrary result you measure on a scale.

Isnt it time to treat it as such?

__

Photo credit:Getty Images

Daniel is the CEO of EvolutionEat, where he'll teach you how to master your diet, stop overeating, and take control of your health.

Daniel is exceptionally good at high performance coaching, as it pertains to diet and lifestyle. As a world class motivator, lifestyle designer, and dietary strategist, he specializes in unpacking motivation, disentangling emotions and distractions from intentions, and getting to the bottom of what really influences our choices.

Sign up today to access his free, 3-hour online training program designed to help you master your diet once and for all. Follow him on Facebook and Instagram.

View original post here:
4 Obvious Metaphors to Show Why Diets are Freaking DUMB! - The Good Men Project (blog)

Diet Doc Works to Address Underlying Cause of Weight Gain; Emotional Eating – ForexTV.com

Posted: June 1, 2017 at 2:42 am

Houston, TX, June 01, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) Many people who struggle with weight loss believe that the solution can be found by simply changing what they eat. Fad diets are constantly changing or repackaging certain strategies that dont often tackle the common underlying issue, emotional eating. In our daily lives, there are a number of overt and hidden stressors bombarding us; whether they be job related, financial, health related, relationship-based or otherwise. Even when one doesnt feel emotionally stressed out, symptoms of stress can be sneaky, as managing and coping with ongoing stress can feel commonplace. A major symptom of stress emotional eating/food addiction, and this is what derails many dieters without them even realizing it.

The simple truth is, you may eating emotionally and not even know it. Many symptoms of emotional eating can seem quite benign, while others are more harmful. Some of the most common symptoms are:

Not only can emotional eating be a sign of larger issues, it is also very unhealthy, leading most commonly to:

Fortunately, Diet Doc has created a collection of great medical weight loss programs focused on helping individuals overcome the real problem, stress-based emotional eating. By tackling the true underlying cause Diet Doc is helping lose weight faster, and move towards long-term habit changing activities. Our doctor created and supervised medical weight loss plans combat emotional eating in many different ways, ranging from simple doctor supervision and evaluation to powerful prescription weight loss aids specifically designed to address the causes of emotional eating.

These medications can range from our Low Dose Naltrexone, which helps reduce appetite between meals and reduce stress levels in the body, our prescription Appetite Zap, a simple appetite suppressant designed to safely and effectively curb hunger.

Our clients who utilize our unique medical weight loss system experience:

Improvement in mood and a sense of wellbeing

Simply give us a call orsend us a messagefor a free, no-obligation consultation, and ask about our medically-supervised weight loss plans. Well get you on the path towards a better you! Diet Doc offers a team of doctors, nurses, nutritionists and motivational coaches, Diet Doc products and individualized coaching help individuals lose weight fast and keep it off. Existing patients are losing up to 20 pounds per month safely and effectively. New patients can get started immediately, with materials shipped directly to their home or office. They can also maintain weight loss in the long-term through weekly consultations, customized diet plans, motivational coaches and a powerful prescription program. With Diet Doc, the doctor is only a short phone call away and a fully dedicated team of qualified professionals is available 6 days per week to answer questions, address concerns and support patients.

Getting started with Diet Doc is very simple and affordable. New patients can easily visit https://www.dietdoc.com to quickly complete a health questionnaire and schedule an immediate, free online consultation.

About the Company:

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

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DietDocMedical

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DietDocMedicalWeightLoss/

LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/company/diet-doc-weight-loss?trk=biz-brand-tree-co-logo

CONTACT INFORMATION

Diet Doc Contact Information:

Providing care across the USA

Headquarters:

San Diego, CA

(800) 581-5038

[emailprotected]

Homepage

Attachments:

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f729cf70-f385-4af8-8e90-e7073b37eced

Link:
Diet Doc Works to Address Underlying Cause of Weight Gain; Emotional Eating - ForexTV.com

Your Healthy Family: Celiac Disease: When Gluten-Free is a Necessity – KOAA.com Colorado Springs and Pueblo News

Posted: June 1, 2017 at 2:41 am

COLORADO SPRINGS -

'Gluten-free'products are becoming more prevalent in the local grocery store. But for folks who suffer from celiac disease, 'gluten-free'is not a trendy diet it's necessary to keep their disease in remission.

Celiac disease is an auto-immune disorder that causes folks to experience gastrointestinal distress after consuming foods with gluten, which is protein from wheat, rye and barley.

According to Donald Kirby, M.D., of Cleveland Clinic, the biggest challenge for folks with celiac disease is finding foods that they can safely eat.

"Gluten is hidden in so many different things that it's not easy to go to the annual picnic and find things that you can actually eat. You can't have those hamburger rolls or the hot dog buns,and you've got to be careful of so many different things,"said Dr. Kirby.

Celiac disease is one of the most common genetic diseases in the world, affecting around one percent of the population. Adult women are most frequently diagnosed with the disease.

Symptoms that signal a need to be screened include bloating and alternating of diarrhea and constipation. Likewise, folks who have been diagnosed with irritable bowel disease should be checked.

Screening is very simple, it's done through a blood test. Dr. Kirby said that if the test comes back positive, doctors will perform a small bowel biopsy during an upper endoscopy procedure. If a person is diagnosed, parents and children should also be tested, because celiac disease is genetic.

Dr. Kirby said it's important to treat celiac disease, because when left untreated, it can cause a person to develop other auto-immune disorders, as well as nutrient deficiencies, or disorders such as lymphoma.

He said the cure is a gluten-free diet and that while challenging, making those dietary changes can greatly improve a person's quality of life.

"By changing the diet to exclude wheat, rye and barley, hence, a gluten-free diet, you can treat the disease very well have the disease go into remission,"said Dr. Kirby.

Going on a gluten-free diet for celiac disease is for life, but it's easier to tackle with the help of a registered dietician. Dr. Kirby said even if the disease gets better with dietary changes, it's a good idea for folks to be followed by a doctor to make sure that it is still in remission and that their vitamin levels are where they should be.

Read the original:
Your Healthy Family: Celiac Disease: When Gluten-Free is a Necessity - KOAA.com Colorado Springs and Pueblo News

Heed this wisdom to be a Pedalpalooza pro – BikePortland.org

Posted: June 1, 2017 at 2:41 am

Its here. Hope youve been practicing your high-fives. (Photos: J. Maus/BikePortland)

Portlands epic month of bike rides and events starts tomorrow. Yes, thats right, its time for the annual Pedalpalooza festival. Its the 16th year in a row Shift has helped us celebrate the social exhiliration and of bicycling with a slate of rides organized and led by people in the community like you and me. Its a phenomenonal display of community connectedness unlike anything Ive seen in the cycling world and we hope you plan to be a part of it

If you are going to join in any one of the 262 rides on the calendar (so far) this month, there are a few things you should know to make sure your experience reaches its full potential. And on a more serious note, there are a few things you should do to make sure your experience doesnt end up making bad memories (or worse) for you, your friends, or the people around you.

For our annual Pedalalooza primer we once again turn to bike funnist and Shift volunteer Chris Fool McCraw. He recently shared some important pits of wisdom:

A well-stocked pannier is always a good idea.

Get that tune-up, stock up on spare tubes, and make sure your butt loves your saddle. Its the last minute NOW because you want to have your bike ready before the fun really gets started on June 1st!

Now get yourself tuned up do you know where your summer bike clothes are? Been putting off that doctors appt? Been to see the barber? Nobody wants to stop riding with a few thousand of their closest friends to take care of stuff that could happen anytime, and you know you wanna be in top shape to enjoy the rides and be looking sharp for the cutie youre sure to meet on the happy streets. Might not be a bad idea to get caught up on laundry, too.

Next up its time to get stocked! Easy frozen meals to heat & eat when you get home exhausted and just wanna crawl into bed? Favorite hangover cure available in quantity? Portable intoxicant of choice need to hit costco or stumptown to get enough? Beer is easy on the fly, but if youre more of a liquor is quicker, candy is dandy kinda person do it in advance: visit your local dispensary, or anyway get the things you cant make happen at a quickie mart mid-ride or en-route done on your schedule instead of missing the pre-party for Loud and Lit because you have to find the last liquor store in town still open.

Almost ready but is your pedalpalooza survival kit all ready to go? Picnic blanket, hearty snacks, condoms, band-aids & aspirin, flat-fix kit, extra headlight batteries, and fliers for your ride to hand out to folks at other rides are all recommended. Got Costumes for the WNBR and beyond? Might as well figure all that out during the calm before the storm!

Pedalpalooza is a wild ride, with too little sleep and sometimes too much booze. While were out having fun, I want to ask YOU to help take care of yourself and others. These three steps go a long way toward creating inclusive, safe(r) bike fun!

1) Have a plan & Look out for your own well being

When you go on rides that may take you out of your comfort zone, know thyself might you end up riding longer than expected without a food stop that fits your diet? Might you end up somewhere youve never been before? These are near-certainties, so make sure youre prepared have a spare inner tube, have a bike map, have a friend you can call if you get stranded (very few rides will leave the cell service area, and those that do are generally described as fairly long rides), and have some substantial snacks and water. Make friends on the ride so that even if you dont have what you need you now know someone who might let you borrow their phone or share their snack or patch kit.

2) Be aware of your situation

Both on and off the bike, be aware of your environment. We are traffic, but we are mortal, so watch out for anyone operating a vehicle erratically and be defensive about not getting creamed or even bumping someone else on a bike or in a car! Having a dance party on the springwater? Cool! Just be aware of nearby residents and of wandering off by yourself to pass out or even make out safety first (or third but think about it as you go!)

3) Look out for each other

This one is a bit less obvious than the other two, but as a community of bike funnists, we have to take care of each other. Specifically, be on the lookout for folks who seem so intoxicated that they wont be able to ride safely home, and try to help them figure out a remedy be that getting them a ride buddy or an Uber. On a similar note, CONSENT IS SEXY. This goes for sexual stuff of course be the person you want to wake up and see in the mirror tomorrow but also goes for peer pressure and intoxication if your new friend doesnt want to drink another beer or take another toke, dont shame them into it. We dont need to make any more depressing statistics or have someones life get fucked up. Check out these resources on consent that I hope youll read itll take 2 minutes and youll be an awesomer person for reading them and helping others who havent read them keep them in mind even when drunk.

Have fun out there Portland! Ill miss the first few days (headed to Montral tomorrow!) but I cant wait to join you in the streets when I get back.

Jonathan Maus: (503) 706-8804, @jonathan_maus on Twitter and jonathan@bikeportland.org

BikePortland is supported by the community (that means you!). Please become a subscriber or make a donation today.

Front Page, Rides/Events chris mccraw, Pedalpalooza, pedalpalooza 2017

Read the original post:
Heed this wisdom to be a Pedalpalooza pro - BikePortland.org

Diet drinks excluded as Seattle soda-tax moves toward final City … – The Seattle Times

Posted: June 1, 2017 at 2:41 am

Under a new version of the citys proposal, diet drinks would not be taxed, in addition to other changes. A final vote by the full council likely will be scheduled for Monday.

Seattle City Council members moved a proposed soda tax Wednesday toward a final vote and amended it to exclude diet drinks.

Mayor Ed Murray sent legislation to the council in April calling for a tax of 1.75 cents per ounce on distributors of sweetened beverages, including sugary and diet soft drinks, among others.

Under the new version of the proposed tax, diet drinks would not be taxed, small manufacturers would be exempted and medium-sized manufacturers would pay a reduced rate.

The amended plan would raise about $8 million less annually than Murrays plan, according to city estimates.

The councils finance committee made the changes Wednesday before voting 5-2 to move the ordinance forward.

For me, the main object of this legislation is to reduce the consumption of this unhealthy product, Councilmember Mike OBrien said.

Councilmembers Lisa Herbold and Kshama Sawant cast the dissenting votes, while Councilmembers Tim Burgess and M. Lorena Gonzlez were behind the major changes.

Herbold proposed lowering the tax rate to 1 cent per ounce and keeping diet drinks in the tax, but her amendments were rejected by the committee.

Councilmember Rob Johnson proposed taxing syrups and powders based on their dry weight rather than their weight once mixed into drinks, saying that would be simpler. His amendment also was rejected.

Herbold and Sawant said they couldnt support a tax that would disproportionately burden low-income people and people of color. Herbold called the existing proposal unfairly regressive and warned a rate set too high could expose the tax to repeal via citizen ballot measure.

A final vote by the full council likely will be scheduled for Monday.

Many health advocates are supporting the tax, while soft-drink companies, some business owners and unions with workers in the beverage industry oppose it.

The Martin Luther King County Labor Council and the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce issued a joint statement Wednesday against the tax, saying it would harm the local economy.

Revenue from the tax would be used by the city to support healthful eating and education.

Seattle leaders have been having trouble agreeing whether to tax diet drinks.

Diet drinks werent included in Murrays initial plan. The science on sugary drinks being unhealthful is solid, but evidence of artificially sweetened drinks being harmful is less clear.

The mayor added diet drinks to his plan after a racial-equity analysis showed their popularity among wealthy people and white people. And now council members have taken them back out.

In pushing for diet drinks to be excluded from the tax, Burgess pointed to unclear health findings on artificial sweeteners and to concerns about the tax leading to job losses.

Leaving diet drinks untaxed gives consumers an alternative, he said. And Im concerned about what weve heard from labor.

Taxing sugary and diet drinks at 1.75 cents per ounce, as the mayor proposed, would initially raise about $23 million annually, while taxing only sugary drinks at that rate would raise about $15 million, according to estimates Herbold obtained from the citys budget office.

Herbold argued for taxing sugary and diet drinks at 1 cent per ounce in order to raise 15.5 million annually.

Read the original post:
Diet drinks excluded as Seattle soda-tax moves toward final City ... - The Seattle Times

More are following Caveman diet when ordering take-out – Star2.com

Posted: June 1, 2017 at 2:41 am

Themost popular regime in take-out dining in the United States is the Paleo Diet, a restrictive lifestyle that supposedly mimics the diets of our ancestors when they were hunter-gatherers.

Thats according to a new survey by take-out service Grubhub, which analysed the volume of its take-out orders to extract conclusions on American diet habits. Compared to 2015, online and mobile orders of Paleo foods increased 370% in 2016 across the United States, says Grubhub, outpacing the raw diet, juice cleanse, veganism and gluten-free diets which round out the top five eating plans.

For the uninitiated, the Paleolithic diet also known as the Caveman or Stone Age Diet replicates the kinds of foods that would only have been available to Paleolithic humans. That means fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, nuts and seeds are allowed, but dairy, legumes, cereals and sugars are not.

For the survey, analysts looked at a combination of dietary tags and specific eating plans in order data from Jan 1 to Dec 31, 2016. The results were also broken down by city to reveal some interesting trends.

For example, Seattle emerged the most health-conscious, most finicky city in the United States, with more residents placing special dietary orders for their take-out meal than any other city Seattleites order 309% more foods related to eating plans and diets compared to the rest of the country.

Raw meats and fish, and raw plants, fruits and nuts found in nature make up the Paleo diet. Photo: AFP

The most popular eating plan in that city? Gluten-free foods.

Elsewhere, youre more likely to find vegans in cities like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and Chicago, while New Yorkers, Bostonians and residents in San Francisco are more likely to order low-fat meals.

The Paleo diet is particularly popular in Texas, with Dallas, Houston and Austin, where locals favour the cavemans diet.

The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) is telling the world to stop eating meat and dairy products and switch to a healthy and animal friendly vegan diet. Photo: AFP/Dibyangshu Sarkar

Here are the most popular eating plans across the United States:

Paleo 370% increase in orders in 2016 vs. the year before

Raw 92% increase in orders in 2016 vs. the year before

Juice cleanse 89% increase in orders in 2016 vs. the year before

Vegan 58% increase in orders in 2016 vs. the year before

Gluten-free 35% increase in orders in 2016 vs. the year before

Low-fat 21% increase in orders in 2016 vs. the year prior

Mediterranean 7% increase in orders in 2016 vs. the year before

Keto 5% increase in orders in 2016 vs. the year before AFP Relaxnews

All comments are moderated. Your comment may not show up immediately. Please keep it clean and on topic. Offensive comments will not be published.

Follow this link:
More are following Caveman diet when ordering take-out - Star2.com

Raw diet for pets? Maybe not such a good idea, vet says – Miami Herald

Posted: June 1, 2017 at 2:41 am

Raw diet for pets? Maybe not such a good idea, vet says
Miami Herald
A: The AVMA, veterinary medicine's leading professional group, thinks feeding raw diets to pets is a definite no-no. According to its formal policy statement on this subject, the organization discourages the feeding to cats and dogs of any animal ...

More here:
Raw diet for pets? Maybe not such a good idea, vet says - Miami Herald

Vegan bloggers say their diets can stop menstrual ‘toxins,’ and doctors aren’t pleased – Kansas City Star

Posted: June 1, 2017 at 2:41 am


Kansas City Star
Vegan bloggers say their diets can stop menstrual 'toxins,' and doctors aren't pleased
Kansas City Star
Freelee the Banana Girl seemed so excited to tell her YouTube following how she lost her monthly period. It happened when I first came to a 100 percent raw vegan diet, the popular Australian health blogger said in a 2013 video called How I lost my ...

Read this article:
Vegan bloggers say their diets can stop menstrual 'toxins,' and doctors aren't pleased - Kansas City Star

Fowl-mouthed study finds that diet shaped duck, goose beaks – Phys.Org

Posted: June 1, 2017 at 2:41 am

May 30, 2017 Waterfowl beaks vary along a duck-to-goose gradient (left to right), primarily because of differences in diet. Credit: Aaron Olsen

From Charles Darwin's famous finches to a new study that takes a rare look at a common order of birdswaterfowlevolution has a tendency to reveals itself through bird beaks.

And this new study confirms through a rigorous analysis that the main evolutionary force driving the shape of duck, goose and other waterfowl beaks is their diet.

"This is the most comprehensive look to date at the relationship between diet and beak shape," said Aaron Olsen, author of the study in Functional Ecology and a postdoctoral researcher in Brown University's Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

"Waterfowl have really interesting beaks relative to other birds," Olsen said. "They are very curvy with very diverse shapes."

Working at the University of Chicago and the Field Museum of Natural History, Olsen sought to determine what accounts for that diversity.

He expected that diet might play a substantial role, but rather than just compare simple dietary categories with beak caliper measurements as many naturalists have, he engaged in a more detailed analysis. He carefully measured the 3-D form of the beaks of 136 specimens of waterfowl, covering 51 species and 46 genera, including two extinct species. One fossil, Presbyornis, dates back tens of millions of years. Then he paired those measurements with detailed data that he gathered from the research literature on the diet of each bird.

Regardless of his expectation, if diet and beak shape had little to do with each other, the math would have yielded low correlations.

"What this analysis asks is, 'What are the patterns of correlation between these two datasets?'," Olsen said. "What's nice about that is you are going in a little bit naively about the relationship between the two."

More for pruning than preening

But the mathematical result was a strong correlation between dietary preferences and beak shape. It makes physical sense, Olsen said. Ducks, which primarily filter-feed little bugs and seeds from the water, have relatively long, wide-tipped bills that can bring in a lot of water. Geese, which evolved to prefer the leaves and roots of plants over filter feeding (though some still do), have shorter, narrower beaks that give geese a more forceful bite for pruning tough plant parts.

The correlation is so strong, Olsen said, that diet likely dominates other influencers of beak shape that researchers have demonstrated, such as preening and shedding body heat. But Olsen said his analysis doesn't preclude those factors from still having roles, too.

Duck then goose

The data Olsen gathered, combined with several lines of prior research, also led him to hypothesize that the early ancestors of modern ducks, geese and other waterfowl were duck-like. Geese-like beaks are newer phenomena, though they've evolved several times in several places.

First of all, Olsen said, a mathematical reconstruction he performed that accounted for modern waterfowl and the early ancestor in the waterfowl phylogenetic (or evolutionary family) tree, Presbyornis, showed that the duck-like beak is the most likely ancestral form. Moreover, the widespread emergence of grasses occurred after the origin of waterfowl, supporting a later origin for geese within waterfowl.

The other extinct specimen whose bill Olsen surveyed, the fern-eating moa-nalos goose, may be a good example of the kind of transition he suspects played out multiple times over waterfowl's evolutionary history. Other researchers have shown the moa-nalos likely had a duck-like ancestor, but after its ancestors ended up in Hawaii, it adapted to its final plant-eating status by evolving goose-like features over time.

All that said, Olsen acknowledges his assessment of waterfowl lineage remains an open hypothesis. He said he invites further research, even if it ultimately ruffles his feathers.

"I would love to see someone publish a paper and argue the opposite," he said.

Explore further: Up to 600 waterfowl die in western Idaho from avian cholera

More information: Functional Ecology (2017). DOI: 10.1111/1365-2435.12890

An estimated 500 to 600 ducks and geese have died due to avian cholera in western Idaho.

A study of the super-diverse bird groups, which include Darwin's finches, has found that modular skull parts helped them adapt to different roles.

Citizen scientists and bird lovers across the world have helped researchers at the University of Sheffield and the University of South Florida uncover new secrets about the evolution of bird's beaks over time in a ground-breaking ...

Migratory waterfowl around the world travel hundreds to thousands of miles annually, stopping at lakes, ponds and marshes to refuel and breed. Some of these aquatic rest stops may be at sites polluted by remnants of radioactive ...

(Phys.org) To female coastal plain swamp sparrows, male bill size matters.

Beak shape variation in Darwin's finches is a classic example of evolutionary adaptation, with beaks that vary widely in proportions and shape, reflecting a diversity of ecologies. While living birds have a beak to manipulate ...

Imagine being a scuba diver and leaving your oxygen tank behind you on a dive. Or a mountain climber and abandoning your ropes. Or a skydiver and shedding your parachute. That's essentially what humans are doing as we expand ...

What happens to a cane toad's internal chemistry when it has to shed its skin to replace worn out skin cells?

Slow and steady wins the race.

No experience with human speech is necessary for budgerigars to perceive the difference between "d" and "t", according to a study published May 31, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Mary Flaherty from The State ...

Some migratory bats are attracted to artificial green light which may interfere with their flight paths, according to a study published May 31, 2017 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Christian Voigt from the Leibniz ...

Subgroups of tuberculosis (TB)-causing bacteria can persist even when antibiotics wipe out most of the overall population. The need to eliminate these persistent subpopulations is one reason why TB treatment regimens are ...

Adjust slider to filter visible comments by rank

Display comments: newest first

The author of the article continues to interject the words like "evolution" and "evolutionary force" (whatever that means---very unscientific) and "which evolved to prefer". Fact is that none of these are supported by any science, and is complete guesswork.

We can observe animals that may prefer something. But to say as a scientific fact that evolutionary forces made this happen is complete nonsense. Those are 2 completely unrelated propositions. Scientists should not be so confused.

Please sign in to add a comment. Registration is free, and takes less than a minute. Read more

Visit link:
Fowl-mouthed study finds that diet shaped duck, goose beaks - Phys.Org


Page 1,537«..1020..1,5361,5371,5381,539..1,5501,560..»