Massey University creative writing graduate Sacha Joneswas a principal dancer in the Sydney City Ballet after surviving a teenage diet of cake and laxatives on Saturdays. Her memoir takes a tragi-comic look back at her early dance career.

Kelly Barden, a fledgling young dancer, was lithe and lovely and very much built for ballet, as I was not. But her technique was weak and undeveloped where mine was strong. When she was awarded first prize in the Stuyvesant, Australias premier ballet competition, against every prediction of the teachers and other dancers at the Opera House on the night, and I was awarded runner-up for the second time, I thought it was the end of my world, and in a way it was. It was the end of my childhood, and the beginning of the end of my dance career, though I didnt know that then. I planned to go to London to win the top ballet competition there, the Adeline Gene. That would show them.

The company returned from Tasmania a few days later and I make myself go in to meet them in the studio. They are buzzing with the success of the tour; the best ever, they all agreed, which doesnt exactly help. But it does help to have the studio alive again. You dont look too good, someone tells me, and I shrug. I dont feel too good. The SeptemberNovember edition of Dance Australia comes out with a full-page article and photo of Kelly, still wearing that stolen golden smile, her arms laden with her winners bounty of flowers, trophy and $4000 cheque. There are a few words dedicated to the runner-up.

Another production of The Nutcracker to be performed for schools by day and the general public by night is planned for late November, early December, to finish a few days before I leave. I am going to London despite the Stuyvesant loss and because of it, in a way.

I have enough saved in my little blue bank book for a one-way ticket and after the Stuyvesant I have no more doubts about leaving, possibly never to return.

Between rehearsals for The Nutcracker, for which I am dancing the part of Clara, I must learn the two Gene variations from a video and manual. This is a gruelling process undertaken awkwardly with Mrs Ps help in the smaller studio next to the one in which Hassan runs rehearsals of the second act, which doesnt involve Clara much. The piano accompaniment for the Gene dances is clunky and uninspiring next to Tchaikovskys passionate Nutcracker score, and the steps are so technical that I cant muster much enthusiasm for them.

The truth of the matter is thatIm not as fit as I was for the Stuyvesant. In just a few weeks I have lost condition, returning to abusing laxatives on an ever more regular basis, and extending my binges beyond a few spoonfuls of pie. On my way home from the studio one evening, the custard cannoli in the window of the Italian bakery at Central Station that I have successfully resisted for approximately 700 days finally wins out and I dont stop there.

That night the laxatives dont work, possibly because my body is getting used to them, or perhaps laxatives dont work on custard cannoli. Whatever the case, waking up with all those cloying calories weighing me down the next morning is more depressing than losing the Stuyvesant almost. I starve myself the next day, not even eating breakfast, and again the following day, then break out with another binge the day after that.

And so the vicious cycle begins and continues until one day Mrs P, taking me through my Gene variations, tells me I have put on weight and need to lose it before the Gene. She leads me to the mirror and says: Here, pinching the fat on my upper arm, and here, pinching my upper inner thigh, which is not the first time she has touched that part of me ballet teachers have a free pass to the whole body but it is the first time she has done it for the purpose of finding fat. I have finally failed the pinch test.

Sacha Jones as a teenage ballerina, Sydney,1982 (Image: Supplied)

Im a miserable wreck. I charge headlong into a carrot-and- TAB-only diet that I intend to stay on for the remaining weeks till I leave for London. It lasts precisely three long days; not quite long enough for Mrs P to notice any improvement or say anything if she does, but long enough that Im so ravenous I could eat an entire Italian bakery and almost do. My battalion of laxatives comes out in full force that night and this time they do work. By the time I get into the studio the next morning, I am light-headed and dizzy from a very draining night. And its not over yet. After another visit to the studio bathrooms I collapse unconscious on the floor fortunately just beyond the toilet cubicle.

When I come to, I am being carried through the streets of Sydney in Daryns arms. Later on I find out that he insisted on being the one to carry me to the hospital, although Hassan, a much bigger man, offered.

I spent that day after collapsing in the museum bathrooms in intensive care at Sydney Hospital being tested for drugs and diseases, questioned by a psychiatrist (I admitted nothing), given a sedative and finally diagnosed with anorexia in its early stages. I was deeply ashamed of those early stages. I had always taken inspiration from Karen Carpenters battle with anorexia, even if she had just died of the disease earlier in the year, but early stages anorexia feels like being runner-up in the Stuyvesant.

But the show must go on. I was out of intensive care and onto the stage dancing the role of Clara quicker than you could say Nutcracker. Three days after my collapse, we opened at the Capitol Theatre (the Regent being prepared for demolition by that stage), with the dress rehearsal the very next day.

Three weeks later I am on the plane to London. And it is this goal that saves me, I think, as well as my brief stay in intensive care, which was a bit of a wake-up call. After that, I put away the laxatives and got back to my much more balanced breakfast-only, no-cannoli diet. By the end of those three weeks I was down to 41kilograms, roughly my goal weight, and felt more or less recovered. I could lose those last two kilos in London.

More cautious parents may well have wanted to keep their slightly unstable, recently hospitalised teen at home for a while longer before sending her off to the other side of the world unsupervised. So it was just as well that my parents were not the cautious type. In fact, in those three weeks Mum and Dad had taken themselves off to their favourite guesthouse in Bowral where Mum, according to her diary, sank a 20-foot putt, and Dad bought her an eternity ring to celebrate twenty years of marriage while waiting to hear back from Oxford University Press who had sent him some encouraging letters on his book.

As soon as I take my seat on the flight to London, I plug in The Man from Snowy River (in my ears) for a bit of premature nostalgia as the plane clears that vast brown continent of fake forests and improbable fruits, heading north over the bright, blushing blue sea. A box of Colon Care is tucked safely in the hold just in case. They might not have laxatives in Narnia.

From The Grass Was Always Browner, a memoir by Sacha Jones (Finch Publishing,$32.99),available at Unity Books. Sacha will compete tonight (Monday) at the Classic Comedy Club in Auckland for a place in the semi-finals of the Raw Quest. All the best Sacha!

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The Monday Extract: The ballerina who was hospitalised with anorexia - The Spinoff

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is a serious and growing problem. Previously linked with obesity, a new study also connects it to maternal obesity - meaning that what your mother ate during pregnancy may affect your future liver health.

Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is characterized by a buildup of fat within the cells of the liver. Although having fat in the liver is normal, if there is an excessive amount, it can lead to liver scarring and cirrhosis.

Cirrhosis describes a process during which liver cells are gradually replaced by scar tissue, hindering the liver's capacity to work effectively.

NAFLD is estimated to affect 20 to 30 percent of people in the Western world, and this level appears to be on the rise.

Individuals with type 2 diabetes and morbid obesity are among the worst affected; in these groups, the rates of NAFLD are 70 and 90 percent, respectively.

Although some of the risk factors are understood, it is not always clear why one person develops NAFLD while another, similar person, does not. Because of the rising prevalence of NAFLD, a great deal of research is currently under way that attempts to generate an understanding of the pathways behind the condition.

The latest research comes from a team headed up by Dr. Michael Thompson, Ph.D., a pediatric endocrinology fellow at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio. The results are presented today at the Experimental Biology 2017 meeting, held in Chicago, IL.

Using a mouse model, the research explores the effect, if any, of a maternal high-fat diet on the offspring's liver health.

Dr. Thompson explains the reasons for his decision to embark on the current project: "Complications of obesity are a significant cost burden for the medical system, especially given the prevalence of obesity. Understanding how maternal exposures impact obesity-related disease such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease will allow us to develop lower-cost preventative therapies to utilize up front rather than awaiting complications down the road."

Once the data had been analyzed, they found that exposure to a high-fat diet during development produced changes in the liver that persisted through to adulthood. These changes remained even if the offspring were fed a low-fat diet after birth.

If this effect is confirmed in humans, it would mean that someone of a healthy weight could still be at risk for NAFLD if their mother had been obese during pregnancy.

When the team looked further into the data, they found that levels of bile acid and the genes involved in its regulation were altered in the offspring of obese mothers. This suggests that the offspring might have cholestasis, a condition in which the normal flow of bile is interrupted.

"If human offspring from obese mothers have a similar risk for developing fibrosis as we see in mice, we may be able to predict who is going to develop more serious disease.

Knowing who is most at risk for more serious disease will guide us on which patients should be treated more aggressively. Furthermore, understanding the biological mechanisms involved in this increased risk could lead to preventative therapies."

Dr. Michael Thompson

The results will need to be confirmed, but they open the door to a raft of new questions. Thompson and his team are now planning research to further investigate the risk of disease progression. Using the same mouse model, they are also designing studies that will examine preventative therapies able to be administered during pregnancy or shortly after birth.

Due to the rising rates of NAFLD, research in this vein is likely to continue at breakneck pace. Preventing or slowing this condition could have huge health benefits for the population at large.

Learn how eating meat may increase the risk of developing NAFLD.

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Your mother's diet may influence your liver's health - Medical News Today

You may have come across some pretty alarming takes on diet soda going into this past weekend. "Daily dose of diet soda tied to triple risk of deadly stroke," blared Fox News . Outlets like the Washington Post and CNN repeated the assertion that drinking artificially sweetened beverages may increase the risk that your brain just maybe headed for a blood clot or serious mental deterioration because you like to drink Diet Coke. Don't believe the hype; the situation probably isn't nearly as dire as that.

Some of the reports about this "deadly diet soda" study have been more nuanced than others. But there's a common theme among a lot of themthey don't outline some of its most crucial and relevant caveats until way past the headline. And if they did, the titles would be pretty boring. Like, "Study determines minor observational link (but no direct cause-and-effect) between certain people who drink artificial sugar beverages, but it has a small sample size that doesn't include minorities or account for a whole bunch of other critical factors."

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That's not exactly as sexy as claiming that a Diet Coke a day will bring Alzheimer's in its wake, or triple the chances of a stroke. But science, fortunately (or unfortunately if you're trying to grab clicks at the expense of good information), isn't meant to be sexy. It's meant to test hypotheses and express facts. And when the results of scientific experiments are presented without context, they lead to misleading, panicky headlines like the ones that dominated the Internet on Friday.

Physician Aaron Carroll, who writes for one of the most clear-eyed, if wonky, health care websites out therethe Incidental Economist and has a delightfully no-BS, data-driven column on the New York Times' Upshot site, highlights several reasons why you should take this new sugar study with a grain of salt.

Did the participants differ by race or ethnicity? I have no idea. I do know, however, that the authors write about the absence of ethnic minorities, which limits the generalizability of our findings to populations of non-European decent. Was that in the coverage you read?

Did they differ by socioeconomic status? No idea. Did they abuse drugs? Work or retire? Live alone or with someone? Have a family history of disease? No idea.

Did they acknowledge that different artificial sweeteners are different molecules with likely different effects or implications? No.

Were there multiple comparisons, meaning some results might be due to chance? Yep. Did they rely on self-report, which might mean recall bias comes into play? Yep.

Was this an observational study? Of course.

Was all of that in the coverage you read?

Carroll's explanation is a lot more in-depth than that, digging into nerdy-but-important factors like the actual models the study's authors used, the limitations they openly admitted to, and information we simply don't know about their analysis.

But this does reflect a common theme in mainstream media science reporting. The drive to report the most provocative (in many cases, concerning) headlines obscure the incremental, nuanced, and decidedly not -reductive nature of good science. If you were to rely on flashy media headlines alone, you might think that everything causes cancer or prevents it !

None of this is to say that sugar alternatives don't come with health risks; they very well might. But limited, observational studies about public health trends can only take you so far down the path to real knowledge. So don't feel pressured to freak out about that diet drink because the Internet told you to.

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Stop Freaking Out About That Study Linking Diet Soda to Alzheimer's and Strokes - Fortune

Fish has long been Paul Greenbergs bread and butter. But last year, the fisherman, journalist, and author of Four Fish and American Catch took his relationship to seafood to a new level. While researching his next book, The Omega Principle, Greenberg spent a year eating fish multiple times a day, every day with the goal of raising his bodys level of omega-3 fatty acids. Meanwhile, he also traveled to Peru to visit the worlds largest wild fishery, to Norway to see the birthplace of modern aquaculture, and to Alaska, the last thriving wild salmon habitat in the world.

Greenbergs journey is also at the center of an episode of FRONTLINE called The Fish on My Plate, which airs Tuesday, April 25 on PBS. We talked to him about the film, his experimental diet, and the future of the fish on our plates.

You ate seafood every day for a year while filming this segment. Lets start with that. Why did you do it?

I have marginally high blood pressure, marginally bad cholesterol, and my triglycerides are on the high side, so I was hoping that those things would get addressed. Theres this thing that happens where you see around the corner of 45 and catch a glimpse of 50 in the middle distance and you just dont feel as sharp. And all the things that fish and omega-3s are supposed to do seem to relate to all the problems that you have when you realize that you truly are middle-aged. So, I was hoping to have a better, a less burdened, middle age than I might have had.

We wont spoil it for the audience, but it didnt quite work out how you planned. It has been six months since you stopped; what is your relationship to eating seafood now?

Well, Ive also been evaluating it for next my book and Ive come to the conclusion that a diet where pescatarianism is a large element is probably a good thing for the planet and a good thing for a persons health. That doesnt mean fish every day, but something more like the pescatarian Mediterraneanso it has all the qualities of the Mediterranean diet, but your primary protein more often than not would be fish.

But the other thing that you have to take into consideration is mercury and other pollutants. If you think about not wanting to push the gas pedal on mercury above a certain level, and attuned your fish consumption accordingly, you could strike that balance between pollutants and nutrition and probably get to a point where youd have a pretty healthy diet.

Id always been led to believe that if youre eating fish that is low on the food chain, and focusing on wild salmonwhich also eat relatively low on the food chainyoud avoid mercury. But it just turns out that there is trace mercury in almost every piece of seafood. As [the biologist] said in the film, its like death by a thousand cuts. And so you really do need to be conscious of it.

This filmand the forthcoming bookis much more health-focused than your other work. Do you want to talk about your decision to go that route?

My audience keeps expanding, which is great, but every time the audience expands I have to take a step back and find the right altitude at which to fly to explain these things. And you know to some degree the omega-3 in the film is the MacGuffin. Its important, but its also a way to talk about all these other things.

Omega-3 is also the Forrest Gump molecule. In the film, Forrest Gump shows up at these key moments throughout history and youre not quite sure what he does, but you know its important. And if you look at it from a health perspective, omega-3 exactly reflects our obsessions of the moment. In the 70s and 80s everyone was afraid of dropping dead of a heart attack, so Omega-3s were immediately plugged into cardiology.

They used to think it was connected with lowering cholesterol, but it seems like the evidence is it doesnt lower cholesterol. But that was our obsession and now that we have angioplasty and statins people arent as worried about heart attacks anymore. Now theyre worried about losing their minds and becoming demented. So, where has the Forrest Gump molecule wandered now? Its into the brain. So, thats the altitude that Ive chosen to take in my next book. And at the same time, it frees me up to talk about food systems which is to me the really important stuffmuch more important than my own heart and brain.

Lets talk about changing perceptions about fish farming. Do you find it ironic that while a small percentage of the population has questioned many of the methods behind aquaculture in the last decade, the actual numbers of pounds of farmed fish that were consuming has grown enormously?

Yes, its like [the moment in] Casablanca where Louie comes in and raids the casino and says, Im shocked, shocked to see gambling going on in this establishment! Then the croupier goes up to Louie and says, Your winnings, sir? and he says, Thank you very much. Thats kind of the way we feel about farmed fish.

But the fact is that fish farming is getting better. Theres one very basic metric that has really changed, and thats the amount of fish eaten by farmed fish. The fish-in-fish-out ratio has really come down. The possibilities of alternative feed really have risen. And I actually think in about five years things like algae and soldier flies will be a really major part of the aquaculture portfolio. And well start to see that argument [against farmed fish] getting dropped.

In 2007 and 2008, when I was doing the bulk of the research for Four Fish, the aquaculture industry was in a certain place. But it has changed. You had Ted Danson screaming at the top of his lungs and the celebrity on the Oceana board, saying, Nobody should be farmed fish. Now you have people like Leo DiCaprio who came out and strongly urge that everybody eat more farmed fish.

Any piece of seafoodbe it farmed or wildis going to have a smaller carbon footprint than any piece of land food meat, so its hard to argue against it in a much bigger sense.

A lot of folks are pointing to open-ocean or offshore aquaculture as a promising solution. What are your thoughts about that?

I certainly have thoughts about it; I dont know if Ive made a decision about it. On a basic level, putting aquaculture pens in the open ocean with more current and more water [for circulating the waste] certainly seems to make more sense. A few years ago I wrote an article for Conservation Magazine about open-ocean aquaculture and I kind of stressed a somewhat positive vision of it. I ran it by an ocean conservationist and he was just livid that I would even suggest this idea because he argued that if you had tons and tons of sea pens out there, youd essentially change the chemistry of the ocean and it could have large consequences. And I suppose thats true but its also a hypothesis.

If you could irrefutably prove that any addition of aquaculture will result in an offset of wild fish capture then aquaculture wins. But so far we havent been able to prove that. And I dont know that we ever will. So, that to me is the larger question. If we were to add a bunch of open-ocean pens and introduce these additional nitrates and so forth into the offshore environment but it meant taking away thousands of miles of long lines that [inadvertently] catch turtles and other aquatic life, maybe it would be okay to have a few ocean pens. But that hasnt happened yet.

Do you want to talk about the good actorslikeKvary Fiskeoppdrett,the fish farm you visited in the Arctic Circle?

As far as I could see, if youre going to do net pen aquaculture, that is about as good as it could get. For one thing, they have much lower stocking densities than the industrial guys further to the south [of Norway]. They were using lump suckers to eat the sea lice off of the salmon. They create this artificial kelp bed that the lump suckers cling to and the salmon swim in and they get kind of cleaned off like in a car wash. The feed they use has a low fish ratio and its all coming from waste from other fisheries.

So, you know, theyve pushed the model as far as it could go [sustainability-wise]. On the other hand, there are people who say theres a limit to how far that model can go. And thats what drove us to go see Bren Smithsmussel and oyster operation in Connecticut because that is truly different and truly less impactful than salmon farms. But do you want to eat mussels as often as you eat salmon?

Yeah, Ill be really curious to see if Bren can grow his operation in the current market.

Were flesh eaters. As Americans, weve really gotten used to wanting a big chunk of meat-like flesh on our plate and its going to be very hard to change that.

One of my favorite parts of the film was the scene in the fish market, where you talked about what you buy and why. Youre the person I think a lot of us should be going to the fish market with.

Thanks. Maybe Ill start a little side business after my next book is done.

Yeah, you could probably give thousand-dollar tours to women from the Upper East Side. Anything else you want to add about the film?

If folks want to learn more they should read my books, Four Fish and American Catch. Films take you places that you couldnt normally go and show you images that you wouldnt see, but to really ponder things, I still believe in the power of the written word.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

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Paul Greenberg's All-Fish Diet - Civil Eats

By focusing more on men, Nutrisystem is able to get a leg up on rivals. (NutriSystem)

Bikini-bod season is nigh upon us.

It's a goodthing for Nutrisystem (NTRI) that the weight-loss plan provider is expected to reporta pretty killer "diet season."

When the company reports first-quarter results Wednesday after the close, analysts are expecting profit to almost double, with revenue jumping 25%.

Craig-Hallum analyst Alex Fuhrman said in a note to clientslast week that "all signs point to another beat and raise" for Nutrisystem, citing "strong" Google searches, ramped-up advertising and developments with the South Beach Diet brand.

"We believe the core Nutrisystem brand has resonated well with consumers in 2017, and a focus on men (is) likelyyielding stronger performance than other diet space peers," he wrote in his Thursday report. "Combined with the continued advertising of the South Beach Diet brand, which is indicative of strong consumer interest, we believe Nutrisystem will continue to gain marketshare in 2017."

When it comes to losing weight, the tsunami of options can be overwhelming.Googling "diet plan" yields 33 million search hits. Searching for "best way to lose weight" brings up more than twice as many results.

Diet delivery plans now also contend, to a degree, with home-delivery meal-kit options like Blue Apron, Hello Fresh and others though many of those cater to amateur gourmands, not necessarily health-conscious diners. Some, like Pete's Paleo, Sakara and Purple Carrot, appear to cater to both.

The company's five-day weight-loss kits and packaged products such as its NutriCrush bars and shakes and Thick Crust Pizza are available at Wal-Mart (WMT).

Now it has another well-known brand in its portfolio. After acquiring the South Beach Diet brand in December 2015, Nutrisystem reintroducedit at the start of this year as a diet-plan system that includes meal deliveries. The company expects South Beach to add $20 million to $25 million to revenue in fiscal 2017, with "meaningful growth" expected the following year.

Investors felt goodabout the last batch of earnings and sales figures in February. Shares of Nutrisystem took off like a rocket after handily beating the Street's fourth-quarterforecasts. Breaking clear of a period of consolidation in heavy volume, the stock popped 18.6% to 46.50 on Feb. 28 and hasn't looked back.

That action led analyst Matthew Gall of Barrington Research to downgrade the stock to market perform from outperform "solely based on valuation."

"Guidance for the Q1 diet season and (fiscal 2017) was particularly strong and ahead ofconsensus expectations, which we believe is now reflected in NTRI's current share price," he wrote on March 24, adding that trading at a premium to its diet peers "reflects consistently strongexecution by management and higher growth rates."

IBD'S TAKE: Nutrisystem's jump after its last earnings report sent shares soaring, but also extended the stock. Still, shares keep climbing and are up nearly 20% from the Feb. 28 rally. The stock is ranked No. 1 in IBD's Cosmetics and Personal Care Group.

Shares now are in the mid-50s, finishing Monday's session down 0.8% to 55.05.

For the first quarter, Nutrisystem is expected to post revenue of $202.9 million for the quarter that includes the key January-February "diet season" months that come courtesy of New Year's resolutions and follow the winter holidays. Earnings are seen catapulting 89% to 17 cents a share from 9 cents in the prior-year period.

Unlike, say, Oprah Winfrey-endorsed Weight Watchers International (WTW), Nutrisystem has a greater focus on building its men's business, with commercials targeted specifically to that demographic. That is seen as helping the company get a greater slice of the presumably low-calorie diet-plan pie.

And compared withpeers such as Hydroxycut, Jenny Craig, Medifast and Weight Watchers, which have toned down their ad spending in April from the prior year, Nutrisystem has accelerated its spending on national TV commercials, which Craig-Hallum's Fuhrman sees as an indicator that the spring ads are performing well with customers.

Fuhrman told Investor's Business Daily that men account for 25%-30% of Nutrisystem's customer base, about double that of Weight Watchers' clientele.

Diets are tricky things, though.A 2015 John Hopkins analysis of 32 commercial weight-loss programs found that "few" are backed by rigorous scientific data; it found thatonly Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig were backed by clinical trials of a year or longer.

Nutrisystem offered "promising weight-loss results," said researchers, but more data were needed to evaluate long-term effectiveness of the plan.

It fared well enough with health experts at U.S. News & World Report. The publication ranks Nutrisystem in fifth place in its Best Commercial Diet Plans category and No. 16 in Best Diets Overall.

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The New America - Investor's Business Daily

Q13 FOX

Diet sodas may be tied to stroke, dementia risk Q13 FOX Gulping down an artificially sweetened beverage not only may be associated with health risks for your body but also possibly your brain, a new study suggests. Artificially sweetened drinks, such as diet sodas, were tied to a higher risk of stroke and ... Study links diet soda to stroke and dementia risksUPI.com Study: Diet soft drinks linked to strokes, dementiaSanta Rosa Press Gazette Study claims a link between diet sodas and stroke and dementiaArs Technica Virginian-Pilot -McKnight's Long Term Care News -Stroke -CNN all 306 news articles »

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Diet sodas may be tied to stroke, dementia risk - Q13 FOX

Cutting out certain amino acids the building blocks of proteins from the diet of mice slows tumour growth and prolongs survival, according to new research published in Nature.

Researchers at the Cancer Research UK Beatson Institute and the University of Glasgow found that removing two non-essential amino acids serine and glycine from the diet of mice slowed the development of lymphoma and intestinal cancer.

The researchers also found that the special diet made some cancer cells more susceptible to chemicals in cells called reactive oxygen species.

Chemotherapy and radiotherapy boost levels of these chemicals in the cells, so this research suggests a specially formulated diet could make conventional cancer treatments more effective.

The next stage would be to set up clinical trials with cancer patients to assess the feasibility and safety of such a treatment.

Dr Oliver Maddocks, a Cancer Research UK scientist at the University of Glasgow, said: Our findings suggest that restricting specific amino acids through a controlled diet plan could be an additional part of treatment for some cancer patients in future, helping to make other treatments more effective.

Professor Karen Vousden, Cancer Research UKs chief scientist and study co-author, said: This kind of restricted diet would be a short term measure and must be carefully controlled and monitored by doctors for safety. Our diet is complex and protein - the main source of all amino acids - is vital for our health and well-being. This means that patients cannot safely cut out these specific amino acids simply by following some form of home-made diet.

Amino acids are the building blocks that cells need to make proteins. While healthy cells are able to make sufficient serine and glycine, cancer cells are much more dependent on getting these vital amino acids from the diet.

However, the study also found that the diet was less effective in tumours with an activated Kras gene, such as most pancreatic cancer, because the faulty gene boosted the ability of the cancer cells to make their own serine and glycine. This could help to select which tumours could be best targeted by diet therapy.

Dr Emma Smith, science communication manager at Cancer Research UK, said: This is a really interesting look at how cutting off the supply of nutrients essential to cancer cell growth and division could help restrain tumours.

The next steps are clinical trials in people to see if giving a specialised diet that lacks these amino acids is safe and helps slow tumour growth as seen in mice. Wed also need to work out which patients are most likely to benefit, depending on the characteristics of their cancer.

Reference

Maddocks, O. D., Athineos, D., Cheung, E. C., Lee, P., Zhang, T., Niels J. F. Van Den Broek, . . . Vousden, K. H. (2017). Modulating the therapeutic response of tumours to dietary serine and glycine starvation. Nature, 544(7650), 372-376. doi:10.1038/nature22056

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Diet Therapy Could Be Effective at Starving Cancer - Technology Networks

Monday, April 24, 2017 3:46 p.m. CDT

By Will Boggs MD

(Reuters Health) - Consuming too much choline, a nutrient sold in over-the-counter dietary supplements, can boost the risk for blood clots, researchers warn.

Thats because bacteria in the intestines interact with choline to produce a compound that encourages platelets to clump together and form clots.

Choline is found in a variety of foods including meat, eggs and milk. Its whats known as an essential nutrient, which means the body cant make enough choline on its own and so it must be provided in food.

But unless prescribed by your doctor, avoid supplements with choline, said senior study researcher Dr. Stanley L. Hazen of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, in a statement.

Hazen and colleagues had previously shown that bacteria in the intestines interact with choline and other dietary nutrients to produce a substance called TMAO, and they linked high levels of TMAO in the blood to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases.

Also, in studies in animals, they linked higher levels of TMAO to a higher risk for blood clots.

Their latest research, reported in the American Heart Associations journal Circulation, shows that choline in food can affect blood clotting risk in humans, and in some cases, that risk can be minimized by taking low-dose aspirin.

In the current study, they gave oral choline supplements to 18 volunteers and then measured TMAO levels, along with the responses of platelets, tiny particles involved in clotting.

After taking the supplements for up to two months, participants had more than 10-fold increases in blood levels of TMAO. The tendency of their platelets to clump together and form clots was also significantly increased, in direct proportion to the increases in TMAO levels.

Aspirin, which reduces the stickiness of platelets, reduced both the increases in TMAO and the increases in platelet clotting associated with choline, but it didn't completely eliminate them, the researchers found.

The findings are of particular concern in people at high cardiovascular risk, whose increased risk of blood clots may not be overcome by low-dose aspirin. The researchers recommend further study.

They also say it's worth exploring whether low-dose aspirin is beneficial in otherwise healthy people with high TMAO in the blood although at this point, they cant explain why the aspirin seemed to bring down TMAO levels.

Dr. Herbert Tilg from Medical University Innsbruck, Austria, who has studied the link between gut microbes and blood clots, told Reuters Health by email, This and earlier studies show that we now definitely have to consider dietary aspects in this context, i.e., diet drives thrombosis risk.

These associations are totally new and unexpected: a link between diet - gut microbiota - and thromboembolic events, he said.

They are extremely relevant for the public and in medicine, given that clots are very, very common and can be fatal, he said.

Tilg added that preventive strategies are needed, and probably aspirin is not sufficient. This needs further studies.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1q3uqj1 Circulation, online April 24, 2017.

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People may choose a vegan diet for a variety of reasons, be it for the environment, animal ethics or health.

However, some people give the vegan diet a try purely to lose excess weight and perhaps for good reason.

Vegans tend to have lower body mass indexes (BMIs) than the general population, and several studies acknowledge that a vegan diet can promote weight loss (1,2).

Not to mention, a well-planned vegan diet is nutritious, can lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels and may even decrease your risk of certain diseases (3,4).

This article explains how a vegan diet can help you lose weight and shares some tips on how to follow this diet in a healthy way.

Observational studies often report vegans to be thinner or to have lower BMIs than the general population (2,5).

In addition, randomized controlled trials, the gold standard in scientific research, show that when all other factors are controlled for,vegan dietscan help participants lose significant amounts of weight (6,7).

In one study, people following a vegan diet for 18 weeks lost 9.3 pounds (4.2 kg) more than those who made no dietary changes (6).

Another study compared vegan diets to vegetarian,pescatarian, semi-vegetarian and omnivorous diets.

Participants assigned to the vegan group lost an average of 7.5% of their body weight over the 4-month study period. This was more than twice as much weight as the average lost in each of the other four groups (8).

A vegan diet even appears to help people lose weight more effectively than diets commonly recommended by several different health authorities.

In fact, a low-fat vegan diet helped participants in one study lose 2 to almost 3 times more weight than diets recommended by the American Dietetics Association (ADA), the American Heart Association (AHA) and the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) (1,3,4,9,10).

In a study that followed up with participants one year after the initial study period, researchers reported that all participants regained some weight.

However, those initially on the vegan diet remained 5 pounds (2.3 kg) lighter than those initially assigned to the control weight loss diet (1).

Summary:Vegan diets can help individuals lose significant amounts of weight and keep it off. They could be even more effective than diets currently recommended by certain health authorities.

In order to lose weight, you need to create a calorie deficit.

A vegan diet can help you create this calorie deficit in several ways.

For starters, a plant-based vegan diet generally contains a good amount of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, beans, peas, nuts and seeds.

Such foodstend to be rich in fiber, a nutrient that can help reduce hunger and increase feelings of fullness (11,12,13).

Higher fiber intake may help you achieve the calorie deficit needed forweight losswithout restricting your calorie intake or portion sizes.

Studies show that consuming an extra 14 grams of fiber each day may naturally decrease your calorie intake by as much as 10%. This could lead to a loss of 4.2 pounds (1.9 kg) over a period of approximately 4 months (14).

The high fiber content of the vegan diet may also explain why study participants assigned to a vegan diet often lose weight despite being allowed to eat until they feel full (1,4,9,15).

Due to its higher content of fruits and vegetables, a vegan diet provides fewercaloriesfor the same volume of food. In other words, its less calorie-dense.

Practically speaking, you would have to eat approximately 10.5 ounces (300 grams) of cooked broccoli or about 10 ounces (283 grams) of melon to consume 100 calories.

Meanwhile, it would only take around 2 ounces (56 grams) of chicken breast or about 1 ounce (28 grams) of cheese to reach the same number of calories.

The lower calorie density of plant foods causes you to feel full with fewer calories, thus potentially contributing to the calorie deficit needed for weight loss.

However, its important to note that when matched for calories, a vegan diet is no more effective than a control diet for weight loss (16).

Many of the foods you come across each day contain animal products.

These include high-calorie, low-nutrient options such as processed foods and baked goods, which are deceptively easy to overeat (17).

Studies show that being exposed to such foods makes you more likely to consume them (18).

Following a vegan diet can make it easier to limit or avoid these options.

For instance, its easier to avoid eating more calories than you need when the cafe doesnt offer vegan brownies or when a bowl of candy only contains milk chocolate.

Research shows that having access to a wider variety of foods may cause you to mindlessly consume up to 23% more calories. By limiting your food choices to a select few, a vegan diet can help reduce your risk of overeating (19).

A vegan diet may also restrict the variety of choices you have when eating out. As a result, many vegans choose to cook at home rather than go to restaurants.

Home-cooked meals often contain less fat, sugar and overall calories than restaurant meals. This can help you limit calories and lose weight.

Summary:Vegan diets are generally richer in fiber, lower in calories and tend to limit your food options. All of these factors can help you lose weight by reducing the number of calories you eat.

In addition to helping you lose weight, a well-planned vegan diet is nutritious and can offer a variety ofhealth benefits.

However, a poorly planned vegan diet can raise certain risks.

A plant-based vegan diet tends to contain a good amount of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and seeds all of which are high in vitamins, minerals,fiberand healthy plant compounds (20).

When compared to diets recommended by health authorities such as the ADA, AHA and NCEP, vegan diets appear to be up to 2.4 times more effective atlowering blood sugar levelsin diabetics (3,4,21,22).

Moreover, several studies report that vegan diets reduce total and LDL the bad cholesterol levels (23,24,25).

A diet with the ability to lower both cholesterol and blood sugar levels can be particularly beneficial, as it may lower the risk of heart disease by up to 46% (26).

Studies show that a vegan diet may reduce symptoms of arthritis as well, such as joint pain, swelling and morning stiffness (27,28).

Well-planned vegan diets are considered nutritious and safe for all stages of life (29,30,31).

But poorly planned vegan diets can increase the risk of nutrient deficiencies and poor health.

For example,vegansare more likely to suffer from a vitamin B12 deficiency. This risk seems especially apparent for vegans who dont consume vitamin B12 supplements or eat vitamin B12-fortified foods (32).

Poorly planned vegan diets may also be lacking in calcium,omega-3 fatty acids, iodine, iron and zinc (33,34,35,36,37).

Consuming insufficient amounts of these nutrients can lead to an array of health issues, including nervous system damage,hypothyroidism, anemia, bone fractures and depression (38,39,40,41).

Vegans who fail to consume fermented foods such as sauerkraut and natto may also lack sufficient vitamin K2, a nutrient important for heart and bone health (42,43,44).

Finally, genetics may affect your ability tothrive on a vegan diet.

Up to 45% of people are unable to convert the beta-carotene found in carrots and other orange-colored vegetables to retinol, the active form of vitamin A (45,46).

Similarly, some peoples genetics may make it harder to maintain adequate levels of choline, a nutrient important for heart, liver and nervous system health (47).

If interested in a vegan diet, you should strongly consider tracking your nutrient intake in anonline food journaland getting your blood nutrient levels measured.

You can then enrich your diet with fortified foods orsupplementsas needed.

Summary:Vegan diets generally contain many nutrient-rich foods that can help reduce the risk of various diseases. However, its important to make sure your diet is well-planned to avoid nutrient deficiencies.

Eliminating animal products from your diet doesnt automatically lead to weight loss for everybody.

Consuming a plant-based vegan diet also doesnt automatically mean that your diet is healthy.

Here are some tips to keep in mind to maximize weight loss while ensuring that you continue to meet all your nutrient needs:

Summary:Following these guidelines will help you lose weight on a vegan diet without compromising your nutritional status.

Not all vegan diets are equally beneficial.

Some vegan diets favor vegan junk foods such as Oreos, mock cheeses or processed grains.

These diets are unlikely to meet your daily nutrient needs or help you lose weight.

Heavily processed vegan foods tend to contain more calories, sugar and fat. They also often contain limited amounts ofproteinand fiber, making them less filling (48).

This is why a 200-calorie snack of roasted chickpeas is generally more effective at reducing hunger than the same number of calories from vegan ice cream.

The filling effect of roasted chickpeas may also prevent you from overeating later on in the day, making it easier for you to create and maintain the calorie deficit needed to lose weight.

Summary:Junk food remains junk food, whether vegan or not. For best health and weight loss results, ensure that your diet consists mainly of nutrient-rich, minimally processed plant foods.

A plant-based vegan diet can be very effective at helping you lose weight.

This especially rings true if it contains a good amount of nutrient-rich plant foods and limited amounts of highly processed or high-fat plant foods.

In addition to helping you lose weight, a vegan diet can also help improve your health in a variety of ways, as long as it remains well-planned.

If you want to try this diet, you can see whether youre meeting your nutritional needs by tracking your daily intake and checking blood nutrient levels periodically.

Written byAlina Petre, MS, RD.Post originally appeared on Authority Nutrition.

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How a Vegan Diet Can Help You Lose Weight - Care2.com