Compared to leaf-eaters, primates who ate fruit had around 25 percent more brain tissue. Anup Shah/Getty Images hide caption

Compared to leaf-eaters, primates who ate fruit had around 25 percent more brain tissue.

Primate brains may have grown larger and more complex thanks to a fruit-filled diet, a new study suggests.

The researchers analyzed the brain sizes and diets of over 140 primate species spanning apes, monkeys, lemurs and lorises and found that those who munched on fruit instead of leaves had 25 percent more brain tissue, even when controlling for body size and species relatedness. Take spider monkeys and howler monkeys, for example. They both live in the rain forests of South America in groups of about 10. But where howler monkeys leisurely munch on trumpet tree leaves all day, spider monkeys venture out in small groups shortly after sunrise to forage for passion fruit and other ripe morsels. Despite their similar environments and social setting, spider monkeys have bigger brains than howlers.

Primates like this baboon may have evolved larger, more complex brains over generations of seeking out fruit rather than sticking to low-calorie leaves. Nature and the Nature Research Journals hide caption

Primates like this baboon may have evolved larger, more complex brains over generations of seeking out fruit rather than sticking to low-calorie leaves.

"If you are foraging on harder-to-access food, like fruit instead of leaves, then you need to have all the cognitive strategies to deal with that," says Alex DeCasien, a doctoral candidate at New York University and lead-author on the study. Fruit can vary from season to season, be tucked away in hard-to-reach nooks, and require skill and strength to crack into, smarter primates could be more apt to scope it out and reap its nutritious rewards. "All of that is so much more complicated than just grabbing a leaf and eating it," she says. And so, a diet of fruit may in turn have led to the evolution of the bigger brains over generations, she adds.

Monkeys and apes who incorporated animal proteins into their diets also had slightly larger brains than the leaf eaters, the Nature Ecology and Evolution study found. Again, the researchers speculate this could be because primates need more cognitive power to hunt and consume things like frogs, birds, and insects compared to the brain power needed to eat leaves. But DeCasien says she and her colleagues were surprised to find that these omnivores have significantly smaller brains than fruit-eaters. They suspect it could be because many of these omnivores, like lemurs and lorises, eat insects. "[Insects] may be abundant like leaves and might be easy to capture," she says.

The findings challenge a long-held scientific hypothesis that the size of social groups among primates is the biggest determinant of brain size. The bigger the social group, the more complex the social interactions, leading to the evolution of larger brains with more computing power, the theory suggests.

Previous studies have shown that larger groups of primates with more complex social structures are correlated with larger brains. In fact, scientists have used that idea called the social brain hypothesis to explain why humans and certain other primates like chimpanzees and bonobos have bigger brains than other primate species. (Now, diet is thought to have played a big role in making human brains bigger than any of our primate cousin's. As we've reported before, scientists think eating cooked meat gave our bodies some extra energy to fuel the building of bigger brains.)

But the authors of the new study compared body size, diet, and social lives (factors like whether they were solitary or lived in pairs, monogamous or polygynous, and the size of their groups) of these various primate species to their average brain sizes. Overall, diet appeared to be a more consistent predictor of brain size for a species than social complexity brain sized increased with fruit eating more consistently than with greater number of social connections.

From left to right: lemur, vervet monkey, baboon, chimpanzee, human (excluded in this study). Nature and the Nature Research Journals hide caption

"This study shows social group size is not a global predictor of brain size," says Stephen Montgomery, a researcher studying brain and behavioral evolution at the University of Cambridge who wasn't involved with the work. He adds that size of social groups don't always correlate with bigger brains. Montgomery says this is because primates are really diverse in behavior and habitat from solitary slow lorises that creep through swamp forests to zippy capuchin monkeys that live in groups nearing 40 members. So while a complex social life might drive one species to evolve bigger brains, another species' brain size might be influenced by other factors, like diet. "As the authors show, one exception may be diet," he says, "which directly relates to the basic currency of any biological system: energy."

But Robin Dunbar, a professor or evolutionary psychology at the University of Oxford and creator of the social brain hypothesis isn't entirely convinced by the new findings. Dunbar has researched the social brain hypothesis for two decades but wasn't involved in the new study. "They assume that social group size and diet are two alternative explanations for brain evolution," he told The Salt in an email. "They are not," he says, suggesting that both could contribute together. Also, he adds that group size and social complexity is more of a predictor of the volume of the neocortex, a part of the brain that's responsible for sensory perception, language, cognition and more. In other words, the more complex a social group, the bigger the size of the neocortex, according to previous studies. The authors of the new study should have considered looking more closely at the neocortex, Dunbar suggests.

DeCasien agrees that diet and social lives are probably both at play here. "Diet, social structures, cognitive abilities they're likely to have co-evolved together in primates," DeCasien says. However, she is quick to note that these evolutionary trends take many generations and millions of years to manifest. So don't go looking to eat more fruit because of the new findings sure, they pack a nutritional punch, but it doesn't mean they will make you and I any smarter.

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What Gave Some Primates Bigger Brains? A Fruit-Filled Diet - NPR

What is it: The Sirtfood Diet, created by nutritionists Aidan Goggins and Glen Matten, and a favorite of trainer Pete Geracimo, who has all of his clients Adele and Pippa Middleton included follow the plan.

Who tried it: Julie Mazziotta, PEOPLE Writer/Reporter

Difficulty: 9/10 So. Hungry. (At least for the first three days!)

In between racking up Grammy Awards, recording three hit albums and becoming a mom, Adele has quietly slimmed down with the help of trainer Pete Geracimo. Under his instruction, the singer hits the gym (whether she wants to or not), and follows the Sirtfood Diet, which focuses on about 20 wonderfoods like arugula, celery, cocoa, coffee, red onion and more.

I have no kids and a terrible singing voice, so testing out the diet for myself seemed like my only option to become more like Adele. Plus, dieters are clinically proven to lose 7 lbs. in the first seven days on the program, and Id be A-Okay with that. So I gladly volunteered to try out week one.

Day 0:

Step one, before the diet actually started, was to read through The Sirtfood Diet and make a grocery list. On the first three days of the program I would be slurping down three green juices made up of kale, arugula, ginger, green apple, parsley, lemon and macha powder and just one meal per day. This should have triggered a giant red flag for me, but the meals I did get sounded great miso and sesame-glazed tofu with ginger and chili stir-fried greens, shrimp stir-fry with buckwheat noodles plus after three days you go up to two meals a day, and two green juices. So I happily went off to Whole Foods.

The recipes thankfully are filled with ingredients you can find at any grocery store, anywhere in the country except for one thing: buckwheat. I couldnt find it on my first shopping trip (the only reason why I went to Whole Foods for my groceries in the first place), and it took me another two tries to finally locate the grain (thanks, Chelsea Whole Foods!).

Buckwheat and the other sirtfoods are the focal points of the diet because theyre high in polyphenols a plant-based nutrient that Goggins and Matten say are great for the digestive system.

Polyphenolsactivate a powerful recycling process in the body which clears out cellular waste and burns fat, the duo write in the book. They do this by activating our sirtuin genes also known as our skinny genes. Indeed, these are the very same genes that are activated by fasting and exercise.

RELATED VIDEO: Adeles Workout Mean Mug is Giving us #WorkoutGoals!

Day 1:

That morning, perfectly content after enjoying my usual three (healthy-ish!) meals the day before, I cracked open my first green juice to start the diet (I will admit here that I cheated a bit from the start I dont have a juicer, nor the space in my apartment to store one, so I bought juices that matched the ingredients inSirtfoodsrecipe from Juice Press and Pressed Juicery in New York City). Pretty good! Ive never been a regular green juice-drinker, but this was enjoyable enough.

I kept sipping throughout the day, and started getting my usual hunger calls around 11 a.m. I have a pretty severe snack addiction, but I at least go for the healthy stuff, like pistachios and granola bars, and this was normally when I get my fix. But I pushed through. Goggins and Matten say that you can eat your one meal at any time of the day, so I decided to go for 4 p.m.

By 1 p.m., I was miserable and starving. The green juice did absolutely nothing to curb my hunger, which makes sense nothing in it has real staying power. I regularly write the What I Eat columns, and I kept thinking about the nutritionists who talk about the need for meals with protein to keep you satisfied, something I was severely lacking. My day piled up, so I somehow didnt actually eat until 5 p.m. Luckily, the meal was DELICIOUS. I went for the aforementioned miso-glazed tofu, and I would make this any day of the week. I even managed to save part of it to eat when I got home from work as a dinner (is it against the rules to split up the one meal? I was too hungry to care).

Day 2:

More green juice. More hunger.

Todays meal was harissa-baked tofu with cauliflower couscous. Im not vegetarian, but Im not a big fan of shrimp, the other option that day. I probably should have gone with it anyway though this meal was a big miss for me. It again lacked anything satisfying, so I was miserable the entire day, particularly when I somberly followed my friends to dinner at Sweetgreen (probably my all-time favorite fast-casual restaurant) that night and sipped the ubiquitous green juice as they munched on salads. Yes, I was jealous of salads.

Day 3:

You guessed it! I had green juice for breakfast.

My meal today was a kale and red onion dal with buckwheat, and WOW. I loved it. I wanted piles of it. But my one portion was surprisingly satisfying I think at this point my appetite had gone down from eating under 1,000 calories a day, plus the dal included plenty of satiating ingredients, like lentils, buckwheat (I found it!) and healthy fat-filled coconut milk. I dont weigh myself, but by day three I was comfortably wearing my tightest pair of skinny jeans, and my normally rounded stomach was much flatter.

The only remaining problem? Im someone who exercises regularly, and hard. I go to CrossFit three times a week, sometimes more, and I run or swim on the other days. With such a low calorie count that wasnt recommended (I emailed Goggins, who said, The mild calorie restriction plus the high intake of sirtuin-activating nutrients is creating a mild stress on our cells which causes sirtuin activity to strongly kick in. Too much exercise just causes too much stress, which could then be detrimental), but I love the head-clearing benefits of exercise. I went to CrossFit that night, and knowing I wanted to go again in the morning for the usual Saturday workout, I hard-boiled two eggs and ate them with Old Bay and drizzled extra-virgin olive oil, my favorite. It was beyond necessary.

From Coinage:9 Healthy Kitchen Staples That Cost Less Than $1 Per Serving

Day 4:

I could finally eat two meals a day hooray! But my tough workout unsurprisingly didnt go well on such little food over the last three days. So with the increase in food on the plan, I decided to switch things up I would go back to eating normally, and just try out the other recipes for the rest of the week. Im stubborn and highly competitive, so it was frustrating to fail at the diet, but I also really, really love food, and skipping one to two meals a day was not worth it to me.

The rest of the week:

The other meals I tried pan-fried salmon with caramelized endive, arugula and celery leaf salad (it also has avocado!); Tuscan bean stew; the sirt super salad; the sirtfood omelet were all similarly fantastic. I want to give a hearty props to Goggins and Matten for crafting recipes that are delicious and filled with normal ingredients plus they were often one-pan meals, which is key for someone without a dishwasher nor a person to do the dishes for you (which Im of course assuming Adele has livin the dream).

The Verdict:

If you are immune to hunger and really enjoy green juices, go for it (and check with your doctor beforehand)! If youre more like me, skip week one, and go straight to week two, when you get to enjoy three full and truly excellent meals a day. And you can still pretend to be Adele.

NOTE: It is recommended that women eat at least 1,200 calories per day, and men eat at least 1,800 calories per day.

More:
We Tried It: Adele's Slimming Sirtfood Diet - PEOPLE.com

Liver fully recovers from a low protein diet Science Daily After five weeks a normal protein diet was reintroduced to the malnourished group, leading to an 85% increase in the total number of uninucleate hepatocytes and a 1.5-fold increase in the volume of the liver. These findings demonstrate the liver's ... and more »

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Liver fully recovers from a low protein diet - Science Daily

The ketogenic diet has been quietly developing a cult following online. Maybe you've heard about it, or maybe you haven't. The main thing you need to know about "keto," the popular nickname for the diet, is that it's high-fat, moderate protein, and low-carb. Many people who have tried the diet say the results are unbelievable. It's known to help with more than just weight loss, too, and has been credited to helping with diabetes, Lyme disease, epilepsy, and anxiety.

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If you're interested in trying the diet, here's what you need to know first.

'Cause you can't have 'em! Technically speaking, you will have carbs about 20 grams (of net carbs) per day. The source of these carbs will be vegetables, probably. But the point of this diet is to get your body to stop running on carbs. So prepare to trade in pizza, bread, pasta, and even quinoa for salads, olive oil, avocado, and meat. BUT, before you say, "hell no, I won't go," know that you can have some of your favorites, like bacon, ranch dressing, and even butter.

Wait, is butter a carb? Kidding!

Fat is your new fuel. You're going to need lots of it: roughly 90 grams per day, depending on your body and weight loss goal. Finding sources of good fat isn't too difficult, though just reach for some almonds, macadamia nuts, and avocado.

And forget everything you've heard about fatty foods and don't even think about buying anything that's low-fat; that's the opposite of what you're trying to achieve here.

Think about it: Your body has to adjust to starchy carbs going MIA. You'll probably experience something that people refer to as "keto flu." Basically, when your body is going through the transition into ketosis, you'll feel some flu-like symptomsmostly headaches. But don't worry, it won't last too long.

Bacon will get you through. Of course, having bacon every day isn't a healthy choice, but having it at brunch will make you feel like you're still a human while your friends scarf down waffles, home fries, and toast.

If you think you can just eat keto-friendly foods and that will be all it takes, you're in for a real surprise. The truth is, you have to weigh everything you eat so that you can calculate everything you eat and keep track of your macronutrients. You're going to have daily goals of how much fat, protein, and carbs you should eat, and if you don't reach them, you won't see any results. In fact, if you start stuffing your face with all the bacon and cheese you can get, you might actually gain weight. So don't cut corners.

As part of the diet, you'll have to check for net carbs (total carbs minus dietary fiber) on food labels constantly. It's not really a bad thing, but get ready to be the person who says "there's way too many carbs in that!"

Going out to eat isn't the easiest thing in the world. There are absolutely keto options on almost every menu, but you're always going to be wondering, "what kind of oil was this cooked in?" Or "were these chicken wings breaded?" And nights out drinking with your friends? Be careful. You won't have the tolerance you had before (on the plus side, you'll save money on drinks) and you might not want to drink at all. Why mess up progress with alcohol?

It's hard to explain keto to others. If you want to fully emerge yourself in the diet, you need to a lot about it. And trying to regurgitate all of that info to someone who isn't on keto can be difficult. People will ask you why you want to deprive yourself of carbs, but you just have to keep your mind set on your goals.

I don't just mean your abs which will feel slim and less bloated. If you have stomach issues, like bloating, IBS, or just chronic food comas, you'll feel so much better on keto. You won't eat just to eat, you'll eat to reach your daily intake goals. For a lot of people on keto, they say they don't even feel hungry. Imagine that, being satisfied after your meal? #Goals.

If you feel like none of your friends understand the diet, don't worry about that. Not only can you google all of your burning keto questions, but you can find communities online of other people who are doing the diet. You can share recipes and success stories, struggles, and setbacks. You're never alone.

Follow Delish on Instagram.

Read the original here:
10 Things You Need To Know Before Trying The Ketogenic Diet - Delish

BBC News

Night-time urination reduced by cutting salt in diet Science Daily Now a group of Japanese scientists have discovered that reducing the amount of salt in one's diet can significantly reduce excessive peeing -- both during the day and when asleep. A group of researchers from Nagasaki University, led by Dr Matsuo ... Night-time loo trips 'linked to salt in diet'BBC News Nighttime Bathroom Trips Reduced by Less Salt in Diet, Study SaysLaboratory Equipment Always Need To Wee At Night? Cutting Salt Could HelpHuffington Post Australia all 45 news articles »

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Night-time urination reduced by cutting salt in diet - Science Daily

Atlanta Hawks center Dwight Howard (8) dunks over Indiana Pacers center Myles Turner (33) in the first half at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2016. (Photo: Mykal_McEldowney/Indy_Star)

If you've been trying to take your athletic talent to the next level and just can't seem to take the leap, maybe adopt Dwight Howard's approach.

Eat 5,000 calories per day. Of pure candy. That's the equivalent of two dozen candy bars a day. One every hour. If you're a dentist reading this, you've already passed out.

But that's exactly what Howard did for over a decade, according to a recentESPN feature.

"Skittles, Starbursts, Rolos, Snickers, Mars bars, Twizzlers, Almond Joys, Kit Kats and oh, how he loved Reese's Pieces," the article said."He'd eat them before lunch, after lunch, before dinner, after dinner, and like any junkie, he had stashes all over -- in his kitchen, his bedroom, his car, a fix always within reach."

Howard had a particular affinity for Skittles.

"Am I a big candy person? That's an understatement," he told ESPN in 2013. "My pantry is full of candy. Skittles just sent me 30 pounds of Skittles. I have a nightstand full of every candy you could think of. Skittles, blow pops, Laffy Taffy, Reese's Pieces, Kit Kats, all types of candy was in the drawer. They had to clear it out."

Lest you worry that Howard might be on a one-way road to diabetes, heremoved sugar from his diet in 2013 at the recommendation of Lakers nutritionistDr. Cate Shanahan. Howard overhauled his diet after saying he felt that his lack of conditioning was costing his team games.

It was quite the task to remove all the sweet stuff from his house.

"She told his assistants to empty his house, and they hauled out his monstrous candy stash in boxes -- yes, boxes, plural," the March ESPN article said.

Howard claims he feels better, but it is worth noting that his scoring output has dipped from 18.3 points per game in the 2013-14 season to 13.3 points per game this season.

Maybe he should start sneaking a candy bar or two into his pregame meal.

See the original post:
Dwight Howard diet: two dozen candy bars per day, basically - Indianapolis Star

A new study finds that a diet high in fiber could help offset the occurrence of Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes.

Scientists found that instances of the rodent equivalent of juvenile diabetes was eliminated in a group of mice fed a particular high fiber diet, the Guardian reports.

The findings were provided by researches at Monash University in Melbourne working with Australias national science agency.

The hope is that successful testing in humans will lead to the development of a fiber supplement to be given to children, either in meals or beverages.

Type 1 diabetes is an anomaly in which the body produces little or no insulin, the hormone needed to process glucose. The condition usually develops in children before the age of 14.

Around 1.25 million children and adults in the U.S. were reported to have Type 1 diabetes in 2012, according to data from the American Diabetes Association.

More here:
Study finds high fiber diet can help prevent Type 1 diabetes - Washington Times

March 27, 2017 4:20 PM

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) A new cookbook is offering clean-ish food for people who like to eat those greasy foods.

Its called The Dude Diet, and author Serena Wolf offers 125 deceptively healthy recipes for dudes and their significant others. She says there are several issues with men going on diets, and this book offers healthier versions of some of their favorite meals.

Wolf was a guest on WCCO Mid-Morning and offered up a classic dish.

What we are making today is a sausage and pepper skillet. Its really easy. This is the first thing my fianc made me but instead he used a bottle of hot sauce and a bowl of white rice so were cleaning it up a little bit, Wolf said.

You can download The Dude Diet on Kindle or buy a hardcover at your local bookstore.

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'Dude Diet' Cookbook Offers Meals For Men, Significant Others - CBS Minnesota / WCCO

MARQUETTE, Mich. (WLUC) - March is National Nutrition Month, so its a great time to add more fiber to your diet. Weve all heard we should eat more fiber. Thats because it helps you feel fuller, aids digestion and can potentially lower your cholesterol.

It serves two purposes: one, it can help slow food down as it moves through our body, which is good for our getting nutrients out of it, but sometimes the fiber actually speeds up the digestion to move things through the body so that we have an easier time with it, said Sarah Monte of the Marquette Food Co-Op.

There are two kids: insoluble and soluble. You can get them both through supplements like psyllium, but medical professionals said getting it through diet is better.

Sometimes the supplemental route is needed, but when you start to get things more through foods, you have other beneficial substances in the foods that are actually very healing and healthy for the body, UP Health System Marquette Registered Dietitian Sheryl Rule said. So if you can get it through your food, that's the best way to go.

The most fibrous foods are fruits, vegetables and grains.

The legumes, I mean, dried pea, any kind of bean, lentils, those are all fantastic sources of fiber. A lot of the dark green-colored products like cabbage or broccoli are going to be really good. And then of course things that have the peel, like apples.

The National Institutes of Health recommend getting between 22 and 35 grams of fiber per day, depending on your age and sex. To put that into perspective, an adult man should eat the same amount of fiber found in around two and a half cups of split peas, or around six medium pears, every day.

If youre not sure how to prepare for fiber-rich foods, the Marquette Food Co-Op has a whole foods prep guide to help get you started.

Original post:
Adding more fiber to your diet - UpperMichigansSource.com

As the warmer months approach, many Americans start to look for ways to lose those extra 10 pounds. Yet many individuals do not know where to start when it comes to losing weight. An age-old question regarding weight loss is which is more effective at weight lossdiet or exercise?

As a registered dietitian nutritionist who has studied weight loss extensively, I have learned diet is hands down more effective at shedding those unwanted pounds when compared to exercise. That's because it's much easier to pass on calories than to burn both those calories off through exercise.

For example, the difference between a fast-food small order of French fries and a large order is about 350 calories. In terms of exercise, one would have to run 5 kilometers (or 3.2 miles) in order to burn off those calories. For the vast majority of Americans, it's easier to sensibly reduce portions than it is to burn the calorie equivalency off through exercise.

So, when it comes to weight loss, what really matters is calories, calories, calories. And when dieters trade in their unhealthy food choices for more fruits and vegetables, overall calorie intake is reduced.

A pound of weight is equivalent to 3,500 calories. Therefore, in order to lose one pound of weight, there needs to be a 3,500 calorie deficit. This can easily be accomplished by reducing your daily diet by 500 calories.

For example, consuming 1,500 calories per day instead of 2,000 equals a 500-calorie deficit. This should provide a 1-pound weight loss per week. Including a more balanced plan that focuses on fruits and veggies, lean proteins and whole grain carbs over a cleanse or low carb diet is much smarter, more effective and much easier to sustain.

Exercise also is important when it comes to weight loss, just not as important as diet. This should be great news for those who are currently unable to exercise or those unwilling to go to a gym at a certain weight.

Losing a certain amount of weight often acts as a motivator to get started with physical activity, and also makes exercise much easier as excess weight can make some exercises dangerous, and put undue stress on knees and joints.

Studies show people who are able to lose weight and keep it off include physical activity in their daily routine. Getting regular exercise also can help prevent excess weight gain in the first place. And besides weight management, exercise has a slew of other health benefits that shouldnt be ignored. Regular exercise helps to improve overall mood, control chronic health conditions like diabetes, boost energy and promotes better sleep.

Read more from the original source:
HEALTHY BITES: Which is more effective at weight loss: Diet or exercise? - MyWebTimes.com