When it comes to food allergies, anyone can have them and they're not dependent on family history. In addition, only about 2-3% of children under three years of age are found to have peanut, egg, and milk allergies, according to the Prevent Allergies Organization.

For first-time parents, or even parents who have been around the block a few times, introducing your baby to foods associated with allergens is a scary and overwhelming process. However, introducing these foods early on in life can significantly reduce the risk of developing certain food allergies by up to 80% in infants.

"Babies should be introduced to foods classically thought of as allergens around six months of age, [but] not before four months of age," says Dr. Scott H. Sicherer, M.D., professor of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology, and the author of The Complete Guide to Food Allergies in Adults and Children "But over the last several years, the recommendations have been quite the opposite," he explains.

It's best for allergens to be introduced early on in a child's lifeamong the normal foods typically fed to infantsas in some cases, it may even help prevent allergies in the future and/or reveal any severe reactions that are good to catch early on. Dr. Sicherer recommends parents stop, "treating foods possibly thought of as allergens differently than any other food."

With all of this in mind, we asked the experts how to best help you understand and prepare for the day you start giving your baby foods that could contain allergens. These are the seven tips and tricks to properly, safely, and effectively introduce kids to allergens.

Step one, as we've discussed above, is to bring allergen foods into the equation as early as possible. After babies reach the four- to six-month range, you'll be able to appropriately examine their reactions to food outside of breastfeeding and/or formula. But what foods does this include exactly?

Foods that may cause an allergic reaction or intolerance are those that are or contain milk, egg, wheat, soy/soybeans, peanut, tree nuts, fish (mainly shellfish), and sometimes even sesame seeds. "It's OK for babies to be introduced to these things that are sort of allergens. And it might be even better to have it among the earlier foods they're introduced to," Dr. Sicherer says.

Multiple studies and reviews have found that introducing allergens to infants within the beginning of their first year (4-6 months) combats the development of allergies to food as the child grows up. It's also possible that if the process is delayed for too long, then there's a greater chance that a child can become allergic or more sensitive to common allergy-related foods.

"The introduction of peanut, for example, is generally recommended around six months of age, [and] not before four months," Dr. Sicherer explains. But, he says, "for babies showing signs of allergy, it might actually be given earlier in that four to six months window of time." Early attempts can allow parents to see any physical discomfort, and allergies can be spotted and then dealt with quickly (and possibly even before they reach a severe level).

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This is one of the easiest tips to stick to. Don't start giving your child any foods they're not ready to consume yet. While you may be concerned about how your child will react to certain foods, "we have to take into consideration the baby's ability to eat solids," Dr. Sicherer explains.

"Some babies are ready for solids and they're able to take those pureed foods and keep it fine," he says, "others might dribble it out and not be ready yet." Once infants begin to wean off of liquids as their only forms of nourishmentwhich can be past the six-month period in some casesthen it's officially time to start introducing allergen foods.

Although, there are right ways and wrong ways to go about this first-time experience. You're definitely not going to want to try giving a baby whole peanuts as their first go-around, because they can and will choke, Dr. Sicherer explains. Along with pieces of nuts, "peanut butter is a choking hazard for babies" he says.

As you feel out when your child becomes ready to take on solid foods, they should be presented in a safe matter. This is going to be foods that are in the form of purees, pastes, sauces, and (for some of the fast learners) tiny pieces that don't require chewing.

While you're starting to bring the long list of allergens into your child's diet, you should be aware of what it looks like when they're having an allergic reaction to a new food. This is especially crucial since there are both mild and severe reactions when it comes to food allergies.

"The biggest thing that a baby could have that would make you think they might have allergies is if they have skin rashes called eczema or atopic dermatitis," Dr. Sicherer says. These rashes are itchy and might occur on a baby's face, arms, legs, chest, and/or back.

While it's believed that babies who experience eczema in their first few months of life may be more prone to allergy, Dr. Sicherer explains, "it doesn't mean they are experiencing a food allergy, it just means that they're someone that might go on to have a food allergy."

Other common and more subtle allergy symptoms, according to Dr. Sicherer, are often going to be gut-related or visually obvious within a short time period after the baby eats these new foods. These can be anything from having diarrhea or blood in the stool, vomiting, hives, swelling, rashes, or even signs the baby isn't growing enough.

On the more severe side, you're going to see an extreme case of eczema or atopic dermatitis, or the child may have trouble breathing, cough or wheeze, or turn pale or blue in the face. However, this is not to sound the alarms! "Those are not going to be common for babies being introduced to these foods first off," Dr. Sicherer says.

"If the baby doesn't really show any signs of allergyno eczema or anything elsethere's no strong reason to expect there's going to be a problem," he explains.

According to Main Street Pediatrics, many severe reactions will typically happen about 10-15 minutes after eating the food, but some mild reactions could take a few hours to begin to show up.

Now, if your infant is trying allergen foods for the first time and you are seeing any of these signs (mild or severe), immediately stop! Take a deep breath and treat these reactions or symptoms like you would any other conditiongive your child (allergy) medication following the advice of your doctor and visit your doctor for assistance and an evaluation if needed.

When getting ready to share these new foods with your baby, it's best to keep in mind that, "allergens are essentially the same as any other food, [and] they still have to be given in a way that a baby isn't going to choke on it," says Dr. Sicherer.

On average, the first foods fed to babies in America are normally ones like grains or oats (mashed up without any chunks) and pureed food in jars. These are almost always single-ingredient foods or vegetablessuch as oatmeal, squash, peas, or applesauceand can remain the initial solids you decide to give your infant, before stepping into the realm of allergens.

When allergy-related foods come into the picture (and with any other new food), Dr. Sicherer recommends smoothing out choking hazardous components into warm water to make a sauce or liquidy paste (apple sauce is a great example of this!).

"Tree nuts are real hard," he explains. But if you're really adamant about adding them to your infants' diet as soon as they're ready, then it's best to "have it in forms that are going to be baby-safe. That would be made into butters that can be smoothed out, for example, or flours."

If you're looking for something simple to start within the allergens family, try some soft cheeses, yogurt, or eggs. "Eggs could be pretty easy," Dr. Sicherer claims, while "babies should not eat raw egg, you certainly could make scrambled egg and mash it up into small bits."

Another great trick is mixing an allergen food into baked goods, specifically for introducing wheat, milk, or soy. Even the slightest bit can go a long way, as an infant only needs to consume a small amount of an allergen food to be considered as exposure.

Even though it's frightening not to know the outcome, it's still not a great idea to postpone the introduction of allergens to babies. One way to create this safe pattern where the immune system is more accepting of foods, is for your child to "have a diverse diet," Dr. Sicherer explains, and it's "been seen to help prevent food allergies."

"The more things the baby can eat, the merrier," he says. Doctors and researchers are more confident than ever that early exposure to allergens, as well as all foods in general, is even better for the child's gut and immune system because they'll learn to digest more (including "worry foods") in a normal and healthy manner.

As you start your search for pureed foods and other solids for your child to try to diversify their diet, there's a new product on the market that might be of interest to you. Baby food companies are coming out with products made specifically with the intention of serving allergens into an infant's diet as early as possible, as well as keeping them a part of their everyday foods going forward.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

They're all "baby-safe, pre-made, measured products," Dr. Sicherer says. Certain baby food companies claim that they are good "specifically for prevention of allergy types," he explains, but they're not FDA approved to do so. Spoonful ONE, an example of this baby food manufacturer, sells powdered mix-in options and dissolvable puff snacks that are meant to introduce 16 different allergen foods.

These introductory products that outwardly claim to be allergy preventative are more expensive than other baby foods, but "there's a choice in this situation between the convenience versus the cost," Dr. Sicherer explains. If you use most all other baby food company products, you'll have to use your own blending method, measure a good quantity, and then it will be ready to serve.

RELATED:5 Healthy Fast-Food Kids Meals for Busy School Days

In the very beginning, infants need to be consuming either breastmilk or formula as their main source of food and nutrients. "Cow's milk is not appropriate for an infant," says Dr. Sicherer, "but if the baby's going to have formula that's made out of cow's milk, that's okay, because it's made for babies"

Then, once your child hits the six-month milestone (or older) and has moved on to more solid foods, you might want to know other ways allergens can make it onto your little one's plate. Now, to be clear, there's no need to worry about these foods if you're baby hasn't shown signs of allergy quite yet, but they're good to keep in mind if you begin seeing allergy signs (discussed above) come up shortly after consumption.

Normally, there's a pretty solid understanding that milk, cheese, fish, and nut-butters in their standard form are all allergen foods. On the contrary, there may be some other foods that are not as commonly known to have an allergen-related ingredient. Groceries such as pasta, (which is made out of wheat), breaded chicken (which usually has some sort of egg in the breading), certain breads (which may have a milk component), and some thick sauces (inexplicitly could have peanuts).

You should also stay aware of any type of cross-contamination situations that could arise. Dr. Sicherer, explains, "You're making a chicken broth, but you're also making a cream soup next to that, and you put the spoon from the cream soup into the non-milk soup, then you would have cross contacted the soup that wasn't supposed to have milk in it."

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7 Tips for Safely Introducing Your Baby to Allergens, According to Experts Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

Navratri fasting tips 2022: Managing blood sugar levels remains an everyday struggle for people with diabetes and when it comes to planning diabetes diet during Navratri fast, it is advised to be mindful of what you are eating and when you are eating during the day to prevent experiencing spike or drop in glucose levels. Stocking on low GI items is a good idea and there is no dearth of such vrat-friendly foods which will prevent sugar spikes. From singhara flour, buckwheat flour, roasted makhanas, peanuts, nuts and seeds, vegetables to fruits, there is a lot that diabetes can safely include in their Navratri diet. (Also read: Navratri 2022: Benefits of fasting)

"People with diabetes need to structure their meals and plan in advance to enjoy the full benefit of Navratri fasts. The main goal is to keep the blood sugar levels within normal range," says Dietician and Nutritionist Dr Poonam Duneja Founder of Nutrifybypoonam Diet & Wellness clinic.

Dr Duneja also offers the following fasting tips for people with diabetes.

- Keep your body hydrated and try to walk for 15 minutes after every meal.

- The navratri plate should have complex carbs and low-calorie drinks and meals distributed throughout the day. Do not eat heavy meals.

- Include low GI carbs like buckwheat roti in your meals. Add vegetables and also include a salad before all your meals to keep your post prandial sugar levels in check.

- Include good fats to reduce the glycemic load of the meals.

- Include low fat dairy proteins in buttermilk, yogurt, paneer to eliminate any sugar cravings and replenish your energy levels throughout the day.

- Mattha, vegetable raita, lassi, chaach, nuts and seeds can be added as an excellent protein source for people with diabetes during fasting.

- Including fruits and veggies result in better plasma carotenoids and Vitamin C levels, deliver antioxidants and phyto compounds. Try salads, fruit chaat, vegetable smoothies, vegetable soups and avoid readymade soups mix, fruit juices and sugary preparations.

"Researches show adding less than 30% calories from fat results in reducing glycated hemolobin levels (HBA1C levels). Include high fibre diet, less saturated fat and cholesterol less than 300 mg. Include omega-3 fatty acids (flax seeds, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds) to provide unsaturated heart healthy fats which results in elevated HDL levels, better serum lipids LDL and HbA1C," says Dr Duneja.

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Navratri fasting tips 2022: Dos and don'ts for people with diabetes during fasts - Hindustan Times

Ana Maafs-Rodrguez recalls the first time she recognized what she has come to think of as the gap.

She was working as a nutritionist in her hometown, Mexico City, and she met with a young woman who suffered from diabetes and renal failure. Recent research that Maafs-Rodrguez had helped to conduct had shown her what type of fish could be safely eaten by patients with those illnesses. She counseled the patient accordingly, and all seemed well.

However, during the patients subsequent visits, Maafs-Rodrguez learned that the woman was having trouble following the advice. The patient shared that numerous factorsprice, availability of the recommended fish types, limited cooking experience (and time to cook), and incompatibility with the diets of friends and familywere leading her to disregard the advice.

Thats when I realized that I was failing to effectively guide people in their food choices, Maafs-Rodrguez said. Iand theyknew what they needed to eat, but that knowledge was not translating into long-term behavior.

That was the gap Maafs-Rodrguez discovered: the space between providing information about healthy eating choices and seeing individuals change their behavior based on that information. That discovery inspired Maafs-Rodrguez to want to understand how to better communicate research-based nutrition information, in ways that would positively affect individuals behaviorand, in particular, the behavior of Latinos.

She enrolled as a masters student in the Nutrition Interventions, Communication, and Behavior Change program at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy. She earned that degree in 2020 and is now on track to complete her doctorate within the next 18 months.

For her doctorate under advisor and Friedman School associate professor Sara Folta, Maafs-Rodrguez is working on three distinct assessments as to why some messages about healthy eating fail, especially among Latino populations, and how communication strategies can be improved to help guide people to better nutrition choices.

One of the projects, the Youre the Mom campaign, a part of Tufts ChildObesity180 initiative, aims to pinpoint which messages shared via social media are most effective with mothers in supporting their childrens healthy eating habits. Before any social media content was developed or posted, an early phase of the campaign involved soliciting from Black and Latina mothers information about their needs as parents, what messages they would hope to see in a campaign about healthy eating, how they usually access social media, and what type of content catches their attention.

Working with Friedman School Dean ad interim Christina Economos, Maafs-Rodrguez is focusing on that early phase of the campaign, studying the ways in which mothers social media use and expectations ultimately influenced the campaigns strategy. We believe using the mothers own voices to inform the campaign ultimately will increase the likelihood that our content resonates with the audience, said Maafs-Rodrguez.

For a second project, an ethnically tailored dietary intervention, Maafs-Rodrguezs goal is to better understand how culturally adapted messaging might influence quality of diet. In the study, researchers divided participants into two groups, according to their Caribbean or non-Caribbean Latino heritage. They determined key differences between the groups. Among their findings: while both groups tend to eat unhealthy food choices, Caribbean participants were more likely to choose these in response to cravings while non-Caribbeans did so during special social occasions. Researchers then crafted specific text messages that promoted healthy eating during each situation for the respective heritage group.

When there's a lack of cultural adaptation in the messaging, some messages may fail to resonate with all populations equally well, Maafs-Rodrguez said. Our aim was to provide tips that are related to healthy eating, while tailoring the tactics to the beliefs and attitudes that are relevant to each group. This work is being done in conjunction with researchers at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health, led by Dr. Josiemer Mattei.

In addition, with support from Folta, Economos, and Mattei, Maafs-Rodrguez has devised her own study in which she will analyze Internet videos that feature advice about healthy eating aimed at older Latino adults and assess the videos messages based on their cultural relevance, their consistency with U.S. dietary guidelines, and their persuasive power for older Latinos in the U.S.

When she finishes her current projects and her dissertation, Maafs-Rodrguez hopes to secure a postdoctoral position to continue her explorations of how to make messaging around healthy eating as effective as possible for specific audiences.

The pandemic made clear the importance of effective communication about health issuesand its power to drive opinions and behavior, she said. Now our focus can be on improving and customizing what we communicate.

Continue reading here:
Mind the Gap: How Culture-Specific Messaging Can Lead to Better Nutrition - Tufts Now

Two mass strandings in Tasmanian waters in a week has left about 200 pilot whales and 14 sperm whales dead.

On Monday, 14 juvenile sperm whales died and washed ashore at King Island, in Bass Strait. Approximately 230 pilot whales became stranded on Ocean Beach, west of the Tasmanian town of Strahan on Wednesday.

Tasmanian authorities said on Thursday that they would be transitioning to carcass recovery and disposal operations in the coming days. But how do you safely dispose of the massive beasts?

If cetaceans are left onshore where they have stranded and died, their decomposition can pose a biohazard risk, said Dr Olaf Meynecke, of Griffith Universitys coastal and marine research centre. The removal of the animals is a major issue and something that we kind of forget once a rescue mission is over.

In warmer climates, the internal decomposition of dead whales can result in spontaneous explosions. Gut bacteria in the whales can multiply quickly, producing large quantities of methane gas. If the rest of the body is still intact if the outer layer, the blubber, is still intact and not broken up then it can lead to an explosion, Meynecke said.

In 2004, the decomposing carcass of a 60-tonne, 17-metre sperm whale exploded on a busy street in the Taiwanese city of Tainan, showering cars and shops with blood and organs and stopping traffic for hours.

Researchers would probably carry out checks on the recently stranded animals, including necropsies to look at gut content, and assessing overall health indicators such as the thickness of their blubber layer, Meynecke said.

Usually necropsies cannot be conducted more than after a few days after a whale dies, due to the risk of explosion, he says. Its actually part of the risk assessment the animal has to be assessed beforehand and if there are signs of swelling in the gut area, the pressure needs to be released ahead [of the necropsy].

If theres anything of benefit, its that the dead individuals will be an opportunity to contribute to science, said Dr Vanessa Pirotta, a wildlife scientist affiliated with Macquarie University, who described it as the silver lining of a sad situation.

We can learn more about their diet, their genetics, how similar these individuals were to the population that stranded before, she says, referring to a 2020 mass stranding event at the same location, in which 350 pilot whales died.

Cetaceans that die onshore after stranding should be towed out to the ocean, Meynecke said. They should be returned to sea thats where they belong.

Sam Gerrity, of Southwest Expeditions, has been involved in the logistical effort after both the most recent and 2020 mass strandings near Strahan. He said the disposal involved a pretty confronting process of towing dozens of carcasses out to sea.

Open decomposition and burial were both trialled after the 2020 pilot whale stranding, but authorities have said they are not the preferred methods for the most recent stranding. Our first option will be long-lining the carcasses out to deep ocean, the incident controller Brendon Clark, said at a press conference on Thursday.

But the logistics for larger whale species are far trickier than pilot whales, which weigh up to three tonnes. [For a sperm whale] were looking at probably over 15 tonnes or more. Once theyre not in water any more, they become too heavy to drag with normal equipment, Meynecke said.

Burying whales should be avoided, he said. Disposing of a sea animal on land is generally not a good idea. The animals will decompose a lot slower once theyre buried it will take months and its a very slow process.

In 2017, a New South Wales council buried an 18-tonne humpback whale at Port Macquaries Nobbys beach and then excavated it a week later, due to community concerns about heightened shark activity.

If youve got a connection to the water table theres a chance that it does leak out into the ocean it could potentially attract predators but thats not fully proven, Meynecke said.

An infamous whale disposal case occurred in the US in 1970, when the Oregon Highway Division tried to get rid of a decaying sperm whale by blowing it up with dynamite.

The humour of the entire situation suddenly gave way to a run for survival as huge chunks of whale blubber fell everywhere, said a reporter in a now-viral TV story.

Meynecke called the incident proof of human stupidity. We laugh about it, but its the same thing as burying something only because we cant see it, it doesnt mean its gone, and only because we blow it up it doesnt mean its gone its just distributed in smaller pieces and it creates more problems.

Why mass whale strandings occur is still not entirely clear. Pilot whales misnamed as they are actually a large oceanic dolphin are known as the most susceptible species to mass strandings, because they are highly social and form pods of several hundred.

They end up in these big groups, but they dont know each other very well, Meynecke said. If one of them starts to panic there is a lot of miscommunication, because they dont actually know each other and the calls dont make sense to them. He likened it to panic among humans at a concert or other crowd. There is that emotional stress that actually drives them to continuously restrand as well.

Sperm whales, however, do not usually mass strand, and the deaths of more than a dozen at King Island was concerning, Meynecke said.

It probably isnt a coincidence that these two species stranded at similar times, because they might have been looking for prey closer to the islands, he said. We do have drastic changes in the marine environment related to climate change. Thats also what was related to the stranding of sperm whales in Europe in 2016.

That incident was linked to changes in water temperatures and the movement of food sources into shallower waters in the North Sea. We might see more of these strandings in future, Meynecke said.

Read more:
Whale strandings: what happens after they die and how do authorities safely dispose of them? - The Guardian

The baby formula shortage is far from over, but to prevent future scarcity, the United States is taking a critical look at what went wrong earlier this year. On September 20, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released an internal report on the fumbles and mishaps that led to a delay in response to the formula crisis. A number of reasons were listed, including outdated data systems, insufficient emergency response systems capable of managing multiple public health emergencies, and lack of consumer education on how to handle and prepare infant formula. The agency also acknowledged that there are many unknowns about the bacterial contaminant Cronobacter, which was reportedly found in baby formula products from Abbott Nutrition.

The baby formula shortage was a perfect storm, explains Jenelle Ferry, neonatologist and director of feeding, nutrition, and infant development at Pediatrix Neonatology of Florida. You had a combination of COVID pandemic restrictions, supply chain issues, and now youre involving a situation with a company [Abbott Nutrition] that is a major manufacturer of formula products.

On February 17, 2022, the FDA sent out a warning to consumers to stop using powdered infant formula from Abbott Nutrition after concerns of bacterial contamination in its products. Shortly after, Abbott voluntarily recalled infant formula products and shut down the facility during the ongoing FDA investigation. Before the recall, the company was responsible for 40 percent of infant formula production. The uncertainty of when products would be back on shelves led to panic buying, making them hard to find. The situation created unrest and distrust of the whole process, and I think families did not know what to believe or what was safe for their babies, says Ferry.

[Related: What the FDA is doing about the US baby formula shortage]

Ferry explains part of the reason for the mistrust is the lack of understanding behind what actually happened to the babies who allegedly drank formula contaminated with Cronobacter. An initial report indicated that babies got sick with Cronobacter after drinking similarbut not the sameformula from Abbott, she says. Its very misleading to say the formulas was contaminated because its not clear [if] the two infants that died did because of Cronobacter. Testing later revealed that Cronobacter was on some surfaces of the manufacturing plant, but tests to identify the bacterial strains in the infants found they did not match those found in the factory. Ferry says the results get muddier because the strains found in the baby formulas were different from each other, which suggests that its unclear where the bacteria originally came from.

This isnt the first time Cronobacter has been a problem in such productsthe bacteria is a known contaminant of infant formula. Richard Martinello, an infectious disease expert at Yale School of Medicine, says that the bacteria is naturally present in the environment and has a preference for very dry environments, such as dry powdered baby formula. It is an opportunistic bacteria that causes severe infections in vulnerable populations such as infants with less developed immune systems. While Cronobacter infections rarely happentwo to four cases are reported each year in the USan infected infant (less than one year old) may experience symptoms ranging from fever, seizures, to meningitis. If untreated, there is a high chance of death or for the meningitis to lead to long-term neurological issues.

Ferry stresses that when you look at the contamination, you have to ask what was first exposed and where. She says the Cronobacter was not directly found in any of the recalled itemsmaking it possible that the product was exposed to bacteria from other environmental conditions or handling rather than a contaminated ingredient. There are also a lot more opportunities for the formula to have picked up the bacteria, such as on countertops, storage, and even at home when the infant formula is not safely handled or prepared.

Among the FDAs suggested areas of improvement, Martinello says it is important to create a system to make Cronobacter cases a reportable disease where states can identify infections. Doing so will help better understand the frequency of cases and allow more opportunities for scientists to study the bacteria.

[Related: 3 solutions for when you cant find your babys formula]

Infant formula is regulated as a food product, but experts agree its a life-saving item for babies under six months, when milk is the primary source of nutrition. Arik Alper, a pediatric gastroenterologist and assistant professor of pediatrics at Yale School of Medicine, explains that infants and toddlers with special needs were hit hardest by the low stock of infant formulas. Abbott is a major producer of special formulas for babies that have food allergies, an inability to digest certain proteins in the diet, or have a disease where they need non-dairy formulas, says Alper. If you need a standard formula there are other options, but we have a problem when special formulas are not available, he says. Its not easy [for babies] to adjust to a new formula and the transition may be associated with gastrointestinal problems such as vomiting or irregular bowel movement.

Ferry says the only alternative to safely and adequately feed a baby under six months when infant formulas arent available is breast milk. However, she points out that often people choose infant formula because breastfeeding is not an option for all caregivers. Another possibility is to find other brands of infant formulas, although that is less of an option for infants with special needs. Though he does not recommend it, Alper has seen some parents create their own formula recipes in a blender at home. He says this would be better suited for older children and if a parent insisted on making their own stock, the process should be supervised by a nutritionist to ensure a nutritious and balanced diet. One thing he advises against is parents diluting their existing stock of formula to make it last. To provide a growing child 100 percent nutrition, you need to make sure they get enough caloriesthey need enough nutrients, vitamins, and fiber, Alper says.

Production at Abbotts Michigan plant resumed in early July. Currently, the FDA is forming groups that will work on improving the gaps uncovered in the baby shortage investigation and will reevaluate their progress in a year.

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The FDA investigated the ongoing baby formula shortage. Heres what it found. - Popular Science

You might decide to take vitamins and supplements for many reasons, including getting your daily recommended intake of nutrients or addressing a specific health concern.

Vitamins and supplements offer a range of potential benefits, from promoting immunity to helping with stress management.

But with so many choices, what should you look for when selecting vitamins or supplements for your needs? Weve partnered with Swanson Health to provide advice on what to keep in mind when browsing the vitamin aisle.

Do you need to take vitamins and supplements? You might benefit from them if you have a deficiency. According to 2021 research, common deficiencies in the United States include vitamin D and B12. These essential vitamins play roles in bone and brain health.

How do you know whether you have a deficiency? Some signs and symptoms may include:

Discuss deficiency testing options with a medical professional if you think youre missing out on an essential vitamin or mineral. Testing can help identify potential deficiencies and determine why youre low on a particular nutrient, whether because of diet or an underlying health condition.

Read more about magnesium deficiency.

When shopping for vitamins and supplements, you can take your pick from a wide range of options. The kind you choose depends on the health concern you want to target.

Here are some commonly sold supplements and what people often use them for:

Read more about the potential benefits of ashwagandha.

With rows of vitamins and supplements available at stores and even more options online, how can you know which options are effective and trustworthy? Here are some key factors to consider.

Its important to consult a healthcare professional to determine which vitamins and supplements are a good fit for your needs and safe for you to take. Some vitamins and supplements can interact with medications.

A healthcare professional can also help you select the correct vitamin and supplement doses for your needs. Taking inappropriate amounts can be dangerous.

Purchasing dietary supplements from a reputable brand that offers a high quality product is crucial.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) doesnt usually approve claims and labeling before a vitamin or supplement hits the market. This means its up to the manufacturer to provide accurate information. Unfortunately, not every brand is transparent when it comes to labeling.

One 2019 study examined the label accuracy of herbal and dietary supplements. Researchers found that over half the products tested were mislabeled.

When shopping for supplements and vitamins, opt for brands that use reputable third-party testing. Looking for a certificate of analysis (COA) is one way to ensure a brand takes the quality of its products seriously.

Some third-party identifications to look for include:

Swanson Health offers a wide variety of gummies, such as magnesium, zinc, vitamin C, and multivitamins for both kids and adults. The supplements are also tested by both internal and third-party labs.

A products label can provide plenty of information, including:

Read more about how to choose high quality vitamins and supplements.

The right type of vitamin and supplement depends on your preferences and needs.

Do you hate swallowing chunky capsules? Do you prefer a convenient single-dose pill? Or maybe youre searching for a kid-friendly vitamin option.

Common forms of vitamins include:

Vitamins and supplements may provide benefits that may help with various health concerns. When choosing the right nutritional supplements for your needs, factors to consider include brand trustworthiness, safety, and your preferences.

Before you start taking a vitamin or supplement, talk with a doctor. They can help you determine whether you have a deficiency and provide advice on supplementing safely.

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Vitamins and Supplements: Your 5-Minute Read - Healthline

As one of the world's top sports nutrition brands, Crazy Bulk has a lot to offer athletes and bodybuilders who are looking for an edge. But what do the Crazy Bulk reviews say?

CrazyBulk has been around for a while now, and in that time, they've built up a pretty good reputation. Their products are used by some of the world's top athletes and fit almost every fitness goal, be it muscle growth, gaining muscle mass fast, burning fat, or even just improving overall performance.

The products are all-natural, which is always a big plus, and they're also very reasonably priced. But, we all know how the dietary supplement market can be. There is a lot of snake oil salesman out there, and it can be hard to trust any one brand.

That's why we took a close look at Crazy Bulk, their products, and what people are saying about them, to see if they're really as good as they claim to be.

CrazyBulk is one of the world's leading authority brands insports nutrition. The company produces a wide variety of supplements, all of which are natural and legal steroids.

This means that they can be used by athletes without the risk of testing positive for banned substances.

The company has a range of products to suit different goals, such as quick building lean muscle mass, burn fat, increasing endogenous testosterone production, and even improving strength and stamina.

CrazyBulk dietary supplements are all designed to work together synergistically to give users the best results possible. But you don't necessarily need to go by what the brand marketing speaks. This is one of the few brands that use studies published in the national library of medicineas reference to back up their claims.

So you can rest assured that what they say is actually true, and not just some marketing gimmick.

Click Here to Visit CrazyBulk Official Website

CrazyBulk's products are primarily centered around safe performance enhancement, something that was considered to be an oxymoron not too long ago.

You see, performance enhancement was largely synonymous withanabolic steroids, which are not only dangerous but also banned in most competitive sports.

Crazy Bulk has changed that perception by providing safe and legal steroids that can be used by athletes without the risk of testing positive for banned substances. Here's a look at their top products.

The range can largely be divided into legal Steroids and Legal SARMS. Here's a look at the top legal steroids from CrazyBulk.

The company's flagship product is D-Bal, a legal steroid alternative to the pink pill, also called Dianabol.

Dianabol is a well-known muscle building agent that has been used by athletes for decades, but it comes with a host of side effects that can be dangerous.

D-Bal, on the other hand, is designed to mimic the effects of Dianabol without the side effects. So, you get the explosivemuscle mass gainswithout the risk of liver damage, testicular atrophy, or gynecomastia.

Anvarol is another popular product from Crazy Bulk that is designed for cutting cycles.

It is a safe and legal alternative to the banned anabolic steroid Anavar, which was commonly used by athletes to shed body fat while maintaining lean muscle mass.

Anvarol is designed to replicate the effects of Anavar, but without the side effects. So, you can shred body fat while preserving your hard-earned muscle gains.

Clenbutrol is a thermogenic fat burner that is designed to help you shred body fat while preserving lean muscle mass.

It is a safe and legal alternative to the banned anabolic steroid Clenbuterol, which was commonly used by athletes and bodybuilders for its thermogenic and fat burning effects.

Clenbutrol is designed to work like Clenbuterol without the side effects. So, you can get all the benefits of thermogenic fat burning without the risk of heart palpitations, anxiety, or tremors.

Trenorol is one of the best-selling products of Crazy Bulk. It is a supplement that has been designed to help you bulk up quickly and effectively while keeping your body fat levels down.

It accomplishes this by increasing your nitrogen retention, which helps your muscles retain more protein. This leads to increased muscle mass and reduced body fat.

Trenorol also increases your red blood cell count, which gives you more oxygenated blood flow to your muscles. This results in increased endurance and stamina during workouts.

Lastly, Trenorol helps to increase your testosterone levels, which further aids in muscle growth and fat loss.

Since no anabolic steroid cycle can be complete without testosterone, CrazyBulk has included Testo-Max in their collection. This supplement increases testosterone levels naturally by stimulating the production of luteinizing hormone in the testes.

Testo-Max is such a strong testosterone booster that it is called by most athletes the legal alternative to Sustanon 250, the injectable anabolic steroid. The benefits of using Testo-Max are:

It does notconvert to estrogenso there is no risk of developing man boobs

It can be used by both men and women.

Human growth hormone is a natural hormone that is produced by the pituitary gland. It helps in the growth and development of tissues, organs, and bones in the body. HGH-X2 is a supplement that boosts the production of human growth hormone in the body.

The benefits of taking HGH-X2 include increased muscle mass, reduced body fat, improved bone density, increased strength and improved recovery from workouts.

HGH-X2 is a safe and legal alternative to illegal injectable human growth hormone. It is not associated with any of the side effects that are associated with steroids.

Anadrole is a supplement that boosts the production of red blood cells in the body. Red blood cells are responsible for carrying oxygen to the muscles. Anadrole increases the production of red blood cells, which results in increased oxygenation of the muscles. This leads to improved stamina and endurance during workouts.

The benefits of taking Anadrole include increased muscle mass like D-Bal. But the difference is the type of muscle tissue you gain. Anadrole will give you pure, lean muscle mass.

As SARMS became a buzzword for safe performance enhancement, underground labs and black marketers started to peddle fake and dangerous products. This caused the reputation of SARMS to suffer.

In order to combat this, several companies have started to produce high quality, safe and legal SARMS. These companies use stringent quality control measures to ensure that their products are pure and effective.

The benefits of takingtop legal SARMSinclude increased muscle mass, reduced body fat, improved bone density, increased strength, and improved recovery from workouts.

In addition, legal SARMS are not associated with any of the side effects that are associated with steroids. CrazyBulk is one of the leading companies that produce top legal SARMS. Here's a look at their range.

Testol 140 is the RAD 140 clone from CrazyBulk that brings Rad140's amazing anabolic benefits without any side effects.

Rad 140 is one of the strongest SARMS in existence, that has an innate capability to help you gain muscle tissue while burning fat. Imagine being able to lose weight and bone dry while retaining hard muscle mass.

That's what Testol 140 can do for you. That too using safe ingredients like whey protein.

Ibubta 677 is agrowth hormone secretagoguethat is used by celebrities to stay looking young and shredded all year round.

Growth hormone is a natural hormone that is produced by the pituitary gland. It helps in the growth and development of tissues, organs and bones in the body.

Ibubta 677 helps to increase the production of human growth hormone in the body.

The benefits of taking Ibuta 677 include increased muscle mass, reduced body fat, improved bone density, increased strength, and improved recovery from workouts. All of these without any of the negative effects associated with exogenous GH injections.

Ligan 4033 is the answer to LGD 4033, hands down the most popular SARMs for bodybuilding. Ligan has been scientifically engineered to target muscle tissue and muscle protein synthesis, which means it is one of the most anabolic compounds available. This makes it perfect for anyone looking to bulk up quickly, or even just add a little extra lean body mass.

The best part? It will get you the results fast. No wasting time here!

Cardarine created quite a stir when it was first introduced as a research chemical. It was touted as the endurance enhancer and quickly gained popularity in the bodybuilding world.

C-Dine 501516 is the perfect clone for anyone looking to shred down quickly. It targets fat cells and helps you burn them off, while also increasing your endurance. You can lose chest fat and retain lean muscle gains at the same time.

This makes it perfect for anyone looking to get in shape quickly, or even just improve their cardiovascular health.

Stena 9009 is the perfect clone for anyone looking to improve their VO2 max. This is the measure of your bodys ability to use oxygen, and is a great indicator of your overall fitness level.

Stena 9009 will help you improve your VO2 max, which means youll be able to exercise for longer periods of time without getting tired. Many athletes claim that they feel like they have one extra pair of lungs to absorb oxygen.

Go figure. Don't forget that extra oxygen translates into more energy and better endurance during your workouts!

Osta 2866 is one of the most popular SARMS from CrazyBulk. It is called the beginner-friendly sarm and for good reason too. Osta 2866 can help you preserve lean muscle tissue while also promoting muscle gain.

So, it finds a place in the bulking as well as cutting cycles.

As if the standalone legal steroids weren't good enough already, CrazyBulk also offers stacks. These are basically combinations of different steroids and SARMS that work well together and offer even better results.

The most popular stacks among seasoned athletes are:

Bulking is incredibly tough. Don't let anyone fool you into believing otherwise. We know what fitness coaches say. Eat more calories than what you are burning and you will gain. That's true.

But it wont make you look or feel like a million bucks. You will look like a bloated mess if you are not careful with your food and training.

That's why CrazyBulk created the bulking stack, a combination of the best legal steroids for bulking that will help you:

There are four steroids in the bulking stack. These are -

Testo-Max

Decaduro

Trenorol

You can use these steroids for bulking for up to sixteen weeks. The cycle starts with a loading phase of four weeks, where you take all four steroids. This is followed by a maintenance phase of four weeks.

If you thought bulking was tough, wait till you try cutting. Cutting is when you are trying to shred the fat while preserving the muscle mass.

It is incredibly difficult to do both at the same time, but CrazyBulk has made it possible with their cutting stack.

The cutting stack is a combination of the best legal steroids for cutting that will help you:

Preserve the muscle mass

Improve your strength

Increase your endurance

Lean muscle mass retention

The cutting stack has four steroids -

Clenbuterol

Anvarol

Winstrol

Testo Max

Each of these steroids is powerful and helps you achieve different goals.

Clenbuterol is the fat burner while Anvarol helps you preserve muscle mass, Winstrol gives you strength and Testo Max increases your endurance.

When you use all four steroids together, you get a synergistic effect that helps you achieve your goals quickly.

The Cutting Stack is very popular among athletes and bodybuilders who are trying to get in shape quickly.

If you want to shred the fat while preserving muscle mass, the Cutting Stack is the way to go.

The Ultimate Stack is the most powerful stack that CrazyBulk has to offer.

It is a combination of all the best steroids that when taken together can help you crush plateaus as well as recompose your entire body in a span of weeks.

The Ultimate Stack will help you:

Improve your endurance

Read the rest here:
Crazy Bulk Reviews - Does This Top Sports Nutrition Brand Really Cut It? - Outlook India

These days, you cant get into a conversation about nutrition and wellness without someone mentioning diet culture. Its all over social media, in both anti-diet spaces and more general wellness ones. Celebrities are calling it out. Its mentioned in academic research. Even the young teenagers I work with in my nutrition practice use the term. They talk about how their parents dont keep certain foods in the house, their friend is trying to lose weight, or their coach told them to avoid sugar, because, you know, diet culture.

But just because a term is ubiquitous doesnt mean that its universally understood. While many people think diet culture is just about, well, diets, its actually far more complex and far-reaching. Diet culture is an entire belief system that associates food with morality and thinness with goodness, and its rooted in the (very colonial) belief that every individual has full control and responsibility over their health.

Whats worse, diet culture is so ingrained, especially in Western society, that we often dont even recognize it. Thats why SELF asked experts to address some of the most common questions and misconceptions about the term to give you a better understanding of what diet culture really means and why its so problematic.

Although theres no official definition of diet culture, Christy Harrison, MPH, RD, author of Anti-Diet, published a great one on her blog in 2018. Harrison defines diet culture as a belief system that worships thinness and equates it to health and moral virtue, promotes weight loss and maintaining a low weight as a way to elevate social status, and demonizes certain foods and eating styles while elevating others. Diet culture also oppresses people who dont match up with its supposed picture of health, which disproportionately harms women, femmes, trans folks, people in larger bodies, people of color, and people with disabilities, Harrison writes.

Were all surroundedand influencedby diet culture, all the time. Theres this idea that diet culture only affects people who choose to diet, but thats not true, Sabrina Strings, PhD, a sociology professor at the University of California, Irvine, who studies diet culture and fatphobia, tells SELF. Diet culture is the culture were all steeped in; its the belief that we can control our bodies based on what and how much we eat, and it places a moral judgment on food and bodies. In other words, it makes us believe, consciously or not, that certain foods and (thin, usually white) bodies are good, while other foods and (fat, often Black or non-white) bodies are bad.

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, American protestants started to publicly equate deprivation with health, and health with morality. The most famous example is probably clergyman Sylvester Graham (namesake of the graham cracker, which was originally much less delicious than it is now), who promoted a bland vegetarian diet of bread, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables as a way to quell sexual urges, improve health, and ensure moral virtue.

Theres also plenty of racism and anti-Blackness baked into this colonial idea that thinness and food restriction equal goodness. In her book Fearing the Black Body: The Racial Origins of Fat Phobia, Dr. Strings talks about how white colonial thought used body size as a way to argue that Black people were inferior. During the height of slavery in the 18th century, there were prominent Europeans who believed that being thin and controlling what they ate made them morally superior, Dr. Strings says. And thus, African people were inherently viewed as inferior, because they tended to have larger bodies, which was equated to being lazy.

More:
What Does Diet Culture Mean and Why Is It Harmful? - Self

Data shows that poor diets are responsible for around 26% of global preventable mortality. Existing evidence suggests that different foods and nutrients have synergistic and complementary effects when consumed together.

While what makes up an optimal dietary pattern is largely well-established and validated, how common it is globally consumed remains unclear.

Previous studies have been limited to small subsets of countries and typically did not include those under 25 years old.

Studies investigating various countries dietary patterns across a wider age range could improve dietary guidelines and recommendations.

Recently, researchers analyzed global, regional, and national dietary patterns and trends among adults and children from 185 counties.

They found that between 1990 and 2018, diets became slightly healthier, although the extent of this varied by country.

In general, healthy diets have become more affordable as countries have become richer, Dr. Boyd Swinburn, Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Aukland, not involved in the study, told Medical News Today.

Also, the globalization of food means that the variety of whole foods has increased, which is good. But the countervailing forces of ultra-processed foods taking over from whole foods and the widening wealth inequalities are creating unhealthier diets, Dr. Swinburn added.

The study appears in Nature Food.

The researchers collated data from nationally and subnationally-representative surveys on individual-level dietary intake alongside biomarker surveys.

Altogether, they compiled data from 1,248 dietary surveys from 188 countries. Among the surveys, 73.9% included data on children ages 0- 19 and 64.5% from adults ages 20 or over.

The researchers obtained data on individual-level dietary intake of up to 53 foods, beverages, and nutrients alongside demographic data, including age, sex, education, and urban or rural residence.

The researchers used the Alternative Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) to define a healthy diet. Victoria Miller, Ph.D., a research fellow at the PHRI Population Health Research Institute and Visiting Scientist at Tufts University, one of the studys authors, told MNT:

The AHEI recommends that individuals consume lots of fruit, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes, polyunsaturated fats, and omega-3 fats, and limited quantities of red and processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages, and sodium.

In the end, the researchers organized diets on a scale of 0 to 100- with 0 being a poor diet, and 100 being an optimal diet.

They found that between 1990 and 2018, the global AHEI score increased modestly by 1.5 points- from 38.8 in 1990 to 40.3.

They also found that in 2018 only ten countries representing less than 1% of the worlds population had dietary scores of 50 or above. These included Vietnam, Iran, Indonesia, and India, with average scores of 54.5.

Meanwhile, the lowest scoring countries included Brazil, Mexico, the United States, and Egypt, with scores ranging between 27.1- 33.5.

The researchers noted that the mean AHEI scores in 2018 for children and adults were similar: ranging between 38.2 and 42. However, in most regions, those ages 5 and under and 75 and over tended to have the highest AHEI scores.

They further wrote that globally, children tended to consume less fruit, non-starchy vegetables, and seafood omega-3 than adults. However, they also consumed more sodium and polyunsaturated fats than adults.

The researchers further noted that higher education attainment was linked to a higher AHEI score in most regions apart from the Middle East, North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa, where they observed no differences.

When asked how these findings could improve dietary choices around the world, Dr. Miller said:

Our findings are useful for informing the design and implementation of future research and national policies to improve dietary quality. Although South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa had the highest dietary quality in 2018, consumption of fruit, vegetables, legumes/nuts, seafood omega-3 fat, and polyunsaturated fats were far from optimal in these regions. Policies to increase the intakes of produce, seafood, and plant oils will have the largest impact on dietary quality in these countries.

In Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, we found that red/processed meat and sodium increased over time, and policies focused on lowering the intake of these foods and nutrients will greatly improve dietary quality, she added.

Low consumption of unhealthy foods and nutrients, such as sugar-sweetened beverages, red/processed meat, and sodium, led to higher dietary quality in many countries, including Vietnam. In the USA, a dual focus on increasing healthful foods (fruits, vegetables, plant oils) and lowering unhealthy foods (sugar-sweetened beverages, sodium) is needed to improve dietary quality, she noted.

Dr. Marco Springmann, Senior Researcher on Environment and Health at the University of Oxford, not involved in this study, also told MNT:

The study also highlights that there has been little progress in improving diets worldwide. This should come as a wake-up call to policymakers who routinely brush off the need for progressive food policies as interfering too much in the market.

Without clear policy measures that would empower citizens to make healthy and sustainable dietary choices, we risk having another decade without progress on improving diets and the health and environmental impacts associated with them, he added.

The researchers concluded that their findings highlight the need for specific national and subnational policies to improve nutrition.

When asked about limitations to the study, Dr. Swinburn said: Data on diets is notoriously challenging. There is always massive under-reporting- about 20% of calories under optimal conditions of data collection are never recorded.

Nevertheless, by taking a zoomed-out approach like this, you start to see patterns which can tell you very useful things about the underlying changes over time and differences between populations, he added.

Dr. Rob M. van Dam, Professor of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at the Milken Institute School of Public Health, George Washington University, also told MNT: The limitation of these findings is that the survey instruments and accuracy of the data varied across countries.

Also, the dietary quality indices used in the study were developed in high-income countries to prevent chronic diseases but may be less suitable for low-income countries where nutrient deficiencies are common, he added.

Salim Yusuf MD, D. Phil, Distinguished Professor of Physiology and Pharmacology at McMaster University, not involved in the study, agreed that guidelines based on data may not apply to most other regions of the world. He noted that undernutrition is a challenge for many, alongside getting an adequate variety of food. He added that cultural habits, taste, and cost also influence what people eat.

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Diets worldwide only slightly healthier than 30 years ago - Medical News Today