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John F. Kennedy International Airport on March 7.

Last week I got back from a vacation in Vietnam. It was a lovely trip! I ate so much pho, rode a motorbike, and went to beaches and museums. I was also offline and not really following the news for about two weeks. Did I miss anything?

The coronavirus outbreak had been on the rise in China shortly before I left, but with no travel advisories in place for Vietnam (cases of the virus have been minimal there compared to surrounding countries), I went ahead with my travel plans. Imagine my surprise and confusion when I got back to New York and found everyone in full-on prepper mode.

Things got even more disorienting when I got an email from BuzzFeed HR the day I got back, saying that anyone who had been somewhere with a COVID-19 travel advisory was mandated to work from home for two weeks. That included me, as I had had a brief layover in Japan.

Id originally thought it overly cautious to stockpile food and supplies, but then my doctor suggested I stay indoors as much as possible. I wasnt totally clear how concerned I should be I was only in Japan for one hour! but just to be safe, I bought heaps of groceries, prepped a bunch of freezer meals, and readied myself for self-quarantine.

Then this week, all my colleagues at the New York office were told to work remotely out of an abundance of caution just as many other offices have been doing.

Outbreak Today

As coronavirus upends life for more and more people, you might be feeling uncertain or fearful about whats to come. When that anxiety is coupled with a sudden drop in social contact whether because youre quarantined or just working from home for who knows how long those feelings can feel even more heightened, said Laura Hawryluck, a critical care physician and associate professor at the University of Toronto.

We dont realize just how social beings we are until that contact is reduced or diminished because we can't leave our homes, Hawryluck told BuzzFeed News.

We dont realize just how social beings we are until that contact is reduced or diminished because we can't leave our homes.

Shortly after the SARS epidemic in China in the early 2000s, Hawryluck authored a study on the psychological effects of people quarantined for SARS. It showed there was a high prevalence of psychological distress for people who had been quarantined.

With SARS, there was that sense of isolation, Hawryluck said. People also didnt feel that they got consistent or accurate information, and that led to a lot of fear, a lot of anger, frustration, and stress. A lot of people felt very depressed by all of it, and a lot of people had nightmares.

Those symptoms can be worsened for people who have been exposed to the disease and live with other people, as they may worry about spreading the coronavirus to people they care about. Most people arent worried for themselves, because they think theyll get through it, which in and of itself is a coping skill, said Hawryluck. But worry about someone they love, that makes all those psychological symptoms more prominent.

Adilisha Patrom checks her stock of face masks in her coronavirus pop-up store in Washington, DC, on March 6.

There are a whole bunch of reasons you may be staying home for a while due to coronavirus. At the least restrictive end of the spectrum are the many workers, like me, who are doing their jobs from home for the foreseeable future because their employer mandated it. More serious are those (like Sen. Ted Cruz) who are self-quarantining after coming in contact with someone infected with the virus, as well as those people self-quarantining after exhibiting flu-like symptoms. At the most severe end are people who are medically quarantined because they have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. You might also live in a country, like Italy, or a US county that's under lockdown, where travel is being restricted and people are being urged to stay home as much as possible.

If youre self-quarantining for any reason, working remotely, or just feeling anxious about having to do either of those things for a while, there are tons of little ways to prepare yourself that arent just buying up your grocery stores entire stock of beans (though heres a guide to making a coronavirus preparedness kit, in case you need that too).

We asked experts, consulted guides, and crowd-sourced tips online. Here's some of our advice:

Just because youre stocking up doesnt mean you have to live on nonperishable foods and canned vegetables. Thats going to get tiresome real quick, and there are plenty of ways to eat the things you normally would.

Fill your freezer with fresh, flavorful soups. Keep pasta in your pantry and tomato sauce in your freezer. Think about the foods you would want to eat on a typical day; usually theres a way to keep those around. Personally, I froze a big batch of taco soup and a bunch of marinated salmon, and made a crunchy quinoa salad that lasts well in the fridge for the week. I also bought eggs, sweet potatoes, peanut butter, hummus, carrots, and a bunch of other things normal staples for my diet that will keep for a decent length of time.

You dont just need well-balanced meals! You need Cheez-Its, peanut butter cups, popcorn, gummy bears...really whatever snacks youll be craving if youre stuck inside for a while. There has never been a better time to have ingredients around to bake cookies. And if youre out here thinking meal prep time would be a good time to get super healthy and only eat lentils, get real. These are trying times. Buy the damn candy.

On that note, dont forget coffee and tea, if you drink them, and some booze if thats up your alley. You probably dont need to stockpile water, but I bought enough seltzer to tide me over for a while. Priorities.

A passenger wearing a protective mask walks at Sheremetyevo airport, outside Moscow, March 6.

Being forced to stay inside might sound like an introverts dream come true, but when its in the midst of a worldwide epidemic and everyone is panicking, its not such a fun and chill time. It took me one day stuck at home to get lonely and stir-crazy.

Check in with your people. Get on the phone or FaceTime and call your family and friends with some regularity youll probably need it, and so will they.

And if someone you know actually gets quarantined, or gets infected with the virus, be there for them as much as you (safely) can. Call them, or just send a playlist, some memes, or links. And even if you cant go hang out with them IRL, consider cooking them a meal and leaving it outside their door, which is safe to do.

People [need to] know who to call if they do start getting symptoms, [and] know there is somebody who is going to check in on them, that theyre not just going to be isolated and forgotten about, said Hawryluck. If youre afraid youre going to get sick, what you really need and want is to know that somebody is going to care for you.

There are plenty of workouts you can do from the comfort of your own home, and doing so can seriously help your mental health.

Here are a bunch of exercises you can do without any equipment, and YouTube has tons of channels that offer instruction in everything from yoga to Pilates to strength training.

And if you can still go outside, nothing beats a walk. Just avoid big groups of people.

Not only does it protect against the spread of illness, it also makes being cooped up in your home a lot more pleasant. Heres a big list of spring cleaning chores you may have been putting off.

When the SARS epidemic broke out in 2002, Facebook, Twitter, and even Myspace did not yet exist. Now, people are far more digitally connected, and the ability to keep in touch over social media and video chat can have major benefits on mental health during isolation. It shortens distances between people, Hawryluck said.

But the internet also creates issues that didnt exist during SARS namely, the spread of misinformation.

People are afraid, and thats okay we are human, there are things in our lives that are going to scare us, and this is one of them, said Hawryluck. But how we handle that fear, I think fear can be lessened if we have accurate information.

Heres a running list of misinformation about the coronavirus to keep on hand as you peruse social media. Also, be wary of those hawking fake cures online or trying to infect your computer with malware by sending you suspicious coronavirus-themed emails.

Watch the news, for sure, but dont just stay glued to cable news. The worst thing people can do is sit around and watch TV or watch their screens and look for the hourly update of numbers, Hawryluck said. I think that just exaggerates the symptoms of fear and its effects.

You know all those shows and movies youve been meaning to watch but never get around to? Make a list yes, an actual list of the titles, and youll never run out of things to watch.

But if spending too much time looking at screens is driving you nuts, shut it down.

Get out a bunch of books from your library. Pull out the board games and puzzles. Have some craft supplies on hand, if thats your thing.

Whether youve been to a therapist before or are just realizing you might need to see one, seeking help with your mental health doesnt need to wait till you can go outside again. Lots of therapists offer sessions over the phone or video chat. Here are a bunch of tips for how to find a therapist. There are also apps to help you with your mental health.

A self-quarantined resident who claims to have tested positive for COVID-19 listens beside his window as volunteers perform a Purim reading March 9, in New Rochelle, New York.

Working from home sounds like the dream pajamas all day, slacking off, working from the couch! but it can get bleak and unproductive pretty quick if its not approached the right way.

Matt Greenwell, BuzzFeeds director of engineering, has worked from his home in Austin for six years. He advised people new to the WFH life to try to keep a regular routine as much as possible, including getting dressed and grooming yourself like you usually would, eating breakfast, and having a ritual to signal a transition into the work day, like taking a walk.

The getting dressed bit is a bit of a trope, [but] if you dont put effort into yourself, you wont put effort into anything else, Greenwell told BuzzFeed News.

And actually seeing and speaking to people matters too, he said. He suggested holding meetings over video chat and actually turning the camera on for them.

Luckily my wife is at home with me as well so we can chat with each other and have lunch together, but if she wasnt, Id be desperate for human interaction when she got home from work, he said.

Information is power, and having the right info can be helpful in stopping yourself from freaking out. You dont need to go overboard on research, but its a good idea to be aware of what you should do if you do think youve contracted the coronavirus.

And perhaps the easiest way to stay healthy is to maintain proper hygiene. You dont need a face mask (unless youre sick), but you should be washing your hands regularly (and remember, soap and water is just as effective as hand sanitizer).

Once thats done, just try to take it easy (and maybe order some dumplings to support your favorite Chinese restaurant). These are tough, uncertain times, and the best thing we all can do is be kind to ourselves and our neighbors as we all go through it.

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10 Tips For Preparing To Stay At Home Due To The Coronavirus - BuzzFeed News

Between winning American Idol and now, Carrie Underwood has learned plenty about eating healthy. Underwood, who just launched her Find Your Path book and fit52 app, previously opened up about how painful people's comments were about her weight, while she was on Idol. Although painful, and untrue, the remarks started Underwood on a path to finding true health, which she is now sharing with others.

"I've seen crazy diet suggestions, and I've tried some that are entirely unsustainable," Underwood told PARADE. "No, I'm not going to puree my own peas or make my own hummus. They have it at the store. You know what I do? I eat microwave burritos multiple times a week because they're easy. It's about finding those solutions and doing your best."

Underwood also admits she still struggles in one area: allowing her body to rest. While she promotes taking time for yourself in Find Your Path, it's an area she acknowledges she still needs to work on in her own life.

"Sometimes moments do need to be wasted," Underwood conceded. "You need to take a breath and stop. That is an area of self-care that I am awful at."

The 37-year-old is very task-oriented, which is why she has a difficult time allowing herself to unwind.

"Relaxing is so hard for me. If there's one thing I do not do, it is waste a moment," Underwood said. "Nobody else notices, but I feel personal satisfaction setting and meeting goals."

Underwood may not allow much time for herself, but she does make time with her family, including 5-year-old Isaiah and 1-year-old Jacob, a priority.

"We have dinner together six nights a week," Underwood revealed to PEOPLE. "I feel like that's something really important. What my husband and I talk about more than anything is how to make sure our children have a 'normal' childhood. That's hard with this particular life."

She also prioritizes time with Fisher, while her children are sleeping, starting the day by themselves, and ending the day with a few mindless shows.

"Mike and I sit on the couch and catch up and watch The Bachelor or The Walking Dead," Underwood shared. "That's my balance, work hard and then veg."

Photo Credit: Getty / Barcroft Media

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Carrie Underwood Admits to Trying a Few Crazy Diets in Her Quest to Be Healthy - PopCulture.com

The foods you eat are meant to keep you healthy and energized for your workouts and day-to-day activities. But for some people, certain foods trigger inflammation, allergies or sensitivities. If youre not feeling your best, trying an elimination diet is one of the way to uncover which foods are causing you trouble.

Food sensitivities are becoming more common. More than 10% of U.S. adults report having a food allergy, and about 20% believe they have food allergies, according to a report published in JAMA Network Open last year.

Elimination diets may be better than many allergy tests at revealing how your body reacts to specific foods, says family physician and functional medicine practitioner Scott Noorda, who owns Resolve Medical in St. George, Utah.

Weve had patients overcome issues that theyve been trying to resolve for years simply by cutting out the food that was triggering their chronic symptoms and conditions, he says. The food we put in our bodies is one of the largest factors in how we feel.

Parade.com has tackled this topic in the latest episode of The TMI Show. Check out the video and then read on to learn more about elimination diets and what they can and cant do.

Despite being referred to as a diet, the elimination diet is not a weight loss toolinstead, it identifies food triggers, says Kristen Carli, registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Camelback Nutrition and Wellness in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Some people may lose weight while on an elimination diet, Noorda explains, but whats more important is understanding the bodys reaction to certain foods.

Elimination diets require cutting out certain foods that commonly trigger allergies, sensitivities or intolerances for a period of time until they are cleared from the body, usually three to four weeks, Noorda explains. Then, you systematically reintroduce the foods and track any symptoms you experience.

This gives us a map going forward for how to heal intolerances and improve function, symptoms and general well-being, he says.

Elimination diets also reduce inflammation in the body, especially the gut. Removing foods causing inflammation helps heal the intestinal lining, also known as leaky gut.

Related: What Is GOLO Diet? Everything You Need to Know About GOLO for Beginners

A true elimination diet starts with eliminating all the foods that commonly cause issuesgluten, corn, dairy, chemical additives and preservatives, refined sugar, peanuts and soyfor a few weeks, says New York-based chiropractor and functional health practitioner Kelly Bay.

This is to give the body time to calm down inflammation and immune responses that may be causing symptoms and gives the patient a clean slate to assess foods and symptoms upon reintroduction, she says.

After a few weeks, reintroduce foods one at a time. Bay suggests consuming reintroduced foods two to three times in one day, and then waiting 24 hours before testing a new food.

An example of this is eating wheat berries (gluten) three times on Monday, eating no wheat berries on Tuesday and then start testing dairy on Wednesday, she says.

If you have a reaction to a food, Noorda says to wait until symptoms clear up before reintroducing the next food. The foods causing a reaction could possibly be reintroduced after three additional months of elimination.

Related: What Is the Best Diet for PCOS?

Problematic foods may trigger health conditions like irritable bowel syndrome, migraines or autoimmune disorders, Bay says, and symptoms such as gas, bloating, heartburn, abdominal pain, bowel changes, cough, congestion, fatigue, joint pain, feeling swollen, acne, rashes, eczema, sleep disturbances and headaches.

Ive seen the use of an elimination diet be incredibly helpful when it comes to improving acid reflux, arthritis, various skin issues and autoimmune problems, such as Hashimotos (disease), psoriasis, lupus and rheumatoid arthritis, Bay explains.

Look for meats with an American Grassfed Association label. Beef from cows raised in open-grass pastures is less likely to be contaminated with antibiotic-resistant superbugs.

After an elimination diet, Noorda says patients report more clarity and energy, less brain fog and fatigue, and better digestion. Others see improved skin, less sinus congestion, better sleep and reduced muscle and joint pain.

I have had multiple patients who have decided that they dont want to reintroduce the restricted foods at allbecause they feel so much better, he says. Of course, there are important benefits with many of the foods that have been restricted so we are careful about making sure that each patient is getting appropriate nutrition whatever their preferred nutritional plan is.

Sugar, dairy and gluten commonly trigger adverse food reactions. Other common offenders include corn, peanuts, soy and certain additives and preservatives. But, your health care practitioner could add more foods to the list, like shellfish, nightshades or meats, depending on your symptoms, Bay says.

To treat irritable bowel syndrome, a low-FODMAP diet can ease gastrointestinal symptoms, Carli says. FODMAP stands for fermentable, oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols, forms of short-chain carbohydrates, found in dairy, fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

An elimination diet is meant to be a short-term treatment. Even if foods cause problems, you may not necessarily have to give them up forever, Noorda explains.

Eliminating foods can heal the intestinal lining. You may regain the ability to eat the right types of dairy or gluten at the right timesfor example, consuming only raw milk dairy or restricting consumption in the eveningwith no effects.

Food journaling in some form is the best way to log foods your eliminating and reintroducing, and symptoms while on an elimination diet, Carli suggests.

This is very important in order to determine patterns, she says.

Elimination diets aim to get to the heart of the symptoms, unlike medications designed to treat symptoms alone, Bay says.

By finding the root cause of your problem, you can prevent the symptoms from occurring by avoiding the food, rather than putting a Band-Aid on the symptom, she says.

You may realize, for example, that eating gluten triggers acid reflux and other gastrointestinal problems, which could be eliminated by going gluten-free, preventing the need for long-term medications and the financial burden of continued medical care, Bay says.

Sometimes, people feel worse for the first few days of an elimination diet because the body is detoxing, Noorda says. For example, you may get headaches from caffeine withdrawal.

After the detox, he says an elimination diet is one of the most effective ways to improve and resolve many chronic conditions.

It allows us to determine a personalized nutrition plan going forward that will maintain good health, free of the symptoms caused by poor food choices, Noorda says.

Elimination diets can be tedious and time consuming, Bay says, but it works and is really a small amount of time to commit to in the long run.

Not strictly adhering to the process and timeframes will deliver skewed results, she explains.

And, just because youre cutting out foods doesnt mean meals will be less enjoyable, Noorda says. Youll likely be replacing foods full of preservatives and artificial sweeteners, colors and flavoring with fresh, whole foods with herbs, healthy fats and high-mineral salt content.

When you upgrade your meals to using the same ingredients a five-star restaurant would, its going to taste a lot better than the microwave dinner you grabbed out of the freezer section, he says.

Learn more about a popular elimination diet, Whole30.

Original post:
Elimination Diet: What It Is, How to Do It and Why It Can Be Good for Your Gut - Parade

Theres a lot that scientists know about the benefits of zinc. The essential nutrient boosts the immune system, heals wounds and supports brain development in children. We even need zinc to smell and taste. Dive a little deeper, however, and the real mysteries of zinc emerge.

One of them how zinc is distributed to tissues and cells is the root of Prof. Shannon Kellehers research, which aims to reveal the role that zinc plays in the development of inflammatory bowel disease and food allergies.

Zinc is critical for intestinal health, but we have little information on what it actually does in the intestine, says Kelleher, who is based in UMass Lowells Biomedical and Nutritional Sciences Departmentin the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences. Our goal is to understand how zinc affects intestinal function, the gut microbiome and the risk for intestinal disease.

We asked her to explain.

Q. What do we know about zinc and its effect on intestinal health?

A. We know that the right amount of zinc is critical to intestinal health. If we consume too much or too little zinc, the intestinal barrier falls apart. An over- or underabundance of zinc can cause shifts in the gut microbiome, and cause diarrhea and inflammation.

The only way that people can consume too much zinc is through supplements. If you get zinc only through foods in your diet, then you really cant consume toxic amounts. However, if you only rely on your diet, then you may not be consuming enough. So finding the right balance is important.

Q. Is zinc deficiency a big problem?

A. One study from the National Institutes of Health shows that 35 to 45 percent of adults over 60 years old had lower-than-average zinc intakes. Scientists believe that about 7 to 10 percent of the U.S. population is severely lacking in the nutrient. Women of reproductive age are most likely moderately zinc-deficient due to menstruation and not eating the right foods. Symptoms of too little zinc include dry and itchy skin, loss of hair, reduced ability to taste food and a compromised immune system that leads to more colds.

Q. How much zinc should we be consuming?

A. The recommended daily allowances for zinc are 11 mg for men and 9 mg for women. Foods high in zinc include red meat, oysters, poultry, fish and some fortified breakfast cereals. But since excess zinc is also not healthy, dont overdo it with supplements.

Q. Why is it important to find out how zinc travels through our bodies and cells?

A. If we knew how zinc gets into our cells, where it goes in our cells and what it does, then we could use this information to develop new therapies to fight a variety of diseases. These could include new drugs, delivery systems or personalized dietary recommendations.

Q. What else could your research results be used for?

A. Our research could also inform personalized nutrition. I teach an undergraduate course about an emerging field called nutrigenetics. We are now able to sequence your DNA and, based on your genetic blueprint, assess your risk for nutritional disorders and develop personalized diets that match your genetics. It helps to understand why individuals who eat similar diets can have different health outcomes. Your genetics play a crucial role in how you respond to what you eat.

Q. How does your work differ from nutritional science?

A. Nutritional science is often thought of as studies that look at how diet and foods affect human health and the risk for disease. The type of research we do is referred to as molecular nutrition. My research dives a little deeper to understand how specific nutrients in this case, zinc affect cellular and molecular processes that then cause the positive or negative effects we see in the body.

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The Role of Zinc: It's More Important than You Think - UMass Lowell

Preservatives, artificial food colorings, gluten, and more the grocery store aisle can be a scary place these days. It seems like there are new stories from social media influencers every day about potent food additives or ingredients that will either kill you or make you live forever. Despite what we hear in the media and find in our Facebook feed about the dangers that lurk behind the label, the fact is that our food has never been safer than it is today. Why is it then that consumers have never been more worried about the foods they eat? And heres another paradox: At a time when consumers have never known more about nutrition, why is it that obesity is at an all-time high? In November 2018, I took to the TEDx stage in Tysons Corner, Virginia to explore these important topics in my talk, Why we fear the food we eat.

The rise of clean eating and the marketing of natural foods has not made us feel safer. Instead, these trends leave us less certain and less confident in the food choices we make. The proliferation of new diets isnt making us healthier; its just making us more confused.

According to a survey by the International Food Information Council (IFIC), consumers consider making healthy food choices harder than doing their taxes. In an environment like this, what is a consumer to do? How can we sort through all this alarming noise, reduce food anxiety, and make good diet choices that will give us the healthy lifestyle we all want to enjoy?

Information Overload in the Grocery Aisles

It turns out that there are clear psychological principles behind the confusion and fear so many of us are feeling about our food. The way our brains process information has a lot to do with how we respond to food marketing, from the labels on the packages and products on the shelves to the recommendations of social media influencers. We are bombarded with messages and information as we walk the aisles of the local grocery store. Gluten-free, GMO-free, cage-free, pesticide-free it seems the less a product contains, the more a company can charge for it. Today the average grocery store carries about 40,000 items, presenting a daunting list of choices for every shopper. There are thousands more new products coming to the shelves soon, and a similar number of failed products departing each year.

The dizzying array of food information in the modern world is too much for one person to handle. We already have overly complex lives just keeping up with installing the latest new operating systems. Having to sort out complicated choices about food can easily feel like too much to manage, and our overworked brains want a way out. Just as students look for shortcuts between classes, our minds look for shortcuts in making decisions. Psychologists refer to the mental shortcuts our brains use asheuristicsandcognitivebiases, and these are important concepts in understanding how we make decisions or form opinions.

Mental Shortcuts: Heuristics and Biases

Heuristics are rules of thumb that help us efficiently solve complex problems by ignoring some of the information. Heuristics keep us from going crazy by reducing the load on our mental processors, but they also have their limitations. Mental shortcuts can leave us susceptible to influences that we may not recognize.And sometimes these simplistic rules lead us to bad decisions.Aheuristicthat results in consistently incorrect decisions (systematic errors) is called acognitivebias.

Our beliefs and behavior are shaped by these invisible influences. When we are making judgments and decisions about the world around us, we like to think that we are being objective and logical. Unfortunately, biases can trip us up, leading to poor decisions and bad judgments. These powerful forces can even lead us to choices that are at odds with our actual goals, such as nutritional health. We can become our own adversaries when we are guided by influences we dont understand.

Confirmation Bias as An Example

Lets take the example ofconfirmation bias, which is familiar to many people. Confirmation bias is the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of our existing beliefs. We seek out information that confirms our beliefs, and we ignore or discount information inconsistent with our beliefs, because its easier to entrench more deeply than it is to change our minds. Its easy to see this bias in others, but nearly impossible to convince them of it. It is also remarkably difficult to recognize it in ourselves. Thats the nature of heuristics and biases, but by learning about them and facing them head-on, we can learn to perceive them and their effects, escape their control, and make our choices rationally and logically like we wanted to in the first place.

Confirmation bias influences many of our food decisions. From the products we buy to the brands we follow, our perceptions, likes, and dislikes are shaped by our existing biases. This make it difficult for new facts to filter through to our conscious mind and inform our decisions.

With each new fad diet, confirmation bias keeps us believing in the potential of the diet long after the evidence is in that it doesnt work. With every pound we lose, we credit the diet. With each two pounds we gain, we blame ourselves for a lack of willpower. We forget that in order for a diet to work, people need to be able stick to it. We make excuses for the failures of the products or companies we like, but we question the successes of those we dont like.

A Path Back to Rational ControlFrom Fear to Enjoyment

In a series of articles over the next few weeks I am going to explore how our brains try to make sense of the complex world around us and how it sometimes leads us astray. Confirmation bias is just one example of a misleading heuristic; there are many more. Predispositions can influence the way we perceive brands (such as thehalo effect), the way we make choices (decision fatigue), and the characteristics of a product we choose to pay attention to (availability bias). Biases like these prevent us from thinking clearly and making accurate decisions, whether the matter at hand is our finances, our health, or the food we choose to eat.

Theres no way to avoid all of these potential biasestaking automatic shortcuts is just the way our minds work, after all. But being aware of the biases and shortcomings that are typical of human mental functioning can make a big difference in giving us more rational control over our decision-making processes. My goal is that you will fear less, and enjoy more, the food you eat. And this is an achievable goal. We will get there by learning some curious facts about how our minds work, and Ill illustrate them with some interesting stories along the way.

About the Author:Jack Bobo is the CEO of Futurity, a food foresight company that helps brands get ahead of trends. Among other roles, he previously served as the Senior Adviser for Global Food Policy at the U.S. State Dept. This article is the first in a 10-part series on consumer behavior by Jack bobo. Followthis link to the Futuritysite to find out more.

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Opinion: Why we fear the food we eat | 2020-03-10 - Agri-Pulse

A promising new study has just been published, showing the potential benefits of weekly refeeds on maintaining lean mass for resistance-trained men and women.

The study, conducted by Bill Campbell, a physique scientist from the University of South Florida, came out on Sunday, in the latest edition of the Journal of Functional Morphology and Kinesiology.

As Bill took to Instagram, where he has 36.6k followers, to explain, the research could be significant for lifters looking to optimise their mass retention.

Though he admits every scientist gets excited about their research and probably thinks that their work will change the [dieting] world he says I think this new study about Diet Breaks/Diet Refeeds is going to change the way a lot of people approach their diets in the future.

If you resistance train and want to lose fat, keep your muscle, and not damage your metabolism, this study is for you!

Howd it go down? Bill and his team took two groups of resistance trained people (males/females) and put them on a diet for 7 weeks.

Both groups were asked to reduce their calorie intake by 25% below normal maintenance calories, and to eat 1.8 grams of protein/kg body mass (0.8 grams per pound) per day.

One group (dubbed CONTINUOUS) maintained this restrictive diet continuously for 7 straight weeks, with no break.

The other group (REFEED) also dieted for 7-weeks, but every weekend they took a break and increased their calories (all in the form of carbohydrates) back to maintenance calories.

The REFEED group decreased calories by 35% Monday-Friday but did not diet on the weekends (ingested 100% of their pre-diet food intake) which resulted in a weekly average caloric deficit of 25% the same as the CONTINUOUS group, Bill explains.

We also supervised everyones workouts in our Physique Lab every exercise, every set, every rep.

Every subject also had a personalized nutrition coach to assist them with their diet, Bill reveals. We implemented a Flexible Diet approach, and each subject tracked their macros every day and were required to submit their macro tracking sheets every week.

The main finding? Both groups lost a similar amount of fat about 5.5 pounds but only the REFEED Group was able to maintain muscle mass during the seven weeks of dieting, losing less than a pound of muscle while the group that did not take a break from their diet every weekend lost nearly 3 pounds.

While this is a significant finding, further research is, as always, required, to better understand it. As Bills colleague, Brad Schoenfeld, points out, not everyone in the REFEED group maintained mass.

What I find most interesting is that the individual data seems to show that several subjects were responders to the refeed and actually gained lean mass, while others were non-responders and lost as much FFM as the continuous diet subjects.

The take-home, according to Brad, a PhD holder, fitness scientists and researcher in his own right, is to remember that studies generally report the means, but practical application is specific to the individual. It would seem that refeeds are beneficial for some, but not others. Thus, experimentation is needed to determine what works best for you.

Continued here:
Study Reveals Eating Technique That Could Help Lifters Get Greater Gains - D'Marge

This article by Peter McCaffery is republished here with permission from The Conversation. This content is shared here because the topic may interest Snopes readers; it does not, however, represent the work of Snopes fact-checkers or editors.

Vitamin C is a common remedy that some people believe will cure the common cold and flu. Although it helps us maintain good immune function, theres little evidence that it can prevent or substantially reduce either of these diseases. But in the midst of the novel coronavirus outbreak, some influencers are claiming that taking mega-doses of vitamin C can cure COVID-19 (the disease caused by novel coronavirus).

So lets cut to the chase. Can vitamin C cure the coronavirus? Considering that novel coronavirus belongs to the same family of viruses coronaviruses as the common cold and flu, its unlikely that taking vitamin C will prevent or cure you of a COVID-19 infection.

I have written before that using vitamin C to treat the common cold was an idea popularised by double Nobel Prize-winning chemist, Linus Pauling, and further promoted by the dietary supplements industry. Unfortunately, ever since Paulings claim in the 1970s, there has been little evidence to back it up.

Vitamins or vital-amines were first discovered at the beginning of the 20th century as elements present in low amounts in our diets that were vital for health. Certainly, people lacking certain vitamins will develop deficiency diseases. For example, people deficient in vitamin C will develop scurvy. However, it wasnt until the early 1930s that it was discovered that scurvy was caused by lack of vitamin C, and that taking the vitamin could cure the disease.

The science of nutrition was born with the discovery of vitamins, and has since become a competitive, unregulated industry, often with scientific fact competing against those spreading misinformation and looking to profit: the novel coronavirus outbreak is just the latest example.

These misleading articles have spread quickly, and are likely to be behind the shortage of vitamin C in Asia and a five-fold spike in demand for vitamin C and multivitamins in Singapore.

Vitamin C is important to maintain redox balance in the bodys tissues these are types of reactions in cells that add or remove oxygen, and are essential for many processes such as generating energy in cells. These same reactions, though, can create products harmful to human cells such as reactive oxygen species, which react with lipids (fat), proteins and nucleic acids. Vitamin C can lessen these harmful reactions. It also help enzymes build collagen, which is necessary for supporting our bodys tissues.

Although vitamin C doesnt have miraculous disease-curing properties, some research has also shown it can help the immune system fight off bacteria and viruses. Its role in protecting against viral infections was shown in a recent review which found that immune cells need vitamin C to produce proteins that activate the immune system throughout the body against virus attacks.

Having said that, we can easily obtain sufficient levels of vitamin C in our diet that will keep our immune system fully functional. Vitamin C is plentiful in many fruits and vegetables, including oranges, broccoli and potatoes. And while it is relatively non-toxic, since its high water solubility makes it easy to excrete from the body, excessive doses can result in unpleasant symptoms such as diarrhoea, nausea and cramps.

Though I have said vitamin C is unlikely to be a dramatic cure for COVID-19, the fact that it can promote good immune function means it would be going too far to say there will be no effect. And although a review found that vitamin C has no effect on reducing the frequency of colds, it did find that for the average person, there was a small decrease in the duration of common cold symptoms. But for people that participate in brief periods of severe physical exercise (such as marathon runners and skiers), vitamin C halved the duration and severity of their common cold risk.

These slight effects of vitamin C on the coronavirus that causes the common cold have spurred a new clinical trial looking to cure COVID-19 infections using very high intravenous doses of vitamin C. These trials have just started and no results are yet posted. Intravenous application of vitamin C will result in much higher and faster levels of the vitamin in the blood than any amount found in vitamin C supplements taken orally. Though this approach could increase vitamin Cs mild protective effect, this is yet hypothetical and intravenous injection comes with its own risks, such as infection, blood vessel damage, air embolism or blood clots.

So alhough vitamin C does have some small effect on the common cold, its unlikely that taking large amounts of vitamin C supplements will cure a COVID-19 infection or have a large effect at all. Even if intravenous vitamin C works to shorten or cure COVID-19, it will likely only be a stop-gap before therapies directed at the virus, such as vaccinations, take over. The most effective way to avoid the virus still remains washing hands, not touching the eyes, nose or mouth, and keeping your distance from anyone exhibiting symptoms.

Peter McCaffery, Professor of Biochemistry, University of Aberdeen

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Coronavirus: Its Time to Debunk Claims That Vitamin C Could Cure It - Snopes.com

Todd Eastham, of Greenup, coaches both high school and college athletes in Greenup County. Easthams focus is primarily with the throwing team, but he said that the training these young athletes go through, and their other regimens such as diet, can apply to anyone even if they arent an athlete.

Commitment is the main thing, Eastham said. At least the No. 1 thing, especially with younger athletes. That, and they need to work on strength and flexibility, then technique.

You have to develop good habits, Eastham said. And that applies to everything, especially if you want to be successful. And you have to maintain those good habits, like a proper diet, moving forward. Especially here in Appalachia, because we really like our food here.

Younger individuals, he said, typically dont realize the damaging side effects of a poor diet, and how those effects build up over time. Eastham pointed out that to a younger individual, anything that curbs hunger is acceptable; and the hardest part, sometimes, is convincing them that a bag of chips and a soda doesnt qualify as a meal.

For an athlete, or anyone that wants to prevent that first heart attack, it really starts at the age of 18. Even if you have a genetic predisposition to that health issue, proper diet and exercise can help stave that off. You should really begin a healthy lifestyle in your teens. And those health benefits will follow you into later years,Eastham said.

But you will find in a lot of cases with people who were athletes, he added, or who worked hard, manual labor jobs or on the farm when they were younger, tend to stay healthier longer. Or if they do get out of shape, they find it easier to get back into shape quicker than an individual who grew up with a sedentary lifestyle.

Athletes burn more calories than those individuals who dont engage in a regimented athletic lifestyle, but Eastham said it isnt necessary to be athletic in order to enjoy health benefits.

There are a lot of anaerobic exercises a person can do, he said. You can lift weights, get out and walk, or just about anything. But the main thing is just to get out and get moving. Do something, because its for your benefit to do it.

We can still get our Netflix time in, Eastham said. We all like to binge, but we dont want to sit there slamming down cheeseburgers while we are doing it, either. Thats another part of it. Its a trap because we all like snacks and other goodies, and can easily overindulge while watching TV, because we are focused on the show and not paying attention to how much we are consuming.

Eastham said a poor diet can derail any sort of training program, professional or otherwise. The actual exercises, whether they are for strength, endurance or a combination of both, help get the body in a habit of moving and performing certain functions properly without damaging the person doing them. But a diet that is heavy on unhealthy foods such as one based heavily on processed sugars and preservatives can make it harder for the body to reap the benefits of even a good training routine.

Exercise is like tearing the body down to rebuild it, only better, Eastham said. But you have to give your body something to work with. If you follow a good training plan, and at least a moderately healthy diet, then I guarantee you will start to see good results in just a couple of weeks.

Eastham said not everyone has the need or the desire to be an athlete; but everyone has both the need and desire to be healthy. And Eastham should know what he is talking about, because he has lived it. He was a high school athlete, but after graduation he spent decades not living the athletic lifestyle. But over the course of the last several years he has reclaimed his health and went on to win numerous medals in the Masters Olympic Games.

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cromans@dailyindependent.com

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Training within the training: Eastham preaches commitment | News - The Independent

Billie Eilish has given the music industry everything it could possibly want. An authentic new voice that appeals to teenagers and their parents. A debut album that has sold more than 2m copies in the US alone. A decisive stylistic evolution from the preceding decades dominant pop mode. A clean sweep of the four key categories at the Grammys. A copper-bottomed streaming success model. A James Bond theme that rejuvenates a tired franchise and extends her commercial and creative clout.

Until she offers up her prime commodity as a young female pop star, it will never be enough.

While 18-year-old Eilish is a beguilingly physical performer, she has never shown her body in service of her art. She prefers loose clothing because she feels comfortable in it, and has denounced the use of her image to shame female pop stars who dress differently. Not that its stopped anyone. Denying spectators the traditional metric by which female stars are judged sexiness, slimness; the body as weathervane that reveals how tormented or contented they must be when they lurch between the extremes of those states has created an obsession with her body and what it must stand for.

Eilishs world tour which opened last night in Miami underscores these contradictions: While I feel your stares, your disapproval or your sighs of relief, if I lived by them, Id never be able to move, she says in a video shown between songs, as she removes her top and sinks into a pool of black water. Would you like me to be smaller? Weaker? Softer? Taller? Would you like me to be quiet? Do my shoulders provoke you? Does my chest? Am I my stomach? My hips?

As if to prove her point, the Sun reported on Eilish stripping to her bra with zero mention of her speech or its message, and titled their story Thrilly Eilish. Again: Eilish is 18 years old.

Its hard to think of any previous generation of young female pop star getting away with making such a public admonishment at the height of their stardom. Motowns girls were taught comportment by an in-house employee. The anorexia that killed Karen Carpenter was framed as an effective diet. To have her art taken seriously, Kate Bush had to endure the objectification of male journalists who typed with one hand. The Spice Girls had to wait until after the bands demise to discuss their respective eating disorders, lest they disrupt the image of supportive female friendship. Britney, Christina and Beyoncs millennium-era abs were testament to their drilled work ethic; Katy Perry and Ariana Grandes burgeoning images were dependent on marketing their sexuality, while Taylor Swifts taut middle stoked her image as an American ideal. To acknowledge Amy Winehouses bulimia would have complicated a convenient media narrative of debauchery.

In that context, Eilishs freedom to speak out represents a kind of progress. Its symptomatic of the control that she has retained over her career, and its impact on her fans is potentially profound. But being anointed a liberating force in the body-image stakes is its own kind of prison, one that preserves physicality as the ultimate measure of a female stars worth and the standard by which they can be undermined. The music industry and the media like to pat themselves on the back for making stars of Eilish and Lizzo, who often joins her in headlines about body positivity, though if these women one day wish to change their physical presentation, they will be accused of betraying fans and squandering their authenticity.

It is a minority of female musicians who are permitted this limiting form of freedom in the first place. Beyond Eilish and Lizzos presence at this years Brit awards, the photos from the red carpet looked like scenes from 2002: female musicians and influencers bearing aggressively toned abs, low-slung sparkly pants, dresses with gaping cutaways to highlight those effects. The media may praise Taylor Swift for speaking out about the disordered eating that she experienced until a few years ago, but it still perpetuates the standards that mean record labels will subject young, female pop stars to the punishing diets and exercise routines that Swift has described from her past. Female musicians who gain weight rarely return to the prime of their careers. Dua Lipas new video features an exercise routine. The narrative around Adeles fourth album, due later this year, is already centred on her recent weight loss.

Ever since the pianist Clara Schumann proved herself a concert virtuoso, female artists have had their creative worth tied to their physicality. The standards are so punishing and contradictory that it is hard not to suspect that they are purposefully engineered that way, to guarantee obsolescence as they succumb to human fallibility, thus clearing the decks to wave in a new phalanx of young bodies to ogle. As long as the industries that depend on its exploitation continue to exist, and new generations of onlookers are trained in envy and contempt for those bodies, this wont change.

As the industry races to replicate Eilishs success and the media hungers for more young girls to compel views, youd hope they would heed how this treatment has evidently affected her and ensure that no young female star is ever again subject to these vicious standards. As if.

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Body of work: why Billie Eilish is right to stand her ground against shaming - The Guardian