You might have thought you kissed acne goodbye when you left your teens. Not so fast.Breakouts can still strike when youre in your 30s, 40s and 50s. Youre not even off the hook if you were a lucky teen who escaped this growing pain, as adult-onset acne can happenyears later, as a result of stress, hormones or just aging.

While there are numerous treatment options, theres one you may never have considered: Changing your diet. Growing evidence suggests that components of your diet can cause or worsen acne, says Caroline Robinson, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist and founder of Tone Dermatology in Chicago. Although research is still somewhat scant on this topic, some facts are evident: Unhealthy foods and certain animal products drive skin issues like acne while plants may have the opposite effect.

When you have acne, four main changes happen in the skin, including increased sebum (or oil) production; clogging ofpores by excess skin; bacterial overgrowth, and general inflammation caused by any number of sources. Adult women are more prone to acne than adult men, which could be driven in part by hormones. There is alink to diet, as well: Theoretically, any food that promotes inflammation can make acne worse, Robinson says.

Start first with high glycemic foods. These are foods that cause a spike in blood sugar levels after you eat like white bread, rice, cookies and cakes. High glycemic index foods increase insulin and other things in the body that lead to increased skin inflammation and increased oil production, says Rajani Katta, M.D., dermatologist and author of Glow: The Dermatologists Guide to a Whole Foods Younger Skin Diet who serves on the voluntary clinical faculty of Baylor College of Medicine and the McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas in Houston. Studies show that after people follow a 12-week diet with a low glycemic load, a measure thats obtained by multiplying the quality of a foods carbohydrate by the amount of carbohydrates in one serving of that food, oil glands get smaller.

Dairy and whey products can also drive acne by promoting inflammation, even if you aren't lactose intolerant. There are studies with bodybuildersthat reveal that those athletes taking whey protein supplements developed acne. Heres the kicker: In some cases, although they havent responded to acne medications, their skin improves when they stop taking whey protein, Katta says. So if you're prone to breakouts, stay away from whey.

Why might dairy be damaging to skin? By increasing the production of sebum in the hair follicle, dairy and whey contribute to worsening acne, Robinson says. Other hormones and sugars in the dairy may also play a role.

Studies on how plant-based diets benefit acne arent as robust as the studies on how certain foods trigger acne. Yet there is evidence to suggest that people who eat a diet higher in naturally occurring antioxidants from plants tend to have less acne, Katta says.

And theres a plethora of anecdotal evidence about how skin health improves after eating a plant-only diet. If you begin excluding foods like dairy and processed foods from your diet, theres a good likelihood that your skin will be clear, says Hana Kahleova, M.D., Ph.D., director of clinical research with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, adding that many individuals in its studies report this as a major benefit.

Acne aside, a whole-food, plant-based diet has other noticeable effects on the skin. For starters, research shows that if you eat a plethora of fruits and vegetables, especially those that are high in betacarotene (think carrots, sweet potatoes and red and yellow peppers), you have a rosier glow to your skin, Katta says. Even better? Wrinkles may be reduced on a plant-only diet. In one study, folks who loaded their diet with more fruits and vegetables appeared younger than those who were on a meat-rich diet.

If youre struggling with breakouts and want to try some food fixes, start by eliminating or limiting the added sugar. Youll have to experiment to learn how much added sugar your skin can actually tolerate, as some cant handle any while others can handle a small amount, Katta says. Follow the World Health Organizations recommendation and aim to get no more than six teaspoons of added sugars a day. And note that chocolate can, unfortunately, be an acne trigger for some people, Kahleova says.

Then work onditching dairy. First, if youre taking whey protein, eliminate that from your diet and switch to plant-based protein supplements. Then do some trial and error with plant-based milk and other non-dairy products to find which ones you like best. Just dont expect changes overnight, as it usually takes about eight weeks for acne to respond to a dietary change like this, Katta says.

Finally, move that diet as close to plant-only as possible, which will guarantee that youre eating large amounts of fiber. Fiber-rich foods can help maintain blood sugar levels, which may play a big role in some peoples acne, Katta says. Among them, low-glycemic index foods like beans, certain fruits, vegetables and steel-cut oats may be particularly beneficial for your skin.

According to Dr. Katta, foods rich in zinc like kidney beans, pumpkin seeds and spinach are anti-inflammatory in nature and can aid acne. Studies have also suggested that a healthier gut microbiome may reduce skin inflammation, which is why Katta recommends eating probiotic foods like kimchi, miso, and sauerkraut to calm breakouts. And because fiber is one of the most anti-inflammatory food components there is, veer toward foods that are rich in fiber like beans, lentils, and broccoli.

Other foods that have been studied and are recommended as blemish banishers:

Citrus like oranges, grapefruits, lemons, limes, or tropical fruits like papaya and mango are great places to start. Look for anything with an abundanceof vitamin C and fiber. C is for collagen, or it should be: Vitamin C is the building block of collagen, which makes up the cellular scaffolding of skin, organ tissue and vital body functions. There is no such thing as too much C since you'll just pee it away. Aim for a whole orange or red pepper a day, or get it with your leafy greens. Vitamin C is your skin's building block.

Avocados are high in healthy fats, which improve the health of your skin.Getting enough of these fats is essential to keeping skin hydrated. In a study of700 women, a diet high in healthy fats was found to contribute to having springy, supple skin.

Avocados contain compounds that protect skin from sun damage. And avocados are also a great source of vitamin E,which helps protect skin from oxidation, an important antioxidant that helps protect skin from oxidation and toxins. Most Americans dont get enough vitamin Ein their diets

Walnuts for Omega 6 and Omega 3 fatty acids are great for your skin, and walnuts carry are rich in bothomega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, which fightinflammation. Walnuts also carry zinc, an essential barrier that keeps UV's harmful rays from penetrating your skin's outer layers. Walnuts provide vitamin E and selenium and have o 45 grams of protein per ounceso eat them on repeat.

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The Link Between Diet and Acne: Exactly What to Eat and Not Eat for Clear Your Skin - The Beet

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO), occurs when too much bacteria, usually coliforms, grow in the small intestine. Coliform bacteria ferment carbohydrates, which often leads to symptoms like excess gas, bloating, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. So the idea behind the SIBO diet is to maintain gut health by eating foods that are less likely to ferment in the intestine and feed coliform bacteria.

While SIBO is initially treated with antibiotics, "we think that the diet will prevent the bacteria from coming back," says Mark Pimentel, MD, director of the Medically Associated Science and Technology program and associate professor of gastroenterology at Cedars-Sinai health organization.

There has been relatively little research conducted on the SIBO diet, but it has many overlaps with the low-FODMAP diet, which has more scientific backing as a treatment for gastrointestinal issues. Here's what you need to know about the risk of developing SIBO and how the SIBO diet can help.

Many people assume that SIBO is caused by "bad bacteria" in the gut, but the issue is not the type of bacteria, but rather the amount. It is normal to have a lot of bacteria in the colon, where digestion moves more slowly, but an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine causes problems like gas and bloating or more concerning symptoms, like diarrhea and constipation.

Age. There isn't enough research to determine how many young people have SIBO. However, among older adults, SIBO is fairly common around 15% of older people have the condition. Older adults are more susceptible to SIBO because they are more likely to have slow digestion and to get gastrointestinal surgeries, which can disrupt the balance of gut bacteria.

IBS and other diseases. There's also a huge overlap in symptoms between irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and SIBO and some estimates calculate that one-third of IBS patients have SIBO. You may be at greater risk of developing SIBO if you have a disease that slows digestion like Parkinson's disease, hypothyroidism, or diabetes.

Bowel obstruction. Having a bowel obstruction or deformity in your intestine caused by surgery can also put you at greater risk of developing SIBO.

Proton-pump inhibitors. If you have a condition like acid reflux for which you take proton-pump inhibitors like omeprazole, this will decrease your levels of stomach acid. Stomach acid is important because it prevents an overgrowth of bacteria in the upper small intestine, so without it, you're more likely to develop SIBO.

While the low-FODMAP diet was originally designed to treat IBS, it is often prescribed to treat SIBO as well. Like the low-FODMAP diet, the SIBO diet aims to reduce foods that can ferment in your intestines this means cutting out foods that normally digest more slowly like fiber and certain sugars like lactose.

The main difference between the SIBO diet and the low-FODMAP diet is the level of restriction, says Pimentel. For example, the low-FODMAP diet cuts out most fruits and some root vegetables like onions and garlic, while the SIBO diet is more lenient.

On the SIBO diet, you should not eat:

Foods that break down quickly into simple sugars are good for SIBO, because they give you nutrition without feeding the bacteria in your lower intestines. SIBO diet-friendly foods include:

A day on the SIBO diet might look like:

Though there's less published scientific evidence for the SIBO diet's effectiveness compared to the low-FODMAP diet, Pimentel recommends that SIBO patients should choose the SIBO diet after taking antibiotics.

"The FODMAP diet is studied a lot more, but has some risks because of the restrictive nature," Pimentel says, adding that staying on the low-FODMAP diet for more than 3 months can put you at risk for malnutrition.

Pimentel advises that people should not try to follow the diet on their own, and should always work with a doctor. While people with conditions like IBS or SIBO often feel better when eating highly-restrictive diets, they may harm their overall health in their effort to avoid symptoms. "Being under the guidance of a dietician is the proper way to do it so that you don't fall into the traps of the diets," says Pimentel.

If one round of antibiotics and the SIBO diet don't work to get rid of SIBO symptoms, you may need to do multiple courses of antibiotics, Pimentel says. If there is an underlying condition like diabetes or an obstructed bowel causing SIBO, you may develop recurrent SIBO and you will need to treat the larger problem or regularly take courses of antibiotics.

There are promising results for low-fermentation diets treating gut diseases like IBS, but there is no evidence yet proving this type of diet will have the same effect for SIBO. No matter what diet you choose to follow, make sure that you are always under the supervision of a medical provider.

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What is the SIBO diet and how it can help reduce bloating, gas, and diarrhea - Insider - INSIDER

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. A deadly crash that took the lives of two elderly women on Soutel Drive in January has sparked renewed concerns of safety on the road in Northwest Jacksonville, while city staff move ahead with plans to reduce lanes.

Family members of the late Edna Holton gathered Wednesday evening at the intersection where the fatal crash occurred, advocating for change ahead of a community meeting spearheaded by Councilwoman Brenda Priestly Jackson at the Legends Center.

"People are speeding on this road all the time," said Edna Holton's daughter Latasha Holton. "There really needs to be a turn signal."

Della Laliberte, 92, was a longtime resident of the Sherwood Forest neighborhood off Soutel, and a neighbor of Edna Holton. She was driving south on Soutel with Edna Holton as a passenger, both heading to a community association meeting at the Legends Center on January 16 when the crash happened.

Laliberte went to make a left turn to enter the parking lot of the Legends Center at Leander Shaw Jr. Street when her car was hit by a driver heading in the opposite direction. There is a left turn signal for the northbound lanes of Soutel at that intersection, but not for the southbound lanes.

Edna Holton passed on January 25, and Laliberte on February 24.

"To lose two faithful members doing what they loved to do and being there for their community to me is really kind of senseless," said Eunice Barnum of the Sherwood Forest-Paradise Park Community Association. "I think the light would have made a great deal of difference."

The meeting the two would have attended was to discuss other issues, most revolving around safety, along Soutel Drive.

"I was very shocked and hurt," said Leola Williams, a member of the community association. "If there had been a turning arrow and she had been able to turn, she would not have had to worry about oncoming traffic. It should not have happened."

Meanwhile, the city is working on a wide-ranging plan that could totally transform Soutel Drive. Staff and officials are looking at a concept called a "road diet" that they hope will improve safety by reducing lanes and adding improvements.

As the road currently operates, there are two lanes in each direction with no medians. Under the new model, there would be one lane in each direction with a center turn lane and bike lanes along the sides.

City planners said the new model would allow for bike lanes, raised medians for safer pedestrian crossings and would cut down on speeding and left-hand turn crashes.

"If we do this lane repurpose, [drivers] only have to cross one lane of traffic," said Laurie Santana, Chief of Transportation Planning for Jacksonville. "They don't have to turn against two lanes of traffic."

Santana and other city staff are calling the plan "traffic calming," saying that the improvements would slow drivers down. She said the way the road is designed now discourages people from walking along or crossing it.

"People are just speeding through there and its dangerous," she said.

The Federal Highway Administration refers to road diets as improvement projects that "remove travel lanes from a roadway and utilize the space for other uses and travel modes."

Many renderings of completed road diet projects include added bicycle lanes and a greater distance between vehicles and pedestrians. Other common features include turn lanes, bus lanes, pedestrian refuge islands and landscaping improvements.

Before and after photos of a road diet project in Orlando.

FHWA

But some road diet projects have been faced with criticism, with opponents saying planners are attempting to "make it so miserable to drive that people will have no choice but to choose other ways to travel," according to the Rice Kinder Institute for Urban Research.

Table of Contents Improving safety is a top priority for the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) remains committed to reducing highway fatalities and serious injuries on our Nation's roadways through the use of proven safety countermeasures, including Road Diets.

The FHWAsaid benefits of road diets include "crash reduction of 19 to 47 percent, reduced vehicle speed differential, improved mobility and access by all road users, and integration of the roadway into surrounding uses that result in an enhanced quality of life."

City staff referenced the 19 to 47 percent statistic in their own presentation Wednesday, adding that left turns are a particular area of concern on Soutel.

Barnum and others have expressed concerns about how the lane decrease could impact businesses along the corridor, which would stretch from Lem Turner to New Kings Road.

"There are other elements of that road diet that we could utilize to make the street a lot safer without reducing the lanes," Barnum said.

At Wednesday's meeting, city staff said studies showed Soutel's current traffic count is 1,169 vehicles per hour at its peak, and that the new design would have a capacity of 1,700 per hour. Priestly Jackson noted that the width of the road would not be changed, allowing for a return to four lanes in the future if needed.

Other elements of the plan include improved lighting, traffic signal reconfiguration and a new turn lane at New Kings Road.

The city has estimated construction could start in around a year, but Edna Holton's family and friends are hoping for some changes to arrive sooner than that. In particular, the turn light at the intersection where the crash happened.

"You have other communities that don't have to go through what we go through here on the Northside," Williams said. "When we drive around we see all these improvements in these other communities, we're saying 'Why not us?"

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What is a 'road diet'? City officials hope the idea will answer safety concerns on Soutel Drive - FirstCoastNews.com WTLV-WJXX

SAN ANGELO, Texas March is National Nutrition Month. The educational campaign focuses on the significance of physical fitness and eating nourishing meals.

Recently, diets have been a popular thing to do when individuals strive to eat healthy.

Bailey Plutowski, registered dietitian and nutritionist, specializing in weight loss, diabetes, eating disorders and kidney disease, among others. Plutowski said the key to maintaining a healthy eating lifestyle is consistency.

"There has always been the word diet. You go on this diet for four weeks. You go on this diet for six weeks. What happens after that diet is finished? Did you create sustainability eating patterns or was it a short term," Plutowski said.

Additionally, she said every person is different when it comes to choosing eating plans.

"I believe in sustainability and so with my patients that I work with, it sometimes takes a little bit longer," she said.

Overall, there are many factors that play into deciding what works best for one's nutrition plan.

"It's not going to run properly and so having a dietitian. If you have any diseases that you have been diagnosed with or anything like that. Dietitians can help to identify what that is and treat it properly and so having someone monitor exactly what your nutrition needs are is so important," Plutowski said.

Some questions she considers when talking to her patients include:

"I'm constantly asking my patients, 'Do you enjoy what you're eating right now? is this sustainable for you?' I set small goals. Nothing crazy and that's so we can ensure that it's a lifestyle change and not a short lived endeavor."

For more information on food and nutrition, check the United States Department of Agriculture's(USDA) website.

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National Nutrition Month focuses on physical fitness and eating healthy - myfoxzone.com

Courtesy of Ashley Paulson

Ashley Paulson has a little more energy than most people. Ever since the mom of four from St. George, Utah, began training for Ironman triathlons and marathons 10 years ago, she has grown to embrace early-morning workouts, late-night treadmill runs, and afternoon doubles whenever she can squeeze them in.

I dont want to be a mom whos not involved, Paulson told Runners World. Even if that means waking up before my kids do and staying up late to greet my two 18-year-old daughters when they get home at night. Indoor training and early mornings arent a chore anymore.

By day, Paulson, 38, works as a coach for iFit, a virtual training app offered by NordicTrack. Her job allows her to get in her first workout of the day, then she usually supplements with another session on her own in the afternoon. A typical week of training for the athlete includes running between 70 and 80 miles, cycling 12 to 15 hours, and swimming five to six hours.

I run a lot more compared to most triathletes, because its my favorite, she said. When I get off the bike in an Ironman, Im like, Yay, now I get to run a marathon!

Last year, Paulson qualified for the 2020 Olympic Marathon Trials at Grandmas Marathon with a finish time of 2:44:50. Throughout the winter, she trained for Atlanta in a similar way that she prepares for Ironmans, maintaining the cycling and swimming load while increasing her running only slightly.

I dont run as much as other qualifiers, but I think biking and swimming keeps me just as fit and helps prevent injuries, she said. The hard work paid off: On Saturday, February 29, Paulson clocked 2:40:07 on the hilly and windy course at Trials, finishing 44th overall for women.

To keep up with the rigorous demands of her training and racing schedules, Paulson has to consume plenty of fuel. Here, she gives us the rundown of what she typically eats and drinks for a day of training.

On a day where I can sleep in a bit, Ill wake up around 6 a.m. and drop my first kid off at school at 7 a.m. If my morning workout is an hour or less, Ill do it fasted once I get home and eat breakfast afterward. If the workout is longer than an hour, Ill have toast with butter and jam and a shake blended with chocolate protein powder, peanut butter, strawberries, and a banana. I call it my PB&J smoothie. Im not a coffee person, so I add 65mg of caffeine to my shake.

On race mornings, I like having two packages of applesauce, toast, and a banana about three hours beforehand. Then an hour before the race, Ill eat a single-serving bag of Cheetos. It sounds crazy, but I tried Cheetos before Grandmas Marathon, and it sat really well and stocked me up on salt and carbs, so now its my lucky fuel. If Im hungry right before the race, Ill have an energy gel.

The biggest change Ive made to my training and racing over the years is adopting a better nutrition strategy. In my first Ironman, I only had 200 calories over the course of the race, and I learned that fueling during a race will make or break you. Now, I have 200 calories per hour of exercise. If Im running or doing a hard bike workout, Ill take in calories in liquid formenergy gels. If its a long ride, simple carb-and-salt combos work. My personal favorite ride snacks are puffed Cheetos and apple fritter doughnuts.

Plant-Based Chocolate Protein Powder

Im a sandwich junkie. For lunch, Ill usually make a big sandwich with avocado, turkey, lettuce, tomato, and mayo, and have that with water mixed with amino acids, which help with recovery. I typically leave at least four hours between my first and second workoutsthat way, my legs can recover and my food settles. About an hour before my second workout, Ill have a G2G bar. Im not a protein bar person, but these bars taste amazing.

Four times per week, Ill have a basic combo of chicken and rice, and during the weekends, Ill eat pizza with my family, or well go out to dinner. My usual weeknight bowl consists of grilled chicken cooked in our backyard smoker and white ricewhich I make using coconut milk to make it extra creamywith Ranch dressing and Wingers sauce on top. Its maybe not the healthiest, but it packs in carbs, protein, and salt, which I need a lot of.

The day before a race, I usually avoid fiber altogether to lower my risk of stomach issues. My biggest meal the day before is breakfastIll load up on pancakes, eggs, and other carbs. For dinner the night before, Ill have chicken, rice, and a baked potato with salt about two hours before bed.

Im obsessed with candy. On a non-race day, I prefer bringing jelly beans or Swedish fish as workout fuel instead of an energy gel. If my kids are having cake or ice cream at home, Ill eat some with them. I try to keep my sugar tooth in check, but I firmly believe that you can have everything in moderation.

Continued here:
Prerace Cheetos Helped Ashley Paulson Tackle the Olympic Marathon Trials - Runner's World

Carrie Underwood is hanging off a rock-climbing wall as if shes auditioning for a role in Free Soloand totally nailing it.

FWIW, this is not an activity she does often: I went rappelling once as a kid and freaked out, she says.

But hesitation is nowhere in sight today as Carrie supports her body in a series of challenging poses without breaking a sweat.

When I first meet Carrie, shes walking back from brushing her teeth in the bathroom (What can I say, not every moment of a photo shoot is glamorous.) But from the moment she shakes my hand, I can tellhello, grip strengththat the CALIA by Carrie Underwood designer came ready to put on a show. The 5'3" singer is strong. The kind of strong that makes dangling from a vertical face seem easy. The kind of strong that makes her look as if she were born singing her heart out while commanding a stage in heels. I swear I use butt muscles to hit notes sometimes, she says.

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That strength didnt happen by accidentand for the 36-year-old, it didnt happen overnight. Carrie, who characterizes herself as a vegetarian and wannabe vegan, grew up on a cattle farm in Checotah, Oklahoma, population 3,500. She remembers the exact moment she vowed to stop eating beef: when she was 13 and saw the calves shed grown up with getting neutered.

Her initial dedication to a plant-based diet was more about animal welfare than health. Carrie didnt pay much attention to nutrition or fitness until she encountered online message boards during her winning stint on American Idol in 2005. Carries getting fat, read one note.

I shouldnt care what other people think about me, Carrie says. But she also knew that the quesadillas and pasta shed been living on werent making her feel her best. I was tired, and I kept buying bigger clothes, she recalls. I knew I could be better for myself, and I let my haters be my motivators.

After she won American Idol, Carrie and the other contestants went on tour. She started reading labels, counting calories, and logging time on the elliptical. At first, she felt good. I was sleeping better, and I had more energy for our grueling schedule, she says. So she decided to take it further. If this is working, she reasoned, wouldnt it be better to exercise even more and eat a little less? Some days, she consumed as few as 800 calories.

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By the time she attended her first CMA Awards in November 2005, her plan was starting to backfire. Sure, shed lost weight, but she was also finding it nearly impossible to stick to her strict diet. Her periods of restriction were almost always followed by overindulging. I would fall off the wagon, then feel terrible and repeat the cycle. Her newfound energy levels were also starting to dip. Your body is screaming out, I need more calories, I need more carbs! she says. When I ask if she feels she was suffering from disordered eating, Carrie pauses, then says thoughtfully, I really would not call it that. Instead, she feels she just lacked the knowledge to create parameters that worked for her.

Today, with her first book, Carrie has created the manual she wishes she had back then, Find Your Path: Honor Your Body, Fuel Your Soul, and Get Strong With Fit52Life, available now. Along with her trainer, Eve Overland, and nutritionist, Cara Clark, Carrie offers a framework to help women make smart choices year-round. (Stay tuned for the app this spring.)

Watch Carrie play a game of "Once, Never, Forever" with WH:

So what does Carries current version of healthy look like? Its structured, but in a way that allows her to enjoy the occasional slice of cake. I love rules, says Carrie. This is how I feel good about myself, and this is how I operate. On that note, she tracks calories and macros (the amount of protein, carbs, and fat she consumes daily) on the app MyFitnessPal. Her happy place: 45 percent carbs, 30 percent fat, and 25 percent protein.

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A typical day of eats for the star starts pre-workout, with a tofu or egg-white scramble, Ezekiel toast, berries, and coffee. At lunch, shell have a sandwich with Tofurky, tomato, avocado, red onion, spinach, and mustard. Her snack might be a green smoothie or protein bar. Then for dinner shell make roasted veggies and a piece of vegan chicken, or a tofu stir-fry.

Shes not a big dessert person, but she keeps squares of dark chocolate for when a craving strikes. I do have my vice, Carrie admits, and its red wine. Its good for my heart, right?! she laughs. She likes to unwind with a glass or two and The Bachelor.

While Carrie doesnt leave much to chance in terms of her diet, she is learning to roll with the punches when it comes to her workouts, now that shes the mother of two sons, Isaiah, 5, and Jake, 1. If I can work out seven days a weekwhich doesnt happen, but if I canIm going to, she says. Because the next week, I might get two days.

Her trainer, Eve, travels with her when shes on the road. (Check out Carries Instagram to peep the impressive mobile gym she built for tours.) But at home, Carrie primarily comes up with her own routines, which she maps out in a journal. When I walk in and dont have a plan, I usually walk out, she says, nodding in solidarity as I admit I usually do the same, as if we were two workout buddies exchanging gripes in the locker room.

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Carrie credits Eve for getting her hooked on liftingand for crafting the routine responsible for her incredibly sculpted legs. Warning: Its not for the faint of heart. Carries leg workout consists of six supersets of three moves, each done for three or four sets. Moves include tuck jumps, Romanian deadlifts (with 30- to 35-pound dumbbells), walking lunges (with 20- to 25-pound dumbbells), and elevated sumo squats (with a 50-pound dumbbell!). Im sore just thinking about it.

In between crushing leg days, Carrie runs outside when its warm or crafts mini challenges on the treadmill. I have to set goals for myself: Every 15 minutes Im going to hit 1.25 miles, then by the end of an hour Ill have run 5 miles, she says. Shes also hard at work on her pullup gameshes up to eight.

The dedication to exercise and clean eating may seem intense, but its refreshing to speak to a celebrity whos honest about what it takes to keep her body prepared to own the stagein constant motion no lessfor two hours a night on a five-month tour. Not to mention those evenings when shes walking a red carpet, camera-ready. Carrie doesnt pretend to eat pizza every night or claim to do only a few crunches every now and then to get those abs. She puts in workand knowing she can pull it off with two kids and a 24/7 job makes me feel I can find the motivation too.

Peggy Sirota

While Carries got her wellness routine on lock, she admits she could definitely improve when it comes to self-care. She calls exercise her anti-depressant and antianxiety medicationand says when she falls out of her routine, both she and her husband notice a shift in her mood. When I ask if shes learned other ways to maintain her equilibrium when she cant work out, she scrunches her face and says without hesitation, No.

Later, she elaborates: Thats a part of my personality I need to be better with. Id love to sit in a bubble bath, but thats not going to happen. My self-care is my gym time, and thats a stress reliever for me.

Carries certainly been through some tough times in recent years. Before the birth of her second son, she experienced three miscarriages. When we talk about it, tears come to her eyes. For my body to not be doing something it was supposed to do was a tough pill to swallow, she says. It reminded me Im not in control of everything.

She says opening up about the miscarriages felt like a weight lifted off my shouldersand since then, women tell her their stories. Its not a dirty secret. Its something many women go through, Carrie says.

Her relationship with her husband, former NHL player Mike Fisher, is also a source of energyeven though it may seem like a case of opposites attracting. He wears a jersey; she loves sequins. Shes basically vegan; he eats meat. The list goes on. But the gym is their common ground. They work out together when they can, or swap childcare duties so the other can sweat.

Theyve got a similar strategy at home. She buys groceries, makes dinners, packs lunches, etc. When its time for her to work? Mike takes over. Were a good team, she says.

While not all the pieces fit perfectly, Carrie has a structure in place to guide her on her (very busy) path. And even with the new book, her activewear line, and plans to work on new music, dont expect her to stray. Physical fitness makes everything else possible, she says. Carrie is clearly a woman who knows where her strengths lieand isnt afraid to use them.

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Photographed by Peggy Sirota Style Editor Kristen Saladino Hair and Makeup Melissa Schleicher Manicure Jennifer Tsourvakas Shot on location at CLIMB Murfreesboro

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Carrie Underwood Used To Wish She Had A Workout And Nutrition Manual. So She Wrote One. - Women's Health

Hi Casey,

First of all, I wanted to say thank you - your advice is some of the most scientifically solid, grounded and compassionate advice on the Internet when it comes to fitness (especially when it comes to women's fitness). Thanks for being no bullshit, but also incredibly kind to us.

Second, I've had a question percolating. I know in the past you've covered food/diet changes for lifting (more protein, eat carbs). However, as a (soy-intolerant, pea-protein hating) someone who has started to seriously question the environmental sustainability of my diet, I was wondering how you reconcile your dietary needs and planet health. I know whey protein is a pretty efficient source of protein in terms of human health and emissions (although cheese and most dairy/cows are not), but eating lentils and quinoa-based meals and chasing them with whey protein seems like a stupid way to live.

Sorry if this a fuzzier, more philosophical question than you would like to answerI'm legitimately just curious about your views and I think it would be good to have a non-vegan lens on this issue. Alison

Even as I continue to express my climate anxiety in increasingly odd and relatively meaningless waysstanding in front of a beverage case at the grocery store for minutes at a time battling guilt over buying a slightly better beer in bottles versus a worse one in cansI give little thought to eating animal products.

One reason is that, while I do eat meat, the amount I eat aligns already with the recommendations of environmentalist spokespeople who are gently imploring Americans to eat less meat; theyre trying to talk people down from eating meat with seemingly every meal to eating it once a day, or only several days per week. I eat meat a few times a week to once a day; I also eat eggs, cheese, and yogurt, and I drink milk. Often, the products I buy are on the more responsibly-sourced end, but not always. My understanding is that if America has some real problem children as far as animal product consumption, Im not one of them.

But I also think about this in a more systematic way, especially as so many of us are constantly anxious about getting enough protein. I do think the future for food rests with alternative, nonfactory farm and plant-based protein sources, and I am personally ready to eat burgers made exclusively of crickets. But quietly buying them as alternatives now wont get us there, and, more importantly, individuals doing this does not make an even remotely substantial-enough difference to course-correct the state of the environment. We need the unsustainable food sources and markets that trade our livelihood for profits litigated out of existence on a grand scale, which is not something that happens by us not buying those foods sometimes, or even all of the time. As things continue to get colossally worse, its more important than ever to be honest with ourselves about what is little more than attempts at personal absolution, what is just allowing marketing to prey on our collective guilt, and what is best for the planet.

What is important is that that infrastructure is sustainable, and we can only achieve through sweeping legislative change, not which meat we buy this week. Individual action through personal consumer choices in a vacuum is fine, but in cultural context, its a manipulative blame-spreading tactic similar to productivity and life hacks pushed on us by a capitalist system. The impact of even absolutely everyone switching to a plant-based diet (knocking off 0.7 metric tons from total global emissions, or about 4 percent of the per-person total in the U.S.) is minuscule compared to, for instance, regulating the 100 companies responsible for 71 percent of total historical emissions, a total of 923 billion metric tons since the Industrial Age started. The fossil fuel industry alone constituted 70 percent of emissions on humans' behalf in 2015. in a fact that those companies and many others work very hard to make us forget by distracting us with the latest burger made of textured wheat protein.

That doesnt mean were absolved, by any stretch. But its my belief that its far more important for me to spend less time fretting over soy vs. chicken and more time on the bigger picture.

To illustrate this idea, lets say there is a waste dump that is extremely close to your neighborhood, and its become so large and toxic that its starting to contaminate the groundwater, directly affecting you and everyone else who lives in the neighborhood. Three percent of that dump is the garbage everyone in the neighborhood puts in the dump, and 97 percent is the toxic waste from a local factorylets say theyre putting 97 tons of waste in there per year. You could put in, lets say, an extra 10 hours a week of your time making sure your own house is absolutely garbage-neutral: you take the time to use reusable bags, buy nothing that generates waste or packaging, repurpose any waste you do generate you into fashionable clothes for your children like a discarded-frozen-fruit-bag vest, you compost, the whole nine. Any of those 10 hours that are left over, you use to hector your neighbors into doing the same thing, with mixed success. Even if you get everyones buy-in, the waste in the dump is only ever going down by 3 percent, from 100 tons to 97 tonsnot nearly enough to stop the water contamination problem. However, your personal action leaves you sort of satisfied that you didnt do nothing.

Now lets say that, instead, you continued to generate your own waste same as before and accepted the idea that whatever you contributed to that 3 percent is negligible compared to the much larger effect of the dumping corporation. Now you take those 10 hours of time to lobby your local government to make the corporation stop dumping its waste in the landfill, and use some of that time to get your neighbors to organize as well. After some coordination, the corporation reduces its waste, lets say by half, to 48.5 tons from 97. Maybe your local government even shuts that company down, and uses subsidies to replace it with a completely green alternative that produces as much waste as all of your garbage-happy neighbors. Now your groundwater is way, way safer, even though you personally did nothing to manage your own contribution to it. Here you also feel satisfied that you made a difference, but you made a far, far bigger difference with the same amount of investment.

My presumption here is that our capacity in terms of time, attention, and patience for affecting change is finite. Its extremely important not to confuse what makes us, as individuals, feel assuaged that we Did A Thing with what is actually a good use of that finite time, attention, and patience. Some people have time and money to only source and buy organic, sustainably raised foods, and compost, or like, never use air travel. Bully for them. I dont, and I think most people also dont. (Even the people who can, mostly dont; even this guy advocating for individual action points out that the wealthiest 10 percent of people are responsible for the vast majority of emissions. There is no ceiling for how much the rich should worry about individual action, in my opinion).

You can spin in your own hamster wheel of personal action and spend your disposable income on alternative meats or walk through the neighborhood picking up trashthat has a concrete impact! Microplastics entering the environment are bad! But is that as good a use of your time and resources as, say, canvassing for or donating to a politician who will make actual strides in regulating big oil corporations, or investing in green energy, or forcing factory farms out of business and subsidizing sustainable small farms?

There are always going to be noisy people who are going to be like, But cant you do both? Cant you go broke at Whole Foods out of abstract guilt over the source of red meat, AND canvas for a politician? Like, sure, you can. But if youre grinding away at a job you hate to try to earn a decent income where the only earth-friendly gesture you have bandwidth for is buying frozen meatless crumbles instead of tri-tip, Im not sure youre asking yourself the right questions about the direction the planet is going and your place in it.

I dont know if people have noticed, but none of us have any money. As wages stay flat and taxes stay low for rich people and relatively high for middle- to low-income people, our capacity to vote with our dollars goes down every single day.

We are at a dire-enough stage of climate crisis where individual action is not going to be enough to substantively change the course were on. That opportunity passed some time in the late 80s. (And honestly, its debatable it ever really existed, given the amount of obfuscation energy companies were doing around climate science; theyve known they were lining us up for absolutely massive problems and have been sweeping the whole thing under the rug since the late 70s.)

Its true that we need absolutely everyone behind the climate crisis, but were now in triage mode. Its in the same way that we dont need to be better at our jobs through life-hack tweaks as wages remain flat and the exuberantly wealthys taxes continue to go downwhat we actually need is our fair share, and big corporations and rich people need to pay up. We need to focus on the people (businesses) largely responsible for the state of things.

As you point out, whey protein is probably not great environmentally, being that its derived from the same animals causing emissions concerns, plus it creates a significant amount of acid waste that we currently have no use for. So if youre trying to hit a protein count, particularly if you are intolerant to the usual vegan sources of protein (there is hemp protein you can try, and rice protein, and, god, I might have seen coconut protein once but who knows if thats any use at all), youre already in for some measure of planetary ruin. Embrace it, I say, but with the knowledge that you have a greater duty to support infrastructural change such that the responsibility of saving the planet doesnt fall to the personal retail choices of you, a hapless non-ruling-class consumer.

It might surprise you to hear after all this that I dont even like meat that much, and Im super picky about it. Its gross to handle raw, and generally makes a lot of mess when you cook it. If a nice steak ends up in front of me, I will be really happy, but thats expensive, and I dont love or even need it enough to make it myself except extremely rarely. Cheese, eggs, and milk Id be far sadder to lose. But Im going to continue to eat them while I focus on my bigger goal to change the system, which I find much more satisfying and which helps me sleep far better at night than sanctimoniously buying various forms of soy.

Disclaimer: Casey Johnston is not a doctor, nutritionist, dietitian, personal trainer, physiotherapist, psychotherapist, doctor, or lawyer; she is simply someone who done a lot of, and read a lot about, lifting weights. You can read past Ask A Swole Woman columns at The Hairpin and at SELF and follow A Swole Woman on Instagram. Got a question for her? Email swole.woman@vice.com .

Continued here:
Isn't It Bad to Eat Meat When the Planet Is Dying? - VICE

Eggs are one of the most versatile foods out there you can cook them in endless ways, they keep you full for hours and theyre a nutritional powerhouse loaded with protein and other nutrients that protect eye, muscle and bone health.

Despite all these benefits, eggs have gotten a bad reputation at times because of the high cholesterol found in their yolks. The information is confusing: One week the news will tell us eggs are perfectly healthy and the next were told to stop eating eggs. To find out how many eggs are healthy to eat, we reached out to medical and nutrition experts to help clear up some of the confusion.

Can eggs be part of a healthy diet?

If youre generally in good health and dont have heart disease or high cholesterol, eggs can be part of a healthy diet when eaten in moderation. Eggs are good for us for a lot of different reasons theyre unprocessed, rich in protein, low in calories and contain healthy fats and other nutrients.

One egg provides 6 grams of protein about the amount found in an ounce of beef, turkey, chicken or fish along with other nutrients such as vitamin A, vitamin B12, vitamin B6 and small amounts of iron and vitamin D, all for only 77 calories, said Lisa Diewald, a registered dietitian and program manager at Villanova Universitys MacDonald Center for Obesity Prevention and Education.

Eggs are also relatively inexpensive compared with some other sources of protein, like meat, fish and nuts. In addition, they contribute to a feeling of satiety, which may keep you from reaching for snacks between meals.

But you can easily diminish the health benefits if youre not careful about what you pair eggs with. People often eat eggs alongside bacon, sausage and other processed foods.

There is substantial evidence that processed and highly processed foods are associated with overweight and obesity, as well as higher cardiovascular risk, said Artur Viana, a physician and clinical director of the Metabolic Health and Weight Loss Program at Yale Medicine.

How many eggs are too many eggs?

Theres no magic number when it comes to how many eggs you can each day. This depends on a lot of factors, including your biology and the other foods you eat throughout the day.

Nutrition research and recommendations consistently go back and forth on whether the cholesterol in eggs is bad for human health, and this can be seriously confusing.

Both the 2010 and 2015 versions of the U.S. Department of Agriculture Dietary Guidelines for Americans (these recommendations are updated every five years) say a 2,000-calorie diet should include 26 ounces of meat, poultry and eggs each week as part of protein requirements (for reference, a large egg weighs around 1.7 ounces). Beyond that recommendation, there is no information in the guidelines about limiting egg consumption. Diewald said this is because there wasnt sufficient evidence to show a relationship between cholesterol consumption and its impact on blood cholesterol when the guidelines were released in 2015.

Maren Caruso via Getty Images

But things have changed a bit since then.

In a recent study in JAMA of close to 30,000 individuals, the consumption of larger amounts of cholesterol and/or eggs was linked with a modest increase in cardiovascular disease risk and death, Diewald explained, referring to the Journal of the American Medical Association. On the other hand, a large international prospective study published just this year found no significant associations between eggs and blood cholesterol, risk of death, or other cardiovascular events.

Pointing to the JAMA study and the fact that egg yolks contain saturated fat, Sean Heffron, a cardiologist and assistant professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health, said its best to minimize egg consumption if you struggle with cholesterol. He also noted that eggs, like nearly any other food eaten in moderation, can be part of a heart-healthy diet.

Eating a dozen eggs a day is probably unhealthy, but a consumption within reason, such as two or three a day, is likely OK for people who dont struggle with cholesterol, Viana added.

But people with heart disease or high cholesterol need to be more cautious, Heffron said. If you dont like eggs, you can cut them out of your diet completely, he said. If you really like eggs, he suggested cutting down as much as you can, to possibly a maximum of one egg a day.

Some recent data suggest that even one egg daily can increase cardiovascular risk, Heffron pointed out. That being said, if the rest of the dietary saturated fat and cholesterol consumption from other sources is reduced, then less of a specific egg restriction might be reasonable.

The yolk of one large egg contains nearly 200 milligrams of cholesterol and we know that cholesterol in the foods we eat may raise levels of LDL cholesterol, which is often known as bad cholesterol because it can narrow arteries, reduce blood flow and cause other heart-health problems. The study Heffron and Viana alluded to found a significant association between higher consumption of eggs or dietary cholesterol and higher risk of cardiovascular disease. But other research shows that foods that are high in dietary cholesterol may not impact blood cholesterol significantly.

The Takeaway

Overall, Viana doesnt believe eggs are to blame for cardiovascular problems.

If somebody has a balanced diet that happens to include eggs daily and lives an overall healthy lifestyle with daily exercise, and no tobacco and only moderate alcohol use, it is unlikely that the cholesterol in eggs will have a major impact in their health, he said. Elevated blood cholesterol is associated with negative cardiovascular outcomes, but it is unclear whether cholesterol consumption, especially from eggs, is independently associated with that.

Another point to keep in mind is that not everyone responds in the same way to dietary cholesterol so what might work for one person may not for another.

Some individuals are genetically predisposed to making more cholesterol, so reductions in dietary cholesterol may not be enough to keep blood cholesterol levels in check, Diewald said. Others are hyper-responders, meaning increases in dietary cholesterol may quickly be reflected in blood cholesterol measures. Still others can pack away omelet after omelet and see no changes in cholesterol.

Rather than demonizing eggs or putting them on a pedestal based on the latest studies, Diewald suggests looking at the big picture. Eggs contain a ton of important nutrients, and yes, they also contain a large amount of cholesterol. For the most part, when consumed in moderation, eggs can be part of a nutritious diet alongside other heart-healthy foods like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, other sources of lean protein and healthy fats. But keep an eye on your blood work, and always pay attention to what your doctor recommends.

Read more:
How Many Eggs Are Healthy To Eat? Experts Weigh In. - HuffPost

Washing hands has been considered to be the most-effective tip for coronavirus prevention

Coronavirus in India: Cases of COVID-19 have been detected in Delhi, NCR, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Bengaluru and Karnataka. The total number of coronavirus cases in India rose to 29 after a Paytm employee was tested positive. Now is the time to take precautionary measures. Wash your hands with soap and water as many times as you can. Cover your face while sneezing and coughing and use a mask regularly. At this point of time, it is also important that you work towards improving your immunity.

Vitamin C-rich foods are considered to be the most effective when it comes to boosting your immunity. Here are some foods that must be a part of your diet for coronavirus prevention:

Also read: Coronavirus Prevention: Know When And How To Wash Your Hands To Stay Safe

Celeb nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar says that amla must be a part of your daily diet. The Indian gooseberry is a powerhouse of nutrients, especially Vitamin C, and antioxidants that work great for boosting your immunity. To include amla in your diet, you can have a tsp of chyawanprash in morning and in evening. You can have a raw amla (if you have the courage) or amla pickle or a mixture of amla and garlic clove on an empty stomach in order to improve your immunity.

This is a popular a concoction that is commonly consumed when suffering from cough and cold. A tulsi and ginger tea is what you need right now for giving a boost to your immunity. Boil a glass of water, add a few tulsi leaves, a small piece of grated ginger and a dash of black pepper. All these ingredients can help in fighting harmful bacteria and may keep viral infections away.

Also read:Ginger: Not Just Diabetes; It Can Help Reduce Blood Pressure As Well; Here's How You Should Have It

Crush a piece of ginger and some tulsi leaves. And some honey to the mixture and have a tsp of this mixture in morning and in evening to keep your immunity strong.

A cup of ginger, tulsi and honey tea can boost your immunity naturallyPhoto Credit: iStock

Your daily dose of immunity can also come from homemade laddos made with some powerful ingredients like jaggery, ghee, turmeric and ginger powder. Remember, turmeric is the powerful secret ingredient here. It may provide a strange, slightly pungent taste to the laddoos, but it is the one ingredient which can take you a long way for a strong immunity. To prepare these laddoos, you need a tsp of powdered turmeric, a tsp of jaggery, a tsp of ghee and a tsp of ginger powder. Mix all ingredients well and prepare small round balls or laddoos. Have two or three every day for a stronger immunity.

Also read:India Confirms 29 Coronavirus Cases; Do Not Panic But Boost Your Immunity With These Amazing Expert Tips To Fight It

Well, well. The age-old, time-tested remedy is here to your rescue yet again. A cup of haldi doodh (turmeric latte as it is popularly called) before bed time every day can do wonders for improving your immunity. What's more, it can help in reducing joint pain and arthritis pain. Add a tsp of turmeric powder to boiled milk. Add jaggery or honey to taste if you want it sweet. Drink it at least half an hour before bed time to get good sleep and be disease-free.

A cup of turmeric milk at night can help in boosting your immunityPhoto Credit: iStock

Disclaimer: This content including advice provides generic information only. It is in no way a substitute for qualified medical opinion. Always consult a specialist or your own doctor for more information. NDTV does not claim responsibility for this information.

Original post:
Coronavirus Prevention: 5 Immunity Boosting Tips That Actually Work - NDTV News

In the case of weight and diet articles, they feed the focus we have as a society on these issues. And the focus we all have on these issues is markedly unhealthy, for people of every weight.

Why? Partly because if we prioritise our weight then we can be susceptible to compromising our health (for example, by crash dieting), and partly because if we make weight our primary value then it becomes easy to devalue those who dont conform to those ideals. Weight stigma and "fat-phobia" are rampant, not only within our community, but within the medical profession and the effect is devastating; driving further weight-gain, self-hatred and mental ill-health, including depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, eating disorders and exercise avoidance.

Through our unhealthy focus and through our communal judgment, we are helping no one and exacerbating an escalating public health epidemic.

And that is before we even consider the impact of those in the food industry knowingly selling us processed foods that make us sick or those profiting off peddling diets that dont work to the vulnerable.

While many diets can accurately claim to work at least initially, because if we restrict calories we will lose weight they hook us into a cycle because firstly they are unsustainable and secondly we are hard-wired to put on more weight when they inevitably come to an end.

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When we diet, we lose both fat and muscle. But when we stop the diet, we typically just gain back the fat, unless we are exercising particularly intensely to preserve muscle.

With each of those cycles you shift your body composition more and more towards a higher fat percentage, which is a less metabolically efficient machine, Mark Bittman and Dr David Katz explain in their new book, How to Eat. Fat requires fewer calories to maintain its size than muscle does. So essentially, you create a pathway by which you need fewer calories each time to maintain fat and require even more severe calorie restriction to lose it.

Blaming individuals for finding themselves stuck in this spiral is as futile as it is short-sighted.

The choices any one of us make are always subordinate to the choices all of us have, Bittman and Katz argue. We live in a food supply willfully designed by experts to maximise eating for the sake of corporate profits... blaming overweight people and those with diabetes is all wrong. Bathroom scales and glucometers do not measure character or worth, and we have to unbundle disease and personal responsibility... to confront the health threat of obesity without blaming the victims of the condition for it.

So how do we do this?

We have to recognise our collective role in contributing to the problem we all face, our subconscious or conscious weight biases. We have to reject the weight stigma that diet culture relies on and redirect our frustration at a food system that willfully promotes foods that make us ill.

One thing we can all do is shift the conversation from weight to health, and we all deserve both health and to be cared for in our bodies.

I think everybody should think about What is health for? What is weight control for? Dr David Katz suggested when we chatted earlier in the week. I think if they pushed on that, they would realise, well the answer is to have the best possible life and it really doesnt help you have the best possible life if youre fixated on your weight or a number on the scale.

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Focus on what youre trying to gain vitality, energy, the ability to do the things youd like to do with gusto and it turns out if you get that formula right your weight will sort itself out too.

In their report, the World Obesity Federation said that the cycle of shame and blame needs to be broken: [We need] to re-evaluate our approach for addressing this complex, chronic disease that affects over 650 million adults and more than 125 million children worldwide.

I couldnt agree more and that change starts with the attitudes of us all and where we direct our attention.

Body Language is our wellbeing column, examining trending issues in diet, health and fitness.

Sarah Berry is a lifestyle and health writer at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

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'Helping no one': The role we all play in the obesity epidemic - Sydney Morning Herald