It's rare that a new diet trend gets a positive review from the health community, but for the most part, Noom has been praised for encouraging people to focus on healthier eating habits. A millennial-friendly app, Noom is a diet service that actually doesn't require you to give up the foods that you love to eat. Dieters, who pay a minimum of $59 each month for access to the app, are pushed to think about the Big Picture. Developed by a team of psychologists, the Noom diet is all about making long-term lifestyle shifts, unlike fad diets that might require a short-term fast or the shunning of certain food groups. It also connects dieters to live coaches and allows you to receive 1-on-1 health coaching during regular business hours.

Noom allows you to log exercise, weight loss over time, and blood sugar levels as well as blood pressure. The diet itself begins after you take an in-depth quiz based on a series of lifestyle questions calorie restrictions are recommended on a case by case basis, and they may recommend a diabetes management plan. Unlike the weight loss plan, the diabetes Noom plan is designed to particularly aid individuals suffering from both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, and may help prevent overweight or obese individuals from becoming pre-diabetic (it's even recognized by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

But how exactly does Noom enable you to lose weight if it doesn't restrict you? It all has to do with a color-coded system that is subtly different for each user.

Courtesy of Noom

Like Weight Watchers and other popular paid weight loss services, the Noom app helps you lose weight by asking you to track your meals. It measures the caloric value of every item you input and compares it to the exercise and other physical movement you've completed during the day, as well as weighing both those factors against your personal goals. While Noom aims to keep your body fueled with sufficient calories, it doesn't technically restrict you from eating any ingredients or food groups.

But as Jacklyn London, MS, RD, points out in her formal review of the service, dieters only get the best results if they enjoy highly caloric, sugary, or processed snacks in light moderation. Noom doesn't push a strict regiment by any means, but the app rewards you for eating wholesome, nutrient-dense foods through its color-coding system. Even when you do eat an indulgent meal, the app will try to help you reduce caloric blowback by encouraging portion control for certain ingredients that come up red.

It's important to remember that red foods aren't "bad" and green foods can also be considered unhealthy in copious amounts. If you're stuck trying to decide what to buy or eat, using Noom's color-coded list may help you make the best decision in the spur of the moment.

Green List:

Of course, the best foods to eat while on the Noom diet are designated in a bright green color these items are fresh vegetables, nourishing fruits, wholesome grains, and supercharged dairy items that work in tandem to regulate your digestive system. You'll find that you can enjoy bigger portions of these nutritional powerhouses throughout the day, and the more that you incorporate into your meals, the closer you'll get to your daily, weekly, and monthly weight loss goals.

Yellow List:

While the app encourages you to eat less foods that are coded yellow, you may notice that these ingredients are healthy in their own right. Noom has designated these items as second tier to foods on the green list only because they're denser in calories. This doesn't mean you should totally abstain from them, however; the app encourages you to incorporate lean proteins and other nutrient-rich items like tempeh into your meals, albeit in smaller amounts. If you find yourself frequently reaching for items that are on the yellow list, Noom's app is designed to help find a green-list item that you can easily swap for instead. For example, you may swap chicken breast out for tofu in a meal every once in a while because Noom rewards tofu more than it does chicken breast.

What you should limit:

As you've probably guessed, the foods that are tagged on Noom's red list are things that are high in calories, saturated fats, sodium, sugar, and processed carbohydrates. While you're not restricted from enjoying these items once in a blue moon, they should be avoided as much as possible on a daily basis. If you do enjoy a cheat snack, you may want to double up on foods found on Noom's green list throughout the rest of the day, or spend a few more minutes in the gym, in order to stay on par with your weight loss goals.

None of these items should be too shocking; highly processed meats, like bacon, are often restricted on most diets. Some of these items may be surprising, however, such as peanut butter, which can be quiet high in calories and (depending on the brand) sugars or sodium. While each of the items on Noom's red list vary in their degrees of nutritional value, you can always make them better for your own diet by choosing the healthiest variety possible: Stick to dark chocolate, natural peanut butter, or enjoying a sandwich made with low-sodium ham.

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The Full List of Foods You Can Eat on the Noom Diet - GoodHousekeeping.com

Char-Koosta News

ST. IGNATIUS February is American Heart Month and Go Red for Women and the Tribal Health Department Diabetes Program took the lead on the locally acknowledged issue, and informationally celebrated it Friday at the St. Ignatius Tribal Community Center. The event promoted a healthy diet and physical activity. Seventy-five adults signed in for the event, and with all the children the attendance was nearly 100.

Go Red for Women is the American Health Associations national health movement with the goal of curbing better yet, ending heart disease and strokes among women.

There were numerous health related informational booths at the Go Red for Women event.

A good healthy diet and exercise prolongs life, a good quality of life, said Kati Burton, THD Community Dietician. One of the first steps to a long and quality life is knowing what a person is eating; that starts with reading ingredient labels on processed foods. A healthy diet with exercise makes for a healthy body that lowers pain levels in muscles and joints, improves eyesight and blood flow. All foods contain vitamins, minerals and nutrients that keep us alive. The biggest difference a person can do is controlling the amount of fats in the food they eat read the ingredients.

Burton said another contributor to an unhealthy diet is the shift from family dining and fast food dining. The social nature of family dining affects both the body and mind especially when combined with healthy foods on the plates. In the case of American Indians, those foods could include the natural foodstuff that sated the diets of tribal Ancestors.

Burton encourages people to look into gardening or purchasing produce from local gardens, eating and preserving what comes from the garden.

Its good to know where your food comes from, she said.

The Montana State University Food Products Development Lab is researching and promoting the use of natural and healthy foods including foodstuff that were historically a part of the American Indian diet.

Dr. Wan-Yuan Kuo, MSU FPD Lab director said part of the mission of the program is Sustainable food product development sourcing local, specialty, and Indigenous crops to create healthy, eco-friendly, and culturally acceptable food products,

The lab is working with the Billings based Native American Development Corporation to establish research and education efforts to develop Native American food products.

Edwin Allen, MSU Food Products Development Lab, discusses the Lab and what it is doing to use underused healthy foods for healty diets.

Edwin Allen of the MSU FPD Lab said the program is working with the Indian Nations in Montana to incorporate under-utilized crops such as lentils, chickpeas, and peanuts into diets of tribal people. Allen is a MSU graduate student from Ghana who also has promoted such an effort in Senegal, Africa. He has heretofore worked with the Northern Cheyenne, Crow and CSKT tribes to promote heathy natural foods into diets.

On the Flathead Indian Reservation, he and other MSU FPD Lab students worked with the CSKT Fish Keepers to promote the use of lake trout into peoples diets. At the Go Red for Women gathering the group had smoked lake trout fish tacos on the menu in traditional corn tortillas and another with tacos in fish skin, both had huckleberries as an ingredient. They were a smokie spicy and sweet taste that wasnt bad on the palate.

We help people develop underused food products and want to help the Fish Keepers promote the consumption of the lake trout, Allen said. Montana is the third largest producer of lentils and we would like to use that here in food diets.

The lunch at the Go Red for women was a healthy serving of vegetable soups and salads.

In fact, the main luncheon dish was two thick soups with chick peas as the main ingredient.

Allen said the MSU FPD Lab will soon began researching and promoting bison. We will be working with the tribal community to incorporate lean bison meat in their diets, he said. All the ingredients we use for events like this is promoted by the tribal communities we are working with.

Allen said MSU is working on establishing a relationship with Salish Kootenai College on the development of natural and healthy food projects. We want to increase the consumption of Native products, he said.

The diet of Indian women is high on processed foods that increase blood pressure and cholesterol, said THD Diabetes Program manager Brenda Bodner. Its pretty easy to turn that around with improvements in diet. That includes choosing quality foods. Beans are a big emphasis today they are rich in protein, and good for cardiovascular health.

THD nurse Chelsea Kleinmeyer said healthy food and exercise are good ingredients for a healthy lifestyle.

Get away from the TV or computer screen and get outside and be active, she said. Being outside is very beneficial, it reduces stress and lowers blood pressure and improves mental health.

Another highlight of the Go Red for Women event was the Native fashion show that featured all-age models in Native design apparel. The fashions all incorporated the color red.

Symptoms of a Stroke

Signs that you may be having a stroke:

You should never wait more than five minutes to dial 9-1-1 if you experience even one of the signs above. Remember, you could be having a stroke even if youre not experiencing all of the symptoms. And remember to check the time. The responding emergency medical technician or emergency room nurse at the hospital will need to know when the first symptom occurred.

Stroke is not only the number four cause of death in the United States, its also a leading cause of severe, long-term disability. Thats why its important to take action immediately. Research conducted by The American Stroke Association shows that patients who take a clot-busting drug, or thrombolytic, within three hours of their first stroke symptom can reduce long-term disability from ischemic stroke the most common type, accounting for about 87 percent of all cases.

When you know the signs of stroke, the life you save could be your own or someone elses. Learn to spot the signs of stroke, or spot a stroke F.A.S.T. (Face drooping, Arm weakness, Speech difficulty, Time to call 911) with the help of mobile app for iOS or Android. Your life is in your hands.

Learn more about your risk for heart disease and stroke as well as factors that increase your risk.

Knowing the Warning Signs of a Heart Attack, and Acting Quickly can Save a Life

Causes of a heart attack in women

Heart attacks occur when the flow of blood to the heart is blocked by a buildup of plaque in coronary arteries. While the initial causation can often be pinned on the usual suspects heavy smokers, people with high-stress lifestyles, or those who are excessively overweightthe not-so-usual suspects can also be at high risk for heart attack.

Heart disease is the number one killer of women, which is why it is imperative that women learn the warning signs and symptoms, see a doctor regularly, and learn their family history.

Symptoms of a heart attack:

As with men, the most common heart attack symptom in women is chest pain or discomfort. But its important to note that women are more likely to experience the other common symptoms, particularly shortness of breath, nausea/vomiting and back or jaw pain.

What to do during a heart attack

If you experience any of these signs or symptoms:

Why its important to know the symptoms of a heart attack

Women who consider themselves healthy often misdiagnose the symptoms of a heart attack because they dont think it could happen to them. That is why its crucial to learn about heart disease and stroke, know your numbers, live a heart-healthy lifestyle and be aware of the risk factors of heart disease.

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Go Red for Women promotes healthy diets, hearts and fun - Char-Koosta News

By Jonny Lupsha, News Writer

A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on the JAMA Network website determined that the most effective diets can rarely, if ever, be determined by our DNA. Some studies have reported that genotype variation could predispose individuals to differential weight loss that varies by diet type, the study said. However, the diet-genotype interaction for weight loss was not statistically significant. The finding of no significant difference in weight loss in genotype-matched vs. mismatched groups in the current study highlights the importance of conducting large, appropriately powered trials such as DIETFITS for validating early exploratory analyses.

In other words, statistically speaking, matching a diet to your DNA rarely works and shouldnt be considered a winning method for weight loss. The relationship between your unique body physiology and the foods you eat determine your level of nutrition: Certain types of foods affect our cells on a molecular level, regardless of our genetic make-up.

What you eat will ultimately make up portions of your cells, skin, hair, blood transportation systems, muscle, fat, and more, said Dr. Michael Ormsbee, Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Sciences and Assistant Director of the Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine in the College of Human Sciences at Florida State University.

The nutrients you eat are not just being transported around throughout our digestive systems and in the blood; they are also an ingrained part of every cell tissue that makes us who we are and what we do. Our bodies are, to a significant extent, composed of the foods that we eat.

Dr. Ormsbee said that our cells bond together to make tissues, which make up our organs, which combine to make our entire bodies function properly. If your cells are not healthy, they will not work properly; and if the cells dont work properly, then the tissues wont work properly; and if tissues arent working, then the systems begin to fail, he said.

The best way to prevent this detrimental snowball effect is to keep our cells healthy by feeding them the right nutrients.

The structures of your cells are made up of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals, Dr. Ormsbee said. The foods we eat every single day are made up of fats, proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. The foods you eat have a major influence on your cellular function because they ultimately become your cells.

If this idea seems a bit coincidental, there are several examples to shed light on the relationship between your diet and your cells. Dr. Ormsbee said that unsaturated fats are one such example. Cell membranes are semi-permeable, and this is due to the fluid structure of the fats, as he called it. Trans fats and saturated fats are more rigid than unsaturated fats.

They dont function the same way as the unsaturated fats, and they cause membranes to be much more rigid than is optimal, potentially limiting the functionality of the cells, Dr. Ormsbee said. Diets that are too high in one type of fatfor example, trans fatsmight lead to a rigid, brittle cell membrane that cannot communicate as well as if they were comprised of a better mix of fat types.

This is one reason why many nutritionists recommend eating all types of fats so that one type doesnt predominate in the diet and end up altering the optimal functioning of those cells.

So, even though our diets help determine who we are, that doesnt mean that our genotypes should determine our diets.

Dr. Michael Ormsbee contributed to this article. Dr. Ormsbee is an Associate Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Sciences and Assistant Director of the Institute of Sports Sciences and Medicine in the College of Human Sciences at Florida State University. He received his Ph.D. in Bioenergetics from East Carolina University.

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Fad of Matching Diet to DNA Ineffective, New Study Shows - The Great Courses Daily News

There's a switch inside every cell in your body. Flip it on and you're in growth mode. Your cells start dividing but in the process, they make a lot of junk like mis-folded proteins, which help create the conditions for our biggest diseases (including cardiovascular, Alzheimer's and the big C). Flip the switch off, though, and your cells literally take out the trash leaving them clean, renewed, effectively young.

We know how to flip the switch. The trick is figuring out when. Because leaving your body in cleanup mode for too long can also be extremely bad for your health, in the much shorter term. Doing so has been the cause of anxiety, misery and disorder, for decades. It's also known as starvation.

The delicate dance of food consumption is at the heart of The Switch, a new book about new body-energy science and how it can help us live longer. Author and research scientist James Clement studies people who reach the age of 110; Harvard's David Sinclair, who recently wrote a groundbreaking book on the end of aging, is his mentor. As Clement's book hit shelves, an unrelated study in Nature confirmed its premise: mTOR (your genetic "on" switch) cannot coexist with autophagy (trash removal), and that is "implicated in metabolic disorders, neuro-degeneration, cancer and aging," the study said.

In other words: We age faster, get sicker and harm our brains when we fill the hours we're awake with food, day in and day out. Organic beings need more of a break than just a good night's rest in order to properly take out the trash. We're the opposite of automobiles. We break down eventually unless we run out of fuel. (Glycogen, which is what the body converts food into, is our gas.)

These revelations shed a new spotlight on fasting, the main way to induce autophagy (you can also kickstart it with intense exercise on a mostly empty stomach). But this is where we run into problems, and not just because autophagy literally translates to "eating yourself." (It can be hard for scientists to explain that this is actually a good thing and that all living things do it, from simple yeast all the way up to primates; we were designed to work this way by millennia of feast and famine.)

The problem isn't the science, it's the culture. For most of history, fasting was locked into human lives at a steady, healthy pace in some form of ritual, religious or otherwise. But in the modern world, we make our own rituals, and they easily shade into obsessions. This happens a lot with new diets: We get the zeal of the convert. We bore our friends to death with the particulars. And we take it too far, which in the case of fasting can be dangerous.

In a column published this week, the New York Times' veteran health columnist Jane Brody came around to the value of intermittent fasting. But she sounded a personal note of caution: "For people with a known or hidden tendency to develop an eating disorder, fasting can be the perfect trigger, which I discovered in my early 20s. In trying to control my weight, I consumed little or nothing all day, but once I ate in the evening, I couldnt stop and ended up with a binge eating disorder."

Something similar, at least to the first part of that story, seems to have happened to Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Last year Dorsey boasted about fasting for 22 hours, eating just one meal at dinnertime, and skipping food for the whole damn weekend. "I felt like I was hallucinating," he enthused, boasting of his increased focus and euphoria.

But as many withering articles pointed out, Dorsey's words would have triggered concern if they came from the mouth of a teenage girl since focus and euphoria can also be early signs of anorexia and bulimia. Clearly there is a tangled set of gendered assumptions at play here. "Its both remarkable and depressing to watch Jack Dorsey blithely describe a diet that would put any woman or any non-wealthy man into the penalty box of public opinion," wrote Washington Post columnist Monica Hesse.

That's not what The Switch is about. Clement doesn't endorse Dorsey's extreme approach, since the research shows benefits diminish after 16 hours of fasting. "I have friends who are bulimic, I know how serious a problem it is," he said when I raised the issue. "The kind of fasting that I'm talking about is just making sure your mTOR and autophagy are in balance."

Indeed, The Switch is a very balanced book, with plenty of nuanced suggestions for how you can make your food situation just a little bit better without making too many radical changes. (That probably explains why it hasn't taken off on the diet book media circuit, which tends to favor rules that are extreme, unusual, and headline-friendly.)

Here's a breakdown of Clement's advice.

Like most medicine, the mTOR switch is good for you if used at the correct dose, and poison at high doses. There's a reason it exists: It's your body's way of saying "times are good, let's grow muscle and fat!" Fat isn't inherently bad for you, either on your body or in your diet. Indeed, the good fats are what Clement suggests we consume the most fish, avocados, plant-based oils and nuts, macadamias especially alongside regular greens, most legumes and a little fruit.

If you're cutting down the amount of time you eat, then the content of your meals matters more. Clement himself gets good results from a meatless version of the ketogenic diet, which he says makes him less hungry but he doesn't rule out other diets that focus on good fat and fiber.

At the very least, be sure to avoid the stuff that spikes blood sugar. It will make you too hungry too soon, which will make autophagy impossible. You didn't think this whole Switch thing was going to give you permission to snarf on soda and hot dogs, did you?

Well, it does, actually just very occasionally.

Clement brings a lot of science on protein to the table, and the bad news is you're probably eating way more of it than you think you need. Animal protein flips the mTOR switch into high gear (which is why Clement is into mostly vegan keto). Sadly, so does regular dairy, and as a milk fan I found the new studies on this particularly hard reading.

But it makes evolutionary sense. Cow milk is designed to make calves grow many sizes in a short space of time, and the way you do that is by activating the mTOR pathway. So it's hard to switch into autophagy if you're chugging milk all the time. (Non-cow milks and cheeses seem to be fine, mTOR-wise.)

Which isn't to say you can't have meat and milk at all. This isn't one of those fundamentally restrictive diets we always break. Clement suggests dividing the week or month or year into growth and fasting phases. You might decide to eat as much as you want for three months of the year (which takes care of the holidays problem), say, or try doing the fasting thing for five days a month.

Whichever way you do it, the sweet spot seems to put you in growth mode around 20 percent of the time. But that's not a hard and fast number, because again, this isn't one-size-fits-all. (It certainly doesn't apply to kids, who need to grow more like calves.) I told Clement that after reading the book I was thinking of only allowing myself meat or milk on the weekends; he enthusiastically endorsed the idea.

Ready to turn on autophagy for its disease-fighting benefits? Ready to avoid doing it too much? Ready to eat more nutritious food when you break your fast? Then it's time to figure out how long you want to fast for and you'll be surprised about how little time it takes to see the effects.

The math varies from human to human, but "you only have about six to 10 hours worth of glycogen stored in your body at any given time," says Clement. "So you can actually burn through those overnight if you didn't load up with carbs in your evening meal or 11 o'clock snacks."

That provides one particularly effortless way to fast for those of us who don't wake up hungry (and if you're eating the right stuff, you generally won't). Let's say you ate your last bite at 9 p.m. and wake up at 7 a.m. Congratulations, you're already out of glycogen and in autophagy! Now the question is: how long is it comfortable for you to stay foodless, bearing in mind you don't want to go past a total of 16 hours? (In this example, that would be 1 p.m.)

You'll definitely want to hydrate immediately, of course: Sleep literally shrivels your brain. You might want to drink some coffee, which enhances autophagy (the all-time Guinness World Record oldest human, Jeanne Calment of France, took no breakfast but coffee, and died at 122). If you can stand to do so, this would be a great time to work out. Exercise seems to act like an autophagy power up; one study suggests working up a sweat might boost our cells' trash-cleaning effectiveness all the way up to the 80-minute mark.

So if you went from 9 p.m. to 1 p.m., or whatever 16-hour period suits your schedule (7 p.m. to 11 a.m. seems to be a popular one for fasters who don't make late dinner reservations, and it is easily remembered as "7-11"), then congratulations. You just did the maximally beneficial fast. Take that, Jack Dorsey.

But if you didn't? No sweat. If you only made it until 10 a.m., or 8 a.m. before needing food, your entire body still got a boost of cleanup time. And if you needed an immediate breakfast, that's fine too. Fasting doesn't have to happen every day; in fact it's imperative that it doesn't. Every morning is an opportunity to listen to your body and see if it's ready for a quick restorative food break.

Everyone who's ever tried to diet knows the terrible guilt that comes after grabbing obviously bad food, Don't stress over it, says Clement. Don't be maniacal. The whole point is to be in balance. We all need mTOR-boosting feasts from time to time. "It's fine to have one pepperoni pizza on a Sunday, or whatever," he says. So long as you're eating well most of the time and fasting every now and again, you'll see positive effects.

And if you can't fast at all and can't stop snacking? No worries, just change what you're eating. "If you switch over to snacking on either very low glycemic veggies like broccoli tops or carrots, or nuts, then you're not going to be replenishing your glycogen stores," Clement says. Stick a small bowl of almonds and blueberries in the kitchen and you'll be surprised, over time, at how little it takes to satisfy supposedly giant cravings.

That was what I learned, not from Clement's book, but from David Sinclair's. The Harvard geneticist and Clement mentor doesn't focus so much on lengthy fasts, although he takes a number of fast-mimicking supplements. His dieting approach is to simply eat less, to "flip a switch in your head that allows you to be OK with being a little hungry." For some of us, such small moves may be more effective than going all-out on a new diet.

If youd like to talk to someone about your eating behaviors, call the National Eating Disorder Associations helpline at 800-931-2237. You can also text NEDA to 741-741 to be connected with a trained volunteer at the Crisis Text Line or visit NEDA's website for more information.

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Not fasting is killing us, but fasting can hurt us too. Here's what to do. - Mashable

Happy Thursday MarketWatchers. Dont miss these top stories:

Barrons wants to recognize people and organizations whose products, services, or education programs are making an impact to improve the financial health of individuals across the U.S. Be sure to head to barrons.com/celebrates for more information and to submit a nomination by Feb. 29 for the Barrons Celebrates: Financial Empowerment program.

Significant expenses for one family member may adversely affect the whole family.

IRS audits have been sliding for years as the federal tax collectors staffing has been reduced.

There are several deferments and forbearances that can temporarily suspend the obligation to repay federal student loans.

Researchers evaluated the coronary health of 760 women over a decade to figure out how what we eat affects our heart health.

Department officials say the new rules help students, and also save taxpayers money.

Disney increased the prices of some tickets and passes for its theme parks in California and Florida.

Implementing systemic change like Medicare for All, the plan championed by 2020 Democratic frontrunner Sen. Bernie Sanders, sits lower on the list.

She tries to curb my outside activities, and basically wants me to bend to her will on anything and everything.

For the last few months, Ive been working two part-time jobs in addition to my military duties to save up for my monthly shortfall while Im in school.

The number of pages will probably be in the thousands of pages.

Roger Stone, a longtime associate of President Donald Trump, on Thursday was sentenced to 40 months in prison after being convicted of lying to Congress, witness tampering and obstruction.

The odds of an economic downturn in the this year remain low, which means that President Donald Trumps prospects for re-election in November are strong. But he remains his own worst enemy, writes Michael Boskin.

Governments must urgently adopt effective global health diplomacy to stem the growing global panic caused by the coronavirus outbreak.

Burger King announces it is removing artificial preservatives from its most famous burger.

Young and old each have their advantages, but the combination of both is best for solving problems.

The economy showed some more sizzle at the start of 2020, pointing to steady growth in the next several months, according to an index that measures the nations economic health. The leading economic index jumped 0.8% in January.

Do you believe the world will embrace a green path toward the future? If so, you might want to consider slapping a palladium position next to your Tesla shares in your portfolio, according to the investor behind the Market Ear blog.

Thursdays stock-market swoon could be down to traders finally realizing that the coronavirus impact could be more lasting than thought.

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Why the IRS might soon be ringing your doorbell and this diet will help reduce your risk of heart disease, scientists say - MarketWatch

DEAR DR. ROACH: Does eating strictly organic food and drinking only bottled water help in a meaningful way to prevent diseases and contribute to a long and healthy life? M.T.

ANSWER: There is no consistent high-quality evidence that consuming organic foods lead to improvement in health outcomes, including longer life. Some but not all studies have found slightly higher amounts of nutrients in organically grown produce. Organic foods are made without synthetic pesticides, but may use pesticides found in nature. There is not convincing evidence that natural pesticides are any safer, nor that the small amount of residual pesticides left in conventional produce leads to significant health risks. However, there is preliminary evidence that consumption of mostly organic food led to a decrease in the risk of one type of cancer, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, but not an overall decrease in cancer. Based on current available evidence, I dont recommend organic food consumption for health benefits.

The quality of tap water varies greatly across North America, but most locations have high-quality water available at extremely low cost with minimal environmental impact compared with bottled water. Even if tap water is unpalatable in a persons location, I recommend a filter system rather than resorting to bottled water, again for environmental concerns as well as cost. Bottled water is rarely the only option, and if so it is usually due to contamination of tap water with microbes or heavy metals, which should be known to the community. My own municipality mails me a water quality report yearly, and it is outstanding quality.

Two additional points are worth considering. The first is that organically prepared foods have been the cause of foodborne illness due to contamination at a much higher level than expected. The second is that organic farming prohibits nontherapeutic antibiotics, a practice with which I strongly agree as a means of reducing the potential for antibiotic resistance.

Until further evidence is available, my opinion is that most people would do better eating more produce, whether conventionally or organically grown. Locally grown fresh produce may have more benefits than organically produced due to freshness.

DEAR DR. ROACH: All of the latest information states that an adult needs seven to nine hours of sleep a night. Is this unbroken sleep? For example, I sleep for four hours, wake up for one to two hours, and then sleep three to four more hours almost every night. If the sleep is to be continuous, is it better to take a sleeping aid or continue with the current pattern? Nothing I read indicates if sleeping seven to nine hours with a sleeping aid provides the same benefit as not sleeping continuously for that time period. P.M.

ANSWER: While it is true that people who sleep seven to nine hours per night tend to live longer than those who sleep less (or more), it is likely that there are some people who need more or less sleep than the average. Further, it isnt clear whether the apparent improvement in longevity is due to better sleeping, or whether people who dont sleep well have an underlying medical condition that is really responsible for the harm seen.

As far as whether continuous sleep is better than interrupted sleep, there isnt good evidence to compare the two. There is strong historical evidence that prior to artificial lighting, two distinct sleep periods separated by an hour or so was considered normal.

Most sleeping aids adversely affect sleep quality, and increase risk of falls and accidents the next day. If interrupted sleep is working for you, Id recommend continuing versus using a sleeping pill.

* * *

Dr. Roach regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but will incorporate them in the column whenever possible. Readers may email questions to [emailprotected] or send mail to 628 Virginia Dr., Orlando, FL 32803.

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Risks and rewards of a strictly organic diet - Lewiston Sun Journal

LAS VEGAS, NV - MAY 20: Recording artist Demi Lovato attends the 2018 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 20, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for dcp

From the outside, Demi Lovato seems to be living a dream life, debuting an emotional new single at this year's Grammy, and achieving her lifelong goal of performing the national anthem at the Superbowl.

But internally, the star has undergone consistent struggles with body image and self-acceptance, she told model Ashley Graham in a podcast that aired on Tuesday. Lovato suffered a drug overdose in July 2018 that was preceded by her struggles with an insidious form of eating disorder, in the form of an obessesion with healthy eating and exercise.

"I thought the past few years was recovery from an eating disorder when it actually was just completely falling into it," Lovato told Graham on the podcast.

Lovato said that during the peak of her disorder, she was exercising as much as three times a day. This included working out after every meal, to the point where it was disrupting other activities in her life.

"There were times I lived at the gym," Lovato told Graham."I'd eat a meal, go work out. And that's not happiness to me, that's not freedom."

This compulsion to work out is known as exercise addiction. People with exercise addiction may work outto the point of injury, at the expense of their health, social relationships, and even finances.

Although it can occur with or without eating disorders, recent research found that people with eating disorders are 4 times more likely to develop exercise addiction that the general population.

Lovato also said that after previously struggling with "extreme diets," she later realized she had more suble signs of an eating disorder.

"I realized my symptoms weren't as obvious but it was definitely an eating issue," she told Graham.

One example of an insidious eating disorder is orthorexia, defined as an compulsion to eat only "clean" or "healthy" foods. On the surface, the obsession can seem innocuous who doesn't want to eat healthy?

But taken to an extreme, that can lead toward diet that severely restricts certain types of foods labeled as "bad,"including many that are in fact harmless, such as carbs, dairy, or fruit. It can also cause feelings of guilt, shame or anxiety attached to eating certain foods.

Orthorexia can also occur alongside other types of disordered eating.

Eating disorders can be dangerous or even life-threatening, and should be treated by professionals.

Lovato said her recovery has involved extensive work with experts, including therapists, dietitians and other medical professionals.

Part of coming to terms with her body image involves a practice of acceptance, Lovato said. Rather than saying she finds herself beautiful, sexy, and flawless, even if that isn't true, Lovato said she's worked on recognizing she isn't perfect, and that's ok.

"I see myself in the mirror and I say ... 'Nope, you're healthy and I accept you.' And that's all I need to do," she said. "It's expressing gratitude in the health and reality in accepting yourself rather than trying to convince yourself of something you don't believe."

Lovato also said that it's been helpful for her to focus on engaging forms of exercise she genuinely enjoys, such as jiu- jitsu, a martial art involving intense strategy and technique.

"I feel sexiest when I'm doing jiu jitsu because I'm not thinking about my body. I feel sexy when i'm showing my strength, showing intelligence," she told Graham.

And, she added, it's been a long time since she even stepped on a scale.

"I don't know what I weigh and it's the most free i've felt in my whole life," Lovato said.

Read more:

People with eating disorders are 4 times more likely to develop a dangerous addiction to exercise, study finds

'Intuitive eating' is on the rise, and experts say it's because people are fed up with diet culture

Khloe Kardashian promoted Flat Tummy shakes again, and influencers are warning they promote risky dieting habits

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Demi Lovato opens up about exercise addiction: 'I lived at the gym' - Insider - INSIDER

Five years later, I did a double take while walking through a Whole Foods in Brooklyn. Out of the corner of my eye, I had spotted a pile of narrow, long tubes in single-serving plastic shrink-wrapSlim Jim packaging, but with the sophisticated shades of organic groceries instead of the garish colors of snacks fighting for attention in convenience stores. I stopped to marvel at the sticks, made by a company called Vermont Smoke & Cure, and to quietly scoff at their audacity. Who would buy a gentrified Slim Jim as health food?

The answer turned out to be a lot of people. Over the past decade, the gospel of meat and spice has not only endured, but flourished into a shelf-stable-beef extravaganza. Slim Jims sales have nearly tripled since their 2010 dip, and new companies have sprung up to offer organic, grass-fed, or minimal-ingredient protein batons virtually everywhere: corner stores, airport newsstands, office snack deliveries, the ads slotted between Instagram Stories. To put a meat snack in every hand, snack purveyors have pulled off a trick that might have seemed impossible in the days of the Macho Man: They transformed surplus beef into health food.

Read: The capitalist way to make Americans stop eating meat

Despite my initial incredulity at the thought of gourmet Slim Jims, curiosity won out. I started buying fancy meat sticks and jerky in airportsflying is stressful enough without a tummy full of chocolate and Cheez-Its. Ive never had a meat stick that Id regard as delicious, exactly, but plenty of them taste perfectly fine. They occasionally show up in my offices snack stash, and theyre a better bridge to a delayed lunch than a tiny packet of organic animal crackers. They seem like no less reasonable a thing to have floating around at the bottom of my tote bag than a protein bar flavored like birthday cake.

To understand why dried sausage sticks are all the rage, you have to look past their most famous American purveyor and into the fitness-centric enclaves on Reddit, Facebook, and Instagram. There, carbohydrate-skeptical plans like the paleo diet, Whole30, and the ketogenic diet, often called keto, have found an audience of millions in the past decade1.7 million people subscribe to the keto subreddit, and more than 4 million Instagram photos have been tagged with #whole30. These diets vary in their exact restrictions, but they all posit that Americans have been sold a bill of goods on health food, and that sugars, starches, and low-fat processed foods should mostly be abandoned in favor of minimally processed protein, fat, and vegetables. While the actual science behind these diets varies, they've helped mainstream concerns that are in fact supported by considerable evidence.

Read: The Keto diets most controversial champion

In 2012, Pete Maldonado was caught up in the first gusts of the internets low-carb whirlwind while exercising at a CrossFit gym. He began to dabble in paleo eating, which lead him to a common realization for those who cut carbs: If you dont have a full kitchen at your disposal and time to cook in it, avoiding them is basically impossible. Sugar shows up everywhereeven in conventional meat sticks and jerky, as a stabilizerand particularly in the protein bars and powders marketed to people trying to build muscle. There werent very many on-the-go convenient options, especially ones that were healthy, Maldonado says. They were candy bars for people who were into fitness.

Read more here:
Meat Trimmings Are a Health Food Now - The Atlantic

While fast food restaurants and QSRs are finding new ways to keep up with the plant-based boom, Chipotle has taken a little bit longer to hop on the bandwagon. The chain does offer a tofu-based filling, but is currently working on more plant-based alternatives like cauliflower rice to offer customers.

Most places are opting for meat alternatives like Beyond Meat or Impossible Burgers, but Chipotle is looking for options that are "less-processed" according to a report by Bloomberg.

Chipotle's menu is pretty short compared to other restaurants, with only 53 ingredients. Sofritas is a tofu-based protein option currently available at Chipotle, but Chief Executive Officer Brian Niccol told Bloomberg they're working on more choices for those that follow a plant-based diet. There are a lot of meatless toppings at Chipotle already with the lettuce and salsa, but the chain is looking to include additional choices for people that don't eat meat or follow different diet plans. In 2019, Chipotle debuted a bowl that was Whole30 and Paleo diet friendly.

Cauliflower rice is one such option Chipotle is looking into for their low-carb customers. They're also working on more items made from black beans. Overall, Chipotle is aiming to make their meatless menu options above average. "We are definitely experimenting with plant-based foods. Were in the early days of it, Niccol said. What we want to do is make the worlds greatest cauliflower rice, as opposed to process something and make it seem like its something else.

Although I'm one to opt for a bowl whenever I go to Chipotle, I'm sure the cauliflower rice will be amazing in a burrito too. The real question is...will it be cilantro lime flavored?! We'll just have to keep our eyes out and see.

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Chipotle Is Working On Cauliflower Rice And Im So Excited - Delish

Older adults may have better success at losing weight if they do it with the help of intensive behavioral therapy from dietitians, a new study suggests.

Intensive behavioral therapy for obesity, or IBTO, is a customized treatment that helps people change their eating and exercise behaviors through a series of one-on-one counseling sessions.

Its also a treatment that can be difficult for primary care doctors to do on top of other responsibilities, so a research team from East Carolina University set out to discover IBTOs effectiveness if a dietitian is added to the team.

RDNs, or registered dietitian nutritionists, are trained for both weight loss and nutrition therapy, and can help support physicians in addressing underlying diet and lifestyle risk factors for chronic diseases, said Dr. Lauren Sastre, an author of the study and assistant nutrition science professor at East Carolina University.

And, the study notes, IBTO is already provided and reimbursed for Medicare B recipients, who would be age 65 or older. As the prevalence of obesity in the US has increased to include nearly 40% of the adult population, Sastre and her team found that IBTO with a dietitian is an effective method to addressing not only obesity in older adults but its associated conditions, such as type 2 diabetes.

Their results showed that the patients who received the treatment lost nearly three pounds on average and improved other health outcomes in comparison to those who did not receive IBTO.

Coupled with the fact that nutrition is not required content in medical school curricula, medical professionals may not have the time or the skills to develop and implement nutrition interventions for patients, said Dr. Emily Wilcox Gier, Dietetics Program Leader for the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, who wasnt part of the study. Referring patients to [dietitians] is an easy, cost-effective and necessary step to ensure that patients receive the treatment they need to meet weight loss goals.

The study involved 2,097 women age 65 and older who received Medicare insurance. They all had a body mass index above 30, which classified them as obese, according to the CDC. The women were then divided into a treatment group and a non-treatment group, with nearly 700 of the participants receiving IBTO.

At the first visit, dietitians helped patients establish their calorie limit and food-tracking method based on their personal habits and preferences. Subsequent sessions were check-ins in which patients focused on improving their exercise habits and diet.

The researchers also measured the patients weight, BMI, A1C and medication use. A1C is a blood test that helps doctors make a diagnosis for pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes by measuring your average blood sugar level over the past three months. It also can show how well a person has been managing their diabetes.

After three years of treatment, from 2016 to 2019, patients who received IBTO experienced greater BMI decreases, larger A1C declines and stopped taking their prescription medication sooner, the study found.

Patients in the treatment group lost nearly three pounds on average, compared with patients in the control group who gained an average of a half a pound. They also had an average A1C decline of nearly 0.2, which previous research has associated with an up to 10% reduction in death risk.

[Dietitians] have the knowledge and skills to work with patients [or] clients on an individual basis to develop interventions that work, said Dr. Emily Wilcox Gier, dietetics program leader for the Division of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University, who wasnt part of the study. [Dietitians] know how to tailor nutrition recommendations to fit ones needs, including medical conditions, living situations and preferences. This evidence helps support the fact that our training helps patients meet their weight loss goals.

Demographic differences did affect the patients results, however, as the study notes that minorities and older respondents experienced smaller results.

Yet given the overall results found for lowering A1C, the researchers think the intensive therapy model advised by a dietitian could be helpful for people who arent obese but do have diabetes although current requirements for Medicare IBTO include having a BMI of more than 30.

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Want to lose more weight? Intensive therapy from dietitians can help older adults, study finds - KRDO