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One of the groups that might hesitate to go plant-based or vegan, due to their usual training routines, are hard-core athletes. Yet with a little knowledge, it turns out that what they thinkwill be the most significant challengeswhen they start following a vegan or plant-based diet are actually notobstacles at all. (One such perceived challenge is where do you get your protein, or how do you eat enough calcium, minerals and healthy calories to sustain an athlete's workout schedule?) These so-called challenges are easily met, with planning.

Athletes, as it turns out, tend to be great at planning, and are often obsessive about their training regimens. Any athlete, whether a marathoner, a yoga devotee or an exercise-class junkie, knows that an important component of reachingone's physical goalsis sticking toa clean, nutrient-dense diet plan.

So if youve been thinking about your nutritional needs with respect to your training for the past few months or years, and you want to bring your fitness and health to the next level, you could be ready to take the leap to a vegan diet. It just takes some strategic planning.

So many athletes have watched The Game Changers, the documentary about pro and elite athletes who are plant-based, from Novak Djokovic to Olympians, Strongman Champions and Venus Williams, all of whom attest to the fact that plant-based eating helps them recover faster and play at the top of their game.

Sports dietitian Torey Armul, MS, RDN, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, has counseled pro athletes, weekend warriors, and marathoners on how to reach their goals with the help of sound sports nutrition. I've always been very interested in the performance side of nutrition, as an athlete in college and later as a marathoner, she says. She has found that plant-based eating and training, go hand in hand.

I think people who are vegetarianor vegan tend to be somewhat more health-conscious and they've done some researchso they often have a leg up on understanding nutrition, Armul says. For vegan athletes, [training hard and eating healthfuly] can certainly be accomplished but the program has to be done well, to optimize performance and keep that person healthy as an athlete and an individual.

Here are the so-called challenges that vegan athletes face, and the tools to overcome them

Were not going to sugar coat this for you: Being a vegan athlete is challenging at first, and it does take some discipline and planning to get used to eating a new way. Armul recommends working with a registered dietician, especially at the beginning of your program, just to get yourself set up properly. Youll have to focus on your diet as an important part of the training, she says. But once you get the hang of it, eating legumes, grains, vegetables and nuts and seeds and getting your protein from tofu, tempeh, soybeans and other plant-based sources, becomes as natural as lacing up your sneakers in the morning.

In addition to training meals, youll need to plan out your pre-race nutrition and post-race meals, especially during events that offer fuel you have never tried before. You won't want to just grab any old electrolyte gel or sportsbeans mid-run to replace your electrolytes and energy. Check the labels to make sure they're vegan and dont contain gelatin or honey. When you're exercising, you want a simple carb because that's what your muscles are utilizing, says Armul. Make sure you have that readily available throughoutyour training. Stick with your own plant-based snacks like fruit, pretzels, crackers, and even almond butterand carry your own fuelthe race so you can eat what you're familiar with throughout the event.

A vegetarian athlete can take in dairy products and eggs as sources of protein to fuel their workouts. Vegans need to pick plant-based sources like beans, legumes and nut butter. Look to grains, says Armul. People are surprised that rice, grains, and flour have protein. You can also rely on nuts, peas, amaranth, quinoa, seeds, and soy products for protein. And while you can supplement with plant-based protein powders, which contain vitamins and minerals, keep in mind when it comes to food versus supplementation, food is always better, says Armul. Dont let supplementation be your crutch for when you dont feel like making healthy vegan meals.

This important vitamin is often found in meat and animal products and is also added to many foods that we may not be eating, so its one supplement that vegan athletes need toconsider adding to their diet. Vitamin B12 is vital in making red blood cells, which transport oxygen throughout the body, as well as DNA synthesis and helping with neurological functions.

It's very important for runners especially, (who are more likely to have borderline anemia) to have enough vitamin B12 in their system in order to help replenish their cellular health, says Armul. You can find vitamin B12 supplements in foods like soymilk, grains, and some cereals. If you're not seeing supplementation in your foods, then Id recommend a vitamin B12 supplement to help reach the recommended daily allowance of 2.4mcg, Armul says.

Youve probably heard of vitamin D referred to as the sunshine vitamin, as we synthesize vitamin D after exposure to sunlight. But vitamin D is also found in animal products and fortified foods. Its an important vitamin for calcium absorption in the body and bone health. Research published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that vitamin D combined with vitamin K may help exercisers with recovery. Vegans can find vitamin D in fortified cereals and orange juice. If youre concerned that youre not getting enough D in your diet, consider adding a daily supplement. Its recommended adults get 600 IU vitamin D daily.

Creatine is an amino acid found in foods such as meat, fish, and poultry. Your body converts this amino acid into something called phosphocreatine, which is stored in the muscles and used for energy, Amul explains.

It's clear in research that people who eat vegan and vegetarian diets tend to be low in creatine, says Armul. We also know that creatine has performance-enhancing benefits. It can help with short-term, high-intensity exercise, with strength, and it helps with muscle rebuilding and repair. So if you have performance goals as a vegan athlete, it may make sense to look into creatine supplementation.

If you're a serious athlete, you're working hard, and you're an otherwise healthy vegan, it doesn't hurt to add a supplement to make sure you have that safety net available since creatine is so important for exercise, says Armul. Creatine supplements can be taken as pills or powders, just read the label carefully to make sure its a vegan creatine source.

When it comes to fueling up before, during and after their training, vegan athletes can never just assume it'll work out with respect to finding quality food options.Just as they never train without thinking ahead, Armul says, they need to think about their diet as well. Being a vegan athlete requires preparation and planning ahead, but it is doable. And we would add, worth it.

Read more:
How to Workout and Train Effectively on a Vegan or Plant-Based Diet - The Beet

An elimination diet can be helpful for identifying potentially problematic foods.

If you've ever done the Whole30 diet or the Clean Program, then guess what -- you've done an elimination diet. Elimination diets have been repopularized in recent years, but they've been around for a long time. Even though they're rebranded again and again in various programs (including Whole 30), there's a reason why people use them to help them feel better and why doctors turn to them again and again. They are considered the gold standard for identifying food intolerances and related health symptoms that can stem from consuming foods that are not well tolerated over periods of time.

Even though the word "diet" is involved, elimination diets aren't intended for weight loss -- though you might end up losing a few pounds. Elimination diets involve removing foods from your diet that are commonly linked to food allergies or other inflammation-related health conditions such as autoimmune diseases, migraines or fatigue.

They were created by a doctor in 1926 in an effort to help identify food allergies in patients. To this day, they are considered the gold standard of identifying food allergies, food intolerance or sensitivities, and helping resolve other food-related health issues in the functional medicine world and beyond.

If you're curious about how elimination diets work and what they are used for, keep reading for more information.

An elimination diet involves taking out foods that could be a problem for your health -- like processed foods and refined sugars.

There is no one way to do an elimination diet, although there are standard guidelines that many practitioners will recommend that you follow. It's important to keep in mind that there are different types of elimination diets, like the autoimmune paleo protocol, which is specialized for people with autoimmune conditions. If you do an elimination diet based on a doctor or nutritionist's advice, they can help customize your diet based on your symptoms.

These are common food groups elimination diets cut out:

These particular foods are avoided because they are either a common food allergen, you can have an intolerance to them, or you can become sensitive to them, which cancause symptoms like migraines, bloating or nausea.

This list of foods may seem long and intimidating, but you're not supposed to get rid of them forever. The idea is to remove all of the foods for a short period of time, and then slowly reintroduce them one at time to identify potential triggers for adverse symptoms.

You can think of an elimination diet as a food investigation in which you're the detective, trying to pinpoint any foods that could be giving you problems. While removing certain foods is sometimes not the only thing that will help you feel better, knowing which foods cause unwanted symptoms is really useful for doctors or other practitioners to help you with your health condition.

When you start an elimination diet you'll remove all of the potentially problematic foods entirely from your diet for a few weeks or about a month. If you're looking at the food list and it feels super daunting, you can talk to a nutritionist or health coach who can help you come up with meal ideas. This phase is often called the elimination phase.

The second phase of most elimination diets is called the reintroduction phase. This is when you slowly reintroduce the eliminated foods back into your diet, one at a time. This requires some patience if you're trying to pinpoint an allergy. If you reintroduce multiple food groups at once and experience a reaction, you won't know what the exact culprit is. But if you experience an adverse reaction to a specific food, you can identify an intolerance or sensitivity.

Once you're able to pinpoint foods that may not work for you, or just generally make you feel worse, you can then come up with a food plan that makes you feel your best. Or if you're working with a doctor or nutritionist on a specific health condition, you can work together to come up with an eating plan that works for your specific condition.

A doctor can test you for food allergies or you can do a test at home.

A lot of people do elimination diets or programs like the Whole30 to identify possible food sensitivities. Food sensitivities are different from allergies in that the side effects from a sensitivity are not as severe or life-threatening, but can still make you feel sick.

There are a variety of food sensitivity tests out there -- you can get them from your doctor or through at-home test companies like EverlyWell. The evidence on how effective and accurate these tests are is really mixed, but you may be wondering why someone would put themselves through a highly restrictive diet for a month instead of doing a simple test.

There are several reasons, among them that testing is expensive, but also some practitioners say they can't rely on the results as much as if someone tests removing foods on their own. It's one thing to read a test result, and another to experience something first-hand. And a list of foods can't tell you which symptoms they may trigger -- you can only figure that out with an elimination diet and reintroduction phase.

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The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

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Elimination diets: What they are and who they're for - CNET

There are no miracle ingredients that can prevent coronavirus(Photo: Adobe. Do not use without permission|)

There is no diet that can prevent coronavirus, the British Dietetic Association (BDA) has said.

The organization, which represents dietitians across the UK, is asking people to stop spreading 'nutrition pseudoscience' about 'miracle supplements and foods that prevent infection'.

The Association reiterates that good hygiene practice remains the best means of avoiding infection.

The organization is concerned that people may be less likely to take proper precautions when it comes to distancing and hygiene if they keep hearing misinformation around nutrition.

The BDA says 'no specific food or supplement will prevent you catching COVID-19 / Coronavirus'. It adds that no individual nutrient, food or supplement is going to 'boost' your immune system beyond normal levels, though it confirms that 'eating a well-balanced diet can help ensure the normal functioning of the immune system'.

Those who are self-isolating - especially those showing symptoms - should try to maintain good nutrition and hydration, eating and drinking regularly, even if you have low appetite, and following the dietary recommendations made by your dietitian or other healthcare professional if you have specific nutrition needs.

Good nutrition and hydration are key for those self-isolating (Photo: Adobe. Do not use without permission)

"People sharing unevidenced nutrition solutions to COVID-19 may increase the risk that someone doesnt take proper hygiene and social distancing precautions. Its vital that we stop spreading this misinformation," Andy Burman, BDA CEO, said in a statement sent to Plant Based News.

"Our dietitians, like all health care staff, are working tirelessly at the moment to support the growing number of COVID-19 hospital admissions. Proper nutrition can support improved outcomes for patients in ICU, where we know those COVID-19 patients with the most acute need will be.

"As our members are preparing with their colleagues to support the coronavirus effort in any way they can, including re-deployment into the areas where support is most needed, they are also working hard out of hours to make sure the public has access to good nutritional advice and guidance.

"In these extraordinary times, when it may be more difficult for people with less-serious conditions to access direct dietetic help, we want to reach as many people as we can. Our public advice is here to support anyone who does not need to go into hospital or work directly with a clinician."

The BDA has created a comprehensive hub of nutrition information relating to the coronavirus pandemic. You can find it here

See the rest here:
There Is No Diet That Prevents Coronavirus, Warns British Dietetic Association - Plant Based News

When trying to figure out what being plant-based looks like in your own life, youll likely want to turn to the experts, both online and in books. Its hard to deny that theres an explosionof diet books on the market, and weeding through all the possibilities may leave your head spinning or worse throwing in the towel on plant-based eating before youve even begun.

But dont sweat it weve done the hard work for you with this reading list, filled with experts who have made the switch themselves plus experts who break down the more complex science behind the benefits of a plant-based diet. And because theres no hard and fast rule about how to live a plant-based life, this list is made up of plant-based diet books that take a variety of approaches of what defines a plant-based lifestyle so that you can find the best route to more greens and less meat for you.

One of the most fun parts of reading new cookbooks and diet books is learning about the people behind them. Whats their story? How did they make the shift to eat more intentionally? If youre someone whos curious about the larger story behind your meal, youll enjoy this plant-based diet book by Yotam Ottolenghi, restaurant owner and columnist of The New Vegetarian for The Guardian.

The follow up to Eat to Live, this book by a leading doctor and author on the plant-based front, explains that this way of eating can not only make you feel better but also prevent and even reverse disease. Furhman includes case studies of people who have lost weight and reversed disease symptoms by switching to a plant-based diet. His advice: choose foods with the highest nutrition per calories you can, and that means vegetables. He includes recipes to make eating this way easy and delicious. If your goal isliving well and living longer, this book will be your guide.

Though there is no one reason to pursue a plant-based diet, some plant-based diet books have more of a focus on the mental health aspect of shifting your diet to prioritize plants. Here, Thomas focuses less on ideas like weight-loss and zeros in on creativity, connection to life, empathy, and a renewed relationship with the environment through plant-based eating. If youre interested in how going plant-based can help you get more in touch with your creative, sustainable side, this book is for you.

Although this book is geared towards vegetarians, vegans can still reap tons of inspirationfor recipes from The Mindful Kitchen, and, using a few handy swaps, can vegan-ize these gorgeous dishes.

A must-read for the skeptics, Hard isnt interested in talking you into buying fancy kitchen gadgets or reorganizing your entire refrigerator. Instead, shes passionate about helping you figure out how to use what you already have in your kitchen live a more plant-based life.

If you are someone who often struggles to find the information you need to understand the relationship between food and the body, this is a strong starting point from the perspective of a Mr. Michael Greger M.D., who is vegan himself. Here youll learn how our diets are connected to certain diseases, and the power food can have to our overall health.

Going plant-based means one obvious thing: Figuring out how to enjoy eating plants, and how to enjoy eating a lot of plants. Many of us fall into routines with our meals, which is doable if you have a massive variety of foods to turn to. But when you switch to eating primarily plant-based, you might feel like youre hitting a wall and running out of ideas. Luckily, Mangini knows how to get creative, and with this book you receive over 350 pages of brilliant and unexpected ways to make vegetables in exciting and new ways, keeping your plant-based diet anything but bland.

This book doesnt just provide plant-based recipes, but contextualizes them, providing readers with stories and experiences attached to each meal. Eating plant-based is a journey, not a one-size-fits-all plan and Kuruvita makes it an enjoyable one to be on.

Dr. John McDougall (who is featured in the documentary Forks Over Knives that put plant-based and vegan eating in the spotlight) discusses the benefits of plant-based diets by comparing it to other fad diets, breaking down what it means to eat a diet rich in plants, and less meat and carbohydrates.

Throughout thepages, youll learn how what we eat influences not just our bodies and how we age, but the world around us. If you want to focus on your head to toe health and transform your eating habits for good, this book is a good starting point.

And one diet book that we at The Beet are obsessed with, even though it does not only talk about plant-based eating is Life in the Fasting Lane,How to Make Intermittent Fasting a LifestyleReap the Benefits or Weight Loss and Better Health.by Dr. Jason Fung, Eve Mayer and Megan Ramos The authors teach us how to eat in time windows, and not eat for 14 or 16 or 18 hours at a time, several days a week. (The exact amount of time or frequency you fast is up to you.)

The most important part of the science behind Intermittent Fasting is to train your body to use fat as fuel, so when you eat you try to keep sugar and simple carbs to a minimum. It works just as well (or better) for those on a plant-based diet. While sitting at your desk working, you feel back in control of your weight loss journey and your diet choices. Try it and let us know what you think!

See more here:
The 8 Most Helpful Books to Help You Get Started on Your Plant-Based Journey - The Beet

Menopause is a biological process marked by the cessation of menses and a natural decline in reproductive hormones in women. It can be accompanied by symptoms like hot flashes, sleep problems, and mood changes (1).

Modifying your diet under the guidance of a healthcare professional is a simple strategy that may help balance your hormone levels and alleviate certain symptoms of menopause.

In particular, the ketogenic diet is a high fat, very low carb diet thats often recommended to provide relief from menopause symptoms.

However, it may also be associated with several side effects and not a great fit for everyone.

This article reviews how the ketogenic diet may affect women with menopause.

The ketogenic diet may be associated with several benefits, specifically for menopause.

Menopause can cause several changes in hormone levels.

In addition to altering levels of sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone, menopause can decrease insulin sensitivity, which can impair your bodys ability to use insulin effectively (2).

Insulin is a hormone thats responsible for transporting sugar from your bloodstream to your cells, where it can be used as fuel (3).

Some research suggests that the ketogenic diet may improve insulin sensitivity to promote better blood sugar control (4).

One study found that following a ketogenic diet for 12 weeks improved insulin levels and insulin sensitivity in women with endometrial or ovarian cancer (5, 6, 7).

However, its unclear whether the diet could offer similar health benefits for menopausal women without these types of cancer.

Another review reported that reducing carb consumption may decrease insulin levels and improve hormonal imbalances, which could be especially beneficial for menopause (8).

Not only that, but studies also suggest that insulin resistance may be linked to a higher risk of hot flashes, which are a common side effect of menopause (9, 10).

Weight gain is a symptom of menopause thats often attributed to alterations in hormone levels and a slower metabolism.

In addition to experiencing a decrease in calorie needs during menopause, some women may undergo height loss, which could contribute to an increase in body mass index (BMI) (11).

Although research on the ketogenic diet specifically is limited, some studies have found that decreasing carb intake may help prevent weight gain associated with menopause.

For example, one study in over 88,000 women found that following a low carb diet was linked to a decreased risk of postmenopausal weight gain.

Conversely, following a low fat diet was tied to an increased risk of weight gain among participants (12).

However, its important to note that the low carb diet in this study was not as restrictive as the ketogenic diet in terms of limiting carb intake.

Many women experience increased hunger and cravings during the transition into menopause (13).

Several studies have found that the ketogenic diet may decrease hunger and appetite, which could be especially beneficial during menopause (14).

According to one study in 95 people, following the ketogenic diet for 9 weeks increased levels of glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1), which is a hormone that regulates appetite, in women (15).

Similarly, another small study noted that a low calorie ketogenic diet decreased appetite and levels of ghrelin, the hunger hormone (16).

However, more studies are needed to evaluate how the ketogenic diet may affect cravings and appetite in menopausal women specifically.

Some research suggests that the ketogenic diet may improve insulin sensitivity, prevent weight gain, and decrease appetite and cravings.

While the ketogenic diet may offer several benefits for women going through menopause, there are some side effects to consider.

First, research suggests that the ketogenic diet may increase levels of cortisol, which is a stress hormone (17).

High levels of cortisol can cause side effects like weakness, weight gain, high blood pressure, and bone loss (18).

Increased levels of cortisol can also increase levels of estrogen, a sex hormone that slowly starts to decline during menopause (19, 20).

This can cause a condition called estrogen dominance, meaning that your body has too much estrogen and not enough progesterone (another sex hormone) to help balance it out (21).

Although more research is needed in humans, one study in mice found that administering a high fat diet increased estrogen levels and weight gain, compared with a control group (22).

Excess levels of estrogen can decrease the production of thyroid hormones, which may cause side effects like low energy levels, constipation, and weight gain (23, 24).

This may be one reason why many women have difficulty maintaining weight loss in the long term on the ketogenic diet.

The ketogenic diet can also cause the keto flu, which is a term used to describe the set of symptoms that occur as your body transitions into ketosis, a metabolic state in which your body starts burning fat for fuel instead of sugar.

Furthermore, the keto flu could worsen certain symptoms of menopause, including fatigue, hair loss, sleep problems, and mood changes (25, 26).

Still, keto flu symptoms typically resolve within a few days to a few weeks and can be minimized by staying hydrated and getting plenty of electrolytes (25).

Keep in mind that the ketogenic diet is intended to be a short-term diet plan and should not be followed for extended periods.

Additionally, although the diet may result in temporary weight loss, many people often regain some weight back once they resume a normal diet (27).

Be sure to consult a healthcare professional before making any changes to your diet to prevent any adverse effects on your health and ensure that youre meeting your nutritional needs.

The ketogenic diet may increase levels of cortisol and estrogen, which can alter thyroid function and contribute to weight gain. The keto flu may also temporarily worsen certain symptoms of menopause, including fatigue, hair loss, and mood changes.

The ketogenic diet may offer benefits for women going through menopause, including increased insulin sensitivity, decreased weight gain, and reduced cravings.

However, it can also alter hormone levels, which could affect thyroid function and cause several adverse effects. Whats more, the keto flu may temporarily worsen symptoms of menopause during your bodys transition into ketosis.

Though the ketogenic diet may work for some women going through menopause, keep in mind that its not a one-size-fits-all solution for everyone.

Be sure to speak with your healthcare provider, set realistic expectations, listen to your body, and experiment to find what works for you.

See the original post:
Keto and Menopause: What to Know - Healthline

NEW YORK (CNN) Want to fight fat, wrinkles and chronic disease? Consider slashing the amount of added sugar in your diet.

The empty calories in sugar definitely contribute to weight gain and the obesity epidemic which in turn leads to all sorts of chronic diseases, including hypertension, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and more.

Sugar can even make you look older than you are by interrupting the skin's ability to repair itself. The end result is more wrinkles.

Now consider this: The average American eats 22 teaspoons of added sugar per day, according to the American Heart Association. That's a fanatical amount of sweetness a level only addicts would share.

The recommended level? No more than six teaspoons a day for women and nine for men.

To fight your sugar addiction and begin to reclaim your youth and health, start by becoming a sugar detective.

Identify and toss all sugary ingredients in your home, including white and brown sugars, corn syrups, pancake syrups, jams, jellies, honey and molasses.

Add any boxes of ready-to-mix items to the trash as well, such as pancake, brownie, cookie, cake and instant pudding mixes.

Now take a good look at the labels on the rest of the foods in your pantry, and be prepared to be shocked. Sugar is often used by food manufacturers to extend a product's shelf life, so even savory items often contain sugar.

Pasta sauces often contain as much sugar as a cookie. Salad dressings such as French, honey mustard and raspberry vinaigrette can deliver between 5 and 7 grams of sugar in just two tablespoons. Ketchup is worse it has about 4 grams per tablespoon. Barbecue sauce, hoisin sauce, Teriyaki sauce and even pickle relish all contain sugar.

Healthy bran, oat and corn breakfast cereals (not to mention the kids' versions) are packed with sugar, too.

Think the pantry is now danger free? Probably not. That's because manufacturers hide sugar by using different names.

Evaporated cane juice, agave, fruit nectar, fruit juice concentrate, brown rice syrup, malt syrup, corn syrup, date syrup, barley malt and anything that ends in an "ose" think fructose, sucrose, maltose and dextrose are all added sugars.

One advocacy group counted up to 61 different names for sugar on food labels. How can we possibly fight such marketing? Last year the US Food and Drug Administration announced it is making manufacturers list all "added sugars" on food labels. But don't put your detective hat away yet -- manufacturers have until July 1, 2021, to comply.

We all know that one can of soda delivers nearly a day's worth of recommended sugar, but have you looked at your favorite energy drink? Sugar is typically the second main ingredient, and many contain more sugar than a soda.

What about sports beverages, which kids often drink? A 20-ounce Gatorade contains 35 grams of sugar, while some brands of 32-ounce sports drinks have between 56 and 76 grams four to six times the recommended daily amount for kids and teenagers.

Ready-to-drink iced tea can contain up to 32 grams of sugar per bottle. Even fruit-flavored waters typically contain added sugars.

It may seem smart to just switch to a diet soda or other artificially sweetened beverage. But there's a catch: Artificial sweeteners can be 150 times sweeter than sugar.

Why does that matter? Because you're trying to train your brain to detox from an addiction to sugar's delicious sweetness. So why would you feed it something that's going to make it crave even higher levels of sweetness?

Many foods marketed as "health" foods are also full of sugar. Instant oatmeal is healthy, but when it's flavored it can have up to 15 grams of sugar per packet. Even the reduced sugar varieties can have 6 grams. Make your own and add fruit.

Look at the ingredients on that "healthy" granola bar and you'll probably find corn syrup, brown sugar, honey, brown sugar syrup, dextrose or fructose. If they've added yogurt or chocolate? Even more sugar.

Speaking of yogurt, even the low-fat flavored versions can have 30 grams of sugar per 8-ounce serving it's what they do to make up for the lack of fat. That's as much sugar as two scoops of ice cream.

So, detective, you now know what to look for to begin restricting the amount of sugar in the foods you eat. What are you going to replace those foods with?

Whole foods like fruit, vegetables and whole grains. They too contain sugar an apple can have around 20 grams of sugar, a banana 14 grams and a sweet potato 7 grams.

But the fiber in that apple, banana and sweet potato can satisfy your hunger and make your body absorb the sugar from the fruit more slowly. Fruits and vegetables also support your health with vitamins, minerals and other nutrients instead of empty, non-nourishing calories.

There are other substitutions you can make to reduce sugar, too. Instead of sugar-laden store-bought salad dressings, use olive oil, red wine vinegar, Italian spices and garlic to make an easy vinaigrette.

Substitute dates, unsweetened applesauce or ripe bananas for sugar in your cakes, cookies, muffins and banana bread.

Fresh fruit and purees like apricot can cut the tartness of unsweetened yogurt. Fresh or dried herbs can add flavor to vegetables and meats. Balsamic vinegar can glaze Brussels sprouts and asparagus. Roasting veggies brings out their natural sweetness.

After a while, you'll find your addiction to sugar has faded and the natural sweetness of fruit may become all you need for dessert.

And just look at your skin!

The-CNN-Wire & 2018 Cable News Network, Inc., a Time Warner Company. All rights reserved.

More:
The top 5 ways to cut sugar from your diet - KSL.com

In 1945, a domiciled feeding study carried out at the University of Minnesota involved participants being fed a semistarvation diet.

Nutrition is fundamentally important for human health (1), but there is widespread public confusion about what constitutes a healthy diet. Flip-flopping headlines report conflicting information about whether individual foods (e.g., butter, eggs, meat), nutrients (e.g., saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium), or eating patterns (e.g., Mediterranean versus ketogenic diets) result in improved, worsened, or unchanged health. However, public confusion about nutrition belies expert consensus regarding important aspects of healthy diets. For example, it is widely agreed that Western diets high in ultra-processed food are deleterious and that considerable health improvements would likely result from shifting the population toward eating mostly minimally processed foods (2). But expert consensus erodes when discussing detailed questions of optimal human nutrition or the physiological mechanisms underlying the body's response to diet changes. Rigorous controlled feeding studies would help to address such questions and advance human nutrition science, a field whose overall veracity has recently been questioned (3, 4).

Much of the criticism of nutrition science has been directed at nutritional epidemiology, a field that investigates associations between diet and health outcomes in large numbers of people. Although nutritional epidemiology has ardent defenders (5, 6), its critics suggest that it is plagued by measurement error, reverse causality, selection bias, weak effects, analytical flexibility, and unmeasured or residual confounders that can result in spurious relationships between diet variables and health outcomes (7). Increased funding for large, long-term randomized diet intervention trials has been suggested as a way to mitigate reliance on nutritional epidemiology and improve causal inference about the effects of diet on human health (8). However, such trials have their own challenges, including the impracticality of randomizing large numbers of people to eat different diets for months or years while ensuring high levels of adherence throughout.

Indeed, most randomized diet intervention trials do not actually study the effects of different diets; rather, they investigate the effects of differing diet advice. In other words, subjects are randomized to receive education and support to consume diets that are assigned by the investigators. Although diet-advice trials assess real-world effectiveness, their results conflate adherence to a given diet with the effects of that diet.

Knowledge about the effects of diet per se is required for advancement of fundamental nutrition science. However, studies in free-living people have a limited ability to provide such knowledge because it is not currently possible to accurately and objectively quantify their food intake. Indeed, most human nutrition studies rely on self-reported diet measures that are known to have systematic biases, such as underestimation of energy intake. Furthermore, errors in self-reported diet measurements may be associated with other variables (e.g., socioeconomic status) or health outcomes (e.g., obesity) that can result in biased associations (9).

Rather than relying on self-reported diet assessments, some diet intervention trials provide food to their free-living subjects, but these studies seldom verify whether all the food is eaten. Even when subjects are instructed to eat only the food provided by the study, substantial quantities of off-study food may be consumed amounting to several hundred kilocalories per day that can confound study results (10, 11). To understand how these challenges impede the progress of human nutrition science, imagine trying to develop a new drug without being confident that researchers could administer known quantities of the drug or measure its pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, or dose response. Successful pharmaceutical development requires such studies because they investigate benefits and risks of the drug under highly controlled conditions where questions of patient adherence are minimized because the researchers administer the drug. The inability to conduct such trials would severely impede the drug development process. Why should human nutrition science be expected to advance without the benefit of well-controlled diet efficacy studies?

Therefore, it is important to conduct human nutrition studies where subjects can comfortably reside at a research facility, thereby allowing investigators to control and objectively measure their food intake. Subjects enrolled in such domiciled feeding studies are required to stay at the research facility for periods of days, weeks, or months without leaving to ensure that they consume the provided food under observation while avoiding exposure to off-study food.

Domiciled feeding studies have a long history of yielding important discoveries about human nutrition and metabolism. For example, many of the physiological responses to starvation and nutritional rehabilitation were revealed in a controlled feeding study of 32 male volunteers who simultaneously resided at the University of Minnesota for a continuous 48-week period during the Second World War (12) (see the photo). The subjects were fed a baseline diet for 12 weeks followed by a 24-week semistarvation diet, after which they were fed several rehabilitation diets for the final 12 weeks. The resulting detailed physiological and psychological measurements in response to known diets would have been impossible had the subjects not been domiciled during this classic study.

Unfortunately, domiciled feeding studies have become prohibitively expensive in the United States since the National Institutes of Health ceased directly funding Clinical Research Centers (13). Very few centers around the world currently conduct domiciled feeding studies, and their study populations often comprise students, staff, and faculty, which limits their generalizability. Furthermore, the few facilities conducting domiciled feeding studies are typically limited to housing and feeding only a handful of subjects at a time, which restricts their power and duration.

Such limitations are surmountable. Investment in research facilities for domiciled feeding studies could provide the infrastructure and staff required to simultaneously house and feed dozens of subjects comfortably and safely. One possibility would be to create centralized domiciled feeding facilities that could enable teams of researchers from around the world to recruit a wide range of subjects and efficiently conduct rigorous human nutrition studies that currently can only be performed on a much smaller scale in a handful of existing facilities.

Well-designed domiciled feeding studies can increase the rigor of human nutrition science and elucidate the fundamental mechanisms by which diet affects human physiology. For example, such studies can investigate complex interactions among changes in diet, the microbiota, and its role in modulating host physiology. The effects of meal timing and circadian biology could be advanced by enabling precisely controlled periods for eating and sleeping. Personalized nutrition and nutrient-genomic interaction studies could be facilitated by reducing the usual noise of unknown diet variability to focus on individual physiological variability in response to controlled diets. Nutrient requirements and their dependence on overall dietary and physical activity patterns could be assessed in a variety of populations of men and women of different ethnicities and ages. The effects of diet on physical and cognitive performance could also be carefully evaluated. Comprehensive assessment of the effects of diet interventions on common health conditions such as obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes, as well as rare diseases such as those that result from inborn errors of metabolism, could also be rigorously determined in domiciled subjects.

Although domiciled feeding studies can provide important mechanistic insights, their artificial environment may limit generalizability and application to free-living populations. Furthermore, domiciled feeding studies alone are insufficient for determining what constitutes a healthy diet because it is impossible to continuously house for several years the large numbers of subjects that would be required to objectively measure both food intake and clinical endpoints, such as cardiovascular events or diabetes progression. Therefore, long-term nutrition studies in free-living people will always be required.

Nonetheless, domiciled feeding studies can help to improve long-term human nutrition studies. For example, the development and validation of objective diet assessment technologies requires domiciled feeding studies because the only way to objectively know what people eat is to house them continuously in a research facility and directly measure their food intake. Advancement of objective diet assessment technologies has been identified as a top priority for human nutrition science (14) and promising new technologies are emerging, such as sensors and cameras that detect food intake. Biomarkers of diet are also being developed, such as plasma concentrations of vitamin C and carotenoids as indicators of fruit and vegetable intake. Domiciled feeding studies can validate objective diet assessment technologies and biomarkers in diverse subject groups consuming a variety of known diets. These validated technologies and standardized biomarkers can then be deployed in large, long-term nutrition studies to monitor diet adherence and improve understanding of the relationships between diet and disease, and diet and health.

Domiciled feeding studies can also help researchers to design and interpret large, long-term nutrition studies. For example, surrogate biomarkers of disease risk often change rapidly in response to controlled diet interventions. When surrogate markers are causally related to disease risk, then it may be possible to cautiously extrapolate the results of domiciled feeding studies, especially those that test dose responses, and to estimate the effects of diet changes on long-term disease risk. Such information can be useful for planning long-term randomized diet trials by helping to avoid underpowered studies whose null statistical results might be misinterpreted to conclude that the diet had no real effect when even a small undetected effect might be important, especially on the population scale.

For example, prior to devoting many millions of dollars to a large, long-term randomized trial of a Westernized Mediterranean diet intended to prevent cardiovascular disease, domiciled feeding studies could be used to help develop and validate biomarkers of varying degrees of adherence to the dietary pattern while also evaluating surrogate markers of disease risk in response to known diet changes. For a relatively small fraction of the overall investment, data from such a domiciled feeding study could be used to help plan and interpret the results of the large, long-term randomized trial.

The advancement of human nutrition science has enormous benefits for health and the economy (15). Knowledge of nutrition requires triangulation of evidence from a variety of study designs, including observational studies and randomized trials in free-living people. Facilitating more domiciled feeding studies will lead to fundamental new discoveries about the mechanistic physiological responses to diet and will improve human nutrition research in all its forms.

Acknowledgments: Thanks to N. K. Fukagawa, M. B. Katan, K. C. Klatt, P. Ohukainen, M. L. Reitman, and E. J. Weiss for insightful comments. Supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

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Challenges of human nutrition research - Science Magazine

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Posted by webadmin on March 19th, 2020 | Add Comments

Many people find themselves wanting to go on a diet to lose extra pounds gained over the holidays. Gym membership skyrocket around January or February, and Google searches for the latest diets are on the rise as people seek to shrink their waistlines. Yet, after a few months, most people have quit their diets and or up to the same eating and exercise habits. So, what is it that makes people give up?

Take a look at some of the most common reasons why people call it quits on their diets and what you can do to change your fate.

Lack Of Patience

In todays society, many people expect instant results. Far too many people have unrealistic expectations of the progress they can make in a short time. However, the safe way to lose weight is always slow and steady rather than overnight.

Avoid stepping on the scale only a few days after starting your diet. Instead, weigh yourself once every two weeks and rely on the way that your clothes fit to see if your diet is working.

Being Too Drastic

The way to lose weight is by effectively changing your lifestyle habits. However, its important not to drastically change the way you live to the point that is impossible to keep up with period extreme diets, and elimination diets arent sustainable ways of living. Instead, try to find a diet and lifestyle choice that will work for you long term. Youll be much more likely to see and maintain the results that you want.

Binging

Often, people feel so deprived on their diets that after a few days, they give in to a binge. However, when you put in the effort of following a strict diet for several days, only two erase all your hard work with stuffing yourself, then theres no point in dieting.

Dont use cheating as a reward system once you make progress; its important to continue your restrictions until youve reached your ideal weight. At this point, you can start allowing yourself a little wiggle room.

No Diet Buddies

Studies show that people are much more likely to stick to a diet and exercise program if they have a support system. When you have a friend or family member whos taking on the same commitment as you, you can help support each other during moments of weakness when you feel like giving up. If youre surrounded by people who are eating junk food, and youre eating a salad, it wont be long until you cave. However, when youre around people that are also making the same healthy choices, it becomes much easier to stick to them.

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5 Most Common Reasons People Give Up On Their Diet - Taste Terminal

Its no secret that eating a plant-based diet can have beneficial heart health effects for some people, but theres a catch. A new study warns that these diets are only potentially helpful for people who avoid certain foods the wrong kind of plant-based diet may eradicate the heart-healthy aspect of it, making it just as unhealthy as the average animal-based diet.

Past research has found that eating a plant-based diet or drastically reduced amounts of animal products may help protect heart health. These diets tend to focus on healthy fats, grains, nuts, leafy greens, fruit, and vegetables. However, it is possible to eat an unhealthy plant-based diet, which eliminates the benefits.

According to a new study presented by the American College of Cardiology, regularly eating things like refined grains, sugary foods, and drinking fruit juice may spoil the benefits of a plant-based diet. These people werent found to have any heart health benefits compared to people who eat animal products.

The key finding is that simply following a plant-based diet isnt enough you have to follow a healthy plant-based diet, which may not be as obvious to some as it seems. The results are based on tracking more than 2,000 adults over a 10-year period.

A healthy plant-based diet is described as one that includes larger amounts of whole grains, fruits and vegetables, nuts, oils, tea and/or coffee, and legumes. In comparison, an unhealthy plant-based diet is higher in things like fruit juice, sugary drinks, potatoes, refined grains, and sweet treats. The people who followed the first diet were found to experience significant heart benefits over participants who followed the latter plant-based diet.

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Plant-based diets may be beneficial, but only if you avoid certain foods - SlashGear

THE GOOD NEWS is that your kitchen table is perfect desk height. The bad news is that its right next to two weeks worth of Cool Ranch Doritos. Pile onto that stress snacking, this Pop-Tart will comfort me thinking, a disrupted routine, and a closed gym, and thats the Quarantine 15.

But you can actually come out of this healthymaybe even better off than you started. First of all, without your usual commute time sucking up valuable minutes of your day, youve probably got a few extra minutes between hand washes to devote to self-care.

Managing what you eat and how you move isn't that removed from deciding to quarantine, practice social distancing, or otherwise dealing with this new reality. They're all a matter of deciding what mattersand making it a priority. And having the tools to make it happen. Which you do now, with the science-tested, expert-approved strategies below:

7 Fat-Loss Foods that Make Your Life Easier

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The Bodyweight Home Workout That Crushes Calories

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This No-Gear Workout Program Torches Fat in Just 24 Minutes

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Is Intuitive Drinking a Good Way to Cut Back on Alcohol?

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Are You Curious About Going Sober Curious?

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8 Things That Happen When You Stop Drinking Alcohol

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The 8 Best-Tasting Nonalcoholic Beers to Get Through Dry January

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Why Drinking a Little Booze Each Day May Be Killing You

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Heres the Healthiest Way to Drink Alcohol, According to a Dietitian

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5 Morning Yoga Moves That Are Better Than a Cup of Coffee

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Watch This Doctor Explain the 6 Reasons He's Optimistic About Beating Coronavirus

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What to Do if Your Stocks Are Crashing From the Coronavirus

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Why You Should Take a Minute to Meditate (Almost) Every Day

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Our Best Workout and Diet Advice for People in Social Isolation - Men's Health

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