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August 18 is National Ice Cream Pie Day. (It's also the third week of National Crayon Collection Month, but who's counting?) You know whose arteries ice cream pie is good for? No one. Plain and simple. But Habit, one of the latest disrupters in the food tech sector, suggests we rethink the very notion of foods that are good for everyone or bad for everyone. It's part of a movement toward what is called personalized nutrition.

Habit, based in the San Francisco Bay area, tests for biomarkers and genetic variants using samples you provide, then generates a personalized report about how your body responds to food. It's your unique "nutrition blueprint." Then the company pairs you with a nutrition coach and offers you custom-made meals, containing your ideal ratio of carbs, fats and protein, delivered to your home. All in the name of sending you on the path to a "new you."

I had to see for myself. So I endured the home test and shipped off my blood and DNA samples. (Gulp.) Then the company's chief executive walked me through the results of my newfound eater identity, and I observed how the diagnosis began to affect my relationship with food. Here's what happened and what it could mean for the future of eating in America.

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The Habit home kit is not for the faint of heart. After fasting for 10 hours, you answer lots of deeply personal questions, scrub DNA samples from your cheeks and puncture your fingertips with a self-pricking button (technical term: "lancet"). This sounds rough, but my lowest moment is actually chugging their special Habit Challenge Shake. It clocks in at 950 calories, 75 grams of sugar and 130 percent of daily saturated fat intake. It has a taste and smell I can only liken to Kahla. It makes me feel god-awful while drinking it nose pinched, pinkie out, face scrunched and even worse afterward. It was bad enough I had sacrificed my Saturday morning frittata ritual.

By the third blood sample, my dining table looks like a crime scene. I've got bandages on two fingers, mini disinfectant pads strewn around, and cherry red blood dripping down my forearm. I'm angling my elbow like a helicopter hovering over the little blood collection card, just trying to fill the darn box one last time so I can move on with my day. Finally, I pack it up and mail it all off in a rather alarming biohazard bag. The whole ordeal takes about three hours and costs $309.

I'm told I'll receive my results in a few weeks. While I wait, I wander back to the Habit website and take a closer look at those pages and pages of fine print. I start to have second thoughts at sentences like, "You may experience stress, anxiety, or emotional or physical discomfort when you learn about health problems or potential health problems."

Then there's this: "Recommendations regarding diet provided to you may or may not be beneficial to you and may cause or exacerbate certain medical problems."

Say what now?

Thankfully, when the results come in, I get labeled a "Range Seeker." In official Habit-speak, it means "you can be flexible with your macronutrient intake and thrive on a range of foods." Well, that's a relief.

There are seven Habit types, each with dozens of more specific sub-variations, varying from "Slow Seeker" (best suited for foods rich in fiber and carbs that are absorbed slowly) to "Fat Seeker" ("fat is a valuable fuel source for you"). Along with receiving your tribal designation, you're assigned a personalized eating plan, depicting your ideal plate, suggested nutrient goals and daily calorie target.

I'd be lying if I said the results haven't been affecting my food choices, or at least the way I feel about my food choices. For instance, since being told I have a genetic risk variant associated with slow production of omega-3s, I have been seeking salmon like a grizzly bear. Apparently, I'm also genetically predisposed to caffeine sensitivity. Many a morning, this news has me sitting at my desk thinking I must be tripping out on my cup of joe despite the fact that I have consumed the exact same amount of coffee every day of my adult life.

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On the face of it, personalized nutrition makes sense. Why wouldn't I want to understand the unique dietary yearnings and land mines of my own DNA? Many people seem to feel that the existing national dietary guidance of one-size-fits-all has failed them. They're sick, and they're confused about what to buy and what to order.

But in reducing food to individualized nutrient optimization equating food with fuel, really what are we sacrificing? What are the implications for our food culture and the future of dining? "Oh, gosh, I'd love to go out for sushi with you, but I have to scurry home to my prearranged 'Range Seeker' box in the fridge."

Neil Grimmer, Habit's founder and chief executive, recognizes that food is social. He tells me that it "knots us together culturally," so Habit is in the process of facilitating online communities for people with the same Habit type. Through a private Facebook page, they can share tips and the like. It's better than going it alone, I guess, but a far cry from actually sharing a meal.

Remember the $300 you put down for the home test? It includes a coaching session, so a nutritionist helps you put all your information into practice. During my session, Jae Berman, a registered dietitian nutritionist and head coach of Habit, is a great help. But things don't look so rosy when I ask her how I'm supposed to integrate Habit into regular life.

"The family conversation has been one of the most common questions we have gotten," she says. "It doesn't occur to me as a problem because I just want people to take ownership of their story ... have the empowerment to say, 'This is what my plate looks like; that's what your plate needs to look like,' and move on." Even, she says, if that means everyone at the table eating something different. Have you ever tried being the short-order cook in that scenario? It all but requires outsourcing the meal making.

Imagine, Berman says, a mom who's stressed out, with kids running around, "a husband who is a rail," all the while she has no time for herself, is struggling with her weight, and trying to figure out what on earth to cook for dinner. "Most people don't want to talk about uncomfortable things," Berman says. "But let your kids eat mac and cheese, let your husband do what he needs, and let you have this plate for your dinner. You don't need to do anything it's going to show up at your door."

This desire to customize our food experiences stems from the uniquely American trait of individualism. Often subconscious, it's a desire to be exceptional, distinct from those around us, as opposed to being part of a larger collective. By contrast, many other cultures around the world are characterized by interdependence. It turns out, individualism shapes our eating habits in stunning ways, from the epidemic of solo dining to customization as a firmly expected attribute of eating out.

Habit is the latest example of a new technology enabling that innate premium on personalization, and over time, these tools are pulling us further and further from the table. Think smartphones making us feel less alone while eating alone, and mobile ordering apps allowing us to tailor our meal delivery times and our restaurant orders with greater precision. With roughly half of all eating occasions now taking place when we're by ourselves, we're getting less and less practiced at eating with others.

This reality has major implications for our food culture, and for the rising rates of social isolation in the United States. You know what the single greatest predictor of happiness is? Social connectedness. And guess what: It's one of the greatest predictors of longevity, too.

Of course I want people to eat food that's right for them. But we also have to ask ourselves: Which is really going to make us live longer, and live better? The ability to pay more granular attention to our triglyceride levels, or the more holistic benefits of eating with family and friends?

My grandmother turned 100 this year. Between the birthday parties and the bridge club, her standing dinner dates and the three times a day she picks up her neighbors in their retirement home hallway to take their walkers down to the dining hall, a thriving social life has been Alma's secret to a long life. Whether I'm chomping on my salad, face glued to my iPhone, or waving off her breakfast offer by citing the low-glycemic Kind bar I just finished off, she tells me time after time: She'd take the cake and the friendships any day.

Egan is author of "Devoured: How What We Eat Defines Who We Are" (William Morrow/HarperCollins), recently released in paperback.

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I sent in my DNA to get a personalized diet plan. What I discovered disturbs me. - Chicago Tribune

Professional athletes dont get to the top by accident. It takes superhuman levels of time, dedication, and focusand that includes paying attention to what they put in their bellies. In this series, GQ takes a look at what fit people in different fields eat on a daily basis to perform at their best. Heres a look at the daily diet of WWE star Seth Rollins.

For years, wrestling fans were hyping up Seth Rollins as one of WWEs brightest young stars. Nowadays, hes a certifiable main eventer and a video game cover star, to boot. And as one of the flag bearers ushering in a new generation of professional wrestling, he knows a thing or two about what it takes to both look and perform well. (Hes not known as CrossFit Jesus for nothing.) Ever wonder what it really takes to achieve videogame abs or how much food you need to eat in order to step between the ropes? We caught up with the WWEs resident kingslayer ahead of SummerSlam to answer all those questions and more.

GQ: You were recently announced as the cover star to this years WWE 2K18 video game, and the Internet has had a lot of fun talking about how realistic your character in the game looks, specifically the care for detail when it came to your abs. So let me ask you: are abs made in the kitchen or in the gym?

Seth Rollins: I think its a bit of both, you know? Obviously, you can be skinny and have some abdominal definition, but for them to really pop, if you will, youre going to have to put in some time. Youre going to have to do some core exercises and lift some weights, some resistance. Otherwise youre not going to build any muscle in that area, which is whats going to help you be able to show them off a little bit more.

Its no secret at this point that the WWE maintains one of the crazier schedules in sports and entertainment. You guys are going pretty much non-stop, all day long doing media, working out, driving to shows, putting on said shows. So what does an average day look like for you when it comes to eating?

It sort of depends on if Im home or away, but when Im on the road, generally I like to find a good, local breakfast restaurant. Thats my first go-to in the morning. Its one of the ways I can feel like Im doing something with my time other than just working. Generally I have some sort of balanced meal. Three to five eggs for me is good. Whole eggs. Im not an egg whites guy. I cant deal with egg whites. I need the flavor of the yolk, and I like the fat of it, as well. So Ill have that and some sort of potato. If Im not feeling potatoes and Im feeling extra spicy, Ill throw in a pancake or something like that. But they key is just one, for a little bit of carbs to help balance out the diet. If you order three or more pancakes and throw them in my face, Im going to eat them all. And then Ill have a coffee, too. Usually from there Ill go to the gym.

Do you do anything special for a pre-workout, or is your breakfast essentially your pre-workout?

If Ive had coffee in the morning, I wont mess with a pre-workout [supplement] because I dont want to overload on caffeine. I like the caffeine that I do take to be effective and useful, so instead of a pre-workout Ill just kind of ride the morning caffeine wave into the gym. During the workout its mostly just water that Im drinking. If Im not feeling hydrated, sometimes Ill take a little electrolyte supplement that I can just put in my water to help me absorb and hydrate a little better.

Like one of those tablets that just dissolves right into your water?

Yeah, like a Nuun tablet. Those are really effective as far as helping me absorb a good ratio of potassium and sodium and magnesium. Electrolytes without the added sugar of a sports drink.

What about post-workout? What is your go-to after youve finished working out?

Afterwards Ill have a shake, which is usually a pretty heavy shake as far as carbohydrates and protein are concerned. Then Ill go find some more food. Lately Ive beenfor the first time in my career, actuallytraveling with food on the road. One of the things that I wanted to do with my diet in the last few months was create some more consistency. Sometimes when youre on the roadyou mentioned our schedule. Between media, workouts, driving, the shows themselves, theres a lot of room for, I guess, diversity in terms of what were eating and when were eating depending on what town, or even what country, were in. There are all sorts of stuff as far as how we get our food. So for me, I started traveling with meals in the last month or so, really trying to create some consistency in my diet. Its been a little bit of a hassle, but its also been useful and effective. I feel, particularly in my macro counts, just a consistency and a good balance. Plus this way I always have food on me, as opposed to having to go out and try to find stuff. Ive been packing a lot of frozen meals into a very large Yeti cooler over the course of my travels recently.

What type of frozen meals are you typically bringing along with you? Do they follow any sort of dietary restrictions?

I like fats. I think fat is important. I think there is a reason we have it. Obviously its part of our dietary makeup, so I dont avoid it. I think a lot of people fall into the diet trap of starving themselves or eating things that dont taste good for the sake of getting in better shape or having a better physique. I think there has to balance there. I dont avoid carbs. I dont avoid protein. I think its just, again, about balance and finding what works for you and your body. For me, having a higher protein, higher carbohydrate, and middle-of-the-road fat count usually gets the job done as far as my energy needs and for my physique.

For your main meals, what type of fatsIm guessing we would classify them as healthy fatsdo you prefer?

Im a big avocado brother. I love the avocado. So if I can get some avocado in a meal, thats a big win. Otherwise I try to find a good, solid, fattier piece of meat. It doesnt have to be crazy. I dont need to go find olive oils or coconut oilswhich are fineor something like that to get the fat. I find that if you, for example, use a chicken thigh as opposed to a chicken breast, youre going to be able to get a more flavorful chicken. Youre still getting your protein in and, at the same time, youre going to be able to get a little bit more fat in there, which is going to help fill you up and give you a little more energy throughout the day.

One thing I wanted to ask you about: You have your own wrestling school now, the Black and Brave Wrestling Academy. I was curious how much focus you put on nutrition for the people who attend your school when theyre first coming in?

"I dont need to go find olive oils or coconut oilswhich are fineor something like that to get the fat. I find that if you, for example, use a chicken thigh as opposed to a chicken breast, youre going to be able to get a more flavorful chicken."

Thats one of the main questions I get from my students when they first come in. Now, mind you, these are mostly young kids18, 19, 20 years old. A lot of them, to be fair, have not participated in athletics before. Theyre just wrestling fans that want to give it a shot and see what its all about. But they usually come in undersized. And again, theyre still young kids, so theyve got a lot of size to put on. Theyre also usually poor kids that are just trying to make ends meet. They dont come in with a bunch of money that makes it easy for them to find good foods all the time. So my general advice to them is to eat a lot. They think they know what eating a lot is, you know? And then theyre like, Why cant I gain weight? Well, chances are youre not eating nearly as much as you think you are. What I always tell them to do is track how much they actually eat for about a week and just see how the calories lay out. Nine out of 10 times when they do that, theyll find that theyre not eating nearly as much as they thought they were. So my first bit of advice is to just max yourself with food because you need the sustenance as a kid. Being as young as they are, theyve got a metabolism thats probably pretty high and the workload that theyre putting themselves through at my academytheyre doing a lot of work. Far more work then theyve probably ever done in their lives over the course of three months. So I just tell them to eat and eat and eat until they cant eat anymore. For someone who is already in good shape or has the size already, then I can work from there to help mold them into what they want to look like. But, for the most part, the guys just dont eat enough and they need the sustenance if they want to grow.

Spitball a number to me for an average kid who you see come in. How many calories are they usually in taking versus how many they really need to be?

I would say theyre probably eating half of what they need to be eating. Theyre probably putting in 2,000 to 2,500 calories, which is pretty normal. If theyre really trying to gain size, they could probably go up to 4,000 calories. Which sounds insane, but if you really want to gain weight and put size on, thats really the only way to do it. Calories in versus calories out.

Part of the problem, too, is with my program, what theyre doing in the ring and what theyre required to do in the gym, theyre burning a lot of calories. Theyre burning a lot more than what theyre used to.

You and I have spoken about this in the past, but youre huge into CrossFit. Because youre putting yourself through pretty demanding, high-intensity workouts on top of everything else you do, Im sure youre putting an even bigger emphasis on making sure youre getting calories in.

Yeah, I feel like its a never-ending process of tearing yourself down and building yourself back up. I sort of see fitness in that sort of way, making little strides along the way. I think people are impatient with their fitness and their bodies. Theyve got to understand that it takes years and years to get yourself to where you want to be. Its not an overnight thing. Theres no quick fix. Its just a matter of being disciplined and working hard. For me, since I found CrossFit seven years ago, my metabolic output has been a lot more than when I was not doing CrossFit. Im burning more calories, so I need to eat a little bit more. Which is good for me. It lets me play around with my diet a little. That way I can enjoy my food as opposed to hating what I eat all the time.

SummerSlam is Sunday in Brooklyn, and along with WrestleMania, that show has become a sort of milestone on the WWE calendar. Do you allow yourself to have a celebratory meal to mark the occasion after such a big show?

Not necessarily, but Im also not one to shy away from celebrating with food. Im not somebody who has to discipline themselves too much, unless Ive really gone off the rails for weeks at a time. If theres a special occasion, a birthday, an outing with friends, or even just a food I really want to trylike, if Im in New York and theres something on the news saying youve got to go try this crazy ice cream cookie doughnut sandwich or something, Im not shy about having that. Or a cheat meal, or whatever you want to call it. I just think that, again, comes back to having a good relationship with food. Not having it be such a strict thing all the time where youre constantly fighting against what youre eating to get to a point where youre like, Now I get my cheat meal! Now I get to reward myself! I try not to think about food that way. I enjoy eating. I enjoy the process of it, and I dont want it to become something that I dislike, you know?

It doesnt need to become another job for you.

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The Real-Life Diet of Seth Rollins, Wrestling Star and CrossFit Jesus - GQ Magazine

By Carrie DennettSpecial to The Washington Post

The concept of eating a "plant-based" diet is tossed around frequently, but it's a label that can be confusing. Some people shy away from the notion because they assume that plant-based is code for vegan. On the other hand, it's easy to think that eating all plants and no animals guarantees that your diet is healthful and nutritious. But does it?

The research in support of plant-based diets is bountiful, which is likely because of what they include - vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and fiber - as much as what they don't - excess saturated fat. But one limitation of much of that research is that it defines "plant-based" as vegetarian. Plant-based diets can take many forms, from vegan to vegetarian to flexitarian to omnivore. The common denominator is that they make plant foods the focal point of the plate. If you choose to eat animal foods like meat, poultry, fish, eggs or dairy, they play smaller, supporting roles.

The other limitation is that the research tends to treat all plant-based diets equally, without regard to food quality. The fact is that many people focus on avoiding certain foods but are blind to whether the rest of their diet is nutritionally adequate. This is one of the perils of demonizing specific foods - no one food makes or breaks a diet, and it's your overall eating pattern that matters most for health and well-being.

That's not the message you get from many of the recent plant-based diet "documentary" (in other words, propaganda) films. The latest, "What the Health," blames animal foods for every ill known to man and woman. While excessive amounts of animal protein and fat aren't good for us, that doesn't mean that moderate amounts in the context of a plant-rich diet are harmful. An excessive amount of anything isn't good - even water - and a cupcake is a cupcake, even if it's vegan.

A recent study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology seems to agree. It found that when it comes to the plants you eat, quality does count - and omnivores have a place at the plant-based table, too.

The study, which came from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, included more than 200,000 women and men from the Nurses' Health Study and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study, aimed to get a clearer answer on both quantity and quality of plant foods needed to see a benefit for health. This included the role of animal foods. Researchers measured what proportion of each participant's diet was plant-based, and whether those plant foods were healthful - vegetables, fruits, whole grains - or unhealthful - sweetened beverages, refined grains, sweets.

They found that a diet rich in healthful plant foods is associated with a substantially lower risk of developing heart disease, while a plant-based diet that emphasizes less-healthful plant foods is associated with increased risk of heart disease. Those eating a nutritious plant-based diet while also being more physically active fare even better. In a 2016 study, the researchers found similar results for the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The study also supports the value of a plant-rich diet even for omnivores. Individuals who ate the least plant foods were eating about five or six servings of animal foods per day, while those with the most plant foods were eating three servings of animal foods. This means that reducing - not eliminating - animal foods even slightly while increasing healthy plant foods has benefits for preventing heart disease and diabetes. This allows a lot of flexibility with eating. The traditional Mediterranean diet follows this pattern, as do other healthful dietary patterns from around the globe.

While association does not prove cause and effect, there are various physiological mechanisms that may explain the health benefits of a plant-based diet. Whole and minimally processed plant foods are rich in vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients and antioxidants, along with heart-healthy unsaturated fats and dietary fiber. Together, this can promote healthy blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, while lowering inflammation and nourishing your gut microbiota. To reap these benefits, here's what to eat more of:

- Whole grains and foods made from whole grain flour.

- Fruits and vegetables.

- Nuts, beans and lentils.

- Vegetable oils (olive oil, canola oil, sunflower oil) in dressings and for cooking.

- Tea and coffee.

- Healthy animal foods like fish, dairy (other than ice cream) and eggs.

At the same time, here's what to eat less of:

- Fruit juices and sugar-sweetened beverages.

- Refined grains and foods made from white flour.

- French fries, potato or corn chips, and baked or mashed potatoes.

- Sweets (candy, pastries, desserts).

- Less-healthful animal foods (butter, lard, meat, ice cream).

In this era of "free-from" foods (lactose-free, gluten-free, GMO-free), this study is a reminder that for nutrition and health, what you do eat matters as much as, if not more than, what you don't eat.

Dennett is a registered dietitian-nutritionist and owner of Nutrition by Carrie.

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Plant-based diet? Sure, but first understand what it means - Fosters - Foster's Daily Democrat

This is scary to consider, but what if we still haven't seen the best of David Johnson? What if Johnson, who cemented his status as the best all-around back in football by leading the league in yards from scrimmage last year, is still getting better?

It's certainly possible. According to the Cardinals' running back, he feels more energized and less fatigued this summer after he changed his diet a month ago.

As ESPN's Josh Weinfuss reported on Thursday, Johnson eliminated meat from his diet and switched to a plant-based diet after he watched two documentaries on Netflix.

"It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," Johnson said. "I thought it would definitely be hard just because, as Americans, we're taught to eat a whole bunch of meat. It's not even just eating meat, it's the portions. What I've learned is that we're taught eating like 24 ounces of steak is a manly thing, when really you're only supposed to eat 8 to 10 as a portion."

The two documentaries? "What the Health" and "Forks Over Knives."

Johnson did introduce meat back into his diet, though, after he lost too much weight. According to ESPN, he reported to training camp at 223 pounds. Still, he's not consuming large portions of meat anymore.

"We've learned that meat is bad for you," he said. "But it's really where you get the meat from and how much you eat of that meat in each sitting, because most Americans eat lunch, dinner, supper and it's always meat and it's always a huge portion. We're just learning about that stuff."

Johnson will need to be at his best this year if he's going to meet his goal of becoming the third player in NFL history to accumulate 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in a single season. He'll also need to be energized as the Cardinals are aiming for Johnson to average 30 touches per game, which has only happened once in NFL history.

Johnson is hardly the only NFL player to cut back on meat. According to Tom Brady's personal chef, 80 percent of what Brady eats is vegetables. The other 20 percent is lean meat. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers once told ESPN that he eats a "vegan diet with some red meat at times and some chicken." Colin Kaepernick's vegan diet has been well documented.Those are just a few examples.

One person who won't be joining in on the plant-based approaches? Johnson's coach, Bruce Arians. On Friday, Arians told ESPN he followed a vegan diet for 27 days due to his doctor's orders. When he was asked what he enjoyed about the diet, Arians said, "Nothing."

Originally posted here:
David Johnson eliminated most meat from his diet after watching two documentaries - CBSSports.com

At 75 years young, Annette Larkins says the key to radiant youthfulness and physical vitality is a raw vegan diet.

"I know that I'm not going to live forever, but I'm forever trying to live well," Annette said.

She's been a vegetarian for 54 years, but over the last 30 years she has perfected her raw vegan diet. Her plant-based diet does not include any animal products. The food she eats is unprocessed and uncooked. Her dishes include vegetarian nut loaf, zucanni chips, and savory okra crisps. Annette says it's never too late to reap the benefits of a vegan lifestyle.

"If you eat something in it's natural raw state, opposed to processing it and cooking it, I think it stands to reason that you'll get more nutrients, Annette said. Your enzymes are intact. That's why I eat the way I do. I may not be considered vegan in all areas because I do consume honey."

Annette has written three journey to health books and appeared on multiple television and radio shows, including "The Steve Harvey Show" and the "Tom Joyner Morning Show."

"I don't consider it a secret. It's my lifestyle," Annette said.

Most of her vegetables and cooking ingredients are grown in her backyard in Miami-Dade County. Growing season in South Florida is from October to May. During this time Annette's garden is full of lettuce, tomatoes, and ginger. Caring for her garden keeps Annette busy.

"You know, I get in like 1,800 steps per day," Annette said.

Amos Larkins is Annette's husband. At 84 years old he takes medication for high blood pressure and diabetes. He only recently caught the vegan bug after 58 years of marriage. Amos wishes he started decades ago after noticing a big difference.

"Oh my God, everything is better. My blood pressure everything," said Amos.

Published 4 hours ago | Updated 2 hours ago

The rest is here:
75-Year-Old Woman Defies Aging Process With Raw Vegan Diet - NBC 6 South Florida

Today is National Ice Cream Pie Day. (Its also the third week of National Crayon Collection Month, but whos counting?) You know whose arteries ice cream pie is good for? No one. Plain and simple. But Habit, one of the latest disrupters in the food tech sector, suggests we rethink the very notion of foods that are good for everyone or bad for everyone. Its part of a movement toward what is called personalized nutrition.

Habit, based in the San Francisco Bay area, tests for biomarkers and genetic variants using samples you provide, then generates a personalized report about how your body responds to food. Its your unique nutrition blueprint. Then the company pairs you with a nutrition coach and offers you custom-made meals, containing your ideal ratio of carbs, fats and protein, delivered to your home. All in the name of sending you on the path to a new you.

[Breakfast was the most important meal of the day until America ruined it]

I had to see for myself. So I endured the home test and shipped off my blood and DNA samples. (Gulp.) Then the companys chief executive walked me through the results of my newfound eater identity, and I observed how the diagnosis began to affect my relationship with food. Heres what happened and what it could mean for the future of eating in America.

Digesting the news

The Habit home kit is not for the faint of heart. After fasting for 10 hours, you answer lots of deeply personal questions, scrub DNA samples from your cheeks and puncture your fingertips with a self-pricking button (technical term: lancet). This sounds rough, but my lowest moment is actually chugging their special Habit Challenge Shake. It clocks in at 950 calories, 75 grams of sugar and 130 percent of daily saturated fat intake. It has a taste and smell I can only liken to Kahla. It makes me feel god-awful while drinking it nose pinched, pinkie out, face scrunched and even worse afterward. It was bad enough I had sacrificed my Saturday morning frittata ritual.

By the third blood sample, my dining table looks like a crime scene. Ive got bandages on two fingers, mini disinfectant pads strewn around, and cherry red blood dripping down my forearm. Im angling my elbow like a helicopter hovering over the little blood collection card, just trying to fill the darn box one last time so I can move on with my day. Finally, I pack it up and mail it all off in a rather alarming biohazard bag. The whole ordeal takes about three hours and costs $309.

[No food is healthy. Not even kale.]

Im told Ill receive my results in a few weeks. While I wait, I wander back to the Habit website and take a closer look at those pages and pages of fine print. I start to have second thoughts at sentences like, You may experience stress, anxiety, or emotional or physical discomfort when you learn about health problems or potential health problems.

Then theres this: Recommendations regarding diet provided to you may or may not be beneficial to you and may cause or exacerbate certain medical problems.

Say what?

Thankfully, when the results come in, I get labeled a Range Seeker. In official Habit-speak, it means you can be flexible with your macronutrient intake and thrive on a range of foods. Well, thats a relief.

[Heres how much giving up beef helps or doesnt help the planet]

There are seven Habit types, each with dozens of more specific sub-variations, varying from Slow Seeker (best suited for foods rich in fiber and carbs that are absorbed slowly) to Fat Seeker (fat is a valuable fuel source for you). Along with receiving your tribal designation, youre assigned a personalized eating plan, depicting your ideal plate, suggested nutrient goals and daily calorie target.

Id be lying if I said the results havent been affecting my food choices, or at least the way I feel about my food choices. For instance, since being told I have a genetic risk variant associated with slow production of omega-3s, I have been seeking salmon like a grizzly bear. Apparently, Im also genetically predisposed to caffeine sensitivity. Many a morning, this news has me sitting at my desk thinking I must be tripping out on my cup of joe despite the fact that I have consumed the exact same amount of coffee every day of my adult life.

Conviviality, an endangered species

On the face of it, personalized nutrition makes sense. Why wouldnt I want to understand the unique dietary yearnings and land mines of my own DNA? Many people seem to feel that the existing national dietary guidance of one-size-fits-all has failed them. Theyre sick, and theyre confused about what to buy and what to order.

But in reducing food to individualized nutrient optimization equating food with fuel, really what are we sacrificing? What are the implications for our food culture and the future of dining? Oh, gosh, Id love to go out for sushi with you, but I have to scurry home to my prearranged Range Seeker box in the fridge.

[Why your humble bowl of oatmeal could help feed a growing planet]

Neil Grimmer, Habits founder and chief executive, recognizes that food is social. He tells me that it knots us together culturally, so Habit is in the process of facilitating online communities for people with the same Habit type. Through a private Facebook page, they could share tips and the like. Its better than going it alone, I guess, but a far cry from actually sharing a meal.

Remember the $300 you put down for the home test? It includes a coaching session, so a nutritionist helps you put all your information into practice. During my session, Jae Berman, a registered dietitian, nutritionist and head coach of Habit, is a great help. But things dont look so rosy when I ask her how Im supposed to integrate Habit into regular life.

The family conversation has been one of the most common questions we have gotten, she says. It doesnt occur to me as a problem because I just want people to take ownership of their story ... have the empowerment to say, This is what my plate looks like; thats what your plate needs to look like, and move on. Even, she says, if that means everyone at the table eating something different. Have you ever tried being the short-order cook in that scenario? It all but requires outsourcing the meal making.

Imagine, Berman says, a mom whos stressed out, with kids running around, a husband who is a rail, all the while she has no time for herself, is struggling with her weight, and trying to figure out what on earth to cook for dinner. Most people dont want to talk about uncomfortable things, Berman says. But let your kids eat mac and cheese, let your husband do what he needs, and let you have this plate for your dinner. You dont need to do anything its going to show up at your door.

This desire to customize our food experiences stems from the uniquely American trait of individualism. Often subconscious, its a desire to be exceptional, distinct from those around us, as opposed to being part of a larger collective. By contrast, many other cultures around the world are characterized by interdependence. It turns out, individualism shapes our eating habits in stunning ways, from the rise of solo dining to customization as a firmly expected attribute of eating out.

Habit is the latest example of a new technology enabling that innate premium on personalization, and over time, these tools are pulling us further and further from the table. Think smartphones making us feel less alone while eating alone, and mobile ordering apps allowing us to tailor our meal delivery times and our restaurant orders with greater precision. With roughly half of all eating occasions now taking place when were by ourselves, were getting less and less practiced at eating with others.

This reality has major implications for our food culture, and for the rising rates of social isolation in the United States. You know what the single greatest predictor of happiness is? Social connectedness. And guess what: Its one of the greatest predictors of longevity, too.

Of course I want people to eat food thats right for them. But we also have to ask ourselves: Which is really going to make us live longer, and live better? The ability to pay more granular attention to our triglyceride levels, or the more holistic benefits of eating with family and friends?

My grandmother turned 100 this year. Between the birthday parties and the bridge club, her standing dinner dates and the three times a day she picks up her neighbors in their retirement home hallway to take their walkers down to the dining hall, a thriving social life is Almas secret to a long life. Whether Im chomping on my salad, face glued to my iPhone, or waving off her breakfast offer by citing the low-glycemic Kind bar I just finished off, she tells me time after time: Shed take the cake and the friendships any day.

Egan is author of Devoured: How What We Eat Defines Who We Are (William Morrow/HarperCollins), recently released in paperback.

Read the rest here:
I sent in my DNA to get a personalized diet plan. What I discovered disturbs me. - Washington Post

krutar/shutterstockIts no secret by now that eating too much salt can wreak havoc on your body.But what the heck is iodized salt, and should you be buying it?

For starters, iodine is an element that regulates your thyroid glands, stimulates brain development, and naturally detoxes your body.Most adults need about 150 mcg of iodine per day in order to avoid a deficiency, according to experts.Thankfully, the National Institutes of Healths Office of Dietary Supplements say that Americans and Europeans arewhats called iodine sufficient, meaning their dietis varied enough to provide the necessary levels of iodine. Thats true even if they dont use iodized salt, according to the Institutes research.

But dont relaxjust yet. Iodine deficiencies can be pretty scary, and if you are pregnant, you need to be particularly cautious. The need for iodine increases during pregnancy, because low iodine levels can endanger your babys mental development. Doctors often advise pregnant women to eat dairy products and take vitamin supplements, but you should see your own doctor before making any radical changes to your diet. (Still, you can safely stick with these snacks to eat while pregnant.)

For everyone else, you need not worry too much about your iodine levels. And while its true that you can get your daily intake of iodine from iodized salt, thats not alwaysthe healthiest solution. To reach the recommended level, you would need to eat more than half a teaspoon of iodized salt a day, which is two-thirds of the daily amountof sodium (1,500 milligrams) recommended by the American Heart Association. (These are thesigns youre eating too much sodium.)

Experts recommend gettingyour iodine from food, instead.Good sources of iodineother than iodized salt, of courseinclude fish, dairy products, grains like bread, and fruits and vegetables. Multivitamin pills and seaweed are also rich in iodine. Make any or all of these foods a staple in your diet, andrest assured youre well on your way to an iodine-sufficient life.

Now that your mind is in the kitchen, check out the real difference between baking power and baking soda.

See more here:
Iodized Salt Is No Longer a Required Part of a Healthy DietHere's Why - Reader's Digest

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- There's a fad spreading through the NFL, and Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson is among the latest to pick it up: a plant-based diet.

After watching two food documentaries on Netflix, Johnson and his wife, Meghan, both adopted a plant-based diet about a month ago. Thus far, according to Johnson, an All-Pro and Pro Bowl selection a year ago, he feels better since (mostly) removing meat from his diet.

But he's had to make slight alterations to his diet.

Johnson realized quickly as training camp began in late July that sticking with a strict plant-based diet caused him to lose more weight than he intended. He reported to training camp at 223 pounds, lighter than he had been in the past. His lower weight made him more agile, which Johnson said benefited him as a receiver, but he needed to maintain a certain weight to be effective, so he began adding meat in his meals.

By and large, he's cut most meat out of his diet and has noticed he has more energy and less fatigue.

"It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," Johnson said. "I thought it would definitely be hard just because, as Americans, we're taught to eat a whole bunch of meat. It's not even just eating meat, it's the portions. What I've learned is that we're taught eating like 24 ounces of steak is a manly thing, when really you're only supposed to eat 8 to 10 as a portion."

Johnson changed his diet after watching two documentaries on Netflix: "What the Health" and "Forks Over Knives." Both films expound on the benefits and virtues of a plant-based diet, using support from research papers and experts. Those documentaries, plus their own research, led the Johnsons to make the switch.

"We just kind of both did it at the same time," David said.

Plant-based diets have spread throughout the NFL. Former Cardinals defensive tackle David Carter adopted a plant-based diet in 2014. According to the animal rights group PETA, at least five players have credited their switch to a plant-based lifestyle to seeing "What the Health." Among the current NFL players known to have converted to either a completely or partially plant-based diet are Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, according to PETA.

Cardinals safety Tyrann Mathieu began eating a plant-based diet last season and lost 16 pounds, but the difficulty of sticking to the restrictions during road trips caused him to begin eating meat again. He felt better with a plant-based diet, he said, and he might try it again after the season.

Johnson curbed any concern about maintaining his caloric intake by shrinking the size of his meals and increasing their frequency. He now eats about six small meals a day instead of the three or four he had when he wasn't following a plant-based diet. Between meals he snacks on nuts, mainly cashews.

"That's another way to get my calories," he said. "Some of that stuff also has protein in it."

Johnson's venture into the plant-based world given him a new perspective on meat and its effect on people. "We've learned that meat is bad for you," he said. "But it's really where you get the meat from and how much you eat of that meat in each sitting, because most Americans eat lunch, dinner, supper and it's always meat and it's always a huge portion. We're just learning about that stuff."

Read the rest here:
How Netflix changed the diet of the Arizona Cardinals' David ... - ESPN (blog)

Im beginning to hear more and more people lecture me about the benefits of the ketogenic diet. Keto burns fat fast! It turbo-charges your energy! It fights disease! You can eat all the bacon you want! But as is so often the case with diets, underneath all the initial excitement, theres a gut check. Heres everything you should know about the ketogenic diet and whether or not you should try it for yourself.

Ketogenesis has existed as long as humans have. If you eat a very low amount of carbohydrates, you starve your brain of glucose, its main fuel source. Your body still needs fuel to function, so your brain signals it to tap its reserve of ketones. Its like a hybrid car that runs out of gas and reverts to pure electricity.

Okay, but what are ketones? Theyre compounds created by your liver from your fat stores when blood insulin is low. Your liver produces ketones all the time, but the rate depends on carbohydrate and protein intake, says Jeff Volek, Ph.D., R.D., a professor of human sciences at Ohio State University. Eat a normal amount of carbs and protein, and ketogenesis idles. Cut carbs and protein back, and you push to half throttle. This takes about three days to induce.

A ketogenic diet requires that fat comprise 60 to 80 percent of your total calories. Protein makes up 10 to 15 percent, and less than 10 percent comes from carbs. Yes, less than 10 percent. Thats the equivalent of about half a medium bagel.

A sample day on a ketogenic diet:

If this sounds like Atkins, its close, but ketogenic diets tend to be more severe in carb restriction and have a more moderate protein restriction, says Spencer Nadolsky, D.O., author of The Fat Loss Prescription.

Some theories even suggest that if you rely less on carbs, your body will burn more fat as fuel, which may boost physical and mental performance, regulate appetite, lower insulin, and enhance immunity.

Most men consume nearly half of their calories from carbs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. So heres the challenge: Can you sustain ketosis long enough to reap the purported health benefits?

This may sound like a copout, but the best diet is the one you stick with. For Volek, whos been following an ultra-low-carb diet for two decades, it works. But for you?

Unfortunately, theres no long-term data on ketogenic diets versus other diets. The closest attempt came out in 2007. A project nicknamed The A to Z Weight Loss Study compared the Atkins, Zone, LEARN, and Ornish diets for long-term weight loss. The female subjects assigned to the low-carb diet of 20 percent carbs were eating close to 35 percent by the end of 12 monthsa far cry from the 10 percent or less required for ketosis.

Studies have shown that people do lose weight on a ketogenic diet, but theres a catch. In a 2015 Italian study, those on a ketosis diet lost 26 pounds in three months. About half of the participants stayed on the diet for a year but lost little additional weight in the next nine months. People in a 2014 Spanish study who followed a very-low-calorie ketogenic diet lost an average of 44 pounds in a yearbut a third of them dropped out.

Though you can eat bacon on a ketogenic diet, the rest of the spectrum is limited. Starchy vegetables like potatoes, corn, and squash are too high in carbs. Same with most fruits. Milk, beans, rice, pasta, bread: nope.

Some experts label the diet impractical. Extreme diets such as the ketogenic diet have no therapeutic or practical use for people without neurodegenerative disorders such as epilepsy, says Alan Aragon, M.S., a Men's Health nutrition advisor.

Cant you take ketone supplements? No. While it is possible to elevate ketones by taking them, without the low-carb stimulus, there is no net increase in ketone production, no decrease in insulin, and no net increase in fat oxidation, says Volek. Dont trust trainers or body hackers who say you can induce ketosis quickly without changing your diet. (Check out the best supplements for men.)

Is keto right for you? If youre an elite endurance athlete who does well with structured diets and wants an edge, maybe. If youre just a guy who wants to drop 10 pounds and has had trouble with yo-yo dieting, probably not. But you can take three lessons from the diet:

Instead of thinking about the overall number of carbs youre eating, assess what those carbs are providing to you. Do the majority of your carbs come from fruit, with its payload of fiber and disease-fighting antioxidants? Fantastic. Or are you consuming them in the form of added sugars (cookies, candy, soda) or refined flour? If you are, you know what to do.

The ketogenic diet may seem like the Jekyll to the Hyde-like low-fat craze of the 1990s. The bulk of current research finds that the middle ground between the two extremes is more beneficial for overall health. Make it easy for yourself: Eat at least two servings a week of fatty fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel) and cook with a variety of quality fats (olive oil, canola oil, avocado oil) throughout the week.

Grill Slammin' Salmon:

Leafy vegetables are loaded with nutrients. Keto fans love them; so should you. Theres kale, spinach, bok choy, Swiss chard, collards, watercress, mizuna, and arugula. Dig in.

Oh, and you might be wonderinghowd things turn out with the bacon beaus? Their experiment worked until life changed. They had a kid. They made a big move. They stopped the diet. It was too hard to maintain, she told me. Proof that all the bacon you can handle even grows boring after a while.

See the article here:
Everything You Should Know About the Ketogenic Diet - Men's Health

If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me this summer if I've seen the Netflix documentary What The Health, well, I'd be approximately 35 cents richer. (Someone should really adjust that adage for inflation.)

Point is, What The Health -- a 92-minute dissection of diet and disease -- is a buzzy water-cooler subject right now, and that chatter has extended to NFL locker rooms. Cardinals superstar running back David Johnson is a perfect example.

Johnson and his wife, Meaghan, moved to a plant-based diet after binging on What the Health and Forks Over Knives, another Netflix documentary. Johnson is part of a growing trend of professional athletes who are cutting back on or entirely removing meat from their diets.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is probably the league's poster boy of this movement; a part of his fledgling lifestyle empire is built around meat-free dietary choices. Aaron Rodgers has followed a similar path.

"It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be," Johnson said, per ESPN.com. "I thought it would definitely be hard just because, as Americans, we're taught to eat a whole bunch of meat. It's not even just eating meat, it's the portions. What I've learned is that we're taught eating like 24 ounces of steak is a manly thing, when really you're only supposed to eat 8 to 10 as a portion."

So while you shouldn't expect the Johnsons to be lining up at Chick-fil-A any time soon, just know that plantmania hasn't taken full hold on the Arizona Cardinals. Take it away, Uncle Brucie:

Go here to read the rest:
Netflix binge leads to new diet for David Johnson - NFL.com

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