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TAHLEQUAH Americans think of themselves as can-do people, but there is a battle they have been mostly losing for decades.

Today, 70 percent of Americans who have attained the age of 20 are overweight, and 38 percent are obese. A result of such flabby numbers has been widespread dieting, with mixed results.

A diet that has gotten some headlines in recent years is the ketogenic, or keto, diet. There is nothing new about its driving mechanism: the reduction of carbohydrate consumption. The Atkins diet of the 2000s also urged dieters to cut down on carbs, as does the low carb, high fat diet.

Atkins and LCHF can attain what the keto diet also seeks: ketosis, where the body obtains some energy from water soluble ketone bodies in the blood, as opposed to using blood glucose through glycolysis.

Health food stores are often visited by people following low-carbohydrate diets.

People can ask for the keto bowl, but we call it the Protein Fat Bomb, said Eric McKee, who runs the kitchen at Oasis Health Foods. We use turkey or chicken usually turkey. It has coconut oil, which is a healthy fat. Some people have a personal preference for something like avocado.

McKee said creating a keto diet dish is difficult because carbs are ubiquitous.

The Protein Fat Bomb is not on the menu, McKee said. People have to ask for it, and we can tailor it. They usually want some modification. Sprouts have a few carbs, but they add a lot of flavor. Cheese is also good. I think it is also important to use ingredients that are delicious by themselves, so you can use them in other ways.

A number of Oasis customers are on the keto diet, and McKee said those who decided to follow it are taking on a serious regimen.

The keto diet is pretty hardcore and challenging, he said. If you absolutely have to lose weight, it is one way to do it, and we are a great place to find foods to follow the diet. Also, you need to have some carbs, and when you first go on the diet, your body has to adjust, anda person can almost feel sick. We can help with the carb crash.

Though low-carb diets have enjoyed popularity for some time, they are not without controversy. While the diets have not been condemned outright by medical groups, there is skepticism.

The keto diet is recent, and there are few statements about its effectiveness, but commenting on low-carb diets in general, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services wrote in 2005 that they are not conducive to long-term weight management.

The American Heart Association believes high-protein diets are tough on the heart, the American Dietetic Association stated in 2003 that too many calories of any kind cause weight gain, and several foreign health services have taken similar positions.

Conversely, the American Diabetic Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians, while not offering enthusiastic support for low-carb diets, have acknowledged them as a method of losing weight in the short term.

Since carbohydrates cause blood sugar to spike, most doctors advise diabetics to limit their intake.

A lot of people want to lose weight, said Kenneth Gibson, D.O., of the NeoHealth clinic in Hulbert. Let your doctor know if you plan to change your diet, and the diet should be monitored to adjust for any missing nutrients.

Heather Winn, family and consumer sciences educator for Oklahoma State Universitys Cherokee County Cooperative Extension Service, endorses a rainbow diet with sensible portions.

As Extension educators, we recommend the diet on MyPlate.gov, Winn said. It suggests a variety of lean meats, all different colors of fruits and vegetables, and whole grains. You want to eat a lot of different foods, but also try to limit fat and sugar intake. They have long lists of foods for each category, and they promote a healthy diet, especially for children. We recommend these foods unless otherwise directed by your physician.

Winn also pointed to the necessity of being active. Calories ingested must be used.

Part of what we do is teach yoga for kids and we have lots of programs in the schools, she said. We go to the Head Starts and day cares. Not only do you need to eat healthy, but the calories in need to be equal to calories out to maintain a healthy weight.

Whats next

A group of local residents has begun following the keto diet. In a few months, the Press will report on their progress.

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'Keto' diet good for quick weight loss, but caution advised - Theadanews

Dr. Joanne Conaway, a naturopathic physician who has made it her mission to heal the guts of the world, spoke Thursday at the Woodward Conference Center to educate the public on the importance of a healthy and balanced diet.

Having a balance between healthy gut bacteria and bad gut bacteria is important for your overall health.

"Our bacteria in our stomach outnumber our human cells by ten to one," said Conaway. "The healthy bacteria in our digestive system actually control hundreds of disease causing pathogenic bacteria. Only, however, if you have lots of healthy gut bacteria and not an over growth of unhealthy gut bacteria. The healthy bacteria are modulated and regulated by our diets."

Conaway talked about foods that impact the good and bad gut bacteria and the importance of knowing the difference between them.

The lecture hit at genetically modified foods that have changed to the point of no longer being considered healthy.

"We have changed the chromosomal structure of wheat," said Conaway. "We've done it under the guise of making it drought resistant, resistant to certain pathogens, increase the yield. All of these things are the reasons why researchers have driven wheat to what it is today.

"But the unfortunate thing for us is that it now contains gluten proteins and those gluten proteins have been structural changed to the point that, unfortunately, our digestive systems cannot handle it. And not only that, it impacts the function of our digestive systems. Even more importantly is realizing that wheat has a very high glycemic index."

Foods such as wheat, barley, rye, oats, oils, well cooked red meats, nitrates, fried foods, potato skins, and carbonated beverages made Conaway's list of foods to avoid for a healthy gut.

Conaway recommends not only a balanced diet with plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables but also utilize probiotics, vitamins, and minerals to promote healthy bacteria.

A healthier life is found through the gastrointestinal tract according to Conaway.

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Seminar focuses on healthy diet - WoodwardNews.net

When, what and how you eat can have some eye-opening effects on your ability to get things done and get ahead at work.Jun.22.2017 / 1:17 PM ET What you eat can have surprising effects on your ability to work. What you eat can have surprising effects on your ability to work.

You know that your diet has a profound effect on your weight, your sense of wellbeing and even your risk factors for certain illnesses, but did you know that it also has an effect on your productivity?

You might feel a surge of productivity after lunch, or feel especially useless on mornings when you skip breakfast, but when, what and how you eat can all have some surprising effects on your ability to work.

Theres a reason nearly two-thirds of Americans drink coffee every day, with an average of 2.7 cups per day, per drinker. Coffee is one of Americas favorite caffeinated beverages, meant to serve as a pick-me-up before or during work.

Instinctively, you might guess that caffeine has a positive effect on your productivity, since its associated with higher energy levels, reduced fatigue and better alertness and focus. And for the most part, youre right. A cup of coffee has about 200 milligrams of caffeine, which is enough to suppress the adenosine in your brain that would ordinarily make you feel sleepy, and provide you with cognitive boosters like better memory and cognitive function. If timed right, coffee (and other forms of caffeine) can improve your performance in the short term.

Create a budget for your caffeine consumption, so you dont overindulge and interfere with your sleep cycle. Consider gradually shifting to decaf coffee as the day moves toward a close.

However, much depends on how you consume caffeine, and in what quantities you consume it. Consuming too much caffeine can lead to jitteriness and anxiety, distracting you from work and interfering with your sleep schedule; and if you lose too much sleep, no amount of caffeine will be able to make up for your cognitive impairment. At the same time, caffeine dependency can actually cause withdrawal symptoms if youre ever left without coffee for a day.

Experts suggest keeping fruit or nuts around as a snack to boost your energy midday, and thats generally good advice, but it pays to know why. Blood glucose is a complicated topic, and its effects on productivity arent cut-and-dry.

Researchers have found that the ideal amount of blood glucose to have circulating in your body is 25 grams; less than that, and your productivity will take a hit. Any more than that, and you wont be able to do much with the extra energy.

So how does this matter to your diet? Almost anything you eat will raise your blood sugar in some way; therefore, if your blood sugar gets too low, youll need to eat something if you want to achieve your optimal performance.

However, not all things raise blood glucose in the same way or in the same amounts; foods higher in the glycemic index, like candy bars and white rice, will cause your blood glucose to spike, preceding a crash shortly thereafter. Low glycemic index foods, like oatmeal and most fruits and vegetables, will provide a steady release over the course of hours.

Have you ever felt less productive and more irritable because you were hungry? You arent alone. It turns out, judges give harsher sentences when theyre hungry, and people are generally less productive when they have food on the mind. This is linked to blood glucose, but serves independently because of the subjective feeling of hunger. Eating filling foods, like proteins and foods high in fiber, early in the day will help you stave off hungerand feel a lot less grumpy. Having a healthy snack nearby can also help.

The foods you eat have an impact on your health, but your health has an impact on your productivity. When it comes to absenteeism (days missed due to health complications) and presenteeism (productivity lost during the day due to health complications), the annual cost for a normal-weight employee is $10,000.

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The annual cost for an obese employee is $16,000. Put simply, engaging in unhealthy eating habits could cause health-related productivity losses 60 percent more than those of average employees.

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So what can we learn from these four insights? Follow these fast tips to get the most out of your workday:

You dont have to become a health nut to reap major benefits. A handful of simple changes to what, when and how you eat and drink each day will do the trick!

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4 Surprising Ways Your Diet Is Affecting Your Productivity - NBCNews.com

You're going to call bullshit on this, but it's no joke: I have started to crave apples. They taste as good as a giant slice of cake to me. It's bizarre, I know, but they've become my guilt-free pleasure food the thing I look forward to on weekends, when I used to look forward to, say, French toast dripping in syrup.

Michael Stillwell

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This is what the 5:2 Diet's done to me, and I'm totally fine with it. It's the first thing that's gotten results while letting me actually enjoy my life. Also known as the Intermittent Fasting Diet, the plan's pretty simple: You eat whatever you want, essentially, five days of the week, then stick to 500 calories or less for the other two days. (It's 600 for guys.) As someone who's tried and failed to stick to just about every diet out there even the Cabbage Soup Diet, where you only sip sad, watery vegetable broth for a week straight this one seemed doable. Just two days a week where I had to pay attention to calories? I could do that.

Early on, I decided to space out my "2 Days," AKA my 500-calories-or-less days. Mondays are perfect for this diet. If you've gone out over the weekend and indulged in a few cocktails or sweets or whatever, it's nice to hit reset at the start of the week. I like to think of it like giving my system a break.

My other 2 Day is Thursday, because I need a good two days before going back to eating 500 calories or less, and trust me, Thursdays are painful. They're a drag, but that's largely because of my own modification to the diet: I go super low-carb on those days. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays are low-carb too, even if they're high-calorie, and on the weekends, I eat what I want. I'm not a nutritionist or professional by any means; I've just found that a combination of low-carb and 5:2 works for me. It keeps my cravings in check, so when I crave something sweet, I reach for a Honeycrisp, not a plate of cookies. But it's not so restrictive that I'm stuck with steamed vegetables and boring grilled chicken breasts for the rest of my life.

That said, I'm not going to sugarcoat it: My 2 Days are intense. For breakfast, I'll have iced tea with a little half-and-half. It sounds weird, I know, but half-and-half has fewer carbs than milk, and it tastes like such a treat.

Michael Stillwell

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At lunch, I stick to two hardboiled eggs and five olives for the most part. Now that's the kind of meal that'll get you some side-eye and strange stares in the cafeteria, but I love it because it's filling and it makes my life easy. A salad can vary in calories each time you make it, so I like that the combination's roughly the same calorie count every time. It's like a prepackaged meal without all of the crazy, unpronounceable-and-barely-decipherable ingredients that accompany prepackaged meals.

On 2 Days, I don't have dinner. It's something I've mentally prepared for, so I don't miss it. Instead, when I go home, I have a giant glass of club soda. I love sparkling water or anything with bubbles in it, and as weird as it sounds, I actually look forward to that drink.

My 5 Days really vary. Anything goes on the weekends (bring on the burritos and margaritas!), and on my 5 Days on weekdays, I'll typically have an omelette with cheese and spinach, a handful of almonds as a snack, and lunch and dinner will typically be chicken with green vegetables or a salad. Sometimes I'll have Mexican or Chinese food and a light cocktail at dinner.

It wasn't until I started the 5:2 Diet that I understood all those times people talk about changing your diet as a lifestyle, not a fad. It's helped me get to a healthy weight and, best of all, maintain it, without having to restrict myself or exercise constantly to stay there.

I'm the luckiest person on Earth if the thing I'm worried most about is how much I weigh.

Now, I'll be honest sometimes I fall off the wagon and drop the diet for a few weeks, but then I'll spend a week going super low-carb, and that's often all I need to get back into the swing of 5:2. After seven days of avoiding all starches in sight, doing it for just two days a week feels easy.

The most freeing part about this diet, though, has been the mental shift. With most diets, I focus on counting calories or carbs or what I can't eat. With this one, I'm not wasting all that time worrying over what I put into my body and obsessing over how it will make me look and feel. My 2 Days are down to a routine, and so are my other weekdays, so when I do indulge, I don't freak out about it anymore.

Michael Stillwell

For years I struggled with my weight. As a kid, people called me "the weed," because I was so skinny and tall. Then, in high school, I realized I was a little bigger than other people that's when my Cabbage Soup Diet phase kicked in. Off and on ever since, I'd been figuratively throwing myself against a wall, wasting hours worrying about my size. Then, one day, I realized what utter bullshit that was. I'm the luckiest person on Earth if the thing I'm worried most about is how much I weigh. I got rid of my scale, and I haven't allowed one in my home ever since.

When I go to the doctor, I plug my ears when he weighs me. I don't care to know it; I'd rather focus on my health. What do my blood tests say? How are my energy levels? I am not a size zero, and I'll never be that. I've tried doing super low-carb all the time, but I can't sustain it, and the depression and aggravation of fighting my body type just isn't worth it, so fuck it. This is who I am. I'm the woman who eats two hard-boiled eggs and five olives for lunch twice a week, who loves her shape even if it's not the size society deems perfect, and who genuinely believes apples are nature's cake while being fully aware of how cheesy that sounds.

I've let go of the mission to be a certain number, so I can focus on being a certain person. That's what matters to me.

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I Tried The 5:2 Diet And I Finally Learned To Love My Body - Delish.com

FINDINGS

A new study by scientists at UCLA found that when mice eat a high-fat diet, the cells in their small intestines respond the same way they do to a viral infection, turning up production of certain immune molecules and causing inflammation throughout the body. The scientists also found that feeding the mice tomatoes containing a protein similar to that in HDL, or good cholesterol, along with the generic cholesterol drug Ezetimibe, reversed the inflammation.

The results could lead to new types of drugs, targeting the intestinal cells, to reduce peoples risk of heart attacks and strokes, or to treat other conditions linked to inflammation, including cancer and inflammatory bowel disease.

Researchers already knew that prolonged obesity can cause inflammation of the liver and fat tissues, and that this inflammation contributes to the development of diabetes and heart disease. Studies have also shown that higher levels of high-density lipoprotein, or HDL, cholesterol, reduces a persons risk of heart disease.

The UCLA research team, led by Alan Fogelman, chair of the department of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA,previously developed genetically engineered tomatoes that contained 6F, a protein resembling the main protein in high-density lipoprotein. In early experiments on 6F, they found that the compound was active in the small intestines of mice, and that it reduced inflammation. But exactly how it did this was unclear.

The scientists fed either a standard chow or a high-fat, high-cholesterol Western diet to mice that were especially prone to developing clogged arteries. They also treated some of the mice with either 6F, in the form of a tomato concentrate containing the protein, Ezetimibe, or both. After two weeks, cells from the small intestines of the mice were collected and blood samples were taken. The researchers measured cholesterol levels as well as the levels of inflammatory and immune molecules in both the intestines and throughout the body.

The findings shed light on the molecular details of how high-fat diets cause inflammation in the body, by making the intestines activate the pathway normally triggered by a virus. This suggests that blocking this immune reaction as 6F and Ezetimibe do may treat inflammatory diseases and decrease peoples risk of heart attack and stroke.

The authors of the study are all faculty and researchers at UCLA, affiliated with the Department of Medicine; Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology; Department of Human Genetics; Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics; Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine; Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology; Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior; and Department of Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology. The first author is Pallavi Mukherjee; Fogelman is the senior author.

The studywas published June 7, 2017, in the Journal of Lipid Research.

The study was funded by the United States Public Health Service (2P01 HL-30568) and the Castera, Laubisch, and Milt Grey funds at UCLA.

Alan Fogelman, Mohamad Navab and Srinivasa Reddy are principals in Bruin Pharma, which is working to commercialize apoA-I mimetics, including the 6F peptide studied in this paper; Fogelman is additionally an officer of the company.

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High-fat diet leads to same intestinal inflammation as a virus - UCLA Newsroom

If you have digestive issues or dramatic dips in mood or energy, this gut-balancing diet could be for you

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Maybe you experience an afternoon slump stronger than most. Maybe you break out with unwelcome acne, experience unexplained mood swings, or just feel really tense.

With life throwing so many other stressors at you, the last thing you need is your body feeling out of whack. Yet many people deal with these symptoms daily and they dont know why. These experiences are frustrating and exhausting and can make you feel out of control.

However, those shifts in mood and energy crashes dont have to remain a mystery.

Many people are unaware of the connection, but your gut has immense power over the way that you feel. Your gut responsible for your digestion could be causing these chaotic disruptions to your daily life. For this reason, many celebrities and wellness experts have sworn by the alkaline diet: a diet in which you eat foods with a higher pH in order to offset the acidity that builds in your stomach. Jennifer Aniston, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Elle Macpherson are just a few of this diets success stories and the secret is simpler than you might think.

Why does your guts pH matter? A digestive imbalance might only feel like a small stomachache in the moment it might feel like its not a big deal. But that small feeling is a telltale sign that your gut is affecting the rest of your body in more subtle, disconnected ways.

As Jay Pasricha, MD, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Neurogastroenterology, explains, your gut and your brain talk to each other, so therapies that help one may help the other. In a way, gastroenterologists (doctors who specialize in digestive conditions) are like counselors looking for ways to soothe the second brain. So assisting your gut to maintain its balance could help your brain achieve the same.

Which foods are best for an alkaline diet? When your body performs optimally it exists in a slight alkaline state, or a state where the pH of your gut is slightly more basic. Of course, swaying too far to the basic end of the pH scale is caustic as well; its all about finding your optimal balance.

Experiment with foods slightly basic in pH, called alkaline foods. Many vegetables, such as mushrooms, broccoli, and spinach are ideal for an alkaline diet. According to popular health personality Dr. Josh Axe, however, cooking these foods could result in a reduction of the alkalizing effect. While cooked broccoli is certainly tastier, munching on raw broccoli with some hummus, for example, might be a better idea if youre looking to aid your digestion. Steaming vegetables has a slightly less harsh effect on them and could serve as another ideal alternative.

The good news is that vegetables arent the only foods that optimize your gut with an alkalizing effect. Sweet treats such as dates, bananas, and figs could boost your gut health. Additionally, avocados, olive oil, and coconut provide delicious healthy fats alongside their alkalizing benefits.

Foods to avoid: Caffeine, alcohol, and many processed foods are highly acidic. These foods have the potential to upset your digestion and cause your gut pH to sway to the extreme. There is a reason you dont feel well after eating something highly processed: Listen to your body and eat these foods in moderation.

The takeaway? Overall, the foods which alkalize your stomach to encourage an ideal pH balance are typically the foods we know to be healthiest. Grains, healthy fats, and fibrous fruits and vegetables all fall beneath this umbrella category of alkalizing foods. Fill your plate and your refrigerator with quality foods thats all you need to do to optimize your gut health.

Of course, no food is good for your diet in the extreme eating only these healthy foods could be harmful, as well, and could sway your pH in the opposite direction. Acidic foods such as coffee and processed sugars wont make or break your gut health in small quantities.

Just remember to allow yourself these foods when you crave them and refrain from them when you dont. Your gut and your cravings are likely telling you something, and its a good idea to listen to them. Sometimes, eating a cookie is the right choice!

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The 'Basic' Diet Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston Swear By ... - HuffPost

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Doctor Joseph Gigante is a general physician at Vanderbilt Children's Hospital and said for the first 6 months babies need breast milk or formula before being introduced to solid foods.

Vegan diet leads to infant's death, parents convicted

Unfortunately, a couple in Belgium, Germany learned through tragedy that infants need lots of nutrition. This week a judge there convicted the parents of a seven-month-old boy after he died of malnutrition because he was fed a vegan diet. The parents testified he was on a diet of milk made from oats, buckwheat, rice and quinoa.

"If you can't breast feed, go with soy formula," Gigante said.

Gigante does not recommend vegan diets for infants but said it can be done safely, "I think you have to be very careful about the intake the child is getting. Especially with a vegan diet, parents who choose to go that route really need to be informed about nutrition, be informed about the nutrients that are in the diet, in the foods and also with regard to protein."

He does advise parents, however, to be weary of fad or restrictive diets for their babies and always consult with your family physician. "If a parent wanted to do some kind of alternative diet, it's something to really sit down and discuss with their pediatrician or their healthcare provider and really detail and list what the diet is and having that individual or health care provider really look at," said Gigante.

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Is A Vegan Diet Ok For Infants? - NewsChannel5.com

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 pro athletes in different sports eat on a daily basis to perform at their best. Heres a look at the daily diet of a 6-foot-7 Olympian.

Going into the Rio Olympics, Ryan Crouser was a virtual unknown. Although he had won a handful of NCAA championships, his collegiate shot put career was also marred by just as many injuries. Besides, he was working towards a masters degree in the build up to the 2016 games. Then he crushed it during the Olympic trials and brought home a gold medal from Brazil in his very first attempt, setting an Olympic shot put record in the process. Now, as a full-time professional athlete, hes setting his sights towards the upcoming USATF Outdoor Championships.

GQ: One of the things I was most interested to ask you now that youre an Olympic gold medalistwhich, congratulations, by the way.

But did you have a celebratory meal after winning the gold? Did you go out in Brazil and celebrate or have any kind of big blowout celebration meal?

What they dont tell you is after you win an Olympic gold medal, your next 24 hours are almost booked solid with media. So the meal I had afterwards was a fast-food hamburger from a downtown sidewalk kiosk thing. That was the only thing we could find because I didnt leave the stadium and finish with media and get back to see my family until 3 A.M. But I had a hamburger and a beer, which at the time was as good as anything because that was the first time in the whole time I was in Rio that I got to see my family. Everything was locked down so tight with training and everything all the security stuff there was crazy. So it wasnt anything special, but being in the company of my family and friends there at 3 A.M. with an Olympic gold medal made it a pretty memorable meal.

Its funny that you bring up fast-food burgers, because I spoke with Christian Taylor recently and he mentioned how popular McDonalds always is for a lot of the Olympic athletes.

It was absolutely crazy. There was a line anywhere from an hour to two hours the entire time that McDonalds was open. Everything is free and I think they had a limit that was 24 burgers per person. They went through a lot of McDonalds in those two weeks.

That still blows my mind. The last thing you would think that all these Olympic athletes would be putting in their bodies the week of the actual Olympics is Mickey Ds.

Yeah, I stayed away from it. I was so focused in on training so I didnt get any McDonalds. But I was amazed at how many athletes were there.

Youre six foot seven, right? Youre a huge dude. So even if you werent this Olympic gold medal winning shot put superstar, Id imagine that youd have to consume a lot of food anyways. So how much food are you actually consuming in a day?

Im definitely eating a lot. And for me, the biggest thing is eating often. I try to eat five meals a day and include a couple of snacks here and there. The biggest thing for me is trying to never go more than three hours without eating, that way my body always has the nutrients to keep growing and recovering muscle. I dont necessarily eat huge meals at a time, I just try to have about a thousand calories. Still, about half of what a normal person should eat in a day, five times a day.

What type of foods are you typically looking to consume?

Ive found for me that a really balanced diet definitely works best. I mean, Ive done all kinds of different food plansone that kind of tilts towards more protein, one more carbs. But for me, I have a pretty fundamental diet. Im definitely trying to get a lot of proteinclose to about 300 grams of protein a day, so thats definitely a lot. I try to get a gram for every pound of body weight. A lot of that is coming from chicken. I eat some read meat, but I try to mostly go with chicken and fish. Then the biggest thing that Ive learned as Ive gotten older is carbs right after I work out. Everyone just really pushes protein, and I used to only do protein right after I finish, but then I kind of feel rough. So for helping me recover Ill eat some carbs right after I finish as well as a lot of protein. And then in the morning I try to do more fats. Thats also help me. I really feel good when I get some healthy fats earlier in the day. I can feel different joints and everything feeling better.

Ive actually been trying to put an emphasis on eating more healthy fats in the morning, because Im terrible about breakfast. And Ive found that it has helped me a lot with staying satiated for a better part of the day. Im not starving come 11 oclock anymore.

For me thats not too much of a problem, just because... Its funny, because everybody always thinks that athletes are kind of training themselves not to eat as much, but in my case I actually have to train myself to eat more. If Im just trying to maintain weight, I have to be at 4,000 to 5,000 calories. When Im trying to gain, Im between 5,500 and 6,000 calories for the day. So its almost like training to try and get that much food in me and always trying to make it pretty good food. I mean, its easy to get some fast food and hit 6,000 calories, but thats not always whats best for the body.

With how much food you have to consume throughout the day and how frequently youre eating, have you gone and worked with any of these meal-prep services or anything like that?

So I really like cooking myself, especially because I can kind of make it to my own proportions and do my own meal prep. But Ive actually moved out to the Olympic Training Center in San Diego, so theyve got a dining hall program set up thats open from seven in the morning until eight at night. That makes meals really easy. Its kind of like buffet style. So the meals here arent a problem with meal prep or anything. Pretty much everything is taken care of.

You know, we hear all the time nowadays about sports teams building these incredible performance centers with state of the art fitness and recovery elements, but they dont always put so much attention towards things that can aid in nutrition. So its awesome to hear that the Olympic Training Center offers that to you guys.

Yeah, a lot of people definitely underestimate the power of nutrition and diet in general. As an elite athleteor just anybody starting outthe progress that you make is really two-thirds in the weight room and on the field, and the other third is just food and nutrition, really. Its a huge aspect that definitely gets underdeveloped.

Definitely. This question sort of harkens back to my very first question, but before a big competition of before the Olympics, the day of your event, do you have a ritual meal of some sort?

I tend to cut back a little bit calorie-wise the day before and especially the day of. Ill eat on big meal usually the night before and kind of do the metaphorical carb loadingeat something with a lot of carbs and usually I feel pretty good the next day. But the closer it gets to the competition for me, the harder I find it for myself to eat. The body kind of gets nervous and a little jittery. I definitely tend to perform a little bit better the day of on lighter meals and a more empty stomach.

Youve mentioned the importance of getting carbs inwhat is your go-to carb that helps you perform the best?

I like pastas a lot, especially a nice whole-grain pasta. It gives a nice combination of complex carbs and its pretty straightforward. I eat a fair amount of bread, as well. Probably more than I should. Im a big fan of some well-made bread. I definitely love that.

Who doesnt! Rio was your first time at the Olympics. Youve got the USATF Outdoor Championships this weekend in Sacramento. Was there any big takeaway from your success at the Olympics that goes into preparing for an event like the Outdoor Championships? Anything new that you learned?

For me, I came out of college, finished my masters degree in finance at the University of Texas last May, and then kind of just went straight into Olympic trials and then to Rio. So its been a big change this year adjusting throughout the fall and this winter to being a full-time professional athlete. Before I was really a student athlete with a definite emphasis on student. Athletics kind of took a backseat and I was trying to work my meals and nutrition in around classes. I finished my masters degree in one year, so that was tough on training and eating because you have eight hours of class a day. Trying to eat around that was tough. Now I have realized that as a professional athlete, youre not just training two or three hours a day. Its a 24-hour job. Now my meals are extremely structured. I wake up and eat breakfast at the same time every day. I have a lighter first lunch at noon. Then a second lunch. Then I come back after the weight room and eat dinner at 5. Then we call it dinner number two at 7:30. Everything is really structured now and I really feel like Ive made a full-time commitment to eating now.

Do you ever get sick of having to eat so much food throughout the day?

There are a lot of meals where I just sit down and I stare at my food for a little bit. I almost have to find some motivation to put that meal away and kind of push through it. Its not always the most enjoyable thing having such a structured meal plan. There are times that I really feel like I am training when Im trying to eat dinner. People always tend to think that athletes can eat whatever and whenever they want, because theyre burning so many calories. Bit if youre trying to really make progress and perfect and push your bodys limits, you have to be eating pretty much exactly on the time schedule and its not whatever foods you want. You have to eat what your body needs at that point of the day. So its a challenge, but its just another thing that you perfect as you go.

Last question: How often do you allow yourself a cheat meal?

Usually on Thursdays we have a group of guys and our cheat meal is we go to Chick-fil-A. I get two classic chicken sandwiches with a large fry and then a large lemonade. Its definitely something I look forward to. I love Chick-fil-A lemonade. Its not the best for me, but its good for the soul.

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The Real-Life Diet of Olympic Shot Putter Ryan Crouser, Who Is Massive - GQ Magazine

June 22, 2017 by Andrew Brown, The Conversation A very low-carb diet can prompt changes in your brain similar to that caused by the illicit drug GHB. Credit: http://www.shutterstock.com

Some people on very low-carb diets say they feel euphoric, have clear minds and lose their appetite.

Going low-carb might even mimic the effects of GHB the recreational drug better known as fantasy, liquid ecstasy or grievous bodily harm on the brain.

To understand why we need to look at how the body processes a very low-carb diet, one that typically limits carbohydrates to no more than 50 grams a day. That's one cup of rice, two slices of bread or roughly 10% of your total daily energy needs.

Your body thinks it's starving

A very low-carb diet flips your metabolic switch from burning more carbs than fat, to more fat than carbs. This usually takes a few days in a process known as ketosis.

During this time, your body thinks it's starving. Once it uses up most of your glucose (carb) reserves, the body stimulates the breakdown of stored fat into fatty acids and releases them into the blood.

When fatty acids reach the liver they're converted into acetoacetate, an excellent metabolic fuel that belongs to a family of chemicals called ketones. That's why very low-carb diets are sometimes called "ketogenic" diets.

Acetoacetate decomposes to carbon dioxide and acetone, the smelly solvent best known for its ability to remove nail polish. This is why very low-carb dieters and people who are fasting often have sweet smelling breath.

A healthy liver minimises the acetone lost via the lungs by converting most of the acetoacetate it produces to a more stable substance, called beta-hydroxybutyrate or BHB. And this is where those euphoric feelings could come from.

BHB is almost identical to GHB, the naturally occurring neurotransmitter, called gamma-hydroxybutyrate, that in synthetic form is used as a recreational drug.

BHB and GHB have exactly the same chemical formula. Both consist of just 15 atoms, with the only difference being the position of one hydrogen and oxygen atom. It's not too surprising, therefore, the two molecules share the same carrier across the blood-brain-barrier, the impermeable tissue that protects the brain.

During ketosis, BHB can reach high levels in the brain, where it can bind to the same anxiety-reducing receptors as GHB. They bind with sufficient affinity that they may have similar effects.

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There are no reports of BHB supplements or low-carb diets causing any of GHB's adverse effects, like loss of consciousness, seizures and death.

So, apart from the similar-sounding name, what evidence is there that BHB produced by the liver by people on a very low-carb diet has euphoric, GHB-like effects in the brain?

Fasting for the original 'natural high'

The first case of euphoria directly attributed to ketosis was reported by Walter Bloom, who pioneered therapeutic fasts for obesity in the 1950s. After several days without food, his patients lost their appetite, felt remarkably well, and experienced a mild intoxication: "not dissimilar to the effects of ethanol."

Bloom speculated that acetoacetate had caused the inexplicable jubilation.

Other people have observed similar effects, including three Scottish doctors whose patients fasted for up to 249 days in the 1960s. After several days without food, their appetites subsided and all patients felt an increased sense of well-being which:

"in some amounted to frank euphoria."

Unfortunately, no studies of the euphoria reported by low-carb dieters have been conducted, as far as we know.

So, researchers don't know the exact cause of these feelings. Acetoacetate, acetone and BHB, or any of their metabolites, may all be involved, as well as the effects of low blood sugar, which can cause euphoria and giddiness.

A good place to start might be to image brain activity in people on a very low-carb diet and compare activity with people on a normal, non-calorie restricted diet. The aim would be to see if brain imaging of people on a very low-carb diet has similar effects on brain activity seen when people take GHB.

And if you're thinking of going on a very low-carb diet to get that high, beware. Side effects include loss of calcium from bones, increased risk of kidney stones and growth retardation.

Explore further: Could your breakfast cloud your judgment?

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

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Feeling euphoric on a low-carb diet? The effect on your brain is similar to an illicit drug - Medical Xpress

The star of This Morning always looks incredible - here are the secrets of her famous good looks

THE DARLING of daytime TV Holly Willoughby has managed to steal our hearts with her girlish giggles and friendly nature.

Since joining This Morning back in 2009 Holly has cemented her place as the nations favourite presenter.

Rex Features

Rex Features

The stunning blonde is known for her flowing locks and gorgeous curves which have been the subject of much attention in recent weeks.

Fans have followed Holly eagerly as her shape has changed with over the years.

Since 2009, Holly has given birth to three adorable children Harry, 8, Belle, 6, and Chester, 2, meaning her figure has fluctuated as her shape changed with pregnancy.

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Rex Features

No matter what size Holly is, she always manages to carry herself well, looking equally as stunning at size 12 as she does at size 8.

Holly has been consistently cautious about discussing her diet and exercise regime publicly for fear it would encourage radical diets and people to try and copy her techniques.

In an interview with the Daily Mail Holly said: A lot of women, and particularly celebrities, talk about this, and I think it is very unhelpful.

Before adding: Everyones journey is individual. I dont want to go on the record saying I did this or that, and then have other women read it and think they have to go and do the same.

Rex Features

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When Holly started on This Morning in 2009 after the birth of her first child, she was naturally slightly curvier, and her weight has continued to change as she gave birth to two more babies.

Holly has previously said: As long as Im being healthy, thats good enough for me.

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Im quite active and I try not to let the way I look be the main focus because its not the important thing.

More recently Holly has been wowing fans and showing off a slimmer frame following her incredible weight loss.

Over the past few weeks, the mum-of-three has become a talking point among fans, whove been desperate to know how Hollyachieved hernew svelte figure.

Instagram

The Sun Online exclusively revealed that size 12Hollyembarked on Pilates which has assisted her toned physique.

Following the birth of her daughter Belle, in 2011, Holly has worked on strengthening her core and sculpting a six pack in weekly Pilates sessions at her plush home, led by Lynne Robinson, director of London-based Body Control Pilates.

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Holly Willoughby's diet secrets and how her curves have come and gone over the years - The Sun

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