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The lead guitarist of U2, the popular rock band that just played Philadelphia,has more on his mind than music. In 2006, The Edges 7-year-olddaughter was diagnosed with leukemia, something that he says sent him into a complete tailspin. Sian recovered and is now 19.

The experience heightened the legendary musicians interest in health and cancer, and especially in angiogenesis, which focuses on the formation of new bloodvessels. In recent years, several antiangiogenesis drugs have been developed to disrupt the blood supply that cancers need to grow.

Yet The Edge, whose real name is David Evans, is convinced that certain foods can play a similar role, and hes pressing for more research. Hes a boardmember of the Angiogenesis Foundation, a Cambridge, Mass.-based nonprofit headed by William Li, an internal medicine physician who studied underangiogenesis pioneer Judah Folkman.

Interest in using food as an anti-cancer weapon is intense among consumers looking to reduce their risks. But the idea that foods like green tea or blueberriescan starve tumors is controversial unsettled science, as Otis Brawley, chief medical and scientific officer of the American Cancer Society, puts it.

The cancer society avoids saying that any particular food will ward off the disease, though it stresses that eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables is linked toa reduced risk. Still, Brawley is enthusiastic about The Edges emphasis on a healthy diet, saying the recommendations could help combat obesity, which itself islinked to an increased possibility of cancer.

Similarly, National Institutes of Health Director Francis Collins praises The Edges interest in angiogenesis. (Collins met Monday with Li and the guitarist andjoined the latter in playing Hallelujah on their respective guitars.) He also notes, however, that theres no definitive evidence of certain foods beinganti-angiogenic.

During his visit to Washington, The Edge and Li visited Capitol Hill on Monday to argue for more research on the issue. They also talked to the Post. The following has been edited for length and clarity:

Q: How did your daughters experience affect you?

The Edge: When my daughter was first diagnosed with leukemia I was, I guess like any parent would be, sent into a complete tailspin. Coming out of that, partof what I was determined to do was to fully understand what this meant. The good news is that chemotherapy protocols are very well understood and the success rate is high. So you dont need to try anything different. As ithappens, we were able to take advantage of to provide dietary changes to offer additional support to combat the disease.

What I really felt acutely, having brought my daughter through this treatment, is we can do better than chemotherapy. Its brutal, its very crude; you basicallyare killing cancer cells at a slightly higher rate than you are killing normal cells. As a strategy, it seemed like a blunt instrument. I couldnt imagine that wecouldnt do better.

When I discovered the angiogenesis approach, I thought, This is part of the future. It might not be the whole future, but its part of it.

Q: How are you tryingto promote that approach?

The Edge: Were communicating with scientists from other fields, talking to government officials about what we know and where we see the future and alsodoing public outreach. . . . Were just trying to encourage greater interest in this area.

The emphasis surely has to be on focusing more on prevention, and angiogenesis and diet is an obvious place to look.

Li: We want to use the tools of biotechnology to ask questions about how foods actually work in the body. This is almost a redefinition or reconceptualizationof nutrition itself, away from macro- and micronutrients to ask: What happens to foods when they encounter human cells? We are really at the beginning ofthis era of research to begin understanding how whole foods, combinations of whole foods, and even how they are prepared and even the variations between thedifferent varieties of food can make a difference.

Q: Its hard to prove that any particular food can prevent cancer. What is the evidence that the specific foods might actually protect people from the disease?

The Edge: Some of it is in the state of being a very good theory, a theory that has a lot of evidence around it, population studies, there are actually laboratorytests that the foundation has funded where you literally grow human cells in a petri dish and see what happens when certain foods are added.Of course, that wouldnt pass muster as hard, scientific, FDA-approved, proof. But its really compelling when you start to see in petri dish that these foodsare really having an effect which in some cases rivals pharmacology. What we really need is for the government to step in and fund this research . . . the systemis set up for Big Pharma developing drugs with big profit margins. We dont want them to stop, but what isnt being done right now is a lot of funding of greaterunderstanding of these molecules in food.

Li:Its tempting for all of us in biomedicine to want the magic bullet, the one thing to make everything else go away, but the body of research has shown thatboth health and disease are much more complicated. We think that food is one of the pieces of the puzzle of life that deserves the kind of modern scientificapproach that has taken biotech to where it is today. And when you marry together all the tools that are available with what we put on our plate and the choiceswe make in the grocery store and the market, we think there is literally an undiscovered country that can contribute to the health of society.What were really trying to do is develop a platform of understanding not just one food but many foods and combinations of foods. One of our first priorities isto systematically study whole, unprocessed foods using laboratory assays that have been used traditionally for drug discovery.

Q: What do you eat?

The Edge: I actually do eat berries every day, different ones, and whole food as much as I can. I eat foods with antiangiogenic properties.

Published: June 20, 2017 3:01 AM EDT | Updated: June 20, 2017 4:50 PM EDT

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U2's The Edge pushes for research into diet's role in cancer - Philly.com

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If you have a bloat that wont quit (or if youre among the one in five Americans with irritable bowel syndrome, AKAIBS), switchingto a low-FODMAP diet can be truly transformative. Sure, you have to weed out a super-long list of foods, but committingto it can put an end to a whole host of gut probs, including cramps, gas, andreal talkless-than-ideal poop situations.

Soif eliminating FODMAP foods isworking, you should stick with it, right? No way, saysFood Coach founder Dana James, CDN. Its a treatment diet, and youre missing the point if thats the only way you can survive, says James.

James compares followinga low-FODMAP diet to resolve your gut issues to restraining from sex to avoid getting a UTI.

The other sticking point for her? Alot of the foods that are off-limitsare nutrient-dense(reminder: FODMAP stands for six different types of short-chain carbohydrates that are known for being poorly absorbed and hard to digest, whichare present in a variety of foods, evenfruits and vegetablesyou have to say goodbye to healthy must-havesbroccoli, cashew nuts,watermelon, and beets if youre going low-FODMAP), so the goal shouldnt be to avoid them long-term. You need to find out the underlying issue.

James compares followinga low-FODMAP diet to resolve your gut issues to restraining from sex to avoid getting a UTI: Its an adaptive response, and you arent getting to the heart of what the real problem is.

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James explains that of course cutting out FODMAP foods offers some reliefyoure only eating things that are super easy to digest. But, she adds, you really should get to the bottom of why youre having trouble digesting foods [in the first place], so you can work toward being able to eat them again.

The issue could really just be with gluten or dairy (or both). Many people make the mistake of going full-on low-FODMAP, she says, when you might get that bloat-free life by just avoiding thosetwoinflammatory food groups alone.

While better-for-youFODMAP foods like fruits and veggies should only be eliminatedfor a shorttime, James istotally fine with peoplecutting ties with gluten and dairy for good, if thats what makes your digestive tract healthy and happy.

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What if you cut gluten and dairy and are still experiencing GI drama? James says that more often than not, theres an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine or large colon. That can lead to some very uncomfortable bloating when you eat foods with fiber, she says.

She explains that you really dont want a lot of bacteria in the small intestine or large colon (unlike in the gut). If you experience an upset stomach, its either caused by a certain food or theres a microbe triggering it, she says. Another problem that could be going on is not having enough stomach acid in the gut. If you tend to reach for Tums or Rolaids on the reg, it could cause an unhealthy acid depletion.

To figure out exactly whats causing your bloating, constipation, or other digestive issuesand to eventually getoff alow-FODMAP dietyou have to work with a doctor who can run specifictests. Most likely, your MD willadministera Small Intestinal Bacteria Overgrowth (SIBO) test, which measures the amount of hydrogen and methane in the gutAKA gascaused by bacteria.

Once you know exactly whats going on, you can work togetherto come up with a plan that will work for your body, such as taking hydrochloric acida chemical released in the stomach during digestion that helps break down foodor aprobiotic with specific bacterial strains that your body needs.

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Heres the tricky thing: SIBO can be a reoccurring problemits not a one-and-done treatment type of deal. It can keep coming back, and the most common reason people get it in the first place is because the body is under stress, James says. (What isnt stress the cause of?)

So yes, working with a physician to determine what supplements will help bring back balance to the gut is important, but so is looking at the bigger pictureAKA how you can manage your stress. You would be surprised how much bloating can happen just because of the mind, James says. It literally changes the microflora in the gut. The plus side? It changes for the better quickly, too, so the effects of getting stress under control in the mind has an immediate effect for the better on the gut.

Figuring out the root cause of any gut problems can feel overwhelming, but knowing the low-FODMAP Diet is just a Band-Aid should come as a relief. Who wants to give up apples, watermelon, and (gasp!) avocadosforever?

To help you get your system humming again, here arenine secrets from Ayurveda that are great for digestion. And the most fun way to boost your gut health? Get out in that summer sun.

Originally posted here:
This diet helps with bloatingbut there's a catch - Well+Good

If youve ever taken a biology class, you know that the human body is incredible: trillions of cellswork togetherevery day to fight off microbes and keep us alive. Inflammation, in its simplest form, is an important part of that process as it protects us from infections and contributes to healing injuries by putting in motion the response from our immune system. This occurs through the mobilization of tissues and cells surrounding an infection or injury which helps our body ward off harmful bacteria and start the healing process. This is what happens when you smash your thumb with a hammer or burn yourself while making pancakes. The swelling and pain that follows go hand in hand with the healing cells that rush to the area. While inflammation can have a beneficial role in day-to-day mishaps like these, it also has drawbacks.When tissues and cells in the body keep getting targeted to certain areas as part of the inflammatory response for prolonged periods of time, were talking weeks, months, or even years, it can wreak havoc.

This sort of inflammation is defined as chronic and its presence can either be a symptom of a chronic disease or its cause. Some diseases like rheumatoid arthritis, Crohns Disease, and Ulcerative Colitis are classified as inflammatory disorders.While chronic inflammationmay not be the main culprit in otherdiseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity, its effect is still important as it brings discomfort and puts the body under unnecessary stress which in turn creates an even more favorable environment for diseases to thrive in. This phenomenon can be referred to as oxidative stress. This is what happens when theres an unbalance between the free radicals produced by our bodies and the necessary antioxidants to combat their effect. Free radicals are a natural product of our everyday metabolic processes but when present in excess they cause damage to the tissues. Essentially, free radicals are molecules with a missing electron who then binds with the chemicals in our bodies, damaging them in the process.

Thankfully,research shows that eating a wide variety of antioxidants rich plant foods isone of the best way to fight against free radicals which arechronic diseases worst enemy.This means that we can have some control in preventing diseases caused by inflammation as well as alleviating the associated symptoms of inflammatory disorders. More good news: fighting inflammation through our diet doesnt have to be complicated or time-consuming. In fact, it can be as simple as adding a few ingredients to your pantry and more fresh produce in your fridge. Not sure what to buy? Read10 Lesser-Known Alkaline Foods to Help With Inflammationto learn more. If weight is a concern, know that regularly incorporating anti-inflammatory foods in your diet can also help you lose and manage your weight naturally.

Whatever your reason is for wanting to make a change towards a more anti-inflammatory diet, these no-fuss tips will help you do it.

If smoothies are not part of your daily morning routine yet, they should be. Not only are they fast and easy to make but you can pack them up with as many inflammation-fighting foods as youd like. Adding greens, chia seeds,and hemp seedsto your fruit smoothies is a great start if youre looking to decrease inflammation in your body. Leafy greens contain phytochemicals such as carotenoids who have been shown to strengthen the immune system and fight inflammation by countering the effects of free radicals. Chia seeds and hemp seeds on their hand are filled with antioxidants, healthy fatty acids, and fiber which all help contribute to the reduction of inflammation. Indeed, the Omega 3s they contain were found to be positively linked with a decrease in inflammatory-markers in diabetics as well as a decrease in the production of free radicals.

If you want to include even more inflammation-fighting nutrients in your smoothie, here are8 Unique Ingredients to Add to A Supercharged Smoothie. See also these 11 Awesome Green Monster Smoothies, thisSuperfood Protein Shake, or thisHealing Turmeric Smoothie.

Using spices in your cooking is an easy way to get a nice anti-inflammatory boost without much effort. Not only is adding spices to old favorites a good way to discover new flavors but it may also inspire you to try out new recipes entirely. If youre wondering where to start, heres 7 Powerhouse Spices That Can Help Amp Up Your Nutrition. The anti-inflammatory power of spices resides in the flavonoids they contain. Curcumin, the yellow pigment in turmeric, has been shown to suppress chronic inflammation in a range of studies. Heres How to Get More Turmeric in Your Diet Right Now. You can also try any of these amazing 15 recipes that include turmeric.

See also this amazingTurmeric Tofu Cashew Curry, thoseCinnamon Turmeric Sweet Potatoes, and thisPersimmon Raspberry Fudge With Turmeric.

When it comes to fighting inflammation, your choice of drink can have a bigger impact than youd think. By swapping your second coffee for tea or simply foregoing coffee altogether in favor of green or herbal tea you will give your body a beneficial dose of antioxidants. Green tea and black tea, namely have been shownto reduce inflammation due to the flavonoids they contain. Moreover, a moderate to high consumption of coffee has been linked to a higher incidence of inflammation. This phenomenon may be explained by the effect of caffeine on our stress hormones which in turn affect our insulin sensitivity. However, too much insulin is positively linked with inflammation.

If youre looking for more elaborate drinks, here are 10 Must-Try Healing Turmeric Powered Elixirs. You can also try these5 Healthy Shots To Alkalize Your Body in the Morning, or theseRaw Citrus Turmeric Shots.

If youre not so much into cooking, side dishes are an easy way to add anti-inflammatory foods in your diet. Its as simple as getting a jar of sauerkraut or kimchi on the table. You can also make them yourself with these easy recipes, like this HomemadeKimchi,or thisSimple Sauerkraut. Not only are they a tasty addition to any meal but their probiotic content plays an important role in keeping our gut healthy. Indeed, the use of probiotic-rich foods is beneficial in reducing the symptoms of digestive diseases and allergies which are both caused by chronic inflammation.

If youd rather have your probiotics as part of the main dish (thats good, too!) try these 15 Gut-Healthy Vegan Recipes Featuring Kimchi, thisTempeh Reuben Sandwich, or this beautiful Sauerkraut Salad With Apples and Walnuts.

Your mom probably already told you but healthy snacks are where its at. If youre pressed for time and cant be fussed with eating whats good for you all the time, making a small effort in your snack choices could make a world of difference when it comes to fighting inflammation. Remember that processed foods are your enemy, so choose wisely! Indeed, trans-fats, saturated-fats, and sugar have all been linked with an increase of inflammatory markers in the body. Not sure what you should have? Fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds are a safe bet. Packed with antioxidants and healthy fats, these will provide you with much-needed ammunition to fight inflammation. Want to get a bit more fancy? Try these 7 Yummy Superfood Snacks. These Golden Milk Popsicles and Raw Turmeric-Dusted Snack Ballsalso make for a great snack if you ask us!

Looking for more info on anti-inflammation? Here are a few articles to get you started:

Looking for more recipes?

Try any of these:

If you enjoy articles like this and want to find more anti-inflammatory friendly recipes, we highly recommend downloading the Food Monster App. For those that dont have it, its a brilliant food app available for both Android and iPhone. Its a great resource for anyone looking to eat an antioxidants rich diet, cut out or reduce allergens like meat, dairy, soy, gluten, eggs, grains, and find more awesome recipes, cooking tips, articles, product recommendations and how-tos. The app shows you how having diet/health/food preferences can be full of delicious abundance rather than restrictions.

The Food Monster app has over 8000+ recipes and 500 are free. To access the rest, you haveto pay a subscription fee but its totally worth it because not only do you get instant access to 8000+recipes, you get 10 NEW recipes every day! You can also make meal plans, add bookmarks, read feature stories, and browse recipes across hundreds of categories like diet, cuisine, meal type, occasion, ingredient, popular, seasonal, and so much more!

Lead Image Source:Raw Turmeric-Dusted Snack Balls

Excerpt from:
5 Easy Ways to Incorporate Anti-Inflammatory Foods in Your Diet - One Green Planet

Women's Health

What Is The Fasting Mimicking DietAnd Can It Help You Lose Weight? Women's Health The Fasting Mimicking Diet is based on research from the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern Californiaspecifically, a study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, which tested how yeast reacted when deprived of food for a short ...

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What Is The Fasting Mimicking DietAnd Can It Help You Lose Weight? - Women's Health

Youve been trained from a young age to avoid fat. To this day, you probably drink 2 percent milk, jelly your toast instead of buttering it, and buy packaged food with reduced fat as much as possible. Even though doctors usually recommend low fat, is it really that bad for you? Some doctors are now saying the exact opposite, and heres why.

For decades, people have eaten low-fat foods in an effort to promote a healthy heart. The fatty and starchy diets of most Americans have led to higher cholesterol and, presumably, an increased risk of heart disease. However, research is showing just the opposite effect when people consume healthy fats like olive oil alongside healthy carbs.

One obesityexpert, Dr. Aronne, says that slightly low-fat diets might help people lose weight. On the other hand, it might also cause people to turn to more carbs when theyre hungry. The decreased fat intake simply does not satisfy a persons hunger as long as a diet with healthy fats.

DAY HIKING: WHAT TO TAKE

As a result, dieters eating less fat to lose weight might actually be thwarting their efforts. Any extra carbs they consume will only add to their weight, especially if they eat highly processed white breads and sugar.

Maybe reducing fat in your diet wont help with weight loss, but is it really good for you? Onestudyby the National Institutes of Health analyzed the effects that a high-fat diet has on weight loss and heart disease risk. The researchers instructed participants to get a high amount of carbs from vegetables, and they told everyone to avoid trans fats.

In the low-fat group, participants had to keep their total fat intake below 7 percent of their daily calories. They could still eat breads and cereals, though. For the high-fat group, however, participants reduced the amount of carbs they were eating and did not avoid fats like meat and butter.

After one year of these protocols, researchers analyzed the health of participants in each group. They found that those who had reduced their fat intake had only lost an average four pounds. Participants who ate a high-fat diet actually lost twelve pounds, without counting calories.

SHOULD YOU LET YOUR TEEN GET A NOSE JOB?

Next, researchers analyzed heart health, also finding that those in the high-fat group had improved their cholesterol more than those in the low-fat group.

Scientifically speaking, thisresultmakes sense. Those who reduce their fat intake likely fill the gaps with more carbohydrates. The carbohydrates then turn into sugar in the body.

Since theres more carbs than the body needs, it stores the sugar into fat cells. Unlike a high-fat diet, however, the body doesnt use the stored fat because it burns the carbs for energy. At that point, people are just adding on weight without the body needing to burn any of the excess.

On the other hand, a high-fat diet forces the body to burn fat as a source of energy. If it doesnt get enough energy from the food you eat, it then burns excess fat stored on the body. In addition, the healthy fats keep people feeling full longer, avoiding the temptation of eating more carbs.

For now, this subject still holds some debate among health professionals. New research does indicate that more healthy fats improve a persons health.

However, scientists have not done much research on the exact effects of a high-fat diet over a prolonged period. They also need more studies on the direct link between increasing saturated fat and its effects on heart health.

THE DAMAGING EFFECTS OF MAKEUP ON TEENS

For now, you can simply eat healthy fats without trying to avoid them in your diet. You might not want to increase your fat intake exponentially just yet.

Recently, a high-fat diet has shown more benefits to a persons health and weight loss than a diet meant to avoid fats. Also, healthy fats like olive oil lower bad cholesterol while raising good cholesterol, potentially lowering heart disease risk. How can you benefit from this research right now? Eat olive oil, meat, nuts, and other fats in a healthy balance, and youll get the benefits they provide.

This article first appeared on AskDrManny.com.

Dr. Manny Alvarez serves as Fox News Channel's senior managing health editor. He also serves as chairman of the department of obstetrics/gynecology and reproductive science at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey. Click here for more information on Dr. Manny's work with Hackensack University Medical Center. Visit AskDrManny.com for more.

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The skinny on high-fat diets | Fox News - Fox News

ANDERSON, Ind. A new study claims to have found a connection between drinking diet soda and being at higher risk of developing dementia and stroke.

However, the study's author is calling for more research to be done.

The study found an association between drinking at least one artificially sweetened beverage daily and having an increased risk of stroke or dementia by three times the risk of someone who drinks diet soda less than once a week.

The researchers who conducted the study analyzed the Framingham Heart Study Offspring Cohort. The 2,888 people in the group for the stroke study were primarily Caucasian, over the age of 45. The 1,484 people in the dementia study were over the age of 60.

The authors quickly cautioned in the American Heart Association press release that the research only shows a trend among one group of people rather than an actual cause and effect.

The people who participated in the study had researchers check in with their drinking habits periodically over a seven-year period, according to the press release. The researchers then followed up 10 years later to see who developed the targeted diseases.

At the end of the 10-year period, 3 percent of the people had had a stroke and 5 percent had been diagnosed with dementia.

Matthew Pase, a senior fellow in the department of neurology at Boston University School of Medicine, Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia, and the Framingham Heart Study, said more research needs to be done to confirm the findings since the sampling of people were primarily white and older. He also said they did not track how much regular soda the participants were drinking as well.

Even if someone is three times as likely to develop stroke or dementia, it is by no means a certain fate, Pase said in a press release. In our study, 3 percent of the people had a new stroke and 5 percent developed dementia, so we're still talking about a small number of people developing either stroke or dementia.

However, the study is one of many that point to artificially sweetened sodas, or diet soda, as not being a healthy option and even causing additional health issues of its own.

Studies since 2010 have showed various health concerns that could be linked to drinking diet soda, such as increased risks of Type 2 diabetes, heart attack and a slower metabolism. Diet sodas may have fewer calories, but some of the artificial sweeteners have been questioned.

Aspartame is one of the most commonly used artificial sweeteners, and its about 200 times sweeter than sugar, meaning much less of it needs to be used. Rumors and unscientific studies have claimed for years that the sweetener causes cancer, but the Food and Drug Administration and other agencies have found it to be safe, according to the American Cancer Society.

Marianne Spangler, patient navigation services director and dietitian at Community Hospital Anderson, said in 2016 that dietitians generally follow the guidelines of the FDA. She said while the FDA has said diet soda is safe, she encourages her patients to drink more water anyway.

Michelle Richart, registered dietitian at St. Vincent Anderson Regional Hospital, said she encourages her patients to drink less diet soda because it cuts down how much water they are drinking. If they are drinking enough water, a little diet soda is fine, she said in 2016.

What authors of the study published in the American Heart Associations journal Stroke are really trying to iterate is that while more research needs to be done, diet sodas may not be better for people than their sugary counterparts, said senior editorial author Ralph Sacco, a former president of the American Heart Association and the chairman of the Department of Neurology at the Miller School of Medicine at University of Miami in Florida.

Both sugar and artificially sweetened soft drinks may be hard on the brain, Sacco said in a press release.

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Study links diet sodas to higher risk of dementia, stroke - Palestine Herald Press

'Breatharian' no-food diet claims are a bunch of hot air, experts say New York Post The story of the couple's extreme and implausible diet went viral, with numerous outlets picking up the story, including the New York Post. But Tanya Zuckerbrot, a registered dietitian and author of The F-Factor Diet: Discover the Secret to Permanent ...

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'Breatharian' no-food diet claims are a bunch of hot air, experts say - New York Post

Michael Fusek finishes a dunk at Adidas Eurocamp.Adidas Eurocamp

TREVISO, ITALYAs a shot-blocker, Michael Fuseks timing is impeccable, impressive, perhaps even NBA-caliber. During his 2016-17 campaign with Spirou Charleroi in Belgiums top league, Fusek swatted away 9.7 percent of opponents shots while he was on the floor. By comparison, Utahs Rudy Gobert led the NBA with a block percentage of 6.4 percent this past season.

But as a prospect who hopes to someday compete on the same courts as Gobert, Fuseks timing is off. If he were 18 or 19 years old, the NBA might salivate over the potential packed into his spindly frame, the fluidity with which he runs at 74, the touch with which he tosses hook shots through twine.

But at 22closer in age to a second-round senior than any of the college freshmen set to dominate the top of the 2017 NBA draftFusek is more project than prodigy, a gamble rather than a guarantee.

The potential is smaller with every month, says Kamil Rerabek, one of Fuseks agents, because the time is running and you cannot stop the age.

Still, there was no missing him at Adidas Eurocamp last weekend. Last year, he was named the top center at the annual showcase in Treviso, Italy. This year, he was tabbed as the top defender while flashing a knack for passing that had a former NBA coach in attendance calling him Magic Mike.

You cannot coach height, one Western Conference scout based in Europe told Bleacher Report.

Fusek was already close to 69 at the age of 13 when Rerabek first found him in Gajary, a village of 3,000 people about a half-hour outside of the Slovakian capital of Bratislava. Fusek towered over his teammates, who in turn could have snapped his 130-pound body like a twig.

You cannot do anything, Rerabek says. In that time, he cannot practice like the kids because his body was so different.

Nor did young Michael have the mentality to make the most of his unusual physical gifts. He slacked off studying formulas in school and disregarded hook-shot lessons from his mother, a former professional basketball player in Slovakia. At the time, he didnt see the value in either education.

I was young and stupid, Fusek admits now.

But he was tall enough and fluid enough on the court to merit an investment. Rerabek uprooted Fusek from Slovakia and brought him to the mining town of Ostrava in the Czech Republic, the same town that produced former Washington Wizards lottery pick Jan Vesely. During his two years there, Fusek was exposed to the power of basketball as a window to the world.

I saw there was much more than just Slovakia, Fusek says.

General managers across Europe were intrigued by the tree-sized Fusek, but nearly all lacked the courage to sign a teenager who couldnt hold his ground against sturdier opponents.

If you were a sane general manager, you would never bring in a kid that weighs 84 kilos [185 pounds] and measures 220 centimeters [about 72], says says Phillip Parun, another of Fuseks agents

But Parun eventually found one: Jacque Stas, in Charleroi, Belgium. Fusek left the forests and castles of Central Europe for the Low Countries in the Northwest of the continent to pursue his hoop dreams.

For the first time in his life, Fusek, at 18, was living alone, in a country where his Slovakian was as foreign to those around him as their French and English were to him. He put in the work, pulling double duty with Charlerois junior and senior squads.

The team fed him shakes and bars packed with protein while he was on its premises, but his weight barely budged. Parun drove overnight from Prague to Charleroi to find out why. He arrived at Fuseks apartment at two in the morning, where he rustled Michael from his slumber.

Whats for dinner, Mike? Parun asked.

He opened Fuseks refrigerator. It was empty, save for a hard-boiled egg and some bread.

So I threw the egg at him, Parun recalls. I said, Listen, the GM put a lot of faith in you. Were putting a lot of faith in you. Your parents have two jobs and youre feeding yourself toast.

It doesnt work that way, Parun told him. If you dont pack on some weight, some muscle, youre never going to get through the first barrier to play basketball.

Fusek needed more than just a stern talking-to. He had to learn how to feed himself, how to count calories, how to make a basic meal. At that point, even scrambled eggs were beyond his purview.

So was the work required to move on from Belgium, let alone find a home in the NBA. He would practice plenty in Charleroi, but needed to be prodded to put in time outside of team activities. Parun would call Fusek at six in the morning, just as he was arriving at his office in Prague, to get him going.

Listen, only a prostitute makes money staying in bed, Parun would tease. Its time to get to work.

Parun tried something radical with Fusek. He pulled Michael out of Charleroi, where the pro club would continue to pay him, and shipped him to Washington, D.C., where he spent the winter and spring of 2015 studying the ins and outs of nutrition and physical training in the home of Blair ODonovan, one of the lead trainers at Healthy Baller in Rockville, Maryland. The next year, Parun sent Fusek back to the United States for the same crash course.

The first time, he came back 28 pounds heavier. The second time, he added another 14 pounds to his frame.

This year, Fusek hired an American coach, Trevor Bing, to live with himand stay on top of himin Charleroi for two months.

When I was doing something other than watching basketball, he was on me, Fusek says. But I think it was good.

They would watch game film together, picking apart Fuseks mistakes and studying the likes of Gobert, Oklahoma Citys Steven Adams and the Los Angeles Clippers DeAndre Jordanall much bigger and stronger than Michael, but with skill sets he could emulate.

When the playoffs came, and Ivan Radenovic, Charlerois starting center, went down with an injury, Fusek was ready to contribute. He started twice during his teams first-round, best-of-three series against Aalstar. Charleroi won both of those games to advance, including one in which Fusek tallied his first double-double (12 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks) as a pro in Belgium.

As much promise as Fusek showed, it wasnt enough to keep him in Charlerois rotation. He played just 27 minutes during the teams three-game sweep at the hands of Oostende in the second round.

The Michael Fusek of today is a far cry from the one who first arrived in Belgium three years ago. That empty fridge of his is now beaming with vegetables, beaming with fruit, beaming with supplements, Parun says. That shy kid who once hid from strangers behind his mother now boasts about his height and length dwarfing Dwight Howards and hopes to revive Kareem Abdul-Jabbars sky hook in the NBA. That teenager who didnt know how to eat and didnt care for school now studies statistics, fixes computers and lectures his friends and associates on proper nutrition. That 20-something who didnt know how to work now spends his holidays in the gym.

Fusek still has a long way to go before he reaches the NBA. His frame, while more filled out, isnt quite ready for the physicality of the leagues frontcourts. He doesnt yet have a reliable go-to movemuch less a counterto employ when the ball hits his hands in any spot other than right above the rim.

None of this is a mystery to Michael anymore. If knowing is half the battle, Fusek is ready to fight.

I need a couple more kilos up and also some skills for sure, Fusek says. Two-to-three years, I can be there.

Even if Fusek bulks up and hones his offensive game, there will be those around the Association who wonder whether a center of his stature can survive in a league thats downsizing by the day.

Look at what Steve Kerr did in the Finals, one league source said.

Nonetheless, there is legitimate interest in Fusek within the NBA. He met with one team at Eurocamp and is scheduled to work out stateside for another before this years draft.

With any luck, hell hear his name called at some point in the second round and continue his basketball odyssey in the Gatorade League. There, he will be less an oddity than the object of NBA-caliber trainers and nutritionists looking to turn him into a rotation player.

It could be, then, that Fuseks timing is finally spot-on.

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7'4" Euro Behemoth Has Attention of NBA Scouts, the Rest Is Desire...and Diet - Bleacher Report

Men's Health

Where to Eat Fast Food If You're Following a Strict Diet Men's Health Their round up focused on low-carb, Mediterranean, pescatarian, vegan, and vegetarian diets, all of which are typically made up of low-calorie meals. (Read up on their methodology to find out exactly how they classified each diet and why they decided ...

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Where to Eat Fast Food If You're Following a Strict Diet - Men's Health

Creating a healthy lifestyle is hard. It's even harder when you have no idea what anything means. We consulted a registered dietitian, a celebrity nutritionist, and an internist to help break down the trends.

The goal of an alkaline diet is to reduce the acidity in the bodywhich will supposedly aid in treating or preventing diseasesby nixing foods that are on the acidic side, like meat, dairy, eggs, and grains.

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This diet centers on the claim that certain foods have chemical reactions specific to your blood type and sticking to foods your blood type reacts positively to will help you shed pounds, give you an energy boost, and improve your overall health.

There isn't an exact definition for clean eating, but it's basically all about opting for natural foods and avoiding foods that have seen the inside of a factory.

Coconut Oil Isn't the Diet Miracle You Think It Is

Diets That Work: 10 Things They All Have In Common

Say good-bye to foods with grains like wheat, barley, and ryeeach contains a protein known as gluten. This diet is necessary if you're one of the 1 percent of Americans who suffer from celiac disease.

Intermittent fasters alternate between periods of eating and fasting to create metabolic changes to promote weight loss. Fasting periods range from a few hours to days of not eating or severely restricting calories.

It's exactly what it sounds like: These popular weight-loss plans eliminate or restrict foods high in carbs, like rice, pastas, and breads, and up your intake of fats and proteins.

Eat as they do in countries along the Mediterranean Sea: olive oil, seafood, complex carbohydrates, vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, even wine not so much dairy, meat, and processed foods. Bonus: It's considered a balanced, heart-healthy diet.

Known as the caveman diet, this eating plan sticks to basics like lean meats, seafood, fruits, vegetables, and nuts (and cuts out the fun stuff: sugar, booze, potatoes, and dairy). The philosophy is that this is how humans are "meant" to eat.

A version of this article appears in the July issue of Marie Claire, on newsstands June 20.

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Every Type of Diet, Explained - MarieClaire.com

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