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February 17, 2017 Credit: Monash University

New research involving Monash University biologists has debunked the view thatmalesjust pass on genetic materialand not much else to their offspring. Instead, it found a father's diet can affect their son's ability to out-compete a rival's sperm aftermating.

The study sought to understand if the nutritional history of fathers had an effect on their sons. Experiments werecarried out in the fruit fly, which shares many similar pathways and characteristics with human genes.

One of the lead authors of the study, Dr Susanne Zajitschek from the School of Biological Sciences, said the study highlighted the importance of the paternal environment on future generations, even a long time before offspring were produced.

"Our study found that males that were raised on either high or low protein diets, but spent their adulthood on an intermediate diet, produced sons that had large differences in gene expression, which most likely contributed to the resulting differences in sperm competitiveness," Dr Zajitschek said.

"They differed in their ability to sire offspring, with the high-protein dads producing sons who were doing much better in sperm competition, which means their sperm was more likely to win against a competitor's sperm within the female tract.

"We also found that the immune response genes were less active insons of low-protein fathers, while metabolic and reproductive processes were increased in sons of fathers on a high protein diet," she said.

The research, published in Biology Letters, is one of only a few studies to have so far reported trans-generational effects in relation to diet quality, and one of the first to report on the post-copulatory advantages conferred by parental diet.

Researchers from Monash University, George Washington University, and the Spanish-based Donana Biological Station took part in the study which examined how high- and low-protein paternal larval diet influenced post-copulatory sexual selection and gene expression in the sons of fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster).

Explore further: Dad's preconception fitness regimen may increase obesity, insulin resistance risk in offspring

More information: Felix Zajitschek et al. High-protein paternal diet confers an advantage to sons in sperm competition, Biology Letters (2017). DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2016.0914

Journal reference: Biology Letters

Provided by: Monash University

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The consumption of a sugary banquet before sex can have far-reaching consequences for a fruit fly and its offspring: it makes the young flies more prone to obesity.

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New research involving Monash University biologists has debunked the view thatmalesjust pass on genetic materialand not much else to their offspring. Instead, it found a father's diet can affect their son's ability ...

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Damaging the reproductive system in a male fruit fly with a deficient diet was not shown to mirror the reproductive system in human beings.

The research is simply meaningless to human reproduction.

So, if you go to an orgy with the intent of producing a child, you need the most competitive sperm in the room. Who paid for this study??

This is "click bait". Perhaps they're paying these "writers" by the click? I like this service to see what's going on a little bit, but this sort of story suggests I am misinformed.

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Father's diet impacts on son's ability to reproduce, study finds - Phys.Org

What is it? A high-fat, low-protein and low-carb way of eating. In the 1920s, it was used to treat epilepsy and other seizure disorders. In the late 1990s, it gained prominence once again, in part because of the Meryl Streep movie First Do No Harm. Interest has been on the rise since then, not only to control seizures but also to help with weight-loss resistance, cognitive function, fatigue, energy, mood, blood sugar balance and management of chronic conditions, such as Type 2 diabetes. NBA star LeBron James claims to have lost 25 pounds and improved his athletic endurance by going keto.

How do I do it? A true ketogenic diet is a medical treatment and should always be prescribed and monitored by a licensed health care provider. It also requires very precise carbohydrate counting and macronutrient tracking. You can get many of the same benefits by adopting a modified ketogenic diet.

What does it involve? The key is intermittent fasting, or going from 12 to 16 hours in a 24-hour period without eating, four to five days a week. (Dont panic. This can include time spent sleeping.) When you do eat, you stick to whole foods lots of healthy fats, protein and as many non-starchy vegetables as you can manage.

My experience: Because I hate the idea of fasting, I dreaded my keto experiment. To make the fasting doable, I had to turn it into a game. Every day, I would see if I could go without food for longer than the day before. (I made it 12 hours and 15 minutes yesterday. Can I go 12 hours today?) Soon my competitive desire to best my fasting time outweighed my usual laser focus on food.

What happened? I started a modified keto diet to help with my blood sugar, a chronic problem for me despite the fact that I gave up refined sugar long ago. After two months of the diet, my blood sugar dropped significantly. But there was a more noticeable and unexpected benefit: I had increased mental clarity and concentration. Its like someone cranked my brainpower dial to 11. I wasnt concerned with weight loss, but even so, Ive thinned out around my waistline. In general, I feel lighter and as if somehow all my bodys systems are running more efficiently.

Any cautions? Extending the time between meals is generally considered safe, but anyone with a chronic condition or blood sugar or thyroid issues should consult a trusted health care provider before adopting this kind of diet.

Laine Bergeson is a functional medicine health coach and health journalist.

Continue reading here:
What is a modified ketogenic diet, and should you try it? - Minneapolis Star Tribune

Diving headfirst into a diet can be exciting, but after a few days or weeks, the endless parade of greens and small portions starts to all blur together and you find yourself daydreaming about saturated fats from a greasy drive-through. We all cheat on our diets and a new study that surveyed 1,000 people found that the most prevalent diet cheat food was pizza (with about 53 percent of respondents listing it as their go-to rule-breaking food). Of course, this information should be taken with a grain of salt since the study was commissioned by the Chicago area's Home Run Inn pizza chain.

Heres the breakdown of our favorite cheat foods, besides pizza:

Anything deep-fried: 39 percent

Candy and chocolate: 32 percent

Grilled meat (like burgers): 20 percent

Alcohol: 20 percent

Pasta: 19 percent

Cakes and pies: 16 percent

The survey also uncovered some dieting stereotypes: that women were more likely to get busted with chocolate than men were, but men were more likely to cheat with a burger or steak. If youre from the Northeast youre more likely to cheat with sweets like cake or cookies. If youre from the South, fried foods and soda are more your weak point. .

If you want the skinny on cheat meals and whether or not they work (by satisfying an urge for something outside your regimented dietary realm), we break it down here.

The rest is here:
More Than Half of Americans Cheat On Their Diet With This Food - The Daily Meal

Not your average Android news -- a diverse mix of advice, insight, and analysis with veteran Android journalist JR Raphael. Try it with margarine for a low-cal treat!

This New Year's, I decided it was time for a change. I set out to make a resolution and stick with it. And now, a month and a half later, I'm happy to report that I've lost a huge amount of weight -- and I'm feeling more focused and less bloated than ever.

I'm not talking about body blubber here, mind you (though if we're being fully honest, I probably could stand to cut back on the ol' candy). I'm talking about my mobile tech habits -- and specifically about the apps on my own personal Android phone.

I've had a bit of an app problem for a while now. As I pointed out in December, I've had around 1200 different apps installed on my Android devices at various times over the years. Sure, some of them have been things I've merely tried out for work, but still -- I mean, c'mon. That's a lot of apps (even if only a fraction of them is present at any given point).

Having lots of apps, as I've realized from paying attention to my own phone-based behavior as well as from observing other people's on-screen swiping habits, has the tendency to result in a few different things:

First, it makes it more cumbersome to find the apps you really need. Sure, you can set up your home screens in a sensible way -- but whether you place all your shortcuts there or dig around in your app drawer for certain items, having more clutter certainly can't help.

Second -- and perhaps most pressing for me, personally -- having more stuff on your phone makes you more prone to engage in something I like to call mindless phone-meandering. You know the drill: You find yourself with a moment of "dead air" in your day -- a few seconds or a matter of minutes without some form of active visual stimulation. Maybe your dinner companion got up to use the bathroom. Maybe you're standing in a checkout line and have an entire 60 seconds without anything to do. Or maybe you're on an exercise bike at the gym and find your mind and fingers unusually free.

You feel that familiar itch and -- probably without even realizing what you're doing -- find your hand reaching down to grasp your phone. With nothing in particular that you truly need to accomplish right that very second, you find yourself mindlessly swiping around on your screen in search of a distraction. Maybe you open Facebook. Maybe you scroll around in a news app or two. Maybe you just open up your inbox or even your app drawer and swipe around in there, desperately seeking something -- anything -- to fill the mental silence. (You'd be amazed at how many people I've seen do exactly that in a brief moment of non-stimulation.)

Hey, I'm not one to judge; I've definitely been there. More times than I'd like to admit. Over the past several months, though, I've found I prefer being less connected and remaining fully present in my physical environment-- or with whatever primary activity I'm devoting myself to at a particular moment.

That doesn't mean I'm no longer interested in mobile technology or in Android -- far from it. It simply means I want to use my devices deliberately and in a way that enhances my life rather than passively allowing them to distract me. I want to actively perform tasks when I choose, in other words -- but I don't want to do the mindless phone-meandering dance in an effort to avoid any time alone with my thoughts.

I'd been working on this on and off, with varying levels of success, since sometime last year. But no matter how hard I tried, I kept falling off the wagon and shuffling back into my old habits. So after my latest news-cycle-driven slip, I decided to go nuclear. Technology was controlling me instead of my controlling technology, and that's exactly the opposite of what I wanted. It was time to make a change.

I went through my app drawer and carefully considered every item inside. With each app, I asked myself two questions: One, was this something I had actually used within the last six months? If not, it was just creating clutter and serving no meaningful purpose. ("Maybe I'll need it one day (even though I haven't touched it in half in a year now)" doesn't count.) And two, was this something I actively and deliberately used in a way that enriched my life -- or something I passively and mindlessly opened in a way that took away from my life?

With that two-pronged test, I ended up uninstalling more than half the apps on my phone -- including every news and social media app on the list. I realized that obsessively "checking in" on the news or scrolling through this-or-that social network in the evening had started to feel more like an obligation than something I enjoyed. And so it was time to cut those cords.

I still follow the news and keep up with social media, but I do so in limited doses during the work day -- at my desktop computer -- and rarely outside of that. And man, do I feel better as a result. Lighter, more present, and more focused and able to think. When I use my phone, it's for something deliberate and at the center of my attention. Digital distractions are still a mere few taps away, of course, but not having them readily available right at my fingertips makes an enormous difference. It's a whole new world I'm finding myself inhabiting, both online and in the physical space around me.

Your situation and your preferences may vary, and I'm certainly not suggesting that everyone should go out and uninstall everything on their mobile devices. This is not a one-size-fits-all sort of remedy. But on a broad level, it is something that can help you refocus your life and your phone on what matters to you -- what you actually use and what you want to use -- and cut out the surrounding bloat. Think of it as an early spring cleaning: You can eliminate unnecessary distractions and help yourself focus on what's really important. And whether you eliminate a few apps or axe several dozen like I did, you'll almost certainly be better off for it.

(There's also the more obvious surface-level benefit of freeing up space on your phone and cutting out pointless background processing tasks -- which may or may not be significant for you but could definitely make a difference on some devices.)

Here's the best part: If you uninstall something and genuinely miss it, you can always go back and reinstall it. That'll take a whopping 30 seconds to do. But if you uninstall something and realize you either don't miss it or are happier without it, well, that's a good sign that your own personal Android app diet has been a success. It's an easy way to figure out what you really want and need and to clear out all the other crap that's just getting in the way.

For me, trimming the fat and dropping dead weight has been a revelation. My Android phone is now both more useful and less distracting. I put off my commitment as long as I could, but this new digital diet turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some delicious frickin' candy in the other room with my name on it.

View post:
I went on an Android app diet, and I've never felt better - Computerworld

Celebrity chef and paleo diet enthusiast Pete Evans has fired up on social media about reports on his controversial health claims.

Last year, Evans landed himself in hot water over his comments on toxicities in sunscreen and his recipe for baby broth that experts deemed highly dangerous.

Now, he has lashed out on social media and slammed reporters for writing fake news about his paleo diet.

Thank you to all the F grade journalists that continue to put out FAKE NEWS stories about Paleo or myself, he wrote on Instagram.

You do make me laugh when someone tells me of your lies, but I gotta say, I for one am one of your biggest fans and would love to give you all a big hug & cook you a delicious meal to say thanks.

Please keep doing what you are doing, as we could never have reached this many people as quickly as we have done without you.

Thank you to all the "F grade" journalists that continue to put out FAKE NEWS stories about Paleo or myself. Each and every time you create a lie, in your poorly researched article or sensationalist headline, you continually promote a paleo & low carb, healthy fat lifestyle approach to an even larger audience than we could have reached ourselves! Thanks to you, more people are becoming interested in what Paleo and LCHF is about, and they will have heard of someone that has reclaimed their health by adopting these simple principles and will do more research into the topic than you have ever done. You do make me laugh when someone tells me of your lies, but I gotta say, I for one am one of your biggest fans and would love to give you all a big hug & cook you a delicious meal to say thanks. Please keep doing what you are doing, as we could never have reached this many people as quickly as we have done without you. If you are interested in speaking and researching the TRUTH, then there is a ton of medical experts to speak to, that are getting amazing results by using paleo and LCHF as one of their tools for their patientsbut again that might not fit your job description as a modern journalist. The TRUTH.1. We promote breast milk as the number 1 form of nutrition for babies! 2. We do not promote drinking the milk of any other animal as it can cause so many health issues, however if you were to choose to drink it then camels milk has been shown to create the least problems. 3. We promote a healthy relationship to the sun to get adequate vitamin D levels and when choosing a sunscreen, then choose the least toxic. 4. The addition of fluoride to your families water supply should be a choice that families make. 5. We promote an abundance of vegetables (low carb) with a small to moderate amount of well sourced animal protein from land and or sea animals and enough natural fat to satiate with fermented veg and broths for good gut health. Basically meat and 3 veg! 6. You have a choice everyday of what you choose to eat. 7. Manu and I are great mates! 8. The writers for Womans day/weekly, daily mail/telegraph mamamiahilarious

A post shared by Healthy Paleo Chef (@chefpeteevans) on Feb 13, 2017 at 3:40pm PST

He goes on to explain that paleo is mostly a diet of meat and 3 veg and calls out magazines for printing misleading claims about him and his fellow My Kitchen Rules host Manu Feildel.

Manu and I are great mates! he said in response to reports they were feuding.

Link:
Pete Evans releases another rant about his paleo diet - Starts at 60

Science Daily

Gluten-free diet may increase risk of arsenic, mercury exposure Science Daily A gluten-free diet is recommended for people with celiac disease, but others often say they prefer eating gluten-free because it reduces inflammation -- a claim that has not been scientifically proven. In 2015, one-quarter of Americans reported eating ... Gluten-free diet may increase exposure to arsenic, mercuryUPI.com The Scary Downside of a Gluten-Free DietShape Magazine Gluten-free diets have higher levels of arsenic | Daily Mail OnlineDaily Mail Medical Daily -Ars Technica all 13 news articles »

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Gluten-free diet may increase risk of arsenic, mercury exposure - Science Daily

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) - Studied for years for its ability to improve overall physical health, a recent study found that the Mediterranean diet can help prevent brain decline in elderly people.

"The Mediterranean diet really focuses on getting back to whole foods. That's whole fruits and vegetables, whole grains, olive oils, legumes, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices," said registered dietitian, Melissa Sleight.

Animal protein in this diet comes from fish, but the study found, that wasn't a game changer to prevent brain loss.

"This specific study actually found no association between brain atrophy and fish intake, but it has been shown in other areas to be very beneficial," Sleight said.

Giving up alcohol isn't necessary. This diet actually encourages drinking red wine for its antioxidant properties.

"Including that in moderation, one drink for women and up to three drinks for men was associated with the decrease in brain loss," the dietitian explained.

Your brain isn't the only thing that can benefit from eating this way.

"It's very protective against diseases later in life, it's protective against cancers, it's protective against heart health, diabetes, chronic inflammatory conditions like joint diseases and things like that," she said.

Sleight told KMVT that anyone can follow this diet.

On Wednesday, Feb. 22, Dr. Joseph Rosenblum, a cardiologist with St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center, will speak about the Mediterranean diet for heart health month. The seminar will take place at 801 Pole Line Road W., Oak Rooms, from 6 to 7pm. Pre-registration is recommended, so call (208) 814-0095 to RSVP.

There is also an upcoming class on the Mediterranean diet on Tuesday, Feb. 28, from 4:30 to 5pm. This class is located at St. Lukes Clinic Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation in Twin Falls at 2550 Addison Ave. E, Suite C. Registration is not required.

Read the original:
Benefits of a Mediterranean diet - KMVT

Victor R. Martinez , El Paso Times 5:00 a.m. MT Feb. 12, 2017

Alexander Cisneros, 18, left, snacks on a plate of fat bombs, a dessert made with heavy cream, cream cheese and orange zest. Watching is his mother, Gladys Cisneros and Franco Lopez, a registered dietician and clinical nutrition manager at the specialty clinic at Providence Childrens Hospital. Alexander is on the Ketogenic Diet. Some of the foods in the diet are on the table.(Photo: RUDY GUTIERREZ / EL PASO TIMES)Buy Photo

A typical breakfast for Alexander Cisneros is a two-egg omelette with spinach sauteed in coconut oil and full-fat cheese.

And for lunch or dinner his mother, Gladys Cisneros, prepares four ounces of fish, chicken or beef with a half a cup of bell peppers, asparagus or broccoli sauteed in real butter and smothered in cheddar cheese.

For dessert it's jello made with heavy whipped cream or a fat bomb, whipped cream mixed with Stevia, a natural sweetener made from the Stevia leaf.

Not exactly what many people would consider a healthy diet.

But for Alexander, his mother and his sister Jacqueline, it works.

"There's three of us on the diet for three different purposes," Cisneros said. "He is onit because he has multiple disabilities, one of them being epilepsy so he is on it to address the epileptic seizures. My daughter is on it because she's a competitive swimmer with WETT. I do it because it helps to balance my hormones. Being middle aged, it affects my body. Plus it helps my energy level."

The Cisneros family is on the ketogenic diet, a very low-carb diet which turns the body into a fat-burning machine.

"Half the time, you can't even finish your meal because it's so rich and so good," Cisneros said. "Alexander has three meals a day, plus I'll send him a snack like pork rinds."

A plate of ground beef cooked in oil with avocados, tomatoes and green beens could be a typical lunch plate in the Ketogenic Diet.(Photo: RUDY GUTIERREZ / EL PASO TIMES)

Studies have found that this very low-carb, high-fat diet is effective for weight loss, diabetes and epilepsy. Theres also early evidence to show that it may be beneficial for certain cancers, Alzheimers disease and other diseases, too.

"It's a high fat, low carbohydrate, adequate protein diet where we restrict the carbohydrates," said Franco Lopez, a licensed dietitian with the Hospitals of Providence. "It's called the modified ketogenic diet which is a little more liberal than the classic ketogenic diet. The classic ketogenic diet has to be measured with grams with a scale so it was very strict. This one is more liberal where you can eat more vegetables."

A ketogenic diet is similar to other strict low-carb diets, such as the Atkins diet or LCHF (low carb, high fat). A ketogenic diet typically limits carbs to 2050 grams per day.

A hamburger patty without the bun and bacon strips topped with sliced avocados, onions and tomatoes is a typical dinner plate in the Ketogenic Diet.(Photo: RUDY GUTIERREZ / EL PASO TIMES)

According to the Epilepsy Foundation, the ketogenic diet is one of the oldest treatments for epilepsy. It is intended to maintain the starvation or fasting metabolism over a long time. When the body is in a fasting state, it creates ketones, a by-product of fat-burning metabolism. It has been established that seizures often lessen or disappear during periods of fasting in some individuals with epilepsy.

"A lot of people are afraid of the amount of fat consumed in this diet," Lopez acknowledged. "But there's a big misconception that fat is harmful when in reality it's the carbohydrates that are causing the harm. Unfortunately what is being promoted is low fat, high carbohydrates so my role is to do seminars and educate people and have kids not only with epilepsy but who have elevated cholesterol in their diet, kids with diabetes, people with a brain tumors; I have a patient with a brain tumor which has been shrinking."

Lopez sees patients Monday through Friday at the Specialty Clinic at The Hospital of Providence Children's Hospital.

"I have about 40 to 50 patients on the ketogenic diet," he said. "The diet works on 50 to 70 percent of my patients. Any very good medication, at the most, will have a 30 percent effectiveness. This diet surpasses that."

Lopez, who is on the diet, said his triglycerides, a type of fat in the blood the body uses for energy, has improved and he haslost weight.

"The diet requires preparation, it requires committeemen, dedication and creativity," he said. "I encourage the entire family to adopt the diet that way everybody can eat the same food at the dinner table. Everyone benefits from the diet."

He has a patient who is a football player who experiences seizures.

"He is 6-4 and weights about 240 pounds," Lopez said. "His caloric intake is about 5,000 calories so his mom prepares a half dozen eggs and half a package of bacon. She cooks the eggs in the fat of the bacon juice so he can get enough fat into his diet."

Alexander's intake is about 1,620 calories.

Alexander Cisneros with a breakfast plate consisting of egg omelet cooked in butter topped with heavy cream and sausage patties.(Photo: RUDY GUTIERREZ / EL PASO TIMES)

"We haven't seen a complete elimination of seizures but they've gone from one to two a day to maybe two a week so there has been a drastic drop in the frequency, the duration and the intensity of the seizures," Alexander's mother said. "Once upon a time when he would have a seizure, he would sleep for three hours. Now when he has a seizure, nine times out of 10 he doesn't fall sleep at all. He's a little droggy but he doesn't sleep so his recovery rate is a lot better."

Cisneros and her daughter have also seen the benefits.

"For my daughter, her endurance is so much better," she said. "When she would compete, she was so exhausted. Now she feels like she can swim longer. She told me that that she is studying less but retaining more. Her energy level and her endurance are both up. Also her muscle tone has gotten more defined.

"For me, my energy levels were dropping and my menstrual cycle was off because I was very hormonal," she said. "I had to take a 2 o'clock nap almost every day. All of that changed. I no longer have to take a nap, my energy levels are high now, everything is different."

Victor R. Martinez may be reached at 546-6128; vmartinez@elpasotimes.com; @vrmart on Twitter.

A Ketogenic Diet dessert can be Fat bombs made with heavy cream, cream cheese and orange zest.(Photo: RUDY GUTIERREZ / EL PASO TIMES)

What: The ketogenic diet, a high fat, low carbohydrate diet which turns the body into a fat-burning machine.Studies have found that the diet is effective for weight loss, diabetes and epilepsy.

Who: FrancoLopez, a licensed dietitian with the Hospitals of Providence, sees patients Monday through Friday at the SpecialtyClinic at The Hospital of Providence Children's Hospital.

Information: 577-7888.

Read or Share this story: http://www.elpasotimes.com/story/life/wellness/2017/02/12/how-low-carb-high-fat-diet-can-have-its-benefits/97404384/

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How a low-carb, high-fat diet can have its benefits - El Paso Times

Charles Platkin 9:06 p.m. PT Feb. 12, 2017

Charles Platkin(Photo: Handout)

The other day, I noticed an interesting advertisement in a New York City subway. The ad showed an upside-down croissant with a sail inserted to make it look like a sailboat, along with the slogan, WIND IN YOUR SAILS! FREE. HEALTHY BREAKFAST IN THE CLASSROOM.

At first glance, I thought it was an advertisement for a bakery. I certainly didnt think it was going to be an ad for schoolchildren and their parents, put out by the New York City Department of Education and Share Our Strengths No Kid Hungry campaign. Both organizations offer wonderful programs and often have a positive impact on healthy eating.

Thats why I was surprised to see this ad, and wondered if it was a mistake. If they wanted to capture childrens attention with unhealthy food, wouldnt they have been better off showing an image of a doughnut? How many little kids (in the Breakfast in the Classroom program or not) actually know what a croissant is? This is one of three posters created for the program; both of the others show healthier images.

First, lets take a peek at the term healthy. Under Merriam-Websters definition of healthy youll see phrases such as free from disease or pain or beneficial to ones physical, mental or emotional state; conducive to health. Not sure a croissant fits in here.

Its not that you cant or shouldnt have the occasional croissant, but what kind of message does it send to tell children and parents that a croissant is a healthy breakfast? It can be hard enough for parents to get their kids to eat fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods. But when a croissant is defined as healthy by the New York City Department of Education, its essentially a stamp of approval saying that a croissant is OK to eat whenever. And while this particular croissant may meet NYC DOE standards, the photo doesnt tell us that. The reality is that a croissant can have as many as 500-600 calories much more than a kid should eat for breakfast.

There is a plethora of research demonstrating that images of unhealthy foods stimulate unhealthy eating. A meta-analysis in Obesity Reviews demonstrated that children exposed to unhealthy food images in marketing showed a significant increase in unhealthy food consumption. How many, for example, saw that ad and thought, Wow, I could really go for a croissant right now.

The good news is that there is also strong research demonstrating that images of healthy foods can increase the consumption of healthy foods.

We reached out to several experts to get their opinions on the poster.

Watch Out for the Nag Factor: Practice the art of saying NO to your kids when they ask for unhealthy foods at the supermarket, in restaurants or at home.

Warn Kids About Unhealthy Ads Ahead of Time: Warn your kids in advance that they may be targeted by food companies and others to eat unhealthy foods. This helps to offset the marketing impact. See: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4976102/

Photographs and Images of Healthy Foods Help: Try hanging images of fruits and vegetables in your kitchen. Change them often.

Keep Fruits and Veggies Handy: If you have lots of fruits and vegetables visible and ready to eat, you and your family will be more likely to choose them over other, less healthy foods.

Veggies First: Always offer your kids vegetables first, when theyre hungriest.

When Introducing New Foods to Your Kids, Use the Familiar Along with the New: Try to introduce new foods along with a familiar one.

Copying Behaviors: Kids mimic the eating behaviors of their parents, teachers, siblings, peers and people they see on TV and in advertisements. If you want them to eat healthier, model healthy eating.

Dont be the Diet Police: Instead of criticizing, try showing support when family members actually eat healthier foods.

Shape Your Food: Make the food look good by presenting it in familiar, fun shapes.

Eat Healthy Meals Together: Sitting down at a table (no TV) and eating meals as a family increases the likelihood that your family will eat more fruits and vegetables and decreases the consumption of unhealthy foods (e.g., soda).

Charles Platkin is a nutrition and public health advocate and founder of DietDetective.com.

Read or Share this story: http://on.rgj.com/2l5u8wl

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Diet Detective: What a NYC breakfast ad can teach parents - Reno Gazette Journal

Just as the rich nutrition in the Mediterranean diet (MedDiet) enhances physical health, so it boosts mental health. A small but striking Australian study links it to alleviating depression.

The research published in BMC Medicine was the first randomized controlled trial to investigate whether or not an improvement in diet can be an effective treatment for major depressive episodes. See more: Olive Oil Health Benefits Scientists found that counseling about healthy food choices, as well as the consumption of MedDiet foods relieved considerably more symptoms of depression than the intervention of belonging to a social support group.

Why was the diet so beneficial? Two big factors that contribute to the depression-fighting properties involve two of its more famous nutrients: omega-3 fatty acids and fiber, naturopathic physician Vickie Modica of Seattle, Washington told Olive Oil Times.

Both of these nutrients have been the subject of recent research into the mind-body link between diet and depression. Omega-3 fatty acids, known to have an anti-inflammatory effect and thought to have a healthful impact on the nervous system, improve the symptoms of depression in multiple studies. Other research shows that diets high in fiber increase the diversity of good gut microbiota, which is believed to have a positive influence on mood, including depression, Modica said.

In the current study, 67 patients suffering from a major depressive episode were randomly assigned to attend either seven sessions with a clinical dietician who extolled the value of the MedDiet or seven sessions of social support. All the participants had unhealthy diets at the beginning of the intervention.

Individuals in the dietary counseling group were asked to improve their eating habits by consuming fruits, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, fish and olive oil, which are foods that comprise the MedDiet. They were required to write what they ate in food diaries, and the recorded data revealed the quality of their food intake increased significantly.

Participants in the social support group were led in the discussion of neutral topics of interest. On occasion, they played board games or cards, activities chosen to keep them engaged and positive.

At the end of 12 weeks, the contrast between the two groups was remarkable. Nearly one-third of the counseling group experienced remission from their depression, compared to only 8 percent of the social support group. Moreover, the improvements werent dependent upon exercise or weight loss.

This study should be thought of as preliminary research and hopefully a catalyst for many more studies proving a mind-body connection, Modica noted. That said, I think its import is multifaceted, having a bearing on the following issues:

Modica explained that the concept of a nutritious diet promoting mental health is an integral part of the naturopathic philosophy.

If I can speak for my profession, we consider it a matter of course that diet affects mood. For me, this study confirms the clinical and empirical experiences I have seen through my schooling and career: a whole foods diet low or absent in processed food has a positive impact on depression symptoms, she said.

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Med Diet Linked to Relief from Depression - Olive Oil Times

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