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In politics, any idea can be pressed into service if it fits a purpose. The one I have in mind has been snatched from its Republican originators and is now at work on the left wing of the Democratic Party.

The idea is starve the beast. It came from one of President Ronald Reagans staffers and was used to curb federal spending.

It was a central idea in the Republican Party through the Reagan years and was taken up with vigor by tax-cutting zealots. It was on the lips of those who thought the way to small government was through tax cuts, i.e., financial starvation.

Now starve the beast is back in a new guise: a way to cut dependence on oil and natural gas.

This is the thought behind President Joe Bidens decision to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, bringing oil to the United States from Canada, even after the expenditure of billions of dollars and an infinity of studies.

It is the idea behind banning fracking and restricting leases on federal lands. Some Democrats and environmental activists believe that this blunt instrument will do the job.

But blunt instruments are unsuited to fine work.

It also is counterproductive to set out to force that which is happening in an orderly way. The Biden administration shows signs of wanting to do this, unnecessarily.

Lumping coal, oil, and gas as the same thing under the title fossil fuel is the first error. In descending order, coal is the most important source of pollution, and its use is falling fast. Oil continues to be the primary transportation fuel for the world. World oil production and use hovers around 100 million barrels a day and that has been fairly steady in recent years.

In the United States, the switch to electric vehicles is well underway and in, say, 20 years, they will be dominant. Likewise, in Europe, Japan, and China. That train has left the station and is picking up steam.

Government action, like building charging stations, wont speed it up but rather will slow it down. The market is working. Willing buyers and sellers are on hand.

Every electric vehicle is a reduction in oil demand. But the world is still a huge market for petroleum and will be for a long time. What sense is there in hobbling U.S. oil exports? There are suppliers from Saudi Arabia to Nigeria keen to take up any slack.

Natural gas is different. It is a superior fuel in that it has about half the pollutants of coal and fewer than oil. It is great for heating homes, cooking, making fertilizers and other petrochemicals. Starving the production just increases the cost to consumers.

The real target is, of course, electric utilities. They rushed to gas to get off coal. It was cheaper, cleaner, and more manageable. Also, gas could be burned in turbines that are easily installed and repaired. Boilers not needed; no steam required.

But there are greenhouse gases emitted and, worse, methane leaks at fracking sites and from faulty pipelines throughout the system. These represent a grave problem. Here the government can move in with tighter regulation. If it is fixable, fix it. But methane leaks are no reason to cripple domestic production.

The question for the beast-starvers comes from Clinton Vince, who chairs the U.S. energy practice and co-chairs the global energy practice of Dentons, the worlds largest law firm. He asks, Is it better to sell natural gas to India and China or to let them build more coal-fired plants? Particularly if carbon-capture and sequestration technology can be improved.

If we are to continue to reduce carbon emissions in the United States, we need to take a holistic view of energy production and consumption. Does it make sense to allow carbon-free nuclear plants to go out of service because of how we value electricity in the short term? A market adjustment, well within government purview, could save a lot of air pollution immediately.

The hydrocarbon beast doesnt need to be starved, but a diet might be a good idea.

See original here:
Don't Starve the Energy Beast When a Diet Will Do - White House Chronicle

Today, Dave Asprey is well-known as one of the leading figures of the biohacking movement and the founder of the Bulletproof empireif you've ever put butter in your coffee, he's the reason why. But it wasn't always this way: In his 20s, he was working as a computer hacker while tipping the scale at around 300 pounds. He was fed up with feeling awful all of the time and dealing with arthritis and chronic fatigue. Despite doing all of the standard right things his doctors advised, including exercise and counting calories, he was stuck.

So he began experimenting himself, first with a low-carb diet that resulted in a 50-pound weight loss. From there, he was hooked. So hooked that Asprey says he has spent more than $1 million building a better body, experimenting with everything from red light therapy to cold exposure, with the goal to live until at least 180.

Last week, The New York Times bestselling author released his latest, Fast This Way, which reviews the latest thinking on how to turn eating restrictions into better health. GQ chatted with Asprey to find out what his day-to-day looks like while running his business from a 32-acre organic farm on Vancouver Island, off Canada's Pacific Coast. It indeed involves fasting and drinking coffee with butter in itbut also the occasional bite of dairy-free ice cream.

For Real-Life Diet, GQ talks to athletes, celebrities, and everyone in between about their diet, exercise routines, and pursuit of wellness. Keep in mind that what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.

GQ: What time do you usually get out of bed?

Dave Asprey: I usually get out of bed around 6:45 or 7 a.m. I used to go to bed much later and wake up later, but it's just less convenient. So I used a combination of light and fasting to shift my circadian windows. Now, I go to bed earlier than I ever have in my life. And I do it naturally, which is super cool.

I wake up, and I definitely make a shot of espresso. I usually turn that into an Americano. I also make one for my wife and one for my kids to split because yes, my kids do drink coffee. It's good for you. It's a superfood, screw kale. Sometimes I make it Bulletproof (using MCT oil and grass-fed, unsalted butter). Others, I just do a black, depending on what I feel like for the day.

Talk to me about your morning supplementsI've seen the photos, and there are a lot of them.

I take a handful of the supplements that I put together the night before that are mostly mitochondrial stimulators or other anti-aging things, peptides, etc. We're talking like 40 or 50 pills. Some of them are ones that I formulated for Bulletproof. I also take all of my probiotics in the morning when I wake up, because I have found in recent research that if you take probiotics at night, they disrupt your sleep. If you take them in the morning they seem to work better. I usually take some prebiotic fiber at some point, which feeds the good bacteria. My goal lately has been to make bacteria in my gut the manufacturer of as many of the things that I want in my body as possible. I also take all my minerals and stuff like that.

[In a follow-up email, Asprey clarified that his current morning supplement lineup includes, from Bulletproof, vitamins A, D, and K, glutathione, Eye Armour, copper and zinc, and Smart Mode, along with amino acids and calcium d-glucarate.]

Anything else thats important to your morning routine?

When I wake up, I do just a brief gratitude practice. I just lay there for a minute or two and I have two things that I'm grateful for. One is that I say to no one in particular, Thank you for using me today. I don't say what for, I'm just going to assume things work out the way they're supposed to happen. The second gratitude is, Thank you for making things happen the way they're supposed to happen.

View original post here:
Dave Asprey Thinks Coffee Is a Superfood - GQ

An intrepid sports writer is suffering for his craft.

CBS Sports scribe Pete Blackburn says he's tried his hand at eating healthy, Tom Brady-style -- and he isn't impressed by the results.

The questionable dietary program -- which eschews most carbohydrates, "nightshade" vegetables, MSG and coffee, for legumes, whole grains, roughage and a small percentage of lean meat -- left the writer feeling hungry, bloated, gassy, and frequently having to pee.

"Day 2 of the TB diet: I cannot stop farting," Blackburn announced Wednesday.

Brady, whose checkered history of endorsements includes hawking a dubious sports drink claiming to prevent and treat concussions, apparently calls for adherents of his plan to consume huge quantities of H-2-0 every day.

The superstar quarterback's recommendation is to drink half as much as your body weight in ounces every day, Blackburn explains. So someone weighing 150 pounds would drink 75 ounces of water per day.

Chugging all the water has left Blackburn feeling like he could be "popped like a water balloon."

Brady, the surefire future Hall of Famer, has long touted his TB12-branded regimen of dietary supplements, along with the diet, which he has credited for helping to keep him relatively fit and healthy well into his 40s.

Critics say Brady is cynically trading on his fame and longevity to make a quick buck.

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Originally posted here:
Sports writer 'can't stop farting' from Tom Brady's diet - 106.7 FM The Fan Radio Station

According to Wahls, beef liver is an excellent source of B vitamins, includingfolate, riboflavin, niacin, and cobalamin (B12). In fact, she says it's superior to greens when it comes to B12, which is not readily available in plants.

Beef liver also contains one of the highest sources of nonsynthetic, preformed vitamin A (aka retinol). "Three ounces of this organ meat provides around 7,900 micrograms of vitamin A, equaling about 883% of the recommended daily intake (RDI)," registered dietitian Molly Knudsen, M.S., RDN, tells mbg.This essential micronutrient is critical for immune functioning and difficult to find in most foods. "It's different from beta-carotene, which is what most vitamins/prenatals use," LeVeque explains in her Instagram caption.

In addition to its vitamins and minerals, beef liver "is a great source of high-quality protein to boost the metabolism while also being a good low-calorie and low-carb option," says dietitian Priscilla Blevins, M.S., R.D., L.D. Beef liver is, therefore, a good option for anyone following the keto diet or another protein-rich lifestyle.

Original post:
This May Be The Superfood Your Diet Needs, According To Nutritionists - mindbodygreen.com

Curious if certain foods trigger your RA symptoms? Heres what to know about trying an elimination diet.

iStock

An elimination diet for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) seems simple enough: Remove suspected trigger foods from your meal plan and see if your symptoms improve. But the truth is, theres a lot you need to consider before taking that step. In some cases, elimination diets may be appropriate, says Alicia Romano, M.S., R.D., clinical registered dietitian at the Frances Stern Nutrition Center at Tufts Medical Center in Boston. But in other cases, not so much. If youre curious whether an elimination diet is right for you, heres what you need to know.

Its a procedure used to identify foods that may be triggering an adverse reaction, says Romanospecifically for RA, were talking about symptom flares. Basically: You remove the foods from your diet for a while to see whether symptoms resolve. If they do, you can then reintroduce the foods, one at a time, to see if symptoms come back.

Even if youre taking medication for your RA, its still common to experience flares. In some cases, an elimination diet may lead to fewer flares, says Nilanjana Bose, M.D., a rheumatologist at the Rheumatology Center of Houston. And if it works well and you show you can maintain the diet for six months to a year, you may even be able to talk to your doctor about lowering your medication dose, says Dr. Bose. So if youre taking multiple meds, you may be able to try eliminating one of them. Or if youre on methotrexate, say, you may be able to try taking it fewer times per week. That could be great!

Still, dont expect to kick the meds completely, says Dr. Bose. Most patients will need something to keep their inflammation down.

There are lots of elimination diets out there, but here are some of the most common for RA (roughly in order of how much evidence there is to back them).

Worth a try:

Gluten-free: RA patients who are sensitive to glutena protein found in certain grainsmay notice their symptoms get better when they dont eat it. Gluten can hide in many products, including anything with wheat, barley, or rye (like bread, crackers, and flour).

Dairy-free: Some research suggests that dairy may increase inflammation in the body for some people. And anecdotally, some RA patients report fewer symptoms when they avoid dairy. Dairy includes animal milk and foods made from milk, such as cheese, butter, and yogurt.

Maybe, but were not sure:

Autoimmune Protocol: The goal of this paleo-style diet is to boost the immune system by cutting out foods that can produce an inflammatory reaction, including all grains, nuts, seeds, nightshade vegetables, eggs, and dairy, says Romano. It also restricts alcohol, tobacco, coffee, processed sugars, and certain medications. That leaves you with fresh fruit (in moderation), sweet potatoes, yams, Chinese or Jerusalem artichokes, and minimally processed meats (ideally wild, pasture-raised, or grass fed). In some cases, it may help you identify trigger foodsbut with no science to back it up, its hard to know how much it can really help, Romano says. We dont really understand the risk-benefit ratio, says Romano.

Probably skip:

Nightshade-free: Some people report worsening RA symptoms after eating so-called nightshade vegetables (eggplants, peppers, tomatoes), though theres no research to support the link. In fact, theyre rich in antioxidants that many people with RA should get more of, says Dr. Bose.

Keep in mind, trigger foods can be different for different people. That means, if you were to try an elimination diet, your doctor might suggest something more individualized based on your unique trigger foods.

Because theres not enough research to back them up, elimination diets are not routinely recommended for RA, says Romano. On the other hand, certain foodssuch as processed sugars, refined carbohydrates, and red and processed meatshave been linked to inflammation, says Dr. Bose. Your doctor is likely to recommend avoiding these foods first before attempting anything more extreme, like an elimination diet.

Next, think about what foods you can add rather than subtract. Are you eating plenty of plants (vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes) and foods rich in omega-3s (fatty fish, nuts, seeds, olive oil)? These nutrient-dense foods can support the immune system and may help lower inflammation, Romano says. You may find these dietary adjustments make a big difference in how you feel, and that you dont need an elimination diet after all.

So who might benefit from an elimination diet? Anyone who (after making these healthy changes) has reason to believe they might have a trigger food. If that's you, your doc might talk with you about this approach.

If youre like a lot of people with RA, you can probably spot a trigger food through casual observation alone. But you might find keeping a food journal helpful, Romano says.

Youll want to track three things:

Food/beverage intake: Be sure to include the time and the amount you ate/drank. You may find that the dose matters.

Your symptoms: Rate your symptoms throughout the day on a 1-to-10 scale, Romano advises. This helps establish a baseline for what is normal for you, so you can see when symptoms are getting better or worse.

Any out-of-the-ordinary occurrences: Did you get a poor nights sleep? Did you go on a strenuous hike? Were you under a lot of stress at work? A lot of other factors that can play a role in the inflammatory process, Romano says. So we want to control for that.

By gathering this data, you can more easily zero in on any patterns, and identify (or rule out) potential trigger foods.

When you cut a food out of your diet, you need to compensate for those nutrients youll be missing out on, says Laura Gibofsky, M.S., a registered dietitian and nutritionist at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City. If someone comes to me saying, Ive removed certain foods, and now Im eating lemon water and carrots, I say, Well, we have a problem because thats not going to meet your nutrition needs.

Getting proper nutrition to support overall health is important when youre living with RA, she says. Plus, if youre on certain medications, you may already be at risk for nutritional deficiencies. For example, steroids can affect how the body uses the bone-building nutrients calcium and vitamin D. So removing calcium from your diet without replacing it could put you at greater risk for weakened bones, says Gibofsky.

Your dietitian can help you avoid nutritional deficiencies by advising you on what foods youll need to eat to replace the nutrients youll be cutting out.

If youre cutting out gluten, for example, youll need to get your whole grains from gluten-free sources, like oats, brown rice, quinoa, amaranth, and buckwheat. If youre giving up dairy, youll need to get your calcium and vitamin D from dairy-free sources, such as soy milk, yogurt and cheese alternatives, fortified orange juice, fortified breakfast cereal, canned salmon, and almonds, Romano says.

If you cant meet your nutritional needs from food intake alone, your dietitian may recommend a supplement, Romano says.

If you cut out a food and start feeling better, you might be tempted to skip the reintroduction phase of the diet. And thats your call. But consider that you may be able to tolerate the food in smaller amounts without triggering your symptoms. Its a phased approach, says Romano. The end goal is the most liberal diet possible.

Of course, if youve eliminated multiple foods, the reintroduction phase is especially important to identify which of those foods is the culprit. Say you eliminated gluten and dairy for a month, and you have symptom resolution, says Romano. Well, which one is it? Gluten, dairy, or both? To find out, you might first reintroduce gluten and see if your symptoms return. Then youd eliminate gluten again, and reintroduce dairy. Its a step-by-step process and something patients need guidance on, she says. Again: Dont try this on your own!

Keep in mind, even after you go through all this, you may not get the results you want. While some patients do see dramatic improvement in joint pain, stiffness, and energy level from an elimination diet, plenty of others see no improvement at all, says Dr. Bose. It can be quite revolutionary for some, she says, but not for everyone.

If youre going to go forward with an elimination diet, you should be prepared for that possible outcome.

Meet Our Writer

Jerilyn Covert is a writer, editor, and copy editor with 15 years of publishing experience. Shes written hundreds of articles for Mens Health (where she was an editor for more than 10 years), Womens Health, Runners World, ONE37pm, Whiskey Advocate, Silver Sneakers, and many more. Shes insatiably curious and loves interviewing people who know a lot more than she does. She shares their insights and advice so others can use them to improve their lives.

Here is the original post:
You Need to Know About Elimination Diets for Rheumatoid Arthritis - HealthCentral.com

Llewellyn King| InsideSources.com

Ambitious US efforts on climate change launched

In the most ambitious U.S. effort to stave off the worst effects of climate change, President Joe Biden is aiming to cut oil, gas and coal emissions and double energy production from offshore wind turbines through orders signed Wednesday. (Jan. 27)

AP

In politics, any idea can be pressed into service if it fits a purpose. The one I have in mind has been snatched from its Republican originators and is now at work on the left wing of the Democratic Party.

The idea is starve the beast. It came from one of President Ronald Reagans staffers and was used to curb federal spending.

It was a central idea in the Republican Party through the Reagan years and was taken up with vigor by tax-cutting zealots. It was on the lips of those who thought the way to small government was through tax cuts --financial starvation.

Now starve the beast" is back in a new guise: a way to cut dependence on oil and natural gas.

More: Biden prioritizes climate change as national security concern, pauses oil drilling on public lands

This is the thought behind President Joe Bidens decision to revoke the permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, bringing oil to the United States from Canada, even after the expenditure of billions of dollars and an infinity of studies.

It is the idea behind banning fracking and restricting leases on federal lands and waters. Some Democrats and environmental activists believe that this blunt instrument will do the job.

But blunt instruments are unsuited to fine work.

It also is counterproductive to set out to force that which is happening in an orderly way. The Biden administration shows signs of wanting to do this, unnecessarily.

Lumping coal, oil, and gas as the same thing under the title fossil fuel is the first error. In descending order, coal is the most important source of pollution, and its use is falling fast. Oil continues to be the primary transportation fuel for the world. World oil production and use hovers around 100 million barrels a day and that has been fairly steady in recent years.

More: Industry decries President Joe Biden's extended ban on Gulf of Mexico oil leases

In the U.S., the switch to electric vehicles is well underway and in, say, 20 years, they will be dominant. Likewise, in Europe, Japan, and China. That train has left the station and is picking up steam.

Government action, like building charging stations, wont speed it up but rather will slow it down. The market is working. Willing buyers and sellers are on hand.

Every electric vehicle is a reduction in oil demand. But the world is still a huge market for petroleum and will be for a long time. What sense is there in hobbling U.S. oil exports? There are suppliers from Saudi Arabia to Nigeria keen to take up any slack.

Natural gas is different. It is a superior fuel in that it has about half the pollutants of coal and fewer than oil. It is great for heating homes, cooking, making fertilizers and other petrochemicals. Starving the production just increases the cost to consumers.

The real target is, of course, electric utilities. They rushed to gas to get off coal. It was cheaper, cleanerand more manageable. Also, gas could be burned in turbines that are easily installed and repaired. Boilers not needed; no steam required.

But there are greenhouse gases emitted and, worse, methane leaks at fracking sites and from faulty pipelines throughout the system. These represent a grave problem. Here the government can move in with tighter regulation. If it is fixable, fix it. But methane leaks are no reason to cripple domestic production.

The question for the beast-starvers comes from Clinton Vince, who chairs the U.S. energy practice and co-chairs the global energy practice of Dentons, the worlds largest law firm. He asks, Is it better to sell natural gas to India and China or to let them build more coal-fired plants? Particularly if carbon-capture and sequestration technology can be improved.

More: Louisiana lawmakers help sponsor bill in Congress aimed at blocking Biden's oil restrictions

If we are to continue to reduce carbon emissions in the U.S., we need to take a holistic view of energy production and consumption. Does it make sense to allow carbon-free nuclear plants to go out of service because of how we value electricity in the short term? A market adjustment, well within government purview, could save a lot of air pollution immediately.

The hydrocarbon beast doesnt need to be starved, but a diet might be a good idea.

-- Llewellyn King is executive producer and host of White House Chronicle on PBS.He wrote this forInsideSources.com.

Original post:
Opinion: Don't starve the energy beast when a diet will do - Houma Courier

A sustainable way of life

The Mediterranean diet is perennially at the top of U.S. News & World Report's Best Diets list, again topping the list in 2021. It's nearly-universally endorsed by nutritionists and dietitians because it emphasizes wholesome foods, including whole grains, lean proteins, heart-healthy fats and plenty of fruits and vegetables.

So many experts back this diet because it's more a lifestyle than most diets, which are often restrictive and difficult to sustain. The best diet is the one that you can make into a lifelong habit and, as such, millions of people who hail from the Mediterranean region have long shown that this approach to food and life is healthy, sustainable and delicious.

Growing demand and popularity

It's also a diet that's growing in popularity around the world, as evidenced by the growing demand for recipes that fit the protocol, says Jack Bishop, chief creative officer at America's Test Kitchen in Brookline, Massachusetts.

ATK's 2016 book, "The Complete Mediterranean Cookbook," has been the company's most popular book over the last five years. "The interesting thing about the Mediterranean book is that each year, it has sold better than the previous year," a real rarity in the book publishing world.

"Usually your first year is your best year," Bishop notes, but this thick volume's popularity has only increased with each passing year. "This just tells me that the appetite for the diet continues to grow," he says.

Nutritious, healthy, delicious food

One of the reasons why this diet is attracting so much attention lately is because the barrier to entry is relatively low. "The Mediterranean diet is accessible. It's easy to start, and it's not that complicated. There's not a lot of math involved," Bishop says, referencing other diets that require followers to track calories or precise ratios of macronutrients. You don't have to do that with the Mediterranean diet.

Story continues

What's more, this lifestyle is "grounded in culture," meaning it's been time tested and works for lots of people, Bishop says.

A diverse and abundant diet that pulls from a variety of cuisines around the Mediterranean Sea -- from Greek and Italian to Egyptian and Spanish fares -- the Mediterranean diet is known for offering "big, bold flavors," Bishop says. It also places an emphasis on spices, herbs and olive oil. "Those are all high-impact ingredients that deliver a lot of flavor."

All-in-all, the Mediterranean diet is satisfying in ways that many diets -- which can very quickly become monotonous -- simply aren't. This makes it sustainable for the long haul and a good choice for anyone wanting to improve their overall health and wellness, and particularly for those looking to reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.

A day's worth of Mediterranean food

If you're new to following the Mediterranean diet and want to get your bearings in this way of eating, you may be wondering where to start. In the following slides, America's Test Kitchen shares a day's worth of meals that adhere to the principles of the diet.

Breakfast: shakshuka

Why this recipe works:

Shakshuka is a Tunisian dish featuring eggs poached in a spiced tomato, onion and pepper sauce. The key to great shakshuka is balancing the piquancy, acidity, richness and sweetness of its ingredients, according to the chefs at ATK.

Choosing the right pepper to star in this dish makes all the difference. Piquillo peppers were a favorite for the Test Kitchen team, boasting spicy-sweet and vibrant flavors. These small red peppers from Spain, sold in jars or cans, have a subtle hint of smokiness from being roasted over a wood fire. Jarred roasted red peppers can be substituted for the piquillo peppers. You'll need a 12-inch nonstick skillet with a tight-fitting lid for this recipe. Serve with pitas or crusty bread to mop up the sauce.

Serves: 4.

Ingredients:

-- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil.

-- 2 onions, chopped fine.

-- 2 yellow bell peppers, stemmed, seeded and cut into -inch pieces.

-- 4 garlic cloves, minced.

-- 2 teaspoons tomato paste.

-- Salt and pepper.

-- 1 teaspoon ground cumin.

-- 1 teaspoon ground turmeric.

-- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper.

-- 1 cups jarred piquillo peppers, chopped coarse.

-- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes.

-- cup water.

-- 2 bay leaves.

-- 1/3

-- cup chopped fresh cilantro.

-- 4 large eggs.

-- 2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled ( cup).

1. Heat oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onions and bell peppers and cook until softened and lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. Add garlic, tomato paste, 1 teaspoons salt, cumin, turmeric, teaspoon pepper and cayenne. Cook, stirring frequently, until tomato paste begins to darken, about 3 minutes.

2. Stir in piquillo peppers, tomatoes and their juice, water and bay leaves. Bring to simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.

3. Off heat, discard bay leaves and stir in cup cilantro. Transfer 2 cups sauce to blender and process until smooth, about 60 seconds. Return puree to skillet and bring sauce to simmer over medium-low heat.

4. Off heat, make four shallow indentations (about 2 inches wide) in surface of sauce using back of spoon. Crack one egg into each indentation and season eggs with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until egg whites are just set and yolks are still runny, 4 to 6 minutes. Sprinkle with feta and remaining cilantro and serve immediately.

Lunch: Mediterranean chopped salad

Why this recipe works:

The appeal of a chopped salad is that all the ingredients are cut to a uniform size and tossed together, permitting a taste of everything in each bite. Virtually any ingredients may be used, yet most chopped salads are uninspired, laden with deli meats and cheeses and drowned in dressing. With a world of options, the team at ATK steered the salad in a Mediterranean direction, starting with escarole.

A member of the chicory family, this underutilized leafy green is loaded with vitamins and has a mild bitterness that pairs well with bold flavors. Next they added chopped cucumbers and grape tomatoes, salting them to remove excess moisture, and red onion. To make the salad hearty, instead of deli meat the ATK team incorporated nutty chickpeas. Kalamata olives added richness and walnuts brought crunch and healthy fats. Everything is tossed with a simple red wine vinaigrette to let the salad's flavors shine through. Finally, not wanting to completely eliminate cheese from the salad, they sprinkled on 1/2 cup of briny feta to round out the flavors. Cherry tomatoes can be substituted for the grape tomatoes.

Serves: 6.

Ingredients:

-- 1 cucumber, halved lengthwise, seeded and cut into -inch pieces.

-- 10 ounces grape tomatoes, quartered.

-- 1 teaspoon table salt.

-- 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar.

-- 1 garlic clove, minced.

-- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil.

-- 1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed.

-- cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped.

-- small red onion, chopped fine.

-- cup chopped fresh parsley.

-- 1 head escarole (1 pound), trimmed and cut into -inch pieces.

-- 2 ounces feta cheese, crumbled ( cup).

-- cup walnuts, toasted and chopped.

1. Toss cucumber and tomatoes with salt and let drain in colander for 15 minutes.

2. Whisk vinegar and garlic together in large bowl. Whisking constantly, drizzle in oil. Add drained cucumber-tomato mixture, chickpeas, olives, onion and parsley and toss to coat. Let sit for at least 5 minutes or up to 20 minutes.

3. Add escarole, feta and walnuts and toss gently to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve.

Snack: marinated artichokes

Why this recipe works:

Marinated artichokes have so many uses that they should be considered a pantry staple; they're perfect for everything from throwing on pizzas, to tossing into a salad or pasta, to eating on an antipasto platter. But store-bought versions tend to be mushy and bland -- and expensive.

To get the best tender-yet-meaty texture and sweet, nutty artichoke flavor, the Test Kitchen team started with fresh baby artichokes. They simmered them gently in olive oil with strips of lemon zest, garlic, red pepper flakes and thyme, then let them sit off the heat until they were perfectly fork-tender and infused with the aromatic flavors. Then they stirred in fresh lemon juice and more zest, minced garlic and mint before transferring the artichokes to a bowl and topping them with the infused oil for serving and storage.

Serves: 6 to 8.

Ingredients:

-- 2 lemons.

-- 2 cups extra-virgin olive oil.

-- 3 pounds baby artichokes (2 to 4 ounces each).

-- 8 garlic cloves, peeled; 6 cloves smashed, 2 cloves minced.

-- teaspoon red pepper flakes.

-- 2 sprigs fresh thyme.

-- Salt and pepper.

-- 2 tablespoons minced fresh mint.

1. Using vegetable peeler, remove three 2-inch strips zest from one lemon. Grate teaspoon zest from second lemon and set aside. Halve and juice lemons to yield cup juice, reserving spent lemon halves.

2. Combine oil and lemon zest strips in large saucepan. Working with one artichoke at a time, cut top quarter off each artichoke, snap off outer leaves and trim away dark parts. Peel and trim stem, then cut artichoke in half lengthwise (quarter artichoke if large). Rub each artichoke half with spent lemon half and place in saucepan.

3. Add smashed garlic, pepper flakes, thyme sprigs, 1 teaspoon salt and teaspoon pepper to saucepan and bring to rapid simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally to submerge all artichokes, until artichokes can be pierced with fork but are still firm, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let sit until artichokes are fork-tender and fully cooked, about 20 minutes.

4. Gently stir in teaspoon reserved grated lemon zest, cup reserved lemon juice and minced garlic. Transfer artichokes and oil to serving bowl and let cool to room temperature. Season with salt to taste and sprinkle with mint. Serve. (Artichokes and oil can be refrigerated for up to four days.)

Dinner: pasta e fagioli with orange and fennel

Why this recipe works:

Though the precise ingredients for Italy's famed pasta e fagioli vary from region to region, too many recipes have one thing in common: They turn out bland and mushy and take hours to prepare. For this ATK recipe, they wanted to find a silver bullet: a satisfying soup boasting great flavor and proper texture that didn't take all afternoon to make.

The chefs at ATK established an Italian flavor profile with the help of some fennel seeds, orange zest, dried oregano, red pepper flakes and plenty of garlic. Minced anchovy fillets contributed a complex, meaty character void of any fishy aftertaste. Turning to canned diced tomatoes (instead of fresh) and sweet, creamy canned cannellini beans (instead of dried) cut hours out of prep time, and using the tomatoes to deglaze the aromatic base intensified the flavor of the soup.

For pasta, the ATK team looked to small shapes like ditalini, tubettini or, their top choice, orzo to complement rather than crowd out the other ingredients. Finally, parsley lent the necessary bright note to finish our soup. The Parmesan rind can be replaced with a 2-inch chunk of cheese. You can substitute ditalini or tubettini for the orzo (the cooking times may vary slightly).

Serves: 8 to 10.

Ingredients:

-- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for serving.

-- 3 ounces pancetta, chopped fine.

-- 1 onion, chopped fine.

-- 1 fennel bulb, stalks discarded, bulb halved, cored and chopped fine.

-- 1 celery rib, minced.

-- 4 garlic cloves, minced.

-- 3 anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced.

-- 1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried.

-- 2 teaspoons grated orange zest.

-- teaspoon fennel seeds.

-- teaspoon red pepper flakes.

Link:
A Day's Worth of Meals on the Mediterranean Diet - Yahoo News

Comedian Jeremy Levick and Rajat Suresh with their beverages of choice, black coffee and beer. Illustration: Eliana Rodgers

Jeremy Levick and Rajat Suresh produce absurd comedy videos that capture the ridiculousness of life right now. Our friends at Vulture described the comedic duo as masters at satirizing the super-specific internet stories, calling them comedians you need to know. We like for it to feel like youre coming across something real but it just feels insane, says Levick. What you dont know about the comedy duo is that they also take food very seriously. We support each other, but sometimes I can tell Rajat doesnt know a food, and Ive got to jump in, Levick explains. Suresh counters, It pisses me off sometimes when Jeremy doesnt know a food.

Tuesday, January 19Rajat Suresh: Sausage egg and cheese from Sunrise/Sunset plus a coffee. They put it on a bun. I dont usually have sausage, egg, and cheeses on buns, so thats kind of nice. A lot of people are asking me about this. I go there every now and then, its a little far.

You know, the Trump administration was so crazy and so unprecedented. I mean, the way he was just so rude. I needed something to center myself at the beginning of the day, and get ready for the return to normalcy, the return to unity. You can say that a sausage, egg, and cheese is kind of the most united sandwich you could get. Because it unites the sausage and the egg and the cheese together, like the Republicans and the Democrats. Thats what I was going for. I prefer not to eat bacon, I think. That also falls under unity.

Jeremy Levick: Morning coffee, black. Late breakfast 3 p.m. of egg whites with roasted tomatoes, toast with peanut butter, and cantaloupe and honeydew. This would be the last balanced meal I will have this week, and I was so proud of myself.

I do like that I can have breakfast whenever. My rules. I dont live with mommy anymore, so I can set all of my own rules. Same with Rajat.

RS: I can basically do whatever I want. But I would also like to add that its very authoritarian of Jeremy to just decide whenever breakfast is.

JL: Its so ironic that Ive now become mommy. Ive become the tyrannical mommy that Ive escaped, and now I set all these rules for myself. Youll find out from my food log that I have a very loose eating schedule. Thats a decision, and its not just that Im out of control with my life.

RS: Chicken biscuits and cheese bread from Sol Sips, plus beers. You dont want to be a lightweight. I care about that a lot. Im always telling Jeremy youve gotta get your drinking up, because when you go to the frat after that theyre just going to make fun of you.

I would probably say Im a 5 on the vegan scale. I was raised a vegetarian, and then my parents taught me to eat meat because it would be easier, so I feel like I have a good mix. I do like the fake meats a lot. Fake meats are good.

JL: I had a late dinner. A Field Burger, which is a vegan burger made out of mushrooms and lentils or something, and a few vegetables. Broccoli and some other stuff. Ive tried many of the veggie burgers and most of them are bad. Ive been recently trying to find patties that are soy-free so that MAGA people dont call me a soy boy.

I basically do not want to even go into this, but I had a late-night snacking session and its a bunch of insane foods that should not be eaten together. Id call it embarrassing, but my normal meals are just as embarrassing, if not more so. Im usually hunched over my kitchen counter having a bowl of a broccoli that I just put in the microwave and half of it is still frozen, and my roommate will frequently shake his head at me. I tried to tell him that he was being classist against me, but he pointed out its not a problem of affording nicer foods; its that I am stupid.

Wednesday, January 20RS: Banana and coffee. I think Andrew Yang called it the breakfast of champions in that video. I mean, who isnt inspired by that guy? Just picking up a whole bushel of bananas, I was like, I have to do it for our new mayor hopefully.

JL: I had my morning coffee (with turmeric) and a frozen Amys breakfast burrito. The burrito was no longer frozen by the time I ate it.

RS: I would like to add, sometimes Ive seen Jeremy take the burrito right out of the freezer, and then it just sucks on it until it is thawed.

JL: Its so exhausting to do that. I need to take a break before I can move my mouth again. So I have to prepare, basically. When am I gonna be hungry? And if I know Im going to be hungry later, I take it out and suck it and then eat it six hours later.

RS: Jeremys mouth is really hot. So it usually warms it up pretty well.

For a late lunch, I had one slice of pizza. I was walking around listening to a podcast and then I got a little hungry. But it was a little bit before dinner, so I got a slice, and chomped it down outside while everyone laughed at me on the street and then I kind of just walked home.

The podcast is called Pizza Time, and they said now is the time you go eat a slice and its silent for 30 minutes. Were big Pizza Time guys.

JL: Yeah, The New Republic puts it out, its really interesting. Anyway. I had an apple with peanut butter for lunch.

RS: I got a quesadilla and chips from Taqueria Santa Fe. Inauguration mode. Also, more beers.

JL: Rajats food pyramid looks really insane, and its not even a pyramid. I dont know.

RS: Yeah, its a new shape. The closest thing is a square, but its not a square. A lot of people see it and call it Rajats Square but its not. Thats not it.

JL: Late dinner. Edamame, sweet-and-sour vegan chicken, and a slice of carrot cake from Zen.First, people would call avocado a superfood, then kale became a superfood, and this year its vegan carrot cake. The frosting is in the shape of a carrot.

RS: While were talking about the food pyramid, the little picture of the carrot, how do we know thats not frosting?

JL: If you look at a food pyramid you see greens and vegetables and all this stuff. You dont realize that its all frosting in the shape of food.

I went crazy on this round of late-night snacking. Way worse than the previous night. A whole bowl of cereal, peanut-butter sandwich, a bunch of vegan deli meats, banana, more. It was humiliating this time, too, because I knew I had to log it. Felt like I was doing it in front of all the readers.

Thursday, January 21JL: Morning coffee, black. If you noticed I never put milk in my coffee, you have a keen eye. Its because, whereas a lot of new mothers produce milk, mine produced black coffee.

RS: Oatmeal and coffee. I famously like to eat just a bland thing in the morning. You can see the following I have on Twitter. I think thats mainly from eating bland foods in the morning. Most of my followers follow me to see if Im going to talk about bland food. I used to get the Trader Joes Os that are $2 and taste like nothing. They taste like cardboard. This oatmeal had a lot of seeds in it.

JL: Rajat gets the black watermelon seeds in his oatmeal, the ones that youre not supposed to eat.

RS: In my oatmeal, I once had an entire apricot or peach pit, and I just swallowed it.

JL: Yeah, like a pill. Sometimes I hide the apricot pit in peanut butter and spoon feed it to Rajat. Rajat and I are convinced youre supposed to eat the pit. We dont trust what everyone says.

RS: We think the pit gets a bad wrap in the news. From the mainstream media. So we eat the pit.

JL: No one would think to eat the pit, so how would you know its not good for you?

RS: For lunch, I had fake-meat chicken tenders and waffle fries from Hartbreakers. I think waffle is the best shape for fries. Thats what Ive always said. Im very militant about it. I get very mad if someone brings up a curly or a shoestring. If youre around me, you dont bring up that kind of divisive talk. Its just uncivil.

I also ate some frozen M&Ms. Why do I eat them this way? Uh, they taste better. Thats an easy one. My girlfriend does this and I stole the idea from her. I just want to give credit where credits due.

JL: Everyone, I just want to say, do your due diligence and look up whether Rajats girlfriend is real.

RS: For sure, do it. She has a website, and you can check it out. Its http://www.rajatsuresh.com/girlfriend. Go for it, check it out, and make your own decision.

JL: First meal of the day at 7 p.m. (???). I was busy doing really nice things (charitable donations and running a 5K to support one of the nicest charities in the world) so its not weird how late my first meal was. I had General Tsos tofu and vegetable rolls from Good Taste. This is the Chinese takeout a block away from me in Crown Heights, I go here all the time and this is my usual order. I love it. There was a shot of Good Tastes awning in How to With John Wilson and I was eating Good Taste as I watched the episode. It was awesome. It was takeout Inception. It actually kind of messed me up. I was sort of in a weird paralysis, I didnt speak for three days after that.

RS: You had wires connected to you, if I remember correctly, like in Inception.

JL: In that sense, it really was an Inception situation because it literally was Inception. I had the wires set up and I was going into Rajats dreams. I got stuck there for like ten years but only three seconds passed.

RS: Chips and salsa. Snacktime at around midnight Ive heard this is actually really healthy. Everything Ive discussed so far is a strict diet that I am following. It might seem like, Oh, hes having a banana now, and that seems random. But no, its very strict, and its based off of my food shape. Im a big dietician and I try to keep myself healthy and Ive been doing intermittent fasting as you can tell.

JL: Thats what Rajat calls running as fast as he can while eating. Rajat will say, Ive gotta go fast over to that piece of food.

RS: I mean, what else could that mean? I get so excited when I see something healthy, I start doing it.

Friday, January 22RJ: Everything bagel with jalapeo cream cheese from Knickerbocker Bagel. Also a coffee. I threw a bagel in the mix here so people know Im a New Yorker.

JL: Thats code for Jewish.

RS: I hope this is clear that Im the Jewish one, and Jeremy is the Indian one.

JL: I got an egg-and-cheese on a sesame bagel from a bodega. (Also had a banana and some orange juice.) We both had bagels because we had a bagel competition. The competition is who can eat a bagel. We both won!

RS: Also, Jeremy used to live in Bushwick and we would go to Knickerbocker together.

JL: Fond memories. I do miss that experience. I havent seen Rajat since then.

RS: Later, I got half a chicken burrito and half a tofu torta, plus chips and guac, from Ojal Mexican. Ive never gone to this place before. But they have the tofu torta, which is just something I had to try. Again, its unifying the torta and the burrito. I was also eating with my girlfriend, who you can see at http://www.rajetsuresh.com/girlfriend again. Everyone should check out that site if they think Im lying. We got both and split it.

JL: Field Burger again.I dont drink much anymore, but I drank a ton of whiskey in my friends backyard (to show off for Rajat). I took it too far in that it hurt my body on Saturday, but I texted Rajat and said, Guess how much I drank?

RS: Again, its about not being a lightweight at the end of the day.

Saturday, January 23RS: Turkey-and-seitan sandwich from a cafe called Chez Alex in Bed-Stuy. I like a good turkey sandwich. This is the first time Ive had turkey and seitan. It had some chipotle mayo on it, which was also good.

It was also more unity, between the meats and non-meats. Youve gotta listen to the other side. So that both sides can come together and experience love, because thats where it is, in the center, and its just so beautiful I think.

JL: My friend Sarah made us avocado toast. I know this is the hipster millennial food but its good. Recently, I got into being a hipster. I just learned about it a few nights ago. Someone sent me an Urban Dictionary link to hipsters, and I cant stop talking about it. Apparently everyone knew what this was ten years ago and are done talking about it.

RS: Im getting back into it now that Jeremy is learning about it. Its so cool to go through the Whole Foods thing again.

My girlfriend made me chicken, broccoli, and tortellini. I like a pasta every now and then. I usually dont go for tortellini, and this was special. Again, just check out her website. She made pasta and broccoli and chicken for me, because shes a good girlfriend and real. As you can read on my website, and I just want to say to the Deadspin guys, given the Manti Teo story they broke, if they can stay away from this, thatd be great.

Also ate a grocery store Oreo cake. Its a classic grocery store item.

JL: Rajat tries to dunk the whole Oreo cake in milk.

RS: Thats how youre supposed to eat it. I pick it up with one hand, and just kind of let it soak. I ate a very good amount of it. But I was with my girlfriend, and I was eating it with her.

JL: I went crawling back to Good Taste for lo mein and some broccoli. This is my second home, and they dont mind. Itll seem like theyre trying to kick me out, but that is not whats happening. It is also my personal living room. They dont call it that, necessarily, but I did set up a couch in there. Its a small space so it takes up most of the room. I invite people over and its fun.

RS: Its good there are the COVID restrictions, because you can just sit on your couch.

JL: Yeah, and when customers try to enter I go, Six feet, buddy. I think the owners like that.

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Comedians Rajat Suresh and Jeremy Levick Eat Breakfast Whenever They Want - Grub Street

THURSDAY, Jan. 28, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- There is a strong correlation between the age of onset of Parkinson disease (PD) and dietary habits, according to a study published online Jan. 6 in Movement Disorders.

Avril Metcalfe-Roach, from the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues analyzed data from food frequency questionnaires completed by 167 individuals with PD and 119 controls.

The researchers found that overall, women adhered more closely to the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet than men, and diet scores were not modified by disease status. MIND diet adherence correlated with later age of onset most strongly in women, corresponding to differences of up to 17.4 years between low and high dietary tertiles. There was also a significant association seen between Greek Mediterranean adherence and later PD onset across all models. In men, only Greek Mediterranean diet adherence correlated with later onset, with differences of up to 8.4 years.

"Nutritional strategies may be an effective tool to delay PD onset," the authors write.

Abstract/Full Text

Read the original here:
MIND and Mediterranean Diets Tied to Delayed Parkinson Onset - HealthDay News

The Mediterranean diet is in the news again, not only because it's the start of a new year, but also because it was named as one of the most popular and healthiest diets by several publications. The origins of the "Mediterranean diet" are lost in time because it's based on the eating habits of the Middle Ages, in which the ancient Roman tradition -- on the model of the Greeks -- identified in bread, wine and oil products a symbol of rural culture and agriculture. These were supplemented by sheep cheese, vegetables (leeks, mallow, lettuce, chicory, mushrooms) and a little meat, and among Romans, a strong preference for fish and seafood.

According to a National Center of Biotechnology Information article, the discovery of the health benefits of the Mediterranean diet is attributed to American scientist Ancel Keys, who researched the correlation between cardiovascular disease and diet for the first time.

In the 1950s, Keys was struck by a phenomenon, for which he could not, at first, provide a full explanation. The poor population of small towns of southern Italy was, against all predictions, much healthier than the wealthier citizens of New York, many of whom had Italian ancestors who emigrated to the United States. Keys suggested that this depended on food, and tried to validate his original insight, focusing on foods that made up the diet of these populations.

This study proved that populations that had adopted a diet based on the Mediterranean diet presented a very low rate of cholesterol in the blood and, consequently, a minimum percentage of coronary heart disease. This was mainly due to the plentiful use of olive oil, bread, pasta, vegetables, herbs, garlic, red onions and other foods of vegetable origin, and a rather moderate use of meat.

The modern Mediterranean diet is characterized by the emphasis on plant foods such as grains, vegetables and fruits. Olives, olive oil, nuts, beans, legumes, seeds and herbs/spices are also part of the Mediterranean eating style. The Mediterranean lifestyle also recognizes the importance of physical activity and social interaction at mealtimes.

Grains should be mostly whole grains and can include whole-wheat breads, whole-wheat pasta, oats, brown rice, couscous, quinoa or barley.

Fruits and vegetables can be fresh, frozen or canned. The nutrients are similar between the three forms. Canned vegetables can have more sodium, so rinse before using or buy lower sodium options. Fruits and vegetables can be cooked or eaten raw.

Olives and olive oil are staples of the Mediterranean eating style. Olive oil is the main source of fat and is used in cooking, as salad dressing, as a light drizzle on vegetables or as a dip for bread. Olive oil is higher in heart-healthy unsaturated fats and should replace saturated fats like butter or margarine.

Nuts, beans, legumes and seeds are the main sources of protein, healthy fats and fiber. Common beans include chickpeas (garbanzo beans), cannellini beans, kidney beans, lentils and black beans. Nuts are good as a snack, on a salad or added to other dishes.

Herbs and spices add flavor and aroma to foods. They reduce the need for salt and can be rich in health-promoting antioxidants.

This delicious baking-pan recipe for Salmon Roasted with Broccoli and Tomatoes is an effortless way to incorporate the Mediterranean diet eating plan into your lifestyle.

SALMON ROASTED WITH BROCCOLI AND TOMATOES

1 pound fresh or frozen skinless salmon fillet

2 teaspoons Italian or poultry seasoning

1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper

2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes

2 tablespoons snipped fresh basil and/or parsley

1. Line a 15-by-10-inch baking pan with parchment paper. Rinse salmon; pat dry. Place salmon in prepared pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of the oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of the Italian or poultry seasoning, and 1 teaspoon of the salt and the pepper.

2. In a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, broccoli, garlic and the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil, the Italian or poultry seasoning, and the salt and pepper; toss to coat. Place in pan with salmon. Roast 15 to 18 minutes or just until salmon flakes.

3. Meanwhile, remove 1 teaspoon zest/peel from the lemon (do not use the white flesh or pith) and squeeze 3 tablespoon juice from lemon. In a small bowl, combine lemon zest and juice, the basil and/or parsley, and the honey. Spoon the mixture over salmon and vegetables before serving.

TIP: To thaw frozen fish, place in a sealed bag and submerge in a bowl of cold water for 30 minutes.

Angela Shelf Medearis is an award-winning children's author, culinary historian and the author of seven cookbooks. Her new cookbook is "The Kitchen Diva's Diabetic Cookbook." Her website is http://www.divapro.com. To see how-to videos, recipes and much, much more, Like Angela Shelf Medearis, The Kitchen Diva! on Facebook. Recipes may not be reprinted without permission from Angela Shelf Medearis.

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Mediterranean diet stands the test of time | Lake Mills Leader - HNGnews.com

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