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Dont call Brittany Griffitha chef. The title makes her uneasy. To me, chefis almost like a military rank, Griffith says. A real chef would bristle at people referring to me as a trained chef. Im a cook. I love cooking.

Whether she wants to accept the title or not, the fact is, Griffith makes her living by cooking food for other people. Shes a professional climber, yes, known for knocking out ambitious trad routes all over the globe, including the 5.12 Battling BegoniasinYemen,but shes also an ambassador for Patagonia Provisions, the eco-conscious food division of the outdoor brand. Griffith cooksat events and climbing festivals, teaching customers how to use the ingredients that Patagonia Provisions sources. Shes even prepared Thanksgiving dinner for the Chouinards, the family that owns Patagonia. The job title of cook,Griffith admits, suits her better than pro climber.

Climbing is just exercise, Griffith says. Its a way to be outside and have adventures, but Im not addicted to it like I am cooking. I have to cook every day. Id sooner quit climbing than quit cooking.Griffith had a talent for food from a young age.I always had this weird instinct with putting ingredients together, she says. When I was a kid, I just knew a saltine cracker and Velveeta cheese would be incredible. Since then, preparing mealshas always played an integral role in her climbing adventures. Food is the best way to interact with the community, whether its figuring out what to make with limited ingredients on a mountaintopor slicing onions with women in a different country.

Griffith started climbing during a 1994 postcollege road trip with her boyfriend at the time. She was a naturaland has spent the last 25 years putting together an impressive rsumthat includes first ascents in Venezuela, Oman, and Kenya. Shes a 5.13 sport and tradclimberwho has been living the pro-climber dream for decades with the support of big brand sponsorships.At 51 years old, Griffith is still very much on the go, usually traveling more than 200 days of the year for climbing adventures and cooking engagements. But like many of us, her work has come to a halt during the pandemic. Instead of panicking or succumbing to anxiety, Griffith is choosing to focus on the silver lining and concentratingon whats most important to her. Everyone is always trying to do too much, but now our lives are broken down into just the necessities, Griffith says. Exercise, grow food, eat food. We dont have to be distracted by five different things right now.

Griffith says herroutine at home in Salt Lake Cityisnt that much different than her homelife before the pandemic.Now, though, she has much more time to do the things she loves because shes not moving arounda position that she acknowledges shes lucky to be in. Even driving to the climbing gym used to take an hour out of my day, she says.

Griffith never bothered putting together much of a home gym, because she traveled so much and relied on Salt Lakes climbing gyms while she was home. Nowshes been using a luggage scale to find different weighted items around her house and yardachain bike lock that weighs 15 pounds is great for weighted pull-ups. She also hung some oldgymnastics rings in her garage and is using blocks of wood as pinch blocks. Her workout consistsof push-ups, dips on the rings, hanging leg lifts, or just hanging from the two-by-six-inchbeam that supports the whole garage. And shell make games out of it all: whilehanging from the beam, shell try to touch her toes to the rake in the corner, or do a set of push-ups and then pick some greens in the garden.

I think the key to exercise is to keep it simple and do things you like to do, Griffith says. I hate running, so I dont do it. So much stuff we choose to do is crazy, just because someone says its good for us. Who likes CrossFit? Is that fun for anyone?

Griffith takes a similar approach to nutrition, insisting that her diet has been consistent since she was a child. Instead of following a rigorous nutrition planor adopting trendy diets, she sticks to one guiding principle: she only eats food that makes her feel good. She relies largely on vegetables (preferably those grown in her own garden)and meat from her local butcher. She loves the smoked salmon from Patagonia Provisions and says her one true guilty pleasure is chips and salsa. I dont think hamburgers are bad for you, they just dontmake me feel good, so I dont eat them, Griffith says. Everyone is different. Everyones diet should be different.I was lucky. I figured out what works for me when I was a kid, so I didnt have to go through that Whole30 process when I was an adult.

Griffith says thecurrent situation is a good opportunity for us to figure out whichfoods workand whichwe should scrap from our daily routineswere all cooking our own meals during quarantine, which gives us greater control over the ingredients. Cooking for yourselfis the root of good health, she says. Its interesting how these ideas of simplicity are coming together right now. You have to stay at home, and you have to make your own food.

Although she admits that the prospect can be intimidating for people who have never spent much time in the kitchen, she has some advice: You dont have to go to school or even take a class to learn how to cook. Just dont be afraid. Make what you like, experiment.

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How This Pro Climber Is Cooking Through the Pandemic - Outside

Dairy-based butter has long been a staple of the American diet but appetites are rapidly changing.

Upfield Groups plant-based butter Flora is made with sunflower, linseed and rapeseed oils and has ... [+] no trans fats. It claims to have at least 60% less saturated fat than conventional butter.

Weve known for decades that butter consumption is linked to a higher risk of heart disease, due to its high levels of saturated fat. In fact, since the 1960s, weve had a good understanding of the effects of saturated fat on our health.

For 1 tbsp of butter - and let's be real; most people use more than that when cooking or baking - there is 7g of saturated fat, 0.5g of trans fats, and 31 mg of cholesterol, explains Dotsie Bausch, Executive Director of Switch4Good, a not-for-profit organization that works to raise awareness about some of the health concerns associated with consuming too muchdairy. Based on a 2,000 calorie diet that is 35% of your daily recommended saturated fat, 10% of your daily recommended cholesterol and 100% of daily recommended trans fat. Now, what does all this fat and cholesterol do to a person? Well, we know that it cripples our arteries, slows down our blood flow, leading to inflammation, plaque formation, and heart disease. She cites a 2018 study published in Laboratory Investigation which found not only found changes in size and shape of red blood cells just one hour after consuming a high-fat meal, but also changes in immune cell function, which may set the stage for inflammation, plaque formation and ultimately heart disease.

This was a good time for margarine to step in but this, too, soon got a bad name for its trans-fat content. Trans-fats raise the bad cholesterol in our bodies and lower levels of good cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease, stroke and type two diabetes.

The industry adapted, and newer margarines tend to be free from trans fats and are lower in saturated fat. However, margarine still suffers from a lingering image problem, leaving a gap in the market for another alternative that has much better public perception.

The US plant-based butter industry is worth $198 million and is growing rapidly. "Between 2017 and 2019, plant-based butter dollars sales increased15%, significantly outpacing conventional butter sales growth," says Caroline Bushnell,associate director for corporate engagement at The Good Food Institute."Since COVID-19 began, we've seen plant-based product sales growth exceed that of animal-based products, both in meat and dairy categories. Due to COVID-19 supply chain disruptions, some milk that is used to make butteris now being dumped. As isthe case with plant-based meat, plant-based dairy supply chains are much better poised to respond inreal-time to changing marketconditions and are not vulnerableto the type of disruptionsinherent in industrial animal agriculture.

These vegan spreads are based on various ingredients, including nut oils and avocado oils. ForA:Butter uses cocoa butter, what ForA describes as its main fat source that enables the product's superior functionality.

There are no major differences between margarine and plant-based butters, but the latter makes it clear to consumers theres absolutely no animal produce in their products. While margarines are made up of vegetable fats, some include milk products. One of the main differences between plant-based alternatives and butter and margarine are the social and environmental values that come with the former.

There are multitudinous personal values and unprecedented eco pressures shaping our culture, and those that are manifesting in food choices lean toward plant-based eco-relevant options. Plant-based butters are not emerging in isolation, says Jim Richards, CEO of Milkadamia.

Milkadamia, which produces a line of dairy-free milks and creamers, recently made its foray into ... [+] food with the launch of its plant-based butter-alternatives.

Lets be clear neither animal- and plant-based butter nor margarine are particularly good for our health. By definition, they consist of at least 80% fat, so any plant-based alternatives arent exactly going to have the health benefits of a salad. But there are some health benefits to plant-based butters over dairy ones and margarines, including lower levels of saturated fat and no trans fats.

Kite Hills PlantBased Butter Alternative, launching nationwide this summer, is made with cultured almond milk, sunflower, coconut and olive oils and contains less saturated fat per serving than traditional butter. And Upfield Groups plant-based butter Flora, which is available in Europe,is made with sunflower, linseed and rapeseed oils and has no trans fats. Flora Original claims to have at least 67% less saturated fat than conventional butter.

Earlier this year, researchers found that higher intake of dairy milk was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. While this looked at milk instead of butter, some studies have observed the effects of butter specifically.

One review of studies found that 11 meta-analyses showed increased risk of gastric cancer and dairy products including butter, and 29 meta-analysis found the same for colorectal cancer.

Most studies looking at different cancers however found no significant increased risk from butter consumption, and all studies were observational, so couldnt prove cause and effect.

But its not just what plant-based butters dont contain that matters its also what dairy butter does contain. More than 10% of Americans could be lactose intolerant, and across the world, this statistic increase to 60%. This is because they have not inherited the gene that can break down lactose efficiently, and can cause symptoms including stomach cramps, nausea and bloatedness, among other symptoms.

Plant-based butters can be better for the planet, too, and many emerging brands are making sustainability part of their ethos. For example,Milkadamias Butta-Bing Butta-Bloom uses macadamia oil that comes from regenerative farming methods, which generally results in healthier soil.

Broadly speaking, producing plant-based products versus dairy products generates less greenhouse gas emissions and encourages more responsible use of land, water, fuel and fertilizer, says David Haines, chief executive of Upfield Group B.V.

In a study investigating the environmental impact of animal-derived products compared to their plant-based options, scientists studied Upfields margarines and spreads. They concluded that plant-based spreads have a lower impact than dairy butter in terms of climate, water and land usage.

Scientists found an average of 7.3lbs of CO2 produced for every 2.2lbs of plant-based butter produced, compared to a 26.7lbs of CO2 equivalent for dairy-based spreads,which is more than three times as much. Making the brands Flora spread uses up to 70% less water and emits up to less than 50% of the carbon dioxide compared to dairy butter.

Choosing a plant-based diet is one of the best things you can do for the environment as plant-based diets are kind to the earth and kind to animals, says Rob Leibowitz, chief executive of Kite Hill. And plants are the first ingredients in our plant-based butter alternative.

Kite Hill butter tubs will soon hit the market.

Similarly, the process of making Miyoko's Creamerys plant-based butter has been found to produce up to 98% fewer greenhouse gas emissions than dairy butter.

While the science is compelling, plant-based butter manufacturers are concerned about the ongoing label wars in the U.S and beyond. The dairy and meat industries are rallying against plant-based manufacturers, and argue that their use of burger, milk and other words on labelling is misleading. So unlike a hot knife through butter, maintaining market share will not come easy, and plant-based companies are eager to defend themselves.

Miyoko Schinner, founder and chief executive ofMiyoko's Creamery, says the dairy industry feels threatened by consumers searching for non-dairy alternatives. She says the argument that customers are confused by labels is ridiculous.

Like some others in the category, Miyoko's European-Style Cultured Vegan Butter is made entirely ... [+] from plants.

No one is confused by peanut butter or coconut butter when they see those products. We see these attempts as violations our First Amendment rights, and we are fighting back against this and calling it out for what it is industry groups lobbying for their own personal gain and interests, rather than for the interests of consumers.

This is history repeating itself. Margarine has been in the US since the 1870s, but manufacturers decision to make it look so similar to butter soon proved controversial. By the early 1900s, 32 US states ruled that margarine had to change its color mostly to pink so customers could differentiate it from butter.

Richards argues that the dairy industry is now attempting to hold back inevitable cultural change.

Positive cultural changes are coming with irresistible force, they include people taking responsibility and embracing stewardship of this earth, seeking to regenerate rather than exploit, he says. There are bigger things afoot here than dairy.

Schinner says, There has been a lot of talk for several years now about the negative impacts of the meat industry on the environment, health and more, but for some reason the dairy industry has gotten a pass, even though it is in many ways even more destructive to the environment and to animals.

She adds that theres now an increasing understanding of the effects of the dairy industry on the environment.

And as more people turn to dairy alternatives - more than a third of Americans are consuming more plant-based foods, according to a2017 a survey plant-based butter brands are targeting them.

Consumers are increasingly demanding healthy, natural and more sustainable alternatives to dairy products, says Haines. And they dont want to compromise on taste or how these products work in their recipes.

UpField Groups Country Crocks plant-based butters are tested by culinary professionals, who make sure the spreads spread, cook and bake like dairy.

Country Crock is another dairy-free butter brand from UpField Group, made with oil from avocados, ... [+] olives, or almonds.

We selected plant fats and oils to mimic the way dairy butter behaves at different temperatures and in all its different usages such as: on toast, making grilled cheese sandwiches, or in baking pies and cakes, Haines says.

When its released later this year, Kite Hill Plant-Based Butter Alternative will be sold with the other plant-based butter alternatives, Leibowitz says, which is often next to dairy butter.

Were starting with three varieties and will later expand flavors, textures, and formats as there is similar consumer need for variety in plant-based butter as there is in dairy butter, he says.

Despite the challenges these brands face, plant-based butters have consumer interests on their side as well as health and environmental advantages.

The world is coming to understand that a shift to plant-based foods is inevitable as we continue to realize the benefits to human health, the health of the planet and the animals who share it with us, said Kees Kruythoff, Chairman and CEO the LiveKindly co, which recently announced that it will move the world toward plant-forward eating through the opening of $200 million investment, as well as brand acquisitions in similarly aligned companies, and an online advocacy platform. Alternatives to meat, dairy and egg products will become the norm and plant-based butters are one of the new hot products in the space.

In other words, label wars may come and go, but plant-based butter seems here to stay.

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Plant-Based Butter Is Taking Over The Dairy Aisle - Forbes

TheWalton Family Foundationhas provided funding to theSeafood Nutrition Partnership(SNP) to support theEat Seafood America! campaignto help the fishing communities and seafood businesses that have championed sustainable seafood over the past two decades. As COVID-19 has disrupted the seafood supply chain in unprecedented ways, the Walton Family Foundation recognized immediately the tremendous urgency to encourage Americans to try seafood at home now that more people are cooking for themselves.

The Eat Seafood America! campaign reminds consumers to support the fishing communities and sustainable seafood companies that have worked to provide us with healthy, sustainable food, said Teresa Ish, Program Officer, Ocean Initiative at Walton Family Foundation. The foundation is committed to supporting those partners who have worked alongside us to ensure that we have seafood now and in the future.

SNP is experienced at conducting public health campaigns utilizing a combination of public relations outreach and advanced digital targeting technologies to reach consumers. Within the past couple weeks, SNP has organized a rapid-response, consumer-facing campaign and formed the Seafood4Health Action Coalition with 33 key organizations that support the seafood industry to collaborate in getting the campaign message out to the American consumer. To see a list of all organizations in the coalition, visitEatSeafoodAmerica.com.

We sincerely appreciate this critical grant from the Walton Family Foundation in support of the Eat Seafood America! campaign. I am thankful for the organizations that have come together at this time with their unique talents to support our fishing communities to collectively encourage Americans to eat seafood and buy seafood, said Linda Cornish, President of Seafood Nutrition Partnership. We need to act quickly to protect our seafood industry from the economic challenges caused by COVID-19 and make sure healthy seafood is available for Americans now and after we come out of this crisis.

On social channels, the #EatSeafoodAmerica hashtag, launched April 6, has quickly been adopted broadly by the U.S. seafood community, generating more than 1,000 social posts and 5.5 million impressions in the first two weeks.

For the campaign messages to go beyond the seafood community and reach more consumers, SNP will utilize the Walton Family Foundation grant to fund public relations outreach and digital media to encourage U.S. consumers to buy seafood from local fishermen and water farmers, restaurants for take-out, online and grocery stores.

This cornerstone gift from the Walton Family Foundation provides a portion of the project budget needed to get this message out to as many Americans as possible.

We all need to work together to help save the sustainable seafood community in this critical time, Ish said. We encourage other foundations, companies, and individuals to support this campaign.

The Walton Family Foundation is, at its core, a family-led foundation. The children and grandchildren of our founders, Sam and Helen Walton, lead the foundation and create access to opportunity for people and communities. We work in three areas: improving K-12 education, protecting rivers and oceans and the communities they support, and investing in our home region of Northwest Arkansas and the Arkansas-Mississippi Delta. To learn more, visit waltonfamilyfoundation.org.

Seafood Nutrition Partnership (SNP) is a national non-profit with a mission to inspire a healthier America by empowering seafood consumption as part of a balanced diet. SNP is addressing the countrys public health crisis through education programs that inspire Americans to incorporate more seafood and omega-3s into their diets for improved health as per USDA/HHS Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the American Heart Association, and many other leading health organizations. For more information, visit seafoodnutrition.org or follow @Seafood4Health and #Seafood2xWk on social media.

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Walton Family Foundation Provides Funding to Support the Eat Seafood America! Campaign - PerishableNews

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Major opposition parties jointly submitted a bill Tuesday that would support companies having a tough time paying rent for their facilities in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.

The bill was entered in the Lower House by the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan and other parties, including Nippon Ishin no Kai.

It calls on government-affiliated Japan Finance Corp. to pay for about a year in rent for smaller businesses, self-employed people and startups whose sales have dropped 20 percent or more due to the virus crisis. If a business ends up not being able to repay the money to the lender, the government may be asked to shoulder the cost, according to the bill.

The opposition parties requested the government include about 5 trillion for the rent relief program in its draft supplementary budget for fiscal 2020, which is slated to be enacted Thursday.

The government and the Liberal Democratic Party-led ruling bloc agree that some sort of rent support is necessary, but they are taking the stance that specific measures should be covered in a second supplementary budget.

After submitting the bill, Yuichi Goto of the Democratic Party for the People told reporters, We hope the ruling side will join us in discussions on the bill soon.

The opposition bill includes a clause under which subsidies would be granted to property owners who cut rent for tenants. The provision was added at the request of Nippon Ishin.

We have to work together because the government and the ruling bloc are very slow to act, said Nippon Ishin member Yasushi Adachi.

Read more:
Japan opposition submits bill to relieve renters' pain amid pandemic - The Japan Times

Depression is usually treated with therapy or medication, but what you eat can also play a role in your mental health. Though more research is needed, some studies show that certain diets may prevent or reduce the severity of depression.

"The right kind of diet may give the brain more of what it needs to avoid depression, or even to treat it once it's begun," says Lisa Mosconi, PhD, Director of the Women's Brain Initiative at Weil Cornell Medical College and author of The XX Brain.

Here's what experts know about which foods are helpful and which may be harmful for depression.

There are many different factors that contribute to depression. Some are out of your control, like genetics or a traumatic life event. But the foods you choose to eat can also play a role.

Because food can influence certain chemicals in the brain, like serotonin, that help regulate mood. An estimated 95 percent of your serotonin is produced in your gastrointestinal tract. So, it makes sense that what you eat may influence mood.

For example, a 2014 review found that people who followed a Mediterranean diet of fruits, vegetables, fish, and whole grains were 16 percent less likely to experience depression compared to people who followed a typical high-carbohydrate Western diet.

The Mediterranean diet is thought to be effective against battling depression because it's rich in anti-inflammatory foods like leafy greens and fish, while also cutting down on processed foods that can cause inflammation.

Inflammation is known to contribute to a number of diseases including heart disease, Alzheimer's, and certain cancers like liver and cervix. How strongly inflammation contributes to depression is still unclear. But some studies, like the 2014 review, suggest that keeping inflammation at bay through your diet may help prevent depression.

Your brain needs certain nutrients to produce the chemicals used to regulate your emotions, Mosconi says. Some of these helpful foods and nutrients include:

Small, oily fish (salmon, mackerel, anchovies, sardines, herring): These fish are all high in omega-3 fatty acids, a type of fat that has been shown to reduce the severity of depression symptoms by reducing inflammation.

Turkey: Eating turkey provides you with tryptophan, an amino acid that your body uses to produce serotonin.

Cacao: Certain compounds like flavanols and procyanidins, which are present in cacao in dark chocolate, can reduce inflammation in the body.

Probiotic foods: More research is needed to understand exactly how probiotics work and the different ailments they can treat. But what researchers have found is that probiotic-containing foods like yogurt and sauerkraut contain live bacteria that are helpful for balancing out your gut bacteria. That's important when it comes to depression because these bacteria can produce chemicals that regulate your mood, such as serotonin and gamma-Aminobutyric acid (GABA).

Fruits and vegetables: Eating foods like fruits and vegetables can be one of the most powerful ways to fight inflammation because they contain antioxidants, compounds that help protect your cells from the damage caused by inflammation. Here are some foods rich in antioxidants:

Many of the foods that are bad for your physical health can also affect your mental health. Below are some foods to avoid to help prevent and fight depression.

Processed foods: "Processed or deep-fried foods often contain trans fats and a variety of chemicals that can promote inflammation," Mosconi says, adding that inflammation is a possible cause of depression, as well as other brain illnesses like dementia.

Some examples of processed foods are:

Sugar: Eating a diet that includes a lot of sugary foods and drinks has been linked to higher rates of depression. This may be because sugar increases inflammation and can destabilize your blood sugar. When your blood sugar drops too low, you can have symptoms like nervousness and inability to concentrate, while high blood sugar can cause fatigue.

Getting treatment for depression often involves therapy or medication, but watching what you eat can also play an important role in your mood. Eating a Mediterranean style diet and avoiding processed foods may help you battle depression.

See the article here:
The foods that fight depression and keep you happy - Insider - INSIDER

Content Warning: This article contains a discussion of eating disorders. Reader discretion is advised.

Due to coronavirus, my summer body will be postponed until 2021.

Im either coming out of this quarantine fifty pounds lighter or one hundred pounds heavier only time will tell.

Week two of quarantine got me like: These sweatpants are all that fit me right now.

Im used to hearing frustrating, diet-culture fueled comments on the internet, but when I first heard jokes like these about staving off the quarantine 15, they as the kids say these days hit different. I have struggled with body dysmorphia and disordered eating since eighth grade, and while Ive recently made dramatic successes in actually recovering, COVID-19 has proved an unprecedented obstacle.

Disordered eating comes from many different places, but for me, and many others, it comes from needing to feel a sense of control over myself and my life. Even when everything is in chaos, our bodies seem to be one of the few things we still have at least some power over. During a global pandemic, the desire to reach for that comforting sense of control is tempting, to say the least. For the first time in months, and for some of my friends years, the creep of calorie anxiety is settling back in as we are stuck inside with more time to think, the disruption of the routine in which we found comfort, and messages from the wellness media warning us not to let ourselves go become more omnipresent.

We all need to find ways to combat anxiety and general mood swings during this time. Baking copious amounts of banana bread? Great. Doing a bunch of home workouts? Sure. I wont lie that my walks and runs have been an invaluable part of managing all the feelings Ive been experiencing, but I have dealt with this condition long enough to know that I can have dual motivations.

Im not stress waking to burn calories but Im also not not stress walking to burn calories, a friend said as they called me while on a walk to talk to me about the worsening body dysmorphia theyve been experiencing, along with the growing desire to restrict. I downloaded Cronometer for the first time in a year and started logging what I ate because it gave me some relief, they said. I would love to say that I had no idea what they were talking about, but its a tempting (albeit unhealthy) coping mechanism thats hard to give up. Another friend told me it was taking all of her willpower not to drive to Target and buy a scale to make sure her weight wasnt fluctuating too much in quarantine something I did at the beginning of freshman year in an attempt to reassure myself that I wasnt gaining the freshman 15.

Disordered eating is deeply rooted in negotiation. Saying you can have the cookie as long as you go for that run, or that you can take that day off from the gym as long as you eat light to compensate. Seductive as these negotiations can be, restriction simply exacerbates eating disorder thoughts and behaviors, as therapist Jennifer Rollin says. Ignoring our innate hunger cues also disrupts the hormones that signal hunger and satiety. Whats more, hanger is actually an example of how hunger can trigger or exacerbate heightened emotional states like anxiety, depression, anger, fear, etc. These emotions are already being worsened by physical distancing and the overturning of daily life, restriction can just add fuel to the fire. If that werent enough, COVID-19 had also increased stress around food, with trips to the grocery store becoming one of the highest risk activities in which we currently engage.

For me, body dysmorphia makes the way I perceive myself the equivalent of a room of funhouse mirrors. One day I feel cute and confident, another I feel so monstrous that I want to hide from everyone. For people with eating disorders, and even those who have never struggled with disordered eating before, being isolated provides more time than ever to fixate on anything you feel stress about, including your ever-present body, which can frequently be translated to concerns over weight, as is pointed out by Mayo Clinic psychologist Leslie Sim. Another aspect of quarantine is the disruption of the routines in which we engage to present ourselves. My mom has bemoaned the fact that her hair, which she dyes to avoid gray roots, is starting to look like a skunk. Numerous friends have run desperate hands through their hair, expressing dismay over feeling shaggy. And putting on makeup and changing out of your pajamas feels far more optional as the days go on. Doing little things that make you feel better, no matter how much of an effort they can seem, is a great way to boost self-esteem in quarantine. Not slipping out of my routine of washing my face, combing my hair and putting on some uneven (cause who can get them to match) winged eyeliner has been crucial to keeping my body image out of the danger zone when possible.

Some of the corniest advice Ive ever heard regarding self-love is to evaluate whether you would say the things you say to yourself to a loved one. If a friend called up and said that theyd gained weight, lost muscle mass and were eating more Ben and Jerrys in quarantine, would you berate them? No. So why not extend that to yourself? It can seem ridiculous the first few times you try this, but challenging self-hating thoughts is the only way to keep them from taking over. Aware of how the coronavirus is impacting people, the National Eating Disorder Association has compiled low-cost and free support options, and a pop-up on their website links to a specific COVID-19 resource page.

Body image is especially linked to social comparison. In a time of social distancing, our point of comparison is prone to shift to social media and other sources of often unattainable, altered bodies, so it might be a good time to limit or disengage.

I cannot stress enough that eating disorders arent just a girl thing and that, as with all mental illnesses, they can affect people of all genders, ages, races, religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, body shapes and weights. The NEDA reports that an estimated 20 million women and 10 million men in America will have an eating disorder at some point in their lives, and a growing number of men and non-binary individuals are reaching out to clinicians for help. Eating disorders dont look the same. There is even EDNOS (Eating Disorder Not Otherwise Specified) because restriction is not the only type of way to have disordered eating. I only focused on restriction because that is my personal experience. Its also worth noting that there are different stages of eating disorders and recovery, and that for those just beginning to recover, this situation is especially tough.

Its possible to change how you eat without the toxic voice of diet culture weighing in. Diet culture has convinced many of us that honoring hunger and feeling satisfied and full when we eat is something to feel guilty over. I thought Id broken my ability to listen to those most straightforward of signals with years of calorie counting and portion control, but I am slowly gaining them back. Sometimes that means I eat breakfast at 8 a.m. when I first wake up, and other times it means I dont start eating until 11 a.m.. Being in quarantine and having the loosest schedules we have had in a while is stressful. Still, it also means you can honor hunger and fullness signals without having to plan around a three-hour lab. However, loneliness can be a strong predictor of disordered eating, so any way to make eating a more social activity may be a good idea. Recipe exchange emails have flooded my inbox, and Ive started a back and forth of DMs with my sister when we see meals that look good on Instagram. Making food you can get excited about, like fried rice with lots of sesame oil or black bean sweet potato tacos with lots of guacamole, as well as having a pint of ice-cream in the freezer on hand for Zoom movie night, is a great way to nurture your relationship with food and others. Eating is more than just sustenance. It is a social and pleasurable experience, and making sure not to lose sight of that can help keep our relationship with food from suffering too much in quarantine.

While on a Zoom call with my therapist (something I am incredibly grateful and fortunate that I still have access to), I got angry when she suggested that I lower my expectations. As usual, the main reason I get angry at my therapist is when shes right when I dont want her to be. Theres so much anxiety right now over the belief that we arent using our quarantine time correctly. That makes it easy to forget that this situation is unprecedented and that there is no inherently wrong way to spend quarantine time. You dont need to use this time in any particular way. Our daily routines have pretty much been decimated, and our usual comforts such as spending time with friends, nights out, lunches at our favorite places on campus have been changed into FaceTime-watching Netflix and Discord conversations while playing Club Penguin. So much has changed in the last month its perfectly reasonable that our bodies might change as well. Remember that this situation is temporary. Our bodies, along with our lives, will experience many changes. In my experience, fighting those changes tooth and nail is never worth it. Taking care actual care of yourself is though.

Emma Smith is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at esmith@cornellsun.com. Emmpathy runs alternate Fridays this semester.

Students may consult with counselors from Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) by calling 607-255-5155. Employees may call the Faculty Staff Assistance Program (FSAP) at 607-255-2673. An Ithaca-based Crisisline is available at 607-272-1616. For additional resources, visit caringcommunity.cornell.edu.

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SMITH | Addressing the Quarantine 15 - Cornell University The Cornell Daily Sun

Should you change your diet because Liam Hemsworth had a kidney stone?

About 1 in 10 people develop kidney stones, but when the one is Liam Hemsworth of Hunger Games fame, it gets attention. And when Hemsworth announced that he was rethinking his vegan diet after 4 years because of the condition, it created a lot of headlines and buzz. What do we know about his diet, kidney stones, and a plan you can follow to minimize your risk of painful kidney stones?

In an interview in Mens Health, Hemsworth reported that he required surgery earlier this year for a kidney stone composed of calcium oxalate, the most common form of stone. He indicated that his stone was from having too much oxalate in his diet. Oxalates are really high in a lot of vegetables including specifically spinach, almonds, beets, and potatoes. Every morning, I was having five handfuls of spinach and then almond milk, almond butter, and also some vegan protein in a smoothie, he said.

There is ample medical evidence to assure you, and Liam, that maintaining a vegan diet with a few modifications is actually the best plan to avoid a first, or recurrent, kidney stone of any kind.

In studies done over 20 years ago examining the rise in kidney stones requiring therapy, increasing animal protein consumption from meat, fish, and poultry coupled with a decrease in fiber intake, the hallmarks of the Western diet, were to blame. A more recent study looked at the risk of kidney stones with various kinds of animal protein. Beef, fish, and chicken were all judged to raise the risk of forming stones, and limiting these foods was advised. Finally, a study from Europen that included 50,000 subjects found that vegetarians had a lower risk of kidney stones than meat-eaters.

Other factors beyond animal protein intake have been studied and have focused on excess sodium intake and inadequate hydration as major factors in kidney stone formation. In a review of diet and stone formations, the DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) program was recommended as it is low in salt, low in meats of all kinds, and high in fiber from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. In a randomized diet study of 120 men with the same kind of stone that Liam had, calcium oxalate, a diet low in sodium and meat was judged to provide the most protection against recurrent stones. In a study from Harvard Medical School of nearly 200,000 subjects, a diet rich in fruits and vegetables with adequate hydration could lower the risk of kidney stones by 50 percent.

What about the oxalates that Hemsworth indicated where high in plant foods? In a recent review article on the risk of kidney stones and diet as found in vegetarians and vegans, the researchers warned against high intake of animal protein and recommended balanced vegetarian diets.

In terms of oxalates, studies at Harvard Medical School have downplayed the importance of dietary oxalates in kidney stone formation. Increased dietary spinach in these studies raised the risk of kidney stones in some groups by a small amount. In fact, there are only three greens that concentrate oxalates and they are spinach, beet greens, and Swiss chard. They can have over 100 times the oxalate concentration of kale, for example. There is great variability between persons in the efficiency of GI absorption of dietary oxalates. Stone formers may absorb more dietary oxalates and that may a much more important factor in stone formation than the diet choices he was making.

What is the dietary advice I wish Hemsworth knew in order to avoid further kidney stones? They would be to:

Overall, the headlines, and any recurrent kidney stones, could have been avoided if Hemsworth would simply have switched to 5 handfuls of kale, arugula, or romaine in his smoothie in place of spinach.

Dr. Joel Kahn is Professor of Cardiology, Summa cum Laude grad, Kahn Center for Longevity and GreenSpace & Go, author, The Plant Based Solution.www.drjoelkahn.com@drjkahn.

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Vegan Diet and Kidney Stones: What You Need to Know

Description

Does a vegan diet increase or reduce the risk of developing kidney stones? Here's everything you need to know about this condition.

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Dr. Joel Kahn

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LIVEKINDLY

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Vegan Diet and Kidney Stones: What You Need to Know - LIVEKINDLY

Jen Hernandez RDN, CSR, LDN; Board-Certified in Renal Nutrition, recently shared her thoughts with The Beet on why she loves adhering to a plant-based diet. I have always found great importance in following a plant-based diet, no matter our environmental situations, she told us. Increasing [your intake of] plants gives us so many more nutrients, with fewer preservatives and unhealthy fats,while providing more stable energy.

For some of us, new-to-veganism (or, you know, mere mortals), sticking to a purely vegan diet can be tough. These anxiety-provoking times amid the coronavirus pandemic can make us want to speed dial a pizza. The upside of the scary times we live in is thatthey can also inspire us to double-down on our efforts to nourish our bodies and minds with wholesome, plant-based foodsto weather the storm. To help us figure out how to best tweak and modify our plant-based routine during the coronavirus outbreak, we reached out to plant-savvy nutritionists for their best advice.

Want more? Sign up for yourbeginners guide to going plant-basedfor 7 days of recipes, advice and inspiration.

Were all about following the lead of Julieanna Hever, MS, RD, CPT, co-author of The HealthSpan Solution, and making room for extra soups in our freezer right about now. I have been batch cooking soups more frequently and storing them in the freezer. Soups are the ultimate healthy go-to meal as they make delicious templates for some of the most nutritious and health-promoting food groupslegumes, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices, she shares. There are infinite ways to flavor these ingredients to please any palate, she adds noting that with certain items less consistently available when buying groceries, soups provide a great canvas to make your favorite recipe as you have ingredients handy and still be able to enjoy at a later time when the mood strikes, but grocery inventory may not.

For many nutritionists, they went into the field because of a love of cooking and/or because the joy of meal prep is ingrained into their very DNA. Right now, theyre cutting themselves some slack, and we think we all should, too.We are doing more prepped food, particularly bagged salads and stir-fry mixes. I have also been using pre-seasoned tofu and tempeh more frequently, shares Jennifer Hanes MS, RDN, LD, a vegetarian nutritionist with a plant-based ethos. Despite more time at home, we have less time to prep food because homeschool, and my own business pursuits, she continues. On the rare days when she finds herself with time to spare, shes relishing those hours to experiment with new cooking techniques and different types of cuisines.

The biggest change for me right now is making more homemade plant-based milks as options are decreasing at the grocery stores and going out may not even be an option. I prefer using oats because they are cheap (cheaper than cashews or almonds), require no soaking/prep time, and can be customized to be used as a flavored creamer for coffee, offers Hernandez. Her signature oat milk: Combine one cup of oats with four cups of filtered water and blend in a high-powered blender for several minutes. Strain through cheesecloth, a coffee filter, or even a fine t-shirt. Serve and enjoy. Bonus: You can use the pulp of the oats to add more fiber to oatmeal or mixed into baked goods as well, Hernandez adds.

With it harder to track down ingredients than normal, now is not the time to channel your inner Julia Child. Instead, turn to the pantry to make the most of your kitchen inventory. Im looking at using more pantry staples and keeping it as simple as possible. For example, a box of dried lentil pasta and a can of crushed tomatoes with some Italian spices like oregano, basil and parsley can make a filling, high-fiber, high-protein meal in one bowl, says Hernandez. For more ideas, check out the 5 best recipes to make at home using your pantry staples.

For many, were being far less active in our daily lives right now, even if were finding time to squeeze in workouts or make strength training adventures out of old textbooks. Since were not walking nearly as much as were used to, were also not burning as many calories as we typically do throughout the day (think of all those laps you do around the office or to-and-from the gym!).

I am eating slightly less food overall due to a decreased appetite from being more sedentary than usual, Hever admits. Because of this, I am being extra conscientious about making my meals nutrient-dense so that every bite matters. This means prioritizing vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds in tasty combinations of soups, salads, sides, and sweets and minimizing intake of highly refined foods. Were with ya, with one exception: Always save room for vegan chocolate peanut butter cheesecake. Always.

Not only do fruits and vegetables provide you with antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals to protect your health, but they also provide you with plenty of fiber to keep digestion regularand we all sure dont want to deal with the added stress of constipation or other digestive woes right about now. Dont forget to use vegetables and fruits, whether theyre fresh, frozen or canned, advises Hernandez. If you have a local community-supported agriculture system (CSA), you may be able to get local produce delivered straight to your home! Plus youre supporting local farmers, which is always a feel-good win, she says.

These trying times present an opportunity to spin some things positively. One such realm? The kiddos diets. If you reframe this period as a chance to expand your kids palates, you may be surprised about how their tastes and food interests evolve. I have been working particularly hard towards broadening my son's diet. He's better than a lot of kids, but I would prefer him to have a much broader base of foods, says Hanes. This is because a greater variety in diet improves the gut microbiome which can help support the immune system more efficiently and also affect certain mood problems, such as depression and anxiety, she says.

To work towards this, Hanes and her son have struck a deal in recent weeks: IIf he eats well, and without whining during the week, he gets to pick what the household eats for dinner on Sunday nights. It has worked wonderfully so far! And his veggie intake has gone up as a result, she adds.

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7 Ways Plant-Based Nutritionists Are Making Changes to Meal Prep - The Beet

University of Saskatchewan (USask) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) researchers have mapped metals in bird feathers, a technique that could help make environmental monitoring less destructive.

In a recent paper published in X-ray Spectrometry, researchers used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron at USask to examine the level and distribution of zinc in feathers from birds that were fed high-zinc diets.

The same technique could be applied to toxic metals like mercury, even at low concentrations, says Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada scientist Fardausi Akhter. You could just take a feather from the bird and be able to show if it was exposed to toxic metals present in the environment.

Akhter, a toxicologist interested in applying synchrotron techniques to environmental questions, first started working on this project with Graham Fairhurst, a USask avian ecophysiologist, when they were both working as postdocs supervised by Catherine Soos. Soos is a wildlife health specialist and research scientist at ECCC, and adjunct professor at USask (Department of Veterinary Pathology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine), whose research focuses on investigating impacts of large-scale environmental changes on wildlife health. Her team often uses feathers as tools to evaluate exposure to toxic metals, and impacts of exposure on health of wild birds.

More and more, ecologists are using feathers to measure exposure to toxic metals in the environment. Since feathers are replaced seasonally, they can provide insight into the changes in environmental toxins directly, without any harm to the animal. Further, the synchrotron technique leaves the feather intact, unlike traditional techniques that require the sample to be pulverized to see the quantity of the element.

Traditionally, exposure to heavy metals or trace elements is measured in samples of homogenized tissues, blood, or whole feathers, says Soos. This provides valuable information, but when it comes to feathers, it was still unclear how or where metals are distributed within the feather.

They turned to synchrotron techniques to investigate feather structures at a scale of a thousandth of a millimeter and to learn more about potential physiological mechanisms associated with trace element deposition within feather microstructures, says Soos.

Using the synchrotron gave us the opportunity to look into the feather in its original condition. We can look into exactly where the zinc is, down to the barbule, says Akhter. A barbule is the sub-unit of a feathers barb, and can be identified on the micron scale.

For this question, I dont know if any other tool would have allowed us to do this to look at the structures within something as tiny as a barbule, says Fairhurst. In fact, the barbules were where zinc was most heavily concentrated.

Previous research had shown that, like hair in humans, feathers can act as a sink for chemicals in the body, which in turn can contribute to the birds colouration and signaling, potentially affecting communication.

Zinc came up as nutritionally important, and it has a connection to melanin, which is involved in colouration of feathers, says Fairhurst. It can also be considered an emergent pollutant and could be problematic in some environments.

Using a technique called X-ray Fluorescence Mapping (XRF) at the CLS, the researchers showed that the darker areas of feathers contain more zinc, a strong sign of the relationship between the birds pigmentation and diet. Melanin produces deep auburn-like reds, browns and blacks, rather than the bright colours some birds display.

Because of the presence of these metals in the feather, the bird is able to form melanin pigment molecules that contribute to these colours, which is very important for mating purposes, says Akhter.

What this means for environmental pollutions effect on mating and other feather-based communication tools in birds has yet to be explored, but the team did study how elevated zinc exposure affects its concentration in feathers. To do so, collaborator Karen Machin, a USask professor, raised birds with higher levels of dietary zinc to compare.

As expected, the birds with more zinc in their diets also had more zinc in their feathers, a result with promising implications for environmental monitoring.

The VESPERS beamline at CLS is an incredibly powerful tool, and the scientists there are really a part of the team, says Akhter, whose work on these and other questions continues.

The researchers have many further avenues for research planned, particularly in developing XRF mapping techniques for looking at other contaminants in birds. Using the same techniques, they are currently comparing levels and distribution of multiple toxic metals in the feathers of tree swallow nestlings that developed in the oil sands region of Alberta, to those at reference sites.

University of Saskatchewan (USask) and Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) researchers have mapped metals in bird feathers, a technique that could help make environmental monitoring less destructive.

In a recent paper published in X-ray Spectrometry, researchers used the Canadian Light Source (CLS) synchrotron at USask to examine the level and distribution of zinc in feathers from birds that were fed high-zinc diets.

The same technique could be applied to toxic metals like mercury, even at low concentrations, says Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada scientist Fardausi Akhter. You could just take a feather from the bird and be able to show if it was exposed to toxic metals present in the environment.

Akhter, a toxicologist interested in applying synchrotron techniques to environmental questions, first started working on this project with Graham Fairhurst, a USask avian ecophysiologist, when they were both working as postdocs supervised by Catherine Soos. Soos is a wildlife health specialist and research scientist at ECCC, and adjunct professor at USask (Department of Veterinary Pathology, Western College of Veterinary Medicine), whose research focuses on investigating impacts of large-scale environmental changes on wildlife health. Her team often uses feathers as tools to evaluate exposure to toxic metals, and impacts of exposure on health of wild birds.

More and more, ecologists are using feathers to measure exposure to toxic metals in the environment. Since feathers are replaced seasonally, they can provide insight into the changes in environmental toxins directly, without any harm to the animal. Further, the synchrotron technique leaves the feather intact, unlike traditional techniques that require the sample to be pulverized to see the quantity of the element.

Traditionally, exposure to heavy metals or trace elements is measured in samples of homogenized tissues, blood, or whole feathers, says Soos. This provides valuable information, but when it comes to feathers, it was still unclear how or where metals are distributed within the feather.

They turned to synchrotron techniques to investigate feather structures at a scale of a thousandth of a millimeter and to learn more about potential physiological mechanisms associated with trace element deposition within feather microstructures, says Soos.

Using the synchrotron gave us the opportunity to look into the feather in its original condition. We can look into exactly where the zinc is, down to the barbule, says Akhter. A barbule is the sub-unit of a feathers barb, and can be identified on the micron scale.

For this question, I dont know if any other tool would have allowed us to do this to look at the structures within something as tiny as a barbule, says Fairhurst. In fact, the barbules were where zinc was most heavily concentrated.

Previous research had shown that, like hair in humans, feathers can act as a sink for chemicals in the body, which in turn can contribute to the birds colouration and signaling, potentially affecting communication.

Zinc came up as nutritionally important, and it has a connection to melanin, which is involved in colouration of feathers, says Fairhurst. It can also be considered an emergent pollutant and could be problematic in some environments.

Using a technique called X-ray Fluorescence Mapping (XRF) at the CLS, the researchers showed that the darker areas of feathers contain more zinc, a strong sign of the relationship between the birds pigmentation and diet. Melanin produces deep auburn-like reds, browns and blacks, rather than the bright colours some birds display.

Because of the presence of these metals in the feather, the bird is able to form melanin pigment molecules that contribute to these colours, which is very important for mating purposes, says Akhter.

What this means for environmental pollutions effect on mating and other feather-based communication tools in birds has yet to be explored, but the team did study how elevated zinc exposure affects its concentration in feathers. To do so, collaborator Karen Machin, a USask professor, raised birds with higher levels of dietary zinc to compare.

As expected, the birds with more zinc in their diets also had more zinc in their feathers, a result with promising implications for environmental monitoring.

The VESPERS beamline at CLS is an incredibly powerful tool, and the scientists there are really a part of the team, says Akhter, whose work on these and other questions continues.

The researchers have many further avenues for research planned, particularly in developing XRF mapping techniques for looking at other contaminants in birds. Using the same techniques, they are currently comparing levels and distribution of multiple toxic metals in the feathers of tree swallow nestlings that developed in the oil sands region of Alberta, to those at reference sites.

Read more here:
Mapping metals in feathers - Yorkton This Week

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