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It started with loosely-defined "junk food." Then it was refined sugar. Next, alcohol was banished, followed by carbs. Before long, I had whittled my once-diverse diet down to a tiny number of foods. Any unexpected divergencea glass of champagne or bite of cake at a party, a failure to double-check the ingredients listed on the wrapper of a protein barwould send me spiraling into a total panic, followed by a compulsive workout-and-cleanse routine to rid my body of the intruders. My rigid adherence to diet and exercise had become an all-consuming obsession.

Yet, I (and my friends and family) considered my lifestyle to be healthy. I received constant praise for my discipline.

Whats trendier, after all, than an elimination diet or "eating clean?" It's easy to find ourselves seduced by alluring pseudo-scientific theories and the moralizing of our eating choices: bad food will harm you, good food will heal you.

For Americans, and especially for women, healthy eating has become practically synonymous with deprivation. Maybe that's why the red flagsdistressing and compulsive thoughts or behaviors, self-created rules around foodoften go unnoticed or even praised, despite the fact that restrictive diets can be precursors to clinical eating disorders, Kamryn T. Eddy, Ph.D, an associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and co-director of the Eating Disorders Clinical and Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital, tells SELF. In a culture that's already hyper-fixated on our bodies, we're also constantly reminded that there are ways to improve and "purify" it every time we see a celebrity hawking cleanses and detox teas on Instagram (spoiler: they're mostly laxatives).

Too much or too little of any one thing is generally problematic, and strict food rules in any form can set the stage for eating disorders, says Eddy. She emphasizes that when we are as inflexible around food as I had become, physical and mental health is greatly compromised. According to the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), food inflexibility can lead to guilt or self-loathing if a "bad" food is consumed, as well as anxiety about food planning and isolation from social events with food and drinks. It can also cause nutritional deficiencies when entire food groups are removed from a person's diet.

This type of ultra-controlled healthy eating, known as orthorexia, can take many forms. According to NEDA, orthorexia signs and symptoms include compulsively checking nutrition labels, an inability to eat any food that isn't designated "pure," obsessively following "healthy lifestyle" bloggers or social media figures, and showing an "unusual interest" in what others are eating. Of course, you can check nutrition labels and follow fitness experts on Instagram without being orthorexic. It's the compulsivity and obsession (reading labels every time, even multiple times, that you eat something and feeling anxious if you don't, for example) that define orthorexia.

Orthorexia can often lead to anorexia, registered dietitian Christy Harrison, certified eating counselor and host of the popular podcast Food Psych, tells SELF. I've seen many clients who get so afraid of foods they see as processed and unclean that they end up eating hardly anything. Then, even if the orthorexia didn't have anything to do with weight at the beginning, they end up extremely fearful of, and resistant to, gaining weight.

By restricting my diet in an attempt to make it pure, all I ended up doing was imposing nutritional deficits on my body (a body which, by the way, is already full of organs meant to filter what I eat, and which is perfectly capable of digesting pretty much any kind of food I could throw at it).

I opted out of so many celebrations and social gatherings in fear of the food that Id be expected to eat or the cocktails Id be expected to drink. I missed out on friends birthdays and fun nights out, and on the rare occasions when I would show up, my obvious discomfort (and my transparent lies about having already eaten or just wanting water) made everyone else uncomfortable, too. Friends and dates gradually drifted away, preferring the company of someone who could share a beer after work or go for tacos and margaritas without obsessing over the "unhealthiness" of what I was eating or drinking. My family walked on eggshells around me, buying my separate, special groceries from the health food store when I was home and watching me agonize over our holiday meals. I lived in the prison that orthorexia had built around me, isolated in a life devoid of joy and connection with others.

Eventually, deprived of adequate nutrition and rest over the course of a year, my body and brain suffered. I experienced heart irregularities, dizziness and exhaustion, an inability to focus, and the loss of my period, all symptoms of anorexia, according to the Mayo Clinic. My best friend, deeply worried by all of these symptoms (and tired of watching me self-destruct in the pursuit of the perfect, "healthy" body) stepped in. With my approval, she made a consultation appointment for me at a local treatment center. The admitting counselor confirmed it: my orthorexia had morphed into anorexia nervosa. If I didnt learn how to find balance, my restrictive diet could end up killing me.

Eating disorders are rooted in compulsivity and obsession surrounding food, though they may present in different ways. According to NEDA, orthorexia is characterized by being consumed with "good vs. bad" or "healthy vs. unhealthy" food, while anorexia is characterized by obsessive caloric restriction and weight loss.

Thankfully, doctors and therapists who specialize in nutrition, such as those at the Cambridge Eating Disorder Center (CEDC) in Massachusetts, are growing more aware of orthorexias prevalence, risks, and why it so often goes ignored, untreated, or even rewarded. This is especially true in patients who do not lose a large amount of weight, who continue to function normally in their day-to-day lives, or whose symptoms may not yet be apparent.

Since individuals with orthorexia may maintain an outwardly healthy appearance, they may be reluctant to see (it) as a problem, Seda Ebrahimi, Ph.D., director of the CEDC, tells SELF. Still, she says, the consequences of such restrictive eating may lead to significant nutritional deficiencies and health problems.

Orthorexia is not yet recognized by the DSM-5 and thus, not medically diagnosable. However, practitioners skilled at recognizing eating disorders will know what orthorexia is and can connect patients with the appropriate therapists, nutritionists, and medical doctors.

"For anyone reading this who has had disturbing symptoms arise since they started 'eating clean,' like bingeing or emotional eating, constant thoughts about food, low energy, dry skin, abnormal blood work, or stress fractures, consider that overly restrictive eating," Harrison says. "Orthorexia may be at the root of these symptoms. Don't take them as a sign that you need to 'eat cleaner,' because that could just make the problems worse." She says that treatment will vary by individual and depend on how far the orthorexia has progressed (or if it overlaps with any other clinical disorders).

I didn't see my orthorexia for what it was until it had transformed into anorexiawhich is what I was officially treated for. But my therapist and nutritionist both helped me to deal with those orthorexic thought patterns and habits. They also helped me to reject elimination diets, which I am still doing in my recovery. Through talk therapy and learned coping mechanisms, I was able to walk back my rigid thinking around what I'm "allowed" to eat, eating and exercising on a certain schedule, and defining healthy as being thin, toned, and free of "bad" food in my body.

Eating mindfully is good for you, and changing your diet to focus on minimally processed foods is generally recommended across the board. But if you find yourself with an ever-shrinking list of permissible foods, if deviating from that list makes you feel anxious and guilty, if you control your food choices so strictly that it interferes with other plans and activities, and if your relationship with food takes up a large amount of space in your life, it might be time to ask what your devotion to that diet is costing you.

Socially, I've had to step away from friends who engage in orthorexic lifestyles or restrictive diets, both on social media and in real life. Many people don't understand that I had a real disorder; they just think I "took my diet and exercise too far." I've accepted this, and while I try to clarify widespread misconceptions about the bad science of detoxes, cleanses, and elimination diets, I try not to preach at my loved ones.

With weekly therapy appointments, weigh-ins, and nutrition appointments, along with a meal plan designed to help me regain weight and relearn unstructured eating, my treatment team helped me find my way back to a balanced lifewhich, for me, includes regular doses of ice cream, pizza, and pinot noir.

The social messaging around what healthy looks like and the aggressive promotion of virtuous eating still creep in and create the occasional urge to diet. They probably will for the rest of my life. But now I know first-hand that banning certain foods won't always solve your problemsfor some of us, it can cause them.

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Orthorexia: How My 'Clean Eating' Turned Into Anorexia - SELF

Fuelling up during a game is vital.OLI SCARFF/Getty Images

Football is no longer won and lost on the pitch. If you ask a performance nutritionist, it's won or lost in the fridge, cupboards and anywhere food is served to players. That's because nutrition and supplementation today is barely recognisable from the days when oranges were served at half-time and a bottle of whiskey was kept in the changing room to warm players up before a match.

But can an army of nutritionists and culinary experts really make a difference? Will the latest pills and potions improve a team's performance? Or does none of this matter in the beautiful game if you're genetically predestined to be a legend with the ball at your feet? Take for example Dino Zoff's admiration of Paul Gascoigne: "He ate ice cream for breakfast, drank beer for lunch ... But as a player? Oh, beautiful, beautiful. I loved that boy," the former Lazio manager said, according to ESPN.co.uk.

In exploring the evolution of nutritional science in sport, we examined how food in football has progressed since the days of counting calories and force-feeding players giant bowls of pasta. We also identified teams with a dietary advantage thanks to their culinary preparation during training and on matchdays and tried to quantify how much of a difference it makes.

Calories

A player's energy reserves for 90 minutes are determined long before he laces up his boots and steps foot on the pitch. That assessment is based on a field of nutrition called bioenergetics, which is the study of the transformation of energy in living organismsbasically, how players take calories from the food they eat and convert them into energy. This is simply ensuring calories in equals calories out.

Research published in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research that analysed the diets of young professional football players for one week found that despite eating 2,831 calories per day on average, "A mean daily energy deficit ... existed because daily energy expenditures exceeded that of intake." So, despite consuming that many calories, the players were still burning more than they were eating.

Why? Because unlike in many other sports, football consists of intermittent, repeated episodes of both low and high-intensity activity. Periods of walking and light jogging are coupled with sprints at maximal effort, training up to five days a week and a match at weekends. All this equates to a mountain of calories burned. This is whyagain, on a basic levelalthough Gascoigne's diet would never be considered healthy or optimal, at least he was meeting his calorie requirements for the day.

His breakfast of ice cream was calorie-dense, and considering alcohol comes a close second to dietary fat in terms of its calorie densityroughly seven calories per gramit's easy to see how he could have consumed more than the 2,831 calories mentioned in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research.

Carbohydrates

Many traditional sports nutritionists claim carbohydrates are a footballer's primary fuel source. What this means is training and matches should be powered with a plentiful supply of high-carbohydrate foods like pasta, cereals and rice, since it's these food choices that ensure muscles' energy reservesknown as muscle glycogenare adequately full and able to continue to work at a fast pace.

For those who aren't aware of what happens to the body when it's completely depleted of carbohydrates and muscle glycogen, take a look at this video of the 1997 Ironman World Championship featuring Wendy Ingraham and Sian Welch. It's aptly titled "The Crawl," and you'll see why.

The Los Angeles Times reported in 2007 that over 40 years prior, Dr. J. Robert Cade had invented the first carbohydrate-enriched sports drink to "help the University of Florida football team stay hydrated and in turn inspired the multimillion-dollar sports beverage industry." It was arguably the first sports supplement. Research conducted by the Graduate Department of Community Health at the University of Toronto in Ontario analysed the impact 0.5 litres of a 7 per cent glucose (sugar) polymer solution 10 minutes before the game and at half-time had on a player's performance. The results: Muscle biopsies indicated the supplementation slowed the muscle glycogen depletion.

What this means is if you slow muscle glycogen depletion, you also slow the time it takes to fatigue. According to research by the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Massey University in New Zealand, this in turn enables players "with compromised glycogen stores to better maintain skill and sprint performance."

These findings were supported by a second studyagain conducted at the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Healththat examined the effect of ingesting a carbohydrate-electrolyte solution during the 90-minute Loughborough Intermittent Shuttle Test on football skill performance. Results revealed there was "a 3 per cent reduction in skill performance from before to after exercise in the carbohydrate-electrolyte trial, whereas in the placebo trial the decrease was 14 per cent." This led scientists to conclude "skill performance during the simulated soccer activity appeared to deteriorate in the last 15-30 minutes of exercise. However, providing 52 grams of carbohydrate during exercise showed a tendency to better maintain soccer skill performance than a taste-matched placebo."

This is why when heading into extra timeor even penaltiesthe winning team might not necessarily be the most skilled but rather the most fuelled. The club's water-carrier becomes the most valuable member of the squad, and the contents of each sports bottle could be the difference between a 3 per cent reduction in performance and a 14 per cent one.

Fats

But how did the Norwegian football team Stromsgodset win the league cup in 2013 for the first time since 1970 on a diet that was void of any large amounts of carbohydrates? Where was the 14 per cent reduction in performance? In fact, how was it that Health and Living News reported they "'steamrolled' their opponents during an impressive final 45 minutes" of their winning game?

"Fat" is the short answer. It's something Timothy Noakesone of the most respected experts in the field of low-carbohydrate, high-fat dietshas been telling athletes from all sports for years.

This is because, according to research published by Nutrition Focus New Zealand Limited, "the number of grueling events that challenge the limits of human endurance is increasing. Such events are also challenging the limits of current dietary recommendations." Scientists concluded that although carbohydrate-loading has been a widely used performance-enhancing approach to nutrition for years, "there are some situations for which alternative dietary options are beneficial." One of those circumstances is perhaps best described in the journal Human Muscle Fatigue: Physiological Mechanisms. Scientists noted the energy needed to sustain exercise for longer periods of time comes from the oxidisation of two fuels: glucosecarbohydratesand long-chain fatty acids.

What they found was the latter is arguably a more sustainable and efficient fuel source since it provides the "largest energy reserve in the body" and can supply enough energy to last five days. Typically, this approach has been thought to be useful for marathons and ultra-marathons, so in theory, it would mean fuelling a footballer for 90 minutes should be easy.

Caffeine

In 2017, it seems most clubs are thinking beyond calories, carbohydrates and fats and turning their attention to anything that will give them a competitive edge. In 2012, that something was caffeine, according to the Independent, which reported "England right-back Glen Johnson told BBC 5 Live after Wednesday's 1-1 draw with Poland that some of the players had taken caffeine pills before the postponed World Cup qualifier."

Rio Ferdinand tweeted at the time it had been prevalent in football for some time.

Testing positive for excessive levels of caffeine was removed from the World Anti-Doping Agency banned list in 2004. The supplement has since become one of the most used in sport. For good reason too, since according to research conducted by the Division of Sport and Exercise Science at the University of Luton, caffeine can reduce a footballer's perception to fatigue by stimulating the production of the neurotransmitter beta-endorphin.

Couple these findings with research published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine that showed taking caffeine with carbohydrates helped spare muscle glycogen stores by encouraging your body to burn stored fat as fuel, essentially saving your muscle glycogen for extra time or those maximal intensity sprints. This is why James Collins, who is Arsenal's nutrition expert and held the same title for England at the last World Cup, was quoted in the Telegraph in 2015 saying, "Players will only use carbohydrate or caffeine gels in a match if they have practiced using them in training. We know that getting this right at half-time can have a big impact on energy levels later in the second half."

Beetroot

Following Leicester City's historic league win in 2016, the BBC published an article titled "Leicester City: The science behind their Premier League title." Within it, Leicester was noted to have "suffered the fewest injuries" in the Premier League, according to Physioroom.com, despite limited resources and a fast counter-attacking game. The article also mentioned that, "according to scientists at the University of Exeter, drinking [beetroot juice] improves sprint performance and decision-making."

Research in the European Journal of Applied Physiology found "beetroot juice supplementation attenuated muscle soreness" in "recreationally active males." It also stated "further research on the anti-inflammatory effects of beetroot juice are required to elucidate the precise mechanisms."

Next, according to the American College of Cardiology, just "one week of daily dosing [with beetroot juice] significantly improves submaximal aerobic endurance." It's worth noting this study featured elderly test subjects, but it has since been supported by published work in the International Journal of Sports Physiology and Performance, which tested elite rowers.

So, those small shots of vegetable juice have the potential to reduce muscle soreness and increase stamina. Also, Leicester City's success shows maybe sports nutrition doesn't have to be quantified and proved. Instead, just a willingness to test and trial new methods could pay dividends.

The Future

As is obvious from the aforementioned researchand real-life case studiesnutrition in football is evolving. It's far from an exact science, though, which is why as the sport develops, so should each team's approach to nutrition. Arsene Wenger has notably pioneered advancements in his years with Arsenal, as he told FourFourTwo.com: "Food is like kerosene. If you put the wrong one in your car, it's not as quick as it should be."

In summary, it seems nutritional science can be a secret weapon if coaches and teams are prepared to explore the possibilities. From Stromsgodset to Leicester City, the winning team will often be the most reactive, adaptable and willing to try new dietary protocols.

All quotes and information obtained firsthand unless otherwise indicated.

Read more here:
Beetroot and Coffee: Football's Nutritional Sports Science - Bleacher Report

Fitness isnt all about exercise; a healthy diet is just as essential. But eating right doesnt necessarily mean eating less in order to get thinner. A healthy diet means eating a balanced selection of nutritional foods.

Lyda Chum, a coach at CrossFit Gym Training Bootcamp, has been doing weight training since 2015. I changed my diet at the same time as I started working out. I wanted to get abs, so I had to be strict about my diet in order to get that toned look. Working out alone wont do it, she said. Also, its important to understand that sugar, not fat, is the main factor in weight gain, she said.

If you look fit and firm, your diet is probably good. Simply not being fat doesnt mean that youre healthy. It is important to educate yourself about nutrition and eating a balanced diet. Here is a brief introduction to some of the more popular diets, and their requirements.

Paleo

This diet avoids grains and foods based on them (including rice, bread and pasta), sugar, and fruit (except berries). This is one of the healthiest ways to eat. The paleo diet is high in nutrition. Also, you dont have to worry about your personal metabolism to stay lean, strong and energetic; you can eat whenever youre hungry.

Keto

Also called the low carb diet, this is good for those who want to lose weight fast. Carbohydrates are stored in the body as fat, and can make you put on weight, so this diet restricts carbs to 1 or 2 percent of your diet, with the rest made up of healthy fats and protein. By removing fat-producing carbs from your diet, this diet leaves your body free to burn off your excess fat.

Macros nutrition

This diet, popular among people who work out intensely, is a bit more complicated. You have to calculate how active you will be on a given day, and use that as the basis for working out how many calories you can consume. This diet helps you improve your physical performance and strength. You adjust your intake of carbs, proteins and fats based on your physical activity.

Zone diet

This plan is designed for those who do CrossFit workouts, but is less complex than the macros nutrition diet. You do have to keep track of how many times you work out per week, but you eat an equal amount of carbs, proteins and fats.

More:
There's more than one way to eat healthily - Khmer Times

Look, were not new in town. We know about some of the weird diets people have undertaken in the past. The baby food diet. The beer diet. The potato diet. But a diet of ordering and consuming a large pizza from Dominos every single day for a leap year and a day is kind of a new one.

But TODAY reports that Brian Northrup of Scotch Plains, NJ just completed that diet by ordering and consuming an entire Domino's pizza every day for 367 consecutive days.

The kicker? He lost almost six pounds in the process. Heres the end result:

According to his Instagram, Northrups goal was to show that even if youre not eating the best diet in the world (like, say, a large pizza every day) its still possible to lose weight and get in shape if you work out enough. Northrup claims that in a years time he increased his strength, speed, and cardiovascular endurance, has not gotten sick, and has not suffered any sort of injuries. He also states that he visited a doctor, both before beginning the program ("program" is a generous word here) and throughout the year to keep tabs on his blood pressure, cholesterol, and other vital signs in case they spiked. Weirdly enough, they did not.

Along the way, Northrup pretty much ran the ingredient gamut, keeping his pies interesting by trying out all sorts of ingredient and sauce combinationsthough his hat game varied considerably less.

TODAY also reported that Dominos had nothing to do with this attempt, but that they did wish Northrup well and hoped he was a member of their loyalty program.

Wed say ordering 367 days of Domino's pizza is the ultimate definition of loyalty.

The Feast is Bravo's home for the biggest, boldest, most crave-worthy eating experiences. Want more? Then Like us on Facebook to stay connected to our daily updates.

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Man Eats Entire Pizza Pie Every Day for 367 Days, Somehow Loses Weight - Bravo (blog)

Washington - Losing weight is tough. It would be easier if a benevolent someone concerned about your health controlled exactly how much you ate and how often you exercised, right?

Thats the situation for most dogs and cats and yet the majority are overweight or obese.

As with our own dieting woes, the unpleasant prospect of the simple solution - feeding our furry friends less - makes us reach for alternative, quick-fix strategies. Many pet parents have turned to radically new menus. These grain-free, all-meat and raw-food diets are inspired by the meals eaten by wild relatives of our fidos and felixes.

But are these diets really better for our pets? Veterinarians and pet nutrition researchers say probably not.

According to clinical veterinary nutritionists at Tufts University, grain-free foods were one of the fastest-growing sectors of the pet food market in 2016. All I ever hear is, oh, on a good diet, its grain free, said Dena Lock, a veterinarian in Texas. The majority of her pet patients are overweight.

Why have these pet diets become so popular?

Its a marketing trend, Lock said.

Grain-free is marketing. Its only marketing, said Cailin Heinze, a small-animal nutritionist at Tufts Universitys Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. A lot of foods market themselves by what theyre not including, and the implication is that the excluded ingredient must be bad.

Grain-free is definitely a marketing technique that has been very successful, said Jennifer Larsen, a clinical nutritionist at the University of California Veterinary School in Davis.

People think that if they pay a lot for food and there are a lot of exclusions on the bag, that the food is healthier, but theyre buying an idea, she said, not necessarily a superior product.

There is absolutely no data to support the idea that grain-free diets are better for pets, Heinze and Larsen noted.

Some pet owners have a false impression that grains are more likely to cause an allergic reaction, but its much more common for dogs to have allergies to meat than to grain, Heinz said. Chicken, beef, eggs, dairy and wheat are the most common allergies in dogs. And its not that theres anything particularly allergenic about these foods, she said, theyre just the most frequently used ingredients.

Marketing campaigns such as Blue Buffalos Wilderness or Chewys Taste of Wild claim that their grain-free, meat-forward formulations better reflect the ancestral diets of our dogs and cats evolutionary predecessors, but the veterinarians I spoke with also questioned this logic.

For one, our pets wild cousins arent all that healthy. People believe that nature is best, Larsen said, but animals in the wild dont live that long and they dont lead very healthy lives.

For dogs, we know they have diverged from wolves genetically in their ability to digest starches. Dogs arent wolves, said Robert Wayne, a canine geneticist at UCLA. They have adapted to a human diet. Research in Waynes lab showed that most wolves carry two copies of a gene involved in starch digestion, while dogs have between three and 29 copies. According to Heinze, the average dog can easily handle 50% of its diet as carbs.

For cats, this argument makes a little more sense.

Cats are carnivores rather than omnivores, so they have higher protein requirements than dogs, but cats can digest and utilise carbohydrates quite well, said Andrea Fascetti, a veterinary nutritionist at the University of California Veterinary School in Davis.

Many grain-free pet foods are made with starch from potatoes or lentils and they may be higher in fat. If you cut grains but increase calories, your pet is going to gain weight, Heinze said.

Pets are almost always spayed and neutered which is risk factor for obesity. Theres no one magic diet for every animal. Experts recommend working with your vet to find a diet that works for your pet. When it comes to navigating marketing claims in the pet food aisle, find a company that employs a veterinary nutritionist and does feeding trials.

The Washington Post

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Work with a vet to find right diet for your pet - Independent Online

It was during his senior year at Michigan State, around the time he was preparing for the NFL draft, that Kirk Cousins met with an applied kinesiologist about a range of fitness issues, and the subject of diet came up.

Cousins had always had a fast metabolism, lean for his height through adolescence, so his personal dietary guidelines were only slightly more sophisticated than that of the typical college student. I thought, as long as I didnt go crazy and have doughnuts at every meal, I could have pizza and burgers and the occasional chocolate milkshake and not see any extra weight, Cousins recalls.

The specialist told him otherwise, but at the time, Cousins now concedes, he wasnt ready to hear it.

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Today, roughly six years later, Cousins has joined the growing list of NFL quarterbacks who have radically overhauled their diets with an eye toward prolonging their careers and preventing injury. Their mentor is New Englands four-time Super Bowl MVP Tom Brady, who enters his 18th NFL season, at age 40, as light, limber and effective as he has ever been. Their ranks include New Orleanss Drew Brees, 38, who spurns gluten, dairy and nuts, and Green Bays Aaron Rodgers, 33, who adheres to a quasi-vegan diet with minimal lean meat.

It took the fourth or fifth time hearing, You need to do this, and then reading about Drew Brees and Tom Brady and others who are your peers doing it, Cousins said, explaining his dietary conversion in a recent interview. I realized, If I want to hang with these guys, then its time to stop playing around.

Notoriously meticulous in his approach, Cousins did more than simply try to adopt Bradys highly restrictive diet, which bans refined sugar, white flour, dairy, caffeine, alcohol, many fruits and such vegetables as potatoes, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant while leaning heavily on organic vegetables and grain, with modest servings of lean meats.

Cousins sought out a scientific explanation of the way his body processes food based on bloodwork analysis. The test, which he underwent in January, around the time of the Pro Bowl, identifies the type of food the body is sensitive to and, as a result, must expend extra energy to process. Then he repeated the bloodwork this past spring, roughly three months later, to confirm the initial findings and rule out any quirky results.

[Tom Brady is writing a self-help book about how to become Tom Brady]

The test showed that my sensitivities were to nearly all dairy, eggs, wheat and gluten and a couple random things like green beans, Cousins said. All the findings (including green beans, for whatever reason) were confirmed by the retest.

As a result, Cousins now follows a highly regimented diet that cuts out eggs, dairy and wheat-based foods and consists primarily of poultry, lean beef, fish and fruits and vegetables. Staying the course demands plenty of planning, no impulse eating at airports and more frequent meals to ensure he gets the total calories he needs.

It is just the latest in Cousinss drive to improve his performance each year in a sport that has little use for athletes who plateau.

As an upshot, Cousins, who turned 29 Saturday, said he has lost between five and 10 pounds. Its not as noticeable as the weight Redskins left tackle Trent Williams has shed (27 pounds) after his own dietary overhaul two years ago and a recent vegan conversion or the 23 pounds lost this summer by Redskins Coach Jay Gruden, whose 50th birthday, rising blood pressure and worsening joint pain and stiffness were a wake-up call.

[Roger Goodell close to a five-year extension as NFL commissioner]

But it has made a difference, says Cousinss personal trainer, Wisconsin-based Joe Tofferi, who for the past four years has worked with the quarterback on a year-round fitness regimen that focuses on flexibility and agility and prioritizes lengthening his muscles rather than bulking up.

You can still be strong, but a quarterbacks muscles must be long and elastic, Tofferi said. A muscle is like a rubber band. So if you want to shoot a rubber band a long way, you have to pull it way back. Our strategy with Kirk is to keep him as elastic as possible.

That approach, Tofferi explained, works hand in hand with a diet that doesnt tax his digestive system.

The cool thing about Kirk, he is always looking to get better, Tofferi said. I remember four years ago, Id have to beg him when we got done training to stop and get a nutrition shake so he would eat something. Now he has educated himself so much, I dont have to say anything. He sees the importance; he feels it. It has been quite a journey nutritionally.

Said Cousins: Its all about good health and staying healthy; its not about a number on a scale. But if I look lighter, its because I am.

Now under 200 pounds, Cousins is still trying to figure out the sweet spot in his physique for maximum performance, maximum durability and maximum longevity, eager to extend his career well into his 30s, as Brady and Brees have shown is possible.

If Im 195 on the light side but keep going out there and playing, I wouldnt say Im too light, said Cousins, who hasnt missed a game since being named the Redskins starter in August 2015. If Im getting hit and getting hurt, then yes, I could be too light.

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Read the original here:
The big offseason change Kirk Cousins made to be more like Tom Brady - Washington Post

By Mitsie Vargas Ledger correspondent

A healthy gastrointestinal system is extremely important for the overall well-being of our pets. Changes in the consistency, color, and texture of your pet's stools can reveal an underlying disease process. Let's review the top five changes found in the fecal matter of dogs and what they might tell us:

Light, pasty colored feces. If you see this you should be concerned that your dog is not digesting the food properly because a condition called pancreatic insufficiency usually produces this kind of stool. The lack of pancreatic enzymes results in a dog that eats a lot but doesn't put on a lot of weight; in fact, it appears as if they lose muscle mass. This condition is very common in German shepherds. The good news is that supplementing with pancreatic enzymes along with a proper, easy-to-digest diet will correct this deficiency.

Dark or black tarry stools. This is bad because it means that somewhere along the GI tract there is bleeding. This bleeding could be caused by severe parasite load, ulcers, infiltrative or solitary cancers, clotting disorders, partial obstructions or intussusception (telescoping of a part of intestine inside another) among others. This symptom requires a proper diagnostic work up that includes blood work, radiographs and perhaps barium contrast studies. This warrants a visit to your veterinarian.

Extremely foul liquid diarrhea. Often times this is caused by parasites like coccidia, giardia and bacterial infections (E.coli and clostridium). This condition can cause severe dehydration and a fatal electrolyte imbalance and needs to be addressed by a veterinarian. A fecal examination under the microscope can detect these organisms and then an appropriate deworming or treatment initiated. Newborn puppies are at high risk of dying because of poor hygiene and lack of neonatal care when infected with these parasites.

Mucousy, blood-tinged stools. I'd rather see bright red blood than dark stools because at least with the mucous red stools, I know the issue is at the end of the GI tract. Rectal polyps, severe anal sac infections, and inflammatory bowel disease are main culprits causing this stool appearance. Lack of good GI flora secondary to antibiotics or other drugs can also contribute to this issue. The use of probiotics and a bland diet can remedy this situation.

Dry, hard fecal balls. Perhaps your dog is not drinking enough water or is not having frequent enough bowel movements. Some concerns are constipation because of lack of fiber in the diet, lack of proper nerve stimulation to the area resulting in poor gut motility, and ingestion of foreign material causing the stools to harden (hair, sand). A very easy laxative is adding a couple of tablespoons of canned pumpkin to the diet. Over-the-counter fiber laxatives work well, too. Offering canned diets alone or instead of dry food will also help. If motility is an issue you can supplement with plum flower capsules. Also, acupuncture and certain Chinese herbal formulas can help. This issue can be addressed by your veterinarian in order to avoid a painful condition called obstipation (blockage of the colon).

Dr. Mitsie Vargas is at Orchid Springs Animal Hospital in Winter Haven. She can be reached at drv@osahvets.

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Vargas: The scoop on poop - The Ledger

Losing weight is tough. It would be easier if a benevolent someone concerned about your health controlled exactly how much you ate and how often you exercised, right? Thats the situation for most dogs and cats in the United States, and yet the majority are overweight or obese.

As with our own dieting woes, the unpleasant prospect of the simple solution feeding our furry friends less makes us reach for alternative, quick-fix strategies. Many pet parents have turned to radically new menus. These grain-free, all-meat and raw-food diets are inspired by the meals eaten by wild relatives of our fidos and felixes.

But are these diets really better for our pets? Veterinarians and pet nutrition researchers say probably not.

According to clinical veterinary nutritionists at Tufts University, grain-free foods were one of the fastest-growing sectors of the pet food market in 2016. All I ever hear is, oh, on a good diet, its grain free, said Dena Lock, a veterinarian in Texas. The majority of her pet patients are overweight.

Why have these pet diets become so popular?

Its a marketing trend, Lock said.

Grain-free is marketing. Its only marketing, said Cailin Heinze, a small-animal nutritionist at Tufts Universitys Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine. A lot of foods market themselves by what theyre not including, and the implication is that the excluded ingredient must be bad.

Grain-free is definitely a marketing technique that has been very successful, said Jennifer Larsen, a clinical nutritionist at the University of California Veterinary School in Davis. (Disclosure: I went to graduate school at the University of California at Davis, but studied plants, not pets.) People think that if they pay a lot for food and there are a lot of exclusions on the bag, that the food is healthier, but theyre buying an idea, she said, not necessarily a superior product.

There is absolutely no data to support the idea that grain-free diets are better for pets, Heinze and Larsen noted.

Some pet owners have a false impression that grains are more likely to cause an allergic reaction, but its much more common for dogs to have allergies to meat than to grain, Heinz said. Chicken, beef, eggs, dairy and wheat are the most common allergies in dogs. And its not that theres anything particularly allergenic about these foods, she said, theyre just the most frequently used ingredients.

Marketing campaigns such as Blue Buffalos Wilderness or Chewys Taste of Wild claim that their grain-free, meat-forward formulations better reflect the ancestral diets of our dogs and cats evolutionary predecessors, but the veterinarians I spoke with also questioned this logic.

For one, our pets wild cousins arent all that healthy. People believe that nature is best, Larsen said, but animals in the wild dont live that long and they dont lead very healthy lives.

For dogs, we know that they have diverged from wolves genetically in their ability to digest starches. Dogs arent wolves, said Robert Wayne, a canine geneticist at UCLA. They have adapted to a human diet. Research in Waynes lab showed that most wolves carry two copies of a gene involved in starch digestion, while dogs have between three and 29 copies. According to Heinze, the average dog can easily handle 50 percent of its diet as carbs.

For cats, this argument makes a little more sense. Cats are carnivores rather than omnivores, so they have higher protein requirements than dogs, but cats can digest and utilize carbohydrates quite well, said Andrea Fascetti, a veterinary nutritionist at the University of California Veterinary School in Davis.

Many grain-free pet foods are made with starch from potatoes or lentils and they may be higher in fat. If you cut grains but increase calories, your pet is going to gain weight, Heinze said.

Dogs and cats also have a drastically different lifestyle from wolves or tigers. Pets are almost always spayed and neutered which is in itself a risk factor for obesity. And most live inside or in pens, so their energy needs are reduced dramatically.

In the wild, wolves and feline predators eat the hair, bones and cartilage of their prey, not just meat. For pet owners who do choose to feed their animals an all-meat diet, its essential to add supplements to make sure their pet isnt missing out on key nutrients such as calcium, Fascetti said. And theres the environmental impact to consider: Pets consume a quarter of all animal-derived calories in the United States.

Experts especially caution against feeding pets raw meat. Its not uncommon to find things like salmonella and E. coli and listeria in raw meat, Larsen said. There are a lot of microbes present in our farming systems, and unlike when an animal is hunting in the wild, there are many opportunities for bacteria to contaminate meat between the time an animal is slaughtered and when it reaches our kitchens.

Even if eating contaminated meat doesnt make pets sick, it poses a health risk to pet owners and their children who handle the pet food and waste. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration both warn against feeding raw meat to your pets, and I really cant advocate it, because its not safe for the whole family, Heinze said.

But what about all those benefits you hear about from feeding a raw diet, like shiny coats and less frequent stools? I cant tell you how many clients send me pictures of poop, Larsen said. But changes to a pets bathroom habits dont have anything to do with their food being raw.

Raw diets tend to be lower in fiber, and high fiber probably results in larger stools. But we dont have a sense of whether stool quality and quantity correlate with health, Fascetti said. And that shiny coat probably is because of high fat, Heinze said.

If pet owners wish to formulate their own diets, they should work with their veterinarian and a board-certified nutritionist. If youre feeding your pet a balanced diet such as in a commercial chow, obesity is the biggest nutrition issue pet owners should worry about, Heinze said.

We want our pets to enjoy what theyre eating, so many foods and especially treats are formulated to be high in fat, Larsen said. Most people dont realize that a milk bone has about as many calories as a candy bar, Lock said.

I know the struggle. My own hefty husky mix stares at me with her big brown eyes and licks the window whenever she wants food. Ive taken to calling the dental chews I buy her guilt-a-bones, because I cant help but give her one every time I leave.

But studies have found that feeding dogs to maintain a lean body weight has very positive effects on their overall health and can even increase life span. This is also the case in mice and rats, and we believe that these findings apply to cats as well, Fascetti said.

Theres no one magic diet for every animal. These experts strongly recommend working with your veterinarian to find a diet that works for you and your pet. When it comes to navigating marketing claims in the pet food aisle, Lock suggests finding a company that employs a veterinary nutritionist and does feeding trials. Try not to get too hung up on the no list, Heinze said. Claims like no gluten, no grains, and no soy generally mean no science.

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Grain-Free Pet Foods Are No Healthier, Vets Say - Valley News

This is the diet that has absolutely nothing to do with eating but thats proven to be way more effective in getting you healthy than any other regimen.

According to a study published in The Lancet, sleep is crucial for metabolic function and hormone stability. Hormones and metabolism play a pivotal role in health, affecting everything from diabetes prevention to heart disease risk.

When participants sleep was restricted, they experienced an increase in stress hormones and a decrease in the speed of their metabolism.

Another study found that a lack of sleep contributed to a sharp decrease in leptin the hormone responsible for regulating fat storage. They also witnessed an increase in ghrelin a hormone that increases appetite.

If youre not sleeping enough, youre obviously going to be tired. Your body is going to get stressed and start sending signals to your body to put on weight. The weight, from your bodys perspective, is there as a reservoir of energy. When you feel tired, its suspicious that it might need it.

You dont have to cut the carbs off your hamburger, start drinking wellness shots that taste more like grass than juice, or choke down harsh sips of apple cider vinegar to foster a better relationship with your body.

All you have to do is simple: Sleep.

Not before you eat, not excessively, not five times a day, or whatever other wild ideas are ricocheting through your mind.

Just sleep enough. And sleep well.

Of course, this is easier said than done. Thats where the concept of the diet comes in. Diets are often seen as temporary a short-term set of rules to carry you through a healthy change or two that hopefully sticks after its over, when the clock strikes midnight and boom you can eat pasta again.

With food, diets dont work. Theyre often extreme, restrictive, and leave you drooling desirously over a cupcake you never even blinked at before. That doesnt happen on a sleep diet. You dont crave consciousness when you start to get enough sleep. If youre somehow taking it to the extreme (i.e., getting too much sleep) youll just wake up. Its the equivalent of accidentally eating a doughnut if youve gone too far and prohibited dessert.

The sleep diet, if done effectively, works. Its just not easy. Heres how to do it:

1. Set a time frame for the diet. One week is a good place to start.

2. Set your own rules. How much sleep do you want to get each night? Figure out the bedtime you would need to follow to accomplish the desired number of hours. Write it down.

3. For the time frame of your diet, stick to your bedtime. Thats the only rule to which this diet adheres. Its easy to remember, but surprisingly difficult to do.

But before you say, No, I cant do that, think about it for a second. Is it any harder than a typical diet? With those, you often have to eliminate entire sectors of your life. Happy hour with your coworkers? No drinking. Birthday cake with the kids for their birthday? Not for you!

Why do we perceive sleep as more extreme than those other restrictions restrictions that arent even all that good for you?

Sleep, on the other hand, is great for you. With a few extra hours of rest under your belt, youre likely to gravitate naturally towards your healthiest weight and feel much better, too.

If youre having trouble actually falling asleep once youve turned the lights out, try one of these natural remedies to help you sleep well.

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A Sleep Diet Is the Number One Way to Your Healthiest Body Yet - The Daily Meal

Take Off Pounds Sensibly Alaska queen Sharon Headley of Anchorage, center, stands with the Ketchikan TOPS chapter. (KRBD photo by Leila Kheiry)

The reigning Take Off Pounds Sensibly queen for Alaska was in Ketchikan recently to talk to the local chapter and help inspire its members to continue making healthy choices.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly is a national nonprofit organization that, as the name suggests, focuses on healthy weight loss. There are about 15 chapters in Alaska, including a small group in Ketchikan.

Each year, members compete for the role of state king and queen. The winner is whoever has reached their goal, and lost the most weight from the start of their journey no matter how long it took to achieve that goal.

This years Alaska queen is Sharon Headley of Anchorage. Wearing a silver, jade and gold-nugget crown, she shared her weight-loss story while waiting for Ketchikan chapter members to arrive for a weekly meeting at the public library.

Headley lost 67 pounds to reach her goal. And it wasnt a fast process.

It took 35 years for me to wear this crown, she said.

Headley said she joined TOPS many years ago, but then quit thinking she could lose weight on her own. That didnt work out, and she ended up gaining quite a bit.

So, she rejoined TOPS and said she was motivated to succeed.

I just thought I was going to lose, lose, lose, which I didnt, she said. Because we tend to be yo-yo people. Up and down, up and down. Weve all lost billions of pounds, they just all found us again.

Take Off Pounds Sensibly Alaska Queen Sharon Headley shows off her sash while visiting the Ketchikan TOPS chapter. (KRBD Photo by Leila Kheiry)

In 2009, though, Headley said she decided that, no matter what, from December to December of each year she would record some kind of loss. Then she picked a goal weight. She achieved that goal, and ended up as the state queen for Alaska.

I went from 255 to 188. I went from size 26 and those now fall off Im in a 16 or a suck-em-up 14. If I lay down and zip it tight, she said, laughing.

As state queen, Headley represented Alaska at the international TOPS gathering, which was in Salt Lake City this year. The top TOPS royalty were crowned there, and this years international queen lost nearly 180 pounds. The king lost 140.

Headley said TOPS is not just about weight loss; its about support.

We really cheer each other on, she said. A lot of people said when I was still a dumpling, Oh, you go to TOPS. Hows that working for you? Well, Im not 300 pounds. Sometimes if you just can hold it. It makes you accountable every week. You have to look at it and deal with it. Were trying to get healthy, and we advocate in TOPS healthy weight loss.

Headley stresses that weight loss is not easy or quick. But, she said, its never too late for anyone to start. She said one woman at the international gathering had reached her goal at the age of 96.

TOPS meetings start with a weigh-in. Peggy Meyers was in charge of the scale in the Ketchikan library activity room, and said she joined TOPS in 2009 in Washington State, then transferred to the Ketchikan chapter when she moved here.

Meyers said she enjoys the friendship of the group.

Yeah we have our meeting, but weve also started sometimes meeting outside of Tuesday, she said. Not for weighing in, but just encouraging each other in life. Not just in our attempts to lose weight.

Meyers stressed that TOPS isnt a diet, because diets dont work its about learning to make healthy choices.

To that end, Headley brought a list of her TOPS tools tips and tricks that helped her stay on track and lose weight. They include weighing herself regularly, writing down what she eats, making sure she drinks plenty of water, and eating a little dark chocolate every day.

Dark chocolate is part of the tools that I use. This is how I finally got to where I got, she said.

Headley shared that list during her short presentation to the local group, along with other tips. For example: A big carrot.

This carrot can be eaten mindlessly in front of any TV, movie or wherever, she said.

Headley said it wont work to establish big, unattainable goals. Instead, make a small goal, small changes, then stick to them. When youve completed that goal, move on to the next. It all eventually adds up to one big achievement.

The TOPS group in Ketchikan meets each Tuesday at 5 p.m. at the Ketchikan Public Library.

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TOPS Alaska queen visits with Ketchikan chapter - KRBD

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