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On the surface, Cyberpunk looks like your average open-world shooter, but the RPG elements play an even bigger role than you may think. As the game starts by showing an attribute leveling system similar to the Fallout series, over time it becomes much deeper, with a large number of skill trees to place attention on. Heres how each attribute and tree will alter your character.

Spending attribute points on the Body category will mainly boost melee damage, stamina, and health. Here are the stat increases with each point spent on this attribute.

Meanwhile, the attribute has three separate skill trees. Although each serves its own valuable purpose, we recommend starting with the Athletics tree, as certain perks inside upgrade your health dramatically.

Reflexes may arguably be the most important offensive attribute, as upgrading it and its trees means higher weapon damage and faster reloading times. Here are the three bonuses given each time you level up the main attribute.

Yes, the attributes leveling bonuses are underwhelming, but you cannot go wrong with dedicating your time to filling out one of its following skill trees. Assault may hold the best perks, but it certainly comes down to what weapon you use most.

As you might have noticed, some doors are locked and cannot be breached with a low level Technical Ability attribute. Even though leveling up this perk doesnt offer much but 5% increase in Armor, youll slowly be hacking your way around Night City with each new level.

There are only two trees that support this attribute. Though, you may want to hold off until you are at least five to six hours into the game, as many of the perks are for building or using rare weapons.

Increasing your Intelligence attribute will ultimately allow you to use more quickhacks on vulnerable tech and for longer amount of time. Thus, taking over something like an armed drone will eventually last minutes rather than seconds. Here are the stats bonuses for leveling up Intelligence.

With breach sequences slowing users down from controlling devices, the following trees make their rewards worthwhile. In addition, there are also skills that allow for certain hacks to take less RAM.

The Cool attribute emphasizes an increase of offensive stats while using stealth. Although some may favor Reflexes due to its overpowering offensive trees, this category undoubtedly offers the best attribute bonuses. Here are the stat boosts with each level achieved.

These next two skill trees likely offer some of the best speed and Hit Chance boosts. However, most perks do limit their abilities to those who are only using stealth and close combat.

More here:
How attributes and perk trees work in Cyberpunk 2077 - Gamepur

More than 15 years ago, I set out to reverse-engineer a formula for longevity. Working with renowned doctors and nutritionists, I identified several Blue Zones: Places around the world where people live the longest.

Along the way, I met experts who helped me understand why the foods people ate led to longer lives. We also distilled 150 dietary surveys of centenarians, or those who live to 100 or longer, to reveal the secrets of a strong longevity regimen.

These nine simple guidelines reflect what foods (and how of much of it) Blue Zone residents eat to stay healthy:

Centenarians eat an impressive variety of garden vegetables and leafy greens (especially spinach, kale, beet and turnip tops, chard and collards) when they are in season.

During the off-season, they pickle or dry the surplus. Beans, greens, sweet potatoes, whole grains, fruits, nuts and seeds dominate Blue Zone meals all year long.

Olive oil is also a staple. Evidence shows that olive oil consumption increases good cholesterol and lowers bad cholesterol. In the Greek island Ikaria, for example, we found that for middle-aged people, about six tablespoons of olive oil daily seemed to cut the risk of premature mortality by 50%.

On average, Blue Zone residents eat about two ounces or less of meat about five times per month (usually as a celebratory food, a small side, or as a way to flavor dishes).

One 12-year study, which followed a community of 96,000 Americans in Loma Linda a Blue Zone region in California determined that people who lived the longest were vegans or pesco-vegetarians who ate a small amount of fish.

Vegetarians in Loma Linda, according to the researchers, were more likely to outlive their meat-eating counterparts by as many as eight years.

Okinawans in Japan probably offer the best meat substitute: Extra-firm tofu, which is high in protein and cancer-fighting phytoestrogens.

In most Blue Zones, people ate small amounts of fish, fewer than three ounces up to three times weekly.

Usually, the fish being eaten are small, relatively inexpensive varieties like sardines, anchovies and cod species in the middle of the food chain that are not exposed to the high levels of mercury or other chemicals that pollute our gourmet fish supply today.

Again, fish is not a necessary part of a longevity diet, but if you must eat it, elect varieties that are common and not threatened by overfishing.

Beans reign supreme in Blue Zones and are the cornerstone of every longevity diet in the world: Black beans in Nicoya; lentils, garbanzo and white beans in the Mediterranean; and soybeans in Okinawa.

Most centenarians eat at least four times as many beans as Americans do on average at least a half cup per day. And so should you. Why? Beans are packed with more nutrients per gram than any other food on Earth.

On average, they are made up of 21% protein, 77% complex carbohydrates, and only a few percent fat. Because they are fiber-rich and satisfying, they'll likely help to push less healthy foods out of your diet.

Blue Zone communities eat sugar intentionally, not by habit or accident.

They consume about the same amount of naturally occurring sugars as North Americans do, but only about a fifth as much added sugar no more than seven teaspoons a day.

Between 1970 and 2000, the amount of added sugar in the American food supply rose by 25% (about 22 teaspoons of added sugar per day) generally, the result of the insidious, hidden sugars mixed into soda, yogurt and sauces.

If you must eat sweets, save cookies, candy and bakery items for special occasions (ideally as part of a meal). Limit sugar added to coffee, tea or other foods to no more than four teaspoons per day.

Skip any product that lists sugar among its first five ingredients.

Eat two handfuls of nuts per day.

A handful weighs about two ounces, the average amount that Blue Zone centenarians consume: Almonds in Ikaria and Sardinia, pistachios in Nicoya, and all varieties of nuts with the Adventists in Loma Linda.

A study on food and longevity found that nut eaters outlive non-nut eaters by an average of two to three years. So try to snack on a couple handfuls of almonds, Brazil nuts, cashews, walnuts, or peanuts every day.

If you can, strive to eat only sourdough or 100% whole wheat bread.

Most commercially available breads start with bleached white flour, which metabolizes quickly into sugar and spikes insulin levels.

But bread in Blue Zones is either whole grain or sourdough. In Ikaria and Sardinia, breads are made from a variety of whole grains such as wheat, rye or barley, each of which offers a wide spectrum of nutrients.

Whole grains have higher levels of fiber than most commonly used bleached flours. Some traditional Blue Zone breads are made with naturally occurring bacteria called lactobacilli, which "digest" the starches and glutens while making the bread rise.

The process also creates an acid the "sour" in sourdough. The result is bread with less gluten than breads labeled "gluten-free," with a longer shelf life and a pleasantly sour taste that most people like.

If possible, strive to avoid soft drinks, including diet soda. With very few exceptions, people in Blue Zones drink only coffee, tea, water and wine.

(Soft drinks, which account for about half of Americans' sugar intake, were unknown to most Blue Zone centenarians until recently.)

Here's why:

We found that most centenarians traditionally eat whole foods.

These are foods made from single ingredient raw, cooked, ground or fermented and are not highly processed. They eat raw fruits and vegetables; they grind whole grains themselves and then cook them slowly.

They also use fermentation an ancient way to make nutrients bioavailable in the tofu, sourdough bread, wine and pickled vegetables they eat.

And they rarely ingest artificial preservatives. Blue zones dishes typically contain a half dozen or so ingredients, simply blended together.

Dan Buettneris a longevity researcher,National Geographic Fellowand award-winning journalist. He is the author of"The Blue Zones Solution"His latest bestseller,"The Blue Zones Kitchen,"fuses scientific reporting,National Geographicphotography and recipes that may help you live to100. Follow him on Instagram@DanBuettner.

Don't miss:

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'Ensure that your diet is 90% to 100% plant-based': 9 food rules from the world's longest-living people - CNBC

In industries such as aviation and transportation, evidence has suggested that the timing and composition of meals can impact individual performance, particular in overnight shift work. Those lessons, one expert believes, can be applied to medical residents working overnight shifts that can span up to 24 hours.

Nutrition affects our cognition, particularly when we are sleep deprived, said Maryam S. Makowski, PhD, a clinical assistant professor in Stanford Universitys psychiatry and behavioral sciences department and the WellMD & WellPhD Center.

Having studied performance nutrition for resident physicians working overnight shifts for over two yearsshe submitted a poster presentation on the topic at the recent AMA GME Innovations SummitMakowski offered these tips for residents wondering what to eat and when.

When to consume calories

Makowski said that you should eat a big meal (about 30% of your total caloric needs) before you begin an overnight shift. For example, if you begin at 5 p.m. during a night rotation, consume that meal at 3 p.m. and aim to have at least 50% of daily caloric needs ingested before midnight.

You can start with having a brunch type of meal after you wake up, Makowski said. That should be the largest meal of the day. Then its best to try to eat again early in your shift.

Learn about three things medical residents want after long shifts.

Dont eat when youd normally sleep

Though your optimal eating times can vary based on your chronotype (e.g. morning, day or night person) , theres a hard cut off as to when you should avoid eating during overnight shifts.

A majority of the studies showed that eating between midnight and 6 a.m. can result in poor cognitive performance, Makowski said. For example, simulation studies show that eating a meal after midnight during nightshifts result in more errors and sleepiness.

Though we dont want to eat, we do want to keep hydrated. Thats really important both for mood, cognition, and feeling energized, Makowski said.

Residents need to pay extra attention to their hydration status, she added, and said residents should take advantage of every single chance they get to take frequent sips of water, coffee, regular or herbal teas. The goal is to have a urine color that is like lemonade not apple juice or darker.

How carbs affect performance

Carbohydrates are important for learning and memory, so the idea that eliminating them from a diet will improve performance is unlikely to be true. The quality of the carbohydrates matter though Makowski said. And, in a hectic environment, Makowski has found that residents basically live off junk food. If you are going to have carbohydrates, try to avoid things like donuts, pastries and have more whole grain, whole fruit type of snacks, she added.

When it comes to protein, its possible that a meal that has a higher ratio of protein to carbohydrates could reduce sleepiness during overnight shifts.

Discover what to tell your patients about ketogenic diets.

Protected eating time

Residents are busy. Sometimes too busy to eat a meal, let alone a healthy one.

One thing we saw is that even when we gave people food, they didnt have time to eat it, Makowski said. They were being constantly interrupted. Sometimes, depending on specialty, it could take until 1 a.m. for them to have time to eat.

There is a need for some structural support for residents. They need access to healthy meals and breaks to actually eat them.

More:
Resident physicians: Your diet can help you make it through the night - American Medical Association

Its easy to see the connection between an unhealthy diet and an expanding waistline. The connection between food and brain health can be harder to get your mind around.

But experts agree. Eating right is essential for brain health.

Of all the organs in our body, the brain is the one most easily damaged by a poor diet, said Dr. Lisa Mosconi, director of the Womens Brain Initiative and an associate professor of neuroscience in neurology and radiology at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. From its very architecture to its ability to perform, every aspect of the brain calls for proper food.

Mosconi, who has written books about the science of food and the brain, said many people have misconceptions about what proper food might be. One of the biggest fallacies shes been hearing lately is the idea that a very high-fat diet is somehow helpful to the brain.

This is not what most research shows, she said.

Dietary supplements are another area where people get misled, said Dr. Kristine Yaffe, professor of psychiatry, neurology and epidemiology at the University of California-San Francisco. Except when someone is deficient in a specific nutrient, vitamin supplements dont seem to improve brain health, she said.

Similarly, supplements that contain omega-3 fatty acids and fish oil have gotten a lot of attention. But while they might help certain heart patients when prescribed by a physician, research has not confirmed benefits for brain health. There have been a number of trials, and they havent borne out, said Yaffe, who was a co-author on a 2017 American Heart Association advisory on brain health.

So, what does work?

We still have a lot to learn about that, Yaffe said. But certain foods do seem to help when theyre part of an entire dietary pattern. And that diet looks similar to the ones physicians recommend for heart health.

A Mediterranean-style diet heavy in fruits, vegetables, fish and nuts lowers stroke risk in women and may lead to better cognitive ability in old age, studies have found. A 2018 study Mosconi led estimated it provided 1.5 to 3.5 years of protection against the development of biomarkers for Alzheimers disease. Another science-backed eating plan that limits red meat, sodium and added sugars and sweets, called DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension), may reduce stroke risk.

Mosconi highlighted some nutrients antioxidants, such as vitamin C, vitamin E and beta-carotene, and anti-inflammatory B vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids that she said are important for the health of neurons.

But neither Yaffe nor Mosconi is a fan of singling out something as the perfect brain food.

I dont believe in superfoods, or that any one food or food group is key to brain health, Mosconi said.

And not that theres anything wrong with blueberries, Yaffe said, but you wouldnt want to be thinking, If I only eat blueberries, thats going to do it.

Its also important to think of foods that are potentially harmful to brain health, Mosconi said. Saturated fat, especially from animal sources, is associated with a higher risk of cardiovascular disease, she said. And some research also shows it increases the risk of cognitive problems.

When we eat a fatty, sugary meal and experience symptoms like sluggishness, brain fog and drowsiness these symptoms originate not in the stomach but in the brain, Mosconi said.

And the effects arent necessarily temporary.

Research indicates a poor diet may cause the loss of key structural and functional elements in the brain, she said, along with a higher vulnerability to brain aging and dementia.

A 2018 report from the Global Council on Brain Health, an independent group convened by the AARP, noted that foods and diets that are good for heart health are also good for brain health.

Yaffe, a member of that brain health council, said the mechanisms of the brain are complex, but it stands to reason that if youre eating a dietary pattern that is heart-healthy, its probably also healthy (for) the vessels in the brain.

She acknowledged that some people have a hard time seeing the connections between brain health and their diet or with other activities such as smoking, sleep and exercise.

Mosconi, also a member of the AARP brain health council, put it this way: Day after day, the foods we eat are broken down into nutrients, taken up into the bloodstream, and carried up into the brain. Once there, they replenish depleted storage, activate cellular reactions and, finally, become the very fabric of our brains.

Consider that the next time you reach for a brownie. Its ingredients will actually become part of your brain.

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Brain power: The best foods for brain health - Newton Kansan

Should there even be any holiday eating rules? Maybe. But this year I say NO. This year I think we should have a pass and get to eat anything we want. We deserve it; it's been quite a year. I'm gonna enjoy my faves this year like eggnog, cookies and chips salsa. Of course in moderation along with exercise. I may throw in a healthy salad just for kicks and so I can feel better about all the eating I am going to do.

Well check this out. According tohuffpost,com, some "food rules" are actually just diets.

Theres nothing wrong with taking an everything in moderation approach at the dinner table, but other rules we establish for ourselves around the holidays can actually hinder rather than help our overall health. Think Ill work out extra hard so I can earn my holiday meal, or I want to eat clean this holiday, so Ill skip the pie.

You can read about those rules here.

What's one thing you love that you WILL be eating this year?

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Holiday Food Rules That Are Actually Just Diets - witl.com

Often confused, veganism largely differs from vegetarianism. While a vegetarian diet does not allow the intake of eggs, meat, and seafood, it does accept diary and other by-products. Veganism, on the other hand, takes this idea to the next level, avoiding all animal products and is entirely plant-based. Recent years have seen veganism go from a trend to a way of life with several people across the world, including celebrities and even athletes adopting a vegan diet.

A vegan lifestyle offers a plethora of benefits be it maintaining a healthy immune system or avoiding the implications of consuming meat, a vegan diet has become an ideal choice for many. However, there are certain drawbacks to veganism. It is easy to overlook some aspects and since the food consumed in a vegan diet is so selective, people often miss out on important nutrients. Entre, vegan supplements. Proper nutrient supply is required to ensure that we do not become victims of our busy lifestyles. On that note, here are some vital nutrients to include in your diet that are available as supplements. (Image: Canva)

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Supplementing vegan diet with the right nutrients - Times of India

For years, my husband and I have toyed with the idea of opening a retail store in McCook with the business divided into two distinct sides.

One half would feature all our favorite junk foods, using machines we have accumulated over the years. Reminiscent of the county fair or childhood summers, the store would feature cotton candy in every flavor and color imaginable, funnel cakes piled high with fruit toppings, and popcorn covered in so many different seasonings, your head would spin. And of course, there would be chocolate because how can you have a store of favorites without chocolates in every form and style possible.

If you notice, there is little redeeming nutritional value in any of these items, with the exception of the fruit toppings but even that would be mostly sugar.

Hence, the reason for the other half of the store. To balance out the lack of nutrition on one side and to assuage our guilt over such indulgent offerings, the other side would essentially be a health food store featuring foods we all know we should eat, but struggle to get enough of in our diets.

Whole-grain foods, fruits and vegetables, vitamins, smoothies, even kombucha which people may claim to like but no one does really. But lets be honest ... we know which side is going to be busier and more profitable: the junk food side.

While junk food is okay in moderation, it cannot be the sole basis of a diet. As we told our kids when they were little, there are sometimes food and often food. We learned early on that anytime you labeled something a never food, it became irresistible with wrappers hidden under the mattress.

There needs to be a variety of foods from both sides of the aisle, or in this case, both sides of the store.

The same concept holds true for our news and entertainment consumption. We cannot subsist on just junk news or junk entertainment. We need to make the conscious step of adding a variety of healthy, informative news to our information diet.

Yes, there are times when I want to watch a mindless TV show or binge-watch an entire series with no redeeming quality, just so I can have a giant bowl of popcorn.

But on the flip side, I regularly listen to news programs, subscribe to several newspapers, download innumerable podcasts and am mid-way through multiple books on my nightstand.

Think of learning and reading and researching as healthy food. You need it to keep your mind functioning, to have intelligent conversations, to open yourself up to the possibility that not only do you not know something, but also that you might be wrong.

And perhaps even more importantly, it is not just one news program or news outlet; it is not just one podcast, one author or one journalist. Just like our diets, our minds need variety.

If we want to have intelligent and meaningful conversations, we need to have a variety of healthy information. If we are going to move our community forward and to be able to work together, we need to have a variety of sources to make fact-based decisions.

While it may be easier to rely on junk food or junk information, we need to make the effort to make ourselves healthier - both physically and mentally - if we want our community to come together and make it an even better place to call home.

See the original post:
Food or news, it can't all be junk - McCook Daily Gazette

My mom is my biggest motivator, she always used to inspire me and boost my spirits. You need to have a strong support system rather than relying on any other thing.

Whenever I feel demotivated, I usually go through my old photos where I look unhealthy. That motivates me to keep working on myself.

How do you ensure you dont lose focus?

If you are too passionate about your goal, your mind will never waver. Yes, everyone loses focus momentarily, but it's important to stay determined in your life. That will only happen when you enjoy the process whole-heartedly.

I have also added in yoga and meditation to my fitness regime, which has been a ray of sunshine and achieved the next level of fitness.

What the most difficult part of being overweight?

When you are overweight, it lowers down your confidence, vital health markers and ruins body posture. I couldn't play my favourite sports and tired easily. Buying big sized clothes was something I didn't really like. My body strength and stamina levels were also not upto the mark while doing simple activities like walking.

What shape do you see yourself 10 years down the line?

I want to achieve a fit and effective body, which inspires everyone and exudes confidence.

Read more from the original source:
Weight loss story: "I had green tea, almonds and oats every morning" - Times of India

Stu Wall is a technology executive and entrepreneur who founded Signpost, a cloud-based customer communication platform that helps small businesses scale.

The coronavirus pandemic accelerated Americas addiction to technology, and its making us sad, anxious and unproductive.

Companies like Facebook, TikTok and Snapchat earn more advertising revenue the more frequently we use their products. These firms use push notifications and personalized feeds to capture our attention, manipulate our emotions and influence our actions.

Business is good. Americans now spend more than five hours each day on their devices.

So what? As discussed in Netflixs The Social Dilemma, tech firms will continue to follow their profit motive to capture our attention. Governments are no more likely to help manage unhealthy tech consumption than consumption of sugar or illegal drugs. We need to take control.

My perspective is as a former tech CEO and technology addict. The marketing platform I founded raised over $100 million, grew to 350 employees and sold to a private equity firm last year. Along the way I picked up some terrible tech habits; I checked email constantly and allowed push notifications to interrupt every in-person interaction.

My tech use hit rock bottom last year on a visit with family. I resolved to put down my phone and garden with my mom, who has advanced Parkinsons and moves slowly and with intention.

I felt like an addict in withdrawal. My phone was like a magnet pulling me to check for missed work emails or breaking news. Tech overuse had rewired my brain, lowered the quality of everyday consciousness and prevented me from being present.

I stepped down as CEO of my company earlier this year. Ive spent my time off learning about mindfulness, neuroplasticity and technology addiction. Most importantly, I developed a strategy for managing my tech use thats made me happier and more productive.

Heres what I learned.

In their quest for our attention, some tech firms target the oldest parts of our brain, what UCLA psychiatrist Daniel Siegel calls the downstairs brain. The downstairs brain includes your brainstem and limbic regions, which control innate reactions and impulses (fight or flight) and strong emotion (like anger and fear). In contrast, your upstairs brain, including your cerebral cortex, is where intricate mental processes take place, like thinking, imagining and planning.

The downstairs brain is reactive. Its designed to protect us in emergencies; it can make quick judgements, hijack our consciousness and drive action through strong emotion. The downstairs brain is what is targeted by attention-seeking products. Headlines that make us feel outraged and TikTok notifications that make us feel reactive appeal to our downstairs brain.

Our brains change with training. Research has shown that our brains are reprogrammed with the firing patterns of neurons. Our nervous system can be rewired and transformed through repetitive, focused attention or activity in a process called neuroplasticity.

Repetitive device usage is a perfect example of neuroplasticity at work. The more time we spend responding to push notifications, watching videos in infinite scroll or looking for social validation from social media, the more our brains will rewire to want the same.

While many tech firms acknowledge problems from overusing their products, none will make radical changes needed to decrease their share of the attention profit pool. If they did, someone else would eat their lunch.

These firms are selling us sugary drinks. The taste is improving exponentially and the sweetest drinks havent been invented yet. The more we drink, the harder it gets to stop. We need to take control of our consumption and habits we need to follow a technology diet or we will suffer the mental equivalent of morbid obesity.

If we think of technology consumption as an analog to food consumption, tech products fall into four food groups based on the quality of information and method of delivery. Content quality is important: Some content is valuable (e.g., MITs online courseware) or critical (work email), while most is not useful (TikTok).

The delivery model is also important. Healthy platforms give agency to the user and allow us to pull content thats useful when we need it. Conversely, harmful platforms often rely on push, sending us information thats often not useful at a time when were doing something else. Based on my experience, here are three steps we can take to implement a tech diet:

Willpower is finite. If we dont want sugary drinks, dont keep them in the house. We keep the most distracting applications ever developed within arms reach at all times. These applications prey on our downstairs brain, which hijacks our better intentions and delivers negative value for most people. I believe our best defense is abstinence; we shouldnt use these apps.

Tip: I use Apples Content Restrictions on the iPhone and MacBook. I added the obvious offenders: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, and some specific to me, which includes Zillow, StreetEasy and NYPost. My spouse has the override code. I can break it if needed, but the process is hard enough that it doesnt enter everyday consciousness.

Good content expands our knowledge and skills and may contribute to rewiring our upstairs brain in a way that adds to our empathy, imagination and mindfulness.

Consuming good content is rewarding but effortful. It requires uninterrupted focus. Unlike sugary beverages, which were wired to consume subconsciously, leafy greens have to be consumed intentionally.

Tip: Make a list of your favorite leafy greens. For me, this includes Kindle, Feedly, tech periodicals and my favorite curation platforms: HackerNews and Product Hunt. Calm, one of several booming mindfulness apps, also makes the list. These are the only apps on my home screen, which encourages me to use them more often. Like a food diet, I set attainable goals for good consumption and monitor my progress.

I recommend fasting on technology periodically; I leave my phone at home for walks with my son and dinner with friends. I also recommend nontech activities that promote upstairs brain rewiring like an outdoor hike or learning to play an instrument.

Email is required for most people. It has the potential to make us productive. But the average message quality is low, and the always-on, high frequency, push-by-default design prevents us from doing our best work.

Tip: Ive turned off notifications on everything thats not meant for urgent or timely messages (e.g., texts, Lyft, Tovala oven). Boomerangs Chrome Extensioncan be set up to deliver all of your emails every hour on the hour. Batch processing email every hour dramatically reduces the volume of interruption without impacting my responsiveness.

We live in relative abundance, with food, goods and security that would make even our recent ancestors envious. But abundance doesnt make us happy; were the least happy on record. We seem to be living in a collective state of downstairs brain, a continuous adult temper tantrum focused on strong feelings, emotion and impulsiveness.

But theres hope.

As individuals, I found that even a few months of technology dieting helped me become less impulsive and more mindful. As employees, we can stop working for companies that profit from the attention economy. As managers, we can insist that our teams turn off their devices at night, turn off their Slack notifications and take real vacations. As parents, we can help our children develop healthy consumption patterns.

Collective action and rewiring of our brains could change the course of our politics and our ability to collaborate and solve the most important challenges of the 21st century.

American innovation dominates the attention economy. Its time for American innovation to dominate the way we use technology.

Continued here:
COVID-19 made our tech addiction worse: Its time to do something about it - TechCrunch

"Processed food was my emotional outlet.I consideredit to be my best friend and put it above anyone else." says 44-year-old Evon Dennis. It led her to become depressed, and at her highest, she weighed 250 pounds. She remembersbeing too embarrassed to go out, so instead, she would send her oldest daughter, then a teenager, to the grocery store to buy her next fix: Potato chips, sugary cereals, processed cheeses, and more.For Evon, it felt like her identity was taken over by being a junk food junkie. Now looking back, Evon wants to share her story of how she found help, went plant "exclusive" (all you consume are plants), and essentially saved her life. Today she weighs 110 pounds and is fit, happy and most of all, proud of the example she is setting her daughters, now 24 and 17 years old.

Evon tells the story of her darkest years, when her food addiction took over her life, until five years ago when she started to turn things around. Up until that point, year by year, her eating addiction progressed which is what happens with addiction: you need more and more of a fix to satisfy your urges, in order to get that high from your drug, in this case, junk food, cheese, and sugar. Evon recalls feeling overwhelmed andsad, especially knowing that she was raising her children around a mother who couldn't help herself. At her highest, she weighed250 pounds. By 2015, she had had enough and knew she needed help.She researched her options and foundOver Eater's Anonymous, where she discovered her struggles with food were not simply a matter of will power: She learned that her level of overeating was classified as an addiction, and it comforted her to know that she was not alone in her battle.

By attending group OA sessions, Evon was able to work on herself step by step. First, she cut out dairy which contains casein, an extremely addictive protein, which had been driving a powerful addiction to cheese, This helped her dull down her intense food cravings to other foods as well, like sweets and processed bags of chips.

A note about casein: When people say "I'm addicted to cheese," they may be half-joking but there is some truth to it, according toDr. Neal Barnard, founder of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine(PCRM), who has written a book about cheese addiction,He calls casein "dairy crack," because the "dairy proteins incheese can act as mild opiates. Fragments of casein protein, opioid peptides called casomorphins, attach to the same brain receptors as heroin and other narcotics. As a result, each bite of cheese produces a tiny hit of dopamine." When that rush subsides, it leaves your brain craving more, therefore you seek more cheese to get your fix.

For Evon dairy was the last step in making a transition to a whole-food plant "exclusive". Years ago she had given up meat and seafood, so dairy was the final step. She had a "come to Jesus" moment when she decided to ditch dairy and go on what she won't call a "diet" but prefers to call a "live-it" since it was her choice to stop killing herself and instead choose a path that took her toward a healthier lifestyle, one that allowed her to lose weight and kick her food addiction, get healthy and lead an exemplary existence for her kids.

She dove into a dairy-free, processed food free plant "exclusive" andchallenged herself to stay on track. "The challenge was difficult," she admits, but eating aplant exclusive "liveit" changed her life for good. "The weightstarted comingoff immediately," and she felt more energized with processed foods out of her system. "I felt fantastic," she recalls, and the weight dropped off, 40 pounds in the first four months.

Within the same year,Evon was doing well until she was faced with a family trauma,which sparked her to go off her healthy diet, and she found herself back at square one, fully in the thralls of food addiction all over again.Her long battle back left her depleted and feeling powerless, and depressed by the fact that she had gone back to her old ways. She was also feeling sick and had a nervous break-down landed in and out of the hospital,seemingly worse off than ever. Evon was emitted to the psychiatric unit and was diagnosed with mental illnesses, PTSD, anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder. Still, she couldn't help but remember how good she felt when she had started eating salt-free, oil-free, flour-free, alcohol-free, sugar-free, whole food plant "exclusive." She resolved to get back on track. One day, just like that, she decided to relive those moments.

Evon marked the date of her fourth attempt toeat this way as her"live-it" since she chose to live, not die. It was January 2020, but she was more committed than ever this time. She was determined to make the switch stick, not only for herself but for her children. Within the first month, she felt like a new person. " I couldn't be happier, I felt free, and the weight started quickly coming off again" she remembers."I was 174 pounds at the beginning of this year, and in less than 8 months she got down to 110 pounds."

Evon shared her vegan journey with The Beet,including hersecrets to success and motivation, and offering helpful advice for anyone struggling with food addiction. In the interview below, learn from Evon's challenges and how the power of a plant "exclusive" can help overcome life's biggest hurdles, by creating a path to "live-it!"

Evon Dennis: For my entire adult life, I struggled with overeating. I joined Over Eaters Anonymous in 2015 for the first time, and thats when I discovered my overeating was an addiction. It changed everything for me. I finally understood that my problem with overeating wasnt my fault. At the beginning of 2017, I decided to cut dairy out to heal my food addiction. I already had stopped eating meat 14 years ago and stopped eating seafood in 2015.

By 2017, I was ready to cut out dairy and become entirely plant-based. I was nervous about taking that final step, so I created a challenge for myself: I would only eat the food I made from scratch. It was a massive deal for me because as a single mom of two girls, I relied on boxed, canned, and prepared foods to feed them because I had convinced myself I didnt know how to cook. The challenge worked because it was so difficult; suddenly, cutting dairy out didnt seem so hard!

ED: During the challenge, I was continually thinking about and craving processed food, and I wanted to figure out why that was. I hated feeling like Im a prisoner of anything, person, or situation. I started researching, and I found so much information about refined food addiction. When I first stopped eating meat, my goal was to improve my health by eating more plants. I never forgot my initial plan, and once I realized that I was struggling with processed food addiction and over-eating, I was able to remember why I stopped eating meat in the first place. I had always wanted to eat plants, not just processed vegan junk food.

ED:The weight started coming off immediately, and now that I have all thesesubstances out of my system, I feel fantastic. I dropped 64 pounds in less than 8 months this year. When I first discovered this way of eating, at the beginning of 2017, I had lost 40, but then struggled to keep it off because I went through family trauma. I tried a few times between 2017 and the beginning of this year to eat this way again, but I committed myself fully to eating the way I do now at the beginning of this year. I was 174 pounds at the beginning of this year, and Im now 110 pounds.

ED: Processed food was my emotional outlet. I considered food to be my best friend and put it above anyone else. My children grew up seeing me like that, and at my worst, Id send my oldest to the store to buy more junk food. When I would have an over-eating episode, I would be ashamed to go outside because Id convince myself everyone who saw me would judge me for gaining weight. I was trying to drown out my feelings with processed foods, and I taught my children that. My children have born the brunt of my struggles of being around me at my worst, which keeps me inspired to stay well.

ED: I missed the freedom of not continually thinking about processed food. It was so painful to have to always think about food. Now, I have so much more energy and space in my brain to do incredible things: I just took my first lesson on how to fly a plane! I knew I wanted to get back to this kind of freedom.

ED: I did research on others who had successfully transitioned to asalt, oil, flour, alcohol sugar-free whole food plant exclusive.After all of my research, I felt like I had learned what I needed to fix my mind to eat this way successfully. One of the things I learned was the importance of starting my day off with leafy greens. I had seen research that showed that leafy greens were able to cut cravings, and thats exactly what I needed to happen. I knew it was vital for me to fall in love with the natural taste of whole food plants. I also made sure to stay hydrated and stop focusing so much on people-pleasing.

To make such a significant life change, I knew I had to stop caring about other peoples judgments. The other big realization I had was that I needed to change the way I labeled food. I had to stop using words I had specific associations with for food, like cheat days or falling off the wagon. When I stopped using those kinds of judgment words, I finally could succeed in overcoming my addiction: I remembered that Im just a human being and that theres no such thing as perfection.

ED: I like to call it a live-it, not a diet because Im eating for my life! I eat salt, oil, alcohol, flour, and sugar-free whole food plant exclusively. I use the word plant exclusive instead of plant-based to make sure its clear that Im just eating whole-food plants. I only eat fruit, veggies, whole grains, and legumes. Im also a spontaneous person, so when I was getting back into cooking, I did a whole lot of playing around in the kitchen, just figuring out how to all these new things. Im an excellent chef now! I found that once Id abstained from sugar, salt, flour, alcohol, and oil for a certain amount of time, my cravings essentially went away. The only food cravings I feel now are related to good memories or environments. Now, I just eat whenever my body needs fuel.

ED: All things are working for my good. I love that one because what it means to me is: Ive already been through so much, and if Ive made it this far, I can keep going. I can keep pushing for myself, for my girls, because thats what mamas do.

ED: Be comfortable with yourself. Its a journey were going to be on for the rest of our lives, so we might as well get comfortable. Make this journey your own; its not anybody else. Dont let people interfere with your journey; it doesnt have to look like anybody elses. If you learn how to listen to yourself, youll learn when something isnt serving you.

If you loved Evon's story and want to keep in touch,visit her websiteto learn more and contact her on Instagram.

Originally posted here:
This Mom Kicked Food Addiction and Lost 140 Pounds. Find Out How - The Beet

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