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Hello, health enthusiasts! My name is Kaitlin, and Im here to provide you with some wellness tips to help you live your best life. The holiday week may have come and gone, but summer is still in high gear and so is extreme heat. Before you pick out your outfit, check out our guide on how to dress on hot days. Plus, read up on how to have the best July, from celebrating the Summer Olympics to getting your eyes checked. (It is Healthy Vision Month, after all.)

As always, check the weather in your area and your horoscope, if youre so inclined. Then read up on the below health and wellness tips to keep your summer the best one yet.

A new study found that older women who experienced more gratitude had a 9% lower risk of death from any cause over three years. Fortunately, gratitude is an easy skill to practice for anyone. Try writing down what you're thankful for in a gratitude journal each day it will also help you become more mindful overall.

July 11 was National Polyphenol Day but you should be including polyphenols in your diet year-round. Polyphenols are natural compounds found in plants, which have the power to potentially lower cancer risk, boost brain health and reduce inflammation. Berries, dark chocolate, green tea, red wine, apples and nuts like almonds and walnuts all have polyphenols in them, so you have plenty of opportunities to enjoy these good-for-you compounds.

We know that sitting all day is bad for your health and sitting on the wrong chair all day, or in the wrong position, can cause major pain. Aim for a chair that has good lumbar support, which can help distribute your body weight more evenly and dont stress about maintaining a straight, perfect-posture position all day, which can actually lead to more pain. Instead, incorporate many micro-movements throughout your day (like crossing and uncrossing your legs, or shifting your weight) in order to stay comfortable.

Gut health is a major topic on social media but in general, experts say we may be overly concerned with the so-called healing of our digestive systems. According to experts who spoke to Womens Health, though, there are certain signs that you should get a literal gut check, like frequent bouts of diarrhea, constipation or bloating. Just make sure to consult your doctor not your FYP.

The Mediterranean diet gets plenty of praise, but you may also want to try the Atlantic diet, which is inspired by the diets of the people living in northwest Spain and Portugal. While theres plenty of overlap between the Mediterranean diet and the Atlantic diet (both love olive oil, for example!), the Atlantic diet proposes eating more seafood, dairy, lean meat and nuts, as well as carbs like potatoes and bread. (The Mediterranean diets carb of choice is pasta.)

Got acne? The Mediterranean diet might be your better bet, according to a new study, which found that the diet led to significant reductions in skin lesions for participants. Researchers think that the anti-inflammatory effects of the low-sugar, high-omega-3 diet could be the reason why.

This newly trendy food (which includes sardines, anchovies and mackerel) is shelf-stable, and comes with good-for-you nutrients like B12 and vitamin D, as well as minerals like calcium and selenium. Toss some tiny fish in your salad, or blend them into a pasta sauce for a rich umami flavor.

Theres a lot of buzz (pun intended) around vibration plates, with some people claiming that exercising on these platforms can improve bone density and increase muscle strength. Experts say theyre onto something: These plates make your muscles contract in an attempt to maintain balance, which can make your body work harder overall. Next time you see one of these shake machines at the gym, hop on and try some squats or arm circles.

Going to a party where you wont know anyone? Saba Harouni Lurie, a licensed marriage and family therapist, gives helpful tips on how to feel more comfortable striking up conversations like offering to assist the host.

A new study published in Nature Medicine found that swapping out saturated animal fats (like butter) for plant-based unsaturated fats (like olive oil, a major component of the Mediterranean diet) may lower your risk of developing conditions like cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. So, next time youre looking for a simple pasta dish, go for a drizzle of EVOO instead of butter and noodles.

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Try the Atlantic diet, snack on berries and skip the butter. 9 health and wellness tips to help you have a healthy week. - Yahoo Life

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Sleep may be one of the most underrated health habits. When we dont get enough of it, it can affect everything from mood and anxiety levels to immunity and heart health. But quality sleep can feel elusive to many of us. Whether you have a sleep disorder, like sleep apnea or insomnia, or find it difficult to unplug earlier in the evening so you get enough sleep, youre not alone. Around 40% of American adults are not getting sufficient sleep, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sometimes the reason for insufficient sleep is difficult to figure out. If you feel like youre doing everything rightyouve got a bedtime routine that prepares your body for sleep and you sleep in darkness, allowing your body to produce melatoninand yet, you still dont sleep well, you might have a microbiome problem. A new literature review published on July 13, 2024, in Nutrients sheds some light on this very topic. Lets see what these researchers found when they dug into 203 studies on the sleep-gut connection.

Your gut contains millions of different microorganismsboth beneficial and potentially damagingthat influence gut and overall health. These microorganisms produce metabolitessubstances that are necessary for or a result of chemical reactions in the cells. All these microorganisms and their metabolites make up your microbiomeand this includes disease-causing bacteria, as well as health-inducing types of bacteria.

According to these researchers, our microbiomes begin to form at birth when the baby picks up bacteriaincluding healthy, beneficial bacteriafrom the mothers skin and vagina, depending on whether its a vaginal or cesarean birth. By the age of 5, the foundation of gut bacteria has been laid. And while its established early on in life, the microbiome will fluctuate throughout our lives, depending on many factors including diet, sleep, stress, exercise, medications, infections and environment.

Besides building a healthy gut, these microorganisms also produce chemicals (metabolites) necessary for overall good health. One of these is serotonin, which acts as both a hormone and a neurotransmitter (neurotransmitters carry messages between nerve cells) and plays a pivotal role in your bodys circadian rhythms, cognitive function, pain perception and emotional control. Circadian rhythms are a type of biological clock and are related to sleep-wake cycles. When youre regularly operating outside of your bodys natural circadian rhythms, youre more likely to get less quality sleep. It also affects your microbiomes health.

Serotonin is a precursor of melatonin, the chemical that is necessary for sleep. In other words, you must have enough serotonin to produce melatonin. And you must have enough melatonin to get good sleep. And to have enough serotonin, you need a healthy gut.

Are you starting to see a connection here?

Gamma-aminobutyric acid, GABA for short, is another chemical that is produced in the gut. GABA plays a role in stress relief and sleep regulation. Like serotonin, you must have a healthy gut to produce enough GABA.

Then there are short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). These are formed in the gut from fiber, polyphenols (antioxidants) and omega-3 fatty acids. According to these researchers, certain types of SCFAs can signal the brain when its time to sleep. There is evidence that people with insomnia have been shown to have a decrease in the number of these SCFAs in their gut.

SCFAs also influence the production of serotonin and GABA. You must have enough SCFAs in your gut to produce enough serotonin (which, remember, is a precursor of melatonin) and GABA, which in turn will influence your sleep.

Its important to note that all of these connections are bidirectional. For example, while these metabolitesSCFAs, serotonin, melatonin and GABAcan affect sleep, sleep also influences the production of these metabolites. And so the cycle goes.

This literature review also revealed what foods contribute to a healthy gut and which ones negatively affect the microbiome. Regular, excessive intake of saturated fats, sugar, red and processed meats, and alcohol changes the microbiome in unhealthy ways.

Foods that are high in fiber, polyphenols and unsaturated fatty acids, on the other hand, can stimulate the growth of beneficial bacteria and inhibit the growth of unhealthy bacteria, supporting a lush microbiome thats loaded with beneficial bacteria and metabolites.

These researchers also point out that the timing of eating matters, too. They found that studies suggest that eating later at night can negatively affect circadian rhythms and the microbiome. There is also evidence to suggest that eating at regular intervals helps with circadian rhythms, whereas irregular eating patterns and skipping meals can mess with the rhythmsand consequently, the microbiome.

At EatingWell we believe that all foods can fit into a healthy, balanced diet and that health is about overall patterns. This means that occasionally eating something sweet or having an old-fashioned bologna-and-cheese sandwich on white bread is probably OK in moderationprobably because it depends on each individuals health status and lifestyle. But it's important to consider your eating pattern as a whole.

Are you regularly noshing on a variety of foods that are high in fiber, antioxidants and healthy fats? This includes fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains and seafood. Many plant-based foods act as prebiotics, providing food for your beneficial bacteria so they can multiply and thrive.

While this study doesnt specifically mention fermented foods, we know that they also contribute to a healthy gut by adding probioticsthe beneficial bacteria in our microbiome. This includes foods like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut and miso.

This also applies to other health habits. For example, we all go through stressful times in our lives. Its when that stress becomes chronic and habitual that it negatively influences our health. Same with sleep.

To start, examine your current patterns in the areas of eating, exercise, stress and sleep. Are your patterns contributing to health or deterring from it?

This literature review includes hundreds of studies that help connect the dots between sleep and gut health. Hormones that contribute to quality sleep are produced in the gut, so it makes sense that you need to have a healthy, thriving microbiome to produce these hormones at optimal levels. Including a variety of foods that support gut health and limiting those that dont will go a long way toward cultivating a healthy microbiome. Its important to remember that this is a bidirectional relationship. While your microbiome will influence your sleep, how much quality sleep youre getting will influence your microbiome. Other health habits also influence gut health, including diet, exercise and stress.

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Having Trouble Sleeping? Your Diet May Be the Reason, According to a New Study - EatingWell

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According to a new study from the University of Georgia, genetics play an important role when it comes to determining if a vegetarian diet is right for you. Published by PLOS Genetics, the study was written by lead author Michael Franics, a graduate of UGAs Institute of Bioinformatics and co-authored by Kaixiong Ye of UGAs Department of Genetics and both Kenneth Westerman and Alisa Manning, of Harvard University.

For many, vegetarianism leads to health benefits like lowered cholesterol and decreased risk of heart disease and Type 2 diabetes. But for some, this specialized diet may come with a cost, the researchers said. The study examined how differences in genes influence how a person responds to nutrients and potential diet-related disease.

Fracis said it provides a strong knowledge base for improving overall health outcomes through nutrition. Francis was a vegetarian for seven years throughout his teens and 20s and, though he eats meat now, he said that it was one of the main reasons he chose to study nutrigenetics.

We are building a scientific foundation for personalized nutrition, which optimizes human health at the level of the individual, instead of one-size-fits-all dietary recommendations, Francis said in a press release.

The researchers analyzed data from over 150,000 participants, and identified 2,300 who followed strict parameters for a vegetarian diet to determine how genetics affect health benefits. They found that most vegetarians had lower cholesterol across all measures, including total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein and high-density lipoprotein levels, which can be beneficial for heart health.

Vegetarians also had lower Vitamin D levels and higher levels of triglycerides than non-vegetarians. Vitamin D is important for bone health and immune function, and a deficiency can lead to negative health effects. Higher levels of triglycerides, which are a type of fat in the blood, can also increase risk of cardiovascular disease.

By including a genetic component to their analysis, the study found that when specific gene variants, also known as minor alleles, were present, participants saw different health outcomes. This included a variant of the gene MMAA, which relates to calcium metabolism. While most vegetarians see decreased calcium levels, which can have noteworthy negative effects, individuals with this minor allele saw increased calcium levels. This could lead to improvements in bone health and dental health, but high levels of calcium can also have negative health effects including kidney stone development or cardiovascular issues.

Others might see an impact on their hormone levels. While the majority of vegetarians see a decrease in testosterone, a smaller group with another gene variant saw increased testosterone levels. The third significant interaction, according to the study, was a gene variant related to kidney function and kidney filtration rates. The presence of this minor allele modified the effect of vegetarianism, taking it from increasing the eGFR, or estimated glomerular filtration rate, to decreasing that filtration rate.

Highlighting these differences can help individuals find the best diet for the individual needs according to Francis.

People with specific and immediate nutritional requirements related to these three traits should consider being tested for the variants we describe in this manuscript and making changes accordingly, Francis said in a press release.

Moving forward, this study can support future nutrigenetics studies and clinical trials, helping researchers better understand the impact of diet on different groups.

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UGA study reveals vegetarian diet benefits arent one-size-fits-all - Red and Black

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When artificial sweeteners entered the U.S. market in the 1950s, food manufacturers made a big claim: That they could satisfy the American sweet tooth without the negative health effects and calories of sugar.

Today, artificial sweeteners and other sugar substitutes have become ubiquitous in the food supply, showing up in a slew of products including diet sodas, sliced bread and low-sugar yogurts not to mention your morning coffee.

But questions about sugar substitutes have been swirling for decades, with scientists and public health officials suggesting they might come with certain health risks of their own.

The research on how sugar substitutes affect our bodies is preliminary, complex and sometimes contradictory.

They havent been studied as much as they should be in humans, said Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian, a cardiologist and director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts University.

That leaves us with many questions about how to weigh their potential benefits and risks. Heres what we know.

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Are Artificial Sweeteners Safer Than Sugar? - The New York Times

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Summary: Female athletes consuming only half their caloric needs for 14 days experienced significant drops in performance and muscle mass. This low energy availability also weakened their immune systems.

The harmful effects couldnt be reversed by short-term refeeding, highlighting the risks of weight loss practices in sports. The findings emphasize the need for awareness and better support for athletes.

Key Facts:

Source: University of Copenhagen

Whether selected to swim, row or run in the Olympics, or gearing up to ride in the Tour de France, achieving the right weight has been a focal point of many elite athletes for decades. It could be to look lean and mean in a swimsuit or jersey, or to qualify for a certain weight category. But there is also a belief that losing weight enhances performance.

As such, it is a widespread phenomenon among athletesespecially inendurance sportslike running, swimming, cycling and rowingto reduce theirdietary intakein the run-up to competition.

It is particularly problematic among female endurance athletes. Many athletes focus heavily on weight in their respective sports. Consequently, they tend to go into short-term, but intense periods of weight loss with the expectation of performing better, says Professor Ylva Hellsten of the University of Copenhagens Department of Nutrition, Exercise and Sports.

She and Ph.D. student Jan Sommer Jeppesen are two of the researchers behinda new studyon the effects of low energy availability amongfemale athletes.

The paper is published in the journalRedox Biology.

We know that the phenomenon of not eating enough is associated with many things that are harmful to healthincluding missed periods, compromised bone health and changes in metabolism. But there is still plenty that we dont know. As such, we investigated some of the possible consequences more closely, says Jeppesen, who is the studys lead author.

For the study, the researchers recruited twelve female triathletes, all of whom had a normal energy intake. During one part of the trial, the athletes were given enough calories for 14 days, after which their performance was tested. The same athletes also went through a 14-day period during which they consumed only about 50% of their energy needs while sticking to their normal intensive training schedule.

During the period with insufficient calories, athletes lost an average of roughly 4% of their body weight, about half of which was muscle mass. And they experienced a loss in performance:

The fourteen days of insufficient food intake reduced their performance by 7.7% in a 20-minute time trial on a bike, which is quite significant. And during a more intense short-term test, their performance slid by as much as 18%. So there is no doubt that this practice greatly impairs ones performance as an athlete, even over shorter periods of time, says Jeppesen.

In addition to sports performance, the researchers examined the effects on athletes immune function.

Among other things, we saw that insufficient energy intake was associated with increased systemic stress. The athletes had a large increase in cortisol, a stress hormone, and a dramatically increased stress level in immune cells. This suggests that there is a quite severe impact on several aspects of the immune system if one doesnt eat enough. This may potentially contribute to athletes being more exposed to illness, says Jeppesen.

The researchers hope that the results of the study will help create more awareness of the phenomenon.

Many coaches continue to pressure athletes to lose weight. For many years, it has been a part of the culture in the sports worldand remains so. We need to shed light on the phenomenon and ask critically: What are we actually doing to our athletes both physically and psychologically? says Hellsten.

Team Denmark, the Danish elite sport organization, welcomes the new research results with open arms.

It focuses on a really important topic and challenges the attitude that lighter is always better. The theory and culture remains prevalent in many sports. I experience many athletes who trim their weight in the weeks leading up to a competition, but without understanding the consequences of doing so, says Majke Jrgensen, a sports nutritionist and manager at Team Denmark.

She sees the results as useful knowledge that can support a message that Team Denmark has been trying to promote:

My experience is that elite athletes and coaches are curious, but need research that backs up any critiques of the phenomenon. Here, the fact that thetest subjectsare actual athletes is a major strength, so that the results can be transferred to the athletes and coaches that Team Denmark supports.

We will use these results to support what we are already trying to communicate, both when we sit down with athletes one-on-one, as well as during workshops and presentations in these types of contexts, says Jrgensen.

After fourteen days of low energy availability (LEA), the athletes underwent a three-day refeeding period as part of the trial, during which they were provided plenty to eat.

We had expected that the three days of enough food would restore their performanceand maybe even improve itbut there was absolutely no effect. Their performance was just as degraded as prior to the three days. This tells us that the negative effects cannot be reversed by quickly replenishing energy stores, which is a strategy used by many athletes, says Jeppesen.

According to the research literature, men tend to be more resilient when it comes to insufficient energy intake.

Based upon the rather limited research in this area, it seems that men are able to tolerate reduced energy intake before it affects us negatively. This indicates that women in particular are a vulnerable population in this respect, says Jeppesen.

The gender difference is partly due to the fact that low energy availability can cause a womans estrogen levels to drop drastically. Since estrogen protects the circulatory system, muscles and bones, etc., estrogen loss has extensive effects on a womans physiology.

Hellsten points out that theharmful effectsof not eating enough for long periods of time, especially in women, can therefore also be lifelong.

Author: Ylva Hellsten Source: University of Copenhagen Contact: Ylva Hellsten University of Copenhagen Image: The image is credited to Neuroscience News

Original Research: Open access. Low energy availability increases immune cell formation of reactive oxygen species and impairs exercise performance in female endurance athletes by Ylva Hellsten et al. Redox Biology

Abstract

Low energy availability increases immune cell formation of reactive oxygen species and impairs exercise performance in female endurance athletes

The effects of low energy availability (LEA) on the immune system are poorly understood. This study examined the effects of 14 days of LEA on immune cell redox balance and inflammation at rest and in response to acute exercise, and exercise performance in female athletes.

Twelve female endurance athletes (age: 26.83.4yrs, maximum oxygen uptake (O2max): 55.25.1 mLmin1kg1) were included in a randomized, single-blinded crossover study. They were allocated to begin with either 14 days of optimal energy availability diet (OEA, 522kcalkg fat free mass (FFM)1day1) or LEA diet (222kcalkg FFM1day1), followed by 3 days of refueling (OEA) with maintained training volume. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated, and plasma obtained at rest before and after each dietary period. The PBMCs were used for analysis of mitochondrial respiration and H2O2emission and specific proteins. Exercise performance was assessed on cycle by a 20-min time trial and time to exhaustion at an intensity corresponding to 110%O2max).

LEA was associated with a 94% (P=0.003) increase in PBMC NADPH oxidase 2 protein content, and a 22% (P=0.013) increase in systemic cortisol. LEA also caused an alteration of several inflammatory related proteins (P<0.05). Acute exercise augmented H2O2emission in PBMCs (P<0.001) following both OEA and LEA, but to a greater extent following LEA. LEA also reduced the mobilization of white blood cells with acute exercise. After LEA, performance was reduced in both exercise tests (P<0.001), and the reduced time trial performance remained after the 3 days of refueling (P<0.001).

14 days of LEA in female athletes increased cortisol levels and had a pronounced effect on the immune system, including increased capacity for ROS production, altered plasma inflammatory proteome and lowered exercise induced mobilization of leukocytes. Furthermore, LEA resulted in a sustained impairment in exercise performance.

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Low-Calorie Diets Harm Athletes Performance and Health - Neuroscience News

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For the first time in a long time, Lakeland commissioners got some good news Friday about the much-maligned South Florida Avenue road diet project.

City staff has been in talks with the Florida Department of Transportation in recent months about funding to remove the concrete barriers, widen the sidewalks and reconstruct the road and weve moved them a ton, Public Works Engineering Manager Ryan Lazenby said.

At a glance

Lakeland officials are doing several things to speed up the reconstruction and beautification of South Florida Avenue through Dixieland:

What is the South Florida Avenue road diet? In April 2020, concrete barriers were installed along South Florida Avenue between Lime and Ariana streets, converting that mile from five too-narrow lanes to three standard-sized ones. It was intended to be a one-year test to see the effect on traffic.

The City Commission voted in December 2022 to make the three-lane configuration permanent and use the reclaimed roadway for wider sidewalks, but construction has yet to begin. The project has been intensely controversial.

Funding concerns: City commissioners were shocked in April when FDOT District 1 Secretary L.K. Nandam suggested Lakeland might have to pay half of the $22 million cost to rebuild and realign the state road.

Since then, Lazenby said the two entities have come closer to the citys original expectation that Lakeland would pay for thedesign phase and aesthetic enhancements like decorative lighting, street trees and pavers. And FDOT would take responsibility for essential infrastructure such as drainage, traffic signals and roadway resurfacing.

Theyve agreed to pay for any right-of-way acquisition, Lazenby said. Theyre also providing us with pavement evaluation reports, which is saving us hundreds of thousands of dollars And theyve agreed to pay CEI (construction engineering and inspection). Thats $2.5 million alone.

Design bidding to start next week: The city will advertise the project to engineering design firms for 30 days starting next week. Lazenby said his department is hoping to select a firm and present a contract to the commission in late August or early September. The technical design process takes about two years.

FDOT meeting: Lazenby said he and Transportation and Planning Manager Chuck Barmby met with FDOT officials on Thursday so they could work on developing a memorandum of understanding by late July or early August.

The document will outline each entitys responsibilities, including a few items that still need to be hammered out. For example, it isnt clear who would pay to relocate underground utilities if unforeseen conflicts arise.

If we hit something like Five-Points Roundabout, where we had some of those utility issues, FDOT needs to come up with that dollar, Lazenby said. Well make sure thats all in the MOU.

Shovel-ready: We anticipate being shovel-ready in fall 2026 with the design complete and MOU in hand, Lazenby said.

But he cautioned, That doesnt mean DOT is going to have the money to fulfill their funding obligation in 2026. So the commissioners may have to decide if Lakeland is willing to front the money and be reimbursed in a later year.

The answer will be yes, Mayor Bill Mutz said without hesitation.

Commissioner Sara Roberts McCarley agreed, as long as there is an ironclad agreement that the city will be reimbursed, like language in there signed in blood.

Lazenby said it will locked down before work begins. He added that FDOT is very supportive of the citys desire to accelerate the project. Also, the costs will likely be lower in 2026 than they would be a year or two later, so FDOT benefits.

Cautiously optimistic: Lazenby said its not yet a warm and fuzzy feeling, but hes hopeful that by September at least it wont feel like indigestion.

Weve moved millions and millions of dollars towards the good and we really are advancing now with at least some hope in sight and some sort of plan coming forward, he said.

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Very Hopeful: Road Diet Project Turns a Corner as City and FDOT Near Deal - LkldNow

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In the age of Instagram filters and food fads, an influencer named Gretchen Adler has taken a decidedly different approach that has left her audience both fascinated and puzzled.

The 38-year-old California mom captivated millions with her ancestral diet posts, which she brands as a return to natural, unprocessed foods.

Under the Instagram handle @gretchy, the content creator posted a video sharing every meal and drink she consumed in a day. The video, posted in May, garnered more than 5.7 million views as she explained how she avoids seed oils, artificial sugars, dyes, and preservatives at all costs.

The Instagrammer revealed that her day begins with a ritual that feels almost sacred: a glass of filtered water with fresh lemon, followed by a cup of coffee brewed from organic mold-free beans and enriched with raw cream.

Breakfast is a hearty affair with homemade sausages crafted from 100% grass-fed beef paired with eggs from pasture-raised hens.

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Image credits: gretchy

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Image credits: gretchy

Accompanying her protein-rich meals are some freshly baked sourdough blueberry muffinsmade from scratch. She also washed down a Prenatal Ancestral Supplement, causing some of her followers to raise their eyebrows.

As midday approaches, the internet star blends a vibrant probiotic smoothie. The concoction includes raw kefir, homegrown frozen peaches, and tamarillos, and it is garnished with bee pollen.

Dinner in her household features a comforting bowl of chicken noodle soup, which is made from scratch with the same care and attention to ingredient quality. The meal concludes with a slice of raw cheesecake.

Gretchens diet stirred a bit of controversy in the comments section.

Ancestors didnt drink smoothies due to lack of nutribullet, said one critic, while another wrote, This breaks my brain how this isnt satire.

Ahhh yes. The ancestral coffee, ancestral muffins, the ancestral vitamin pills. All the things our ancestors had, another sarcastically wrote.

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Image credits: gretchy

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Image credits: gretchy

Singer SZA also commented, saying she was Disturbed and delightfully intrigued.

Gretchen didnt pay heed to her naysayers and said their comments are reflective of how people have become immensely accustomed to having processed foods as part of their meals.

The people who think this is a jokevery telling of the times, she told Newsweek. We have veered so far from what real food is that people now think eating and preparing nutrient-dense foods is a joke. Ultra-processed foods are considered the norm and are foods I, myself, wouldnt consider as foods.

Our nation has a health epidemic and obesity, diabetes, and cancer rates have never been higher. One must wonder why, she added.

Her diet was also controversial because raw dairy products, which she regularly consumes, are illegal in some states due to the risks of unpasteurized milk.

The California Department of Public Health advises against raw dairy for children, pregnant women, the elderly, and those with weakened immune systems.

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Image credits: gretchy

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Image credits: gretchy

Since the advent of modernization, processed foods have become a staple in the American diet due to their convenience, affordability, and long shelf life. The fast-paced lifestyle of many Americans demands quick and easy meal options, and processed foods offer just that.

However, the reliance on these foods can be harmful, as they are typically high in added sugars, unhealthy fats, and sodium while being low in essential nutrients and fiber. This nutritional imbalance can lead to a host of health issues, including obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension. Furthermore, the additives and preservatives used in processed foods can have adverse effects on health, contributing to chronic inflammation and other long-term health problems.

A study involving more than 100,000 adults found that consuming 10% more ultra-processed foods was linked with a 10% increase in the risks of cardiovascular disease, coronary heart disease, and cerebrovascular disorders.

These health concerns have led to the popularity of diets such as the ancestral diet, also known as the paleo diet or caveman diet. These diets are based on the premise that modern humans should eat foods that mimic the diet of our Paleolithic ancestors.

The paleo diet is based on foods that humans ate during that Paleolithic era, which was about 2.5 million to 10,000 years ago, Registered Dietitian Julia Zumpano told Cleveland Clinic.

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Image credits: gretchy

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People following the diet believe that this way of eating aligns with our evolutionary biology and can lead to better health. The diet includes fruits, vegetables (excluding veggies high in starch, like corn, peas, and potatoes), fish, nuts, eggs, and lean meat. What the diet does not include are grains, dairy, legumes, refined or added sugar, added salt, and highly processed foods.

This diet focuses on including single-ingredient foods, Julia said. It eliminates all processed foods, which is what we strive for on any diet plan.

Although this high-protein, low-carb diet can help with weight loss, the registered dietician also noted that the body may be deprived of other nutrients due to the elimination of entire food groups like grains and dairy.

Without eating grains and dairy, youre missing out on beneficial fiber, vitamins and minerals, she warned. From a long-term standpoint, finding alternatives for grains, legumes or dairy will at least give you the nutrients you might be lacking from not having those foods.

Another factor that is extremely important in maintaining ones health is paying attention to the packaging labels of products.

Product packaging can be misleading in various ways, as it is often designed to create a more favorable impression of the product than is warranted. For instance, health claims such as natural, organic, or gluten-free can give the illusion of a healthier option, even if the product is high in sugar, sodium, or unhealthy fats.

In Europe, a widely used label on product packages is the Nutri-Score label, which is a color-coded labeling system that rates food from A to E (best to worst) using colors ranging from green to red.

Researchers of one study have demonstrated the effectiveness of the Nutri-Score label in providing a clearer and more accurate representation of the nutritional quality of food products. The study highlighted that the Nutri-Score system can mitigate potential misunderstandings caused by misleading advertising claims, such as no added sugar.

The lead author of the study, Dr. Kristin Jrkenbeck, explained that proper labeling can also prevent consumers from falling for the health halo effect.

The health halo effect means that a single characteristic is understood as a signal for an overall favorable nutritional profile. Marketing claims, such as 30% less sugar or high in protein, can lead to the overestimation of the health value of a food product, she told Medical News Today. These buzzwords make the foods appear healthier in the consumers perception than they actually are.

As for internet star Gretchen, she continues to believe in her all-natural food options for her ancestral diet.

It has improved my energy levels and brain function. I also have healthy skin and hair, she told Newsweek.

I hope that I can inspire others to take back their kitchens and start making foods from scratch againvital for the health of our future generations, she added.

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Woman Viciously Trolled Online After Sharing A Day Of Cooking And Eating The Ancestral Diet - Bored Panda

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Switching from a diet high in saturated animal fats to a diet rich in plant-based unsaturated fats influences the fat composition in the blood. This in turn influences the long-term risk of disease, finds a recent study.

The study, published in Nature Medicine, conducted by a team of researchers from the German Institute of Human Nutrition Potsdam-Rehbrcke (DIfE), Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and several other universities, shows that it is possible to accurately measure diet-related fat changes in the blood. These can then be directly linked to the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

Our study confirms with even greater certainty than before the health benefits of a diet with a high proportion of unsaturated vegetable fats, such as those found in the Mediterranean diet. This could help to formulate targeted dietary recommendations for those who would benefit most from changing their eating habits, says Dr Clemens Wittenbecher, head of research at Chalmers University of Technology and lead author of the study.

Part of this research was conducted in a dietary intervention study from the University of Reading in the UK, involving 113 men and women. Over 16 weeks, one study group consumed a diet high in saturated animal fats, while the other followed a diet rich in unsaturated vegetable fats. The blood samples were analysed using lipidomics to identify specific lipid molecules that reflected the different diets of the subjects.

We summarised the effects on blood lipids with a multi-lipid score (MLS). A high MLS indicates a healthy blood lipid profile. A high intake of unsaturated vegetable fats and a low intake of saturated animal fats can contribute to achieving such positive MLS values, says first author Dr Fabian Eichelmann from DIfE and scientist at the German Centre for Diabetes Research (DZD).

The WHO recommends replacing saturated animal fats, such as those found in butter, with vegetable unsaturated fats, such as those found in olive oil, in order to reduce cardiometabolic risk. However, the safety of these guidelines has so far been moderate due to limitations in existing studies.

The study described here overcomes these limitations by precisely analysing the fats in the blood, also known as lipids, using a method called lipidomics. These very detailed lipid measurements allowed the researchers to link diet and disease in an innovative combination of different study types. This novel approach combines nutritional intervention studies which use highly controlled diets and existing cohort studies with long-term health monitoring.

The research team statistically linked the MLS results from the dietary intervention study to the incidence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in large, previously conducted observational studies. The joint data analysis of both study types showed that participants with a higher MLS, which indicates a favourable composition of dietary fats, had a significantly reduced risk of developing cardiometabolic diseases.

In addition, the current study investigated whether people with low MLS values, which indicate a high intake of saturated fats, specifically benefit from a healthier diet. The Mediterranean diet, which focuses on providing more unsaturated vegetable fats, was used in the large nutritional intervention study PREDIMED. Using this study, researchers found that the prevention of type 2 diabetes was actually most pronounced in individuals who had low MLS scores at baseline.

Nutrition is so complex that it is often difficult to draw conclusive evidence from a single study. Our approach of using lipidomics to combine intervention studies with tightly controlled diets with prospective cohort studies with long-term health follow-up can overcome the current limitations in nutrition research, explains Wittenbecher.

Further information: dife.de

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Study Finds Switching From Animal Fats to Plant-based Fats Reduces Risk of Disease - vegconomist - the vegan business magazine

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Richard Simmons, the frizzy-haired fitness guru who championed positivity, exercise and healthy eating, and helped people lose millions of pounds through an idiosyncratic blend of earnestness and camp, died July 13 at his home in Los Angeles, a day after his 76th birthday.

His publicist, Tom Estey, confirmed the death but gave no other details.

Mr. Simmons, who retired to his Los Angeles home and abruptly left the public eye in 2014, revealed on social media in March that he had been successfully treated for skin cancer. The announcement came days after he published a startling post in which he declared that every day we live we are getting closer to our death and urged readers to enjoy your life to the fullest.

For more than 40 years, Mr. Simmons was a zany, irrepressible advocate for physical fitness and weight loss, wearing sparkling tank tops and striped Dolphin short shorts while exhorting Americans to get off the couch and get moving. If your underwear isnt wet, he would shout, youre not working hard enough!

Adopting playful titles like The Pied Piper of Pounds and The Clown Prince of Fitness, he led classes at his Beverly Hills exercise studio, Slimmons; published best-selling fitness guides, including the Never-Say-Diet Book (1980); promoted portion-control kits like Deal-a-Meal; and released hit workout videos including Sweatin to the Oldies (1988), in which he led aerobics routines to songs such as Dancing in the Street and Great Balls of Fire, backed by a live band in a gym setting meant to evoke a high school reunion.

A self-described former fatty, the 5-foot-7 Mr. Simmons represented a much more accessible physical ideal than svelte or muscle-bound peers like Jane Fonda and Jack LaLanne, said Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, a history professor at the New School in Manhattan and the author of Fit Nation: The Gains and Pains of Americas Exercise Obsession.

Recounting his story in books and exercise classes, Mr. Simmons said he had struggled with compulsive eating ever since he was a boy in New Orleans, entranced by opulent French Quarter restaurants and his parents home cooking. He went directly from pablum to crpes suzette, weighed 268 pounds by the time he graduated from high school and became a plus-size model while studying in Italy as an exchange student, playing a dancing meatball, a bunch of grapes and an earthbound Peter Pan in commercials for food and underwear.

Mr. Simmons said he decided to transform his body after finding an anonymous note left under the windshield wiper of his car, which he had parked outside an Italian supermarket where he was autographing packages of gnocchi. Fat people die young, it read. Please dont die.

Overcome with fear and anxiety, he turned to pills, shots, massages, hypnosis, anything and everything while trying to slim down in a hurry. For a time, he simply stopped eating. He lost 112 pounds in two and a half months, devastating his mind and body, before he checked himself into a hospital.

Mr. Simmons underwent plastic surgeries for his chin, eyes, nose and hair. After moving to Los Angeles, he started his exercise studio in 1974, complete with an adjoining restaurant, Ruffage, that included one of the first free-standing salad bars independent of a steakhouse.

His workouts were part performance art, part burlesque show and part therapy session, in which he comforted students as they burst into tears. He donned wings, a tutu and other outrageous costumes, and maintained an almost theatrical intensity, shouting out compliments about pupils thighs and butts or chanting, Fat, fat, go away, give it all to Doris Day!

Forget exercising: just speaking with him can raise your heart rate, New York Times reporter Brooks Barnes wrote in 2013 after a visit to Slimmons. He likes to stand about three inches from your face and stare at you. One minute hes laughing maniacally. The next he is teetering on the verge of tears and what appears to be genuine sadness.

Discussing the perils of junk food, Mr. Simmons could be solemn and grave, walking around his studio showing pictures of internal organs that belonged, he said, to the morbidly obese: Do you see this heart? This heart is covered with cookies and pies and grease, and your heart may look like this, and you never know when its going to stop beating.

But he also leavened his message with humor, including on episodes of The Richard Simmons Show, a syndicated series that ran for four years in the early 1980s. The show featured interviews and exercise lessons along with comedy sketches in which Mr. Simmons played characters like the Rev. Pounds, declaring, Though I waddle through the valley of linguine and clams, I shall fear no evil.

Mr. Simmons welcomed celebrities to his classes and salad bar Dustin Hoffman, Diana Ross, Barbra Streisand and Joanne Woodward were all early customers but catered more to ordinary people, mainly women, who said they had never felt comfortable at a gym before walking in to Slimmons.

In a 2024 interview for this obituary, Petrzela said that Mr. Simmons was unique among his contemporaries in welcoming and highlighting people who were not thin, including by featuring them in his exercise videos.

She added that while he never discussed his sexuality, Mr. Simmons brought a new, gender-bending aesthetic into mainstream America, embodying a kind of gender-line crossing flamboyance that was more common to gay nightclubs than gyms. Cultural critic Rhonda Garelick, among others, described Mr. Simmons as unmistakably camp, writing in a 1995 article that his elaborately constructed persona is part cheerleader, part father confessor, and part Broadway chorus boy.

Outlasting fitness stars including Fonda, Mr. Simmons continued to preside over the studios classes into his mid-60s, and said he traveled 200 days a year while promoting exercise programs and meeting with fans whom he considered members of his extended family.

But in 2014, he made what Robert Thompson, a Syracuse University professor who studies television and popular culture, called an almost J.D. Salinger-like, Thomas Pynchon-esque pivot into seclusion, disappearing from view and then closing his gym in 2016.

His withdrawal spawned rumors and conspiracy theories that were amplified by a popular 2017 podcast, Missing Richard Simmons, which investigated tabloid speculation that the exercise guru might be held hostage in his home or transitioning from male to female.

Mr. Simmons rebuffed those reports in social media posts and phone interviews, insisting that he was simply living a more private life in the aftermath of a very difficult knee replacement. He had decided to make a new beginning for myself, he said, one that seemed to fulfill an earlier promise he made about doing what he loved.

I work real hard to make people laugh and to make them think, he told People magazine in 1981. The day I dont love any of this, Ill walk away.

The younger of two sons, Milton Teagle Simmons was born into a show-business family in New Orleans on July 12, 1948. His mother, the daughter of Russian Jewish immigrants, supported the family while working as a fan dancer; his father, who looked after the children, had once performed in a vaudeville act and emceed for big bands in Chicago.

To bring in extra money, Mr. Simmons sold pralines on street corners in the French Quarter work he credited with teaching him how to work a crowd.

He sang and put on a smile, he said, but the joy was mostly an act at a time when he was oscillating between binge-eating and extreme weight-loss techniques, feeling isolated as the only member of his family who was heavyset. He told NPR that he began taking laxatives at age 11 and was eventually consuming 30 a day. By age 13, he was throwing up after meals.

Mr. Simmons went to Catholic schools and contemplated becoming a priest or a monk, writing in a 1999 memoir, Still Hungry After All These Years, that he interviewed with a recruiter for the Dominican Order, believing that the monastery would be a refuge from jokes about his weight.

He ultimately changed his mind (the black cape worn by friars was not my color, he said) and studied art at what is now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. After two years, he transferred to Florida State University, later explaining that the school offered a two-year exchange program that gave him a chance to study in Italy, where he said he was cast in bit parts in the Federico Fellini movies Satyricon (1969) and The Clowns (1970).

Mr. Simmons received a bachelors degree in 1970. After settling in Los Angeles a few years later, he worked as a matre d at an Italian restaurant and began searching for exercise classes. He tried yoga and Pilates but found it too self-serious no one cracked a single joke and was disappointed by a visit to Vinces Gym on Ventura Boulevard, where an agonizing weightlifting workout left him bedridden for days.

Then he discovered a class taught by Gilda Marx, a high-energy instructor who played music and danced. He was the only man in the course, and recalled that after one class, Marx told him the other students were uncomfortable with his presence. Mr. Simmons speculated that the real issue was that he was just too much of a cutup, cracking jokes and singing along to the music. The encounter inspired him to start his own exercise studio.

By the early 1980s, Mr. Simmons was appearing regularly on the ABC soap opera General Hospital he played himself, leading exercise classes at the fictional Campus Disco and appearing on late-night television shows hosted by Johnny Carson and David Letterman.

Looking to emulate the success of Fondas workout videos, he began releasing his own exercise tapes in 1983, with titles including Dance Your Pants Off, Party Off the Pounds and No Ifs, Ands or Butts. His first VHS tape, Everyday With Richard Simmons, opened with shots of diners enjoying pizza, fried chicken and a corn dog; Mr. Simmons made a dramatic entry while bursting out of a banana split, outfitting everyone in yellow jogging suits and transporting them into his studio, where the sweating commenced.

His exercise videos collectively sold more than 20 million copies, according to his website. Their success helped him accrue a fortune that enabled him to settle into a mansion in the Hollywood Hills, where he lived alone with his housekeepers and pet Dalmatians; maintained a collection of more than 400 dolls; and parked a Mercedes luxury sedan with the license plate YRUFATT.

Survivors include a brother.

Late in his career, Mr. Simmons often noted that he found it difficult to talk with fans and students who told him about their struggles with weight loss and depression. He took their setbacks personally, he said, and cried more than he laughed. Prayer helped, as did keeping busy.

People need the court jester, so I keep that smile on and keep going out there to do what I do, he told Mens Health magazine in 2012. He added, Im the clown you take out of the box and wind up when you need a good laugh. And then, when youre done with me, I go back in my box.

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Richard Simmons, self-proclaimed pied piper of pounds, dies at 76 - The Washington Post

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Waste no time in learning these tricks.

CourtneyKassis, a registered dietitian in the Philadelphia area, is sharing three common stumbling blocks in weight loss journeys. She highlights the need for timing eating, addressing nutrient deficiencies and prepping meals.

After working with thousands of clients over the past five years to successfully lose weight and maintain it long-term, I need you to know these three things that are often overlooked, Kassis said in a TikTok this week.

The pros and cons of intermittent fasting eating within a specific window of time and fasting for the remaining hours have long been a hot topic in wellness circles.

Eating before bed can cause indigestion and heartburn, making it tougher to slumber. But exactly when you should close the kitchen for the night continues to be debated.

Some experts say finishing eating two to four hours before bedtime is best. Kassis recommends allowing yourself at least 12 hours between the last meal of the day and the first meal of the following day.

Help your body go into fat-burning mode instead of constantly being in fat-storage mode, she explained. In fat-storage mode, its obviously really difficult to lose weight, but 12 hours is all you need to switch it up and start burning fat.

The liver begins to break down stored fat for energy while in a fasting state, which typically starts 12 hours after your last meal, according to University of Michigan Medicine.

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There are so many nutrient deficiencies, like a deficiency in B vitamins, magnesium or vitamin D, that can interfere with metabolism, making it really difficult to lose weight, Kassis said.

Focusing on real food instead of just calories alone, supplementing where needed and getting routine labs can really help to support nutrient levels, she continued.

Vitamin D deficiencies, in particular, are common. The Cleveland Clinic says about 35% of American adults dont get enough vitamin D, which can lead to fatigue, bone pain and muscle weakness.

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The more decisions you have to make about what to eat, the more likely youre going to make a decision that doesnt exactly align with your nutrition goals, Kassis reasoned.

With crazy schedules, lots of stress and cravings throughout the day, you want to make sure you have the majority of your meals prepped ahead of time so you can grab something nourishing and go while staying on track, she added.

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Im a dietitian here are 3 reasons why youre struggling to lose weight - New York Post

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