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Many people exercise to look and feel better. Some want to lose weight or strengthen their muscles. Others exercise to improve their stamina.

But benefits of exercise arent just physical, theyre mental as well. Exercise not only takes care of your body, it takes care of your brain.

A 2018 study of 1.2 million people in the United States, published in "The Lancet: Psychiatry," found that people who exercise report having 1.5 fewer days of poor mental health a month, compared to people who do not exercise. On average, survey participants reported 3.4 days of poor mental health a month.

Fighting depression

Depression, which is the leading cause of disability worldwide, is just one area of mental health where exercise can help. The human toll of depression is, of course, tragic, but depression also costs employers an estimated $44 billion each year in lost productivity, according to the Center for Workplace Mental Health.

Exercise can help. Even those who are genetically disposed toward developing depression can benefit, according to new research published in "Depression & Anxiety."

Researchers found that, Higher levels of physical activity were associated with reduced odds of incident depression across all levels of genetic vulnerability, even among individuals at highest polygenic risk.

In our recent column on fitness and productivity, we quoted Harvard Health and wrote that, Serotonins and endorphins are two neurotransmitters that are affected by exercise. Exercise releases serotonin from the brain, which can result in feeling better and an improved state of mind, making stress easier to handle.

We also noted that sweating releases endorphins, which help relax the mind, and that exercise also reduces levels of cortisol, which is the bodys stress hormone.

Exercise is a natural high. As the Mayo Clinic noted, the endorphins released include endogenous cannabinoids, which are natural cannabis-like brain chemicals that can enhance your sense of well-being.

In addition, Kelly McGonigal, author of "The Joy of Movement: How Exercise Helps Us Find Happiness, Hope, Connection and Courage," wrote that exercise causes muscles to release lactate, which travels through the bloodstream to the brain, where it alters the persons neurochemistry, reducing anxiety and helping to prevent depression.

Her research finds that exercise is good for the brain, making you braver, more sensitive to joy, and more amenable to building trust and belonging with others.

Why exercise helps

Experts say that one reason exercise helps is that it takes your mind off of whats bothering you. When you exercise, you will put aside the negative thoughts that feed depression and anxiety. Youll also gain confidence as you meet your goals, and youll feel better about yourself and your appearance.

Exercise also provides social interaction, especially if you take group classes. McGonigal claims that moving with others in a group exercise class is one of the most powerful ways to experience joy.

Those who have serious mental illnesses are at a high risk of chronic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease, because they typically have a sedentary lifestyle and have to deal with side effects from medication. Patients with schizophrenia, for example, typically experience significant weight gain resulting from anti-psychotic drugs.

Exercise therapy is often used by health-care professionals as part of the treatment for those with a variety of mental illnesses and related disorders, ranging from alcohol abuse to eating disorders. And, unlike treatment with drugs, exercises does not have negative side effects.

According to The Primary Care Companion to the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, health benefits from regular exercise that should be emphasized and reinforced by every mental health professional to their patients include improved sleep, increased interest in sex, better endurance, stress relief, improvement in mood, increased energy and stamina, reduced cholesterol and improved cardiovascular fitness, weight reduction and increased mental alertness.

Even if you are mentally healthy, of course, these benefits are likely to be attractive to you. Whatever your mental state, exercise can help you be healthier and happier.

Rita Matraia is the owner of The Core Connection, a boutique fitness studio in Northborough. She is a Certified Stott Pilates Instructor, a Certified Restorative Exercise Specialist, a Certified Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist and a Healthy Foot Practitioner through the Nutritious Movement Center. She can be reached at rita@thecoreconnection.com.

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Work out, be happy - The Patriot Ledger

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Its not hard to know when you are really dehydrated you feel thirsty, you feel overheated and you know you need some water. Did you know that if you are mildly dehydrated it can cause health problems? Its harder to tell when you are mildly dehydrated. There are few if any signs. One of the biggest issues with mild dehydration is the effect it has on your brain. Your brain is made up of about 75% water. Your brain consists of and about 100 billion neurons. There are about 1,000 to 10,000 synapses for each neuron. Our brains depend on proper hydration to function normally. Your brain cells require a balance between water and minerals to operate. When you lose too much water your balance is disrupted.

Two recent studies that included healthy college-age men and women who took part in cognitive evaluation over the course of a few weeks in order to compare scores from their well-hydrated and dehydrated states. The women in the studies when in a mild dehydrated state had trouble concentrating. They didnt score any worse on mental tasks but their perception of their abilities was low. When the men were mildly dehydrated they did not score high on the mental tasks. It was especially evident in task that required more vigilance and working memory. Mild dehydration did not cause the men fatigue or headaches as it did with the women. Researchers think the difference was a hormonal response to dehydration.

The result of this study theorized that the billions of neurons in our brain detect mild dehydration early that negatively impact our body functions as a warning sign to let us know we need water before more dire consequences occur.

Its really important to pay attention not just to feeling thirsty but look at the more subtle changes to our body and mind such as fatigue, headache, difficulty concentrating, mood swings, remembering or learning. Keep an eye on your urine color. Dark yellow or tan means you need more water. Pale yellow is ideal.

Youve got to drink water or youll have some serious problems. We lose about a half-gallon of body fluid during the day. Thats about 2% of your body weight. If you work out youll lose even more and this could be dangerous. With a 3% fluid loss, youd have a hard time maintaining your body temperature. With a 4% fluid loss, your muscles stop working properly. A 5% fluid loss is life-threatening. At 150 pounds, a 5% fluid loss is only 7.5 pounds. Many people try to sweat away excess weight. Water loss or sweating is not an indication youre losing weight. It just means youre losing necessary body fluids.

Drinking water is important all year round but you need to be especially meticulous about drinking water when the weather is hot. Two-thirds of your body is composed of water. This makes it the bodys most vital nutrient. To maintain balance the average person needs about 10 to 15 cups per day. Of this amount probably 60% will be obtained from drinking water or beverages, 30% from moist foods and the remaining 10% will be a byproduct of the metabolism of various nutrients.

Water normally enters the body through the mouth but it can be lost in several ways. These include obvious losses as in urine, feces and sweat as well as less obvious losses, which occur by diffusion of water through the skin (perspiration throughout the day as part of metabolism) and by evaporation of water from the lungs during breathing.

If a person gets in about 2,500 ml of water each day then 2,500 ml of water must be eliminated to maintain water balance. Of this volume, approximately 60% will be lost in urine, 6% in feces and 6% in sweat. Another 28% will be lost by diffusion through the skin (which takes place all day long) and evaporation from the lungs. These percentages vary when factors such as temperature, relative humidity and physical activity come into play.

Water provides a valuable source of minerals like calcium and magnesium. It carries nutrients to your organs and tissue by way of the blood stream. Water also aids in the digestion of food and the absorption of nutrients into the body. It carries away bodily waste and cools the body through perspiration. Water also moistens the mucous membranes and lubricates the joints.

Your daily fluid intake can come from drinking water or other beverages such as juice, milk or soft drinks. Fruits and vegetables can also be counted because they are 80% water. You cant count your intake of coffee, tea or alcohol because they can act as a diuretic.

If you have trouble getting in water here are some suggestions you might find helpful.

Carry a container of water with you daily to drink throughout the day

Order water when you go to a restaurant and drink it first

Drink sparkling water mixed with fruit juice

Drink water from a wine glass or goblet

It doesnt require you running a marathon to run low on water. Mild dehydration can happen when youre doing regular daily activities such as studying, watching sporting events or even having sex.

Remember, more than two-thirds of your body and 75% of your brain is made up of this precious fluid. Dont take it for granted. Drink to good health, drink water.

If you have a fitness question or concern you would like addressed write to: Tips to be Fit, P.O. Box 53443, Philadelphia, PA 19105 or tipstobefit@gmail.com. If youve missed an article of Tips to be Fit just search for Tips to be Fit.

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Tips to be fit: Water and how it affects your brain - The Philadelphia Tribune

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By Annie KrallMedill Reports

Growling. Roaring. Grumbling.

Something not quite in the distance draws even closer.

In the pit of your stomach you feel it growing. What is that? Where did it come from? What does it want?

When the sound reaches a crescendo that is when you realize

Today is another fast day.

That rumbling is simply your stomach bored and on empty for your second day of fasting. At least, that is the case for Dimitra Zafiriadis on her courageous journey to do the bare minimum when it comes to caloric intake.

This is her story.

Time and energy. For most of us living in 2020, we can never have enough of either. But as Zafiriadis, a skincare specialist, bounds around her home in Park Ridge you would think this new decade had breathed life back into her body.

Ive reorganized every closet, every drawer. Im busy and I want to do this stuff, Zafiriadis said on a warmer than average day during one of the warmest Chicago Januarys on record. Things are heating up just as much on the inside with self revelations and a desire for change.

Zafiriadis sits down after a full day of work to discuss why her life has changed so drastically in only eight months. The short answer she gives is intermittent fasting.

Before changing her eating schedule to fit fasting guidelines, Zafiriadis would normally wanted to come home and chill not doing any of her household responsibilities. Feeling lethargic and rundown was common. That was my past normal not my new normal.

Zafiriadis is part of a congregation of converted eaters. In the fall of 2019, intermittent fasting sent a shock wave through media outlets like a Los Angeles earthquake might and began shaking up the dieting landscape many West Coast gurus are known for constructing.

Intermittent fasting has no set medical definition. But it definitely has the medical world talking. An intermittent fasting pattern can vary in a number of ways, according to Healthline.com.

Here are the core four intermittent fasting schedules:

With each of these methods, you can eat pretty much whatever you want during your feeding window. Zafiriadis has found that flexibility to be one of the reasons intermittent fasting actually works.

I cannot diet. Diets just I love to eat. I love food, Zafiriadis said.

As a woman who hasnt even hit 50 yet, she has dealt with decades of food restrictive practices. Talking about intermittent fasting doesnt show lines of frustration on her face the way dieting did.

Ive dieted all my life. Diets never work. You lose all this weight and then you gain it all back and that was the case with me, she explained.

Then last May, everything changed.

Zafiriadis embarked on a journey to lower her blood pressure and lose weight after being overweight for years. Her doctor asked her, have you thought about intermittent fasting? From then on, she does a version of intermittent fasting that is more extreme than most.

She fasts for at least 24 hours once a week. That allows her body to get into a depleted storage state. Then, she will break the fast depending on her schedule. Being a mother to a high school boy, life always seems to just happen funnily enough.

But sometimes Zafiriadis will fast for eight days. She calls it an extended fast. This means no protein drinks or other sustenance beyond water and coffee. In eight months, Zafiriadis has lost 60 pounds but she said she has gained much more in exchange.

Consult your doctor, though, before undertaking an intermittent fasting or an extreme fasting regiment. They may have guidelines you should be following for your specific age and body type.

But Zafiriadis swears by the extreme fast.

Im much more alive!

I have much more clarity!

Fasting almost sounds like a spiritual experience for Zafiriadis. Considering the practice has been a part of religious teachings for centuries, thats not a dramatic comparison. Being Greek Orthodox, Zafiriadis is no stranger to purposeful fasting. And while the changes thanks to fasting may be more than skin deep, lets be a little shallow for a moment.

On the surface, Zafiriadis is bright and cheerful. Her bubbly personality sparks a glowing smile which highlights her skin. Her face looks hydrated and in her own words, younger.

As a skin care specialist, her entire profession involves optimizing natural oils and hydration to beautify the largest organ in the human body the skin.

When Zafiriadis fasts, she drinks tons of water and black coffee. If she is feeling a little peckish she will opt for some plain carbonated water. Beyond a serious amount of liquids, her fasting period is void of any other nutrition.

This may sound potentially dangerous but Zafiriadis has no qualms about what she is doing. To her, there are no side effects and no down sides to how she eats.

Yet, Chicago clinical psychologist Maria Rago, who specializes in eating disorders, isnt quite as big a fan of intermittent fasting as Zafiriadis.

I wouldnt recommend intermittent fasting to anybody, Rago declared.

She has been an expert on Good Morning America and spoken across the country about cultivating healthy relationships with food. The thing about intermittent fasting if you think about your brain is that it is a very rigid [practice], Rago explained. It takes a lot of thought. It takes a lot of willpower. It takes a lot of effort.

She implored anyone thinking about intermittent fasting to consider more than just the potential benefits. Rago referenced how maybe there is some budding information that says you can add a year or two to your life but what about the quality of your life?

Do you really want to spend your whole day not eating? Rago asked. And then people say during that time that theyre not eatingthey become very preoccupied with food and very hungry.

Rago did reference a number of researchers who have seen benefits to intermittent fasting. And while some medical professionals like Rago would warn against intermittent fasting, it apparently could help fight cancer.

Mark Mattson, a professor of neuroscience at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, discussed how the future of oncology could involve intermittent fasting.

There are many trials going on in cancer patients, Mattson said while discussing the benefits of fasting. He co-authored the recent New England Journal of Medicine article titled Effects of Intermittent Fasting on Health, Aging, and Disease.

In his study, setting mice and rats on an alternate fasting diet where they ate every other day not only inspired weight loss but lead to cells aging slower. To understand why, Mattson analyzed on a cellular level how all of our cells mostly use two energy sources: glucose (starch) and ketones (fats).

That is why eating high carb and high fat foods usually leads to more energy than just lettuce. There are more calories and nutrients in a piece of bread or salmon. When cancer forms and tumor cells are present in the body, chemotherapy and radiation are deployed to try and stop those cells from growing.

So how exactly does intermittent fasting help fight those cancer cells?

A number of trials are being conducted which puts cancer patients on an intermittent fasting regiment, according to Mattson. The idea there is that because most cancer cells use glucose as their main energy source and, in many cases, cant use ketones, if you hit them with chemotherapy or radiation while the person is on intermittent fasting or in a ketogenic state then, first, its easier to kill the tumor cells and, second, the intermittent fasting may protect the normal cells from the chemotherapy drugs and radiation, Mattson explained.

Adaptive cellular stress response was also a topic of conversation relating to Mattsons experiments during our interview. Our cells are able to grow and thrive when we eat because of cell plasticity. Yet, when there is a stress response in the body, for example no food in the stomach, the cells upregulate production of antioxidant enzymes and brain cells. Neurotropic factors are upregulated, Mattson explained. This means the cells are getting better at responding to the lack of food or stress in general.

At the same time autophagy is increased and overall protein synthesis goes way down during the fasting period, Mattson found. Autophagy is the cell cleaning out any damaged pieces in the body to make room for new parts. During intermittent fasting, the cell is kind of in a stress resistant, dont grow mode.

Its like when you exercise. Your muscle cells dont grow stronger during the exercise. Its when youre resting that they build back up again, but this time stronger and usually with more muscle cells. Its the same concept with intermittent fasting. Your cells will be better at handling stress if you expose them to more stressful situations.

According to Mattson, half a dozen studies are now testing this theory of helping cancer patients through intermittent fasting.

Most importantly, he said, This is not a diet, its an eating pattern. That is one of the reasons Zafiriadis has found it so different from her previous weight loss programs.

Zafiriadis hopes to continue intermittent fasting. She has dropped her blood pressure and has earned a whole new outlook on life. Being around for the rest of her sons life was one of the reasons Zafiriadis wanted to start fasting in the first place.

If you want to try it out yourself, it may not be easy. You may be hungry, tired, or frustrated by some of the restrictions. But, as Zafiriadis said, you can fit it into your lifestyle.

I wish people would find their own philosophy of eating that really works for them, Rago advised.

Will intermittent fasting be an adventurous part of your new decade?

Photo at top: Suburban skin care specialist and intermittent fasting enthusiast Dimitra Zafiriadis has lost 60lbs in eight months after using an extended fasting regiment. (Annie Krall/MEDILL)

Excerpt from:
Intermittent fasting: A path to changing life and fighting cancer - Medill Reports: Chicago

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Buttermilk is essentially a by-product of churning cream. It's the non-fat, thin and slightly acidic residual liquid you get when cream or milk is churned into butter. That's how traditional, homemade buttermilk (known as chhaas in Indian households) is usually described. Then there's the commercial variety of buttermilk as well, which can you buy at stores. But this kind of buttermilk is said to be cultured by adding harmless lactic acid bacteria to non-fat milk. No matter which variety you opt for, there are myriad benefits of drinking or adding buttermilk to food. Here are some of the essential benefits of buttermilkyou should be aware of.

Tip: Add a bit of cumin powder and shredded ginger to a glass of buttermilk to help you digest food faster.

Tip: Add a dash of black pepper powder to buttermilk to make it even more beneficial.

Tip: If you buy full-fat buttermilk, you can also get vitamin K2, beneficial for bone health, in it.

Tip: Do not rely solely on buttermilk to fight cholesterol. Check with your doctor what other effective anti-cholesterol remedies can be.

Tip: Replace high-calorie drinks with vitamin-rich, low-calorie buttermilk, as part of your weight loss strategy.

Tip: Next time you make a turkey or chicken roast, marinate the meat in buttermilk.

Tip: Instead of fizzy drinks, go for buttermilk during summer.

Whats more, being an excellent hydrating agent, buttermilk can help you get rid of dry scalp issues. You can apply buttermilk directly on your scalp - wait for about half an hour before rinsing it off with lukewarm water. This can help you combat dandruff.

Tip: Use buttermilk as an ingredient in face and hair masks.

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All You Need To Know About The Incredible Benefits Of Buttermilk - Femina

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Seven different teams graced the No. 1 spot in the AP college basketball rankings this season.

That's tied for the most since 1983.

It's a testament to just how topsy-turvy college basketball was this season. And, most of all, it served as a baromoter for just how good -- no, just how great -- March Madness would have been. Should have been.

During the glorious regular season, we saw Evansville take down No. 1 Kentucky as 24.5 point underdogs ... at Rupp Arena. We saw Stephen F. Austin stun No. 1 Duke at the buzzer as 28 point underdogs ... inside Cameron Indoor. Oh, and did I mention Evansville took down Kentucky? That's certainly worth mentioning in this space here.

This was going to be the year of the wide-open title race before the NCAA championships were canceled this week over fears of the coronavirus pandemic. The season was predictable only in that everything was wholly unpredictable. And in March Madness -- where upsets are the norm and volatility is a staple -- we were going to have it in spades. We were expecting it to be March Madness on steroids, but if those steroids had also been juiced with HGH.

Now we'll never know what might've happened.

Simulate the season on a computer like the SportsLine folks did, and Dayton wins it all. Use statistical metrics like KenPom or Bart Torvik, and Kansas from top to bottom is considered the best team. Draw a name out of a hat, and well, who the heck knows?

The latter is the measure I choose to believe would have been the most accurate in predicting who might win it all this season, too. You could make a legitimate case for 15-plus teams to be considered real title threat in 2020.

San Diego State had its best shot to win it all in years after posting a 30-2 record. Villanova could've won its third title since 2016. Baylor's dream season could've turned into a fairytale ending. Dayton, Maryland, Michigan State, Seton Hall, Duke, Kentucky -- the list goes on. Each one of those programs had real mettle to play deep into March, perhaps into early April.

There's absolutely no sugarcoating it: it stinks for everyone.

But there's also some fun hypotheticals that come with the cancellation of the season now that uncertainty is the only certain in what was, frankly, one of the most fun and frenzied college hoops seasons the last decade. There's excitement in the unknown. You can make your own assessment and judge it your own way. If you thought Dayton was the most potent team in the sport, then hey, you own that. If you thought Kansas' duo of Devon Dotson and Udoka Azubuike was a legitimate-enough tandem to carry KU to the crown, then maybe that's the team that sticks with you, the team you'll always ride for when we reflect on the chaos of 2020. Maybe you bought in to Seton Hall or Kentucky and thought they had the best chance to cut down nets.

The fun part is that no matter how you view it, you're not wrong. It's the ultimate sports what-if with no real answer. We now have a bar topic to debate for the rest of our lives. (Kansas, for my money, was my pick. Buy me a beer and convince me otherwise.)

And hey, let's face it: the real fun of college basketball is that the best team in college basketball every season doesn't always win the national championship. 2014-15 Kentucky went 38-0 ... then lost in the Final Four to Wisconsin. The 1996-1997 Kansas team led by Paul Pierce and Raef LaFrentz -- which went 34-2 -- fell in the Sweet 16 that year. The Fab Five's second iteration, in 1992-1993, went 31-5 and eventually fell -- in part because of the infamous Chris Webber timeout -- to North Carolina in the title game. There's a randomness to single-elimination tournaments that consistently invites chaos.

And that is why we love March.

Now the only chaos is off the court, leaving us to wonder what might have transpired on it. We'll never know. But the fun of the unknown is enough to keep us coming back.

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Simulation Sunday: Projections of the 2020 NCAA Tournament shows we could have had a wild March Madness - CBS Sports

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Diet can play a crucial part in your overall health. Its no surprise then what you put inside your body can affect your longevity. Which diet is best avoided?

Researchers from the University of Aberdeen state: Restricting the intake of calories has been practiced as a method for increasing both the length and quality of life for over 500 years.

Basing their research on animal studies over the past 100 years, theyve concluded that lifelong caloric restriction may extend life by up to 50 percent in rodents.

The researchers added: This effect is matched by profound impacts on age related diseases, including reduced risk of cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes.

Researchers from the Washington University School of Medicine shifted the focus of calorie restriction to humans.

They concluded: Data from human studies indicate that long-term calorie restriction with adequate intake of nutrients results in a reduced risk of developing type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and cancer.

However, the researchers do state that its possible that the benefits the practitioners experienced while restricting their calorie intake could be because of the high-quality, vegan diets they consumed.

Both studies imply that the secret to longer life may be to avoid overeating.

Calories are usually written as kcal or kJ on the nutrition label found on food packets.

This can be found under the energy heading. Be aware, though, most calories are given per 100 grams or 100ml, and so don't refer to the calories found in the whole packet.

The NHS have a calorie checker that can tell you how many calories there are in over 150,000 different foods and drinks.

Apps are also available to download to track your calorie intake.

Excerpt from:
How to live longer: Avoid this type of diet if you want to increase your life expectancy - Express

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Thomas BarwickGetty Images

Committing to a healthier diet is one thing, but man can only stand so much raw kale and undressed tofu before he starts demanding some flavor. True, we live in the golden age of recipe-sharing. But who can be bothered to scroll through a drugstore-receipt-length saga about some home-cooks husbands lactose intolerancejust to find a healthy-ish meal idea thats two hours and 12 ingredients too complicated? Somebody, maybe, but not you. Rather than struggle through overhauling your diet, you could just start making a few simple, everyday swaps thatll help you eat more mindfully, without sacrificing taste. Here are five of them.

Theres no denying the magic of a fried buffalo wing, but theres also no denying the health consequences of treating every day like it's Sunday when it comes to inhaling breaded, deep fried meats. Enter the air fryer, which works sort of like a convection oven to cook food with superheated air instead of boiling oil. More importantly, it takes a bunch of the work out of cooking.

Some experts suggest swapping traditionally fried foods for air-fried can cut your calorie intake by up to 80 percent. Note: That math won't be on your side if you swap all the foods you eat for air-fried ones. But its a good starting point for making chicken cutlet night a little healthier. Air fryers also cook faster than lard or oil does, so the hot-right-now method also gives you more time to savor the flavor.

In the Venn diagram of healthy and tasty, there aren't many beers that land in the middle. Deschutes Brewery, which hails from the craft-beer haven of Oregon, has managed to stick the landing on this trick, with low-calorie brews that are more than just fizzy, vaguely hoppy water. Their signature Wowza! hazy pale ale is packed with citrus flavor yet infinitely crushable, with just 100 calories and 4g of carbs. The light and crispy Da Shootz! is a summer pilsner thatll quench your thirst all year round. For something hoppier, their gluten-reduced Lil Squeezy Juicy Ale is a lighter alternative to the typically calorie-heavy IPA, at 145 calories per 12 ounces. All three make great replacements for the same old high-cal lagers. And yeah, the names are just really fun to say.

They say you cant have your cake and eat it, but nobody mentioned ice cream. Maybe thats because the frozen-treat landscape is ever expanding with improved, better-for-you recipes with more nutritious, novel ingredients. Now, when your streaming service asks you if you're still watching, at least the pint in your hand can be a more virtuous optionwhether lower calorie, familiar, or not even milk-based.

What's more, you might be doing your health a favor by sprinkling in dessert. A study published by the Journal of Consumer Psychology argues that goals that require extended inhibition of desires, such as weight loss and financial saving, can benefit from including planned hedonic deviations in the goal-striving plan. So as long as those moments of hedonism dont involve chain-smoking or competitive hot-dog eating, giving yourself planned cheat days can actually help you get healthier.

Recent research suggests that cooking at home is a smart way to cut down on excess fat, unhealthy additives, and harmful chemicals in your food. But did those researchers have the week you just had? When you just cant be bothered to cook, by all means, eat out. Just remember to dine out smartly.

This is easier to do today than ever, with so many restauranteurs taking a mindful approach to diners dietary restrictions and health priorities. Which is to say, go ahead and customize your meal within reason (without worrying about what your co-diners or your server thinks; it's 2020, it's cool). Get rid of unnecessary add-ons like extra cheese or sour cream. Given the option, sub white rice for the healthier side or base du jour.

When ordering a salad, pay attention to the nutrition content of the dressing, says registered dietician Ayla Gentiletti. Just two tablespoons of certain creamy dressings can add as much as 300 extra calories to your salad, she notes. When in doubt, choose a vinaigrette or cut your dressing use by adding fresh lemon or lime juice, Gentiletti says.

Or sweet potato-spiral it, or rice up your favorite vegetable. We've reached peak veggie swap: Zucchini got in early for being crazy low in calories and carbs, in addition to being packed with potassium, fiber, and vitamins A and C. But when youre craving a big bowl of your favorite carbonara or Mom's Sunday gravy, you can also swap starchy pastas for prepackaged sweet potato noodles or riced cauliflower or broccoli, which deliver plenty of fiber, iron, and vitamins while remaining a fun-to-eat delivery system for sauce, protein, and flavor. Pour some turkey meatballs with teriyaki sauce over some riced veggies and youll be jet-skiing off to flavor country in no time.

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5 Easy Healthy Food Swaps That Still Taste Great - Esquire.com

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(Reuters Health) - Young men who care about their sperm quality might want to lay off the cheeseburgers and fries, according to a new study that links a typical Western diet with a lower sperm count.

Men in the study who ate a mostly Western diet characterized by pizza, fries, sweets, sodas and red and processed meats typically had a lower sperm count - by about 26 million - than men who ate far less of these unhealthy foods. With a Western diet, men also had lower levels of reproductive hormones needed for optimal fertility.

Conversely, men with the healthiest eating habits - with lots of fish, chicken, vegetables, fruits, and water - typically had a sperm count 43 million higher than those who ate the lowest amounts of these foods.

Your sperm is what you eat, said coauthor Dr. Feiby Nassan of the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston.

Diets rich in seafood, poultry, nuts, whole grains, fruits and vegetables provide antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids that are essential for good sperm production, Nassan said by email.

Our results suggest the possibility of using dietary intervention as a possible approach to improve sperm quality of men in reproductive age, Nassan said.

A normal sperm count can range from 15 million to 200 million sperm per milliliter of semen.

Sperm quality and certain sex hormone levels have decreased substantially over the past few decades, driven in part by worsening diets in many parts of the world, the researchers note in JAMA Network Open.

The current analysis included 2,935 healthy men in Denmark, ages 19 or 20 on average. Researchers divided them according to how closely their diets matched four patterns: a Western diet; a healthy diet described as a prudent pattern of eating; a so-called open-sandwich diet consisting of whole grains and lots of cold cuts, fish, condiments, and dairy; and a vegetarian-like diet with lots of veggies, soy, milk, and eggs and little if any red meat or chicken.

Total sperm count with the Western diet was significantly lower than with any of the other three eating patterns.

The study wasnt designed to prove whether diet directly affects sperm or fertility. Researchers also focused on young, healthy men who might not yet be trying to conceive, and they didnt examine what happened in older men who wanted to become fathers.

Still, the study adds to evidence suggesting a healthy diet is good for mens reproductive health, Dr. Muhammad Imran Omar of the University of Aberdeen in the UK said by email.

And, men, like women, should try to adopt a healthy diet, cut back on alcohol and stop smoking months before they want to start trying for a baby.

However, men should be aware that it takes three months to produce sperm, said Allan Pacey, a researcher at the University of Sheffield in the UK who wasnt involved in the study.

If a man alters his diet on a Friday it wont improve his sperm by Monday, Pacey said by email.

SOURCE: bit.ly/2VQrYmr JAMA Network Open, online February 21, 2020.

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Even among young men, healthier diet tied to higher sperm counts - Reuters

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Nutrition, the study of food and its effect on the body, is a science that is relevant to everyone. Because of this, there is a lot of misinformation of what works and what does not.

With trending diets over the past several decades, a few important facts about nutrition have been lost along the way. To set the facts straight, put aside your thoughts on fad diets and review the following nutrition basics.

Nutrients

Six nutrients help our bodies grow and maintain good health. They are carbohydrates, fats, proteins, water, vitamins and minerals.

Water is the most important nutrient. In fact, we can only live about three days without water.

Carbohydrates, fats and proteins are called macronutrients. We need these nutrients in larger amounts, and all three contain calories. All three macronutrients are important to our health, and we feel our best when they are balanced together.

One idea that has resulted from fad diets is that calories are separate from macronutrients, which is not the case. A gram of carbohydrate or protein contains 4 calories, and a gram of fat contains 9 calories. The amount of calories in a food depends on how many grams of carbohydrate, fat or protein it contains. Vitamins and minerals are also very important nutrients in maintaining our health, but we need them in smaller amounts and they do not contain calories.

Calories

Calories are a measure of energy. Our bodies need calories to maintain our breathing and brain function. An individuals calorie level is determined by their gender, age, height, current weight and activity level.

Calories also play an important role in growth and development. However, around 30 years of age, once we have stopped growing, our metabolisms slow down about 10% per decade. This means we do not need to eat the same amount of calories we did in our teens and early 20s. If we continue to eat the same amount of food simply out of habit, gradual weight gain will occur.

To learn how many calories you need, use a free online food-logging program to estimate your calories and track what you eat.

Variety, balanceand moderation

Eliminating a nutrient can lead to dietary imbalances or nutrient deficiencies over time, and it is not a necessary approach to better health. Carbohydrates include fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low-fat dairy products. Overall, carbohydrates are an important energy source. They provide both soluble and insoluble fiber important for both heart and digestive health. Whole grains provide B vitamins and phytochemicals, and are a good source of iron. Every color of fruits and vegetables provides different antioxidants that reduce our risk of cancer and improve our cardiovascular health.

Fats improve the flavor and texture of food and give us better appetite control. Ideally, choose monounsaturated sources like olive oil, almonds or avocados. Omega-3 fatty acids, known to decrease inflammation, are commonly found in salmon and most white fish, walnuts, chia and flax seeds.

Finally, protein is important for maintaining a strong, healthy body, and it also helps with appetite control. Choosing lean proteins like chicken, fish, eggs, beans and small portions of nuts keeps fat intake controlled and provides a wider variety of nutrients.

Get back to the basics. A nutrition plan built on science works, and it will support your health for a lifetime.

Niki Kubiak is a sports-certified registered dietitian, competitive runner and owner of Niki Kubiak Sports Nutrition and Weight Loss.

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Coronavirus has been detected in India. However, the vaccination of the same is yet to come. As per WHO, the virus is more likely to affect people who do not have a good immune system and fall sick quite often. During this time, you need to take care of your health so that you do not fall sick. There are manyimmunity booster foods in India that can help you stay fit and healthy. Let us take a look at some details on how to increase immunity and the immunity booster foods in India.

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You need to not only eat healthy food but also make sure you have good hygiene. It is important to wash hands with an antiseptic soap and using asanitizer while travelling. Adding to that, food also plays a vital role in boosting immunity. Immunity booster foods in India areeggs, fruits, green vegetables and many more things that come under the category ofnatural immunity booster foods. Let us take a look at some of the immunity booster foods in India.

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After the first step on how to increase immunity, you need to eat these foods. These foods are rich in vitamins and minerals that will help you in increasing immunity. These foodsalso have macronutrients that consist of protein, carb and fats.

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It helps in purifying the blood and fight the bad bacteria in the body. Having warm water with one tablespoon of giloy powder in the morning is beneficial. It is also one of the most powerful Ayurvedic herbs.

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Gooseberry that is also called amla in Hindi is also the bestnatural immunity booster foods. It consists of Vitamin C that helps boost the immune system. As per reports, the amount of vitamin C in one amla is equal to that of 20 oranges. You can consume it in juice form or just raw.

As they say, an apple a day keeps the doctor away. Apple is one of the most important foods that help in boosting the immune system. It is one of thenatural immunity booster food that is available in the market.

Raw coconut is also a natural immunity booster food. Not only raw coconut but coconut water and pure cold-pressed oil also come in the category. Avoid other variations ofcoconut oil.

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Immunity booster foods in India to include in your diet to help fight infections - Republic World - Republic World

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