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Madonna: Is This Bizarre Treatment a Sign the Singer May Need to Retire Soon? – Showbiz Cheat Sheet
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Madonna is a global superstar and has achieved some truly incredible things during the course of her long career. She rose to fame in the eighties and in the decades since she has managed to maintain fan interest on a level that very few artists manage to achieve.
Madonna has also been very controversial on occasion, with some of her projects and stagewear raising eyebrows. These days, Madonna continues to tour the world, even at an age when most artists would have retired.
Still, there have been some indications that Madonna is tiring of the road, especially when it comes to some of the more bizarre health rituals she has been undergoing lately. Read on to learn about Madonnas career, her intense diet and exercise routine, and what her outrageous health treatments are.
Born in 1958, Madonna is widely known as the Queen of Pop. She is responsible for songs such as Like a Virgin, Vogue, Like a Prayer, and 4 Minutes.
Madonna first gained attention in the 1980s, when she appeared on stage in outfits that would utilize elements from the Catholic faith, such as rosaries. She has also acted in a number of films, including Desperately Seeking Susan, Evita, and A League of Their Own.
While Madonna has received her fair share of critics due to her over-the-top stage persona and willingness to talk and sing about sex, she has also been a major contributor to charities all around the world. She has six children, including two biological children and four that she has adopted in recent years.
Madonna is one of the few celebrities who has steadfastly maintained her image in the new decade. And although she has experimented with a wide variety of musical styles, she is still true to her original, iconoclastic self.
At 61 years old, Madonnas stage performances defy her age. It doesnt come easy: Madonna works very hard for the super-fit figure that she is famous for.
The singer works out six days a week and does multiple different types of exercise, including Pilates, ballet, and circuit training. She has admitted that she likes to keep things interesting in the gym and that she thrives on shocking her body. Madonna is also a noted devotee of Ashtanga yoga, a branch of yoga that involves difficult body-balancing sequences.
As far as her diet, Madonna follows a very strict diet known as the macrobiotic eating plan. The diet includes beans, nuts, and a select few vegetables, including pumpkin, radishes, carrots, and broccoli. While she does eat fish, she doesnt eat red meat or dairy products. No doubt, this sort of strict plan doesnt work for everyone, but it has transformed her body into a lean machine.
Currently, Madonna is on her Madame X tour in support of her recently-released fourteenth album. The tour started in September 2019 and is set to conclude in March 2020.
While the shows have been very popular, there has been some controversy, including Madonnas decision to not allow cell phones during the performances. In addition, Madonna has recently canceled several of her concert dates due to illness.
Madonna has been open with her fans about the setbacks and recently shared some Instagram photos of herself undergoing a bizarre medical treatment: autohemotherapy, which mixes the patients blood with ozone gas and is then pumped back into the patients body. While Madonna claimed that she felt amazing after the treatment, fans are wondering if all the medical attention she has been receiving is a sign that the 61-year old singer is ready to take things slower.
While Madonna has announced no plans of retirement and has notoriously stated that shell stop playing music when the critics kill her, it could be time for her to start taking a step back.
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Madonna: Is This Bizarre Treatment a Sign the Singer May Need to Retire Soon? - Showbiz Cheat Sheet
Weight loss: This simple drink can help burn fat fast – when should you have it? – Express
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Many weight loss diet plans require slimmers to drastically cut food groups from their diet.
However, they could actually see better results if they are less restrictive, Krissy Cela, founder of Tone & Sculpt app, told Express.co.uk.
She explained: Say no to restrictions! I can't stress to you enough how many people I have seen trying a quick fix restrictive diet plan that is not maintainable, they end up just putting on more weight than they wanted to lose in the first place.
If you want to lose weight and keep it off, your diet needs to work around the foods you actually enjoy and your lifestyle.
Instead of only focusing on what they eat, dieters should have a look at what they drink.
READ MORE: The top ten exercises to help you lose weight fast - which burns the most calories?
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Weight loss: This simple drink can help burn fat fast - when should you have it? - Express
Weight loss: Low carb vs keto diet experts reveal which helps you shed pounds faster – The Sun
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WITH 2020 just round the corner, the New Year health is looming.
And the low-carb and keto diets are the two most popular diet plans, touted for weight loss.
1
Keto involves eating no more than 30g of carbs a day plus a high amount of good fats, meat, dairy, nuts and oil.
It works by persuading the body to start burning its own fat supplies - putting the body into a state called ketosis - rather than burn the carbs in your diet.
A low-carb diet, on the other hand, means you can eat more carbs but without the generous portion of fats that you get with keto.
With both keto and low-carb diets being recommended by celebrities, friends and experts you may be left wondering which one to try.
To solve this, top nutritionists Terri-Ann Nunns and Helen Bond have shared their tips with us on which one really is the most effective...
Many people claim a low-carb diet is the best way to get quick and easy weight loss results.
And nutritionist Terri-Ann, founder of theTerri Ann 123 Diet Plan, has now shown her support for this diet - which has helped hundreds of her clients lose weight.
She emphasises that this regime will help speed up weight loss as by increasing your intake of proteins you'll feel fuller.
"Low-carbohydrate diets are a very successful way to lose weight sustainably," she says.
"In a low carbohydrate diet, you reduce your intake of items such as bread, pasta, potatoes and sugary foods whilst protein foods such as meat, fish and vegetarian alternatives should be increased.
Having a high-protein element in your diet will help you to feel full
"Reducing carbohydrates, for example bread, potatoes, pasta and sugars, is known to be effective in helping people to lose weight.
"Having a high-protein element in your diet will help you to feel full despite consuming a lower amount of calories."
As well as blitzing body fat, Terri-Ann also stresses that low-carb diets can have other health benefits like lowering diabetic markers.
"The obvious health benefit of following a low carb plan is weight loss," she adds.
NHS guide to carbs
Carbohydrates themselves are not necessarily the cause of weight gain.
The NHS says theres no evidence that eating bread and other wheat-based foods causes weight gain more than any other type of food.
If you eat more energy than your body uses, you will put on weight, regardless of what you eat.
The NHS says: Cutting out carbohydrates from your diet could put you at increased risk of a deficiency in certain nutrients, leading to health problems, unless you're able to make up for the nutritional shortfall with healthy substitutes.
Replacing carbohydrateswith fats and higher fat sources of protein could increase your intake of saturated fat, which can raise the amount of cholesterol in your blood a risk factor for heart disease.
"Reducing the amount of carbohydrate in the diet can also help to improve blood sugar levels and insulin response which means it could be an effective diet for people with diabetes, pre-diabetes or polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS)."
Despite this, Helen Bond,registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association, says she isn't keen on a low-carb diet as carbs are part of a healthy diet.
She adds: "I am not a fan of low carbs - carbs are a key part of a healthy balance diet and bring with them B vitamins for energy and fibre for a healthy gut.
"Carbs and fibre are also the food for our gut microbes which new research also links to better weight and health overall."
Kim Kardashian, Gwyneth Paltrow and Tyson Fury are just a few of the celebrities who have credited the keto diet for keeping them in shape.
And while it can help people lose weight, Terri-Ann says it isn't the most sustainable of diets.
"The keto or ketogenic diet is a very low-carb, high-fat diet," she says.
"This means that the body uses fat for energy instead of carbohydrates, producing ketones an alternative energy source.
"The keto diet, if done correctly, can help people to lose weight.
For weight loss that can be maintained, keto is not something I would recommend
"Although it works for some, I dont often recommend it because many people arent able to sustain it in the long-term."
In particular, Terri-Ann says the keto diet is more for people looking for something to stick to in the long-term, rather than quick results.
She adds: "You need to be very committed to stick to this diet for life."
"Because of the nature of this type of diet, people tend to find it work best for a quick fix, however long-term and for weight loss that can be maintained, it is not something I would recommend."
The four keto diet mistakes that could be making you fatter
There are four common mistakes people make on a keto diet that could be making them fatter...
1. Dramatically cutting carbs
People go from a diet that is probably consumed moderate or high amounts of carbs to an extremely low amount, and this is a drastic change for the body. This is when theyre at risk of theketo flu.
2. Not drinking enough water
The body is washed-out of a lot of fluid especially when losing fat mass. The body flushes out the ketones in the urine which also depletes not just water but sodium, an important electrolyte, from the body.
3. Eating the right veg
Vegetables have carbohydrates and for a lot of people, this means watching how much is actually consumed. If youre not careful of the types of carbs on theketo diet, the affect is that people wont stay in that ketosis state.
4. Checking with a GP
Its important to check with a local doctor or a dietitian when thinking about undergoing the keto diet for the first time. People who are pregnant and breastfeeding should not undergo the keto diet because the risk follows in becoming insufficient in nutrients not only for yourself but for the infant.
On top of this, Helen Bond says that completely removing carbs from your diet can trigger other health drawbacks.
She adds: "The aim of keto is to force the body to use fat as its main energy source - when this happens a person produces ketones to fuel parts of the body that cannot use fat as an energy source like the brain.
"Side effects of this are tiredness, fatigue, low mood, lack of concentration and bad breath."
Overall, both diets come with health benefits, including weight loss and an improvement of diabetic markers.
However, if you want to blitz body fat and not have a completely restrictive diet - low-carb is probably the best way to go.
In particular, low-carb seems to be more sustainable whereas keto can be unrealistic for people who actually like eating carbs and who struggle to get enough fibre.
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On top of this, a low-carb diet does not involve putting the body into an unnatural state like ketosis which is difficult to maintain - and can trigger the keto flu and poor moods.
However, as Helen Bond says, carbs are a key part of our daily diet and provide us with energy and fibre for a healthy gut.
So, if you are going to opt for the low-carb diet, make sure you're still having a healthy balanced diet.
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Weight loss: Low carb vs keto diet experts reveal which helps you shed pounds faster - The Sun
Jamie Oliver weight loss: Chef slimmed down by two stone after cutting this from his diet – Express
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Jamie Oliver returns to screens with Christmas Countdown today, revealing the best recipes for the festive season. As someone who works with fine food everyday, Jamie found that he packed on the pounds - but managed to lose two stone in recent years.
He revealed: I lost 12 kilos quite quickly and I didn't do it through not eating. I ate a lot, more than I was used to.
Jamie turned to seaweed to help speed up his weight loss. Seaweed is used to lose weight because it is low in calories and high in fibre, making it filling.
It also contains fucoxanthin, which is thought to contribute to an increased metabolism.
Speaking to Mail Online, Jamie said: I thought seaweed was hippy, globetrotting stuff but our ancestors ate seaweed.
It has got a load of iodine and is the most nutritious vegetable in the world."
Jamie took the decision to slim down after realising how unhealthy his life had become.
During an appearance on Loose Women in 2015, he said: I got toward my 40th birthday and I realised I hadnt spent much time looking after myself.
I went back to school and started studying nutrition, started travelling to parts of the world to where people live the longest lives and started looking at their lifestyles. That was the journey and its been amazing.
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Jamie Oliver weight loss: Chef slimmed down by two stone after cutting this from his diet - Express
Hoping to get in shape this summer? Ditch the fads – Sydney Morning Herald
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Losing weight shouldnt be a short-term solution
Extra body fat is a risk factor for developing chronic diseases including type 2 diabetes and heart disease. With two in three Australians carrying too much body fat, many of us may be well-intentioned, but not making the best choices when it comes to what we eat.
Weight loss is largely a balance of choosing the right foods and being physically active in order to tip our internal energy balance scales in the right direction.
For the most part, quick-fix diets are based on calorie restriction as a means of weight loss. They focus on different strategies to get you to eat fewer calories without having to actively think about it.
Fad diets tend to share similar characteristics, such as eating fewer varieties of foods, fasting, and replacing meals.
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But weight loss isnt just about swapping one or two foods for a month or two; its about establishing patterns to teach our bodies new habits that can be maintained into the future.
Fad diets and quick-fix options can be limited in several respects. For example, they can be difficult to stick to, or people on them can regain weight quickly after stopping the diet. In some cases, there is insufficient research around their health effects in the longer term.
Lets take a look at the way some of these characteristics feature in three popular diets.
Juicing or detoxification diets usually last two to 21 days and require a person to attempt a juice-focused form of fasting, often in combination with vitamin or mineral supplements in place of all meals.
People on this diet lose weight rapidly because of the extremely low calorie intake. But this is a severely restricted type of diet and particularly difficult to follow long-term without a risk of nutrient deficiency.
Also, while it might hold appeal as a marketing buzzword, detoxification is not a process the body needs to go though. Our livers are efficient at detoxifying with very little help.
An intermittent fasting diet involves a combination of fasting days and usual eating days. The fasting strategies include complete fasting (no food or drinks are consumed on fasting days) and modified fasting (20-25% of calories is consumed on fasting days).
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This diet leads to weight loss due to an overall decrease in calorie intake. But its hard to stick with the fasting pattern as it results in intense hunger. Similarly, this diet can lead to binge eating on usual eating days.
But even though people are allowed to eat what they want on non-fasting days, research shows most do not over-eat.
Overall, for people who are able to stick with intermittent fasting, we dont have enough evidence on the benefits and harms of the diet over time.
Long-term energy restriction without fasting may result in the same weight outcomes and may be a better approach to continued weight management.
The palaeolithic (paleo) diet was designed to reflect the foods consumed by our Stone Age ancestors before the agricultural revolution.
The paleo diet excludes processed foods and sugars. This recommendation lines up with the current evidence-based dietary recommendations. However, the paleo diet also excludes two major food groups grain and dairy foods.
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While short-term weight loss might be achieved, theres no conclusive proof of benefit for weight loss and nutritional balance in the long term. People who follow the paleo diet might be at risk of nutritional deficiencies if theyre not getting any grains or dairy.
So its worth taking cues from the paleo diet in terms of limiting processed foods and sugars. But if youre thinking of adopting the diet in its entirety, it would be important to seek support from a health professional to ensure youre not missing out on essential nutrients.
Things to look out for
So how can you tell if a diet is likely to lead to long-term weight loss success? Here are some questions to ask:
If the answer to these three questions is yes, youre likely on to a good one. But if youre getting at least one no, you might want to think carefully about whether the diet is the right choice for sustained weight loss.
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Hoping to get in shape this summer? Ditch the fads - Sydney Morning Herald
Nutritionist revealed the truth about rapid weight loss – The Saxon
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Many people want to lose weight as quickly as possible and for this ready to sit on a hard diet and severely restrict your diet. However, is it safe for health? Nutritionist Natalia Koshkina, who previously shared a simple plan of diet for everyone, said on his page on Instagram, what can cause such an undertaking.
She revealed the truth about how dangerous the lack of sugar and carbs in the diet, excessive low calorie and other hard constraints that require a lot of marathons for weight loss.
1. Slowing of metabolic processes.
With poor nutrition pretty quickly the body go into starvation mode and stops wasting energy. Ie you cant eat, but do not lose weight. It is insulting and pointless.
2. Loss of muscle mass.
With the rapid weight loss and protein deficiency the first thing that suffers is your muscles. They begin to split along with fat. And this is extremely undesirable, as your muscles a major consumer of energy. And the amount of muscle mass is very important from the point of view of reducing weight in the long term.
What you get with mindless fast weight loss? You reduce body weight mainly due to muscle breakdown and excretion of fluids from the body. When you return to the previous diet, the weight starts to come back, too but not at the expense of muscle and fat! Ie you find yourself in a worse situation than before.
3. Eating disorders.
Weight loss should be safe not only for health but also for the psyche. If you have this predisposition, it is a hard limit trigger mechanism. In some cases, it is not just violations, and PSC. And the treatment of RPP is psychotherapy with a duration of more than one year.
But dont despair. You can lose weight quickly and without consequences, if you really need. But with a competent nutritional and psychological support.
Do not experiment with their health in pursuit of easy prey! Better yet, be patient: work on changing eating behavior, develop healthy habits and have fun.
Maria Batterburyis a general assignment reporter at the Saxon. She has covered sports, entertainment and many other beats in her journalism career, and has lived in Manhattan for more than 8 years. Vivian has appeared periodically on national television shows and has been published in (among others) NPR, Politico, The Atlantic, Harpers, Wired.com, Vice and Salon.com..
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Nutritionist revealed the truth about rapid weight loss - The Saxon
How to lose weight like this Delhi guy who lost 26 kgs via intermittent fasting & tweaking his daily routine – GQ India – What a man’s got to do
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While there arent any easy ways to lose weight, there are many tried-and-tested weight loss approaches that can help you get started on your 2020 I-am-going-to-get-fit-this-year resolution. Like Archiev Kumars tried-and-tested intermittent fasting routine and workout schedule.
The Delhi-based 22-year-old lost 26 kgs by following an intermittent fasting pattern of eating after making small changes in his daily routine to include healthy eating and working out as a part and parcel of his life. My tryst with weight loss began two years ago. I weighed close to 110 kgs, and would constantly just feel bad for myself. I couldn't even run for a kilometre and would feel tired all the time, he says.
The only thing I knew at this point was that I wanted to better myself! I was very determined, and consequently started educating myself the basics of weight loss, things such as what is calorie counting, BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), different types of diet schedules and workout regimes, he informs. I began by going through a lot of online blogs and YouTube channels (Beer Biceps, Athlean X and Guru Mann Fitness have very good content for beginners) and then reached out to a friend, who had recently won a triathlon and multiple marathons in the past top help create a basic home workout routine that was devoid of any equipment to commence my weight loss journey.
QUICK READ: This is how many calories you can burn without setting foot in a gym
Simultaneously, I started researching the various diet and eating patterns that I could resort to lose weight and finally settled on the intermittent fasting pattern of eating after making the below basic tweaks in my diet and routine.
1
Dump the junk: The first tweak that I made was completely cut-out junk and packaged food from my life and replace it with fibre-rich foods such as oats and muesli. I also started drinking a lot of water.
2
Bye bye sugar: I regulated my sugar intake drastically. Sugar is a major reason behind insulin spikes, which is also a major reason for weight gain. Leaving sugar is hard and must be done slowly. Start with removing sweets form your meals and then move on to replacing normal sugar with jaggery or honey for tea and coffee.
3
Stop snacking: I stopped snacking all the time and replaced mid-day meals and evening snacks with small salads and fruits such as apples.
4
No midnight binging: I did not eat after 8-9:00 pm to start cultivating a healthier routine.
After my body got adjusted to these basic tweaks, I started following intermittent fasting pattern of eating clubbed with a dedicated workout routine to lose weight.
Intermittent Fasting (IF) is an eating pattern that cycles between periods of fasting and eating. It doesnt specify which foods you can or cannot eat. It only focuses on when you should eat them.
There are many IF plans and patterns that you can follow, but the most effective one, according to studies is the 16:8 IF diet. The 16:8 IF diet entails one to observe a 16-hour fasting period, followed by an 8-hour eating window.
You can commence a 16-hour fast at 10:00 pm in the night, after you eat your last meal of the day and go to sleepthats 7-8 hours gone right there. You can break the 16-hour fast at 2:00 pm with your lunch and eat small meals till 10:00 pmthis makes up the 8-hour eating window. Alternatively, you can also begin your fast at 8 pm and break it at 12 pm, the next day.
I observed the 16:8 diet split from 10:00 pm to 2:00 pm. So, during my 8-hour window, I ate three meals, comprising lunch, a small snack and dinner.
Lunch: 2 chapatis + dal + cucumber salad OR a slab of Paneer (200 gms)
Snacks: Eggs (boiled or made into an omelette) OR dry fruits and fruit juice
Dinner: 1-2 chapatis + dal + salad OR boiled oats and paneer
It wasn't easy to stick to this diet so I started slowly and progressed with time. One of the most important things for me on this journey was indulging in a cheat day Id take every 7-14 days.
It kept me sane and would also motivate me the next day to stick to my diet. It was my way of rewarding my hard work. What must be noted is that, cheat days should also be humane, one should not go crazy on a cheat day. Eat whatever you want but in moderation.
QUICK READ: Is intermittent fasting really worth It?
Archievs diet was supplemented with the help of the below exercise regime.
My exercise regime started with only cardio exercises for the first couple of months, which included:
Squats (10 reps, 3 sets)
Burpees (5 X 3)
Crunches (20 X 3)
Jumps (100 X 3)
Running (2 kms)
Back seated Rows (10 X 3)
Shoulder Press (10 X 3)
Lateral Raises (10 X 3)
Weighted and Normal Squats (10 X 3)
Dumbbell Curls (20 X 3)
Pushups (12,10,8)
Tricep Dips (10 X 3)
Along with this, Id either go for a run or go cycling at least 2-3 times a day. Recently, I got into CrossFit and boxing workouts, they mainly comprise HIIT circuits (High Intensity Interval Training) and strength training. This helped me gain a lot of stamina and strength and I have continued to follow that regime.
ALSO READ: This 10-minute HIIT cardio workout is the definition of hardcore
While trying to get in shape, patience and consistency are of utmost importance. Results are not quick but they are worth the effort!
Disclaimer: The diet and workout routines shared by the respondents may or may not be approved by diet and fitness experts. GQ India doesn't encourage or endorse the weight loss tips & tricks shared by the person in the article. Please consult an authorised medical professional before following any specific diet or workout routine mentioned above.
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How to lose weight like this Delhi guy who lost 26 kgs via intermittent fasting & tweaking his daily routine - GQ India - What a man's got to do
The Sunday Times Bestsellers of the Year – The Times
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The Sunday Times,December 22 2019, 12:01am
Forty-five years old this year, The Sunday Times Bestseller List is the oldest and most influential book sales chart in the UK, and the one that every author wants to be on. Based on data collected each Saturday for the following Sunday by Nielsen Bookscan (who have been collecting digital data since 1998), the chart is the most accurate and comprehensive estimation of book sales in the country.
CHILDRENs hardbacks
1 The Worlds Worst Teachers by David Walliams (HarperCollins 14.99) Terrifying tales about terrible teachers 451,020 (451,020)
2 Fing by David Walliams (HarperCollins 12.99) Parents go on a quest to meet the needs of their greedy daughter 444,820 (444,820)
3 The Beast of Buckingham Palace by David Walliams (HarperCollins 14.99) A young prince battles to
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The Sunday Times Bestsellers
Books to watch out for in 2020
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The Sunday Times Bestsellers of the Year - The Times
Is intermittent fasting the longevity life hack weve been waiting for? – Inverse
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Intermittent fasting was Googles top-searched diet of 2019. A growing number of people are curious about and trying the restrictive eating pattern, but the science is struggling to catch up.
As Inverse reported in July 2019, preliminary research suggests intermittent fasting leads to an array of health benefits, including better metabolism, longer life, healthier brain, and less inflammation.
Inverse is counting down the 25 biggest stories of human potential of 2019. This is #12.
Intermittent fasting means interspersing periods of abstaining from food with periods of eating regularly. You could skip breakfast and eat a late lunch, for example, or fast all day long, once or twice a week.
The research suggests that intermittent fasting is a simple, effective life hack for solving many age-related problems, but the evidence is far from conclusive.
There really is no one weird trick for the perfect diet for everyone, John Newman, geriatrician at the University of California, San Francisco told Inverse. Science is leading us toward the idea of maintaining some flexibility in our bodys metabolism, he said.
Its probably a good idea to be doing different things at different times, he said. And this might be one of the reasons why intermittent fasting, for example, is metabolically helpful, because it forces your body to switch how it is using a fuel for energy.
Intermittent fasting can help people lose weight. It may also help people stay sharper and healthier as they age. The practice triggers certain pathways in the brain that help cells become more equipped to deal with stress and resist disease.
The bottom line is that, in the brain, intermittent fasting will increase the resistance of nerve cells to various types of stress, Mark Mattson, a researcher at Johns Hopkins University, told Inverse at the time. It will enhance what we call synaptic plasticity or the formation of new synapses.
Other studies show similar neuroprotective effects: Intermittent fasting can stimulate the production of neurotrophic factors and antioxidant cofactors that help cells cope with stress and resist disease. When it comes to aging, intermittent fasting has been linked to reduced inflammation and less accumulation of cells damaged by free radicals.
But like all diets, intermittent fasting is not for everyone, and comes with potentially dangerous risks. It can be uncomfortable, unsustainable, exacerbate disordered eating patterns, and may increase stress levels.
Its not just intermittent fasting that shows these potential benefits. Studies on good old dietary restriction simply eating less than normal appear to work, too. The plant-based diet and Mediterranean diet have the strongest research around longevity and protecting against disease, experts said.
Eating lots of nutrient-rich foods like plants is more likely to help people live longer and healthier lives.
As 2019 draws to a close, Inverse is revisiting 25 striking lessons for humans to help maximize our potential. This is #12. Some are awe-inspiring, some offer practical tips, and some give a glimpse of the future. Read the original article here.
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Is intermittent fasting the longevity life hack weve been waiting for? - Inverse
Half of America will be obese within 10 years, study says, unless we work together – The Philadelphia Tribune
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If America does not collectively adopt healthier eating habits, over half of the nation will be obese within 10 years.
Even worse, one in four Americans will be severely obese with a body mass index over 35, which means they will be more than 100 pounds overweight.
That alarming prediction, published Wednesday in NEJM, was the result of a study analyzing self-reported body mass index (BMI) data from over six million American adults.
Considering the challenges of battling weight loss, thats devastating news for the future health of our nation.
Given how notoriously difficult obesity is to treat once its established, you can see that were in an untenable situation, said Aviva Must, chair of Tufts Universitys Public Health and Community Medicine, who was not involved in the study.
The societal cost is high, she said, both in terms of obesity-related health consequences and healthcare expenditures which could bring us to our knees.
Startling state-by-state data
One of the first research efforts to drill down to the state level, the study found that 29 states, mostly in the South and Midwest, will be hit hardest, with more than 50% of their residents considered obese.
But no part of the country is spared in all 50 states, at least 35% of the population will be obese, the study found.
Whats even more concerning is the rise in severe obesity, said lead author Zachary Ward, an analyst at Harvard Chan Schools Center for Health Decision Science.
Nationally, severe obesity typically over 100 pounds of excess weight will become the most common BMI category, Ward said. Prevalence will be higher than 25% in 25 states.
Currently, only 18% of all Americans are severely obese. If the trend continues, the study said, severe obesity would become as prevalent as overall obesity was in the 1990s.
The study also found certain subpopulations to be most at risk for severe obesity: women, non-Hispanic Black adults and low-income adults who make less than $50,000 per year.
And we find that for very low-income adults adults with less than $20,000 annual household income severe obesity will be the most common BMI category in 44 states, Ward said. So basically everywhere in the country.
Fifty years ago, obesity was a relatively rare condition, Must said. People who were poor were underweight, not overweight. But that has changed.
One reason is the rise of sugar-sweetened beverages and ultra-processed foods, which contribute calories but little nutrition. Another is that the price of food, including unhealthy fast food choices, has fallen in America when you adjust for inflation.
Low food prices are certainly part of it, Must said. Also limited options for physical activity. And theres a lot being written about the stress of structural racism and how that influences peoples behavioral patterns. So its very complicated.
Theres no rosy picture here, but I dont think we can throw in the towel, Must said. It will probably take lots of federal, state and local policy interventions and regulations to have a big impact. We cant rely on individual behavior change in an environment that is so obesity promoting.
Studies have shown some promising tactics, she said: bolstering local public transportation systems to encourage walking instead of driving; keeping schools open on weekends and during summers to allow access to gyms and swimming pools; and increasing support for farm-to-school and farm-to-work food programs, as well as farmers markets, to boost access to low-cost fruits and vegetables.
Other interventions include calorie labeling on restaurant and drive-thru menus and replacing vending machines with smart snacks in schools.
Weve also looked at eliminating the tax deduction businesses get for advertising unhealthy foods to children, Ward said. The money that they spend on advertising foods can basically be written off as a tax deduction.
That could be one reason why we see such disparities by race, ethnicity or income, Ward said, because companies are directly targeting advertising at these groups.
In a prior study, Ward and his team at Harvard found that three interventions saved more in health care costs than the price to implement them: elimination of the tax deduction on advertising; improving nutrition standards for school snacks; and imposing an excise tax on sugary beverages.
The most cost effective solution was the tax on sugar-sweetened beverages. The study found the tax saved $30 in health care costs for every dollar spent on the program.
So much added sugar is delivered through sugar-sweetened beverages, and people do have other options for hydration, Must said. I think its an easy target.
But not necessarily a popular one. Still, the complexity of the problem means that a solution will truly take a village, experts say, with every American doing their part.
I dont think its impossible, Must said, pointing to a slowing of the obesity rate in children in America. That trend is the result of interventions in school lunches; snack programs; and a change in the nutritional allowances in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, which helps feed more than seven million pregnant and postpartum women and children until age five.
In 2009, the program decreased the intake of foods and beverages associated with excess weight gain. By simply cutting the juice allowance in half, reducing cheese, requiring whole grain products and requiring low-fat or skim milk, a study found the program reduced the obesity rate in children between two and four years of age and boosted the intake of fruits and vegetables.
That is certainly a model for future attempts among both children and adults, Ward said, adding that if Americans could just keep their current weight instead of gaining, the trends could be reversed.
Its really hard to lose weight, Ward said. Its really hard to treat obesity. So prevention really has to be at the forefront of efforts to combat this growing epidemic.
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Half of America will be obese within 10 years, study says, unless we work together - The Philadelphia Tribune