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Testosterone levels decline naturally with age, typicallyfrom the age of 30 years old. However, testosterone levels are declining, whatis normal now, was abnormal a few years ago. Thresholds for treatment are loweringas the normal range is skewed to represent what is normal now, it reflects asick society.

Its important to recognise the symptoms of low testosterone, its important to address possible reversible causes. The aim of life should be to lead a productive life, full of adventure, full of calculated misadventure. It should be rich; it should be colourful. It is a journey and you are in the driving seat. It might sound flouncy, its supposed to, what Im trying to highlight, it the importance of hormonal health in mental well-being. Its not the be all or end all, but low testosterone is associated with low mood, anxiety and depersonalisation. Depersonalisation is a state where you are present but not involved, merely a passenger, without a true or appropriate perspective. An element of mental illness is always a presenting symptom.

Mental illness is a spectrum, much like mental well-being,it can be mild, moderate or severe. Lack of drive and determination iscommonplace, men often describe lack of enjoyment (anhedonia) in things theirformer selves would enjoy. It can bework related, but often its an unsettling disconnect with family and friends.They are not themselves.

Cognitive decline is another alarming symptom. Men often usethe phrase brain fog to describe the lack of clarity of thought. Fogginess ora blanket descending over their thoughts accurately puts into words what isdifficult to describe. It can be as trivial as forgetting where you put yourkeys, but it can be troublesome short-term memory loss and an alarming drop inmental aptitude and sharpness.

Fatigue is vague but debilitating. Men have often soughtanswers and solutions to no avail. A good nights sleep is a rarity despitebest efforts and good sleep hygiene. Perhaps worsened by night sweats from lowoestrogen, but a perceived good nights rest is not met with a refreshedfeeling in the morning. A healthy diet does not reward you with an abundance ofenergy, irrespective of whether food is fuel.

Libido or sex-drive is often flagging. Alongside this comes erectile dysfunction,but the two can be independent. Testosterone is the male sex-hormone, but itsrole in overall health has often been trivialised as a result of thisassociation.

Physical symptoms such as weight gain, loss of muscle mass,decreased bone mineral density etc are less frequent presenting symptoms. Theyshould not be dismissed, one of my patients has osteoporosis as a result of lowtestosterone and is awaiting spinal surgery.

Know your body, know the symptoms of low testosterone.Address the fundamentals of health, lifestyle, nutrition and exercise. Stoplooking for quick fixes, build from the foundation upwards to make changesustainable.

Dr Robert Stevens MBChB MRCGP Dip.FIPT

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Symptoms of Low Testosterone in Men - FortuneHerald

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Atransgenderfather who used his own egg to conceive his 4-year-old son is opening up about his long path to parenthood.

Seth and Leah Marlow, of Roanoke, Va., welcomed little Arlo four years ago using reciprocalin vitro fertilization with Seths egg combined with donor sperm to make an embryo that was then carried to term by Leah.

Although Seth transitioned in 2003, underwent a double mastectomy in 2005, and takes weekly testosterone shots, he kept his ovaries, in part, to one day start a family.

However, in order to donate an egg, Seth had to re-start menstruation (which had ceased), stop taking testosterone, and use medication to stimulate the ovaries for a period of time that was awful and uncomfortable. I didnt feel like myself like I was walking in the wrong pair of shoes, the 41-year-old technology trainertells Yahoo Lifestyle. Still, you have to put on those shoes and walk out into the world.

After IVF, the couple decided to freeze their embryo for three years to allow Seth adequate time to re-start his testosterone and recover from an exhausting battle with their insurance company, which ultimately denied coverage (with the exception of Leahs pre-natal care).

Seth had requestedfertility preservation coverage, which, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH),allows patients to save their eggs and sperm before undergoing treatment for medical conditions such as cancer. Seth argued that testosterone injections for hisgender dysphoria diagnosiscould ultimately impair his fertility, however, his insurance company denied coverage and appeals to the State Department of Health in Massachusetts (the state where Seths company was based) failed, as well.

Gender dysphoria, as defined by the American Psychiatric Association, involves a conflict between a person's physical or assigned gender and the gender with which he/she/they identify. People with gender dysphoria may be very uncomfortable with the gender they were assigned, sometimes described as being uncomfortable with their body (particularly developments during puberty) or being uncomfortable with the expected roles of their assigned gender.

The term was recently eliminated from the mental health category by theInternational Classification of Diseases (ICD)says Dana Bevin, Ph.D., a research psychologist in Georgia. Long before that, theDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM)replaced the term gender identity disorder with gender dysphoria to help eradicate mental health stigmas.

The idea was to give gender dysphoria a medical diagnosis and de-pathologize the term, Bevin tells Yahoo Lifestyle, adding that fertility preservation should be a covered service, according to thethe World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH), a global organization that sets standards of care for medical and mental-health treatments.

The Marlows always remained focused on their dream, with Seth recently telling Andrea Syrtash, the founder of the online magazinePregnantishandthe podcast of the same name, I kept going because I had a very clear guidance for myself, which we adopted mutually. For me, I knew that I could only do it one time and that was it...you hear people going through this all the time and theyll say its all worth it when you have a healthy baby. I knew that we might not get any baby and that I needed for it to be worth it to me regardless of what happened.

Seth added, And so I viewed it as an opportunity to maybe have a child with my wife and that opportunity had to be enough. We were really lucky. We have a beautiful child, but I couldnt set the goal.

The couple cashed out their retirement funds and went into debt to pay for the procedures, which totaled an estimated $30K, counting fertilization, freezing, two transfers, medication, storage fees, travel time and lost work wages.

Im so grateful to my wife, who has never made me feel that I had some sort of shortcoming, Seth tells Yahoo Lifestyle. She approached this like any other life challenge.

And Arlo, who was born in 2015, understands his birth story. He knows not every family is formed this way that whats true about one person or most people isnt true for everyone, Seth explains. I recently asked Arlo how he felt about a sibling and he asked, Will we use the same donor and egg?

Seth adds, We give him space to feel however he feels about it.

Related Video: Follow This Same-Sex Couples Incredible IVF Journey

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Transgender dad used IVF to conceive his son: 'We were really lucky' - Yahoo Lifestyle

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There have been a lot of fads over the years that claim to help people lose weight. Right now, some of those fads include things like the Paleo Diet, Whole 30 and Keto, and a very popular one right now is intermittent fasting.

Keri Gans, a registered and certified dietician nutritionist, joined Take Care to talk about intermittent fasting and the effects of practicing it.

Gans, who is also author of the book The Small Change Diet, said there are two popular types of intermittent fasting. The first is the 5:2, where a person eats whatever they want for five days per week and then fasts for the remaining two, eating no more than 500 calories. The second type is when a person eats during a set time throughout the day, usually a period lasting eight hours. Outside of that time period, the person fasts, going possibly 16 hours without food per day.

Its the restricting of calories, so basically, when theyre fasting, theyre not eating, and theres only so many calories that most people will consume in that set eight hours of eating, Gans explained the latter.

Gans said that intermittent fasting is a type of diet, as it applies restriction to work, but its restricting something different from the typical diet.

It is like a lot of diets in that theres the word restriction there, Gans said. It might not be restricting your food choices, but it is restricting the quantity that you eat when you eat.

As far as health benefits go, Gans cautioned that, though a person who fasts in this way may lose weight, due to the restrictive nature of the diet, its very difficult to maintain it long enough to keep the weight off.

The bottom line is can you keep it up? Gans said. Thats what makes a lot of these just another fad diet. It makes it that an individual cannot continue it, and therefore, they fail, and then, theyre looking for the next fad diet.

There are some additional drawbacks to this diet, particularly when it comes to possibly introducing some unhealthy eating habits. This is why Gans cautions that somebody who has a history of any eating disorder should not intermittently fast.

It would not be recommended because of the idea of restricting when you eat and literally fasting, she said. So, thats not necessarily a healthy concept for many people.

But some have found success, she said. Gans supports a modified version of the daily intermittent fasting, where a person might stop eating after a certain hour of the evening, like 8 p.m., to cut out late-night snacking.

"Some people have been successful, but the question is for how long, and that's the bottom line."

Long term, Gans said intermittent fasting doesnt pay attention to the quality of the calories consumed, leading to the perpetuation of unhealthy eating habits and a decrease in nutrients.

If youre intermittent fasting, but the foods that youre choosing are not healthy foods, well then, at the end of the day, youre going to be lacking in certain nutrients that would be important to, lets say, build your immune system, Gans said. So, we need to step away from the actual concept and look at the foods that a persons actually eating.

These are all things Gans keeps in mind when advising people about intermittent fasting. If someone approached her wanting to try out the diet, she said the first question is why they want to make their life difficult when healthy eating doesnt have to be so hard.

I dont think that a person has to restrict themselves in order to have a healthy eating routine, she said. I would encourage them to see if we could teach them about portion sizes and how to eat more fruits and vegetables and still eat the foods they love -- because thats important -- but maybe in a healthier way, maybe not as often, maybe in a smaller serving.

If a person still insists on trying intermittent fasting, Gans said she is far more comfortable with the daily fasting than the weekly if the person is healthy and isnt on any medication.

One way some practice the eight-hour fasting is skipping breakfast, and though thats a relatively small restriction, Gans cautioned that breakfast is important in its own right.

Im a huge breakfast fan, Gans said. Now, research doesnt necessarily support -- believe it or not -- those that eat breakfast are thinner. However, I would argue those that eat breakfast are getting certain nutrients they might not get throughout the rest of the day.

Gans said that a persons success is often highly dependent on the persons lifestyle, psychology and personality. And diets are typically not as effective as lifestyle changes.

Some people have been successful, but the question is for how long, and thats the bottom line, she said.

The often failure of diets is why Gans supports lifestyle changes instead, and she said those lifestyle changes have to be tailored for the individual.

I like to talk about as a lifestyle change, and its important for me to get to know the individual and know what their lifestyle is, she said. Theres all different factors that can affect somebodys eating, and its important to get to the bottom of that in order to help a person.

In The Small Change Diet, Gans describes these lifestyle changes, advocating for small, habitual changes that people can make to have an impact on their weight. This method helps a person ease into healthier eating without the all-or-nothing approach dieting typically takes, she said.

Small changes can include a variety of things. Gans used the example of a person who doesnt eat breakfast starting with the goal of eating breakfast every day. That might start with one banana in the morning. Then, as that becomes a habit, add yogurt or whole-grain cereal until the person is eating a well-balanced breakfast every morning. Similarly, a person who doesnt eat any vegetables may start by eating one serving of vegetables per day.

Lets find a way to make it inclusive into what youre presently doing, get it so it becomes second nature, then move on, then tackle something else, she said. Too many diets ask somebody to change their entire lifestyle all at once, and that sets them up for failure.

Focusing on how to improve rather than what to cut out can encourage the person to keep at it, helping to create a healthier lifestyle to find long-lasting success.

Its more about what you should be doing more of and not what you shouldnt be doing, and if you create some of these better habits, maybe some of the lesser, the habits that arent as healthy for you, they start to naturally fall by the wayside, she said. Were focusing on improvement, and then with that, everything falls into place.

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Nutritionist weighs in on intermittent fasting - WRVO Public Media

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Its not just politics dividing dinner tables this Thanksgiving.

Carbs are the new taboo thanks to the insanely popular and uber-strict keto eating plan. And though the high-fat, low-carb diet allows for plenty of turkey, its the beloved sides that have the dieters plotting their strategy against judgmental family members and waistline-threatening treats.

Keto, which has become a favorite diet of A-listers like Halle Berry and Kourtney Kardashian, works by forcing the body into ketosis, a metabolic state in which energy is sourced from fat instead of carbs, its proponents say. But for it to work, followers have to stay away from carbs and sugar including most fruits and even some vegetables which means Thanksgiving staples such as mashed potatoes, stuffing, and sugary desserts are off-limits.

Thats going to be a challenge for keto dieters such as Daniela Gonzalez, a Chicago-based photographer, who started following the eating plan last January, along with her husband.

I was into mashed potatoes and gravy, Gonzalez, 36, says of her past carb-filled life. And cranberry sauce, which is loaded with sugar. I was a big dessert lover.

But Gonzalez has lost 46 pounds, going from 176 to 130, so she doesnt plan on indulging in no-no foods over the holidays.

Cheating would defeat my victory, the 5-foot-2-inch mom of four says.

Appeasing judgmental relatives is a constant struggle for those on the controversial diet which many doctors and dietitians say isnt sustainable for the average person and critics call a fad.

People tell me that Im going to become anorexic or have high cholesterol, she says. I have friends whose families say, Dont bring that keto stuff here.

Still, she says the haters are floored when they see her progress in person. Theyre the same people who are asking me on the side, like, Howd you do it?

She and other followers of the diet say their strategy to avoid hurt feelings over a rebuffed pecan pie is to just bring their own food partially so that they can get enough to eat, but mostly to prove that the diet isnt just butter and bacon, Gonzalez says.

Im taking a lot so they can see all the options there are. Especially for my father-in-law. Father-in-laws always have something to say.

When Gonzalez shows up to her in-laws house for Thanksgiving next week, shell be armed with a keto stuffing she uses a recipe in which the bread is replaced with a keto corn bread a Puerto Rican lechn, a keto cheesecake, keto pumpkin pie and a zucchini noodle shrimp dish.

Meanwhile, her mother-in-law will make more traditional dishes: Its kind of like a face-off, she says with a laugh.

For the most part, the diets trademark emphasis on butter may actually win over reluctant family members, says Lisa MarcAurele, 49, a Connecticut-based diet coach with 345,000 Instagram followers.

My son actually liked the mock mashed potatoes better than the regular ones because it had cream cheese, heavy cream, which is real, high fat, and butter, MarcAurele says.

Andra Barrow, whos been on the diet for about a year, says for all the trouble of planning separate dishes, itll be worth it when those who stick to the diet see the family photos later.

Last year, we were the only people we knew who weighed less after the holidays than before, says Barrow, 47, a stagehand from the Hudson Valley. Were looking forward to making it two-for-two.

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Here's how keto dieters are avoiding the carb-filled hell of Thanksgiving - New York Post

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently announced a preliminary finding that implicates a vitamin E additive as the potential cause of lung injury from THC vaping.

The agency examined fluid samples from the lungs of 29 patients with vaping-related illness and found vitamin E acetate in all 29 samples. This is a major development in the search for answers, and it was of great interest to me generally as a public health researcher.

Even more, it was of special interest to me because I previously researched vitamin Es role in lung health and development. For three years, as a post-doctoral research fellow, I studied the role of vitamin Es typical role in lung health, lung development and the epidemiology of childhood lung diseases when it is absorbed from our diet.

Free radical fighter

Vitamin E comes from oily foods in our diet. It has also long been known to be important for child development, especially in the womb, where it contributes to healthy lung and nervous system growth, among other things. Vitamin E has eight different isoforms, or types, and each may do slightly different things in our bodies. The kind of vitamin E you get from your diet can therefore vary widely based upon the types of oily foods that you eat.

When we eat vitamin E, it is absorbed by our gastrointestinal tract along with fats. It then travels throughout our bloodstream in the fatty molecules called cholesterol. Finally, it is taken up into our bodys fatty tissues and cellular membranes.

Once incorporated into the body, vitamin E serves as an antioxidant, protecting us from some of the harmful effects of our metabolism and respiration. Antioxidants stabilize what are called free radicals, unstable and highly chemically reactive compounds with extra electrons generated by our metabolism. Free radicals, when left unchecked, can destabilize other molecules around them and cause cellular damage.

When vitamin E comes into contact with certain kinds of free radicals, it transfers that instability onto itself and neutralizes those free radicals.

So, in the aftermath of the vaping illnesses and deaths, an important question emerges: What happens if, instead of eating vitamin E in your diet, you inhale vitamin E, along with a vaporized solution of THC?

I have no idea.

There are only a tiny handful of studies in which someone tried to nebulize, or vaporize, vitamin E in experiments related to lung health. All were animal studies with a small sample size, and none were combined with a THC vaping fluid.

Its also not clear in this case why vitamin E acetate was added to the vaping fluid, but reports suggest it is used as a cutting agent to make the THC oils less thick. Perhaps someone thought it was safe to do this in an inhaled product because vitamin E was a natural vitamin. Importantly, however, many substances that are helpful when taken orally can be harmful when inhaled.

No place for oily molecules

The fact that vitamin E typically has to travel in fat-soluble lipids may perhaps provide a clue as to the harms vitamin E acetate can cause when vaped. Physicians have long known that inhaling oils and other lipids can lead to the deposition of oily droplets in the lungs. They also know that this deposition can in turn can lead to inflammation and the potential for permanent lung scarring, respiratory failure or death. Its not a good idea to consistently inhale particles like small solids or oily liquid drops into your very delicate lungs.

We all know what it feels like to choke on something large enough to block our windpipe. But a small, inhaled particle can go past the large airways and lodge in the tiniest airways and the alveoli that transfer oxygen into our bloodstream, causing damage to these fragile structures.

We may not notice right away that we are being harmed. Only tiny segments of the lung are affected, and our lungs are designed to have some reserve capacity.

But over time, as these small injuries add up, more and more lung tissue becomes involved, and symptoms develop. Such injuries can become fatal. For example, think of the diseases caused by asbestos, silica from sand blasting, coal dust and tobacco smoke.

So, perhaps a vitamin E additive could cause damage in a similar way in this context.

A bigger issue

In addition, I believe this is actually a symptom of a broader problem, brought about in part by the 1994 law that allows dietary supplements and some devices to go to market without meeting stringent safety and efficacy standards. Supplement makers dont have to provide evidence that their products work, and the FDA allows them to monitor the safety features themselves.

Its a good business for the manufacturers; dietary supplements sales are estimated to be worth about US$120 billion by 2020. But it may not be good for the American public. By taking untested products, or by using products that are safe in one context but not studied in another, consumers end up participating in millions of uncontrolled experiments in which safety data are frequently absent. There is minimal quality control, minimal oversight and minimal knowledge of what might happen.

Any type of minimally regulated product that we inhale into our lungs on a regular basis clearly deserves a special level of scrutiny before use. I would argue that any inhaled product should have to demonstrate significant safety data prior to being allowed on the consumer market. Do these products even work? How do they work? If they do work, whats the right dose so that its safe, but still effective? How long can you safely use it? Without that knowledge, we are sailing in dangerous waters with no map.

So, until the day that our poorly regulated, uncontrolled market of self experimentation in lung health comes to an end, I will share a motto that experiments and experience have equally proven to be true. If you want your lungs to outlast your hair, please dont inhale anything but air.

Cosby Stone, Instructor in Allergy/Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license.

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Vitamin E and vaping injuries: What's safe in your diet is rarely safe in your lungs - Salon

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When your to-do list just keeps multiplying and you feel like theres never enough time in the day, you may eat the majority of your meals on autopilot. And hey, sometimes thats necessary. If you want to give your everyday eating habits a healthy diagnostic though, try taking the healthy diet quiz designed by nutrition experts at the University of Newcastle in Australia.

The 10-minute questionnaire differs from other online quizzes about what constitutes a healthy diet. Yes, youll run through familiar questions about your macros (the fats, proteins, and carbohydrates that make up your diet). But the quiz also names a specific foodlike pumpkinand ask whether you eat it less than once a week or never or once a week or more often. Because of this extra step, the quiz gets a more better idea of what a week of eating looks like for you.

After answering questions about about the vegetables, fruits, proteins, plant-based proteins, grains, dairy, condiments, and water you consume over the course of seven days, your diet gets a score up to 73 points. A score below 33 needs work, between 33 and 38 is getting there, between 39 and 46 is excellent, and above 47 is outstanding. Youll also get a comprehensive report on the areas where your diet is fueling you, and the parts that could use improvement.

At first, I felt personally offended by my score of 37 points. Then I realized that I wasnt being penalized for the food already in my diet. Instead, the folks at the University of Newcastle want me to diversify the eating styles of those who take the 10-minute questionnaire. For example, I mostly eat cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and spinach for my daily intake of veggies. Maybe I need to shake things up and add in green peas, tomato, and corn.

Whether you decide to take every piece of advice or not, the quiz serves to identify nutritional holes in the 21 meals you consume on a weekly basis.

Stock up on a dietitians Whole Foods shopping list to add a little variety to your fridge:

Learn the core four for making a healthy plate at every meal, and dont forget healthy desserts, too!

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Is my diet healthy? This Australian quiz gave me the answer in 10 minutes - Well+Good

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The current population of the United States: 327.2 million. The number of students attending New York Public Schools: 1.1 million. The number of meals the system serves each day: 1 million. And the number of those meals with meat on Mondays?

Zero.

In March NYC announced that for the 2019-2020 school year, the citys more than 1,800 public schools would join Meatless Monday, a global movement promoting healthy people and the environment by swapping meat for veggies, just one day a week. Theyre joining hundreds of other K-12 schools, more than 150 U.S. universities, large hospital systems, celebrities like Ariana Grande, Stevie Wonder and Paul McCartney and others from more than 40 countries.

By 2050, the worlds population is expected to reach 9.7 billion. And in a special UN Report in August, more than 100 scientists suggested that industrialized nations like the United States should move toward plant-based diets to ensure everyone eats in an environmentally friendly way.

As younger generations embrace plant-based foods, going meatless just one day a week offers hope for a simple solution. Could it be so easy?

We examined the nations largest school system for a sneak peak: One in 300 Americans are sitting in our schools every single day, said Isabelle Boundy, Assistant Press Secretary at the NYC Department of Education. Were very aware that the eyes of the nation are often on New York.

On Mondays, New Yorks k-12 students munch down on vegetarian specials like stuffed shells with marinara, mac-and-cheese, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and hummus. Recently, fourth-graders visited a test kitchen in Queens to sample vegan burgers that will potentially make the menu.

NYC is part of a trend thats likely here to stay. The market for plant-based foods, worth nearly $4.5 billion, grew 31 percent in just two years.

Call it flexitarian, reductaterian or just an interest in testing out new plant-based foods, surveys have found that 22 percent of Americans are working on consuming less meat, and 39 percent which includes 50 percent of millennials are trying to eat more plant-based foods. Even Burger Kingand McDonalds are testing the waters.

It's really the thought that, oh, I can have more plant based meals in my diet and be O.K, said Becky Ramsing, Senior Program Officer for Food, Communities and Public Health at Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and a scientific advisor for Meatless Mondays.

The future is plant-forward. Cutting meat is doable. But measuring what that means for the climate is complicated.

Economists like Ramsing, nutritionists and climate scientists studying food and the environment say theres no blanket formula to reach a sustainable future. Food systems are complicated, global, interdependent and interconnected, leaving researchers with a planet-sized balancing act instead. Food sourcing, production methods (even with meat), menu planning, nutritional needs, economic priorities, cultural traditions and how meatless days roll out from place to place: They all add weight.

You can create a model diet, or a scenario diet, or an average diet, but theres just so much variation across people, across diets, across foods, nothing is perfect, says Rebecca Boehm, an economist at the Union of Concerned Scientists.

But the research is still useful.

Counting carbon

A recent study looking at how meatless days affected greenhouse gas and water footprints in 140 countries found that if everyone in the United States participated in a meatless day, they could cut greenhouse gasses by 22 percent. Just half participation could cut 11 percent, and a third? Six percent. But thats if substitution diets were healthy. With more typical American diets, which contain more dairy and fewer veggies, meatless days dropped greenhouse gasses by only 4 percent.

It matters where you produce the food, from a climate perspective, but it also matters how you consume it, from a nutrition and health perspective. And those elements are not always in sync, said Martin Bloem, director at Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and author on the study.

Thats especially important in schools, where menu planners balance nutritional standards, feasibility, affordability and taste, says Sean Cash, an economist at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

Cashhasnt examined New York, but in another large school district practicing Meatless Mondays, hes found that when planners simply rearrange existing menu items, such as serving burgers on Monday or Tuesday, it doesnt matter.

New York City only shared that its meatless meals are healthy, free, evaluated highly by students and still contain cheese, which limits their impact.

In some cases we might caution with: If you run all the numbers of the greenhouse gas impact of a meatless meal one day a week in a school, it's going to be low, said Ramsing. "But if you think about its potential, it can be huge.

Starting conversations

Whats more important than some kind of magic formula, she added, is realizing that the next generation of eaters has a better chance of adopting lifelong habits and influencing others.

Peggy Neu, President of the Meatless Mondays campaign, agrees: Its a promotional platform for conversation and often participants extend meatless meals to other days or their families, their surveys have shown. It doesnt work without the conversation, adds Bloem.

New York City took a big step toward opening this conversation by announcing their plans years ahead. Theyve removed politics, finances and stigma from the equation by providing free lunch for all. And as part of the Urban School Food Alliance,a nonprofit group including school food service professionals from the largest cities in the nation, theyre ultimately influencing school systems nationwide with purchasing power that drives supply.

But it doesnt always play out this way, said Cash. Other paths to a sustainable future may be more appropriate in cases where cultural, financial, political or personal positions clash with Meatless Mondays.

We need to be creative again how to use food, said Bloem. We are at the beginning of a big shift in thinking. Food is now linked with health, nutrition, climate, culture and money. Thats not the way we thought about it ten years ago.

I think it will be a small revolution.

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What happens when the nation's largest school system goes meatless one day a week? - The Hill

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A recent whitepaper by the ingredient supplier provides advice and recommendations on how manufacturers can develop products that enable consumers to have better awareness and control over their blood glucose, while also following a nutritious daily diet that meets guidelines.

Ingredient tools, such as fibers and sweeteners, that consider the glycemic response, are currently available to developers and producers to assess and implement in their food and beverage designs.

Understanding the prevalence of diabetes in our society, dietary intervention and the role manufacturers can play in developing beneficial products is vital, Tate & Lyle states. Ingredients then become the natural next area to analyze as they play a crucial part in the enjoyment, taste, and health, of foods and beverages.

Diabetes affects more than 425 million people around the world, International Diabetes Federation states, and this number is expected to reach to 629 million by 2045. Of those adults that are thought to live with diabetes, 50% are undiagnosed.

With increasing concerns over the high incidence of diabetes and metabolic syndrome, Dr Kavita Karnik, VP Global Nutrition at Tate & Lyle, confirms that providing information on managing blood glucose with healthy options is at the forefront of nutrition: We believe people should be able to make healthy food and drink choices by having access to low calorie, low sugar and high fiber options.

Measuring the glycemic response

Understanding blood glucose changes, otherwise known as the glycemic response, is crucial to support awareness on the importance of managing blood glucose, the role of dietary interventions and specific ingredients that can help people living with diabetes.

Glycemic response (GR) is defined as the post-prandial blood glucose response, which is caused when a person consumes a food that contains carbohydrates. It also considers the change in blood glucose concentration over time.

The World Health Organization (WHO) details diabetes as a chronic metabolic illness with heightened levels of blood glucose. If left untreated, the presence of elevated blood glucose can impair the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, and nerves.

There are two types of diabetes: Type 1 and Type 2. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas is unable to produce any or sufficient amounts of the hormone insulin. Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition where the body does not respond to insulin which subsequently affects glucose metabolism.

Type 2 diabetes is a complex health condition, the risk of which is increased by a range of factors, including excessive intake of ingredients in our diets such as fat, sugar and calories. We know however that eating a healthier diet and exercising regularly are among the most important things people can do to reduce their personal risk, expressed Renata Cassar, Nutrition Manager - Latin America, Tate & Lyle.

According to the International Diabetes Federation, 80% of Type 2 diabetes cases could be prevented by taking proactive steps to adopt a healthier lifestyle.

At present, the highest rates of diabetes globally are in the Caribbean and North America, where 11% of the population lives with diabetes. South and Central America have global incidence rates of 7.6% compared with 4.2% of the African region.

Adopting the same method applied using the Latin America Finnish Diabetes Risk Score (LA-FINDRISC) for different Hispanic/Latino populations, each population will need to identify the most significant risk factors for each group of interest.

Latin American and US manufacturers are taking a number of specific measures to address the diabetes epidemic, namely nutrition surveys, which show that many of us are consuming too much sugar and calories in particular, Cassar noted.

Food manufacturers understand that they can play an important role in helping to reduce rates of diabetes across the world including in the US and Latin America by helping people to balance their diets by reducing intake of sugar and calories, added Cassar.

Tate & Lyle has found in its research that 66% of Mexican consumers, for example, want to eat less sugar.

But focusing on only one ingredient isnt helpful and we need to work towards healthier overall diets, Cassar emphasized. Therefore, the industry needs to reformulate food and drinks to reduce sugar, fat and overall calories and increase key nutrients like fibers, while maintaining taste and nutritional balance.

Fibers and foods that are high in soluble fires from oats, fruits, and legumes and specific dietary fibers such as beta-glucan, pectin, psyllium, polydextrose and soluble corn fiber have been found to lower the rise in blood glucose levels after eating a meal, for both people with and without diabetes.

Nutritive sweeteners, such as sucrose (table sugar) or fructose (the sugars found in fruits), are sweeteners that contribute to overall calorie intake. NNS, or non-nutritive sweeteners, on the other hand, are ingredients that can be used to sweeten food and drinks without adding calories or only adding negligible calories to our diets. Sucralose, stevia and monk fruit extract are all examples of these.

NNS use, or dietary components that sweeten with minimal or no carbohydrate or energy, was analyzed in an Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics position paper. Its findings reveal that consumers can safely enjoy a range of nutritive and NNS when consumed within an eating plan that is guided by current nutrition recommendations as well as individual health goals and personal preferences.

Commenting on whether the regulatory and political landscape is supporting the efforts of manufacturers, Cassar shared: Sometimes its difficult for regulation to keep up with innovation. Other times, the regulators are the ones forcing the innovation. On occasion, we see that technology is enabling innovation that doesnt always fit into the established ways of assessing and approving ingredients and health claims.

Consumers understand the health benefits associated with consuming less sugar and fewer calories, and as such, healthier options are growing in popularity, Cassar relayed. Sharing insights on what is currently shaping the landscape, Cassar said: Governments across the world are now introducing policies that encourage manufacturers to reformulate their products.

Considering what more needs to be done, ingredient companies and food and beverage companies need to do a better job of working with academic institutions to effectively communicate these innovations and educate the key stakeholders involved in the food production chain, Cassar highlighted.

To tackle the diabetes epidemic, Cassar states that it is also crucial to understand that no single government, industry or regulator can tackle diabetes on its own.

Government authorities, regulators, policymakers, academic institutions and manufacturers of food, drink and ingredients need to work together, as collectively they are vital in encouraging innovation and bring more healthy options to markets as quickly as possible.

Tate & Lyle, for example, is a lead supporter in the Singaporean governments War on diabetes, which helps local businesses to help make their recipes healthier.

As busy people, with limited time to prepare our own meals, we are more reliant on prepared and packaged foods and drinks that we consume in and out of the home, said Cassar. It is therefore incumbent on players in the food industry to play their part in making these foods healthier.

Introducing texturants to lower fat, and introducing low-calorie sweeteners and fiber to lower sugar and fat, manufacturers are able to reduce calories and help customers support weight management, Tate & Lyle explained. Fibers and low-calorie sweeteners have the added benefit of supporting better blood glucose control.

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Tate & Lyle explores the relationship between nutritious ingredients and the glycemic response - NutraIngredients-Latam

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Do the Rockets ever stop complaining?

The same franchise that used faulty math as the basis of a memo to the league in which it argued that officiating cost Houston the 2018 championship was back at it again Friday night, and some of the same principal offenders were at the center of the controversy.

No, not Rockets GM Daryl Morey. He hasbeen in enough hot water as it is.

Instead, I'm referring to James Harden, who continues to only have himself to blame for the fact that his playing style isn't as enjoyed by the masses as some of his contemporaries.

The flopping, kicking, flailing and bending of the rules is annoying enough, but made worse by the fact that he gets away with it more often than not. This season, Harden is averaging 38.3 points per game, 8.0 more than anyone else in the league. He is also averaging 14.4 free-throw attempts per contest; there's only one other NBA player in double-digits, and only eight averaging at least half as many attempts. Put simply, he might not get all of the calls that he deserves -- no one does -- but he gets a friendlier whistle than almost anyone else.

And to Harden's credit, it wasn't the officiating that was at the center of his voiced complaint Friday night after the Rockets' last-minute loss to the Clippers -- although Houston didn't waste an opportunity to point out an apparent infraction by Los Angeles head coach Doc Rivers. No, it wasn't the officiating that Harden thought was unfair; rather, it was the ... defense?

Harden dished out 12 assists in the loss to go along with his game-high 37 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field. Consequently, the Clippers threw numerous double-teams at him to try to limit his effectiveness and get the ball out of his hands -- you know, as defenses do. And even then, there were times when he caught fire and Los Angeles had no answer for him, no matter how many bodies were thrown at him. But apparently, that didn't sit well with Harden.

"The whole season theyre running doubles teams at me," Harden told media in the locker room. "Ive never seen that in an NBA game where youve got really good defenders and someone else running at the top of the key. Yall let me know the last time youve seen that."

All right, who wants to tell him?

By the looks of the responses to that tweet, it appears many have already done so. The last time we've seen that? Really?

The Warriors have knocked the Rockets out of the playoffs in four of the last five seasons, including twice in the conference finals. It would be understandable if it was too painful for Harden to then watch the NBA Finals, but he can't act like they didn't happen.

Need I remind you that Toronto utilized a 'Box-and-one' defense against Golden State in the Finals, a kind of defense that is sparingly used even at the collegiate level. The Raptors assigned one player to chase Steph Curry at all times while the rest of the team played a zone defense. He was never left alone, and it proved to be a very effective defensive strategy.

And it's not like that's the only instance. Far from it. Curry, like most NBA superstars, frequently has been doubled, just as Harden is now. The difference is, Curry, nor any of the NBA greats, ever complained about it, and why would they? After all, it's a sign of respect.

Harden has been to the Finals once with the Thunder, and who knows, he and the Rockets might get back there with the Warriors at least temporarily out of the way.

[RELATED:Warriors, resigned to their fate, smart to be looking ahead]

But as long as he and Houston continue to act like they're getting the short end of the stick, they're not going to get much sympathy.

Nor should they.

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Paschall added one key item to diet to deal with NBA grind - NBCSports.com

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If you have grown up in a traditional household, chances are that you have heard and been suggested to consume gooseberries in any form. Known locally as 'amla', it comes as no surprise that gooseberries are loaded with supreme health benefits which make it an excellent superfood. The West is slowly waking up to its benefits too. From the high potent vitamin C, antioxidants, polyphenols which fight the toxins and abundant vitamins and minerals, there is no reason to skip out on this fruit. For weight watchers too, this fruit can also come in very handy to aid weight loss and get rid of the flab. If you have been looking for an easy way to lose weight, look no further. We tell you how amla can be the magic dietary food you have been looking for and the right way to use it:

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Weight loss: Here's why you must consume amla juice to get rid of the belly fat! - Times of India

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