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The train that moved through downtown Council Bluffs late last month on a bright Saturday morning didnt seem extraordinary at first glance just another Union Pacific freighter with different types of cargo and railcars slowly crossing the railroad tracks in a town crisscrossed with railroad tracks.

But it was notable in one respect: It was 142 cars long. And for a manifest train the industry term for trains with mixed cargoes and car types it was 45 percent longer than the average Union Pacific manifest train in 2016.

The extra length was no accident. Trains are getting longer, as the nations freight railroads seek out greater efficiency lower expenses mean higher profits by grouping more railcars into fewer trains.

The railroads say their crews are well-equipped to handle longer trains, and that they spur a more flexible and productive transportation system, the cost of which ultimately gets passed on in the price of everything that gets moved on the nations rails, from auto parts to zinc.

Union Pacifics professional train crews receive detailed information for each train they operate, including train length and weight, and receive ongoing training to ensure they are prepared for unique train-handling situations, said Calli Hite, a spokeswoman for Omaha-based Union Pacific, the second-largest U.S. freight railroad.

But safety concerns have been raised, so far mostly by the labor unions representing the engineers, conductors and other rail workers who toil on, in and around the steel behemoths. Some industry watchers say longer trains might mean less need for railroad labor, as more freight gets moved with fewer trains which would be a negative for employees.

Railway labor groups still say their complaints are valid, ranging from the sheer physics of starting, stopping and handling a longer and heavier train to the amount of time that road-level crossings are blocked to emergency-response vehicles.

The various railroads are running ever-longer trains, some as long as three miles, said John Risch, national legislative director for the Sheet Metal, Air and Rail Transportation union, or SMART, which represents about 90,000 rail-industry workers. Long trains create both safety and operational concerns, and we have asked the Federal Railroad Administration to investigate the problem of long trains, he said of the government regulator.

Risch said longer trains spend more time blocking road-level crossings than shorter ones; the one in Council Bluffs late last month blocked traffic for about 11 minutes at the intersection of Second Avenue and South 12th Street.

The longer the train, the more crossings you block, and they are blocked for a longer period of time, said Risch, who spent about 30 years as a locomotive engineer for BNSF Railway. This doesnt just mean blocking people like you and me, but blocking emergency vehicles as well.

Not all of the Class I railroads disclose train length information to investors (all are publicly traded or part of a publicly traded parent company). And among those that do, some do so by number of cars, others by overall length. Industry insiders say trains of 8,000 feet, or about 1.5 miles, are common, and anything longer is somewhat atypical.

But each of the seven Class I railroads the largest freight carriers operating in the United States has its own guidelines on making up trains into their final configurations.

And the Federal Railroad Administration, the nations train-safety regulator, doesnt collect train-length data on a routine basis. Precise details on train length are part of accident investigations, spokeswoman Tiffany Lindemann said, such as after a derailment. But notably, there are no rules on length. It seems freight trains can be about as long as they want.

Train length data is not collected by FRA regularly, and there are not regulations over the length of Class I freight trains, Lindemann said.

What is known is that length has been increasing, albeit slowly, in some freight categories on an average basis, and on a trial basis in others.

At Union Pacific, the average grain train last year was five cars longer than in 2013, at 101 cars; coal trains rose by two cars to 130. The manifest trains, which accounted for almost one-third of the companys freight volume last year, climbed by nine cars to 98 cars. (Railcars come in varying lengths, from about 40 feet to about 80 feet.) Train length hit an all-time record in four of the six major freight categories last year, according to the 2016 Investor Fact Book published by Union Pacific, which employs about 8,000 in Nebraska, 42,000 people overall and operates 32,100 miles of track west of the Mississippi River.

In August 2016, Florida-based Class I freight railroad CSX announced the average length of CSX trains would increase on a route in Indiana due to track and signal improvements. In September, CSX said 14,000-foot trains would begin running between Louisville, Kentucky, and Seymour, Indiana. For comparison, 14,000 feet is about 2.7 miles, or the distance via roads from TD Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha to Eppley Airfield.

At Texas-based BNSF Railway, owned by Omahas Berkshire Hathaway and the largest U.S. railroad by ton-miles, longer trains are being tried out on an experimental basis, spokeswoman Amy Casas said. She said the railway is still exploring what types of productivity and efficiency gains can be achieved.

The trains of BNSF, which employs about 5,000 in Nebraska, remain about 8,000 feet long on average, and longer ones arent something that we are looking at strategically for our railroad, Casas said. According to the SMART union, BNSF ran a train in April from Superior, Wisconsin, that had 246 cars and was almost 14,000 feet long.

At Canadian Pacific Railway, train length has risen more than 1,000 feet since 2011, to 7,143 feet this year. The railroad, once considered one of North Americas least efficient, has garnered investor approbation for turning things around via such productivity maneuvers.

Virginia-based Class I Norfolk Southern said in January 2016 train length rose 2.2 percent from a year earlier, and reached a corporate all-time record.

Risch said all the talk and statistics are one thing, and what his union members see on the ground is another: trains of up to three miles long, sometimes with hazardous materials, such as chlorine or ammonia. This year, the SMART union sent a letter to the Federal Railroad Administration asking for an investigation and an order ending excessive train length.

The letter cited what the union said was higher likelihood of mechanical failure, difficulty maintaining brake pressure when a trains exceed three miles and communications problems. A loss of brake pressure, the letter said, would require the conductor to inspect the entire length of the train a six-mile round trip.

If a conductor must walk to the rear of the train that is two-and-a-half miles long, he is oftentimes no longer able to communicate via portable radio with the locomotive engineer due to the long distance, reads the April letter from SMART to the federal regulator. Portable radios regularly lose communications beyond a mile-and-a-half, depending on the terrain.

That communications gap, the letter states, has led railroad managers to order crews to use their personal cellphones to supplement the portable radios, orders SMART says are at odds with company policies banning mobile phones that are set higher up in the management chain.

The SMART union isnt alone in its objections. As long ago as 2014, the Railroad Workers United, a coalition of union-represented train employees from many different unions, passed a resolution condemning long trains for many of the same reasons cited by SMART.

There are so many ways that trains of greater size are more hazardous than one of lesser size that it would be like writing a novel to try to categorize all the issues with long, heavy trains, said Jeff Kurtz, a recently retired BNSF engineer working with Railroad Workers United. What is truly amazing to me is that the FRA has never really addressed the size issue.

The Federal Railroad Administration has taken no position on train length amid the objections by the labor groups, spokeswoman Lindemann said.

And even though it is only inching up at Union Pacific in some freight categories, the company talks a lot about train size. Spokeswoman Hite said in response to World-Herald inquiries about train length that increases improve productivity because more cars can be moved with fewer individual trains.

For example, it is more efficient to add a few railcars to every train rather than holding all of those same railcars to build an additional train, Hite said. This has a networkwide impact by adding capacity and increasing velocity. In short, longer trains equals fewer trains and allow us to provide better service for our customers.

It also adds to the bottom line, a topic Union Pacific executives have often mentioned to analysts and investors at conferences and on quarterly earnings teleconferences. One reason is the companys goal of achieving a 55 percent operating ratio, a cost-control benchmark closely watched by Wall Street.

Operating ratio measures a companys operating expenses as a percentage of revenue. Said another way, an operating ratio of 70 percent would mean 70 percent of the companys revenues were used for operating expenses so the lower, the better.

Union Pacific is currently one of the leaders in the field among the seven Class I railroads operating in the United States, with an operating ratio of 63 percent last quarter, trailing only Canadian Pacific and Canadian National, which are the leaders at both just under 60 percent.

But the drive now is for a 55 percent ratio at Union Pacific, and increasing train size appears to be one path to the destination.

There is plenty of headroom inside our network, almost across the board between our three regions, for more train size opportunities, and we will, on a case-by-case, line-by-line basis, take advantage of that, Union Pacific Chief Operating Officer Cameron Scott said on a conference call with investors and analysts in May.

Scott also said on the call discussing first-quarter earnings that Union Pacific continued realizing gains in other key productivity initiatives such as train size, with records attained for the length of trains carrying grain, mixed cargoes and vehicles and vehicle parts.

Union Pacific Chief Financial Officer Rob Knight told an investor conference in June that the companys efficiency ratio has improved 24 points in the past 13 years, to 63 percent, good for the industrys top tier. Productivity, or getting more done with less, has been the way forward, Knight said.

For example, if we can find ways, which is usually not just our own decision its working closely with our customer base to run longer trains, Knight told attendees at a conference sponsored by Deutsche Bank in Chicago last month.

The motivation behind rail-network efficiency drives is perfectly rational, said Daniel Sherman, a transportation industry analyst for St. Louis-based wealth adviser Edward Jones who follows Union Pacific and other railroads. He said longer trains mean more cargo can be handled by fewer people and less time railcars full of valuable freight spend idling about in terminals and yards.

That does not mean that train is actually going at higher speeds or that crews are working faster, Sherman said. Instead, it means better planning and physical changes to the network, such as longer sidings, or subsidiary tracks where long trains can pull over and let other trains pass.

He said the guts of the system is car planning, or grouping railcars into trains, cargoes and destinations that maximize each train trip. Rail companies are now attempting to get it down to a cold science, like FedEx and UPS do with packages.

Better car planning means physically reworking yards and using more technology in tracking and planning routes, Sherman said. The end result of the changes should be shipping more freight on fewer trains, meaning fewer crews are needed.

A lot of it just common sense, said Larry Gross, a consultant at FTR Transportation Intelligence. He said the cost of staffing a freight train is the same regardless of how many cars are in it. So, the bigger the train, the lower the crew-cost per car, Gross said.

Managing costs is something the railroads excelled at during the recent freight slump quarterly shipments at the seven Class I railroads fell for two straight years, a skein that ended only last quarter. Though shipments fell, trains got longer, productivity was boosted and profits remained as the companies furloughed workers, mothballed locomotives and raised prices to remain in the black.

Union Pacific, for example, remained solidly profitable throughout 2015 and 2016, when volumes fell 6 percent and 7 percent, respectively. Despite the slack demand, in 2015, the company had net income of $4.8 billion, and $4.2 billion last year. At BNSF, 2015 net income was $4.2 billion, on shipments that were little-changed from a year earlier, while 2016 profit was $3.6 billion on a 5 percent drop in volume.

But the law of diminishing returns is important when it comes to train size, Gross said: Going from 10 cars to 11 reduces the per-car cost by 10 percent, but going from 100 cars to 101 cars reduces the per-car cost by only 1 percent, he said. Longer trains are often slower trains, Gross added, because they take longer to move through curves and other areas where speed limits are lower than on open track.

But Gross said he sees no inherent safety dangers to longer trains. Unmanned, radio-controlled locomotives in the middle or rear of trains can supply power as needed, reducing the physical forces bearing on longer trains and improving braking over what can be provided without them.

Big trains can be operated safely, Gross said. But at the risk of stating the obvious, mega-trains are generally unpopular with the towns that they pass through to the extent that there are highway-grade crossings as they take considerably longer to clear.

And as with train length, there is no federal limit as to how long trains are permitted to block traffic crossings. Cities and states often have statutes prohibiting trains from blocking a crossing for more than 10 minutes, but they are considered to be unenforceable as the matter is considered to be one of federal jurisdiction that pre-empts state law.

The issue of a states authority to legislate or regulate blocked crossings is highly contentious and still being defined in the courts, is how the Federal Railroad Administration sums it up in a Q&A on its website.

As for emergency response as in if a blocked crossing prevents a firetruck from crossing the tracks the new trend toward longer trains hasnt posed a problem so far. That is according to Council Bluffs Fire Chief Justin James, whose city is festooned with railroad tracks on the surface streets operated by Union Pacific and BNSF.

James said that while the department works closely with the railroads on responding to accidents involving hazardous materials, there hasnt been any discussion on train length. He said planning and training are an emergency crews best response to a blocked crossing.

Obviously, being in a city where train tracks basically divide our territory both north to south and east to west, we have become accustomed to dealing with them during an emergency response, James said. We spend a lot of time with our personnel on understanding both the streets and rail layouts in an effort to ensure we are not delayed.

Likewise, the issue of longer trains doesnt seem to have percolated throughout the emergency response community. The International Association of Fire Chiefs, based in Washington, hasnt developed a position on the matter, a spokesman said.

The Association of American Railroads represents the seven Class I freight carriers operating in the U.S., and speaks for the industry on many topics. Spokeswoman Jessica Kahanek provided the following as the Washington-based trade groups response to inquiries by The World-Herald about the objections to long trains raised by the SMART labor union.

The distance of the train as it relates to braking is an operational issue, not a safety one. Distance in no way impacts the safe application of brakes. The relationship between distance and maintaining pipe pressure pertains to releasing brakes after the train has stopped. Getting the train moving again after it has stopped is fundamentally an operational matter. There are a number of ways to improve train air and train handling that railroads use based upon their models such as locomotive power distribution, which improves brake control.

The question of communications pertains to the specific radios in use by a railroad. There are handheld radios available that have sufficient wattage for longer distances. In terms of what specific radios are in use, that is a better question for individual railroads, as the AAR is not involved in their day-to-day operations.

Warning devices at crossings activate about 25 seconds before the train occupies the crossing. Combining two trains will allow the passage of the train with one crossing start instead of two. A train that is one mile long moving at 60 mph would occupy a crossing for approximately one minute, plus the crossing start time of 25 seconds. A two-mile-long train at 60 mph will block the crossing for two minutes and 25 seconds. This means that running one two-mile train through the crossing rather than two one-mile trains through reduces the total time the crossing is occupied by 25 seconds.

The Omaha World-Herald is owned by Berkshire Hathaway Inc.

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Railroads adding more cars to trains in effort to trim costs, raising some concerns about safety - Omaha World-Herald

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What It Is:The Gut Makeover is aplan to help nourish your gut, improve your health and lose weight over a 28-day period

Who Tried It: Rennie Dyball, Senior News Editor

Why We Tried It:To see how much torture I can withstand. Also: lose weight and improve my health and all that.

Level of Difficulty:7. This is not for sissies.

The Plan:

As someone whos had mild, recurring GI issues for as long as I can remember, the idea of making over my insides is appealing. And I havent had much luck losing the last of my baby weight.

Nutritional therapist Jeannette Hydepromises to help on both fronts and more in her book,The Gut Makeover, new to the U.S. as of May. In the four-week plan you cut out all gluten, sugar, dairy (certain gut-friendly dairy gets added back in the second two weeks), alcohol and caffeine to heal your gut from the damage that a typical Western diet can do.

An abundance of beige foodsrather than a ton of fruits and vegetables plus oils, nuts and healthy proteinscoupled with processed foods, artificial sweeteners, too much caffeine and too much alcohol can apparently do a number on your system. (Go figure.)

By cutting all of these things out and eating a rainbow of plants and proteins, you can restore the healthy bacteria in your gut, Hyde says, which will result in an overall healthier mind and body. Plus, most people lose 6-13 lbs. in that first month. After the 28 days, you slowly reintroduce the food groups youd taken out, while incorporating many of the principals in the plan for the long haul. Thankfully, Hyde isnot anti-gluten, as long as you dont have a sensitivity to it. You simply take it out (along with the dairy, sugar, alcohol and caffeine) for the 28 days as a reset for your body.

The basic principal to remember when it comes to this plant-based plan is 5 cups of vegetables and 2 cups of fruits a day. I was lucky if I ate 5 cups of vegetables a week previously. And the more variety the better.

The Real Story:

The first few days of The Gut Makeover were rough. Really rough. Hyde suggests phasing out caffeine slowly over the course of a week before you start. So my caffeine withdrawal headaches were, thankfully, pretty minimal, but the fatigue was not. We are talking fight-to-stay-awake-past-4-p.m. tired. And the brain fog that accompanied it was intense. Id park my car at Whole Foods, where they now know me by name, and not only forget where Id parked but have no recollection of even driving there! Totally bizarre.

It was only a few days, however, before I started to notice a change. For someone who depended on Lean Pockets and microwave pizzas in a pinch (okay, more like multiple times a week), the idea of cooking from scratch daily was daunting. How is this possible with two small children and a full time job? It was not easy, which leads me to

The Cheats:

Because Im pressed for time, I often bought the pre-cut fruits and vegetables at the grocery store to save time on prep. This was not easy on the wallet, to say the least. Neither was what came next.

Making myself three meals a day, every day, quickly became impossible for me, but I have a salad place just down the street with every vegetable you can imagine, plus proteins, for $9 a piece. Not cheap, but still key when youre pressed for time. I also learned to love sashimi while on the plan and picked that up for dinner when I couldnt cook.

As Hyde notes in the book, this is not a plan you can do at 80 percent and expect to see results. You have to follow it as close to the letter as possible, implementing new habits like following a strict 12-hour fast between your last evening meal and breakfast the following morning. I followed the plan like a good little soldier in every way but one snacking. I asked the author why her plan seems to contradict the prevalent thinking that people should eat several small meals a day.

The latest science seems to have turned much of that on its head and it was hard for even me to accept what the new research was showing, Hyde told PEOPLE. Having gaps between meals gives the gut bacteria a chance to repopulate, so the 12-hour overnight gap is the most important one to implement if you want to eat heartily and lose weight.

A gap of 12 hours or more creates a healthier microbiome (more diverse and lots of healthy varieties growing) that then means you extract less calories from your diet overall.

Cannot argue with that!

Hyde said that its more important to keep the 12-hour overnight fast than to skip snacking entirely. I didnt always snack, and when I did I made better choices. Previously Id go for popcorn and a yogurt or a Kind bar, but Ive swapped those for an apple with almond butter or a big handful of mixed nuts and I feel even more satisfied. And I dont think the healthy snacks when I needed them hurt me too much because

The Verdict:

I lost exactly 10 pounds in 28 days! And not to sound like an infomercial or anything, but I was truly never hungry. It was the first time, maybe in my life, that I aterealfood, and an abundance of it, every single meal, every single day. My GI symptoms all but disappeared, too.

I will say I missed coffee every day (sometimes every hour of every day) on The Gut Makeover. The taste, the caffeine boost, even just the ritual of it was something I came to realize was actually an important part of my day. But after this experiment, Ive learned to be more mindful about it. Coffee in moderation is okay, but the author says that many of us need to rein in our addiction.

On my first day off the plan, I was delighted to find that just a half-caf iced coffee did the trick and, for the first time in my adult life, I didnt need any sugar in my morning drink. Just a little milk, which was also nice to have again. Even more shocking: I ate the same way, voluntarily, off the plan as I did on it.

Ive learned to love eating a lot of vegetables, words I never thoughts Id type, and picked up on great new ways to prepare them, too. The Gut Makeover includes recipes but I also found myself going to friends and websites for new recipes and tweaks.

And while my love affair with coffee never wavered, I did not miss alcohol or sugar at all after the first few days. I was as shocked as you are.

At the end of the day, Id call this plan a huge success: Significant weight loss, healthy habits to carry forward, less dependency on sugar and caffeine and reduced cravings. Plus, theres an overall feeling of well-being that Im now fueling my body with better stuff for it. Im a vegetable convert now, and proud of it.

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We Tried It: Cutting Out All Sugar, Gluten, Alcohol and Caffeine for the 28-Day Gut Makeover - PEOPLE.com

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The United Way of St. Francois County awarded the largest amount of grants to date during the annual grant presentation held on Tuesday at the Farmington Public Library.

A total of nearly $200,000 was awarded to 33 agencies more than $20,000 over last years total.

I thought it was one of the neatest, biggest that weve had so far, Executive Director Clay Whitener said. We gave away more money than we ever have before we earned a little more, so we were able to give back a whole lot more."

Whitener addressed those representing the agencies receiving grants stating he sees the work they do and how hard the work can be.

We appreciate your support of us, and in an effort to show our appreciation for what all of you do thats why this day is here, he said.

Mark Toti, president of the United Way board, introduced the agencies receiving grant funds and gave a few statistics of the work those organizations provide in the county.

More than 140,000 meals are served through the four senior centers and Meals on Wheels for Special Diets program; more than 50,000 individuals receive assistance through the seven food pantries in the county. Grant monies were also received by the five Caring Communities programs serving the students in each of the countys five school districts, as well as 16 agencies able to continue specific services to the county through the grants received.

Agencies awarded this year include Bismarck Senior Center, Bonne Terre Senior Center, Farmington Senior Center, Park Hills Senior Center, Meals on Wheels for Special Diets, Central Caring Communities, West County Caring Communities, Bismarck Caring Communities, Farmington Caring Communities, North County Caring Communities, Bonne Terre Food Pantry, Bismarck Church of God Food Pantry, Elvins Food Pantry, Farmington Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry, St. Vincent de Paul at Immaculate Conception Church in Park Hills, St. Vincent de Paul at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Farmington, House of Praise Food Pantry in Desloge, Childrens Advocacy Center, East Missouri Action Agency, Habitat for Humanity of St. Francois County, L.I.F.E Center for Independent Living, Parkland Foster Adopt Families, Parkland Pregnancy Resource Center, SEMO Family Violence Council, Shared Blessings Homeless Shelter, Young Faith in Christ, Upward Smiles Dental Clinic, Salvation Army, St. Francois County Mental Health Board, Visions of Hope, St. Francois County Health Center, BJC Behavioral Health Club House, and St. Francois County Community Partnership.

Donations to the United Way of St. Francois County are made in a variety of ways. Some donations are received through payroll deduction or through charitable donations, memorial gifts or legacy gifts.

Fundraiser events also raise money for the grants provided, such as Dine Out for United Way, bell ringing during the holiday season, Sing United or the Girls Night Out event.

Every contribution goes toward the grants the United Way pledges to give each year to agencies in St. Francois County that help people in need, with 100 percent of every financial gift to United Way of St. Francois County going to the local agencies funded by United Way.

Planning is already underway for raising money toward next years grant presentation.

Right now, were trying to get ready for fall, Whitener said. (The time frame for) bell ringing is pretty well scheduled. Were going to start a little bit before the Thanksgiving holiday (when) everybody is in the giving spirit and theyre not really sure how to help. Dine Out (for the United Way) is going to last two months instead of four.

Whitener said payroll deduction is a year-round way businesses and corporations and their employees can help those agencies.

The United Way of St. Francois County is recognized by the IRS as a 501c organization. Organized in 1994, the local United Way exists to raise funds for local agencies to meet the needs of people in St. Francois County.

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A day of giving - Daily Journal Online

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The Mediterranean diet is a modern nutritional recommendation based on the dietary patterns of Greece, Southern Italy, France and Spain in the 1940s and 1950s.[2] The principal aspects of this diet include proportionally high consumption of olive oil, legumes, unrefined cereals, fruits, and vegetables, moderate to high consumption of fish, moderate consumption of dairy products (mostly as cheese and yogurt), moderate wine consumption, and low consumption of non-fish meat products.[3]

There is evidence that the Mediterranean diet lowers the risk of heart disease and early death.[4][5] Olive oil may be the main health-promoting component of the diet.[6] There is preliminary evidence that regular consumption of olive oil may lower all-cause mortality and the risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurodegeneration, and several chronic diseases.[6][7][8][9]

In 2013, UNESCO added the Mediterranean diet to the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of Italy (promoter), France, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, and Croatia.[10][11] It was chosen because "The Mediterranean diet involves a set of skills, knowledge, rituals, symbols and traditions concerning crops, harvesting, fishing, animal husbandry, conservation, processing, cooking, and particularly the sharing and consumption of food." [12]

A 2016 review found similar weight loss as other diets.[13]

Dietary factors may be only part of the reason for health benefits gained by certain Mediterranean cultures. Physically active lifestyle, lower body mass index, cessation of smoking and moderate alcohol consumption also may contribute.[14]

A 2011 systematic review found that a Mediterranean diet appeared to be more effective than a low-fat diet in bringing about long-term changes to cardiovascular risk factors, such as lowering cholesterol level and blood pressure.[15] A 2013 Cochrane review found limited evidence that a Mediterranean diet favorably affects cardiovascular risk factors.[4] A meta-analysis in 2013 compared Mediterranean, vegan, vegetarian, low-glycemic index, low-carbohydrate, high-fiber, and high-protein diets with control diets. The research concluded that Mediterranean, low-carbohydrate, low-glycemic index, and high-protein diets are effective in improving markers of risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes, while there was limited evidence for an effect of vegetarian diets on glycemic control and lipid levels unrelated to weight loss.[16] However, concerns have been raised about the quality of previously performed systematic reviews and meta-analyses examining the impact of a Mediterranean diet on cardiovascular risk factors.[17] Newer reviews have reached similar conclusions about the ability of a Mediterranean diet to improve cardiovascular risk factors such as high blood pressure.[18]

The Mediterranean diet often is cited as beneficial for being low in saturated fat and high in monounsaturated fat and dietary fiber. One of the main explanations is thought to be the health effects of olive oil included in the Mediterranean diet. Olive oil contains monounsaturated fats, most notably oleic acid, which is under clinical research for its potential health benefits.[7] The European Food Safety Authority Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies approved health claims on olive oil, for protection by its polyphenols against oxidation of blood lipids[19] and for the contribution to the maintenance of normal blood LDL-cholesterol levels by replacing saturated fats in the diet with oleic acid[20] (Commission Regulation (EU) 432/2012 of 16 May 2012).[21] A 2014 meta-analysis concluded that an elevated consumption of olive oil is associated with reduced risk of all-cause mortality, cardiovascular events and stroke, while monounsaturated fatty acids of mixed animal and plant origin showed no significant effects.[8]

In 2014, two meta-analyses found that the Mediterranean diet was associated with a decreased risk of type 2 diabetes.[22][23]

A meta-analysis in 2008 found that strictly following the Mediterranean diet reduced the risk of dying from cancer by 6%.[5]

Another 2014 systematic review and meta-analysis found that adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a decreased risk of death from cancer.[24] There is preliminary evidence that regular consumption of olive oil may lower the risk of developing cancer.[9]

A 2016 systematic review found a relation between greater adherence to a Mediterranean diet and better cognitive performance; it is unclear if the relationship is causal.[25]

According to a 2013 systematic review, greater adherence to a Mediterranean diet is correlated with a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease and slower cognitive decline.[26] Another 2013 systematic review reached similar conclusions, and also found a negative association with the risk of progressing from mild cognitive impairment to Alzheimer's, but acknowledged that only a small number of studies had been done on the topic.[27]

As the Mediterranean diet usually includes products containing gluten like pasta and bread, increasing use of the diet may have contributed to the growing rate of gluten-related disorders.[28][29]

Although there are many different "Mediterranean diets" among different countries and populations of the Mediterranean basin, because of ethnical, cultural, economical and religious diversities, the distinct Mediterranean cuisines generally include the same key components, in addition to regular physical activity:[30][31][32]

Total fat in a diet with roughly this composition is 25% to 35% of calories, with saturated fat at 8% or less of calories.[32]

In Northern Italy lard and butter are commonly used in cooking, and olive oil is reserved for dressing salads and cooked vegetables.[33] In both North Africa and the Middle East, sheep's tail fat and rendered butter (samna) are traditional staple fats.[34]

The concept of a Mediterranean diet was developed to reflect "food patterns typical of Crete, much of the rest of Greece, and southern Italy in the early 1960s".[32] Although it was first publicized in 1975 by the American biologist Ancel Keys and chemist Margaret Keys (his wife and collaborator),[35] the Mediterranean diet failed to gain widespread recognition until the 1990s. Objective data showing that Mediterranean diet is healthful originated from results of epidemiological studies in Naples and Madrid [36] confirmed later by the Seven Countries Study, with first publication in 1970,[37] and a book-length report in 1980.[38] The most commonly understood version of the Mediterranean diet was presented, among others, by Walter Willett of Harvard University's School of Public Health from the mid-1990s on.[39][40][41][42][43]

The Mediterranean diet is based on what from the point of view of mainstream nutrition is considered a paradox: although the people living in Mediterranean countries tend to consume relatively high amounts of fat, they have far lower rates of cardiovascular disease than in countries like the United States, where similar levels of fat consumption are found. A parallel phenomenon is known as the French Paradox.[44]

A diet rich in salads was promoted in England during the early Renaissance period by Giacomo Castelvetro in A Brief Account of the Fruits, Herbs, and Vegetables of Italy.[45]

When Ancel Keys and his team of researchers studied and characterized the Mediterranean diet and compared it with the eating habits of the US and the most developed countries during that period, some identified it as the "Diet of the Poor". According to the famed Portuguese gastronomist Maria de Lourdes Modesto who met with Keys, Portugal was included in their observations and studies, and according to their conversation, Keys considered Portugal had the most pure "Mediterranean" diet. However, Salazar, the dictator of Portugal, did not want the name of Portugal included in what he understood as the diet of the poor.[46]

Still today the name of the diet is not consensual among Portuguese gastronomists. After the Mediterranean diet became well-known, some studies evaluated the health benefits of the so-called "Atlantic diet", which is similar to Keys' "Mediterranean" diet, but with more fish, seafood, and fresh greens. Virglio Gomes, a Portuguese professor and researcher on food history and gastronomy says, Portuguese cuisine is really an "Atlantic cuisine".[46]

Media related to Mediterranean Diet at Wikimedia Commons

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Mediterranean diet - Wikipedia

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As a top scientist, I grew up believing in low-fat. Yes, for years I trusted the research, ate fruits and grains and shunned tempting doughnuts, in the firm belief this would keep my body strong. I even wrote books about it! But heres the thing. Although Ilooked trim and healthy and some say fiendishly attractive on the outside, inside my organs were pallid and miserable. And more importantly, they were at critical risk of to use the medical jargon total fucking collapse. Put simply, I could have died of health at any moment.

Turns out my first 10 books were absolutely right about the importance of hair colour, beetroots, nutmeg, nose shape and colonic megafauna in banishing flab and low self-esteem, but, as Ive learned to my cost, cutting-edge research proves that its just not enough to fast, exercise and eat only fermented items between 5pm and midnight although of course all that previous advice still stands. But if we want to be truly healthy, as I explain in my new book, we urgently need to review everything we thought we knew about what turns out to be the bodys greatest natural ally against disease lard. And its not just us experts who think so. Visiting aremote tribe in snowy Lardland for my Super Lard Diet, I met 150-year-olds whose longevity can only be explained by the healing power of locally harvested lard. Right away, Iresolved to replace a minimum 27.2% of my own diet with lard, except on nutmeg or fasting days, and a subsequent incredibly hi-tech scan proved that all my internal organs are now supple and resilient, or, to use the medical jargon, the dogs bollocks.

So youll see why I am convinced that scientifically controlled lard-eating can have a massive impact onyour health and IQ, whether youre tall or short, clever or thick. How does it work? Which lard should I choose? Dont worry: The Super Lard Diet, out now, contains all the exclusive tips and recipes youll need until my next revolutionary diet discovery, outnext week.

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Modern tribes: the diet guru - The Guardian

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Men's Health

The Exact Diet Russell Wilson Is Using to Cut 10 Pounds | Men's ... Men's Health Seattle Seahawks signal-caller Russell Wilson is going with a high-calorie regimen to lose fat and build muscle for the upcoming NFL season. Audio: ESPN Seahawks reporter Sheil Kapadia shares what he learned reporting on Russell Wilson's new dietMyNorthwest.com Seahawks' Russell Wilson: Seeing immediate benefits from improved dietCBSSports.com Russell Wilson using nine-meal, 4800-calorie diet to cut weightYardbarker UPI.com all 16 news articles »

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The Exact Diet Russell Wilson Is Using to Cut 10 Pounds | Men's ... - Men's Health

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Dr. Travis Stork's known for hosting The Doctors, a health-focused daytime talk show, but these days, it's his latest book that's getting all the attention. In December, he released The Lose Your Belly Diet, a book that aims to help people lose weight by focusing on the bacteria in your gut.

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Though it's been months since its debut, the book continually spikes on Amazon's Movers and Shakers list its roundup of the top-selling products across the site and it's currently listed as the No. 1 bestseller in the Diet Books category. Naturally, this begs the question: What's all the hype about? Aside from the famous author and the fact that the title suggests fixing a problem just about every human struggles with (just look at search traffic for "flat belly" and "flat stomach" exercises). Is it all just marketing hype?

While it is cleverly marketed, what sets the diet apart from many out there is its focus on microbiomes those tiny organisms that live in our bodies, particularly our stomachs. Having a healthy mix of bacteria in your gut can keep you healthy, lowering your chance for various diseases and help keep your weight in check, according to Dr. Stork.

"Researchers are now discovering that gut bacteria also seem to play a role in the complex process of weight loss and weight gain," he writes. "We don't know exactly how much impact our Little Buddies have on our weight, but we're learning enough to believe that understanding the connection more fully may help us as we confront the obesity epidemic in the United States and in our own bodies."

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The book itself doesn't get tediously microbiome-focused, though. The first section of The Lose Your Belly Diet sets the stage, then part two goes into which foods can give you that healthy mix of gut bacteria. Part three focuses on other ways to boost your stomach's microbiome health (avoiding antibiotics when you don't need them, exercise, and what probiotic supplements to take, namely), while part four gets actionable, providing a diet quiz, recipes, and a meal plan.

Essentially, that meal plan involves eating plenty of leafy greens and fiber-rich vegetables, as well as high-fiber, low-sugar fruits, like blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, and pears. He also recommends two to three servings of whole grains per day, as well as six to seven servings of protein with a preference for nuts, legumes, fish, and dairy over beef, pork, and chicken.

Overall, the plan seems in line with many healthy eating plans out there. No food is off limits, though it does recommend avoiding anything that's high in sugar.

Though there aren't many stories online from people who've tried the diet, Dr. Stork has featured two women on his talk show who both lost 20 pounds and four inches from their waistline after following the diet for a few months.

"Compared to other diets, there is more variety. I didn't feel like I was deprived," one of the women featured, Karen, said. "Within a week, I actually felt different. I felt better."

Throughout the clip, there is a disclaimer: These results aren't typical. Most people lost an average of about 1 1/2 pounds per week. That falls in line with most recommendations for healthy weight loss (about 1-2 pounds every seven days).

Get the top 10 flat-stomach tips from The Lose Your Belly Diet here.

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People Are Going Crazy For The 'Lose Your Belly' Diet - Delish.com

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THURSDAY, June 29, 2017 (HealthDay News) -- Call it a step in the right direction: More and more Americans are trying to walk their way to better health.

The number of adults who took up walking for exercise or as a way to get from place to place increased significantly between 2005 and 2015, federal health officials reported Thursday.

During that time, the percentage of women who walk increased from 57 percent to 65 percent. Among men, the percentage increased from 54 percent to 63 percent, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"People who are physically active have a lower risk of many chronic diseases -- like heart disease, stroke and depression -- and it supports the healthy aging process for older adults," said study lead author Emily Ussery, a CDC epidemiologist.

On the downside, although more people are walking, the increase among men has stalled a bit in recent years, Ussery said.

And about one-third of adults said "they didn't walk for at least 10 minutes a day," she said. "There is still some work to be done to increase walking."

It's not clear why more people are walking, although it could be that messages promoting the benefits of exercise are getting through, Ussery said.

"It's an easy activity to do. It doesn't require a lot of special skills or equipment," she said.

It's also not known why more women than men have started walking. Maybe walking appeals more to women than men, Ussery said.

Regardless, people should engage in moderate exercise for at least two and a half hours a week, and walking fits right in, she added.

Communities can help get people walking by making streets safer and promoting walking programs. "People need access to convenient and safe places to walk," she said.

As with other matters of health, there are racial, ethnic and socioeconomic disparities that exist between the people most likely to start walking and those who don't, Ussery said.

Blacks and Hispanics walk less than whites, and less educated and poorer people tend to walk less than more educated and richer folks, she said.

The report was published June 30 in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

Dr. David Katz is president of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. He said the CDC finding that "walking rates have trended up over recent years suggests the message is getting out, but progress is slow, and disparities are large and persistent."

The people most in need of walking for health reasons are least likely to do it because of the usual social factors -- education, economics and environment, he said.

"Affluent city-dwellers can rely on walking to get them many of the places they need to go. Not so for residents of many rural and suburban neighborhoods," said Katz, who also directs the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center in Derby, Conn.

"There are some encouraging signs here," he added, "but much work is clearly needed to create the level playing field of opportunity for health."

Samantha Heller, a senior clinical nutritionist and exercise physiologist at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City, said walking is a good way to start an exercise program -- it only takes a pair of shoes and the desire.

"Walking is free, we already know how to do it and it can be done virtually anywhere," she said.

Heller said walking regularly has been associated with decreased belly fat and better management of weight, blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure. It also can lead to a healthier heart, muscles, bones and joints, improved sleep and mood. And it can cut the risk of some cancers, and boost creativity, brain power and immunity, she added.

Heller recommends making walking a regular part of your day. "You must schedule time to be physically active every day," she said.

Make an appointment with yourself, set aside specific times and days for walking or other physical activity, she suggested.

"There are many ways to get moving, including enlisting a partner, joining a walking group, going hiking, and taking a historical walking tour. There is no time like the present to get off the couch and out the door," Heller said.

The data in the new report came from U.S. adults who took part in the National Health Interview Survey from 2005 to 2015.

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More Americans Are Walking for Exercise - Sioux City Journal

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There are really only two ways to react to an invitation to workout with fitness guru Jillian Michaels:

Bring it!

And...

Gulp.

Michaels promises beginners will be welcome on Saturday, July 8, when she hosts a 45-minute workout followed by a meet and greet at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall near downtown L.A. to benefit Stand Up to Cancer.

Its nothing to be scared of, insisted Michaels (who built a reputation for herself as TVs toughest trainer on The Biggest Loser). Everything I do has modifications and progressions, she says. If youre a beginner, youll do a pushup on your knees. More advanced? A clapping pushing for you.

Weve all lost people to cancer or know someone who has been affected by it, she said, adding that cancer and heart disease are chief causes of death in this country. One way to combat that, she said, is prioritizing your health and happiness. Ill do whatever it takes to incentivize people to do that, she said.

For some of us, the workout could be a much needed jump start. (Its summer. We forgot to lose that winter weight ...

Actually, the life coach kindly corrected us, we didnt forget to lose weight. We forgot to motivate ourselves.

Heres her 4-step plan for doing that or anything else you put your mind to.

Step. 1: You have to decide what the work is for, what is worth it. You have to have that Why to tolerate the How. Its not enough to just say, I want to be healthy or I want to lose weight. People speak in generalities about health and money and love, but what they have to do is define those things in their lives.

Examples?

Its saying I want to wear a two piece instead of a one piece. Its living long enough to walk your daughter down the aisle, or living to see your great-grandchildren. Maybe its having sex with the lights on. It doesnt matter what it is, it doesnt matter if its superficial or profound, but you need to figure out what you want and why you want it.

Step 2: Form an emotional connection to it. Meditate on that goal. Focus on it. Anchor it in your core. Thats when work has a purpose, when it has a passion behind it, she said. Work without a purpose is punishing.

Step 3: Then you have to get informed, so that the actions you do take yield powerful results. In the case of fitness, that means educating yourself about the basics of nutrition and fitness.

Step 4: Have fun! Make sure you enjoy it! I always say, The best workout is the one that youre going to do. I can go on all day about HIIT workouts, and metabolic circuits, but if you hate it, youre not going to do it.

Michaels says theres a workout for everyone, even people who think they hate all exercise.

Maybe its hiking, Pilates, or yoga do you like salsa dancing? ... Golfing? Theres got to be an activity that you love, or that you like, or that you can at least commit to. You have to find it.

And it doesnt need to be painful.

What I am looking for is activity. A golf game is an activity. Bowling is an activity. Its not fitness, but it has you on your feet and moving, and thats where you start, by making sure you are moving and as active as you can be.

If you are the fitness tracker type, it might interest you to know that Michaels swears by her Apple watch. And yes, we asked: How many steps does she get a day? Sometimes she hits the magic 10,000 steps, but sometimes she doesnt.

Some days I get in five miles which is in the 10K-step range some days I only get in one. Thats just life. On the days where Im busy, I really watch my diet.

Michaels busy lifestyle has her dividing attention between her online platforms and investing in health and fitness businesses (Thrive Market, Lucky Jack Coffee, Giggles N Hugs, a restaurant-plus-gym for parents and children). Theres her app, which she describes as quite literally having me as your personal trainer in your pocket, its as customizable as fitness training can get, and her newest endeavor, FitFusion.com.

Think of it as a Netflix, or YouTube vertical, focused on follow along fitness content. Weve got the biggest names in fitness in there, she said, including Tara Stiles, Leslie Sansone and the Tone It Up Girls.

Her latest obsession, though, has us on the edge of our seats: These days, Michaels, 43, is all about anti-aging.

But were not talking about the cosmetic surgery variety.

I am working on an anti-aging book. How come some people seem to defy age, and some people give in to it. Why does J Lo who is pushing 48 look like shes 20? Why? What is she doing? Why are there 90-year-olds who run marathons and 20-year-olds that cant run up a hill? I want to take a deep dive into longevity.

If all goes well, its a title that could hit shelves in 2018. Hurry up, Jillian. We want to know the answer to that J Lo question too.

Train L.A. with Jillian Michaels

When: 10:30 a.m., July 8

Where: Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall, 665 W. Jefferson Blvd., Los Angeles.

Cost: Tickets start at $87.

Info: ShrineAuditorium.com/events

Health@latimes.com

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Jillian Michaels wants to jump start your fitness (and swears it will be fun!) - Los Angeles Times

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Patrons at 24-Hour Fitness gym in Vallejo are on edge after a member tested positive for tuberculosis.

Solano Public Health Officials notified the club on June 16 that a member was infected with the disease.

A club spokesperson refused to answer why it took two weeks to notify other members.

On Friday, county health officials reached out to anyone who was in the club at the same time as the infected patron.

"Everyone checks in so that's how we know who was in the club while he was there," said Dr. Michael Stacey with the Solano County Health Department.

Members said they have never been concerned about potentially contracting anything at the club before.

"I'm not really personally worried," Vallejo-resident Steve Freund said. "You have to be close to get it. But still, this happens."

The Vallejo gym is located on Sonoma Boulevard.

Published at 4:33 PM PDT on Jun 30, 2017 | Updated at 6:01 PM PDT on Jun 30, 2017

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Tuberculosis Scare at Vallejo 24 Hour Fitness Gym | NBC Bay Area - NBC Bay Area

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