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Weve all been engaging in a global CO2 emissions experiment. It doesnt have to endSean Gallup/Getty Images

Are we done with being at home?

Weve explored every cranny and mended every drape in our houses and apartments. And now with a few more degrees of warmth in the air and the rising possibility of a shot or two in our arms, many of us are thinking about the open road.

But before your finger actually hits the buy button on that online reservation, it might be worth taking a pause and considering what staying home has done for the planet. In spite of all of its miseries 2020 was the year our country finally went on a climate diet, cutting its CO2 emissions by a significant ten percent. Of course, no one would want to repeat this harrowing experiment. But we cant deny that climate-impactful behavior changes took place in 2020.

And the world desperately needs the US to continue that diet. Every year the average American puts five times the greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere as a citizen of slim, trim France, and more than ten times the amount as a resident of India. And so, as a kind of normal returns, its worthwhile to look back at the most powerful changes we made; changes that could be maintained without derailing the things we like best about our lives and our country.

Its worthwhile to look back at the most powerful changes we made; changes that could be maintained without derailing the things we like best about our lives and our country.

We stayed off of airplanes and this was certainly a factor in tamping down our emissions. Just one roundtrip from New York to London results in at least a ton of CO2 per person per flight. Thats the emissions equivalent of an individual in much of the developing world for an entire year. All that flying adds up. A 2018 study in the journal Nature reported that pre-pandemic tourism accounted for about 8 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. A family of four could, for the same price as flying roundtrip abroad, swap out two of the biggest carbon offenders in their home (gas ranges and clothes dryers) for hyper efficient smart electric models. Skip a few more international trips and that same family could replace their carbon-belching fossil fuel heating system with a vastly more efficient heat pump.

Americans made fewer trips to the supermarket buying more food per trip and more frozen food than ever before. This was a significant climate savings not only because of the decreased driving to and from the store but also because frozen food costs the planet much less than fresh. Fast-spoiling fresh food can be extremely carbon costly because it often travels to us by airplane. One study in the UK found that while only 1.5% of fruit and vegetables in that country were carried by air flying food accounted for 40% of the total CO2 emitted during the transport of produce for the entire nation. Frozen food meanwhile is almost never flown. Usually its sent via ship a transport method that is orders of magnitude more carbon efficient.

Not only did we make fewer trips to the grocery store, we made fewer trips to our jobs. This was key because the space between home and work is the hole into which we pour the greatest portion of our fossil fuels. According to the Brookings Institution, pre-pandemic, 76% of Americans drove to work alone every working day, and, indeed, commuting is the main reason most of us own a car in the first place. But as were now well aware, working from home is fully possible and, in fact, can lead to marked improvements in productivity. That said, as the digital life critic Brian Solis put it working remotely during a crisis is not the same as working from home. . .This is a herculean endeavor, often without a dedicated support network. If the Biden administration does indeed push through a massive infrastructure package, we need to rebuild with this idea in mind. Smaller office spaces, fewer days at work, fewer miles burned on our crumbling highways should be the norm going forward. But so should a childcare benefit for those who choose to skip the commute.

Applications for marriage licenses in the New York area alone fell 60 percent during the pandemic and the couples that did marry tended to have what the matrimony industry is now calling cozy weddings fewer attendees and hardly any out-of-town guests. This couldnt have come a moment too soon. Pre-pandemic there were around 2 million weddings every year in the United States and fed by Instagram bridezillas and groomensteins the average carbon cost of those ever-expanding weddings ballooned to more than 62 tons of emissions per event. Surely when embarking on an institution that thrives on selflessness a little bit of that same sentiment, directed to the planet is a good idea.

If you thought a wedding was bad for a climate diet, try a conference. Though its hard to put a hard number on it all the industry tracker ConferenceHound.com estimates 40 million Americans attended conferences in 2019 with a per person emissions cost of more than 400 pounds of CO2 per person per day. Change that all to virtual as we did in 2020 and around 90% of those emissions go away according to green events consultant Shawna McKinley. Undoubtedly, there are benefits to human-to-human contact, but maybe the in-person conference should be the exception and not the rule?

The one point of exuberance for many Americans in their locked down year was the stock market. Not only did the overall value of the market improbably rise, some of us began to deliberately play with it (c.f. GameStop). But the stock market can and should be much more than a game. It should be a real tool for focusing the attention of the country on the prospects for our future. In this we need to be deadly serious. Turning to mutual funds and ETFs that specifically focus on low and zero emissions infrastructure would send a positive signal to investors everywhere. And, if the online pranksters want to monkey around with stock prices, perhaps they should consider the fact that as solar and wind costs continue to dip below the production cost of fossil fuels, Americas top five investment banks which today have put more money into the expansion of oil and gas than any other industry on the planet, are in serious risk of stranding their assets. Anybody on Reddit game for shorting J.P. Morgan Chase?

For much of the pandemical year the rallying call for climate action was that change could only be achieved at the ballot box. In this respect 2020 was a resounding success with a climate-forward agenda now sitting squarely on the Resolute Desk. But climate change is as much a local issue as it is a national one. Local municipalities cant regulate the fuel efficiency of cars, make treaties or borrow money the way governments needed to build massive green infrastructures. But they can decide how streets are used or what energy efficiency standards buildings will have. This is particularly consequential in a place like New York where 70% of emissions come from buildings. We need to continue to apply pressure at the ballot box and bring our climate-forward enthusiasm to state, city, town and even school board elections.

Will all of this add up to a nation that chooses to stay in voluntarily? Will we actually maintain our climate diet? We dont know yet. Diets have a way of failing. But if were looking for a place where we can live well for ourselves and live well for the planet, theres no place like home.

Find more tips in my new book The Climate Diet.

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7 Things We Can Keep Doing for the Climate After the Pandemic - medium.com

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EGGS ARE a power food for any meal of the day, especially for breakfast.

That's largely because they're high in protein, but also choline, a brain-aiding nutrient found in the yolk (you are eating the whole egg, right?).

Eggs are so beloved that theres a whole diet centered around eating them in order to help you lose weightor at least that's what the (not-that-creatively named) The Egg Diet promises.

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What, exactly, does that entail? The Egg Diet is a low-calorie, low-carb, high-protein eating plan that leads to rapid weight loss without losing muscle mass, which often happens when you drop pounds too quickly. Again, that's the promise.

The reality: "This fad diet is based around the idea that eggs are a nutrient-dense, inexpensive, and complete protein source, but rather than eating highly processed, packaged, and artificial foods, The Egg Diet is centered around a whole-food approach, says Ilyse Schapiro R.D.

To further complicate matters, there are also different variations of The Egg Diet. Some are egg-only diets or revolve around eating only hard-boiled eggs (!), but all types require three meals per day without any snacks.

These meals tend to include lean proteins, 1 to 2 servings of fruit per day, dark leafy greens, and non-starchy vegetables. Adequate water intake is also encouraged along with any zero-calorie beverage of your choice (think black coffee and unsweetened teas).

Like Schapiro says, The Egg Diet is a fad diet, though, so we have to wonder if it works and if its healthy for short- and long-term weight loss.

Let's take a closer look.

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In terms of immediate results for weight loss, yes, The Egg Diet works. But there's a catch (of course).

"Given that all versions of The Egg Diet result in eating fewer calories, it is likely that you will achieve short-term weight loss, says Schapiro. Any time you eat fewer calories than your body requires, youll lose weight. If youre able to maintain the strict diet long-term, you will be able to maintain the weight loss.

A Man, A Pan, A Plan: 100 Delicious & Nutritious One-Pan Recipes You Can Make Right Now!

"However, this plan is too restrictive and regimented to be considered a well-balanced, sustainable way of eating," Schapiro says. So, you wouldnt want to consider this a type of eating plan as sustainable or beneficial long-term.

"The problem comes in when it comes to real-life and not wanting to feel so limited and follow such a strict diet all of the time," adds Lyssie Lakatos, R.D.N. When you go back to eating normally, its likely you will gain the weight back.

"Also, if you were to continue on the diet long-term, youd miss out on a lot of important vitamins and minerals that you need to keep you healthy, Lakatos says.

Many versions of these egg-based diets are too low in calories to be healthy long-term, and can ultimately also slow metabolism. There are healthier and more sustainable ways to seek weight lossa loss that you can also maintain without jeopardizing your metabolism or mental and physical health.

Theres one extreme version of an egg-based diet that may be.

It's known as the egg fast diet, and is sometimes connected to ketogenic diets. Take note: the keto egg diet is only meant to last for a few days and involves eating six whole eggs per day along with sources of fat, such as butter, cheese, or oil.

This egg fast can induce ketosis, which is a metabolic process that occurs when your body runs out of enough carbohydrates to burn for energy, so instead, the body burns stored fat and creates ketones for a source of fuel, says Schapiro.

This type of eating strategy is extremeand a crash diet worth avoiding.

While there is currently no consistent answer, The American Heart Association generally recommends one egg, or two egg whites, per day as part of a healthy diet. But that recommendation might be based off old science.

Recent research has found that the dietary cholesterol in egg yolks has little effect on raising total and bad LDL cholesterol levels, says Schapiro.

So, youre safe to enjoy a higher number of eggs than you may have previously thought were allowed.

Plus, the yolk is rich in nutrition. The egg center is ... high in protein, fat soluble vitamins, folate, and vitamin B12, so, its both delicious and nutritious, says Schapiro.

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The Egg Diet Plan - Weight Loss, Dangers, and Effectiveness - menshealth.com

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Recent studies published in JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine highlighted the remarkable efficacy of once-weekly injections of semaglutide for long-term weight loss, with average losses of 16% and 14.9% over 68 weeks, respectively. Given the challenges of maintaining weight loss and the benefits of weight loss for many weight-responsive diseases, quality of life, mobility, and reduction of risk for chronic noncommunicable diseases, you might expect such a drug to be released to uniform cheer.

You'd be wrong, though, because when it comes to obesity, many would seemingly prefer there to be no effective pharmaceutical treatments. The loudest voices opposing medications for obesity, though they often share talking points, usually fall into one or more of these four categories:

The food-is-medicine proponents

The lifestyle-is-medicine proponents

The weight-biased

The obesity denialists

The first two groups' arguments are the most obvious and generally involve some riff on, "Why would anyone take medication for obesity? They just need to go on the diet," or "Whatever happened to eat less, move more?"

The weight-biased, of course, tend to perseverate around what they perceive to be the moral failings of people with obesity and frame medications as a reflection of their purported weaknesses, while the obesity denialists frame everything as a medico-pharma conspiracy for a disease that they believe doesn't exist and therefore requires no treatment.

Of the four groups, I'd venture that the most prevalent are the weight-biased. And here I'm not speaking of explicit bias but rather implicit bias which, when it comes to healthcare professionals having negative feelings toward those with obesity, is well documented and has been shown to affect care.

In the discourse that followed the release of these two recent studies, there were disparaging remarks about the cost of medications, frequent suggestions that the drug's primary mechanism of action is nausea (rather than what is for most a transient or minor side effect), and complaints about the drug's requirement for long-term use. Also apparently problematic was the fact that for many people, the 15% weight loss achievable from a single medication will still have them weighing more than some table says they ought to.

Notable too was that the majority of these doctors weighing in on what they perceived as the drug's shortcomings were physicians who don't practice obesity medicine and who had probably never prescribed a glucagon-like peptide 1 analogue or followed and counseled a patient in the context of weight management. Perhaps I'm old-fashioned, but I would never presume expertise in a field where I didn't practice. But of course, everybody eats, and consequently everybody is an expert, it would seem.

All this is to say, obesity is a chronic noncommunicable disease that medicine treats like no other. With all other chronic noncommunicable diseases, when indicated and when lifestyle means are insufficient or undesired, physicians rightly and readily recommend and prescribe long-term medication or combinations of medications.

Take hypertension. Our patients can in theory choose to go on low-sodium diets, lose weight, increase their exercise levels, improve their sleep hygiene, treat their sleep apnea, and focus on mindfulness. Doing so would in many cases lead to marked improvement and in some, remission of their disease. But if their efforts fail, stall, or are found to be insufficient, or if they simply state that they're unlikely to find the time, energy, or interest to make such lifestyle changes, we invariably and unhesitatingly free from judgment about their character prescribe them antihypertensives with the understanding that they are likely to be long-term medications, barring any major lifestyle changes.

Yet with obesity, which too is in theory modifiable through lifestyle means, many physicians are not only hesitant but plainly opposed to prescribing medications in the first place, let alone for long-term use. And those who do will often demand patients "try" to lose weight first before they are given the prescription (as if they haven't probably been trying their whole lives already, and as if there isn't a tremendous amount of privilege involved in perpetual intentional behaviour change in the name of health).

With respect to costs, perhaps they'd be lower were more physicians comfortable prescribing these medications. With respect to the nausea, it's minimal or transient for most. But even if it wasn't, if the mechanism of action was nausea, and people in the studies voluntarily stayed on them for 68 weeks despite the nausea, what would that say about the drug's perceived benefits to the individual and the burdens associated with obesity? Finally, with respect to subtotal weight loss, how many chronic noncommunicable diseases are you aware of that are wholly treated with monotherapy?

True physician allies for patients with obesity are those who treat obesity like any other chronic disease, where treatment can of course involve lifestyle counseling, encouragement, and support but which, when appropriate, also includes the option of pharmacotherapy and, regardless of patient behaviour changes, is free from blame.

Yoni Freedhoff, MD, is an associate professor of family medicine at the University of Ottawa and medical director of the Bariatric Medical Institute, a nonsurgical weight management center. He is one of Canada's most outspoken obesity experts and the author of The Diet Fix: Why Diets Fail and How to Make Yours Work.

Follow Yoni Freedhoff on Twitter:@YoniFreedhoff

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How Dare There Be Effective Drugs for Obesity? - Medscape

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In a new YouTube video, trainer and Athlean-X founder Jeff Cavaliere C.S.C.S. speaks about how losing weight can be as much about finding the right mentality as it is about eating, or exercise. He also lays out the five sayings that he frequently hears from clients which function as "red flags," and let him know that somebody needs to go back to basics in figuring out their weight loss journey.

While there are specific exercises that will help train the muscles in certain parts of your body, when it comes to cutting weight in certain areas, that won't work. "The line of thinking is flawed, and that's what's holding you back," says Cavaliere. "Not only is an exercise not going to be capable of targeting any specific area on your body, but more importantly, it's not about exercise at all, and it never will beit's about nutrition."

"Not only is cardio not the main driver of your results, but fasted cardio is actually no better than cardio itself. Though you might burn a higher percentage of fat within the session, you actually burn a lower percentage of fat after the session vs. a fed cardio session. And when it nets all out, you're actually burning the same... Instead, think of cardio as a way of strengthening your heart, and focus your efforts on the deficit through what you put into your mouth. It's always going to come down to nutrition."

Cavaliere argues that while somebody might be able to truthfully say they only eat chicken, fish, salad and oatmeal, it's important not to generalize. There can be a whole range of difference in the nutritional and caloric value of these foods depending on the source: for instance, skinless chicken breast vs. chicken parm, or steamed salmon vs. sushi. "The differences matter," he says, "especially when you're looking to create long-term weight loss."

Whether it's the Atkins diet, the keto diet, the paleo diet, or the South Beach diet, Cavaliere warns that thinking of your nutrition in terms of being "on" or "off" a diet at all isn't sustainableand this has been true of fads for decades. "If you have a name for how you eat, it's an indicator to me that you've got a short-term solution to your long-term problems," says Cavaliere. "Diet plans are, by nature, short-term fixes... You've got to figure out a way to make this a lifelong lifestyle, if you're looking for that long-term permanent weight loss."

Setting goals can obviously be a hugely helpful and important part of any weight loss and fitness journey, especially in terms of establishing motivation. But similarly to the short-term diet plan problem, having a set deadline or expiration date for your weight loss means you're not thinking about long-term, sustainable change.

"Maybe you talk about a summer cut, but summer's eventually going to turn to fall," says Cavaliere. "Then what happens? Oftentimes, we find ourselves going back to exactly what we did to put ourselves in the situation where we're looking to get in shape again for the next event. You have to look deeper... Find what lies beneath the surfaceliterally."

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Low-fat, low-carb, Paleo, keto, South Beach, intermittent fastingthe list goes on. Given that our culture idealizes thinness and shuns larger bodies, its not surprising that nearly one in five midlife women has dieted in the past few years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And many have regained the weight and see themselves as having failed. Less than 1% of very large people got to a normal weight at all in a study that included almost 100,000 women, and most who did regained the pounds they had lost within five years.

Some medical experts are now saying what many of us have been desperate to hear: Its extremely tough to drop weight long-term, for reasons that have nothing to do with willpowerand it may not even be necessary.

The dominant message people get from government, health organizations, and the media is that weight and health are connected. But really, there is no strong evidence to suggest that higher weight automatically leads to poorer health, says Jeffrey Hunger, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychology at Miami University of Ohio and a longtime weight-stigma researcher (and yes, thats his real name!).

If youre extremely large-bodied, dropping some pounds can protect your joints from arthritis and make it easier to exercise. But for most women over the ideal weight, focusing on other health measures may be much more important than what the scale says.

So why isnt that a message youre likely to hear from your health care provider? The evidence has been piling up for years, but experts are so stuck in their beliefs, they dont accept anything to the contrary, Hunger says. Add to this all the people and companies with financial interests in pumping out anti-fat messages, from diet purveyors to drug companies to book authors. Plus, the message that body fat is bad and needs to be diminished as much as possible is such gospel in our society that its hard to believe it may not be true.

Here are eight important facts that many are overlooking. These realities may be just what you need to feel better about your body, whatever your weight.

Doctors worry that heavy women are cardiometabolically unhealthy, a shorthand term that encompasses blood pressure; levels of cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood glucose; and other measures of heart and arterial fitness.

But researchers at UCLA and the University of Minnesota evaluated nearly two dozen studies and concluded that there was no clear relationship between weight loss and health outcomes. In other words, shedding pounds didnt meaningfully lower blood pressure, diabetes risk, or cholesterol.

Equating being heavier with having poor cardiometabolic health and being thin with the opposite is way off the mark, researchers at the University of California concluded. They pored over data from more than 40,000 participants in the governments annual National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and found that nearly half the people classified as overweight (and more than a quarter labeled obese) had perfectly healthy blood levels of lipids and glucose, meaning they were cardiometabolically fine. Meanwhile, a full 30% of the normal-weight participants had unhealthy levels of these markers.

The bottom line: Weight alone is not indicative of health, so nobody can tell whether or not a person is healthy based on their weight.

PHOTOS: DAN SAELINGER / PROP STYLING: BIRTE VONKAMPEN

In a paper published in Social Issues and Policy Review, Hunger and colleagues reviewed many studies on weight and health and discovered that healthful behaviors, not fitting into our skinny jeans, are what make us healthyand help us live longer. Heavy people who do healthy things are as likely to thrive as anyone else. On the list: being physically active, eating nutritious foods, and quitting smoking, of coursebut also socializing enough to avoid isolation, minimizing stress, and managing depression.

Your attention should be not on a target weight, but on how many days you intend to exercise this week and how much produce youll be eating, says Mary S. Himmelstein, Ph.D., an assistant professor of psychological sciences at Kent State University in Ohio. Then dial a girlfriend, schedule some yoga, and find a good therapist if you need one.

Our culture regularly equates carrying extra body fat with being out of shape, but plenty of large-bodied women can easily run laps around their thinner counterparts at the gym. Thats because in reality fitness and weight have little to do with each other, Himmelstein says.

A team of international researchers proved this when they followed 43,000 (mostly white) participants across the weight spectrum. At the outset, they measured blood pressure, cholesterol, glucose, and the like, then tested the participants fitness levels using a treadmill. Those who were metabolically sound and also fit had the same mortality rates during the next decade regardless of their weight. Those who were considered obese and unfit, however, were more likely to die.

If low weight equaled good health, dropping pounds would automatically make people healthierbut thats not what happens. Hunger points to a meta-analysis that found that even after dieters lost weight, their blood pressure, glucose, and other blood markers werent significantly better when they were reevaluated two years later. Heavy people may make health gains when they are put on a weight-reduction plan, as in the famous Diabetes Prevention Program in 2002, which cut peoples risk of developing the disease. But as the studys UCLA and University of Minnesota scientists point out, participants in it, as in other weight-loss trials, were urged to exercisewhich the scientists suggest was likely more of a health driver than the loss of pounds.

So many things go into the weight you are, Himmelstein says. Genes, ethnicity, medicines you take, where you live, what your income is, and how much you sleep all play a role, even if most doctors focus only on calories. Weight is so complex that even longtime researchers dont yet understand all the variables involved. People might be heavier because these days food is so easily available. Or maybe its the crazily larger portions restaurants serve compared with 35 years ago.

Barbara Corkey, Ph.D., professor emeritus of medicine and biochemistry at Boston University School of Medicine and director of the Obesity Research Center, is intrigued by the notion that chemicals used in farming, additives in processed foods, and/or other toxins that make their way onto our plates may cause our bodies to erroneously release too much insulin, a hormone that makes us want to eat more. Corkey suggests that it may be not that obesity brings on problems like insulin resistance, as many doctors believe, but that unnaturally high insulin levels lead to obesity and insulin resistance.

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There may be no upper limit to how rich youd like to be, but theres definitely a floor for how thin you should be. Having a body mass index (BMI) below 23 (less than about 130 pounds for a 5 3 woman) is linked to greater mortality than being a few pounds heavier, a team of international researchers discovered when they examined hundreds of studies with over 30 million participants. This was true even when they excluded people who might have been thin because they were already sick.

Plus, sinking to a too-low BMI can make you feel awful. When Oprah Winfrey dropped to a low weight for her (remember the jiggling fat she wheelbarrowed onto her show?), she was constantly frazzled and exhausted, she told crowds at her wellness events in 2019. Only when she put some pounds back on and reached the right weight for her did she feel better. (Its important to note that BMI itself has come under fire as a flawed measurement, because, among other issues, it doesnt differentiate between fat and muscle, categorizing athletes and others with a lot of muscle as overweight, and it doesnt consider ethnic differences in body type.)

Most people with high body weight have a story about how their doctors judged or blamed them or didnt listen, Himmelstein says. This is true with all types of providerseven ones who specialize in weight management! It can lead to a vicious cycle in which women avoid going to the doctor because they dont want to be fat-shamed, then miss out on treatment or early detection, Himmelstein says. In other cases, health complaints that have nothing to do with weight are inaccurately blamed on a persons size, so patients miss out on the correct treatment.

In this way, among others, doctors bias can make people sickerwhich might then add to the perception that all who are large-bodied are unhealthy. When a study assessing the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic confirmed that obese people suffered more complications and death from the disease, the authors pointed out that this might have been because those patients werent given critical antiviral medicines as early in their disease as others. (Its unclear whether they didnt seek out treatment as soon or it wasnt offered to them by medical professionals.)

Problems like diabetes, cancer, and autoimmune conditions are especially important to identify early, when they are more easily treated, and health professionals putting too much emphasis on body weight seems to be keeping people from getting the best care.

Dieting can help you trim pounds, but keeping them off is another story. The low nutrition levels and excessive exercise of many weight-loss plans arent sustainable, Hunger says. Plus, when you cut back on calories, your metabolism slows to a crawl. Our bodys biological architecture doesnt understand what the thin ideal isits doing all it can to protect us from what it perceives as famine, he notes.

Because of these factors, a European analysis of large-bodied women calculated the chances of their reaching a normal BMI as less than 1 in 100! Rather than make a drastic temporary change for a short-term goal like how youll look at a class reunion, focus on small, sustained changes, like eating more whole grains and plant-based foods and less red meat and processed fare so healthy eating becomes your new lifestyle to set you up for long-term health, advises Ruwanthi Titano, M.D., an assistant professor of cardiology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.

Even thin people benefit from ditching the focus on weight, Himmelstein says. A lot of brainpower goes into monitoring calories or carbs, she notestime and energy wed all be better off spending elsewhere. Instead of trying to shrink your body, start to appreciate everything it does for you, Hunger suggests. Youll be healthy and feel goodthe things that matterno matter what your dress size.

This article originally appeared in the May 2021 issue of Prevention.

Go here to join Prevention Premium (our best value, all-access plan), subscribe to the magazine, or get digital-only access.

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Rethinking Fatness: Why Body Weight Doesn't Represent Overall Health - Prevention.com

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As per the study those who are overweight or obese retain their weight over time, which is associated with an increased risk of health complications and death, according to a study.

Obesity is linked with several complications including higher risk of chronic diseases

UK adults who are overweight or obese retain their weight over time, which is associated with an increased risk of health complications and death, according to a study.

The study was published in the open-access journal BMC Public Health.

Dr Barbara Iyen, the lead author said: "We have found that despite widespread efforts to prevent and manage obesity, the majority of adults who are overweight or obese in the general population continue to remain so in the long-term. More effective policies and weight-management interventions are needed urgently to address this increasing burden and associated adverse health outcomes."

Researchers at the University of Nottingham investigated the development of body mass index (BMI) over time. The researchers observed a stable increase in BMI scores across four groups of obese and overweight participants over an average of 10.9 years, with most retaining their degree of obesity long-term.

The authors also found that individuals in the highest BMI group had a three-fold higher risk of heart failure and cardiovascular disease-related death compared to those in the overweight category.

Those in the highest BMI category also had a three-fold higher risk of any health-related death compared to those who were overweight. Participants in the two highest BMI groups did not have an increased risk of stroke or coronary heart disease compared to those who were overweight. The authors found greater levels of socioeconomic deprivation associated with the increasing severity of obesity, confirming the need for policies that include vulnerable and disadvantaged groups to tackle obesity.

The study used patient records on 264,230 individuals, collected from 790 general practices between 1999 and 2018, included in the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Participants were divided into four groups, defined by the World Health Organization BMI classifications, as overweight, class-1, class-2 and class-3 obesity.

The authors caution that BMI can vary between sexes and ethnic groups, and body muscle can weigh more than fat giving an incorrect picture of 'healthy weight. However, the use of BMI provides routinely available data on weight and weight development that is collected by healthcare professionals. Data on the physical activity levels and dietary intake of participants was lacking in the study. Further research is needed to establish the factors that contribute to weight retention, such as diet and exercise choices, and how social and public health policies can effectively tackle obesity.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

DoctorNDTV is the one stop site for all your health needs providing the most credible health information, health news and tips with expert advice on healthy living, diet plans, informative videos etc. You can get the most relevant and accurate info you need about health problems like diabetes, cancer, pregnancy, HIV and AIDS, weight loss and many other lifestyle diseases. We have a panel of over 350 experts who help us develop content by giving their valuable inputs and bringing to us the latest in the world of healthcare.

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Regardless of what people may take away from this one recent data analysis, weight is often driven by factors well beyond our own will power and individual decision-making, and weight changes should never be demonized. That was the case prepandemic, and it remains the case today. But we cant forget that none of the changes to our bodies in the last year happened in a vacuum. They happened while we wrestled unemployment, housing insecurity, an endless parade of financial anxieties, and incalculable loss. According to Johns Hopkins Universitys COVID-19 tracker, over 565,000 people in the U.S. have died of COVID-19, and nearly 3 million have died worldwide, though researchers suspect the global death toll is significantly higher.

Amongst the struggle to survive, were also now being targeted by a $71 billion industry that stands to profit from these newly fortified insecurities. Indeed, those same captains of industry that profit off our desire for weight loss also own many of the companies that are credited with our weight gain in the first place. (One businessperson on Weight Watchers board of directors also oversees a company that has a significant investment in Keebler, for instance.)

In the grand scheme of what we have weathered in the last year, weight gain simply couldnt be less important. These bodies have helped us survive. Still, were faced with constant messaging insisting that our bodies are at the root of so many of our problems. Rather than collectively tackling large-scale but ultimately solvable issues like unemployment, housing insecurity, access to health care, and wealth inequality, we direct undue focus on something we simply dont know how to change. Instead of grappling with broader policy change, we tilt at windmills.

Over this last year, you may have put on weight. I have. Or maybe youve lost weight, either intentionally or due to grief, depression, a newfound diagnosis, or any of the other innumerable changes so many of us have experienced in the last year. But however your body has changed, thats not a reflection of your individual character. It is not a measure of your work ethic, your determination, your tenacity, or your worth.

The changes in your body are not a marker of your failure, but of your survival. Your body has changed while it has done something extraordinary. Your body kept you alive, whether through privilege or biology, vigilance or fortune. Whatever your body looks like now, it is a body that has carried you through a time of tremendous tragedy, now to a point where we might finally be able to see glimmers of hope from the other side. And that matters so much more than weight gain ever could.

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Read This If Youre Feeling Pressure to Lose the Quarantine 15 - SELF

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Sprinly is a company that delivers delicious, plant-based meals directly to your door to help make healthy living easy.

The company offers a rotating weekly menu with several vegan, gluten-free dishes to choose from, all of which are made using fresh, high quality ingredients.

The service also has multiple subscription plans available, which makes it somewhat flexible to fit your needs.

This article takes a closer look at the pros and cons of Sprinly to help you decide whether its a good fit for you.

Sprinly is a plant-based meal delivery service that provides nutritious, ready-to-eat entres that are fully vegan.

The company delivers fresh meals every week, and you can reheat and enjoy them in 3 minutes or less.

The service provides plans with 6, 12, or 18 meals per week, and you can pause, cancel, or change your plan at any time.

Sprinly uses nutrient-dense, mostly organic ingredients in their meals, along with a variety of herbs, spices, and seasonings for extra flavor.

All Sprinly meals are vegan and gluten-free, and they dont contain any refined sugars or added preservatives.

Each week the service offers a new menu with six plant-based dishes, each of which features a variety of nutritious ingredients.

Sprinly also allows you to select your favorite items to build your own weekly menu based on your personal food preferences.

Some examples of meals that the service offers include:

Items that are spicy or free of soy, oil, or nuts are labeled as such on the menu.

The service doesnt cater to specific dietary patterns like keto or paleo. However, the company provides a list of ingredients and nutritional content for each recipe on the menu, so you can find options that work for you.

Sprinly aims to use nutritious, high quality ingredients in all their meals.

All meals are vegan and free of refined sugars and artificial preservatives.

Most produce is also organic, although Sprinly may substitute this for conventional ingredients in some cases, depending on availability.

Additionally, Sprinly makes its meals in gluten-free facilities. That means theyre a great option for those with celiac disease or a sensitivity to gluten.

All Sprinly meals are prepared fresh each week to help maximize quality.

You can enjoy most meals up to 56 days after delivery. The company labels any entres that have a shorter shelf life so you can plan to eat them sooner.

Sprinly also uses a variety of ingredients in their meals to help bring more diversity to your diet.

Additionally, each meal features a range of herbs, spices, and seasonings to ramp up the flavor.

Sprinly has several plans available, each of which varies in price.

Here are the weekly plans that Sprinly offers:

All plans include free delivery. Shipping is currently available for select regions within the United States, including throughout the East Coast, Midwest, and South.

Although its not designed specifically for weight loss, Sprinly can be a great option for those looking to lose weight by following a plant-based diet.

In fact, studies show that plant-based diets have been linked to increased weight loss and decreased body fat (1, 2, 3).

Most Sprinly meals are also rich in fiber, which moves slowly through the digestive tract to promote feelings of fullness (4).

According to one study in 345 people following a low calorie diet, people who ate more fiber also tended to lose more weight and did a better job of sticking to dietary recommendations (5).

Whats more, many entres on the Sprinly weekly menu are also low in calories, with most items providing 400700 calories per serving.

Reducing your daily intake of calories is an effective strategy you can use to support long-term weight loss (6).

Sprinly is a convenient, easy way to incorporate more healthy and delicious meals into your daily diet.

It can not only help save you time on food prep during the week and promote weight loss but also possibly improve several other aspects of your health.

In fact, research suggests that plant-based diets may help protect against chronic health conditions, including heart disease and type 2 diabetes (7).

Whats more, eating more fruits and veggies can help squeeze more important nutrients into your diet, including vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants (8).

Sprinly meals are also typically high in fiber, which could support regular bowel movements, stabilize blood sugar levels, decrease cholesterol levels, and help protect against certain types of cancer (4).

Sprinly is relatively expensive compared with cooking and preparing your own meals at home.

In fact, plans range from about $1618 per serving, depending on how many meals you order per week.

With just six meals to choose from on the menu each week, Sprinly also has a smaller menu than many other services.

While this may not be an issue if youre only planning to order a few entres per week, picky eaters may find it challenging to find options that work for them. It may also become repetitive if youre using Sprinly for the majority of your meals.

Sprinly also doesnt currently offer any entres with larger serving sizes or multiple portions, so it might not suit families or larger households.

Finally, keep in mind that Sprinly caters primarily to those following a plant-based, vegan diet.

Therefore, it may not be a good fit if youre following other dietary patterns, such as a ketogenic or paleo diet.

Several other plant-based meal delivery services are similar to Sprinly.

For example, Daily Harvest is a service that provides vegan, gluten-free meals that require just one step of preparation.

Similarly to Sprinly, Daily Harvest allows you to mix and match items from the menu to customize your order each week.

However, unlike Sprinly, Daily Harvest offers delivery throughout most of the continental United States and has a larger menu that includes smoothies, harvest bowls, soups, flatbreads, oat bowls, and more.

Mosaic Foods is another company with a mission to make plant-based eating easy and enjoyable with chef-crafted veggie bowls, soups, and oat bowls.

Mosaic Foods boasts an extensive menu with more than 20 veggie bowls to choose from, but their menu doesnt rotate with new options each week.

However, while Sprinly meals are delivered fresh, the meals from Mosaic Foods are frozen, so you must reheat them in the microwave.

Sprinly may be a good option for those looking for an easy, convenient way to follow a healthy, plant-based diet.

Featuring a rotating menu with new items every week, it can also help bring some diversity to your diet.

With plans ranging from $1618 per serving, its more expensive than cooking your own meals at home, which may not be ideal for budget-conscious consumers.

However, because the company also uses high quality, mostly organic ingredients and prepares meals fresh every week, it may be worth the price tag for some people.

The company also offers fewer menu selections than similar services and doesnt provide options tailored to some popular dietary patterns.

Therefore, it may not be a good choice if youre a picky eater or have certain dietary restrictions, including if youre following a ketogenic or paleo diet.

Sprinly is a plant-based meal delivery service that specializes in providing vegan entres that are fresh, flavorful, and fully prepared.

Although some people may find it relatively expensive, Sprinly uses high quality, mostly organic ingredients, and all meals are free of gluten, refined sugars, and artificial preservatives.

However, it has a smaller menu than many competitors, doesnt offer varying serving sizes, and provides limited selections for other dietary patterns, so it may not be a good fit for everyone.

Excerpt from:
Sprinly Review: Pros, Cons, Cost, and More - Healthline

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Where have I gained (or lost) weight?

Age-related muscle loss, known as sarcopenia, plays a role in how our weight is distributed. As we lose muscle in our legs, chest and back, we gain weight in our bellies. That's because one of the things muscle does so well is to store calories, in the form of glycogen. If you have less muscle, you have less storage space, and so those excess calories get converted to belly fat. Seventy-two percent of men and 44 percent of women over age 65 can be characterized as at least moderately sarcopenic, according to one study.

Test yourself:Measure your waist circumference or calculate your waist-to-hip ratio.

First, take a tape measure and wrap it around your midsection at the level of your navel: Despite what jeans marketers have sold us, that's actually where your waist is. (If you don't have a tape measure, use a piece of string, then measure the length of the string with a ruler.) The American Heart Association says 40 inches (012 cm) or more for men and 35 inches (88 cm) for women is considered obese, no matter what your body weight is.

Now, take the same measure of your hips. Run the tape over your hip bones at their widest point. Here comes the math: Divide your waist measurement by your hip measurement. The World Health Organization classifies 0.9 in men and 0.85 in women as obese.

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6 Back-to-Normal Health Tests You Need to Try - AARP

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Learning about the relationship between diet and inflammation helped me make long-term changes and have fewer flare-ups.

After suffering from early-onset arthritis and thick, scaly, itchy patches of skin on my hands for years, some recent unexplained changes in my fingernails led me to request a referral to a rheumatologist.

X-rays and bloodwork confirmed my suspicions I have psoriatic arthritis (PsA).

While my 20-year search for an answer was over, the fight to reduce the inflammation causing my pain was just beginning.

I knew from experience that sugar was a trigger for my joint pain, and for years Id eaten a healthy Mediterranean diet.

But were there other foods that might be contributing to the sudden flare-ups that I experienced?

After reading about the success of others who had tried Whole30, a popular elimination diet, I decided it was worth finding out.

Whole30 isnt a weight loss diet. Its a short-term eating program, created by Melissa Hartwig Urban in 2009, to help people change their relationship with food and determine whether specific foods may be negatively impacting their health.

For 30 days, the following foods are off-limits:

Whats left is whole foods that come from an animal or plant, such as meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, healthy fats like olive oil, and herbs and spices.

After youve been on the plan for a full 30 days comes the reintroduction period. One food is reintroduced at a time, allowing several days to pass between eating the food and reintroducing another food.

This is intended to give your body time to let you know if that particular food causes any unwanted symptoms.

Whole30 is very restrictive, so it isnt recommended as a long-term diet. And while there arent any scientific studies touting health benefits of the Whole30 program, it is similar to though stricter than the popular paleo diet, which has some research to back it up.

To be safe, I asked my provider if she recommended the program, and she gave me the green light to get started.

I decided to take the program one step further and removed nightshades from my diet. Nightshades, including tomatoes and peppers, are packed full of nutrition but I suspected they were triggering some of my joint pain.

There is no scientific evidence that nightshades increase inflammation, but some people do find that their joints hurt more when they eat them.

I found the program fairly easy to follow, as long as I cooked most of my own food. The easiest meals were breakfast and lunch.

I eat the same thing almost every morning: eggs, spinach, and avocado. If I added a sweet potato and some extra olive oil, I was satisfied for 4 hours.

Lunch for me is usually a simple salad, or fruit, prosciutto, and olives, or both. As long as the dressing was on-plan, this was still a good option.

My favorite time hack involved preparing extra food for dinner that I could repurpose the next day for lunch.

I found dinner to be the most challenging meal. Since I was no longer eating nightshades, I reworked some of my favorite recipes. I found a wonderful nightshade-free taco seasoning recipe online that made Mexican night possible.

Since I didnt want to cook every single night for a month, I needed to find a takeout restaurant that could accommodate my restrictions.

A local Mediterranean restaurant listed their ingredients online, and I was able to get a meal that was Whole30 compliant. Having this option available felt like a life saver.

Snacks are generally discouraged on the Whole30 program, but as long as the snack is just a smaller version of a meal, its allowed. On-plan turkey slices and mayo layered with lettuce and sprouts became my go-to afternoon pick-me-up.

After being on the program for about a week, I noticed I wasnt in as much pain.

On the other hand, about halfway through the month, I had a moment of weakness. I ate a bite of white potato and some takeout food that had been seasoned with red pepper flakes.

By the time I went to bed that night, I had developed full-body joint pain. These foods are nightshades, so I was pretty sure Id identified one of my triggers.

After getting back on track and completing the 30 days, my pain had improved so much that I cut my anti-inflammatory medication back to once a week.

I saw my rheumatologist while I was completing the Whole30 program to discuss whether I would need another medication for psoriatic arthritis. I told him that I had cut back on my NSAID and that the rough patches on my skin had smoothed out and were no longer cracked and peeling.

My doctor knew that I was doing a Whole30 round and credited my improved symptoms to the elimination of inflammatory foods. He also said I was doing so well that I didnt need to go on medication.

To kick off the reintroduction phase of the program, I had a glass of wine on day 31 with dinner. While it didnt trigger any pain, it also wasnt the feel-good end-of-day solace I remembered.

Next I added sourdough bread and a small amount of sugar in the form of honey. Again, I found I didnt enjoy them as much as I used to. And the joint pain was back.

The last food I officially reintroduced was spicy pepper seasonings and spices, like red pepper flakes. Maybe I didnt need to test nightshades again, but I love spicy foods. And yes, I had a flare-up of full-body joint pain.

At this point, I went off plan. I had already identified a few foods that were causing me pain, and it was time for a break from all the restrictions. But I felt so good after finishing my first Whole30 that I knew I would go through the program again.

The reintroduction phase not only cemented my belief that some foods cause inflammation in my body, but also that my relationship with certain foods was built on habit, rather than need or joy.

I have hereditary high cholesterol and find it hard to keep my numbers in a good range. At the end of my Whole30 round, my total cholesterol was down 60 points and my triglycerides were finally within normal range.

While weight loss wasnt my goal, I was thrilled to discover that Id lost 5 pounds. My clothes were fitting looser and I felt lighter.

The no snacking rule made it easier to fall asleep at night, and I had more energy in the evenings.

As a short-term eating program designed to reset both the body and the mind, I feel the Whole30 program was a success.

It also worked very well as an elimination diet. I felt less pain and had more energy by the end of the Whole30 program.

If you want to explore the Whole30 program, I recommend reading over the official website and having a conversation with your doctor to make sure the program is appropriate for your situation.

Cindy Blye is a nurse and health writer/journalist in North Carolina. Her works have appeared in various nursing blogs and online health news websites. Shes passionate about helping people live a healthier and more energetic life. When she isnt writing, you can find her gardening, cooking, hiking, biking, reading, or eating dark chocolate.

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I Tried the Whole30 for Psoriatic Arthritis and This Is What Happened - Healthline

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