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Switching en masse to a plant-based diet is essential to protect wildlife habitats and prevent the loss of numerous species currently facing extinction, according to a new report.

At the root of the problem is cheap food. While cut-priced comestibles may seem like a good thing, especially for low-income households, market pressure to continually reduce food production costs forces many farmers to adopt unsustainable, intensive methods that harm the land and overuse valuable resources like energy, land and water.

The study by researchers at UK think tank Chatham House, supported by the United Nations (UN) Environment Programme, notes that the race to lower prices increases food waste and degrades soils and ecosystems, making available land less productive.

As more forests and wild lands are cleared to grow crops and raise livestock, the feeding, breeding and living habitats of numerous species also disappear. Unless we change what we eat and how it is produced, the report says, the planets ability to support humans could come under threat.

Gut instinct

During the past half century, conversion of natural wild land for crop production or animal pasture has been the principle cause of habitat and biodiversity loss, the report, called Food System Impacts on Biodiversity Loss, says. Agriculture poses a threat to 24,000 of the 28,000 species documented as at risk of extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

But what happens next to the worlds endangered wildlife populations rests in human hands, and the rise in popularity of plant-based alternatives to meat and dairy products offers hope for the future.

Rearing crops in place of animals uses land and other scarce resources more efficiently, the report notes. While raising livestock adds to greenhouse gas emissions, switching to plant-based foods would free up grazing land that could be used for other purposes. A global switch to a predominantly plant-based diet would boost dietary health, help reduce food waste and eliminate the need to keep clearing new land for grazing. Switching the global populations diet to plant-based foods, for example, would free up 75% of the worlds cropland for other uses.

Alongside changing dietary behaviour, the report recommends protecting and setting aside more land for nature, avoiding converting it for agriculture. As well as preserving wildlife habitats from being destroyed, forests and wilded land serve as a natural carbon store absorbing pollution from the atmosphere, which helps counter the impact of the climate crisis.

Todays high-intensity chemical-reliant farming methods must be replaced by nature-friendly practices that support biodiversity and value sustainability over ever lower farm door prices.

Its important to note that the report is advocating a dramatic reduction in meat intake rather than replacing meat with plant-based foods. And, as the World Bank says, livestock farming supports the livelihoods and food security of almost 1.3 billion people. The Chatham House report says incentivising more diverse agriculture could lead to more resilient farmer livelihoods.

Two billion people in the world currently suffer from malnutrition and according to some estimates, we need 60% more food to feed the global population by 2050. Yet the agricultural sector is ill-equipped to meet this demand: 700 million of its workers currently live in poverty, and it is already responsible for 70% of the worlds water consumption and 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

New technologies could help our food systems become more sustainable and efficient, but unfortunately the agricultural sector has fallen behind other sectors in terms of technology adoption.

Launched in 2018, the Forums Innovation with a Purpose Platform is a large-scale partnership that facilitates the adoption of new technologies and other innovations to transform the way we produce, distribute and consume our food.

With research, increasing investments in new agriculture technologies and the integration of local and regional initiatives aimed at enhancing food security, the platform is working with over 50 partner institutions and 1,000 leaders around the world to leverage emerging technologies to make our food systems more sustainable, inclusive and efficient.

Learn more about Innovation with a Purpose's impact and contact us to see how you can get involved.

Planting the seeds of change

Despite the compelling arguments for moving to plant-heavy diets, persuading the global population to abandon its love of meat will be no easy task. Around 80 billion animals are killed for their meat each year, UN figures show.

Many farmers are increasingly adopting unsustainable practices to create cheaper meat.

Image: UN FAO/Our World in Data

In 2018, almost 70 billion chickens, 1.5 billion pigs and more than 300 million cattle were slaughtered to serve our love of meat.

In general, meat consumption increases as incomes rise so the richer the country, the more meat is consumed, according to figures from the UN and the World Bank.

But for some the role of meat is beginning to change as awareness grows of the health benefits of plant-based foods and the impact of business-as-usual farming on the environment.

Consumer demand for plant-based food is growing.

Image: The Good Food Institute

The US plant-based food market was worth more than $5 billion in 2019, up 11% on the previous year and 29% over two years. Sales of plant-based meat substitutes increased by 18% year-on-year.

Demand for plant-based foods could see annual growth of almost 12%, reaching a market value of more than $74 billion by 2027, according to a Meticulous Research forecast. While plant-based demand is increasing in most global markets, takeup in Asia-Pacific is expected to outstrip other regional markets.

Changing consumer aspirations and a growing appetite among investors to back plant-based ventures are among the drivers of global plant-based market growth, the research showed. How far, how fast and how much demand for plant-based foods increases in the coming years remains to be seen, but the future of myriad species depends on it happening quick enough.

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Report: We urgently need to move to plant-based diets - World Economic Forum

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Eating a nutritious diet is important to improving your heart health. Pohley Richey, a registered dietitian and health coach with Saltzer Health, says that the Mediterranean diet is one way to minimize processed foods and sugar while increasing fiber in your daily meals.

The diet has evolved over the last 5,000 years in the Mediterranean region, she said.

It really came into popularity in the 1960s when people from the region were studied and shown to

have a lower incidence of heart disease, Richey said.

The Mediterranean diet is based on the traditional foods that people have eaten for generations in Italy,

Greece and other Mediterranean countries with an emphasis on:

Whole, unprocessed, natural foods

Less sugar

Local, seasonal fruits and vegetables

Whole grains

Heart healthy fats like nuts, olive oil, and other seeds

Protein from legumes, lentils, chickpeas, and seafood

Its not necessarily about a specific food per se but about this overall style of eating, Richey said.

Research has shown that the diet promotes wellness and decreases the risk of heart disease, cancer,

diabetes and other chronic conditions.

Richey describes the Mediterranean diet as super versatile.

It is super easy to implement. Its delicious. There is a lot of variety involved. It can be really simple,

easy, and a fun way to eat, she said.

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With any diet, Richey recommends starting small. If you are looking at making a complete revamp it

gets a little bit overwhelming, she said. Think of very specific things that you can pull from this dietary

pattern and implement.

To get started, she recommends:

Try going one meal a week meatless

Eat more legumes

Experiment with new foods like chickpeas or lentils

Shop at local farmers markets

Pohley Richey, RD, is a culinary instructor and health coach with Saltzer Health based at PIVOT. To learn more, visit saltzerhealth.com and heart.org.

A resident of Nampa, Martinez is a senior at NNU majoring in biology/pre-med and healthcare communications. He is a resident of Nampa. Martinez is a communications intern at Saltzer Health.

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Improve your health with the Mediterranean diet - Idaho Press-Tribune

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If you're trying to implement healthier eating habits, it can be tough to figure out where to start. Maybe one of your friends has been trying to get you to cut added sugars for years now while another swears that going gluten-free changed her life. Thankfully, emerging research is here to make your choice easier.

A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition compared two of the most popular diets right now, the vegan diet and the Mediterranean diet, to see how they affected participants' weight as well as other risk factors for heart disease. The results? Sticking to a low-fat vegan diet is better for your health than going with the Mediterranean diet.(Related: The 7 Healthiest Foods to Eat Right Now).

"The evidence is clear that a plant-based diet is a great way to manage weight and that all the side effects are good onesfrom boosting heart health and improving cholesterol to lowering the risk for diabetes," corresponding author Hana Kahleova, MD, PhD, MBA, Director of Clinical Research at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine told Eat This, Not That! in an interview.

More specifically, the study found that the vegan diet can lower "bad" cholesterol levels known as LDL, improve insulin sensitivity, and lead to more weight loss. The Mediterranean diet's only win was that it led to an even greater blood pressure decrease than the low-fat vegan diet, though both diets yielded positive effects. It is also worth noting that the study did not require participants to count calories or track nutrients.

"We weren't surprised to see that people saw improvements on the plant-based diet," said Kahleova. "But, because the Mediterranean diet is often touted for weight loss, it was surprising to see that participants experienced very small changesif any at allwhen it came to their weight."

"We hope that this study will inspire people to see that a vegan diet may benefit them in many ways and will decide to try it out," she adds.

Still not convinced? To learn about more ways cutting out animal products can make you feel better, check out our 28 Top Health Reasons to Go Vegan.

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This Is the Best Diet for Weight Loss and Cholesterol Control, Says Science | Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

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PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) All diets are not equal.

Losing weight is never easy, and finding the best diet for you can be harder than you think.

Ariana Chao, assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, looked at many of the different types to determine how to select the best eating plan. She found some that did well for a while.

There are some short-term benefits, she said, to lower-calorie and lower-carbohydrate types of diets, typically seen around six months or so. However longer-term, at about 12 months or greater, we tend to see that these tend to deteriorate. So there tends to not really be a difference in terms of long term.

When choosing a personalized diet based on markers like insulin levels, for example, there has been no proof of real success. Chao said exercising and finding a diet you can sustain long-term is still the best plan.

It just may take a few tries to determine if a low-carb, low-fat or plant-based diet works best for you.

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Finding the right diet can be the hardest part of weight loss - KYW Newsradio 1060

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I

ts been impossible to miss the photos of a glowing, slimmed down Rebel Wilson splashed over news websites and indeed her own Instagram lately. One of her last posts at the Superbowl racked up over one million likes.

While we were all busy quaffing quarantinis and chowing down on home bakes, for the Australian actress and comedian, 2020 was her year of health. She shed over four stone (60lbs) last year after embarking on a holistic wellbeing journey which, she says, left her going into 2021 with a healthy body and mind... and boosted immune system.

Her secret weapon? The Mayr Method. She checked in to the exclusive Austrian wellness resort of Vivamayr, a renowned medi spa which sits at the foot of the Alps overlooking the pristine waters of Lake Altaussee, where the likes of Karlie Kloss, Kate Moss and Liz Hurley go to detox and reboot.

After an initial visit in 2019, Wilson returned last November, when she reached her goal weight of 75 kilos a month early. Though she noted: The goal was never to be skinny. It was never to fit into a certain dress size. I put in a goal weight in there because I needed some tangible thing.

At Vivamayr, guests follow an extreme detox programme rooted in the principles of Mayr medicine which was developed over 100 years ago by Dr F.X. Mayr. He took a holistic approach to health and believed that optimum digestion and healthy gut functioning, achieved through regular fasting, is the key to overall wellbeing.

Guests typically undertake a strict routine for one or two weeks to cleanse. Each programme is highly personalised and tailored to a persons individual needs by a doctor who takes them through a series of initial assessments. It involves following a restricted diet - sometimes as low as 600 calories a day, though Wilson reportedly stuck to a more reasonable 1,500. They endure regular colonics, abdominal massage, muscle testing - to check for food intolerances - vitamin-infused IV drips, daily supplementation and swap coffee, booze and sugar for water charged with epsom salts.

The Mayr diet believes in regulating the acid/alkaline balance in the body through nutrition, and typically focuses on high alkaline foods - but we should add that some health experts dispute the idea that its possible to alter the bodys pH balance with food. Each individuals diet is likely to be highly tailored to them, according to the results of intolerance tests, for example. Wilson told People her diet is high protein, with plenty of fish, salmon, and chicken breast.

In practice, the Mayr Method is as much about the way you consume food as much as the what. Proponents of the diet advise chewing food forty times before swallowing and a glass of water with your meal? A big no-no.

Dr Sepp Fegerl, of Vivamayr Altaussee, explains the thought process behind some of these principles: With the first swallowed bite of a meal, the digestion glands start producing tailor-suited digestion liquids, acids and enzymes, according to the sensations our tongue senses as we chew.

If you drink a glass of water with or directly after the meals, these digestion liquids get diluted. That delays hugely the process of digestion and makes it less effective. The less effective the digestion processes, the less nourishing the meal is no matter what it contains. That leaves us unsatisfied and makes us eat more.

The golden rules at Vivamayr are therefore to chew the bite until it is smooth enough to be swallowed easily this guarantees that the bite mixes underneath the stomach acid. He recommends you instead drinking plenty of water in between meals, that will allow the body to produce digestion liquids the moment they are needed.

This is all combined with daily yoga, breathing in lungfuls of Alpine mountain air on daily hikes and enjoying swims in the lake, alongside a number of spa treatments, such as kneipp therapy (alternating between hot and cold showers), detoxifying body scrubs, wraps and massages, and nasal reflexology, to promote ultimate emotional wellbeing.

Sound good? It all comes at a hefty cost, of course, a weeks worth of the programme starts from 3,240 euros.

Intrigued? Below are seven relatively simple takeaways from The Vivamayr Diet book written by clinic director Dr Harald Stossier.

1. Eat really slowly, the slower the better. Remember the 40 chew rule? Phones are also banned at mealtimes, to promote an element of mindfulness.

2. Stop eating as soon as you start to feel full. And never eat on the go.

3. Only drink water between meals, never when youre eating.

4. Eat lots at breakfast, less at lunch and least at dinner, and never, ever skip breakfast, if you must forgo one due to a busy schedule, let it be dinner.

5. Always have dinner before 7pm.

6. Dont eat raw food after 3pm, anything later should be cooked.

7. Got a feeling it doesnt agree with you? Dont eat it! The clinic recommends muscle testing to work out where your intolerances lie.

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Fasting, no water with meals and chewing your food 40 times: the Mayr Method explained - Evening Standard

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When you think about growing old gracefully, you envision yourself healthy,holding hands with your loved one, able to do all the things you love (like hike, play tennis, swim, or just hang out on the porch and visit), and most of all, you picture yourself as healthy. That is the goal,and that's the story of Bob and Fran German (the G is pronounced like girl), who are, in their 80s, active,healthier, and look younger than most people 20 years their junior. After two serious bouts withillness (he had cancer and she an autoimmune disease),they switched to a whole-food, plant-based diet 15 years ago, which they believe saved their lives. Now, they talk about their diet as the fountain of youth, and they want everyone to start drinking from it.

Bob and Franstarted eating plant-based after she was diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease and he had the scary diagnosis of kidney cancer. Rather than listen to the dire prognosis of their doctors, they got busy researching holistic approaches to health and changed everything: How they eat, where they lived, even their livelihoods, to be stress-free and able to help others learn more abouthow to eat a plant-based diet. Now, decades after the first piece of devastating health news, Fran received from her doctor, who basically told her that her condition was degenerative and ultimately fatal, they are both symptom-free and living active, healthy, and love-filled lives. They are both as sharp-as-tacks and cheerful, not suffering from the brain fog or memory loss that many people experience in their 80s.

Bob and Fran told The Beetthey love to cook spicy food, especially Asian and Indian dishes full of spice and flavor, andas they describe a typical day's menu, we want them to head to the kitchen and give us a cookinglesson. They could write a cookbook called: How to Cook to Live Long, AgeWell and Keep Love Alive.

Bob: The reason we like to tell our stories is that we truly believe that so many people think that when you get sick there's no hope. They're not given any hope from their doctor, they are just given some medication and told this is the way it's got to be. We actually have a phrase for that, called the "nocebo." You know what a placebo is, when you take a sugar pill? A nocebo is when you go to the doctor, and you are diagnosed with a disease and you are really given no hope. You are told "You will never get better." Or "You will have to take medication and there's just no way you can get better."

Fran: Well, heres my story. In the fall, of 1992, we went on a trip to China for three weeks. And when we were there we both got really sick with upper respiratory infections, and when we came home and I got better, but a few weeks later, I woke up and couldn't open my left eye. We were living in South Florida at the time near Ft. Lauderdale. We went to the doctor and he took one look at me and he said, "I think you have Bell's palsy. And I looked at him and I said I think I have Myasthenia Gravis. Now, dont ask me where this came from, because it's a very uncommon neuroimmune disease, but obviously, my intuition told me there was something going on that he was wrong about.

Bob: Right. I had never heard about that disease.

Fran: At the time, we only knew two people who had ever had it. Aristotle Onassis and Anne Margarets husband.The doctor sends me across the way to the neurologist. The neurologist said, "Well we can find out if you are right." He gave me a little test. He shot something into my arm and my eye popped open. And he said "You are right. It is Myasthenia Gravis." So I went back to my doctor. And this is the nocebo: He saidand this is a friend of ours "It is incurable, you'll have it for the rest of your life, you'll be on medication for the rest of your life, and your lifespan will be shortened."

My Doctorgave me no hope. But I happen to be a very stubborn person and I wasn't going to sit back and take that. And I started researching all the things I could do to get better. But let me tell you, for a while, I was really sick. We were working in real estate at the time, as partnersand I couldn't drive. I had double vision so bad that they couldn't even put a prism in my glasses. It was horrible, I had to wear what looks like blinds going across a piece of plastic in mybad eye.I was so weak that I could barely hold my head up at times. I was just really really very, very sick.

Bob: I have to tell you that the essence of this disease is extreme weakness. In Frans case, from the neck.

Fran: Myasthenia gravis is a Greek expression that means extreme muscle weakness. And it couldn'thave been more exact.

Bob: Her speech was very slurred. She could hardly lift her head up. She hardly could swallow. She losther sense of taste. It was very bad and we were scared.

Fran: I was 52 at the time. We actually stopped working. We worked a bit for the next few years, but I was so sick I couldnt work. And so here we are in the Ft. Lauderdale area with three counties, with millions of people. And I never met another person with Myasthenia Gravis. But I went to many different neurologists. And each time, it was pretty much the same story. Theykept putting me on medication and telling me theres no hope.Then, in 2003, we moved to a small town in western North Carolina. The first week we are here, Bob sees in the newspaper that there is a Myasthenia Gravis support group at the local hospital.

Bob: We couldn't believe it.

Fran: We started going to these meetings every month and didnt really learn anything and I saw a lot of sick people. And of course, they served really healthy snacks, like potato chips, cookies, and soft drinks!

Bob: I have to tell you the town we live in is small. We live in Hendersonville, NC. Its a retirement community. There are only 10,000 people in this town, and they have this support for Myasthenics? So they were a group of very nice, very sick people.

Fran: One thing I noticed, Everybody there had not just Myasthenia Gravis, but they also had diabetes, heart trouble.They had kidney problems. Because obviously when your body breaks down it's not just one thing that goes wrong. I went to these meetings every month and really didnt learn much, but then one-month a clinical nutritionist whod come from Asheville to speak to our group. He showed us a slide presentation, and he talked about how important plant-based nutrition was, and that even eating white meat chicken compromises the immune system and he recommended switching to a plant-based diet

He recommended reading The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, and also Diet for a New America by John Robbins. I immediately went home got both books and read them cover to cover. And thats the beginning of the journey of getting well. I had been to maybe 11 neurologists over a period of years, and nobody had ever mentioned food.

Our society doesnt make a connection between what we eat and our health. Thank goodness I met this nutritionist because I do believe that when the student is ready the teacher will appear.

Unfortunately, I was the only person in the group who took his word seriously. I changed my diet. And the others with who I was friends within the group had all passed away. Not from myasthenia. But from heart disease, cancer, and diabetes.

Bob: They all died.

Fran: Because they did not change their diet.

Fran: Back in 2006, there wasnt nearly as much available in plant-based foods. There are so many resources now that it's easy. Now let me just tell you at this time, when this was all going on, Bob also developed a problem and he will tell you about his.

Bob: Well, I always kept in good shape. I always worked out. Just like Fran always thought we were eating properly when it was white meat chicken, turkey, fish. (Fran: We didnt know any better). We got involved in race walking. This is an exaggerated thing where you are lifting your arms and you are really working out hard.I used to do maybe 8 or 10 miles a day.

I would walk so fast that I was actually passing people who were jogging, and I was doing this racewalking. Well, after some time, I decided to switch from the path I was walking on to another type of surface. Still doing all these miles every day, and I developed a pain in my groin.

I was nottoo pleased about going to a doctor for anything, but my groin--my private parts? I went to the doctor.It was a urologist. The urologist examined me, said, I cant find anything. I want you to take aCT scan test, which I did.

He brought me backand said come into my office, I want to show you something. First of all, you dont have anything wrong with your groin. You probably pulled a muscle and theres nothing to worry abou. But he showed me that the scan on a screen showed where I had a growth on the outside of my left kidney. It was a tumor on my kidney.

And he said youhaveto get this off and I am not qualified to do it. So I got into Duke University Medical Center. Its internationally known, and excellent in every way. They have an incredible cancer center there. I met a urologist there. He was only one of two people in America who used a special type of surgery for this.

They actually froze off the tumor. and as I was waiting for the results, I thought thatthe waiting was worse than anything. The doctor finally comes in and says: "Well, we took three biopsies after we took this tumor off. Two were okay, but one was not."

"You have renal cell carcinoma." I said, "What is that?" Imade him repeat it three times. I said, "What does that mean?" He said, Bob it means you have kidney cancer, but don't worry, we got it all. Well, weve heard that before. Oh, we got all the cancer.

Fran: He said We got it all, but I have to be honest with you, this type of cancer has been known to return.

Bob: He really told me to be aware, to be on guard. This could return. He didnt tell me to change my lifestyle in any way, but on our drive home, its about a four-hour drive, we said We've got to do something here and thats when we both decided: No meat, no dairy, nothing like that at all, butthat we would both eatwhole food, plant-based. And thats how it all started. Sort of a long story. That's how we both went whole-food, plant-based.

Bob: I agree, but I think the diet saved my life. But you need to be ready to make the change. You cant push anyone into it. They have to want to do it. I have a little post-script to my doctor at Duke University. Well, he was a young guy, and I came back for a follow-up visit, and I had to have several of them, and first, he scoffed at me when I told him that I went plant-based. And then, I learned that years later, he went plant-based. That sort of made my day that the doctor did it as well.

Fran: Many, many people don't do what we did. We lost several friends and relatives because of that. We had three friends who died of prostate cancer because they refused to give up meat and dairy.

Bob: I think that Fran had the secret. We eat amazing meals.People that we know who know we are plant-based think that we just eat brown rice with some cooked vegetables on top. So Fran has made cooking more of a hobby, more of a challenge.

Bob: The thing is I think you can eat amazing dishes when you're plant-based.And we eat whole food plant-based, sowe don't eat oil as well. You can be that way by making creative food. By creating some delicious meals. We like international foods for example. Say one of you in your household wants to go plant-based, wants to try it, but thinks: Oh my husband no way, he has to have his meat.

I think one of the breakthroughs for people, can be to create beautiful looking and delicious tasting meals, not just super simple, but with a little bit of flare. And when we used to entertain before COVID, we would entertain people who loved to come to our house, they still want to come to our house because they know they are eating healthy and they are eating delicious food. High tasting food.Its a winner.

Fran: Typically in the morning we have oats in some form. Either oatmeal or I make granola out of rolled oats. On the weekend maybe it's pancakes or french toast, all healthy, all oil-free.

When we switched to the plant-based doctor here, the first thing he had us do was read Reverse and Prevent Heart Disease by Dr. Caldwell Esselstein. We thought we were eating very healthy because neither one of us has ever had a weight problem so olive oil was never an issue for us. I used it in salad dressing. I used it in cooking.

But reading this book prompted us to cut out all oil, and in the first month we each lost 10 pounds, and we didn't need to lose any weight.

Fran: It's just wasted calories with no nutritional value. So I either use water or vegetable broth in sauteing. We eat a wide variety of foods, in many different countries. Indian, Italian, Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese. We are just all over the place.

We can't travel, but we can travel with our tastebuds.I usually have a pot of soup all the time. I have a big pot of soup all the time in the fridge. Wonderful for lunch or if you need a quick dinner, a pot of soup and a baked potato, and I have this cheese sauce that I made with cashews or white beans. Ive got an air fryer, and I love to fryair fry french fries, total oil-free.

F: Tonight I am going to make zucchini circles in bread crumbs.I use nutritional yeast and some spices. You air fry them and they're delicious. And of course, I've got an instant pot that makes wonderful soups and stews. And when you make a big soup or stew, youve got food for several meals so you don't have to cook all the time.

It's very affordable to eat this way. With COVID, the price of meat has gone up. How could you possibly eat cheaper? You are buying fruits and vegetables and grainsand you are not buying meat and fish. So it's actually much cheaper to eat plant-based.

Bob: Some of the dinners that we've eaten recently: Enchiladas, and Pho which is the national Vietnamese soup,andweve had Chinese stir fry. Weve had Indian food... lasagna.

We spent many years in Thailand....Fran and I got friendly with a couple of the top chefs in Thailand where our headquarters were, and shes a great Thai cook. So we have delicious Thai curries or Thai stir-fries. Or noodle dishes. I love the noodle dishes Drunken noodles we had this week. Its one of my favorites.

(For more on their cooking and other tips check out theirYouTube Channel.)

Bob: And you dont need oil. I think the idea isbe creative, its fun, experiment with this time, but give it a try. We tell people if you are unsure that you want to go plant-based or not, just give it a try, even if its for one month. Just eat no meat and no dairy products for a month and see how you feel. The energy level alone is a turn on.

Fran: One thing I wanted to mention, is that our stories are not unique. There are scores of people who reverse disease with a plant-based diet. Wemet a man who had type 2 diabetes so badlyhe was a veteran and he was going to a Vahospital, and he hadaninsulin pump. He switched to a plant-based diet, and he went backfirst of all, he had lost 60 pounds. He went back to the VA hospital. They said something's wrong with your insulin pump. Its not working. He said its not working because I am not using it anymore. He reversed his diabetes. And thats not an isolated story.

Fran: Absolutely. Its been 15 years.

Bob: I want to say that people are not living longer, they are dying longer. And our goal is to enjoy the third third of our lives. I dont want to be beholden to doctors and pills and tests and hospitals. I don't want that in my life, and I don't think anyonewants that whole thing. So, we are enjoying being in our 80s. We aren't walking aroundfeeling old.

We are actually reversing our age. We were actually 104 (before we started eating this way) and now we are back down into the 80s. And Fran is older than me.

Fran: I am older than Bob by 3 months. But we plan to keep feeling young

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How to Live Longer on a Plant-Based Diet, From Two 80 Year Olds - The Beet

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Study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center finds adding more foods that are part of Western diet may reduce cognitive benefits of Mediterranean diet.

A study by Rush researchers finds that adding more foods that are part of Western diet may reduce cognitive benefits of the Mediterranean diet.

Eating a healthy diet, such as the Mediterranean diet, has a positive impact on health, but little is known about the effects of including unhealthy foods in an otherwise healthy diet. Now researchers at Rush University Medical Center have reported diminished benefits of a Mediterranean diet among those who frequently eatunhealthy foods. Results of their study were published in Alzheimers & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimers Association.

Eating a diet that emphasizes vegetables, fruit, fish and whole grains may positively affects a persons health, said Puja Agarwal, PhD, a nutritional epidemiologist and assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Rush Medical College. But when it is combined with fried food, sweets, refined grains, red meat, and processed meat, we observed that the benefits of eating the Mediterranean part of the diet seem to be diminished.

A Mediterranean diet is associated with slower rates of cognitive decline in older adults.

The observational study included 5,001 older adults living in Chicago who were part of the Chicago Health and Aging Project, an evaluation of cognitive health in adults over the age of 65 conducted from 1993 to 2012. Every three years, the study participants completed a cognitive assessment questionnaire that tested basic information processing skills and memory, and they filled out a questionnaire about the frequency with which they consumed 144 food items.

The researchers analyzed how closely each of the study participants adhered to a Mediterranean diet, which includes daily consumption of fruit, vegetables, legumes, olive oil, fish, potatoes and unrefined cereals, plus moderate wine consumption. They also assessed how much each participant followed a Western diet, which included fried foods, refined grains, sweets, red and processed meats, full-fat dairy products and pizza. They assigned scores of zero to five for each food item to compile a total Mediterranean diet score for each participant along a range from zero to 55.

The researchers then examined the association between Mediterranean diet scores and changes in participants global cognitive function, episodic memory and perceptual speed. Participants with slower cognitive decline over the years of follow up were those who adhered closest to the Mediterranean diet, along with limiting foods that are part of Western diet, whereas participants who ate more of the Western diet had no beneficial effect of healthy food components in slowing cognitive decline.

There was no significant interaction between age, sex, race or education and the association with cognitive decline in either high or low levels of Western diet foods. The study also included models for smoking status, body mass index and other potential variables such as cardiovascular conditions and findings remained the same.

Western diets may adversely affect cognitive health, Agarwal said. Individuals who had a high Mediterranean diet score compared to those who had the lowest score were equivalent to being 5.8 years younger in age cognitively.

Agarwal said that the results complement other studies showing that a Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of heart disease, certain cancers and diabetes and also support previous studies on Mediterranean diet and cognition. The study also notes that most of the dietary patterns that have shown improvement in cognitive function among older adults, including the Mediterranean, MIND, and DASH diets, have a unique scoring matrix based on the amount of servings consumed for each diet component.

The more we can incorporate green leafy vegetables, other vegetables, berries, olive oil, and fish into our diets, the better it is for our aging brains and bodies. Other studies show that red and processed meat, fried food and low whole grains intake are associated with higher inflammation and faster cognitive decline in older ages, Agarwal said. To benefit from diets such as the Mediterranean diet, or MIND diet, we would have to limit our consumption of processed foods and other unhealthy foods such as fried foods and sweets.

The study and its findings cannot be readily generalized. Future longitudinal studies on diet and cognition among the middle-aged population are needed to extend these findings.

Reference: Unhealthy foods may attenuate the beneficial relation of a Mediterranean diet to cognitive decline by Puja Agarwal, Klodian Dhana, Lisa L. Barnes, Thomas M Holland, Yanyu Zhang, Denis A. Evans and Martha Clare Morris, 7 January 2021, Alzheimers & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimers Association.DOI: 10.1002/alz.12277

Other researchers at Rush involved in the study at Rush were Klodian Dhana, PhD; Lisa Barnes, PhD; Thomas Holland, MD; Yanyu Zhang, MS; Denis Evans, MD; Martha Morris, ScD.

The study was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Aging.

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Eating Unhealthy Foods May Diminish Positive Effects of an Otherwise Healthy Diet - SciTechDaily

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In the first DGA published during a pandemic, you'd think COVID-19 would get some airtime. Unfortunately, it only got one sentence. I know most of us are ready to see coronavirus in our rearview mirrors, but it's not history (yet).

The past 10 months have shown us scientific discoveries in real-time, linking preventable nutrition issues (e.g., vitamin D deficiency) with COVID-19. And considering immunity is a top priority, I think it's a miss that the Dietary Guidelines did not take the opportunity to inform Americans of the links between nutrition and immune function. The singular mention in the DGA explains that, "people living with diet-related chronic conditions and diseases are at an increased risk of severe illness from the novel coronavirus."

I appreciate, however, that the DGAC (remember, they wrote the 835-page scientific report to inform the much shorter DGA) adds more color to the issue, calling out two concurrent epidemics in our country: "These parallel epidemics, one noninfectious (obesity and diet-related chronic diseases) and one infectious (COVID-19), appear to be synergistic."

Schneeman explains the committee faced a logistical, timing challenge: "The COVID-19 pandemic emerged as the committee moved into its final phases of work." She went on to say that, "As a committee, we were struck with the vulnerability of those with diet-related chronic diseases (e.g., obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease) to the most serious outcomes from infection with the virus. In addition, the disruptions due to the pandemic have resulted in food insecurity and hunger, increasing the challenges to make healthful dietary choices."

DGAC member Regan Bailey, Ph.D., MPH, R.D., echoes this paradox, sharing that while "nutrition is critical to the immune defense and resistance to pathogens, both undernutrition and overnutrition can impair immune function." (Bailey is a professor in the Department of Nutrition Science at Purdue University, as well as director of the Purdue Diet Assessment Center.)

At mindbodygreen, we recently explored undernutrition in the complex problem of food insecurity, as well as overnutrition (and unhealthy nutrition patterns) in the synergy between metabolic health and immunity.

Based on these insights, I believe embracing healthful nutrition patterns, supporting food security initiatives, addressing nutrient gaps, and maximizing other lifestyle factors (e.g., physical activity, sleep, etc.) are powerful levers we can choose to pull to improve metabolic health and thus our immune system.

Indeed, DGAC member Linda Van Horn, Ph.D., RDN, L.D., professor of preventive medicine at Northwestern University and chief of the Nutrition Division at Feinberg School of Medicine, underscores the fact that, "now more than ever, the importance of healthy eating, weight control, and prevention of both cardiometabolic and infectious diseases is a recognized goal, worldwide."

Ultimately, diving deeper into the nutrition/immune system relationship in the Dietary Guidelines was passed onto the next iteration (20252030). In the meantime, Donovan shares these actionable insights: "a healthy immune system depends upon an adequate intake of many nutrients, protein, long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (especially omega-3s), vitamins (e.g., vitamin C and the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, and E), and minerals (e.g., iron and zinc)."

In addition to these macro- and micronutrients, Donovan explains that, "the best place to get immune-supporting nutrients is from whole foods, particularly fruits and vegetables, which provide dietary fiber and phytonutrients that benefit the gut microbiome and immune function."

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I'm A Nutritionist & This Is What I Really Think About The New Dietary Guidelines - mindbodygreen.com

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A diet of locally sourced, seasonal food could reduce CO2 emissions, but does that mean we can never eat an avocado again?

Uncertainty around the Brexit trade negotiations shone a spotlight on where the food we eat comes from. People began to think about what would be on our tables if some food products were no longer available or affordable.

Fortunately, the deal that was reached means that, on the whole, there are no tariffs for food imports or exports between the UK and the EU. The scrutiny of the origin of some food and the environmental cost of bringing it to our shores has shifted the consumers focus to the environmental cost of the year-round availability of certain foods.

Around half of the food we eat in the UK is produced here. Eating UK-grown fruit and vegetables when in season means that less CO2 is emitted through transportation.

In 2019, Our World in Data reported that food production is responsible for approximately a quarter of the worlds greenhouse gas emissions. It concluded that the largest contributor is the livestock and fisheries sector.

Raising animals on farms to produce meat, dairy and eggs is responsible for 31 per cent of food emissions. Much of this is methane, which sheep and cattle produce through enteric fermentation in their digestive processes. Methane is emitted when the animal belches. There are also emissions from managing pastures and the fuel used for farm vehicles. In dairy farming, researchers are experimenting with additives introduced to cattle feed, including garlic and cinnamon, to reduce the amount of methane produced in cows stomachs, but this does affect the taste of the milk produced.

Fishing also produces CO2 through the useof fuel for fishing vessels. In Scotland and north-east England, fishing boats go further for what is called distant water fishing and can be away for days or weeks at atime, while in the south-west of England, the catch is from coastal waters, with trawlers out for a day or less.

A vegetarian diet also has carbon pitfalls. The US environmental activist group, Environmental Working Group, produced The Meat Eaters Guide to Climate Change and Health. It reported that cheese consumption resulted in 13.5kg-CO2e/kg. CO2equivalent, or CO2e, is the collective termfor greenhouse gases and is the amount of CO2 which would have the equivalent impact of global warming. The CO2e figure for cheese is less than for lamb or beef (39kg-CO2e/kg and 27kg-CO2e/kg respectively) but more than pork or farmed salmon (12kgCO2e/kg), chicken (7kgCO2e/kg), and eggs (5kg/CO2e/kg).

The type of cheese also affects greenhouse gas emissions. Hard cheese requires more milk than soft cheese, and therefore has a higher CO2e because of the emissions from milk production.

Professor Mike Berners-Lee broke down the carbon footprint of many foods in his book How Bad are Bananas?. He says that UK farm animals convert 10 per cent of calories they consume into meat and dairy for human consumption and argues that it would be more efficient if crops were consumed directly by the UK population.

The perceived wisdom is that eating fruit and vegetables that have not been grown using artificial heating will result in a lower carbon footprint.

Eating local produce, grown without artificial heating and without shipping or air freight, has the lowest CO2 emission. For example, locally grown apples produce 0.3kg-CO2e/kg, compared with apples shipped in from New Zealand, which produce 0.6kg-CO2e/kg. One of the most dramatic figures in Berners-Lees calculations is asparagus. Grown in the UK it is responsible for 1.1kg-CO2e/kg but imported from Peru, it increases to 18.5kg-CO2e/kg. Root vegetables can be grown locally all year round and are easy to store without needing refrigeration powered by electricity, resulting in 0.3kg-CO2e/kg.

International trade

Brexit has meant some increases in costs for wholesalers. Now that goods cannot travel freely between the UK and the EU, the paperwork required to clear the customs checks adds around 65 (58) per heading (i.e. category). According to Simon Lane, managing director at fruit importer Fruco, a lorryload of root vegetables may contain broccoli, butternut squash and sweet potatoes, which are three headings, incurring a cost of 195 (174). This cost is incurred by growers exporting the vegetables and by importers to clear them at the port of entry, adding around 300-400 per lorry. Lane says wholesalers may have to introduce price increases gradually to recoup these costs.

Covid has also brought changes to traditional business models. The UK seafood industry exports around 70 per cent of its catch and imports around 90 per cent. The UK has a conservative palate, says Andy Gray, trade marketing manager at industry body Seafish. It is principally limited to white fish, cod and haddock, and the supply doesnt meet the demand. White fish from Iceland, Norway and Russia are imported to supplement the UKs catch. Other species caught by UK vessels, like Dover or lemon sole, are largely bought by the restaurant trade while langoustine, crab, lobster and finfish (e.g. salmon) are mostly exported. The closure of overseas markets and restaurants in the UK has meant that many fishermen are selling online to customers who are experimenting with new recipes during lockdown. The days catch is also being sold at the quayside.

Customers can buy directly from wholesalers who used to supply restaurants and customers collect from the depot, says Gray. We expect this to continue as a direct route to the customer. When markets open up again, it remains to be seen if fish like turbot or bass will only be sold overseas where they attract a premium price, or if UK consumers will drive up demand.

Similarly, oysters are not being exported, principally to France, but are now being offered to domestic consumers. In the 17th and 18th centuries they were the main source of protein for poor families because they were so plentiful. If they are readily available to buy, wild and farmed oysters may once again become a staple of our diets.

Professor Dave Reay teaches carbon management and education at the University of Edinburgh. He argues that the issue of food miles is more complicated than simply comparing mileage. Although a food product may come from further away, its production may be more efficient and its emissions may be lower than a home-grown option. In his book Carbon-Smart Food, he estimates that 60 per cent of the carbon footprint of an orange imported to the UK from Brazil is the use of fertiliser, pesticides and fuel for machinery at harvest time. If the orange is used to make juice, he calculates that 22 per cent of its carbon footprint is in distribution.

Consumer food choices play a part in reducing the carbon emission. If we only demand beautiful vegetables there will be more waste and that will have a knock-on effect for production emissions of food which is never consumed, says Reay. If we expect to eat everything we want all year round and ignore the seasons, there will be a production cost in terms of having to ship in food which we cant grow locally or try and grow it locally under conditions where we are using lots of heat and light.

For arable farming, crop production is responsible for 21 per cent of foods CO2 emissions accounts. A contributor is synthetic fertilisers, which contain ammonium and nitrogen, both of which contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. There are also CO2 emissions from agricultural machinery used to cultivate thesoil.

Agriculture has led to forests and grasslands being converted for livestock and growing crops, which increased CO2 emissions. Our World In Data estimated land for livestock to produce 16 per cent of emissions and land for arable farming, 8 per cent. The rate of deforestation for cattle ranching in Brazil, for example, means thatthe CO2 emission of its farmed beef is three times that of British beef. Other factors that contribute to CO2 emissions are savannah burning, ploughing or cultivating the soil.

The labour-intensive production of rice is also responsible for considerable methane emissions. Microbes, which thrive in the low-oxygen, high-carbon environment of the flooded paddy fields, are converted into methane. Introducing different varieties can reduce methane emission and increase productivity.

Seafish, the seafood industry body, argues that aquaculture has reduced its feed conversion ratio over the last 25 years. The feed conversion rate for farmed fish can be as low as 1.3:1, it says, compared with 3.5:1 for pigs and 2:1 for chickens. The carbon footprint for seafood varies according to the species; in all cases there is no farmland to convert or cultivate and unfed aquaculture species, such as mussels, have a particularly low carbon footprint.

Food transportation accounts for 6 per cent of foods total CO2 emissions, whereas processing, refrigeration and storage account for 18 per cent. Buying from local retailers, markets or directly from producers on a smaller scale can reduce the need for processing and energy for storage. Small quantities of seasonal food for immediate consumption can also contribute to reductions in packaging and waste. Doing this reduces energy consumption by the manufacture of packaging. A redesign, rather than elimination, of packaging is preferable, as durable packaging can prevent food waste.

The energy consumed in refrigerating and processing food has to be weighed against the environmental cost of having to throw away food. In 2017, research found that food waste accounts for 8 per cent of total greenhouse emissions.

Researchers at the University of Belgrade and the University of East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, analysed the levels of CO2 emission in food.

For bricks and mortar food retailers, they noted that the main sources of CO2 emission are electricity, transport, ventilation and heating, refrigeration and waste.

Taking the entire food value chain, from the farm to processing, the researchers found that meat processing has an average emission of 0.66kgCO2e/kg. Vegetable processing has a mean value of 0.07kgCO2e/kg and transportation to a regional distribution centre carries an average emission value of 0.13kgCO2e/kg.

Using renewable energy, improving energy efficiency and refrigeration in stores and maximising the efficiency of its vehicles,US chain Wal-Mart nearly doubled the size of its stores between 2005 and 2014 but limited its CO2 emission, which rose from 18.9 million ton CO2e to 21.9 million in the same period.

Reducing carbon emissions does not mean a poor or limited diet. It could open up a world of new tastes as consumers embrace a broader variety of seasonal food and introduce new food and flavours.

Protein

Producing animal feed for farm animals is the cause of 6 per cent of foods CO2 emissions. Sugar beet is used as a supplement in cattle feed to provide digestible fibre that helps fermentation in the rumen (the cows first stomach) to produce milk.

Sugar beet produced in the UK and fed to UK herds has few food miles, but other animal feed, such as soy bean for chicken feed, has a higher carbon footprint.

Soy production is responsible for deforestation in Brazil and Argentina, and also involves fertilisers, agricultural machinery and long-distance transportation.

Different ways to provide animal protein for animal feed are being researched by the React First project. Nottingham-based Deep Branch Biotechnology has developed a process to use CO2 from industrial emissions to generate a single-cell protein called Proton.

Nottingham Trent Universitys Poultry Research Unit is benchmarking Protons nutritional quality while the University of Stirlings Institute of Aquaculture is investigating the feasibility of a microbial single-cell protein with an amino acid profile for the aquafeed industry as an alternative to anchovies shipped from Peru and Chile.

The Institutes Dr Mnica Betancor explains: Aquaculture is the fastest-growing food sector, with the UK salmon industry expected to increase significantly. Such growth can only be achieved in a sustainable manner by replacing the traditionally used marine ingredients in aquafeeds fishmeal and fish oil for more sustainable options.

Feeds produced with this protein will require no arable land and minimal water usage for feeds with a carbon footprint that is 65-75 per cent smaller than todays feeds for farmed fish and chicken.

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Shopping for a new juicer is no easy task, which is why in the Good Housekeeping Kitchen Appliances Lab, we test juicers to find the best ones that are actually worth your money. We do so by juicing just about everything pulpy apples that have a large diameter and oxidize quickly, floppy kale which can often jam machines, and hard, fibrous carrots. We then measure multiple data points around key features to find the top juicers, including:

Output: How much juice does the machine create? How much pulp does it yield, and how dry is the pulp? (Hint: It should be dry, as this indicates more juice has been squeezed out.)

Taste: How sweet is the juice and how smooth is it? The sweeter and less pulp the better.

Temperature: What is the temperature of the resulting liquid? And how does it compare to others that are being tested at the same exact time?

Out of the dozen cold press juicers we tested, these are the best cold press juicers to buy in 2021, according to both Good Housekeeping Institute Lab tests and best-sellers with lots of glowing reviews online:

If you've been hearing a lot of buzz about cold press juicers lately, you may be wondering what exactly they are and how they differ from all the other types of juicers on the market. The key distinction is in how they work:

If you're looking to get more nutrients into your diet, most experts say a cold press juicer is the way to go because the slow juicing process is more gentle on ingredients and retains more nutrients though Stefani Sassos, MS, RDN, Registered Dietitian for the Good Housekeeping Institute, points out that recent research suggests juice storage may matter more than how exactly you make it.

It seems that storage conditions are more important when it comes to the nutrient capacity of juice, she says,so drink it immediately or store it in the coldest part of the fridge but dont let it sit out at room temperature. It's also worth noting that generally cold press juicers require a bit more prep work (read: you'll need to cut smaller chunks of fruits and vegetables) than centrifugal juicers due to their small feed tubes.

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