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Tag: diet

  • Potatoes Are the Perfect Vegetable—but You’re Eating Them Wrong

    Potatoes Are the Perfect Vegetable—but You’re Eating Them Wrong

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    In 1996 the United States hit peak potato. Americans were eating 64 pounds of the vegetables each year—more than at any point since modern records began in 1970. A record-breaking harvest had flooded the country with so many spuds that the government had to pay farmers to give them away. In the White House, the Clintons were foisting potatoes—fried, marinated, boiled, garlicked—onto princesses and presidents at official dinners.

    “It was a crazy time,” says Chris Voigt, whose long career as a potato-pusher started in the potato frenzy of the late 1990s. “Literally you could buy buckets of french fries.” But as Voigt made his way up in the potato industry, all the way to executive director of the Washington State Potato Commission, the American potato was undergoing a dramatic shift in fortunes.

    The average American is now eating 30 percent fewer potatoes than during the vegetable’s heyday, down to an all-time low of 45 pounds per year. The drop in consumption of fresh potatoes—for boiling, roasting, mashing, and steaming—has been even faster. In 2019, frozen potato consumption overtook fresh potatoes for the first time, opening up a gulf that has continued to widen since the pandemic. Most of those frozen potatoes are eaten as french fries.

    This has seen potato fields become battlegrounds for the future of food in America. In December 2023, reports emerged that US dietary guidelines might change to declassify potatoes as a vegetable, mirroring the approach taken in Britain. There was such an uproar that US Department of Agriculture secretary Thomas Vilsack was forced to write a letter reassuring senators that his agency had no such plans.

    That reclassification may have failed, but the potato has had a spectacular fall from grace. Once this miraculous nutrient-dense vegetable was the fuel of human civilization. Now the spud in the US has become synonymous with a garbage, industrialized food system that pours profits into a handful of companies at the expense of people’s health.

    America’s favorite vegetable is facing a Sophie’s Choice moment. Should we accept that fresh spuds have lost the fight against the tide of fries, hash browns, and waffles, or is there hope for a potato renaissance? Can the humble spud achieve the rehabilitation it deserves?

    The white potato is a criminally underrated food. Compared with other carb-loaded staples like pasta, white bread, or rice, potatoes are rich in vitamin C, potassium, and fiber. They’re also surprisingly high in protein. If you hit your daily calorie goal by eating only potatoes, then you’d also exceed your daily goal for protein, which is 56 grams for a man aged 31–50.

    Chris Voigt knows this because for 60 days in 2010 he ate nothing but potatoes. And a little oil. And one time some pickle juice. But the point is, for two months Voigt didn’t just survive on potatoes, he thrived. By the end of his diet Voigt had lost 21 pounds, his cholesterol was down 41 percent, and he’d stopped snoring. “I think I’ve personally proven that the potato is highly nutritious, no matter how you eat—whether you boil it or fry it, cook it in the oven, or steam it,” Voigt says.

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    Matt Reynolds

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  • Healthy Life Checklist (PDF)

    Healthy Life Checklist (PDF)

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    A comprehensive health checklist covering all aspects of a healthy and balanced life, including hygiene, exercise, diet, sleep, and more! Discover essential wellness activities to incorporate daily, weekly, monthly, and annually.


    This content is for Monthly, Yearly, and Lifetime members only.
    Join Here Login

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    Steven Handel

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  • It’s time to change your relationship with sugar. Here’s how

    It’s time to change your relationship with sugar. Here’s how

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    If pressed to define their relationship with sugar, many people would say, “it’s complicated.” A 2018 study found that 70% of U.S. adults are concerned about how much sugar they consume, suggesting that plenty of us struggle with a toxic inner monologue when presented with cake, cookies, and other desserts.

    Why do so many of us have a confusing connection with sugar—and how do we heal our relationship with it? 

    Why so many of us have a complicated relationship with sugar

    If dieting had its own Disney princess movie, sugar would most certainly be the villain. “It’s hard to have a positive or neutral relationship with something that’s constantly labeled as bad or addictive,” says Claire Chewning, RD, certified intuitive eating counselor. “Additionally, many of us have likely been on restrictive diets that demonize sugar and tell us to cut out or strictly limit our carbohydrate intake. This kind of restriction can lead us to feel out of control around sugar.” 

    Feeling like we’re not in the driver’s seat when we find ourselves, say, eating birthday cake can lead to outsized panic about how much sugar we’re eating. “It’s true that eating ‘too much’ sugar is not great for your health. But in truth, eating some sugar every day is actually perfectly fine,” says Emily Van Eck, RD, of Emily Van Eck Nutrition and Wellness. 

    Telling ourselves that sugar has no place in our diet can actually result in the ingredient feeling “forbidden” and cause bingeing behaviors when we are presented with dessert. For example, maybe you eat a whole sleeve of cookies today so that you can start your diet with no sugar in the house tomorrow. 

    “If you’ve ever felt out of control around sweets or like you couldn’t stop eating them, consider how any food rules or restrictions could have played a role,” says Van Eck. 

    1. Resist the urge to label foods as “good” or “bad”

    Van Eck points out that the language we use to talk about sugar tends to worsen our relationship with it. “Labeling foods as ‘good’ and ‘bad’ keeps you stuck with anxiety about every detail of your diet,” says Van Eck. “Labeling foods as ‘bad’ can cause us to rebel against our own rules, and eat them in quantities that are out of attunement with what our body actually wants.” 

    Take a moment to reflect on how you currently think about sugar. Does it dredge up fear or anxiety? Does it make you feel out of control? What ‘rules’ do you have around it? See if you can shift your thoughts to be more neutral toward the ingredient. For example, try telling yourself, “Sugar is just one of the many types of food in my diet.” While it may be hard to rewrite your inner script in one go, sending yourself neutral messages about sugar can lessen your sweet-related stress over time. 

    2. Understand the vital role glucose plays in your body

    “[Sugar] is the preferred source of energy for your body,” says Chewning. “Carbohydrates found in grains, dairy products, fruits, and veggies are broken down by the body into glucose—a simple sugar—that serves as fuel for your cells.”

    When we deprive our bodies of glucose, they don’t function properly. “A preference for sugary foods (carbohydrates more generally) is deeply programmed into human physiology since so many of our body processes depend on carbohydrates to function properly,” says Van Eck. “It makes sense that it would be wildly disruptive to try to deprive our body of a core macronutrient.”

    Glucose is especially useful for people who love activities such as walking, hiking, or running. In fact, the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) recommends consuming about one gram of carbohydrate per kilogram of body weight one hour before a workout to help you perform your best. For example, someone who weighs 155 lbs, or about 70 kilograms, should consume about 70 grams of quality carbs before a workout. Pre-workout supplements or whole food sources such as whole grain bread, nut butter, or bananas are great options for hitting this goal and respecting the role sugar has to play in your body. 

    3. Eat well-rounded meals 

    “If you’re not eating enough in general, you may end up craving foods that you wouldn’t if you were adequately fed,” says Van Eck. Serving yourself meals that include protein, carbs, and veggies will help you feel satiated. Over time, this style of eating can help you regain trust with your body. You respond to hunger cues with nourishing food; your body gives you the energy to show up cognitively and physically for your life.  

    And, of course, make sure you’re eating enough throughout the day. “Under-eating could be another reason why you fixate on sugar or feel out of control around it, so make sure you’re eating enough throughout the day,” says Chewning. “For most people, this will look like several meals with a snack or two in between as needed.”

    4. Practice mindful eating

    Yet another way to reconnect with yourself at mealtime is to practice mindful eating, says Van Eck. “Pay attention to how your body feels during and after eating. The more you can observe your body without placing judgment on the outcome, the easier it will be to make changes you want to make,” she says. 

    While this practice may feel challenging at first, it will eventually help you pick up on hunger and fullness cues and enjoy the flavors of what you’re eating even more. If it feels daunting to focus on your food for an entire meal, challenge yourself to do it for the first bite, then the first three bites, and so on. Start small. 

    4. Combine sweets with other foods

    Rather than telling yourself that you can’t have sugar when you’re craving something sweet, try combining a cookie or a piece of chocolate with other ingredients. “Practice letting yourself eat sugar when you want it, but also keep in mind that your body will likely feel better—especially on an empty stomach—if you also have some fiber and protein. For example, if you like chocolate in the afternoon, have some fruit and nuts with it,” Van Eck recommends. 

    Not only will combining your sweets with other foods help you feel satisfied, but it will also help you realize that all foods can fit on one plate. In other words, the fruit, nuts, and chocolate aren’t “bad” or “good”—they’re just elements of your diet, each with a role to play. 

    5. Make small changes 

    If you’ve ever picked up a fitness routine or tried to meditate, you know that Rome wasn’t built in a day. Improving your mindset about sugar takes ongoing work, so Van Eck recommends choosing one of the tips above and focusing on that before moving on to the next tip. 

    “Healing your relationship with sugar is not going to happen overnight, especially if this can been a decades-long struggle,” she says. Be patient and remind yourself why reshaping your relationship with desserts mattered to you in the first place. 

    More nutrition advice:

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    Kells McPhillips

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  • Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study

    Here are the ultraprocessed foods you most need to avoid, according to a 30-year study

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    Eating ultraprocessed foods is associated with an early risk of death, according to a 30-year study — but different foods have different impacts.Ultraprocessed foods are those that contain ingredients “never or rarely used in kitchens, or classes of additives whose function is to make the final product palatable or more appealing,” according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.Those ingredients — found in things such as sodas, chips, packaged soups, nuggets and ice cream — can include preservatives against mold or bacteria, artificial coloring, emulsifiers to stop separation, and added or altered sugar, salt and fats to make food more appealing.Processed meats and sugary foods and drinks aren’t correlated with the same risks as ultraprocessed whole grains, for example, said lead study author Dr. Mingyang Song, associate professor of clinical epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health.The study analyzed data from more than 100,000 health professionals in the United States with no history of cancer, cardiovascular disease or diabetes. From 1986 to 2018, the participants provided information on their health and lifestyle habits every two years.Every four years, they completed a detailed food questionnaire.The group eating the least ultraprocessed food ate about three servings a day on average, while the highest averaged seven servings a day, according to the study published Wednesday in The BMJ journal.Those who ate the most had a 4% higher risk of deaths by any cause, including a 9% increased risk of neurodegenerative deaths, the data showed.Song described the correlation as “moderate,” noting that the connection was not equally strong among all kinds of ultraprocessed foods.“The positive association is mainly driven by a few subgroups including processed meat and sugar sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages,” he said.Findings in this study were consistent with hundreds of others in the field, but what makes this one unique is its parsing out of different subgroups within the ultraprocessed food category, said Dr. Marion Nestle, the Paulette Goddard professor emerita of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University.Do we need to get rid of all ultraprocessed foods?Song wouldn’t necessarily advise a complete rejection of all ultraprocessed foods because it is a diverse category, he said.“Cereals, whole grain breads, for example, they are also considered ultraprocessed food, but they contain various beneficial nutrients like fiber, vitamins and minerals,” he said. “On the other hand, I do think people should try to avoid or limit the consumption of certain ultraprocessed foods, such as processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages and also potentially artificially sweetened beverages.”There are also more questions that need to be answered when it comes to ultraprocessed foods. First, the recent study is strong because of the length of time covered, but it is an observational study. That means that while researchers can observe a correlation, they can’t say that the foods were the cause of the deaths, said Dr. Peter Wilde, emeritus fellow at Quadram Institute Bioscience in the United Kingdom.Researchers also need to look more at the components of ultraprocessed foods that might be affecting health — whether they be food additives, emulsifiers or flavors — to advise governments and institutions on how to regulate foods, Song said.Overall diet matters mostResearchers also found that the most important factor to reducing risk of death is the quality of a person’s overall diet, Song said.“If people maintain a generally healthy diet, I don’t think they need to be like scared or be freaked out,” he said. “The overall dietary pattern is still the predominant factor determining the health outcomes.”A healthy diet is varied, with as many colorful fruits and vegetables and whole grains as possible, Wilde said.“If you are worried about food additives, then choose foods that have low levels of additives,” he said in an email. “Just be mindful of the nutritional content of (the ultraprocessed foods) that you do choose to consume.” It is also important to recognize that foods need to be eaten in balance. Fruit juice contains beneficial vitamins, minerals and antioxidants when consumed in moderation, but too much will have high levels of sugar that may override their benefits, Wilde said.“This is not black and white,” he said. “A particular food is not either good or bad, it will contain elements of both, and the balance between the two may depend on how much you eat.”

    Eating ultraprocessed foods is associated with an early risk of death, according to a 30-year study — but different foods have different impacts.

    Ultraprocessed foods are those that contain ingredients “never or rarely used in kitchens, or classes of additives whose function is to make the final product palatable or more appealing,” according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

    Those ingredients — found in things such as sodas, chips, packaged soups, nuggets and ice cream — can include preservatives against mold or bacteria, artificial coloring, emulsifiers to stop separation, and added or altered sugar, salt and fats to make food more appealing.

    Processed meats and sugary foods and drinks aren’t correlated with the same risks as ultraprocessed whole grains, for example, said lead study author Dr. Mingyang Song, associate professor of clinical epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard’s TH Chan School of Public Health.

    The study analyzed data from more than 100,000 health professionals in the United States with no history of cancer, cardiovascular disease or diabetes. From 1986 to 2018, the participants provided information on their health and lifestyle habits every two years.

    Every four years, they completed a detailed food questionnaire.

    The group eating the least ultraprocessed food ate about three servings a day on average, while the highest averaged seven servings a day, according to the study published Wednesday in The BMJ journal.

    Those who ate the most had a 4% higher risk of deaths by any cause, including a 9% increased risk of neurodegenerative deaths, the data showed.

    Song described the correlation as “moderate,” noting that the connection was not equally strong among all kinds of ultraprocessed foods.

    “The positive association is mainly driven by a few subgroups including processed meat and sugar sweetened or artificially sweetened beverages,” he said.

    Findings in this study were consistent with hundreds of others in the field, but what makes this one unique is its parsing out of different subgroups within the ultraprocessed food category, said Dr. Marion Nestle, the Paulette Goddard professor emerita of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University.

    Do we need to get rid of all ultraprocessed foods?

    Song wouldn’t necessarily advise a complete rejection of all ultraprocessed foods because it is a diverse category, he said.

    “Cereals, whole grain breads, for example, they are also considered ultraprocessed food, but they contain various beneficial nutrients like fiber, vitamins and minerals,” he said. “On the other hand, I do think people should try to avoid or limit the consumption of certain ultraprocessed foods, such as processed meat, sugar-sweetened beverages and also potentially artificially sweetened beverages.”

    There are also more questions that need to be answered when it comes to ultraprocessed foods.

    First, the recent study is strong because of the length of time covered, but it is an observational study. That means that while researchers can observe a correlation, they can’t say that the foods were the cause of the deaths, said Dr. Peter Wilde, emeritus fellow at Quadram Institute Bioscience in the United Kingdom.

    Researchers also need to look more at the components of ultraprocessed foods that might be affecting health — whether they be food additives, emulsifiers or flavors — to advise governments and institutions on how to regulate foods, Song said.

    Overall diet matters most

    Researchers also found that the most important factor to reducing risk of death is the quality of a person’s overall diet, Song said.

    “If people maintain a generally healthy diet, I don’t think they need to be like scared or be freaked out,” he said. “The overall dietary pattern is still the predominant factor determining the health outcomes.”

    A healthy diet is varied, with as many colorful fruits and vegetables and whole grains as possible, Wilde said.

    “If you are worried about food additives, then choose foods that have low levels of additives,” he said in an email. “Just be mindful of the nutritional content of (the ultraprocessed foods) that you do choose to consume.”

    It is also important to recognize that foods need to be eaten in balance. Fruit juice contains beneficial vitamins, minerals and antioxidants when consumed in moderation, but too much will have high levels of sugar that may override their benefits, Wilde said.

    “This is not black and white,” he said. “A particular food is not either good or bad, it will contain elements of both, and the balance between the two may depend on how much you eat.”

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  • How to Become Vegan and Stick to It, According to RDs – POPSUGAR Australia

    How to Become Vegan and Stick to It, According to RDs – POPSUGAR Australia

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    Adopting a vegan lifestyle can be an incredibly rewarding journey, offering numerous health benefits and promoting a more sustainable and compassionate way of life. It not only transforms the way you look at your food, but it heightens your awareness about the ethical and environmental implications of dietary choices. From discovering new vegetables and grains to experimenting with various flavors and cuisines, the vegan lifestyle can open the door to a world of culinary delights.

    A vegan lifestyle means abstaining from animal-derived products and, according to some interpretations, seeking alternatives to products that exploit animals. The potential health benefits you may reap when you follow a vegan diet are immense, from weight loss and lower blood pressure to reduced risk of heart disease and certain cancers.

    Ready to jump-start your vegan journey? You may already be well aware of the potential benefits of following a vegan lifestyle. But if you are wondering how to become vegan, how to get protein without meat, and the potential disadvantages of being vegan, read on to learn more as dietitians, myself included, share the best tips and tricks for becoming vegan.

    Benefits of Plant-Based Diet

    It shouldn’t come as a surprise that following a plant-based diet is linked to a slew of health benefits, from heart health support to promoting a healthy gut microbiome. Whether you choose to go plant-based (aka follow a diet that is rich in plants but still includes small amounts of animal products) or full-on vegan (meaning avoiding anything derived from an animal), there is data highlighting how taking these steps may positively impact your health.

    “A vegan or vegetarian diet affects the gut microbiome,” says registered dietitian, Lisa Andrews, MEd, RD, LD. She explains that eating more high-fiber foods increases the production of healthy bacteria in your bowel that may reduce inflammation. “Inflammation is linked with the development of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and dementia,” she says.

    Andrews also shared that a recent study in the International Review of Molecular Science found that a vegan diet may aid in the prevention of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease as it is low in fat and saturated fat and high in fiber and antioxidants. And a 2023 systematic review of studies found that vegan and vegetarian diets reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and ischemic heart disease, but not strokes, compared to non-vegetarian diets. The reason? Vegan diets tend to be lower in saturated fat, which is a nutrient that is linked to potential heart health concerns.

    Plant-based diets are also protective against cancers of the digestive system. “A recent meta-analysis found that plant-based diets helped to prevent various digestive cancers including colorectal and pancreatic cancer,” Andrews explains.

    Plus, when people are eating a wide variety of plants, they are naturally eating a diet rich in fiber, antioxidants, and other phytochemicals, which work together to reduce the risk of chronic diseases. Plus, the wide spectrum of colors, flavors, and textures in plant-based meals makes for a delightful culinary experience while fueling your body with the right nutrients.

    How to Become Vegan

    Starting a vegan lifestyle can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! A vegan diet can be simple, tasty, and nutritious. The journey begins with an understanding that veganism is not about deprivation, but about embracing a lifestyle that promotes health, compassion, and environmental sustainability. Remember, every small step counts and any progress is a positive step. So, whether you’re transitioning to a vegan diet for health reasons, ethical considerations, or environmental concerns, this guide is here to help you navigate your way to a happier, healthier, and more compassionate lifestyle.

    Start Gradually

    Starting your transition gradually may help you achieve longer-lasting compliance. For example, you can start by introducing more plant-based meals into your diet, say two days a week. And then gradually reduce your intake of meat, dairy, and other animal-derived products. Up your plant-based meals to three or four days a week – then, finally all seven days. The goal is to ease your body into the transition and eventually it will become less reliant on animal products.

    Focus On Easy Replacements

    There are vegan alternatives for nearly every type of food. Familiarizing yourself with some of the easy swaps will help you as you’re trying to figure out what to eat at home or what to order out. For example, instead of cow’s milk, you might try almond, soy, or oat milk. Instead of parmesan cheese, opt for nutritional yeast. There are also many plant-based protein alternatives, such as lentils, chickpeas, tempeh, and tofu.

    Read Labels

    Animal-derived ingredients can be found in many packaged foods. Always check the labels and familiarize yourself with the different names of these ingredients.

    Here are some surprising ingredients that are derived from animals:

    1. Gelatin: This common food thickener is derived from animal collagen, typically from the bones and skin of pigs and cows. It’s often found in items like marshmallows, gummy candies, and some yogurts.
    2. Cochineal/Carmine: This red food coloring is made from a type of insect. It’s often found in candies, ice cream, and cosmetics.
    3. Casein: This is a type of protein derived from milk and is often used in processed foods to improve texture. It can be found in some non-dairy creamers and some so-called ‘vegan’ cheeses.
    4. Isinglass: A type of gelatin derived from fish bladders, it’s often used in the clarification process of beers and wines.
    5. Lanolin: Derived from sheep’s wool, it’s commonly used in cosmetics and skincare products.

    Seek Support and Resources

    Join local or online vegan communities. They can provide you with much-needed support, inspiration, and practical tips as you’re starting your vegan journey. And research what supermarkets and restaurants in your area offer vegan-friendly options so that you know where to go.

    Create a Menu Plan

    Do some research on simple vegan meals and take it upon yourself to stock your pantry and refrigerator with vegan snacks and ingredients so that you can have options at the ready, says Sharon Palmer, RDN, and author of “The Plant-Powered Plan to Beat Diabetes”. Then, try to create a weekly menu plan, especially as you’re getting started. It doesn’t have to be too fancy, Palmer says, but having an idea of what you will eat until you get in the rhythm of things can be helpful. Meal planning can ensure you’re getting a balanced intake of nutrients. Make sure to fill your plate with a variety of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. Remember, diversity is key in a plant-based diet.

    Be Gentle with Yourself

    Mistakes happen, so don’t be too hard on yourself if you slip up. The goal is progress, not perfection.

    Embrace the adventure and enjoy the discovery of new foods and flavors. If you want more hand-holding, you can speak with a registered dietitian to help you learn more about how to navigate a vegan lifestyle healthfully.

    Disadvantages of Being Vegan

    While there’s no denying the many benefits of a vegan lifestyle, it’s important to acknowledge that like any lifestyle choice, it also has its challenges.

    1. Nutrient deficiency: A vegan diet can potentially lead to a deficiency in nutrients like Vitamin B12, iron, choline, iodine, and omega-3 fatty acids, which are predominantly found in animal-derived foods. Therefore, careful planning or supplementation may be necessary.
    2. Limited option when eating out: Navigating menus at non-vegan restaurants can be tricky, and options may be limited.
    3. Potential for processed food over-reliance: With the rising popularity of veganism, there’s now an abundance of processed vegan foods in the market. While convenient, these can be high in sugar and unhealthy fats and low in nutrients.
    4. Time and planning: From reading labels to cooking more at home, a vegan lifestyle can require a little more time and planning, especially in the beginning stages.

    Remember, every lifestyle choice has its pros and cons, and it’s all about finding what works best for your individual needs and circumstances.

    How to Get Protein Without Meat

    The question of getting enough protein is often one of the first raised when considering a vegan diet. Fortunately, there are many plant-based sources of protein that can easily be incorporated into your meals.

    1. Legumes: Beans, lentils, and chickpeas are not only rich in protein but also packed with fiber and essential nutrients. They can be used in a variety of dishes such as salads, soups, and stews.
    2. Quinoa: One of the few plant foods that’s a complete protein, quinoa is an excellent choice for vegans. It’s versatile and can be used in everything from salads to stir-fries.
    3. Tofu and Tempeh: Made from soybeans, tofu and tempeh are not only high in protein but also rich in calcium and iron.
    4. Nuts and Seeds: Almonds, chia seeds, flaxseeds, and hemp seeds are excellent sources of protein and healthy fats. They can be added to breakfast cereals, salads, or smoothies for an extra protein boost.
    5. Whole Grains: Foods like brown rice, oatmeal, and whole grain bread not only provide protein but also provide necessary complex carbohydrates that are a great source of energy.

    One consideration when choosing your protein sources on a vegan diet is to ensure you are consuming adequate amounts of essential amino acid. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins and there are nine essential amino acids that your body can’t create in adequate amounts, but that you can get from the foods you eat.

    Many plant-based proteins are considered “incomplete” as they don’t contain all the essential amino acids our body requires. But that’s where complementary proteins come into play here. Complementary proteins are two or more incomplete proteins that, when eaten together or within the same day, can provide a complete protein profile. For instance:

    1. Rice and Beans: When eaten together, these two form a complete protein. Both are staple foods in many cultures and can be prepared in myriad ways.
    2. Peanut Butter and Whole Grain Bread: This classic combination also constitutes a complete protein. It’s a quick and easy option, especially for breakfast or snacks.
    3. Hummus and Pita Bread: Chickpeas and whole grain pita bread pair up for a tasty complete protein.

    There are also a handful of vegan-friendly protein sources that are considered complete proteins too, like pistachios. In fact, pistachios provide all nine essential amino acids along with 4.3 g glutamic acid (an essential amino acid) per 100 g (comparable with beef brisket) and 2.1 g arginine (another essential amino acid) per 100 g (comparable with chicken). Plus, pistachios have a high antioxidant capacity, making them a fantastic choice for those who are focused on protecting healthy cells from free radical damage in the body. That being said, if you’re considering switching to a vegan diet and have concerns about how it may impact your health and/or body, contact your healthcare provider. Changing your diet and cutting out certain foods is a big decision and speaking to a doctor or registered dietitian can help you figure out whether or not a vegan diet is right for you.

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    Lauren manaker

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  • The Ozempic Plateau

    The Ozempic Plateau

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    The latest weight-loss drugs are rightly hailed as game changers for obesity, but in an important way, they are just like every other method of managing weight: They work only to a point for weight loss. The pounds melt off quickly at first and then gradually and then not at all. You can’t lose any more no matter what you do. You’ve hit the weight-loss plateau.

    It happens with dieting. It happens with bariatric surgery. And it happens now with both semaglutide (better known as Ozempic or Wegovy, depending on whether it’s prescribed for diabetes or weight loss) and tirzepatide (better known as Mounjaro or Zepbound). Weight loss triggers a set of powerful physiological changes in the body, which evolved over millions of years to keep us alive through periods of food scarcity. “Everybody plateaus,” says Jamy Ard, an obesity doctor at Wake Forest University. Exactly when varies quite a bit from person to person, but it happens after losing a certain percentage of body weight—meaning some people might plateau while still meeting the criteria for obesity.

    For Wegovy, it’s after losing, on average, 15 percent, usually more than a year into starting the drug. For Zepbound, it’s about 20 percent. These numbers are higher than is sustainable through diet and exercise alone, but they also do not reach the 30 percent achievable via the gold standard of bariatric surgery.

    These differences matter because they suggest that the level of the plateau is not permanently fixed. Recent advances in understanding the gut hormones that these drugs are designed to mimic hint at a possibility of even more powerful weight-loss drugs. Scientists are now testing ways to push the plateau down further; a drug could one day be even more effective than bariatric surgery.

    Read: Ozempic is about to be old news

    All of this raises an unsettled question: “How much weight loss is enough?” says Jonathan Campbell, who studies gut hormones at Duke. In studies, even 5 to 15 percent weight loss can substantially reverse high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol. Yet a patient who starts at 375 pounds with a BMI of 60 might still find themselves ineligible for a joint replacement that requires a BMI below 40, flawed as BMI may be. Or they may simply want to look thinner. The explosion of weight-loss drugs has reopened thorny questions about how they should be used, but nevertheless, pharmaceutical companies are racing ahead to develop more and more powerful ones.

    Weight loss is easiest at the beginning, before your body starts actively working against it. “Your brain doesn’t know you’re trying to lose weight on purpose,” Ard says. And once it notices, “it thinks that something is wrong.” So your body tries very, very hard to compensate.

    First of all, you become hungrier, obviously. And not just because you want to eat as much as you did before; you actually want to eat more than you did prior to losing weight. “With every one kilogram you lose, your appetite goes up above baseline by 90 or so calories per day,” says Kevin Hall, who studies metabolism at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. At the same time, your body looks for ways to conserve energy. Your muscles work more efficiently, for example, Ard says, so walking that normally burned 100 calories might now burn only 90. By making you want to eat more and burning fewer calories, your body is eventually able to slow weight loss down to zero. Here is your plateau. This is, all told, a remarkably elegant and robust system, if what you wanted to do is to maintain your weight.

    If you’re in fact trying to lose more weight, the plateau is psychologically frustrating. The same diet, the same exercise routine, the drug on which you were just losing weight will seem to have stopped working—but they haven’t. (If they did actually stop working, you would be regaining weight.) But your body is now fighting so hard against the weight loss that it requires a persistent effort just to keep the weight off, Hall says. Should you ease up, the weight will come right back, as seen in yo-yo dieting or weight regain after stopping Wegovy or Zepbound.

    The only way to get past a plateau is to up the intensity or number of interventions. Doctors might recommend, for example, bariatric surgery and a weight-loss drug. But in the future, novel drugs might be able to pharmacologically up the intensity. The progression from Wegovy to the more effective Zepbound has in fact already brought us one step closer.

    Wegovy and Zepbound both belong to a class of drugs that mimic a gut hormone called GLP-1. Both of these drugs bind GLP-1 receptors in the brain, which seems to reduce hunger. Zepbound goes a step further, though. It can also bind receptors for a second gut hormone, called GIP. Years ago, researchers noticed that bariatric surgery changes the balance of gut hormones in the body, including GLP-1 and GIP. This—and not just the physical shrinking of the stomach—is now understood to be a key driver of weight loss, to the point that bariatric surgery is sometimes called “metabolic surgery.” These observations inspired research into drugs that target not just GLP-1 but also GIP and other hormones. Essentially, they’re performing metabolic surgery with a drug rather than a scalpel.

    Read: Did scientists accidentally invent an anti-addiction drug?

    Exactly why Zepbound outperforms Wegovy is still unclear. One obvious hypothesis is that it mimics a second gut hormone; the more hormonal pathways it can influence, perhaps, the more body parts it affects and the more weight loss it triggers. And a recent clinical trial of retatrutide, a further modified derivative of Zepbound that mimics a third hormone called glucagon, demonstrated even greater weight loss: 24 percent at the highest dose.

    A second hypothesis suggests that the difference between Wegovy and Zepbound still goes back to GLP-1. Although both drugs bind that receptor, they tickle it slightly differently, setting off slightly different chain reactions. Wegovy seems to also activate some cellular machinery that acts as a break, possibly limiting its efficacy. This suggests another strategy for fine-tuning gut-hormone drugs: Companies have so far focused on trying to design one drug that binds to multiple hormone receptors, like a master key that can open three different locks. This was a practical choice, Campbell says, because trying to study three separate new drugs in clinical trials would be a logistical “nightmare.” But the optimal combination for weight loss might actually require individual keys that can jigger individual receptors in just the right way—that is, a double or triple combination of drugs.

    It may also eventually be possible to keep increasing the dosage of GLP-1 drugs to push the weight-loss plateau down. Right now, the dose is limited by what people are willing to tolerate. The drugs can cause severe nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea, so they have to be ramped up slowly over many weeks to induce tolerance and minimize side effects. But Novo Nordisk is trialing the drug in Wegovy at up to 16 milligrams a week, more than six times the current maximum dose. Tinkering with other gut-hormone pathways could also help with side effects. GIP receptors, for example, are found in neurons whose activation might suppress nausea, which may in part be why Zepbound seems to have slightly milder side effects.

    Zepbound is likely the first of many leveling-ups from single-action GLP-1 drugs. Even as the science advances, no safe method of losing weight is meant to eliminate the weight-loss plateau—and indeed, you wouldn’t want to keep losing weight indefinitely. But lose more weight? Pharmaceutical companies are betting on a market for that. With obesity drugs projected to become a $100 billion industry by 2030, they are eager for a slice of that massive pie. “The dollar signs are so big now,” Campbell says. Zepbound is the newest weight-loss drug on the block, but it too may eventually be old news.

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    Sarah Zhang

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  • Robin Arzón's Ultramarathon Training Runs Entirely on Plants – POPSUGAR Australia

    Robin Arzón's Ultramarathon Training Runs Entirely on Plants – POPSUGAR Australia

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    Robin Arzón knows how to hustle. As an ultramarathoner, a bestselling author, a toy-line creator, a mom of two, and the head instructor and vice president of fitness programming at Peloton, she stays booked and busy, helping people step into stronger (sweatier) versions of themselves. This becomes even more impressive when you learn she’s done it all on plants. “I’ve been plant-based for over a decade,” Arzón tells POPSUGAR. “This is genuinely how I put food into my body, so I can energize throughout my day and hit the multiple points of my hustle.”

    Arzón can still recall the day she decided to make the change. “I was in the bodega with my little tray getting my salad in New York City. They plop everything on. And I just remember looking at some of the stuff that I normally got and I was like . . . ‘This isn’t hitting today.’” Inspired by her bodega lunch, Arzón started researching appetizing plant-based options, eventually landing on a salad that soft-launched the rest of her plant-based diet. “I started adding chickpeas, and I started adding lentils and nuts and avocados and things that were actually sustaining my energy throughout the day better,” she says.

    “I really believe that I recover faster and I have more energy because of my diet.”

    Now, with years of plant-based experience under her belt, Arzón says eating more plants is an asset to her training. “I really believe that I recover faster and I have more energy because of my diet,” she says. “I’m over 10 years in and running many marathons, ultramarathons, training two to three hours a day, strength training. Obviously, all the work I do at Peloton is pretty robust. And the reality is that I haven’t looked back.”

    For those wanting to join her on the “plant-hustler” journey, Arzón suggests testing it out meal by meal. “For me, I started with lunch. I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to make my lunch plant-based today.’ And then once I had one meal that I knew I liked, then I just rinse and repeat.”

    To help more people reap the benefits of a plant-based diet, Arzón partnered with Silk to create the Feel Planty Good Challenge, working with celebrities like actor Vanessa Hudgens and NFL star Saquon Barkley to create seven days of breakfasts using Silk’s plant-based ingredients. “I love my recipe. The Mean Green Matcha Machine is incredible,” she says about her healthy breakfast smoothie. “I’m not a coffee girly. I’m a matcha girly. So I wanted something with some caffeine,” Arzón says (not to mention a whole lot of fiber, healthy fats, and vitamin C).

    “I do smoothies every day, but I have breakfast in two parts and lunch in two parts. So I’ll drink half my smoothie, then the other half when I’m working out, and then after my first workout of the day, sometimes I’ll do a savory oatmeal, or a savory bean burrito type of tofu scramble,” she explains. Once her workouts are officially over for the day, she brings back her signature salad, packed with lots of raw veggies.

    It takes discipline to live like Arzón, which she says is a critical aspect of self-care. “I’m very grateful that a lot of the conversation around self-love and self-care is so omnipresent, but discipline and routine is actually self-love,” she says. “I still approach things from a day-one mentality. And that’s putting priorities first. It’s making the decision today that is going to be kinder to my future self.”

    Related: Lana Condor Doesn’t Want to Count a Single Calorie in 2024: “I Can’t Do It Anymore”

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    Chandler plante

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  • Were California's grizzlies really ravenous meat eaters? Not so much, new report shows

    Were California's grizzlies really ravenous meat eaters? Not so much, new report shows

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    Forget what you were taught in elementary school about the supposed ravenous meat-eating grizzly bear: New research has found that California’s extinct bear was actually more of a vegetarian.

    “California’s historical record misrepresented” the animal and humans are largely to blame, researchers say.

    The grizzly bear was previously portrayed as a massive hypercarnivore, an animal whose diet is more than 70% meat, and a danger to public safety, according to recently published research in The Royal Society.

    California was home to as many as 10,000 bears before the Gold Rush in 1848, so numerous that a grizzly is emblazoned on the flag of California. But the grizzly was last seen in California in 1924 and became extinct so quickly there are very few natural history notes available and fewer than 100 historical skins and skeletons in existence, according to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

    But there is an abundance of written historical archives of the grizzly, said Peter Alagona, co-author of the report. As a historian and an ecologist, he said reading and trying to interpret these archives raised a lot of questions for him.

    In historical accounts, including available newspaper reports, researchers found that grizzlies were “accused of attacking people and preying on the livestock that proliferated on the open range during California’s Spanish Mission and Mexican Rancho eras,” the report stated. Such stories played a large role in molding the public’s perception of the bear in a mostly negative light.

    “It’s surprising in the context of the historical sources which really portrayed an entirely different animal, an animal that was very much a product of people’s minds [contrary] to what the creature was actually out there doing in the wild,” Alagona said.

    Alagona, a historian and ecologist at UC Santa Barbara, said the research has a mix of paleontology, history, geography and biology and the information is “holding up a mirror to us and telling us about our own perceptions about the way in which we look at other animals, we’re often seeing reflections of ourselves.”

    The recent study didn’t focus on the bear’s alleged predatory behaviors against people, but it did find that when ranchers and farmers raised free-range livestock, grizzlies remained largely herbivorous.

    Alagona argued the Spanish caused the bears to become more carnivorous by bringing their livestock to California.

    The report states that colonial land uses that began in 1769 led grizzlies to moderately increase animal protein consumption. Even so, grizzlies still consumed far less livestock than otherwise claimed, according to the report.

    After studying the artifacts of grizzly skulls and teeth, food resources in the region and human activity, researchers found that the bears derived less than 10% of their nutrition from other mammals and were therefore largely herbivorous for a period ahead of the first European arrival in 1542.

    The study even compared the grizzlies’ diet with that of present-day brown bears living in Mediterranean climates whose diet is dominated by plants. Brown bears are wide-ranging omnivores with diets that vary seasonally, inter-annually and geographically.

    In terms of its massive stature, historians got that wrong too.

    Adult grizzly bears have been assumed to reach about 4.5 feet at the shoulder and 8 feet tall when standing, according to California’s Capitol Museum. State records show female bears weigh about 400 pounds and males 1,000 pounds, but they could reach 2,000 pounds. Researchers say that by their estimations, the species never made it to the purported historically huge proportions.

    “Being able to work together with paleontologists, paleobiologists enabled us to see the story in an entirely new way and really in some ways rewrite the historical ecology of grizzlies in California,” Alagona said.

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    Karen Garcia

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  • Our Holiday Media Diet

    Our Holiday Media Diet

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    Juliet and Jodi convene in the new year to talk about all their guilty pleasure viewing during the holidays, including the cult documentary Love Has Won, Reacher, Call the Midwife, and more, before discussing culture they’ve been exposed to through meme osmosis.

    Hosts: Juliet Litman and Jodi Walker
    Producer: Sasha Ashall

    Subscribe: Spotify / Apple Podcasts / Stitcher

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    Juliet Litman

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  • I followed the lion diet for 1,000 days

    I followed the lion diet for 1,000 days

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    I have been on the lion diet for more than 1,000 days, as of October 11, 2023.

    I was having severe gut problems when I heard about this crazy diet where you only eat ruminant meat, water, and salt—and that’s it. Ruminant animals are just those that bring up food from their stomachs to chew it again, such as cows and sheep.

    I’d heard stories about how this diet had helped to heal people of so many ills. Doctors had no answers for me so I thought: What the heck? What have I got to lose? I might as well give this a try before I give up on everything.

    I had a family to support and I couldn’t do that if I wasn’t healthy or alive. I felt this could save my life so I had to give it a shot. At my heaviest, I weighed 302lbs. Now I’m down to 183lbs.

    I was a complete insomniac when I started. I could not get to sleep at night and I could not wake up in the morning.

    Now, when I’m ready to go to bed I close my eyes when my head hits the pillow and I’m out. And when it’s time to get up in the morning, I’m able to jump up and get going in a way I couldn’t before. I used to snore at night too, keeping my wife up all the time. But not anymore.

    Dante Ferrigno before and after his 1,000 days doing the lion diet.
    Dante Ferrigno

    I had breathing problems that would make it hard for me to do any type of exercise for any even a short period of time. I would try to go walking for 30 minutes a day when I was close to 300lbs and even that was too much for me.

    Now, when I want to get exercise I just jump right in and do it, even if I’m out and about—I’ll stop and do push-ups or squats right in the middle of nowhere. I don’t care who’s watching.

    I love having the body that I always wanted to have. Here I am at 50 years old and I’m in the best health of my life. Even when I was 17 years old I didn’t feel as good as I do now—and I’m the same weight as I was then.

    I had high blood pressure at the start. Now I don’t have those problems. The last time I went to the doctor my blood pressure numbers were just about as perfect as you could ask for.

    Prior to eating the way, I was starting to have kidney issues too, but since I started eating this way my kidney function has improved. I had low testosterone and I was on replacement therapy for several years—but I’ve been off that for nearly a year and a half.

    My testosterone has actually gone up by at least 50 percent, and that was the last time I checked, which was over six months ago.

    My lipid panel is excellent. My HDL cholesterol—the “good” kind—is up. My triglycerides are way down. And even my LDL cholesterol—the “bad” kind—is within the normal range.

    I used to take medicines for allergies, digestion, and an upset stomach, as well as a ton of supplements. Now I don’t take anything except a couple of supplements for things that I think a lot of people suffer from, such as low iodine and low vitamin D.

    I’ve been through a tough time financially in the past three years, so anybody who says they can’t afford to do a carnivore way of eating isn’t considering the right things.

    I don’t make a lot of money, but it’s enough to provide for my family every month by the grace of God. And that’s only on one income.

    Yet somehow every month I’m able to eat the meat that makes my body healthy and like it was when I was young, and all my bills still get paid, even though prices are ridiculous right now.

    Granted, I did cut a few things out of my life to make that happen. I quit vaping, drinking, smoking, and buying junk food every time I stop for gas.

    I’ve noticed a few other beautiful side effects I put down to this way of eating, including that I no longer have pain from inflammation all the time, and I don’t get sick as easily as I used to.

    My immune system feels like it’s working like it should for the first time in my life.

    I used to have all this red skin that stung all the time, but now it looks clear and clean. And I used to have all this pain in my gut, which is gone now, too.

    Some people complain that they can’t go to the bathroom because of an all-meat diet, and that they need some roughage, but I have no trouble at all.

    I’m much more active now at 50 years old than I ever was in my entire life until now. I’m able to get more done; I can focus on two jobs at the same time; and I started playing basketball recently, something that I’ve never done before.

    I don’t even understand the rules of basketball for the most part but I’m able to get out there and keep up with guys that are a lot younger than me doing something that I didn’t think I would ever be doing.

    And I attribute it all to the lion diet.

    I love eating meat, so the diet comes natural to me, and it is very simple for shopping and deciding what to make every meal.

    Do I miss some things? Yes. I am a sugar addict, so whenever I see it in the form I used to love it in—cheesecake, yellow cake, ice cream, brownies, etc—it can be pretty hard to resist.

    But so many times that has led to the painful reality of reintroducing sugar into a system that has been working fine only producing sugar from the food consumed, rather than using sugar in the food consumed.

    I can be physically in pain for 24 hours or more, feel sickly for up to a couple weeks, and my blood sugar numbers stay haywire for several days after consuming sugar.

    Some say this is the problem with a carnivore diet; that it makes you more sensitive to sugar.

    But I think it’s simply that the negative effects are more easily noticed because you are no longer desensitized to the harm caused by such things. It’s like reintroducing a drug.

    I’ve experimented with some other foods on my diet, but I found that my body is resistant to them; perhaps due to developing leaky gut from years of eating ultra-processed food, fast food, seed oils, and all the garbage in our food supply.

    Right now, I have found freedom in this way of eating like I never thought possible. It has changed me physically, mentally, and even spiritually. I found that by quitting those vices I’ve been able to fall more in line with what the scriptures tell me to do as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

    I find that this has been a wonderful blessing for me. Some Christians ask me why I don’t eat vegetables still. I say so many of them are genetically modified to be sweeter, or they’re sprayed with things like glyphosate to kill pests off.

    Ultimately, I found eating only meat has worked fantastic for me and now I stick with it more than ever. I don’t have a desire to experiment anymore because the troubles that I’ve had doing that haven’t been worth it.

    I live a totally different life now. I’m no longer a slave to advertising for food. I’m no longer a slave to the food system. I’m no longer a slave to the health care system. I fired my doctors; I only have one family doctor now who understands my carnivore diet.

    I’m not throwing doctors under the bus, but it’s nice not to have to go back to one and ask for permission to buy the things that I used to just treat the symptoms that were making me sick, fat, and unhealthy.

    Now that I’ve got 1,000 days in the can and I’m about to turn 51, I’m looking forward to whatever is coming next. The lion diet has changed my life for good.

    Dante Ferrigno runs the Ferrigno Freedom channel on YouTube where he posts videos about his journey with the lion diet.

    All views expressed are the author’s own.

    Do you have a unique experience or personal story to share? Email the My Turn team at myturn@newsweek.com.