Kate Hudson has a positive feeling about 2024. “It was a lot of good energy on New Year’s Eve this year,” she tells POPSUGAR. “It’s going to be good.” After stealing the show as the unapologetically extra Birdie Jay in “Glass Onion” and recently teasing her debut album, it seems like exciting career moves are well within her reach. Wellness, on the other hand, is more of a balancing act. She stands poised over the tightrope – occasionally allowing herself to falter, but always keeping her eyes glued to the other side. When it comes to wellness, it’s not easy for Hudson to be so regimented. “It goes against my nature,” she previously told POPSUGAR. “I’m an Aries.”
This year, however, she’s trying something new when it comes to her wellness goals: prioritizing sustainable habits, a routine she can count on, and a lot more fun. “This whole sort of wellness journey conversation can be very rigid feeling, and the reality is that’s also not good for our health. You also need to enjoy your life and not be so hard on yourself,” she tells POPSUGAR – a lesson imparted on Hudson by her trainer Brian Nguyen.
“Stop thinking there’s something wrong with you. Stop thinking that you need to be something you’re not.”
Weighing in on his own philosophy, Nguyen explains that the obsession with “fixing” ourselves is something we can all leave in 2023. Think about working out like “playing,” he says. “I text [Kate] in the morning, ‘I’ll be over at the house in 20 minutes to play.’” A typical training session between Nguyen and Hudson is still part weightlifting, but it’s also part singing and dancing. “That’s what keeps us coming back,” he says. For Nguyen and Hudson, it’s an impromptu dance party, but for others, “play” might mean a hike with friends, a new workout class, or even just walking the dog.
Learning to balance takes practice – between celebration and discipline, work and play. Hudson wanted to infuse this type of balance into her Small Steps, Big Wins plan on the MyFitnessPal app, a regimen she created alongside Nguyen. The challenge features seven simple changes you can make to support long-term health goals, including food swaps, nutrition tips, and even positive affirmations. Partnering with an accessible platform like MyFitnessPal is Hudson and Nguyen’s way of getting people excited and inspired to make a change well beyond Jan. 1.
The Small Steps challenge was designed to encourage realistic habits that make a real difference on your health and fitness. But for anyone overwhelmed by all the “new year, new me” content, Hudson invites you to remember you’re already doing great. “Brian’s always said, ‘You’re not broken,’” she says. “Stop thinking you’re broken. Stop thinking there’s something wrong with you. Stop thinking that you need to be something you’re not.”
“Well, first of all, focus on whole and minimally processed foods, especially plant foods,” says Hu. Aim to incorporate more whole foods, like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes into every meal, he adds.
Hu strongly recommends a diet similar to the Mediterranean diet, healthy plant-based diets or the Okinawan diet, which are all rich in whole foods.
“Those dietary patterns have been shown to reduce the risk of chronic disease like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, some cancers, and also the risk of dementia,” he says.
“And because those are the major causes of death. That’s why those healthy dietary patterns have been shown to reduce the risk of premature death and lead to longer life expectancies.”
2. Reduce consumption of processed and ultra-processed foods
“In the U.S. diet, almost 60% of the calories come from ultra-processed foods,” including foods like soft drinks, snacks and sweets, he notes. “That’s one of the reasons Americans consume too many unhealthy foods and too many calories.”
A study that examined the health outcomes of more than 11,000 adults over the span of 19 years found that those who ate ultra-processed foods the most within that time frame had a 31% higher risk of all-cause mortality than people who ate ultra-processed foods the least.
“So, I think it’s very important to minimize the consumption of those foods,” Hu adds.
3. Be flexible with your diet
“There is no rigid type of diet that everyone should follow to live longer [and] healthier,” Hu says. “I think there are different dietary patterns, and people can create their own fusion diet.”
Identify which of the whole foods you really enjoy and make your own healthy diet, he says. You can mix and match the elements of a Mediterranean diet and an Okinawan diet, or create an entirely new diet altogether.
“That’s how to actually improve their enjoyment and also long-term adherence to dietary patterns,” Hu notes. It’s important to “be more flexible and enjoy the healthy diet.”
4. Use meal time for social gatherings
When it comes to longevity, lifestyle factors like physical activity, managing stress and diet are all extremely important. But there is yet another vital component to consider as well, and that’s social connections.
Hu sees using meals as a time to gather socially as another way to maximize your chances of living longer.
“The connection between food and social connections is very natural, because food does bring people together,” he says.
By prioritizing meal time as a moment for social gathering, you can simultaneously incorporate two behaviors that are linked to longevity, Hu says.
“Eating healthy food together, not only nourishes our bodies, but also nourishes our souls.”
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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.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newswise — After a long day, there’s the age-old question of do we eat out or stay in?
Over the last decade, that answer has increasingly shifted to eating out.
In that timeframe, households have increasingly spent more money on food outside of the home than what’s spent on eating at home. In that same time, the farmer’s share of the food dollar eaten outside of the home has declined while the share of food eaten at home has increased.
With a more than $550,000 grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, researchers George Davis and Anubhab Gupta, in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics in Virginia Tech’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, are studying the effects of the changing food spending patterns on the profitability and welfare of farmers, food processors, and consumers, or welfare through the United States’ food supply chain.
“Our project aims to look at the changing profitability and welfare effects in the food supply chain while recognizing that the effects will depend on the underlying market structure and consumer socioeconomic, demographic, and environmental factors,” said George Davis, professor in the Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics and project lead.
The research team has four objectives:
Look at how the difference between retail food prices and farm prices have changed over time as spending on food at home and food away from home has changed
Determine to what extent consumers have benefitted from the change in eating food at home versus food away from home.
Consider what role the degree of competition within the food supply chain has affected profitability and welfare for the farmer, processors, and consumers as food spending patterns have changed.
Consider how alternative policies affecting food at home and food away from home spending will affect profitability and welfare throughout the food supply chain.
The project will combine well-established research areas that have not been joined before to understand important policy-relevant questions regarding price and quantity relationships, market structure, and welfare distribution throughout the associated market.
To achieve the objectives, the team will utilize public-use consumer expenditure survey microdata from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, NBER-CES Manufacturing Industry Database, and estimates from the literature.
“Our integrated framework will answer important policy and scenario questions related to socioeconomic and demographic profile of consumers, COVID-19, Ukraine war, etc. on welfare distribution throughout the food supply chain, while extending our knowledge on the four strands of literature and a unique way of integrating them,” Davis said.
Refined carbs have gotten a bad rap over the years, much to the dismay of carb-loving girlies everywhere. But what are refined carbs, exactly? Also known as simple carbs, these carbohydrate sources have two categories: sugars and refined grains.
Some examples of refined grain products include white bread, white rice, and white flour. Table sugar and corn syrup are two examples of refined sugars. Refined carbs have gotten a negative reputation because they tend to be ultra-processed. And during the processing stage, certain compounds (like the bran and germ of a whole grain) are removed, resulting in a less nutritious food choice than their original counterpart.
But does the refining process mean that you have to live in a world without a sesame bagel at your Sunday brunch or sans a snack-sized bag of pretzels when you are on a flight? And is it really that bad to add refined sugar to your sweet tea? Here, registered dietitians – myself included – clear up the conundrum.
What Are Refined Carbs?
Refined carbs come in two forms: refined grains and sugars.
Refined grains are made when whole grains undergo a process where certain parts of the grain are removed. Whole grains consist of three key parts, according to Harvard’s T.H. Chan school of Public Health. This includes the bran, germ, and endosperm. The bran is the outer skin of the grain, containing antioxidants, B vitamins, and fiber. The germ is the part that has the potential to sprout into a new plant, and it contains many B vitamins, protein, minerals, and healthy fats. The endosperm, the largest part of the grain, contains starchy carbohydrates, proteins, and small amounts of vitamins and minerals.
When grains are refined, the process removes the bran and germ, leaving only the endosperm. Although this process increases the grain’s shelf life, it also strips away a significant proportion of the nutritional value. The remaining endosperm contains mostly carbohydrates and small amounts of protein, making refined grains less nutritious than their whole grain counterparts.
In the case of sugar, the process starts with raw materials such as sugarcane or sugar beets that are crushed to extract their juice. This juice is then boiled to produce a concentrated syrup, which is processed further to remove impurities. The resulting substance is then crystallized and centrifuged to yield a white, refined sugar product. This refining process depletes the sugar of its naturally occurring nutrients, and the final product is almost 100% pure sucrose. The simplicity of this molecule means it is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, potentially resulting in a rapid spike in blood sugar and insulin levels.
But that doesn’t mean you have to kiss your favorite pasta or white rice-based dish goodbye if you are trying to support your health. Research-based dietary guidelines, including the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025, suggest that consumers “make half your grains whole”, meaning that at least 50% of the grains consumed should be from a whole grain source.
Following this guideline means that as much as 50% of the grains we consume can be from refined sources. While it is true that refined grains are lower in fiber and antioxidants, some countries (including the US) enrich refined grains, adding micronutrients (like certain B vitamins and iron) to replace some of the losses that occur during the refining process.
Ultimately, when it comes to refined carbs, it’s all about balance. “I don’t think people have to completely avoid refined carbs unless they find that they can’t control their consumption,” says Lisa Andrews, MEd, RD, LD, a registered dietitian and owner of Sound Bites Nutrition. Another sign to cut back on refined carbs is if you notice high blood sugar levels, Andrews adds.
Otherwise, the occasional morning croissant or afternoon doughnut won’t make or break your health. “As long as the remaining calories in your diet come from a variety of nutritious, whole foods like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, nuts/seeds, beans, and lean animal protein,” Andrews says.
That being said, when it comes to eating refined carbs, especially if you have preexisting medical condition (like diabetes), it’s best to consult your doctor or dietitian about your specific needs for a healthy diet and lifestyle.
Refined Carbs List
Here are some common examples of refined carbohydrates that you might find in your diet:
White bread: Made from refined wheat flour, white bread lacks the fiber, vitamins, and minerals found in whole grain alternatives.
White rice: The refining process removes the nutrient-rich bran and germ, leaving only the starchy endosperm.
Sugary beverages: Soft drinks, fruit juices, and energy drinks often contain high amounts of refined sugar.
Sweets and desserts: These treats are typically high in sugar and made from refined flour.
Breakfast cereals: Many cereals are made from refined grains and contain added sugars.
Chips and crackers: These snacks are often made from refined grains and can contain added sugars.
Instant noodles: These are typically made from refined wheat flour and contain little to no fiber.
Processed foods: Many processed foods, like frozen meals and fast food, contain refined grains and sugars.
Many of these foods provide affordable and accessible nutrients, and fortified options provide important B-vitamins and iron.
It’s important to note that consuming these foods in moderation is unlikely to harm your health, but they should not make up the bulk of your diet. Try to swap them out for whole grain alternatives and foods with natural sugars, like fruits and vegetables, whenever possible. And if you do choose refined grains, try pairing them with a healthy fat, fiber, and/or protein source to help slow down the digestion process, causing a more gradual release and absorption of glucose from carbohydrates. This helps to prevent the rapid blood sugar spikes and crashes associated with consuming refined carbohydrates alone.
Andrews reminds us that “refined carbs, like white rice, are a staple in several cultures and should be enjoyed.”
Which Carbs Should You Opt For Instead?
Opting for complex carbohydrates is generally encouraged to make up the bulk of your diet. These carbs are slower to digest, provide a steady release of energy, and are typically richer in nutrients. Here are some examples of complex carbohydrates to include in your diet:
Whole Grains: These include foods like brown rice, quinoa, oatmeal, and whole grain bread or pasta. They’re a source of fiber, B vitamins, and various minerals. The also may contain antioxidants.
Fruits: Fresh fruits are packed with fiber, vitamins, and natural sugars. They’re a great choice for a nutritious, sweet snack.
Vegetables: All vegetables contain some amount of carbohydrate. Leafy greens, bell peppers, broccoli, and other vegetables are a good way to get your carbs and lots of beneficial nutrients.
Legumes: Foods like beans, lentils, and chickpeas are rich in carbohydrates and are a source of protein and fiber.
Tubers: Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and other tubers are excellent sources of complex carbohydrates.
Remember, a balanced diet is key to maintaining good health. These carbohydrate-rich foods, combined with a good mix of proteins and fats, can provide all the nutrients your body needs.
It’s long been known that chia seeds are a “superfood”—and new research provides even more reasons to back the assertion.
Scientists at Oregon State University recently sequenced the chia genome, as detailed in a paper published Wednesday in Frontiers in Plant Science. The team wasn’t the first to do so. But it was the first to take a deep dive into the genetics behind the crop’s nutritional properties—and make a case for why chia seeds may be one solution to the world’s hunger and nutrition crisis, in addition to climate change.
What are the health benefits of chia seeds?
Chia seeds are tiny and round, and come in colors like black, brown, and white. They’re a member of the mint family, and related to rosemary and scarlet sage, among other herbs.
Like its genetic relatives, chia seeds known to offer a wealth of nutritional benefits. They’re high in fiber and contain healthy fats and protein. What’s more, their flavor is mild, making them an easy add to many well-loved dishes like smoothies, yogurt, oatmeal, pancakes, and granola bars.
But the tiny speckled seeds offer more than a simple nutrient boost. Among their near-medicinal properties—thanks to their polyunsaturated fatty acids, protein, and fiber, in particular—according to researchers at Oregon State:
Improved heart health and cholesterol
Anti-cancer properties
Anti-inflammatory properties
Antimicrobial properties
Antioxidant properties
And there’s more. Additional health benefits of chia seeds, thanks to the generous helping of fiber they contain, include:
Improved intestinal health
Weight loss
Decreased risk of developing diabetes
The vast potential of chia
So far, researchers looking to genetically optimize crops have mainly focused on cereals like rice, wheat, maize, and millets; small grains; legumes; oilseed; and tuber crops. While systemic breeding has mitigated global starvation and saved millions of lives, “the hidden issue of hunger or malnutrition remains,” the paper’s authors wrote.
That means researchers must next turn to the improvement of “minor” or “orphan” crops like chia, cassava, yam, small grains, and pulses, they contend. During the study, scientists were able to locate genetic markers associated with the grain’s nutritional properties. Those wanting to create nutritionally improved chia seeds can use the list as a starting point for their research.
“We are at the point where long-term food and nutrition security requires diversifying the human diet by breeding and making genetic improvement to nutrient-rich, so-called ‘minor crops’ like chia,” Sushma Naithani, an associate professor in the university’s Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, said in a news release about the study.
More good news: The ability of chia to grow in marginal lands helps mitigate the threat posed by global climate change, researchers wrote. They hope to bring chia farming to Oregon, where climate conditions are similar to those in South America, where chia is primarily grown. Already, researchers at the University of Kentucky are leading the charge for chia development in the state.
“This research opens up possibilities for scientists to study chia seed through the lens of improving human health, while at the same time continuing to further our knowledge of all the nutritional benefits of chia,” Pankaj Jaiswal, a professor at Oregon State University’s Department of Botany and Plant Pathology, said in the release.
Consumers grapple with confusion over food-date labels
Newswise — The use of food-date labels such as “use-by” and “best if used by” causes consumer confusion that results in many Americans discarding food that is safe to eat or donate, according to the November 2023Consumer Food Insights Report.
The survey-based report out of Purdue University’s Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability assesses food spending, consumer satisfaction and values, support of agricultural and food policies and trust in information sources. Purdue experts conducted and evaluated the survey, which included 1,200 consumers across the U.S.
The Congressional Research Service recently reported that 7% of all U.S. food waste is because of date labeling confusion. “The goal of this month’s CFI survey was to gather consumer perceptions about what these food date labels mean,” said the report’s lead author, Joseph Balagtas, professor of agricultural economics at Purdue and director of CFDAS.
The USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service defines “use-by” and “best if used by” as references to peak food quality rather than the date after which the food is no longer safe to eat. However, there is no official standard for food date labeling in the U.S., which leads to an unsurprising mix of responses as to what they mean.
“Over half of consumers connect “best if used by” and “use-by” dates with food safety, while over 30% believe these labels are related to food quality,” Balagtas said. “This information problem is a kind of market failure and leads to waste.
“One potential fix to misinformation is for the government to set standards for food date labels to help inform consumers what is and is not safe to eat to help reduce food waste in the U.S. The recently proposed Food Date Labeling Act is an attempt to achieve that goal.”
The November survey also looked at consumer perceptions of foodborne illness risks. Food-risk attitudes are divided into three groups: risk-averse, risk-neutral and risk-loving. The groupings were based on respondents’ self-assessed risk tolerance for food at home (FAH) and food away from home (FAFH) on a scale from 0 (risk-averse) to 10 (fully prepared to take risks or risk-loving). The summaries broken down this way focus on CFI data from January to November 2023.
“We found that consumers believe the risk of contracting a foodborne illness is higher when eating food at a restaurant compared to eating food they prepare at home themselves, which is consistent with data on the incidence of foodborne illness,” Balagtas said. “So it is not surprising that we also see that consumers who are more risk-averse when it comes to their food, eat home-cooked meals more frequently than consumers willing to take more risks with their food consumption.”
A variety of store-bought goods have the potential to contain foodborne bacteria that cause illness. Even so, consumers were more likely to select raw meat items as foods that pose a high risk of foodborne illnesses.
“We see a gap of more than 20 percentage points in the rate at which raw meats were selected compared to leafy greens, milk, flour and raw fruits and vegetables, despite the fact that some of these items that are perceived as ‘safer’ have caused foodborne illness outbreaks in the past,” Balagtas noted.
The Interagency Food Safety Analytics Collaboration, a group tasked with monitoring the causes of foodborne illnesses in the U.S., recently reported that the contribution of fresh produce to foodborne outbreaks is comparable to that of raw meats, and in some cases, greater.
The November survey also showed that food insecurity has dropped slightly for the fifth straight month, to 12.6%. “We do observe higher rates of food insecurity among risk-loving consumers, though this difference is likely the result of the correlation between age and food risk attitudes,” said Elijah Bryant, a survey research analyst at the center and co-author of the report.
Generally, older consumers with more resources, on average, tend to be more food secure and less willing to take food risks, while younger people more willing to take risks tend to have fewer resources, resulting in higher rates of food insecurity.”
Consumers also were asked to recall their food behaviors over the last month. “Those who are classified as risk-loving reported eating fruits and vegetables without washing them, eating rare or undercooked meat and eating raw dough or batter more frequently than those who are risk-averse,” Bryant said.
Consumers less willing to take risks with their food were also less likely to agree with claims about the health benefits of non-conventional food items. These claims include organic being more nutritious than non-organic, plant-based milk is healthier than dairy milk and gluten-free food is healthier than products containing gluten.
This may be indicative of risk-averse consumers being more resistant to alternative foods in the food system that stray from what they perceive as the norm, Bryant said.
The Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability is part of Purdue’s Next Moves in agriculture and food systems and uses innovative data analysis shared through user-friendly platforms to improve the food system. In addition to the Consumer Food Insights Report, the center offers a portfolio of online dashboards.
During child growth and development, two big things matter a lot: sleep and nutrition. They’re like best friends, always working together and helping each other out. Understanding how these two connect is super important.
It is not just about keeping kids healthy now; it’s about making sure they can be the best they can be when they grow up.
Think of it like this: sleep and food are like a team. When one does well, the other cheers it on. This teamwork is crucial for everything in a child’s body and mind to work properly.
If we ignore how these two work together, it is like missing out on a treasure map that leads to a future where kids aren’t just okay but super awesome. We want to make sure kids not only grow but also shine bright like stars.
The Importance of Quality Sleep in Child Development
Photo by RDNE Stock project: https://www.pexels.com/photo/child-sleeping-with-toy-10566196/
1. Sleep Cycles
Quality sleep is the cornerstone of a child’s growth. It is influential in physical health, cognitive function, and emotional well-being.
To comprehend its significance, we must first grasp the intricacies of sleep cycles.
In children, sleep cycles are composed of different stages, and each stage plays a distinct role in their development. It is like a carefully choreographed dance where each move has a specific purpose, contributing to the child’s overall well-being.
The first noteworthy stage is deep sleep, known for its restorative effects. This is the time when the body works its magic, repairing and rejuvenating. It’s like a power nap for the growing body, ensuring that the child wakes up refreshed and ready for a new day.
Another crucial stage is REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep, where something fascinating happens – memory consolidation. It’s as if the brain is a diligent librarian, organizing and storing away the experiences and lessons from the day. This not only aids in memory but also plays a key role in the child’s cognitive development.
Think of these sleep cycles as essential chapters in a book, each contributing to the overall narrative of the child’s vitality. Deep sleep ensures physical well-being, while REM sleep enhances cognitive functions. Together, these phases form a dynamic duo, working in tandem to support the child’s growth and development.
2. Growth Hormone Release
During deep sleep, the pituitary gland releases growth hormone, a crucial factor in a child’s physical development. This hormone stimulates the growth of bones, tissues, and muscles, laying the foundation for a healthy body. Inadequate sleep can disrupt this process, hindering optimal growth.
3. Cognitive Function and Memory
Beyond physical development, sleep profoundly impacts a child’s cognitive function and memory consolidation. It is during sleep that the brain processes information gathered throughout the day, solidifying learning experiences.
Insufficient sleep may compromise a child’s ability to focus, learn, and retain information, affecting academic performance and intellectual growth.
The Connection Between Nutrition and Sleep
Photo by picjumbo.com (Pexels)
A well-balanced diet serves as the cornerstone of a child’s overall health. It is critical for their energy levels, physical growth, and cognitive functions. Nutrients like vitamins, minerals, proteins, and carbohydrates act as the building blocks that fuel every aspect of a child’s body.
1. Micronutrients and Sleep Quality
Nutrition serves as the fuel that propels a child’s growth and sustains their energy levels. Certain micronutrients play a pivotal role in promoting quality sleep.
For instance, magnesium regulates neurotransmitters that induce sleep, while vitamin B6 aids in the production of sleep-inducing hormones. A well-balanced diet ensures the adequate intake of these micronutrients, contributing to sound and restful sleep.
2. The Impact of Macronutrients
Macronutrients, such as carbohydrates and proteins, also wield influence over sleep patterns. Carbohydrates stimulate the release of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that promotes relaxation and sleepiness.
Proteins, on the other hand, provide a sustained release of energy throughout the night, preventing disruptions in sleep due to hunger.
Encouraging adequate water intake throughout the day contributes to a well-hydrated body, fostering an environment conducive to uninterrupted sleep.
Practical Tips for Parents to Nurture Sleep and Nutrition
Creating an optimal sleep environment complements the nutritional aspect, fostering a setting conducive to restful sleep. Armed with the knowledge of the profound interplay between sleep and nutrition, parents can take proactive steps to optimize their child’s well-being.
1. Establishing a Consistent Sleep Routine
Crafting a consistent sleep routine sets the stage for healthy sleep habits. A regular bedtime, calming pre-sleep rituals, and a comfortable sleep environment contribute to a conducive atmosphere for restorative sleep. Consistency in bedtime and wake-up times helps regulate sleep cycles.
2. Nutrient-Rich Diets
Prioritizing a nutrient-rich diet is paramount in supporting a child’s growth and sleep patterns. Incorporating a variety of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains ensures a well-rounded intake of essential vitamins and minerals. Designing balanced meal plans that incorporate a variety of nutrient-rich foods ensures that children receive the essential elements for growth and quality sleep.
3. Encouraging Water Intake
Proper hydration is often underestimated but plays a significant role in ensuring restful sleep. Encouraging children to stay adequately hydrated throughout the day prevents discomfort and restlessness at night. A well-hydrated body contributes to a conducive environment for uninterrupted sleep.
4. Monitoring Screen Time
Excessive exposure to screens, especially before bedtime, can interfere with a child’s circadian rhythm. The blue light emitted by electronic devices can suppress melatonin production, disrupting the natural sleep-wake cycle. Implementing screen-time restrictions, particularly in the evening, promotes healthier sleep patterns.
Conclusion
The interdependence of nutrition and sleep in the life of children life is not a mere coincidence but a fundamental aspect of their development.
Nourishing the body with the right nutrients and cultivating a sleep-friendly environment work hand in hand. This paves the way for healthy, thriving, and well-rested children. By recognizing and embracing this connection, parents can nurture an environment where children not only grow but flourish into their fullest potential.
In modern times, staying hydrated can feel like a big ask. Maybe you don’t have time to fill up your reusable water bottle as you dash from meeting to meeting, or you forget to take a few gulps after a sweaty workout. Hydration supplements, like electrolyte powders and tablets, have entered the market to fill in when you fall short of your daily water requirement or when you’re feeling depleted—but are they really necessary?
Most of us know drinking enough H2O is important, but how do electrolyte powders fit into the picture? Experts explain.
How electrolyte powders work
“Hydration powders and tablets contain electrolytes, which are important minerals that help regulate and maintain fluid balance in the body,” says Melissa Boufounos, a certified holistic nutritionist specializing in performance nutrition. The human body depends on three major electrolytes to function: sodium (which helps cells absorb nutrients), magnesium (tasked with converting nutrients into energy), and potassium (which works closely with sodium and plays a critical role in heart health).
While regular old tap water contains trace amounts of electrolytes, hydration supplements, like electrolyte powders, deliver higher doses of these minerals. “As long as the hydration option contains the right mix of electrolytes in adequate quantities, it can help support hydration status,” explains Manaker. The sodium in these products may also stimulate thirst and prompt you to grab your water bottle more often, adds Boufounos.
Minimal studies have been conducted on the effects of these dietary supplements, but past research on sports drinks may be used to understand their efficacy. Research suggests that “functional beverages” containing glucose, sodium, and fructose may improve athletic performance by optimizing water absorption. And another small study found that people who drank sports beverages before and after jumping on the treadmill managed to retain more water compared to those who drank unsupplemented water.
Who benefits the most from electrolyte powders and tablets?
Unsurprisingly, hydration products most benefit those who deplete their electrolytes on a daily basis. “Athletes, fitness enthusiasts, and individuals engaged in strenuous physical activities often reap significant benefits from hydration powders,” says Manaker. “These powders offer a quick and efficient means of replenishing lost electrolytes, providing the rapid rehydration needed to maintain performance and recovery.”
Those who are suffering from a stomach bug, food poisoning, or the flu may also benefit from electrolyte powders, given that these illnesses dehydrate the body. “Lastly, people living in or visiting regions with extreme heat can utilize hydration powders to maintain optimal hydration levels and prevent heat-related illnesses,” says Manaker. So, if you have a trip to Tuscany in July or Sedona in August, taking a few electrolyte tablets along may help you adjust and stay hydrated on your journey.
There are also some folks who may want to steer clear of these products. “Hydration powders and tablets may offer some benefits for certain people, but they may not necessarily be for everyone,” says Manaker. For example, while the added sugar and sodium in many of these supplements may help some fuel their runs, those with diabetes or high blood pressure need to be cautious about adding these supplements to their water.
Can electrolyte supplements replace plain old water?
Short answer: Nope. “Hydration powders and tablets should not replace drinking plain water or other hydrating fluids,” says Boufounos. “Despite the popularity of electrolyte supplements and the importance of staying hydrated, it is possible to overconsume electrolytes.” Electrolyte imbalance can affect blood pressure, kidney function, and heart rate, so make sure that you don’t start to over-rely on these tablets.
That said, in moderation, hydration supplements can be helpful. “In some cases, added electrolytes can help people maintain hydration better than drinking plain water,” says Manaker. “But for generally healthy people who are not heavily exercising, sweating, in an extraordinarily hot environment, or in another situation that makes maintaining hydration challenging, water may be just fine.”
Remember, electrolytes (sodium, magnesium, and potassium) also appear in food sources such as yogurt, apricots, and pumpkin seeds. So, if you’re eating a nutrient-dense diet, drinking plenty of water, and participating in moderate exercise, you can probably rely on your grocery haul for your electrolytes.
What to know about added sugar in electrolyte powders and tablets
If you check the label of many electrolyte powders, you may notice added sugar. Boufounos says there’s a valid reason for that. “Sugar is added to hydration powders and tablets to promote water absorption and provide an energy source during exercise,” she says. Athletes participating in endurance workouts of an hour or more should choose products with added sugar because glucose can boost energy levels and aid in performance.
“If you’re using electrolyte products outside of a workout scenario, it’s okay to choose a product that is sugar-free,” says Boufounos.
The verdict on electrolyte powders and tablets
In most cases, electrolyte powders are a bonus—not a necessity—to your diet. Once your doctor gives the okay, ichoose your supplement wisely. Boufounos recommends choosing a product that is third-party tested. “When a supplement is third-party tested, it meets minimum safety standards and doesn’t contain hazardous or banned substances, which is especially important for athletes,” she explains.
And, of course, you should always talk to your primary care physician before adding anything brand-new to your routine. “Your best bet is to ask your healthcare provider whether adding this solution to your diet is something you should be exploring,” says Manaker.
In medical school, my education in nutrition was compressed into a single one-hour lecture that delved into the complexities of biochemical reactions in our blood and digestive system. While it established an understanding of digestion, it didn’t prepare me to address my patients’ regular inquiries about eating for their individual needs. As the questions persisted, I grew increasingly disheartened by my inability to offer more than a vague “it depends,” forcing the extra step of making an appointment with a nutritionist.
In an effort to better support my patients, I began studying Lifestyle Medicine, which is a branch of medicine that promotes wellness through healthy lifestyle choices and behavior modifications.
Creating Healthy Habits
Lifestyle Medicine underscores the importance of fostering healthy habits as a foundational nutritional principle. Within this framework, intuitive eating can be a powerful tool, emphasizing mindful awareness and responsive attention to the body’s cues for a sustainable and nourishing relationship with food. By embracing intuitive eating, individuals can establish positive and enduring habits that contribute to overall well-being. The question then arose: How can I guide my patients in cultivating these habits and nurturing intuitive decision-making?
Food and Us: A Relationship Between Mind and Body
While learning, I had growing questions, and the opportunity to attend a nutrition-focused retreat at Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa emerged. My experience enabled a deeper understanding of the links between our dietary habits, food selections, and the needs of our bodies, all while considering the multitude of factors that shape these elements. Among the various nutrition classes I attended, a Lunch and Learn session on intuitive eating stood out. Miraval’s resident dietician, Makenna Baum, delved into various aspects of intuitive eating. One participant defined it as consuming foods that make her “feel good” and resonate with her sense of well being. This prompted the question: Does intuitive eating involve unrestricted indulgence? (The general consensus on this is no.) Another attendee bravely shared her struggle with anorexia, revealing how restrictive eating offered a sense of control over her life, and her subsequent, powerful journey to trust her body’s signals of hunger and satisfaction. Someone else explained that he overcame emotional eating patterns through breathwork and finding solace in stress relief. These diverse perspectives unveiled the intricate nature of intuitive eating: it’s difficult to define.
A Nuanced Approach
Exploring diverse experiences has illuminated the practical aspects of intuitive eating for me—it’s an approach that considers personal food history alongside one’s physical state, emotions, family, culture, and religion. Eating, despite being a universally shared act, is marked by a tangle of individual experiences. Intuitive eating involves meeting the body’s genuine needs—whether enjoying company at dinner, satisfying hunger, or savoring something delicious. It underscores food as essential nourishment, encouraging us to align our understanding of what we truly need with the choices we make in what, when, where, and how we eat.
During a Just Cook for Me workshop, Miraval’s chef de cuisine, Lee Ann Evertsen, shared practical skills and invaluable insights about intuitive eating: prioritize fresh, quality ingredients and embrace simplicity. She emphasized that enjoying aesthetically pleasing food is not only instinctual but also an essential aspect of our intuition. “Making it visually enticing ignites our desire to engage all the senses and fully enjoy our experience with the food,” she explains. This can be as simple as adding a vibrant green herb on top of your protein or plating a meal on your favorite dishes.
Love Your Farmers
Nurturing conscious awareness of food origins and production deepens the connection between nourishment and our values. This empowers us to make informed choices aligned with our well-being and principles. At the same Just Cook for Me event, as aromas of fresh herbs and roasted vegetables filled the air, conversation flowed, including a memorable one with Prentice Onayemi, co-owner of Foglight Farms in Hillsboro, Oregon.
Onayemi considers himself an “accidental,” but now, very intentional farmer. He started his farm after buying a plot of land to live on, and driven by the sheer curiosity of how soil supports life, sought to best honor the land by planting it. Foglight Farms now operates a community-supported agriculture (CSA) program, fostering connections to seasons, local culture, and the dedicated individuals behind our food. Onayemi emphasizes the significance of engaging with local farmers, whether through volunteering at community gardens or supporting nearby farms. These actions not only foster an appreciation for food and food systems, but also deepen our understanding of nature’s rhythms, regional flavors, and community bonds—all in organic alignment with the principles of intuitive eating.
Trusting Your Gut
Embracing fresh insights into intuitive eating, I recognized its potential benefits for my patients—and myself. However, like many folks, I also faced the same question: Where do I begin? In a session hosted by Baum entitled Trust Your Gut: Your Intuitive Path to Health, we began with a mindfulness practice akin to a body scan. We closed our eyes and considered the food that was in front of us, practicing gratitude for its sheer existence and the care involved in its journey to our plates. Baum called this an “observational practice,” to help us out of our heads and into our bodies, guiding us away from overthinking and into a state of bodily awareness. By bringing this degree of mindfulness to mealtimes, you can “foster a deeper connection with your body,” Baum says, “and gain a heightened awareness of the impact various foods have on your well-being.” This understanding is the bedrock of intuitive eating—know your food and how it affects you.
It was during this session that I realized that we often use the terms “gut” and “intuition” interchangeably, and wondered how we seem to have separated the two despite still using this analogy in our regular vernacular. To truly understand our relationship with food, it became clear that acknowledging the connection between our physical sensations and intuitive responses is a crucial starting point.
The Breakthrough
In my pursuit of finding concise answers to guide my patients’ dietary questions, I’ve come to realize that, after all this study, my answer is still “it depends.” But now, I follow it up with another question: “What would it be like for you to eat intuitively?”
This query often elicits surprise and a pause, but it’s enlightening to hear the diversity of answers from my patients. I encourage them to embrace their unique perspectives and employ techniques that help them be present, whether it’s through a mental body scan, breathwork, mindfulness, aesthetic presentation or connection to those who supplied their food— chefs and farmers included.
This kind of intuitive eating (and intentional thinking) enables us to honor our personal backgrounds while fostering a curious mindset toward better nutrition and, ultimately, the joy we derive from eating. Farmer Onayemi eloquently described intuitive eating as, “cultivating a sense of what best serves the body while inviting the mind to get out of the way.” I found his definition worth sharing; I just might start using it with my patients too.
After a night of drinking, Taco Bell, pizza or whatever is leftover in the fridge looks amazing and finds it way into your belly. Late night eating post partying ,whether it is from fast fridge or from your own kitchen, seems so good. But why do you get the Drunkies after drinking?Marijuana has the myth for inciting munchies, but alcohol is just as common, if not more so.
The Fresh Toast – Post partying, Taco Bell sounds so good – here is why ou the drunchies after drinking
Like the munchies you get after smoking weed, the drunchies are characterized by a craving for calorie dense foods, like pizza, tacos, nachos…things which sit on your bell.
Because obesity is a concern here in America, researchers from the University of Buffalo decided to study the effects of the drunchies on college weight gain, examining what they eat at night and the next morning when they’re hungover.
“Given the obesity epidemic and the rates of alcohol consumption on college campuses, we need to be aware of not only the negative effect of alcohol consumption, but also the impact it has on what people are eating while they are drinking,” said Jessica Kruger, clinical assistant professor of community health and health behavior in the University at Buffalo’s School of Public Health and Health Professions.
Kruger is the lead author on a new study published in the Californian Journal of Health Promotion that examined 286 coeds to find out the relationship between their drinking and consecutive eating habits.
“All alcohol drinkers were more likely to eat something before they went to bed after drinking alcohol than in general before they go to bed,” Kruger and her colleagues wrote.
Predictably, they were drawn to junk food over healthier options. Also, in addition to healthy food choices, they skipped drinking water or other non-alcohol beverages before bed, which lead to even greater dehydration.
As for the next morning, according to the University of Buffalo, the students were less likely to skip meals after a night of drinking compared to a typical morning.
So what exactly creates the drunchies in the first place? “It is believed that after drinking alcohol, the amount of blood glucose in the body can rise and fall which stimulates the brain to feel hungry,” Kruger explains.
You’ve heard it before, kids. For every alcoholic beverage you drink, consume twice as much water. And try to eat a large healthy meal before you imbibe to help soak up the alcohol (yes, it actually works). Otherwise, you’re going to find yourself in starvation mode with a killer hangover the next morning. Eating and hydrating may not ward off a hangover (and the munchies) completely, but it will certainly help.
Newswise — Trans-vaccenic acid (TVA), a long-chain fatty acid found in meat and dairy products from grazing animals such as cows and sheep, improves the ability of CD8+ T cells to infiltrate tumors and kill cancer cells, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Chicago.
The research, published this week in Nature, also shows that patients with higher levels of TVA circulating in the blood responded better to immunotherapy, suggesting that it could have potential as a nutritional supplement to complement clinical treatments for cancer.
“There are many studies trying to decipher the link between diet and human health, and it’s very difficult to understand the underlying mechanisms because of the wide variety of foods people eat. But if we focus on just the nutrients and metabolites derived from food, we begin to see how they influence physiology and pathology,” said Jing Chen, PhD, the Janet Davison Rowley Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine at UChicago and one of the senior authors of the new study. “By focusing on nutrients that can activate T cell responses, we found one that actually enhances anti-tumor immunity by activating an important immune pathway.”
Finding nutrients that activate immune cells
Chen’s lab focuses on understanding how metabolites, nutrients and other molecules circulating in the blood influence the development of cancer and response to cancer treatments. For the new study, two postdoctoral fellows, Hao Fan, PhD and Siyuan Xia, PhD, both co-first authors, started with a database of around 700 known metabolites that come from food and assembled a “blood nutrient” compound library consisting of 235 bioactive molecules derived from nutrients. They screened the compounds in this new library for their ability to influence anti-tumor immunity by activating CD8+ T cells, a group of immune cells critical for killing cancerous or virally infected cells.
After the scientists evaluated the top six candidates in both human and mouse cells, they saw that TVA performed the best. TVA is the most abundant trans fatty acid present in human milk, but the body cannot produce it on its own. Only about 20% of TVA is broken down into other byproducts, leaving 80% circulating in the blood. “That means there must be something else it does, so we started working on it more,” Chen said.
The researchers then conducted a series of experiments with cells and mouse models of diverse tumor types. Feeding mice a diet enriched with TVA significantly reduced the tumor growth potential of melanoma and colon cancer cells compared to mice fed a control diet. The TVA diet also enhanced the ability of CD8+ T cells to infiltrate tumors.
The team also performed a series of molecular and genetic analyses to understand how TVA was affecting the T cells. These included a new technique for monitoring transcription of single-stranded DNA called kethoxal-assisted single-stranded DNA sequencing, or KAS-seq, developed by Chuan He, PhD, the John T. Wilson Distinguished Service Professor of Chemistry at UChicago and another senior author of the study. These additional assays, done by both the Chen and He labs, showed that TVA inactivates a receptor on the cell surface called GPR43 which is usually activated by short-chain fatty acids often produced by gut microbiota. TVA overpowers these short-chain fatty acids and activates a cellular signaling process known as the CREB pathway, which is involved in a variety of functions including cellular growth, survival, and differentiation. The team also showed that mouse models where the GPR43 receptor was exclusively removed from CD8+ T cells also lacked their improved tumor fighting ability.
Finally, the team also worked with Justin Kline, MD, Professor of Medicine at UChicago, to analyze blood samples taken from patients undergoing CAR-T cell immunotherapy treatment for lymphoma. They saw that patients with higher levels of TVA tended to respond to treatment better than those with lower levels. They also tested cell lines from leukemia by working with Wendy Stock, MD, the Anjuli Seth Nayak Professor of Medicine, and saw that TVA enhanced the ability of an immunotherapy drug to kill leukemia cells.
Focus on the nutrients, not the food
The study suggests that TVA could be used as a dietary supplement to help various T cell-based cancer treatments, although Chen points out that it is important to determine the optimized amount of the nutrient itself, not the food source. There is a growing body of evidence about the detrimental health effects of consuming too much red meat and dairy, so this study shouldn’t be taken as an excuse to eat more cheeseburgers and pizza; rather, it indicates that nutrient supplements such as TVA could be used to promote T cell activity. Chen thinks there may be other nutrients that can do the same.
“There is early data showing that other fatty acids from plants signal through a similar receptor, so we believe there is a high possibility that nutrients from plants can do the same thing by activating the CREB pathway as well,” he said.
The new research also highlights the promise of this “metabolomic” approach to understanding how the building blocks of diet affect our health. Chen said his team hopes to build a comprehensive library of nutrients circulating in the blood to understand their impact on immunity and other biological processes like aging.
“After millions of years of evolution, there are only a couple hundred metabolites derived from food that end up circulating in the blood, so that means they could have some importance in our biology,” Chen said. “To see that a single nutrient like TVA has a very targeted mechanism on a targeted immune cell type, with a very profound physiological response at the whole organism level—I find that really amazing and intriguing.”
The study, “Trans-vaccenic acid reprograms CD8+ T cells and anti-tumor immunity,” was supported by the National Institutes of Health (grants CA140515, CA174786, CA276568, 1375 HG006827, K99ES034084), a UChicago Biological Sciences Division Pilot Project Award, the Ludwig Center at UChicago, the Sigal Fellowship in Immuno-oncology, the Margaret E. Early Medical Research Trust, the AASLD Foundation a Harborview Foundation Gift Fund, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.
Eating right is a great way to boost your immune system as well as your mental health, but changing your habits and sticking to a regimen can be daunting. Fortunately, you don’t have to do any of that hard work, if you follow The Onion’s tips for eating healthy in just three bites.
Newswise — When you eagerly dig into a long-awaited dinner, signals from your stomach to your brain keep you from eating so much you’ll regret it – or so it’s been thought. That theory had never really been directly tested until a team of scientists at UC San Francisco recently took up the question.
The picture, it turns out, is a little different.
The team, led by Zachary Knight, PhD, a UCSF professor of physiology in the Kavli Institute for Fundamental Neuroscience, discovered that it’s our sense of taste that pulls us back from the brink of food inhalation on a hungry day. Stimulated by the perception of flavor, a set of neurons – a type of brain cell – leaps to attention almost immediately to curtail our food intake.
“We’ve uncovered a logic the brainstem uses to control how fast and how much we eat, using two different kinds of signals, one coming from the mouth, and one coming much later from the gut,” said Knight, who is also an investigator with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and a member of the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences. “This discovery gives us a new framework to understand how we control our eating.”
The study, which appears Nov. 22, 2023 in Nature, could help reveal exactly how weight-loss drugs like Ozempic work, and how to make them more effective.
New views into the brainstem
Pavlov proposed over a century ago that the sight, smell and taste of food are important for regulating digestion. More recent studies in the 1970s and 1980s have also suggested that the taste of food may restrain how fast we eat, but it’s been impossible to study the relevant brain activity during eating because the brain cells that control this process are located deep in the brainstem, making them hard to access or record in an animal that’s awake.
Over the years, the idea had been forgotten, Knight said.
New techniques developed by lead author Truong Ly, PhD, a graduate student in Knight’s lab, allowed for the first-ever imaging and recording of a brainstem structure critical for feeling full, called the nucleus of the solitary tract, or NTS, in an awake, active mouse. He used those techniques to look at two types of neurons that have been known for decades to have a role in food intake.
The team found that when they put food directly into the mouse’s stomach, brain cells called PRLH (for prolactin-releasing hormone) were activated by nutrient signals sent from the GI tract, in line with traditional thinking and the results of prior studies.
However, when they allowed the mice to eat the food as they normally would, those signals from the gut didn’t show up. Instead, the PRLH brain cells switched to a new activity pattern that was entirely controlled by signals from the mouth.
“It was a total surprise that these cells were activated by the perception of taste,” said Ly. “It shows that there are other components of the appetite-control system that we should be thinking about.”
While it may seem counterintuitive for our brains to slow eating when we’re hungry, the brain is actually using the taste of food in two different ways at the same time. One part is saying, “This tastes good, eat more,” and another part is watching how fast you’re eating and saying, “Slow down or you’re going to be sick.”
“The balance between those is how fast you eat,” said Knight.
The activity of the PRLH neurons seems to affect how palatable the mice found the food, Ly said. That meshes with our human experience that food is less appetizing once you’ve had your fill of it.
Brain cells that inspire weight-loss drugs
The PRLH-neuron-induced slowdown also makes sense in terms of timing. The taste of food triggers these neurons to switch their activity in seconds, from keeping tabs on the gut to responding to signals from the mouth.
Meanwhile, it takes many minutes for a different group of brain cells, called CGC neurons, to begin responding to signals from the stomach and intestines. These cells act over much slower time scales – tens of minutes – and can hold back hunger for a much longer period of time.
“Together, these two sets of neurons create a feed-forward, feed-back loop,” said Knight. “One is using taste to slow things down and anticipate what’s coming. The other is using a gut signal to say, ‘This is how much I really ate. Ok, I’m full now!’”
The CGC brain cells’ response to stretch signals from the gut is to release GLP-1, the hormone mimicked by Ozempic, Wegovy and other new weight-loss drugs.
These drugs act on the same region of the brainstem that Ly’s technology has finally allowed researchers to study. “Now we have a way of teasing apart what’s happening in the brain that makes these drugs work,” he said.
A deeper understanding of how signals from different parts of the body control appetite would open doors to designing weight-loss regimens designed for the individual ways people eat by optimizing how the signals from the two sets of brain cells interact, the researchers said.
The team plans to investigate those interactions, seeking to better understand how taste signals from food interact with feedback from the gut to suppress our appetite during a meal.
Newswise — Eating more ultra-processed foods (UPFs) may be associated with a higher risk of developing cancers of upper aerodigestive tract (including the mouth, throat and oesophagus), according to a new study led by researchers from the University of Bristol and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). The authors of this international study, which analysed diet and lifestyle data on 450,111 adults who were followed for approximately 14 years, say obesity associated with the consumption of UPFs may not be the only factor to blame. The study is published today [22 November] in the European Journal of Nutrition.
Several studies have identified an association between UPF consumption and cancer, including a recent study which looked at the association between UPFs and 34 different cancers in the largest cohort study in Europe, the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort.
As more evidence emerges about the associations between eating UPFs and adverse health outcomes, researchers from the Bristol Medical School and IARC wanted to explore this further. Since many UPFs have an unhealthy nutritional profile, the team sought to establish whether the association between UPF consumption and head and neck cancer and oesophageal adenocarcinoma (a cancer of the oesophagus) in EPIC could be explained by an increase in body fat.
Results from the team’s analyses showed that eating 10% more UPFs is associated with a 23% higher risk of head and neck cancer and a 24% higher risk of oesophageal adenocarcinoma in EPIC. Increased body fat only explained a small proportion of the statistical association between UPF consumption and the risk of these upper-aerodigestive tract cancers.
Fernanda Morales-Berstein, a Wellcome Trust PhD student at the University of Bristol and the study’s lead author, explained: “UPFs have been associated with excess weight and increased body fat in several observational studies. This makes sense, as they are generally tasty, convenient and cheap, favouring the consumption of large portions and an excessive number of calories. However, it was interesting that in our study the link between eating UPFs and upper-aerodigestive tract cancer didn’t seem to be greatly explained by body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio.”
The authors suggest that other mechanisms could explain the association. For example, additives including emulsifiers and artificial sweeteners which have been previously associated with disease risk, and contaminants from food packaging and the manufacturing process, may partly explain the link between UPF consumption and upper-aerodigestive tract cancer in this study.
However, Fernanda Morales-Berstein and colleagues did add caution regarding their findings and suggest that the associations between UPF consumption and upper-aerodigestive tract cancers found in the study could be affected by certain types of bias. This would explain why they found evidence of an association between higher UPF consumption and increased risk of accidental deaths, which is highly unlikely to be causal.
George Davey Smith, Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Director of the MRC Integrative Epidemiology Unit at the University of Bristol, and co-author on the paper, said: “UPFs are clearly associated with many adverse health outcomes, yet whether they actually cause these, or whether underlying factors such as general health-related behaviours and socioeconomic position are responsible for the link, is still unclear, as the association with accidental deaths draws attention to.”
Inge Huybrechts, Team head of the Lifestyle exposures and interventions team at IARC, added: “Cohorts with long-term dietary follow-up intake assessments, considering also contemporary consumption habits, are needed to replicate these study’s findings, as the EPIC dietary data were collected in the 1990s, when the consumption of UPFs was still relatively low. As such associations may potentially be stronger in cohorts including recent dietary follow-up assessments.”
Further research is needed to identify other mechanisms, such as food additives and contaminants, which may explain the links observed. However, based on the finding that body fat did not greatly explain the link between UPF consumption and upper-aerodigestive tract cancer risk in this study, Fernanda Morales-Berstein, suggested: “Focussing solely on weight loss treatment, such as Semaglutide, is unlikely to greatly contribute to the prevention of upper-aerodigestive tract cancers related to eating UPFs.”
Dr Helen Croker, Assistant Director of Research and Policy at World Cancer Research Fund, added: “This study adds to a growing pool of evidence suggesting a link between UPFs and cancer risk. The association between a higher consumption of UPFs and an increased risk of developing upper-aerodigestive tract cancer supports our Cancer Prevention Recommendations to eat a healthy diet, rich in wholegrains, vegetables, fruit, and beans.”
‘Ultra-processed foods, adiposity and risk of head and neck cancer and oesophageal adenocarcinoma in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study: a mediation analysis’ by Fernanda Morales‑Berstein et al. in the European Journal of Nutrition
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CNN
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Children and teens in the United States now get more than two-thirds of their calories from ultraprocessed foods, an analysis of almost two decades worth of data has found.
Ultraprocessed foods – such as frozen pizza, microwave meals, packaged snacks and desserts – accounted for 67% of calories consumed in 2018, up from 61% in 1999, according to research published in the medical journal JAMA Tuesday. The study analyzed the diet of 33,795 children and adolescents nationwide.
While industrial processing can keep food fresher longer and allow some foods to be fortified with vitamins, it modifies food to change its consistency, taste and color to make it more palatable, cheap and convenient – using processes that aren’t used in home-cooked meals. They are also aggressively marketed by the food industry.
“Some whole grain breads and dairy foods are ultra-processed, and they’re healthier than other ultra-processed foods,” said senior author Fang Fang Zhang, a nutrition and cancer epidemiologist at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University in Boston.
“But many ultra-processed foods are less healthy, with more sugar and salt, and less fiber, than unprocessed and minimally processed foods, and the increase in their consumption by children and teenagers is concerning.”
The information on children’s diets used in the study was collected annually by trained interviewers who asked the children or an adult acting on their behalf to detail what they had eaten in the preceding 24 hours. The information was gathered as part of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
Between 1999 and 2018, the proportion of healthier unprocessed or minimally processed foods decreased from 28.8% to 23.5% of consumed calories, the study found.
The remaining percentage of calories came from moderately processed foods such as cheese and canned fruits and vegetables, and flavor enhancers such as sugar, honey, maple syrup and butter, the study said.
The biggest increase in calories came from ready-to-eat or ready-to-heat meals such as takeout and frozen pizza and burgers: from 2.2% to 11.2% of calories, according to the study. The second largest increase came from packaged sweet snacks and desserts, the consumption of which grew from 10.6% to 12.9%.
The link between child health and ultraprocessed food is complex but one recent study in the United Kingdom found that children who eat more ultraprocessed food are more likely to be overweight or obese as adults.
Experts said the study’s implications for future health were significant given that childhood is a critical period for biological development and forming dietary habits.
“The current food system is structured to promote overconsumption of ultra-processed foods through a variety of strategies, including price and promotions, aggressive marketing, including to youths and specifically Black and Latino youths, and high availability of these products in schools,” wrote Katie Meyer and Lindsey Smith Taillie, both assistant professorsin the department of nutrition at the University of North Carolina’ Gillings School of Global Public Health, in a commentary on the study. They were not involved in the research.
There was good news that suggested efforts to tackle consumption of sugary drinks such as soda taxes had been effective: Calories from sugar-sweetened beverages dropped from 10.8% to 5.3% of overall calories.
“We need to mobilize the same energy and level of commitment when it comes to other unhealthy ultra-processed foods such as cakes, cookies, doughnuts and brownies,” said Zhang.
Black, non-Hispanic youths experienced a bigger increase in the proportion of ultra-processed foods in their diet compared to their White counterparts. The study said it did not assess trends in other racial or ethnic groups because of a lack of nationally representative data. However, it noted that Mexican American youths consume ultraprocessed foods at a consistently lower rate, which authors saidcould reflect more home cooking among Hispanic families.
The education level of parents or family income didn’t have any impact on the consumption of ultraprocessed foods, suggesting that they are commonplace in most children’s diets, the study added.
The authors said their study had some limitations: Asking people to recall what they ate isn’t always an accurate measure of dietary intake. Plus, there is a tendency to under report socially undesirable habits such as consumption of unhealthy food.
In addition, it can be a challenge to accurately classify ultraprocessed food because it requires a full list of ingredients – information unlikely to be given by children answering a questionnaire.
“Better methods for dietary assessment and classification of foods are needed to understand trends and mechanisms of action of ultra-processed food intake,” Mayer and Taillie wrote.
Newswise — University of B.C. researchers have uncovered startling connections between micronutrient deficiencies and the composition of gut microbiomes in early life that could help explain why resistance to antibiotics has been rising across the globe.
The team investigated how deficiencies in crucial micronutrients such as vitamin A, B12, folate, iron, and zinc affected the community of bacteria, viruses, fungi and other microbes that live in the digestive system.
They discovered that these deficiencies led to significant shifts in the gut microbiome of mice—most notably an alarming expansion of bacteria and fungi known to be opportunistic pathogens.
Importantly, mice with micronutrient deficiencies also exhibited a higher enrichment of genes that have been linked to antibiotic resistance.
“Micronutrient deficiency has been an overlooked factor in the conversation about global antibiotic resistance,” said Dr. Paula Littlejohn, a postdoctoral research fellow with UBC’s department of medical genetics and department of pediatrics, and the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute. “This is a significant discovery, as it suggests that nutrient deficiencies can make the gut environment more conducive to the development of antibiotic resistance, which is a major global health concern.”
Bacteria naturally possess these genes as a defence mechanism. Certain circumstances, such as antibiotic pressure or nutrient stress, cause an increase in these mechanisms. This poses a threat that could render many potent antibiotics ineffective and lead to a future where common infections could become deadly.
Antibiotic resistance is often attributed to overuse and misuse of antibiotics, but the work of Dr. Littlejohn and her UBC colleagues suggests that the ‘hidden hunger’ of micronutrient deficiencies is another important factor.
“Globally, around 340 million children under five suffer from multiple micronutrient deficiencies, which not only affect their growth but also significantly alter their gut microbiomes,” said Dr. Littlejohn. “Our findings are particularly concerning as these children are often prescribed antibiotics for malnutrition-related illnesses. Ironically, their gut microbiome may be primed for antibiotic resistance due to the underlying micronutrient deficiencies.”
The study, published this week in Nature Microbiology, offers critical insights into the far-reaching consequences of micronutrient deficiencies in early life. It underscores the need for comprehensive strategies to address undernutrition and its ripple effects on health. Addressing micronutrient deficiencies is about more than overcoming malnutrition, it may also be a critical step in fighting the global scourge of antibiotic resistance.
Editor’s Note: Katie Hurley, author of “No More Mean Girls: The Secret to Raising Strong, Confident and Compassionate Girls,” is a child and adolescent psychotherapist in Los Angeles. She specializes in work with tweens, teens and young adults.
CNN
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“I have a couple of spots for anyone who wants to lose 20 pounds by the holidays! No diets, exercise, or cravings!”
Ads for dieting and exercise programs like this started appearing in my social media feeds in early October 2022, often accompanied by photos of women pushing shopping carts full of Halloween candy intended to represent the weight they no longer carry with them.
Whether it’s intermittent fasting or “cheat” days, diet culture is spreading wildly, and spiking in particular among young women and girls, a population group who might be at particular risk of social pressures and misinformation.
“My mom is obsessed with (seeing) her Facebook friends losing tons of weight without dieting. Is this even real?” The question came from a teen girl who later revealed she was considering hiring a health coach to help her eat ‘healthier’ after watching her mom overhaul her diet. Sadly, the coaching she was falling victim to is part of a multilevel marketing brand that promotes quick weight loss through caloric restriction and buying costly meal replacements.
Is it real? Yes. Is it healthy? Not likely, especially for a growing teen.
Later that week, a different teen client asked about a clean eating movement she follows on Pinterest. She had read that a strict clean vegan diet is better for both her and the environment, and assumed this was true because the pinned article took her to a health coaching blog. It seemed legitimate. But a deep dive into the blogger’s credentials, however, showed that the clean eating practices they shared were not actually developed by a nutritionist.
And another teen, fresh off a week of engaging in the “what I eat in a day” challenge — a video trend across TikTok, Instagram and other social media platforms where users document the food they consume in a particular timeframe — told me she decided to temporarily mute her social media accounts. Why? Because the time she’d spent limited her eating while pretending to feel full left her exhausted and unhappy. She had found the trend on TikTok and thought it might help her create healthier eating habits, but ended up becoming fixated on caloric intake instead. Still, she didn’t want her friends to see that the challenge actually made her feel terrible when she had spent a whole week promoting it.
During any given week, I field numerous questions from tweens and teens about the diet culture they encounter online, out in the world, and sometimes even in their own homes. But as we enter the winter holiday season, shame-based diet culture pressure, often wrapped up with toxic positivity to appear encouraging, increases.
“As we approach the holidays, diet culture is in the air as much as lights and music, and it’s certainly on social media,” said Dr. Hina Talib, an adolescent medicine specialist and associate professor of pediatrics at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in The Bronx, New York. “It’s so pervasive that even if it’s not targeted (at) teens, they are absorbing it by scrolling through it or hearing parents talk about it.”
Social media isn’t the only place young people encounter harmful messaging about body image and weight loss. Teens are inundated with so-called ‘healthy eating’ content on TV and in popular culture, at school and while engaged in extracurricular or social activities, at home and in public spaces like malls or grocery stores — and even in restaurants.
Instead of learning how to eat to fuel their bodies and their brains, today’s teens are getting the message that “clean eating,” to give just one example of a potentially problematic dietary trend, results in a better body — and, by extension, increased happiness. Diets cutting out all carbohydrates, dairy products, gluten, and meat-based proteins are popular among teens. Yet this mindset can trigger food anxiety, obsessive checking of food labels and dangerous calorie restriction.
An obsessive focus on weight loss, toning muscles and improving overall looks actually runs contrary to what teens need to grow at a healthy pace.
“Teens and tweens are growing into their adult bodies, and that growth requires weight gain,” said Oona Hanson, a parent coach based in Los Angeles. “Weight gain is not only normal but essential for health during adolescence.”
The good news in all of this is that parents can take an active role in helping teens craft an emotionally healthier narrative around their eating habits. “Parents are often made to feel helpless in the face of TikTokers, peer pressure or wider diet culture, but it’s important to remember this: parents are influencers, too,” said Hanson. What we say and do matters to our teens.
Parents and caregivers can model a healthy relationship with food by enjoying a wide variety of foods and trying new recipes for family meals. During the holiday season, when many celebrations can involve gathering around the table, take the opportunity to model shared connections. “Holidays are a great time to remember that foods nourish us in ways that could never be captured on a nutrition label,” Hanson said.
Practice confronting unhealthy body talk
The holiday season is full of opportunities to gather with friends and loved ones to celebrate and make memories, but these moments can be anxiety-producing when nutrition shaming occurs.
When extended families gather for holiday celebrations, it’s common for people to comment on how others look or have changed since the last gathering. While this is usually done with good intentions, it can be awkward or upsetting to tweens and teens.
“For young people going through puberty or body changes, it’s normal to be self-conscious or self-critical. To have someone say, ‘you’ve developed’ isn’t a welcome part of conversations,” cautioned Talib.
Talib suggests practicing comebacks and topic changes ahead of time. Role play responses like, “We don’t talk about bodies,” or “We prefer to focus on all the things we’ve accomplished this year.” And be sure to check in and make space for your tween or teen to share and feelings of hurt and resentment over any such comments at an appropriate time.
Open and honest communication is always the gold standard in helping tweens and teens work through the messaging and behaviors they internalize. When families talk about what they see and hear online, on podcasts, on TV, and in print, they normalize the process of engaging in critical thinking — and it can be a really great shared connection between parents and teens.
“Teaching media literacy skills is a helpful way to frame the conversation,” says Talib. “Talk openly about it.”
She suggests asking the following questions when discussing people’s messaging around diet culture:
● Who are they?
● What do you think their angle is?
● What do you think their message is?
● Are they a medical professional or are they trying to sell you something?
● Are they promoting a fitness program or a supplement that they are marketing?
Talking to tweens and teens about this throughout the season — and at any time — brings a taboo topic to the forefront and makes it easier for your kids to share their inner thoughts with you.
This article was originally published on Backpacker.
Every year the bar gets just a little higher for backpacking snacks and meals. This season’s batch brought nostalgic treats, natural, high-energy gummies, and international culinary inspirations. While we’re still wading our way through a shelf-stable cornucopia of samples for the 2024 summer gear guide, these snacks and dinners have already made lasting impressions on the backcountry kitchen test team.
Itacate Sunset Caldo (Photo: Courtesy Itacate)
Trying a new brand of dehydrated meals is daunting. My stomach, in particular, can’t handle most things that the freeze-drier sends its way, so I tend to gravitate towards meals with recognizable ingredients I can pronounce. Itacate checked that box, and as a lover of Mexican cuisine, I enthusiastically dug in to a hearty dinner of Sunset Caldo during a chilly fall hike in Washington’s Central Cascades. Caldo Tlalpeño is a traditional spicy central Mexican soup, and while it’s typically made with chicken, Itacate’s vegan version offers plenty of protein (16 grams per serving) for a soul-warming, veggie-packed soup complete with rice, garbanzo beans, squash, and lime. It’s got a rich, moderately-spicy chipotle base—a little kick to warm you up when the chill sets in, but nothing crazy. The single-serving pouch delivers 490 calories, which was perfect for a light dinner, but did leave a few extra hungry hikers in search of second supper.
Skratch Labs’ Crispy Rice Cakes are basically adult Rice Krispie Treats; sweet, chewy and easy to digest after long hours on the trail. I had on a handful of these backpacking snacks on an overnight trip on Washington’s Mount Baker earlier this summer, and loved the texture of the crispy rice blend (brown rice, red rice, wild rice, and quinoa). The 180-calorie bars are subtly sweet (Salted Maple + Mallow is my favorite), hold up well while in the pocket or brain of a pack, and feel like a unique departure from the unimaginative cement-like blocks of carb and protein that many granola bars are boiled down to.
Salted Citrus UnTapped Energy Gels (Photo: UnTapped)
There’s something so simple and refreshing about taking a slurp of UnTapped’s maple syrup-based trail snacks in the middle of a big hike. A major bonus? No added colors, stabilizers, or stimulants. The gels are made of maple syrup (the real Vermont stuff), lemon juice, lime juice, and sea salt—a tasty little zap of electrolytes that keeps my legs moving. I loved UnTapped’s citrus gel on hot days when I was particularly sodium-depleted (like a long traverse in the Dolomites in July), but gravitate more towards the maple- and coffee-infused packs for chillier weather. One packet is just 100 calories, perfect for a little burst of energy when you’re either not hungry enough for a major snack or working hard enough to have trouble digesting real food. The only downside: the sticky maple wrapper can wreak havoc in your bag; stick it in a zip-top sack to avoid a mess.
Honey Stinger’s new Oat + Honey Bars are kind of like a guilt-free candy bar, featuring an oat and quinoa crisp outer and a creamy peanut, oat, and honey center. (The caramel coating in between layers is slightly less guilt-free.) Crunchy, salty, creamy, and filling; what’s not to like? When I’m up early, I’ve found it can be a nice pre-hike snack if I’m not in the mood for breakfast. They’re a little slower to digest than Honey Stinger’s chews and waffles (designed to be eaten during high intensity exercise), which makes them nice for slower-paced days on the trail ,or even dessert after that dehydrated dinner settles. It’s something I actually look forward to eating as a backpacking snack, which is surely the baseline for a good trail snack. They’re 190 calories each, and available in original, chocolate, or a mixed pack.
