Search Weight Loss Topics:

Page 106«..1020..105106107108..120130..»

Home » Diets that Work » Page 106

By Yang Yuan-chi and Lo Chi / Staff reporters

About 20 percent of Taiwanese with liver cancer also have a diagnosis of fatty liver disease or alcoholic liver disease, Taiwan Cancer Registry data showed.

One in four people worldwide have fatty liver disease, while the incidence rate in Taiwan ranges between 11.4 percent and 41 percent, reports released by the National Health Research Institutes showed.

The main causes of fatty liver disease are high cholesterol and ineffective diabetes self-management, which are often related to being overweight and drinking too much alcohol.

The WHO defines being overweight as a chronic condition, and people who are overweight for a long period are more likely to be diagnosed with fatty liver disease and to experience diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, gout and osteoarthritis and at almost twice the frequency of those with a healthy weight, Health Promotion Administration Cancer Prevention and Control Division Director Lin Li-ju () said on Friday.

Fatty liver disease results when excess fat causes inflammation in the liver, said Hsu Shu-ting (), a doctor in the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Section of Cathay General Hospital in Taipei.

Although it does not sound like a serious condition, persistent inflammation increases a persons chance of developing cirrhosis or liver cancer by 10 to 20 percent, so it should not be ignored, she said.

People living a modern lifestyle are busy at work and lack exercise. They often eat out and take sugary drinks with their meals, which significantly increases their likelihood of developing liver cancer, Hsu said.

Drinking too much alcohol will likely lead to alcoholic liver disease, which puts people at a higher risk for cirrhosis and liver cancer at a much greater incidence rate than those with fatty liver disease, she said.

A fatty liver does not have obvious signs those with a fatty liver who experience pain or fatigue might already have severe inflammation or a tumor so regular medical examinations are needed, she added.

Most people should have an annual checkup, but someone with advanced fatty liver disease and severe inflammation should go every six months, Hsu said.

No drugs effectively treat fatty liver disease, Lin said.

Those with the condition should engage in at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week, she said, adding that aerobic exercise has been shown to reduce the fat level in the liver.

It is important to have a balanced diet to eat more fruits, vegetables, and whole grain and multigrain foods, while avoiding sweets, refined foods, foods high in salt and oil, and processed foods, Lin said, adding that a fatty liver and fibrosis of the liver greatly improve from a 5 to 10 percent reduction in body weight.

In 2017, 11,225 people in Taiwan were diagnosed with liver cancer and 8,402 people died of it, the Health Promotion Administration said, adding that by preventing or treating a fatty liver, people can effectively reduce their risk of liver cancer.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

Go here to read the rest:
Consuming alcohol, poor diet linked to liver cancer -

In the fall of 2018, a team of researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel published findings that a cocktail of 11 strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium had minimal immediate impact and no lasting effect on the makeup of the gut microbiome of mice or people. In fact, the probiotic bacteria were not found in any of the fourteen adult participants after supplementation ended.

These recent findings received quite a lot of press and added to growing sentiment among the public that probioticslive microorganisms that are purported to confer benefits on the human hostdont work. Decades of research have shown that most probiotics aren't able to colonize or exert lasting benefits in the human gut. Some critics even suggested that probiotics may not be a promising avenue for treating disease or otherwise improving health and wellness. But we thought: Dont throw the baby out with the bathwaterour work shows that the right probiotic can work in the infant gut. Findings we published in 2017 showed that feeding breastfed babies a probiotic that included a specific strain of Bifidobacterium longum subspecies infantis (B. infantis EVC001) resulted in a 10,000,000-fold average increase in levels of fecal B. infantis. This level persisted for one month after the supplement was consumed, and levels remained elevated for up to one year after treatment.

To understand why the infant gut microbiome changed so drastically over the past century, we sought to understand how the infant gut microbiome forms.

Colonization of the infant gut by B. infantis had protective effects, such as lower levels of potential gut pathogens and fecal endotoxin, an outer membrane component of Gram-negative organisms known to trigger inflammation. We also found that infants given the B. infantis probiotic had reduced intestinal inflammation compared with breastfed infants who did not receive the probiotic. The gut microbiomes of B. infantis supplemented babies harbored fewer antibiotic resistance genesa sign of fewer pathogensand showed less degradation of mucin, a glycoprotein secreted by the intestinal epithelium that protects epithelial cells from direct contact with gut microbes. These data support earlier findings from Mark Underwood and colleagues at the University of California, Davis. In 2013, Underwoods team showed that feeding preterm infants a different strain, B. infantis ATCC15697, resulted in greater increases in fecal Bifidobacterium and reduced levels of potential pathogens compared with infants given a probiotic containing B. lactis.

While the scientific community and the public grappled with repeated findings that probiotic supplements taken by adults are not consistent in effectively colonizing the gut or conferring benefit, we now had convincing evidence that babies gut microbiomes responded incredibly well to specific strains of B. infantis. The question was why.

Hints about the infant microbiome can be found in century-old articles on commensal bacteria in infant feces. W. R. Logan, a clinical pathologist at the Research Laboratory of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh, was the first to report, 100 years ago, that bacteria in fecal smears from breastfed infants were a near monoculture of Bacillus bifidus, which is today known as the genus Bifidobacterium. Fecal smears from formula-fed infants of that time, by contrast, had a diversity of bacteria, with relatively few Bifidobacteriummore similar to the microbial diversity found in todays breastfed infants.

These striking changes in the gut microbiome composition seen over the past century were consistent with our recent finding that the fecal pH in breastfed infants dramatically increased from pH 5.0 to 6.5 within the past 100 years, a change associated with an apparent generational loss of Bifidobacterium and concomitant increase in potential pathogens. The reduction in Bifidobacterium in the gut microbiome of breastfed infants is likely an unintended consequence of medical practices that can save lives but do not support the growth of Bifidobacterium. Such medical practices include treatment with antibiotics to which Bifidobacterium are sensitive; infant formula that doesnt provide the specific food the bacterium requires; and greater numbers of cesarean section deliveries, which bypass the route by which the bacterium is transferred from mother to baby. These medical practices have been implicated in the increased risk for allergic and autoimmune diseases prevalent in resource-rich nations. The reduction in Bifidobacterium and increase in proinflammatory microbes in early infancy is proposed to occur during the critical window of immune system development, and thereby may increase the risk for immune disease later in life.

To understand why the infant gut microbiome changed so drastically over the past century, we sought to understand how this community forms. Infant gut microbiome colonization begins at delivery with exposure to maternal microbesmostly vaginal and fecal microbes for vaginally delivered babies or predominately microbes from the skin, mouth, and surrounding environment in infants born by cesarean delivery. After birth, infants are bombarded by a vast array of microbes found in the environment, including in breast milk, but the species that go on to become durable members of the microbial community are often those transmitted by the infants mothers through physical contact.

Children continue to acquire gut microbiome species from their mothers and others in the community during early life. This stands in contrast to an adults gut microbiome, which is stable and resists change largely because the available space and food is already used by established microbesthe ecological niches are simply occupied in adult guts. Thus, it makes sense that a probiotic has a better chance of persisting in the infant gut, where it faces less competition, and therefore is more likely to have food it can consume and a location where it can grow. A probiotic serves as just one more source of exposure to new bacteria for the infant.

Recognizing this, we began to wonder: In our studies, what ecological niche did B. infantis fill that supported its persistence in infants long after probiotic administration stopped?

Historically, the breastfed infant gut microbiome was a near monoculture of Bifidobacterium (J Pathol Bacteriol, 18:52751, 1913). The formula-fed infant gut microbiome was much more diverse. The breastfed infant gut microbiome and the formula-fed infant gut microbiome are now more similar to the historical formula-fed infant gut microbiome, although modern breastfed infants do have moreBifidobacterium than modern formula-fed infants.

A major factor in determining which bacteria thrive in the gut is the availability of their carbohydrate food sources. Thus, for a probiotic to work in an infant, microorganisms should be selected so that the food source they use most efficiently matches whats availablea food that is present and not already being consumed by other bacteria. We set out to determine what carbohydrates B. infantis consumes in the infant gut.

Naturally, we turned to breast milk, which for millions of years has been the single food that can exclusively nourish and protect babies for the first six months of life. Human milk delivers nutrients as well as non-nutritive, bioactive molecules, including carbohydrates known as human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs). Back in the mid-1900s, Paul Gyrgy, a world-renowned biochemist, nutritionist, and pediatrician from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, and colleagues unknowingly referred to HMOs when they proposed the existence of a bifidus factor, something unique in breast milk that fed Bifidobacterium. While humans cannot digest HMOs, it turns out that Bifidobacterium, especially B. infantis, can. In 2007, our group at UC Davis used mass spectrometrybased tools coupled with microbiology to show that B. infantis gobbles up HMOs as its sole energy source, while other species of Bifidobacterium consume only some HMOs in addition to plant-, animal-, and host-derived carbohydrates.

HMOs are a diverse class of complex carbohydrate molecules synthesized by the mammary gland. With approximately 200 different molecular species, they represent the third most abundant solid component in human milk following lactose and fat. Because HMOs are complex and vary in structure, they are expensive to manufacture. Current infant formulas may contain one or two simple HMO structures, but at a fraction of the concentration found in breast milk. Infant formulas lack the abundance and complexity of HMOs to selectively feed beneficial gut microbes and to bind and neutralize pathogens from the gut.

The bacterial species in the infant gut capable of consuming HMOs can be considered the milk-oriented microbiome (MOM). Although B. infantis appears to be the most efficient consumer of HMOs, other species of Bifidobacterium, in particular, B. breveand B. bifidum, can and do consume some HMOs but also consume plant-, animal-, and host-derived carbohydrates. The Bifidobacterium species that colonize the gut change throughout life in response to available carbohydrates in the host diet. For instance, B. infantis, B. breve, and B. bifidum are MOM bifidobacteria typically found in the stool of exclusively breastfed infants, while B. longum and B. adolescentis, which preferentially consume plant- and animal-derived carbohydrates, are typically found in the stool of adults. Yet there is variation and overlap in the species present at different life stages.

A major factor in determining which bacteria thrive in the gut is the availability of its carbohydrate food source.

Of the MOM bifidobacteria found in the infant gut microbiome, different species may have different implications for the microbiome. For example, when we gave exclusively breastfed infants a supplement with the probiotic B. infantis EVC001, their gut became dominated by the genus Bifidobacteriumupwards of 80 percent relative abundance of the gut microbiomeand potential pathogens made up less than 10 percent of the community. On the other hand, the gut microbiomes of exclusively breastfed infants who were not supplemented with B. infantis EVC001 had much lower levels of Bifidobacterium, with only about 30 percent relative abundance, and potential pathogens constituted about 40 percent of the microbes in their gut, findings that are consistent with previous work from our group and others. This near-monoculture of Bifidobacterium appeared to be driven by B. infantis, which represented about 90 percent of the total Bifidobacterium in infants fed the probiotic. In contrast, B. longum was the predominant gut Bifidobacterium in the control group, followed by B. breve and B.bifidum. These data highlight the vital importance of strain specificity in probiotics, and the combination of the presence of B. infantis and breastfeeding to support a protective gut environment in infants.

To understand how supplementary B. infantis can so successfully outcompete other microbes in the infant gut, we took a deep dive into its feeding strategy. Turns out it is a picky eater, exclusively dining on HMOs, and when HMOs are abundant, B. infantis gobbles them up ravenously. Unlike other MOM bifidobacteria, B. infantis possesses all the genes necessary for the complete, internal degradation of HMOs and preferentially uses HMOs over any other carbohydrate source. Other MOM bifidobacteria such as B. bifidum and B. breve strains display growth capabilities with only a subset of HMOs. B. infantis thus has a competitive advantage when breast milk makes up the entire diet.

A 2008 study from colleagues at UC Davis and their collaborators showed how B. infantis makes quick use of HMOs: with binding proteins to grab HMOs from the gut lumen and transporters to usher them into the cytoplasm, breaking them down into monosaccharides that are then fermented into lactate and the short-chain fatty acid acetate that are secreted from the cell. These end products maintain a lower pH in the intestinal milieu, supporting the transport of these compounds into the intestinal epithelium for use by the host and creating an undesirable environment for potential pathogens. The production of acetate also blocks the infiltration of toxic molecules produced by pathogenic bacteria by enhancing intestinal barrier function and inhibiting pro-inflammatory and apoptotic responses. Recent findings from one in vitro study have shown that the amount of acetate and lactate produced by different bifidobacterial species is dependent on how well they consume the carbohydrates available to them. Hence, feed a carbohydrate-consuming microbe its preferred carbohydrate, and it has greater potential to produce more of its protective end-products.

Another reason why B. infantis outcompetes other bifidobacterial strains in the gut of breastfed infants is that all of its HMO digestion happens inside the bacterial cell. B. bifidum, on the other hand, digests HMOs externally. This extracellular digestion liberates simple carbohydrates and may cross-feed other species of Bifidobacterium, but also cross-feeds and thus opens an ecological niche for other, perhaps less beneficial microbes. Cross-feeding among microbes diversifies the gut microbiome, which is considered to be generally beneficial in adults.

But is there an advantage to having a near monoculture of Bifidobacterium in infants? By asking this question, our focus turned to immune development.

Human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs) are complex carbohydrates that microbial species of the milk-oriented microbiome (MOM) can use as a food source. Bifidobacterium infantis encodes many proteins that specifically bind and transport all types of HMOs into its cell and digest them internally. Other Bifidobacterium species digest only some HMOs and some do so externally. Digestion of HMOs by MOM Bifidobacterium results in the production of lactate and the short chain fatty acid acetate, that are secreted into the gut lumen. These molecules lower the pH in the intestinal milieu, which improves their transport into the epithelium for use by the host and creates an undesirable environment for potential pathogens such as E. coli.

B. infantis preferentially consumes all HMO species over any other carbohydrate source.

B. bifidum eats only a subset of HMOs.

The decline of Bifidobacterium in infant gut microbiomes and the associated dysregulation of the microbial community, with more numerous potential pathogens, has been suggested as one possible contributor to the increased incidence of autoimmune diseases that plague residents of resource-rich nations. Conversely, observational studies have shown beneficial immune effects of having a fecal microbiome dominated by Bifidobacterium. In two studies in Bangladeshi infants and young children, fecal B. infantis and Bifidobacterium abundances at two months of age were strongly correlated with improved vaccine responses at six months and two years old compared with infants not colonized by B. infantis or with low relative abundances of Bifidobacterium.

Additionally, bifidobacteria are less likely than other microbes, especially potential pathogens, to carry and share antimicrobial resistance genes, which can lead to a higher risk of antibiotic-resistant infections. In an observational study of Bangladeshi and Swedish infants, a dominance of intestinal Bifidobacterium was associated with a significant reduction in both the number and the abundance of antibiotic resistance genes. Moreover, compared with matched-control breastfed infants, supplementation with B. infantis EVC001 led to a reduction of antibiotic resistance genes by 90 percent, a drop largely driven by a reduction in levels of Escherichia, Clostridium, and Staphylococcuspotentially pathogenic bacteria that play a major role in the evolution and dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes.

In an effort to restore the Bifidobacterium-dominated infant gut microbiome that was typical of breastfed babies 100 years ago, we decided to conduct a randomized, controlled trial using the B. infantis EVC001 probiotic. Given that not all B. infantis strains consume all HMOs efficiently, we selected B. infantis EVC001 because we knew this strain had the full cassette of genes needed to fully digest all HMOs. Healthy, full-term, breastfed infants were randomized to consume B. infantis EVC001 for 21 consecutive days starting on day 7 postnatal or to not receive the probiotic.

A PROBIOTIC THAT STICKS: Scanning electron micrographs of infant fecal samples show a large increase in the number of Bifidobacterium microbes in those treated with a probiotic called EVC001 (right) compared with controls (left).

Compared with breastfed control infants who did not receive the probiotic, supplementation resulted in a 10,000,000-fold average increase in levels of fecal B. infantis and increased fecal Bifidobacterium by 79 percent during the supplementation period, and this was still true at one month post supplementation. This means Bifidobacterium colonization persisted without the continuation of probiotic supplementation. Additionally, colonization of B. infantis persisted until one year of age if infants were continuing to consume any breast milk and were not exposed to antibiotics. Importantly, the supplemented infants exhibited an 80 percent reduction in potential gut pathogens belonging to the families Enterobacteriaceae and Clostridiaceae and reduced fecal endotoxin. Additionally, we saw a 2-fold increase in fecal lactate and acetate and a 10-fold decrease in fecal pH. The supplemented infants gut microbiomes and biochemistry resembled norms observed a century ago.

We also identified some clues about the consequences of the gut microbiomes modernization. Breastfed infants with low fecal Bifidobacterium had excreted 10-fold more HMOs in their stool throughout the two-month study period than infants supplemented with B. infantis EVC001, indicating that HMOsthe third most abundant component in breast milkwere going to waste. We also foundthat infants with low fecal Bifidobacterium had several-fold higher levels of fecalproinflammatory cytokines compared with infants whose gut microbiomes were dominated by Bifidobacterium post supplementation with B. infantis EVC001.

Taken together, these data demonstrate that this particular strain of B. infantis, provided as a probiotic to breastfed infants, dramatically colonized the infant gut microbiome during and after supplementation, and beneficially remodeled the microbial, biochemical, and immunological environment in the infant gut. Many infants around the world never acquire B. infantis, but the combination of breastfeeding and probiotic supplementation with this bacterium seems to lead to a nourishing and protective gut environment.

Many infants around the world never acquire B. infantis, but the combination of breastfeeding and probiotic supplementation with this bacterium seems to lead to a nourishing and protective gut environment.

Our findings also support the hypothesis that the ineffectiveness of some probiotics in adults is due in part to the fact that they are introducing a new species to an established community with few ecological niches still open. Probiotics may not work in infants when there is a mismatch between the carbohydrate needs of the probiotic and the availability of highly specific carbohydrates such as HMOs in breast milk. Because B. infantisefficiently consumes almost all HMOs found in breast milk, it is likely to find an open ecological niche and then outcompete other microbes, especially proinflammatory pathogens.

Many scientists are working to understand what the infant gut microbiome really means for health across the lifespan. Meanwhile, we are turning our attention to other questions: How do colonization patterns of Bifidobacterium differ in infant populations around the world from infancy to weaning? And what solid foods support a healthy gut and immune system? Working with funding from the National Institutes of Health, we are now conducting a study designed to understand how the carbohydrate structures of complementary foods influence microbial function that will support a healthy gut microbiome and immune system development in late infancy and early toddlerhood. The ultimate goal is to identify specific carbohydrate structures in the diet that selectively feed beneficial gut microbes in children during the critical window of immune development for lifelong health.

Jennifer Smilowitzis the associate director of the Human Studies Research Program at the Foods for Health Institute and a research scientist in the Department of Food Science and Technology at the University of California, Davis.Diana Hazard Taftis a postdoctoral research fellow in David Millss lab in the Department of Food Science and Technology and a member of the Foods for Health Institute at UC Davis.

More:
The Infant Gut Microbiome and Probiotics that Work - The Scientist

Published: 6/5/2020 10:00:22 PM

Modified: 6/5/2020 10:00:10 PM

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said a riot is the language of the unheard. While not condoning violence, much less encouraging it, I am compelled to observe that the sometimes-violent methods recently adopted by protestors seeking redress of long-festering social issues is, sadly, understandable. When a match is tossed into a pile of dry brush, the result is as predictable as it is tragic.

The unrest seen in many parts of our nation this past week following yet another egregious policing overreach that caused the death of a fellow citizen, a black American, is not, in my view, an overreaction.

This unrest rises from a deep foundation: more than four centuries of exclusion, injustice, emotional abuse, lack of basic human decency, and yes violence systematically perpetrated by our establishment institutions and, via our votes, by ourselves upon our fellow American citizens of differing genetic lineage.

Violence begets violence; mistreatment begets mistrust. Slavery. The lack of any meaningful economic justice post-slavery. Lynching. Jim Crow. The unrealized promise of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. Separate but equal. Systemic racism. Mass incarceration. Wage inequality. Opportunity inequity. Rising from all of these, black Americans to this day have a palpable fear of being found suspect based only on the color of their skin, a fear I can never know.

Whatever the recent violence, it falls far short of the cumulative scale of these past sins, sins so long unaddressed as to embed them in the American soul. We reap what we sow, and weve been sowing a crop of racism in this nation for a very long time.

Therefore, the noteworthy news is not the violence but rather, in the face of the past, the praiseworthy restraint exhibited by the vast majority of protestors.

MARK KIRK

Unity

Rising to meat demand (May 24) is another Valley News article fostering animal cruelty. The demand for animal flesh, secretions and dead embryos is a false demand there are no nutritional needs to eat animals and therefore no ethical reasons exist to force-breed and kill animals for consumption. And Vermont Packinghouses claim of humane slaughter is a joke. Unnecessary killing is not humane.

Animal-free diets are not fads; they are the only ones humans can afford if we want a future. Popular Mechanics reported that plant-based diets are healthiest for humans, the planet and animals. The World Health Organization categorizes processed meat as a carcinogen. A number of studies have suggested that dairy products are a risk factor for prostate cancer. These science-based truths are what our family, including the dogs, live by without problems.

Kaiser Permanente, the largest health care management company in the U.S., has a 36-page ebooklet about the advantages of plant diets. Humana, the third-largest insurance company, trains doctors in plant-based health. The U.N. urges everyone to eat plant-based diets as the surest and least destructive way to slow global warming and to end hunger and starvation because 80% of farmland grows monocrops for farmed animals, croplands that in the U.S. alone could feed 800 million people. Worldwide, farmlands could produce ample food to feed all humanity healthful plant-based meals, and reduce the greenhouse gases from the farmed animal industry that drive global warming, and dramatically reduce the poisoning of the land, water and life with runoff from farming animals fed antibiotics and ground up garbage. And it would end the slaughter of 3 trillion animals annually for human food.

Why does the Valley News promote animal-based foods and print articles about slaughterhouses, for example, as if they are necessary? Why take the corporate oppressors side with language like stunning unruly animals instead of writing animals struggling for their lives? To not tell the whole story with compassion is lazy reporting.

MARGARET D. HURLEY

Claremont

My name is Keith Stern and I am announcing my campaign for a Windsor County Senate seat.

Some of you may recognize me as a candidate for governor two years ago. My platform has not changed. I want to see a more responsible budget, end Act 46, and make sure Act 250 goes back to its original goal and not become an excessively restrictive hurdle to responsible development. Above anything, the federal and state constitutions must be followed to avoid an abusive government.

Humorist Dave Barry once said that Democrats are good people with good intentions but are incompetent. They would stop to help someone change a tire and end up setting the car on fire. They have good intentions but they fail to understand how to accomplish their goals, so they end up hurting us with ineffective and restrictive laws. We can see this every day with struggling businesses, low wages and an overall cost of living that exceeds our wages. Affordable housing is a major issue here because of excessive regulations for building, high property taxes, and lack of landlord protection against destructive, disruptive and deadbeat tenants. Ultimately, it isnt the landlords who bear the cost, it is the tenants. I will work to fix these issues to create more affordable housing. At the same time, I will introduce an effective tenant protection bill as well.

The cost of health insurance is very high in comparison to other states, again due to overregulation. I will introduce a bill that will lower health care and health insurance costs.

I hope you visit my Facebook page, Keith Stern for Windsor County, and see how a vote for me will be a vote for lowering taxes, a better, more cost-effective education system, and a stronger economy.

KEITH STERN

North Springfield

More here:
Forum, June 6: America is reaping what it has sown - Valley News

As a new feature on The Beet,Elysabeth Alfanointerviews notable plant-based personalities to bring you stories designed to inform and inspire you on your plant-based journey. Here, she interviewed Dr. Dean Ornish, known as the Father of Lifestyle Medicine, on howadopting a plant-based approach can boost your immune system and help you stay healthy in a time of COVID-19.

Cities around the globe are convulsing,as the need for social justice has knocked the coronavirus pandemic off the front pages. But with thevirus still marching onacross the southern United States andsmaller outbreaks are croppingup like smallforest fires in the wake ofa massive burn, it's clear the virus is not going away, no matter how much news events overtake it.

So the question is now, how can we best protect ourselves and live a healthy life, given the fact that we are as stressed as ever. Weekly Beet columnist, Elysabeth Alfano, sits down (remotely of course) with Dr. Dean Ornish, one of the foremost leaders in reversing chronic diseases, to talk about the urgency ofboosting our immune systems, now and in the months and years ahead.

Respected the world over, Dr. Ornish has proven that genes do not determine your fate. In his practice, he has shown thatdiet and exercise and stress-relieving lifestylepractices can override any predisposition to heart disease and many other chronic ailments. In fact, dietary changesspecifically a plant-based diet that is low in oilcan even reverse early or advanced stages of heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure.

These same lifestyle changes can also strengthen our immune systems, still the best-known defense against COVID-19, and certainly a way of avoiding the most severe symptoms if you do get infected. According toOrnish,consistently eating a whole food plant-based diet can increase your immunity and reduce the likelihood that were going to get sick, now or later in life.

In his book, UnDo It: How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse Most Diseases, written with his wife, Anne Ornish, Dr. Ornish walks us through how making some relatively small changes can, in short, reverse aging and protect us by keeping us strong. The book was recently featured by Oprah on her series, SuperSoul Sunday. She points out that it's easier to make these tweaks than to have to commit to a life of drugs, medical procedures and symptoms.

"Eat more, move more, stress less," says Oprah, summing it up, to which Dr. Ornish adds: Love more. Boom, that's it. His wife concludes: "It's really about self-love."

Its no wonder that Dr. Ornish was featured as an expert in the movie, The Game Changers. What athlete, or human, wouldnt want to age backward? However, we mere mortals arent concerned with batting 1000we just want to be able to leave our houses with a stronger immune system to protect ourselves from Coronavirus and feel as if we can live a healthy life.

Here is Dr. Ornish, on what you can do to boost your immune system now.

EA: Are your colleagues or other doctors making a connection between eating meat and the pandemic that were in right now? Or eating meat or not eating meat and having a stronger immune system?

Dr. Ornish:Well, unfortunately, most of the efforts have been on avoiding the virus rather than how we can boost our immune system to be more likely to avoid getting sick if were exposed to it. Both are important, but most of the effort has gone into the former and I think we need to put more emphasis on the latter: What we eat, how we respond to stress, how much exercise we get, how much love and support we have, how much sleep we get, and whether or not we smoke cigarettes.

Each of these are important factors that we do have control over, and I think that's important because its so easy to feel like, Oh my god, what can I do? Im a victim. Im powerless, and were not powerless.

It doesnt mean that you can go out and your immune system is so great that you dont need to worry about [the virus]. We need to avoid the virus, but it cant always be completely avoided, and so we also need to do these measures that can enhance our immune function.

Whats good for your immune system is good for your heart. Its good for diabetes. Its good for looking younger. Its good for just about most of the chronic diseases that I really think are just the same disease manifesting and masquerading in different forms, because they all share the same underlying biological mechanism. Things like, not only your immune function but chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, changes to the microbiome and telemeters and gene expression and androgenesis, and so on.

"Each one of these biological mechanisms is directly influenced, just like our immune function is, by four things:

So, its not that you only want to make these changes because of this pandemic thats out there. These are changes that are worth making because the other pandemic thats out there is heart disease and diabetes. 80 million people in this country have high blood pressure. 60 million are taking cholesterol-lowering drugs. More people die of heart disease than anything else and yet its almost completely preventable if we put into practice what we already know.

The good news is the same lifestyle changes that can help prevent or even reverse heart disease and diabetes and prostate cancer and other conditions are the same ones that could help boost our immune system, to help ward off the coronavirus as well.

EA: I love that you say this. I love that its so empowering for people. You dont have to stand in line, you dont have to go to the doctor, you dont have to hope that very expensive pills will maybe fix your situation. You can actually fix your situation right here, right now, today. That power is right on your plate and it does so many things. Its very empowering to be plant-based.

Dr. Ornish:I dont want to give people the false sense that if they eat a plant-based diet then they can go out and be exposed to the coronavirus and their immune system will protect them. That would be foolish. But no matter how hard we try to avoid the virus, invariably there are times where we may get exposed unwillingly, and how our bodies interact with that is something that we do have more control over than we once thought.

EA: What kind of work are you doing in relation to a plant-based diet and Alzheimer's disease?

Dr. Ornish:Were doing the first randomized trial to see whether these same lifestyle changes that can reverse heart disease and diabetes and prostate cancer may also reverse Alzheimers.

"I have a new book I wrote with my wife, Ann, called Undo It, which is putting forth this radical unifying theory that these are really all the same disease masquerading and manifesting in different forms because they all share the same underlying biological mechanisms (as I explained above, but are worth mentioning again). Things like chronic inflammation, oxidative stress, changes in the microbiome and telemeters, and gene expression, and each one of these mechanisms isdirectly influenced by what we eat, how we respond to stress, how much exercise we get, and how much love and support (we have).

"So, eat well, move more, stress less, and love more.Were halfway through this Alzheimers study, and Im hoping that we may be able to show that we can stop or reverse the progression of Alzheimers because there are really the same mechanisms that affect Alzheimers that affect these other conditions.

EA: And we have control over it is what youre saying, at least some of it?

Dr. Ornish: "We hope so. You know, our genes are a predisposition, but our genes are not always our fate and we did a study where we found that over 500 genes were changed in only three months (when making lifestyle changes). Turning on the good genes (with these lifestyle changes) that keep us healthy and turning off the ones that cause us to get sick. And, since there are no good drugs that are highly effective for treating Alzheimers, if we can show we can reverse it, then we can prevent it. Stay tuned, we dont know yet what well find, but were hoping that we find something that will be exciting for people.

We love you, Dr. O! Thanks for keeping us healthy, strong, and wise now and in the future. So, go forth and 1) eat plant-based, 2) reduce your stress, 3) get in that exercise and 4) get your love groove on! Cmon what could be easier? We got this!

For the full interview, click here.Elysabeth Alfano is the host of the Awesome Vegans Influencer Series, and a plant-based expert, breaking down plant-based health, food, business, and environmental news for the general public on radio and TV.

Visit link:
Dean Ornish Shares 4 Tips for Healthy Immunity and Healthy Heart - The Beet

Sugar is quite addicting, but reducing it from your diet can improve your health.

Eating more fresh foods, cooking at home, drinking more water and exercise all top the list when it comes to being healthy. But you can do all of that and still not be in optimum health, especially if you engage in certain habits. One of the hardest bad habits to kick? Eating too much sugar.

Cutting down your sugar intake is a simple way to improve your diet and health overall -- but it's certainly not easy. Consumingtoo much sugar, especially added sugar, is linked to health risks likeheart disease,fatty liver disease,high blood pressure and chronic inflammation. Whether you love desserts or think that you're consuming more sugar than you realize, and want to cut back, doing so is a smart move for your health.

Our Health & Wellness newsletter puts the best products, updates and advice in your inbox.

Health authorities like the US Office of Disease Prevention and the World Health Organization recommend that you should get no more than 10% of your daily calories from added sugar each day. Another way to look at that amount is to limit your sugar intake to no more than 6 teaspoons, or 25 grams total. You'll want to keep track of how much sugar you actually add to your food and drinks, but also what's in prepackaged food or food from restaurants.

That said, if you have a sweet tooth or have never tracked your sugar intake before, it can be hard to cut back. Sugar is a highly addictive food and is lurking around in many processed foods, condiments, drinks and even foods you may think are pretty healthy, like granola bars or cereal.

If you're looking for helpful tips to help you curb your sugar intake, below, a health coach and nutrition consultant share their tried-and-true tips that they utilize themselves and with their clients.

Read more:Sugar vs. artificial sweeteners: Which one you should choose?

Quitting sugar cold turkey can seem like the best option, but it may not work in the long run.

If you're ready to quit sugar, a tempting strategy is to resolve to give it up cold turkey. While that may seem like the best approach, according to Jayne Williams, a certified nutritional consultant and clinical nutrition graduate student, it's not likely to last.

"I am never a fan of going 'cold turkey' when it comes to changing routined habits and making lasting change. Sugar is one of the biggest habits we want to dial down, but slowly. The key is to wean yourself over a few days so your body no longer craves it," Williams says. Since sugar can be a quite addicting food, removing it quickly and all at once can feel extreme. The idea is slowly reduce it, and then eventually you won't miss it as much.

"When we focus on 'removing' something from our diet we tend to want it even more. Rather than create a mindset where we are feeding the forbidden, I like to draw from the positive and build a mindset around abundance by adding in all the amazing food that provides optimal support," Williams says.

If you have trouble drinking water, add fruit to it to improve the flavor.

Staying well hydrated is important for your health, and also for keeping sugar cravings at bay. According to Jim Curtis, certified health coach and Head of Brand at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, sometimes dehydration can mimic hunger. "Being dehydrated usually tricks us into thinking we're hungry. More water means you'll be more hydrated and will have less room for snacks, especially those sugary ones that call our names at 2 p.m.," Curtis says.

If you don't love plain water, you can add flavor by infusing it with lemon, strawberries, orange slices (or a combo of all three) to make a flavorful "spa" water. Plus the fruit will give it a sweet flavor, which will help if you typically drink sweetened beverages.

Sugar is hiding in all sorts of processed foods.

If you've never paid attention to food labels, now is the time. You'll be surprised that most foods, even those that you wouldn't expect -- like salad dressing, sauces and soups -- all contain added sugar. It's important to read labels on everything you eat and cook with. If one of the first few ingredients is sugar, that's a clue that the food contains more sugar than it should.

This also includes "healthy" foods like protein bars, granola bars and cereals -- these products are often loaded with sugar. Don't let marketing messages that come off as "healthy" or "natural" keep you from checking the label before you buy or eat it.

Now playing: Watch this: How this plant-based coating makes produce last longer

2:30

Exercise makes you feel better overall and boosts endorphins, making you feel happier. If you tend to crave sugar when you are stressed, anxious, or sad it's important to find other ways to cope with emotions other than food. Exercise can help distract you from cravings and helps take your mind away from whatever is making you feel uneasy or sad.

You don't have to exercise for very long -- even 15-20 minutes of something that gets your heart rate up can help increase blood flow and oxygen, giving you feel-good benefits that help boost your energy and mood.

Emotional eating is common, according to Curtis, because many people adopt poor eating habits when other areas of their lives (like work, love, or spirituality) are not satisfying enough to fill their needs.

"Sugar is often the perfect comfort food because it hits our taste buds and the pleasure centers in our brain immediately, but the effect is short-lived, making us reach for more and more to keep feeling that satisfaction," Curtis explains.

Curtis suggests finding ways, even if they are small, to do more things that make you feel good. That can be giving yourself time to relax more, connect with friends or loved ones, pick up a hobby or pursue a passion project.

"It's simple, really -- do more of what makes you feel good and there will be far less room for things that don't make you feel good, from sugar-laden foods and beverages to toxic relationships. Mending relationships, leading with kindness or removing toxic people in your life will help you create a space in which you're surrounded by people who care and look after you," Curtis says.

Fruit is a naturally sweet food that can help satisfy your sugar cravings.

Thankfully, there are plenty of foods that taste sweet naturally and provide you with a ton of nutrition compared to food with added, processed sugar. When you are cutting back on sugar, don't be afraid to add in more naturally sweet foods like fruit or sweet potatoes. That way you won't feel as deprived since you still have sweeter foods in your diet.

You may still miss your candy, dessert or other sweet treats, but over time you'll find that you enjoy the naturally sweet foods more. When I gave up all added sugar on the Whole30 program, I remember over the course of the 30 days fruit and other naturally sweet foods tasted like candy. But I wouldn't have said the same thing if I was still eating sugar or candy. Your taste buds can change over time depending on what you eat regularly.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.

Visit link:
Sugar is terrible for you: How to eat less of it - CNET

Abstract

Maize is a cultigen of global economic importance, but when it first became a staple grain in the Americas, was unknown and contested. Here, we report direct isotopic dietary evidence from 52 radiocarbon-dated human skeletons from two remarkably well-preserved rock-shelter contexts in the Maya Mountains of Belize spanning the past 10,000 years. Individuals dating before ~4700 calendar years before present (cal B.P.) show no clear evidence for the consumption of maize. Evidence for substantial maize consumption (~30% of total diet) appears in some individuals between 4700 and 4000 cal B.P. Isotopic evidence after 4000 cal B.P. indicates that maize became a persistently used staple grain comparable in dietary significance to later maize agriculturalists in the region (>70% of total diet). These data provide the earliest definitive evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas.

Maize is a staple grain of global dietary importance (1), shaping ecosystems, landscapes, cultures, fire regimes, and biodiversity. However, the early adoption of this crop as a staple (here defined as >25% of total diet) is unknown because of the dearth of archeological sites in the Americas containing early skeletal assemblages needed to directly assess its dietary contribution. Here, we use stable isotope evidence from an unparalleled time series of human skeletal samples, excavated from two rock shelters in Belize spanning the past 10,000 years, to reconstruct the dietary importance of maize through time. We demonstrate that maize became a significant dietary staple for some individuals starting between 4700 and 4000 calendar years before present (cal B.P.) and a persistently used staple grain by 4000 cal B.P. (>70% of total diet). The demographic and environmental impact of this transition had far-reaching consequences for the people of Mesoamerica that have now been amplified on a global scale, particularly in attaining food security in the context of increasingly volatile global climate change.

Maize was domesticated from teosinte (Zea mays spp. parviglumus), a wild grass growing in the lower reaches of the Balsas River Valley of southwestern Mexico (Fig. 1), and molecular clock estimates suggest that it was domesticated in the Early Holocene (~9000 cal B.P.) (2). Microfossils (phytoliths and starch) confirm the use of maize in the Balsas by ~8700 cal B.P. (3). Microfossil data also support widespread dispersal of this important domesticate through the lowland neotropics by at least ~7000 cal B.P. (4). However, the initial dietary significance of maize and the process and timing of its adoption as a staple carbohydrate in the human diet remain unclear. Two rock shelters in Belize are the only known contexts in the Americas containing human skeletal material deposited persistently over the past 10,000 years and during the transition to maize-based food production. Bone preservation in these dry rock shelters provides an unparalleled opportunity to study dietary change associated with the introduction of maize into the region and its subsequent increasing economic and dietary importance across the New World.

Paleoenvironmental sequences are shown as green triangles as follows: (A) San Andres, Tabasco (36); (B) SOC05-2 (19); (C) Lake Puerto Arturo (11); (D) Peten Lakes region (57); (E) Cob Swamp (38); (F) Pulltrowser Swamp (38); and (G) Lake Yojoa (58). Archeological sites with early maize are shown as red dots: (1) Ocampo Caves (59), (2) Xihuatoxtla (3), (3) El Riego (60), (4) San Marcos (60), (5) Coxcatln (60), (6) Guil Naquitz (5), and (7) Caye Coco (25). Map was produced in ArcGIS 10.4, with all subsequent layout and design performed in Photoshop CC 14.2.

Early maize cobs (~6250 cal B.P.) from Guil Naquitz in the Mexican highlands are small and have only two seed rows (5). Ancient DNA data from the earliest Tehuacn Valley cobs (53004950 cal B.P.) indicate a mixture of modern maize-type alleles, controlling stalk and inflorescence architecture, and ancestral teosinte alleles, controlling ear shattering and starch biosynthesis (6, 7). In addition, paleoethnobotanical, paleoecological, and paleogenomic data from South America suggest that maize was dispersed by foraging populations, possibly in a semidomesticated state, as early as ~7000 cal B.P. (8). These observations have led some to speculate that domesticated maize was initially of little dietary importance but instead spread because of the sugar content of stalk juice, enhancing its social significance as a fermented beverage (9). Selection for larger, multirow cobs by ~4300 cal B.P. (10), along with paleoecological studies indicating increased burning, forest clearance, and erosion associated with maize pollen (11), suggests the increasing importance of maize as a staple crop, but even its dietary significance at that time remains elusive.

Stable isotopes from radiocarbon (14C)dated archeological bone collagen (13Ccollagen and 15Ncollagen) combined with bone apatite (13Capatite) provide a powerful measure of the dietary significance of maize in the Americas. 13Ccollagen is a proxy for the primary sources of protein in an individuals diet. Variation results primarily from the isotopic composition of animals and the plants they consume and how the primary producer plants metabolize carbon during photosynthesis. The lowland tropics of Mesoamerica are dominated by plants using the C3 (Calvin-Benson) photosynthetic pathway with distinctively negative 13C values [~26.5 per mil ()] (12). Maize was the primary plant domesticated in the lowland neotropics, and it uses the C4 (Hatch-Slack) photosynthetic pathway with distinctively more positive isotopic values (~9.3) (13). Isotopically, the increasing dietary importance of this domesticate should be evident with more positive 13C ratios. The consumption of marine resources can complicate the interpretation of 13C data by mimicking the consumption of C4 plants if they are not evaluated in conjunction with nitrogen isotope data. Differences in nitrogen isotope values (15N) are sensitive to the trophic position of plants and animals consumed and are used to distinguish between terrestrial and aquatic food consumption (14). Herbivores are enriched by 3 to 7 relative to the plants eaten, and carnivores are enriched by 3 to 5 compared to the animals eaten. Marine mammals and fish are generally enriched by 5 to 10 relative to the terrestrial mammals. However, fish from coral reef ecosystems have high 13Ccollagen and low 15Ncollagen values that overlap isotopically with maize (15). In addition, 13Ccollagen is strongly biased to the protein component of the diet, but 13Capatite generally reflects the whole diet (carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins) (16). Maize kernels contain 8 to 11% protein and 73% carbohydrate, but maize stalk juice is largely composed of carbohydrates and sugar. Therefore, the consumption of fermented beverages from carbohydrate-rich and protein-poor sugary stalk juice (e.g., maize beer or chicha) would be more likely to be visible in 13Capatite and not in 13Ccollagen (17).

Human skeletal material in the Americas is relatively rare before ~3000 cal B.P., and the decomposition or contamination of bone collagen and apatite in the humid lowland neotropics has largely limited stable carbon and nitrogen isotope studies of skeletal material dating before this time. Until our work, the handful of samples available in the lowland neotropics were too poorly preserved to yield reliable results or were from earlier studies that analyzed unpurified collagen that was not directly radiocarbon-dated to verify age (18). One of these studies on the Pacific coast of southern Mexico provides a potentially important time series of samples spanning the last 4500 years (17). The two earliest samples in that study (from contexts thought to be 4500 and 4000 years old) have 13Ccollagen and 15Ncollagen, consistent with significant maize consumption, a result compatible with evidence for the intensification of maize farming in the region during this time (19). However, individuals from contexts thought to date to between 3400 and 2900 cal B.P. showed less dietary reliance on maize. In addition, resources from an adjacent estuary (e.g., shrimp and crabs) were shown to overlap isotopically with maize and confounded interpretation of these data (17). The absence of a clear maize signature in individuals dating between 3400 and 2900 cal B.P. led Blake and colleagues (9) to hypothesize that maize was being consumed as a beverage fermented from stalk juice, but this has not been tested directly with 13Capatite measurements. Overall, chronological and interpretive difficulties in the dataset obscure the dietary importance of maize through time, and the earliest skeletal samples in this time series do not predate the introduction of maize to the region (~6500 cal B.P.) (19).

Stable isotope dietary studies in the Mesoamerican neotropics are most extensive in the Maya lowlands, where emphasis has been placed on variability during the Preclassic (30001700 cal B.P.) (20) and Classic (17001000 cal B.P.) (21, 22) Periods. These studies show strong and increasing reliance on maize after 3000 cal B.P. (23), age- and sex-dependent differences in maize consumption (24), greater access to meat and maize in elite populations (24), and regional variability in the access to maize and marine foods (22). All of the skeletal materials analyzed in these studies postdate the introduction of maize to the region by ~6500 cal B.P. (25) and its intensification after 4300 cal B.P. (10, 11), so dietary variability before and during the transition to maize-based food production is unknown. To evaluate dietary change through time, we obtained a stable isotope dietary data transect from 52 directly radiocarbon-dated human skeletons spanning the past 10,000 years from two remarkably well-preserved rock-shelter sites, Mayahak Cab Pek (MHCP) and Saki Tzul (ST), located in the Maya Mountains of Belize.

MHCP and ST are rock shelters located in an interior valley of the Maya Mountains in the Bladen Nature Reserve (BNR) [162928.98 N, 885437.42 W; 430 m above sea level (masl); Fig. 1), a protected wilderness area where there has been minimal modern human disturbance of archeological sites. The Classic Period Maya settlement of Ek Xux sits in a valley between these two rock shelters, and the much larger Classic Period center of Muklebal Tzul is located only 3 km away. Tikal, Caracol, and 63 other major Classic Period population centers with dated inscriptions occur within 200 km of these rock shelters, 13 with comparative baseline 13Ccollagen, 15Ncollagen, and 13Capatite data from agriculturalists consuming maize (22).

The terrain in the Maya Mountains is rugged (~400 to 1000 masl), and MHCP and ST are positioned above active floodplains at ~430 masl along the Bladen Branch of the Monkey River and the Ek Xux Creek, respectively. Neotropical broadleaf forest predominates in the region and provides a range of edible tree fruits, nuts, and seeds. Palms are sources of fiber, thatch, and food (26), most notably the Cohune (Attalea cohune) palm found in high-density stands that produce a rich source of nuts/oils, fronds used for roofing, and large palm hearts historically used as a famine food (27). Most of the edible plants in this environment use the C3 photosynthetic pathway with the exception of Amaranthaceae, with pollen common in Pleistocene-age sediments (28). Trace amounts of Amaranthaceae pollen has been used as a disturbance indicator in Holocene paleoecological sequences (11). The most notable large prey animals in this region are three deer species (white-tailed, Odocoileus virginianus and brocket deer Mazama americana and Mazama pandora), tapir (Tapirus bairdii), and two peccary species (Tayassu pecari and Pecari tajacu). These animals are largely herbivores and can exploit the interface of the C3 tropical forest and areas of disturbance (29). The Monkey River provides freshwater mollusks (Pachychilus spp.), crabs, and small fish. Overall, protein and carbohydrate availability are dispersed, relatively low density, and seasonally modulated in neotropical forests and would not support concentrated human populations without agriculture (26).

Within this forested environment, MHCP is formed by an east-facing 20-m-high limestone outcrop that creates a 26-m-wide and 6-m-deep rock shelter. Dry sediments and limited root activity inside the dripline (~160 m2) have favored the preservation of bone and carbonized plant materials (30). One 2.5 mby2.5 m excavation trench (figs. S1A and S2) in the center of the rock shelter revealed a ~2.8-m sequence of cultural midden and mortuary deposits. The lowest stratigraphic units (G to K; fig. S2) are organic-rich (silt to silty loam) and contain debris from the limestone cliff outcrop, igneous flaked stone tools of local origin (choppers and hammer stones), large chert bifaces (Lowe points) (30), and animal, riverine shellfish (Pachychilus spp.), and human remains. These deposits do not contain pottery and date between 12,000 and 6000 cal B.P. The upper portion of the sequence (units A to D) is composed of alternating layers of organic-rich rocky sediment and a dense Pachychilus spp. midden. These deposits date after ~3000 cal B.P. and contain pottery fragments, flaked stone chert, and igneous tools and the remains of mammals, birds, and reptiles. Stratigraphic units E and F are transitional between the ceramic and preceramic units and date between 6000 and 3000 cal B.P. and contain Pachychilus midden deposits.

ST formed below another sheer limestone cliff face that is located 1.4 km to the northeast of MHCP across the Bladen River. The shelter sits 70 m above the river, and it is less than 300 m away from the Classic Period Maya center of Ek Xux. It is larger (145 m long and 8 to 15 m wide) than MHCP and has ~1700 m2 of dry sediments inside the dripline. Multiple excavation units (figs. S1B and S3) reveal a parallel sequence to MHCP spanning the past 12,500 years. Artifact density is high in the upper ceramic-bearing strata containing high concentrations of animal bone, burned wood, and disarticulated human remains. Two dense Pachychilus lenses (>70% shell) occur just below these mixed deposits. The preceramic deposits dating to the Middle Holocene are dominated by dark midden sediments and high concentrations of Pachychilus shells and contain stone tools, bone, carbonized plant material, and human skeletal material. The Early Holocene sediments change to a relatively compact light gray silt and contain lower, but consistent, concentrations of Pachychilis shells, stone tools, carbonized plant material, and human burials.

Human remains at both rock shelters reflect similar burial practices and include both primary and secondary burials (section S1). Isolated elements were recovered from many stratigraphic levels, and while some are the result of intrusive disturbance into earlier contexts, others are intentional deposits of individual skeletal elements or multiple elements. Although a wide range of burial practices are reflected in this long mortuary transect, burials in varying degrees of flexure were the most common and are found in all time periods. In total, 63 inhumations have been excavated from both rock shelters, not including isolated remains. Here, we report data for 52 individuals represented by 32 adults, 4 juveniles, 13 infants, and 3 indeterminate age (see dataset S1 and section S1 for details).

We obtained 13Ccollagen, 15Ncollagen, and 13Capatite data and accelerator mass spectrometer (AMS) radiocarbon (14C) dates for 30 individuals from MHCP and 22 individuals from ST (Fig. 2 and dataset S2; also see Materials and Methods and section S2 for methodological details and our standards for quality control). Both males (n = 13) and females (n = 12) are represented in the sample of adults; however, the sex for 27 individuals could not be determined because they were incomplete skeletons or too young. Infants under the age of 3 were included in the analysis, but we subtracted 2 from 15Ncollagen values to offset well-documented enrichment associated with nursing (31). 13Ccollagen in infants largely reflects the mothers diet, but some enrichment can occur. However, we did not correct for 13Ccollagen because it is highly variable and less than 1. Juveniles over the age of 3 rarely show 15Ncollagen or 13Ccollagen enrichment associated with nursing (31). The most ancient individuals in this dataset come from the lower cultural strata at MHCP and date to between 9600 and 8600 cal B.P. (dataset S1). Two other individuals date earlier than 6000 cal B.P., and the remainder was persistently buried at these locations until ~1000 cal B.P., with a possible hiatus between 3200 and 2700 cal B.P.

(A) Pre-maize diet (96004700 cal B.P.), (B) transitional maize diet (47004000 cal B.P.), and (C) staple maize diet (40001000 cal B.P.). For more details on the skeletal sample in this study, see section S1 and age model parameters in section S2. The radiocarbon plot produced in OxCal 4.2 with subsequent layout and design was performed in Illustrator CC 17.1.

In this study, we group skeletal remains into three chronological categories based on 13Ccollagen, 13Capatite, and 13Cenamel data that are presented below: pre-maize diet (96004700 cal B.P.), transitional maize diet (47004000 cal B.P.), and staple maize diet (40001000 cal B.P.). Statistical significance between temporal periods was determined using a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukeys post hoc test with significant differences observed among 13Ccollagen (n = 47; ANOVA; F2,44 = 290.0, P < 0.001, 2 = 0.929, = 0) and 13Capatite (n = 34; ANOVA; F2,39 = 66.2, P < 0.001, 2 = 0.772, = 0). All post hoc results were corroborated using nonoverlapping bias-corrected and accelerated (BCa) confidence intervals (95% CI) with 1000 bootstrap replicates and verified with permutation test. We evaluated changes in 13C using a linear mixing model to estimate the dietary contribution of maize (%) based on its distinctive C4 photosynthetic pathway (32). We also appraise diet based on a carbon isotope model (33) and a multivariate isotope model (22), both calibrated with controlled feeding studies. We also use a large sample of Classic Period (17501000 cal B.P.) individuals with demonstrated staple maize diets as a comparative baseline to track changes in maize consumption through time (22).

13Ccollagen values (n = 14) in the earliest individuals (older than 4700 cal B.P.) range between 21.6 and 20.3 (mean = 20.8; SD = 0.3) and indicate minimal or no C4 plant consumption (Fig. 3A). When combined with nitrogen isotopes (n = 14; 15Ncollagen, 6.4 to 9.9), these measurements are consistent with a population consuming C3 plants and terrestrial animals from lowland tropical environments. The 15Ncollagen values are, on average, ~3 to 6 higher than published values for herbivores in the region (O. virginianus and M. Americana) (34). Carbon isotope enrichment in these early humans indicates that the consumption of marine foods is not evident. We cannot rule out small dietary contributions of aquatic resources such as small gastropods (Pachychilus spp.), which are abundant throughout the midden sequence and overlap isotopically with C3 plants (34). Other domesticates such as squash (Cucurbita spp.) or manioc (Manihot esculenta) also cannot be ruled out because they also use the C3 photosynthetic pathway and overlap isotopically with wild plant foods found in neotropical forests. 13Ccollagen values may not be sensitive to C4 plant consumption, especially if only carbohydrate-rich portions of the plant were consumed (e.g., sugary stalk juices) (4, 9).

(22) (A) 13Ccollagen versus 15Ncollagen. (B) 13Ccollagen versus 13Capatite plotted against dietary regression lines from experimental feeding studies (33). (C) Function 1 versus function 2 discriminant analysis plotted against data from experimental feeding studies (35). Data analysis in R, with subsequent layout and design performed in Illustrator CC 17.1.

We measured 13Capatite to evaluate total diet (proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates) and to determine whether C4 plants were a substantial part of the total diet. 13Capatite values (n = 15) range between 15.4 and 11.9 (mean = 13.6; SD = 1.0), and comparable results were found in four paired 13Cenamel samples (dataset S1). A simple linear mixing model (32) of 13Capatite indicates a C4 contribution to total diet between 0 and 21% (average = 10.5%; SD = 6.1). Therefore, we cannot rule out minimal consumption of C4 plants (e.g., Amaranthaceae or maize), particularly in the case of three individuals (MHCP.14.1.6 and MHCP.17.1.8, and ST.18.11.9) with values between 16 and 21% C4 dietary contribution coming from C4 carbohydrate-rich source(s). However, 13Capatite and 13Ccollagen plotted against C3 and C4 protein regression lines and calibrated with published archeological and experimental data (33) show that these individuals still cluster on the C3 protein line, indicating a close to pure C3 diet (combined protein and carbohydrates; Fig. 3B), but with small-scale variations in resource consumption. Discriminant function analysis (F1 and F2) in a multivariate model including 13Capatite, 13Ccollagen, and 15Ncollagen (35) shows clustering of samples within the 100% C3 diet space (Fig. 3C).

Carbon isotopic enrichment consistent with an increase in C4 consumption occurs in some individuals after 4700 cal B.P., but diets are highly varied (n = 10, mean = 18.3; SD = 2.2) for ~700 years. The age profile of this sample (including seven individuals younger than 3 years of age) contributes to this variability, but the nursing signature shows that some mothers were consuming substantial amounts of C4 plants. 13Ccollagen values are significantly different from the pre-maize dietary values, indicating that individuals were consuming a protein-rich C4 plant, like maize (8 to 11% protein by kernel weight), or consuming animals eating C4 plants (P < 0.01). There is no statistical difference between 15Ncollagen isotopes (7.0 to 9.9; P = 0.576), and these values do not suggest a major change in the source of protein (e.g., aquatic foods). Therefore, the enrichment in the 13Ccollagen in some individuals reflects a significant increase in the dietary importance of C4 plants or animals consuming C4 plants.

13Capatite values are consistent with an increase in the dietary importance of C4 plant consumption, most certainly maize, ranging between 14.9 and 6.6 (n = 10; mean = 11.2; SD = 2.3; P = 0.04). This translates to C4 plant consumption averaging 25.8% (SD = 14.1) of total diet based on a simple linear mixing model (32). Bivariate plots of 13Capatite and 13Ccollagen show separation of some individuals in this group from the pre-maize diet along the C3 protein line, indicating an increase in C4 protein and carbohydrate consumption consistent with increased maize consumption (Fig. 3B) (33). Discriminant functions (F1 and F2) in the multivariate model show the majority of transitional farmers in the 30% C4 diet space (65% C3 protein; Fig. 3C). Three individuals dating within this interval have isotopic values that are indistinguishable from pre-maize diets and highlight the variability during this transitional period. Permutation tests show low retest reliability in the mean comparisons; however, the observed difference and simulation absolute-threshold differences suggest that transitional maize diets are more enriched than the simulated baselines (figs. S4 to S6). This largely results from high variability and small sample size of this group.

13Ccollagen values for individuals dating after 4000 cal B.P. (n = 23) range between 13.5 and 8.2 and overlap with values for staple maize diets during the Classic Maya Period (Fig. 3A). Comparisons indicate that these values are significantly different from pre- and transitional maize diets (P < 0.001). 15Ncollagen values (6.1 to 10.2) are comparable to earlier populations. There is no evidence for the consumption of marine fish from pelagic environments (low 15Ncollagen isotope values), but we cannot rule out the possibility of some coral reef fish in the diet obtained via trade (22). However, the bones of these animals are largely absent in associated middens, even though we have used techniques designed to recover small bone samples (e.g., 200-m mesh sieves). Overall, the patterns indicate the consumption of forest-dwelling herbivores and heavy reliance on maize.

13Capatite values range between 11.9 and 4.4 (mean = 6.7; SD = 1.9) and are consistent with 21 to 68% (mean = 53.7%; SD = 11.7) of total dietary carbon coming from a C4 source with significant differences between pre-maize and transitional diets (P < 0.001). Bivariate plots of 13Capatite and 13Ccollagen fall on or near the C4/marine protein line and are consistent with staple maize diets from the southern Maya lowlands (Fig. 3B) (22). Discriminant function analysis shows all of the post4000 cal B.P. samples overlapping with individuals from the southern Maya lowlands in the 70% C4 range and with >50% of dietary protein coming from C4 plants or animals eating C4 plants (Fig. 3C). Permutation results support all post hoc differences tested with staple maize diets (figs. S4 to S6).

MHCP and ST are the only archeological deposits in the Americas that contain human skeletal material deposited persistently over the past 10,000 years and the only sites in the lowland neotropics that span the transition to maize-based food production. Preservation of bone organics in these dry rock shelters provides an unparalleled opportunity to study dietary change associated with the introduction of maize into the region and its subsequent development as a food staple of increasing economic and dietary importance. Edible plants of economic value using the C4 photosynthetic pathway are rare in the neotropical lowlands, and this makes stable carbon and nitrogen isotopic analysis a powerful tool for tracking the dietary importance of maize through time.

Isotopic evidence in individuals dating between 9600 and 4700 cal B.P. is consistent with dietary dependence on plants and animals from a C3-dominated neotropical forest. 13Ccollagen values indicate that minimal C4 plant consumption and 15Ncollagen are consistent with the consumption of forest-dwelling herbivores (e.g., white-tailed and brocket deer). We cannot completely rule out minimal consumption of a carbohydrate-rich C4 plant source (e.g., Amaranthaceae or maize) based on slightly elevated 13Capatite values in some individuals based on a linear mixing model (32). Evidence for maize cultivation in the Maya lowlands first appears at ~6500 cal B.P. (25) at about the same time that it appears along the Pacific Coast of Mexico (SOC05-2) (19) and Mexicos Gulf Coast lowlands (36), and it is possible that after this time, maize was adopted in the region for its sugary stalk. However, when 13Ccollagen, 13Capatite, and 15Ncollagen are considered together and evaluated against data from controlled feeding studies (33, 35), all individuals dating before 4700 cal B.P. are consistent with 100% consumption of C3 plants and animals consuming C3 plants. These data are also consistent with the early dietary importance of neotropical trees, particularly cohune palm (27), and tubers in early foraging economies in the neotropical lowlands. Use of these rock shelters until ~5600 cal B.P. appears to be persistent but episodic, suggesting low-density populations exploiting a resource-poor neotropical forest (26).

The first evidence for a significant dietary contribution of maize as a staple (defined here as >25% of total diet) occurs between 4700 and 4000 cal B.P. During this transitional interval, there is a clear increase in both 13Ccollagen and 13Capatite in most individuals consistent with increased maize consumption. However, three individuals overlap isotopically with pre-maize diets, indicating variable reliance on maize during this period. Higher 13Ccollagen and 13Capatite indicate that by this time, maize protein and carbohydrates (kernels) were being consumed. We cannot rule out the consumption of glucose-rich stalk juice, and it is likely that both stalks and kernels were used in beverage preparations. Our data partially overlap isotopically with an early population from South America (Pacopampa, Peru) (37) with higher 13Capatite values that possibly indicate maize beer consumption, but those 13Ccollagen values are not as 13C-enriched as the MHCP and ST individuals. The isotopic data during this transitional interval are inconsistent with the hypothesis that maize was solely used for its sugary stalk in a beverage (17). Overall, our multivariate model of 15Ncollagen, 13Ccollagen, and 13Capatite indicates that maize provided about 30% of total diet (Fig. 3C). These data are consistent with evidence for increased forest burning and clearing, maize cultivation, and erosion across the Maya lowlands, suggesting a greater commitment to maize farming between 4500 and 4000 cal B.P. (11, 38). Increases in maize productivity may have resulted from the development and/or the introduction of new landraces (10) or technological innovation (e.g., nixtamalization) (39). Increasing dietary dependence on maize as a staple grain in this region also coincides with the widespread adoption of maize throughout Mesoamerica (Fig. 4) and its diffusion into the United States by ~4100 cal B.P. (40).

The earliest radiocarbon dates associated with microbotanical evidence for maize in the Balsas region (Xihuatoxtla) (3), Mexicos Gulf Coast (San Andrs) (36), and the Maya region (SOC05-2, Caye Coco, Lake Yojoa, Cob Swamp, and Lake Puerto Arturo) (9, 10, 12, 13, 16) are also shown. Summed probability distributions and dietary phases produced in OxCal 4.2 with subsequent layout and design were performed in Illustrator CC 17.1.

Individuals in our sample dating after 4000 cal B.P. overlap isotopically with a large dataset from the Classic Period (17501000 cal B.P.) Maya populations (22). In this larger dataset, elites were more enriched isotopically than commoners, and our samples overlap more with the commoner population, indicating equal amounts of C3 and C4 foods and relatively high in C4 protein sources like maize or maize-fed animals. A persistent contribution of reef fish is largely discounted because of the interior position of most sites, and this would certainly be the case for MHCP and ST located at least a 2-day walk from the coast and where marine food residues have not been identified in associated archeofaunal assemblages. These data point to a strong commitment to maize-based food production combined with the continued exploitation of foods from the neotropical forest that may have involved more sophisticated forest management systems (4). The dietary dependence on maize is consistent with greater investments in surplus agricultural production, and the resulting deforestation, soil degradation, and erosion as populations increased in size and aggregation (41).

Our results suggest that maize-based food production and dietary dependency on maize came to form the economic basis for these developments but did not stimulate them immediately. Increasing dietary dependence on maize between 4700 and 4000 cal B.P. precedes archeological evidence for the earliest pottery-making agricultural villages in the Maya region by over 1000 years (ca. 31003000 cal B.P.) (23, 25). It remains unclear whether the transition to maize-based food production and the associated dietary changes resulted from the influx of a new population into the Maya lowlands. Linguistic data suggest that Proto-Maya diversified out of the western Guatemalan Highlands likely around 4200 cal B.P. as Huastecan speakers moved northeastward and then eventually settled along the Gulf Coast of Mexico, followed shortly after by diversification of Yucatec speakers into the Maya lowlands (42). Proto-Mayan contained words for maize planting, harvesting, and processing of maize, minimally indicating some cultivation of the domesticate (43). Given uncertainties associated with glottochronology and its partial reliance on archeological data, it is plausible that increases in the dietary reliance of maize co-occurred with language dispersal and population movements. Before the arrival of Yucatec speakers, the lowlands were inhabited by unknown non-Maya populations who we show were consuming increasing amounts of maize as new people and new varieties of maize were moving into the region. It has been suggested that they may have spoken a language typologically similar to lower Central American Xinkan, Lenkan, or Tol based on limited phonemic evidence (43). The term for maize in Xinkan derives from a very early, possibly Proto-Mayan root, suggesting that Xinkan foragers adopted the word after contact with early Maya farmers in the Guatemalan Highlands (44). The linguistic evidence also hints at the complex demographic history in the region. We now know that the earliest colonists in North and South America were genetically distinct from modern Maya populations (45), but it remains unclear how long these ancestral colonizing populations persisted in the region before being replaced or admixed. Coinciding with the transition to agriculture and the emergence of societal complexity leading to the Classic Period, the dietary shifts evident in our dataset therefore provide tantalizing evidence for the origins of Maya people in the lowland neotropics.

MHCP and ST are highly significant because they are the only archeological sites in the Americas with a relatively continuous diachronic sample of human skeletal material spanning the past 10,000 years. Therefore, the stable isotope analysis of these directly radiocarbon-dated individuals provides an unprecedented view of dietary changes during the transition from foraging to farming in the Americas. In the lowland neotropics, these data complement genetic and paleobotanical evidence for the domestication and spread of maize after ~9000 cal B.P. Paleoecological records in the Maya region suggest that the initial introduction of maize, in its earliest form, occurred between ~6500 and 5500 cal B.P. (25), but maize had little dietary impact as a staple before 4700 cal B.P. Consumption increased after this time, and it became a persistent dietary staple by 4000 cal B.P. Comparable isotopic studies indicate the adoption of maize as a staple elsewhere in Mesoamerica by ~3000 cal B.P. (9), in South America no earlier than 3500 cal B.P. (46), and in North America later than 2500 cal B.P. (47, 48). Ultimately, this transition contributed to the expansion and aggregation of populations, increases in social inequality, and major environmental transformations.

Permits for field research in Belize and permissions to export and conduct direct dating and isotopic analyses of ancient human remains were issued by the Institute of Archaeology, National Institute of Culture and History, Belize, with additional permits to conduct fieldwork in the BNR issued by the Forest Department (FD), Belize. They are the legal entities responsible for permitting research. Research permit applications were also formally reviewed and supported by our local collaborator, the Yaaxch Conservation Trust (Yaaxch), a Belizean conservation nongovernmental organization strongly committed to preservation of environmental diversity and heritage. Yaaxch co-manages the BNR with the Belize FD. Yaaxch is largely staffed and administered by members of local communities, some of whom are park rangers working alongside our archeological team conducting fieldwork with other members of local communities. From 2016 to 2020, the results of our field and laboratory studies were presented to members of local communities through events organized by Yaaxch and as a condition of archeological permits and in mutual support of our ongoing collaboration. The results of both field and laboratory studies have been presented annually (2014 and 20162019) at the Belize Archaeology Symposium, a public conference attended by members of many diverse communities in Belize.

Carbon and nitrogen isotope ratios were measured on extracted and purified bone collagen or the amino acids that comprise bone collagen. Bone collagen was extracted and purified using a modified Longin method with ultrafiltration (49). Samples (200 to 400 mg) were demineralized for 24 to 36 hours in 0.5 N HCl at 5C, followed by a brief (<1 hour) alkali bath in 0.1 N NaOH at room temperature to remove humates. The residue was rinsed to neutrality in multiple changes of H2O (18.2 megohm per cm) and then gelatinized for 12 hours at 60C in 0.01 N HCl. The resulting gelatin was lyophilized and weighed to determine percent yield as a first evaluation of the degree of bone collagen preservation. Rehydrated gelatin solution was pipetted into precleaned Centriprep ultrafilters (retaining >30-kDa molecular weight gelatin) and centrifuged three times for 20 min, diluted with H2O (18.2 megohm per cm), and centrifuged three more times for 20 min to desalt the solution.

In most instances, bone collagen samples were too poorly preserved for ultrafiltration, and amino acids that comprise bone collagen were extracted from bone samples and pretreated using a modified XAD process (50). The sample gelatin was hydrolyzed in 2 ml of 6 N HCl for 24 hours at 110C. Supelco ENVI-Chrom SPE (solid-phase extraction; Sigma-Aldrich) columns with 0.45-m polyvinylidene difluoride filters were equilibrated with 50 ml of 6 N HCl, and the washings were discarded. Two milliliters of collagen hydrolyzed as HCl was pipetted onto the SPE column and driven with an additional 10 ml of 6 N HCl dropwise with a syringe into a 20-mm culture tube. The hydrolyzate was lastly dried into a viscous syrup by passing UHP (ultra-high purity) N2 gas over the sample heated at 50C for ~12 hours. The isotope ratios of extracted amino acids may not be directly comparable to collagen ratios, but the differences are minor (50).

Carbon and nitrogen concentrations and stable isotope ratios of the collagen or amino acid samples were measured at the Yale Analytical and Stable Isotope Center with a Costech elemental analyzer (ECS 4010) and Thermo DELTAPlus analyzer. Sample quality was evaluated by % crude gelatin yield, %C, %N, and C/N ratios. C/N ratios ranging between 3 and 3.5 indicated good collagen or amino acid preservation (49).

Bone collagen or individual amino acids were directly dated at the Pennsylvania State University (PSU) AMS radiocarbon dating facility. Samples (Ultrafiltration, ~2.1 mg; XAD, ~3.5 mg) were combusted for 3 hours at 900C in vacuum-sealed quartz tubes with CuO and Ag wires. Sample CO2 was reduced to graphite at 550C using H2 and an Fe catalyst, with reaction water drawn off with Mg(ClO4)2 (49).

Graphite samples were pressed into targets in Al boats and loaded on a target wheel, and 14C measurements were made on a modified National Electronics Corporation (NEC) compact spectrometer with a 0.5-MV accelerator (NEC 1.5SDH-1). The 14C ages were corrected for mass-dependent fractionation, with 13C values measured on the AMS (51) and compared with samples of Pleistocene whale bone (backgrounds, 48,000 14C B.P.), late Holocene bison bone (~1850 14C B.P.), late 1800s CE cow bone, and OX-2 oxalic acid standards for normalization. All calibrated 14C ages, probability distributions, and phase boundaries (section S2 and dataset S2) were computed using OxCal version 4.3 (52) with the IntCal13 northern hemisphere curve (53).

The preparation for carbonate analysis in bone was conducted in the Human Paleoecology and Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory at the PSU using a modified version of procedures outlined in (54). A 2.5 2.5 cm fragment of bone shaft was cleaned using a mechanical drill so that the outer layer of the bone cortex and all trabecular bone were removed from the sample. Using an agate mortar and pestle, bone samples were ground into a fine powder. For each sample, 50 to 100 mg of bone powder were reacted in 2 ml of 2% bleach (NaOCl) for 24 hours at room temperature with vented capped vials and then rinsed three times in H2O (18.2 megohm per cm) or until the sample reached a neutral pH. Following the bleach treatment, samples were reacted in 2 ml of 0.1 M acetic acid (CH3COOH) for 24 hours at room temperature with vented capped vials (55) and then rinsed again to a neutral pH with water (18.2 megohm per cm). The samples were then dried overnight at 60C and subsequently analyzed at the Center for Stable Isotopes, University of New Mexico by continuous-flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry using a GasBench device coupled to a Thermo Fisher Scientific Delta V Plus isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The results are reported using the delta notation measured against VPDB (Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite). Reproducibility was better than 0.1 for both 13C based on repeats of a laboratory standard (Carrara Marble). The laboratory standard is calibrated versus National Institute of Standards and Technology (NBS)-19, for which the 13C is 1.95.

Statistical analyses were performed in SPSS 25.0 (IBM SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA) and R software. The P value threshold for statistical significance was 0.05 for all tests. A priori power analysis (1) and effect size test (2) were performed for the primary computational results. Individual burials were categorized into three groups: pre-maize diets, transitional maize diets, and staple maize diets. Normality was evaluated using the Shapiro-Wilk test, and homogeneity of variance was assessed using Levenes test. A one-way ANOVA was applied to compare differences followed by Tukeys post hoc test and Dunnetts T3 post hoc test in the cases of heterogeneity of variance. Statistical differences were corroborated via nonoverlapping BCa confidence intervals (95% CI) with 1000 bootstrap replicates. We evaluated the post hoc results using permutation tests with 1000 randomized iterations and resampling in R (figs. S4 to S6). Plots were created in R using ggplot2. Descriptive statistics are available in dataset S1.

Analysis of carbonate (CO3) in biogenic hydroxyapatite [Ca10(PO4)6(OH)2] was first tested for diagenetic alteration using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy at the Materials Characterization Laboratory at the PSU using a Bruker Vertex 70v FTIR spectrometer with a DiaMax attenuated total reflection accessory. Each spectrum was the result of 100 scans for mid-range IR (4000 to 400 cm1) with a spectral resolution of 4 cm1. Corrected baselines for the spectra were calculated by adding the heights of the absorptions and then dividing by the height of the minimum between them (56). A new background was created for each sample run. To determine the degree of apatite recrystallization, the crystallinity index or infrared splitting factor was calculated using the height of the absorption bands at 603 and 565 cm1 divided by the height of the valley between them at ~595 cm1. All but two measured sample spectra had a crystallinity index less than 3.8, which indicated a well-preserved biogenic signal, and remained in this study for analysis. While the ratio of the absorption peak height at 1415 cm1 (CO3) and 1035 cm1 (PO4) indicates degraded carbonate material, all sample spectra are consistent with expected C/P ratios observed in archeological bone (56), and none of the spectra indicate CaCO3 contaminant absorption at 710 cm1 (figs. S7 to S10).

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited.

S. H. Ambrose, L. Norr, in Prehistoric Human Bone: Archaeology at the Molecular Level, J. B. Lambert, G. Grupe, Eds. (Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 1993), pp. 137.

M. Blake, Maize for the Gods: Unearthing the 9,000-Year History of Corn (University of California Press, 2015).

R. H. Tykot, N. J. van der Merwe, N. Hammond, Stable Isotope Analysis of Bone Collagen, Bone Apatite, and Tooth Enamel in the Reconstruction of Human Diet, in Archaeological Chemistry (American Chemical Society, 1996), vol. 625 of ACS Symposium Series, pp. 355365.

D. R. Piperno, D. M. Pearsall, The Origins of Agriculture in the Lowland Neotropics (Academic Press, 1998).

L. E. Wright, Diet, Health, and Status Among the Pasin Maya: A Reappraisal of the Collapse (Vanderbilt Univ. Press, 2006).

R. H. Tykot, R. L. Burger, N. J. van der Merwe, The Importance of Maize in Initial Period and Early Horizon Peru, in Histories of Maize: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Prehistory, Linguistics, Biogeography, Domestication, and Evolution of Maize, J. Staller, R. Tykot, B. Benz, Eds. (Academic Press, 2006), pp. 187197.

J. Staller, M. Carrasco, Pre-Columbian Foodways (Springer Science, 2010).

L. Campbell, Mayan loan words in Xinca, in The Mayan Languages (Routledge Language Family Series, 2017), pp. 62111.

T. Kaufman, Aspects of the lexicon of proto-Mayan and its earliest descendants, in The Mayan Languages (Routledge Language Family Series, 2017), pp. 62111.

M. A. Katzenberg, Prehistoric Maize in Southern Ontario: Contributions from Stable Isotope Studies, in Histories of Maize: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Prehistory, Linguistics, Biogeography, Domestication, and Evolution of Maize (Academic Press, 2006), pp. 263270.

Acknowledgments: We thank the Belize Institute of Archaeology (permits) and the staff of Yaaxch Conservation Trust for logistical support. We thank the following members of the Human Paleoecology and Isotope Geochemistry Laboratory for their assistance processing AMS 14C radiocarbon and stable isotope samples: L. Eccles, M. Davis, L. Crouthamel, X. Moreno, and L. Simmins. AMS 14C radiocarbon dates from this project were analyzed at the PSU AMS 14C facility and the W. M. Keck Carbon Cycle Accelerator Mass Spectrometry Laboratory. We thank T. TJ Zimudzi at the PSU Materials Characterization Laboratory for his guidance during the FTIR analysis and N.-V. Atudorei at the UNM Center for Stable Isotopes for the 13C analysis of carbonates. Thanks to H. Neff, L. Kistler, R. Rosenswig, H. Thakar, R. Tykot, D. Piperno, J. Capriles, S. Plog, S. Newsome, J. Kennett, and two anonymous reviewers for guidance and valuable comments that helped improve the manuscript. Funding: The work was funded by the Alphawood Foundation (20142019; K.M.P.) and NSF (SBE1632061, K.M.P.; SBE-1632144, D.J.K. and B.J.C.). General laboratory support at the PSU from NSF Archaeometry program BCS-1460369 to D.J.K. and B.J.C. Author contributions: D.J.K., K.M.P., B.J.C., and M.R. designed research; D.J.K., K.M.P., M.R., W.R.T., R.J.G., B.J.C., G.M.B., E.M., E.J.K., T.K.H., L.O., E.E.R., E.C.H., A.A., C. Merriman, C. Meredith, and H.J.H.E. collected data; D.J.K., K.M.P., R.J.G., B.J.C., J.J.A., S.M.G., and T.K.H. analyzed data; and D.J.K. and K.M.P. wrote the paper, with contributions from all authors. Competing interests: The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Data and materials availability: All data needed to evaluate the conclusions in the paper are present in the paper and/or the Supplementary Materials. Detailed fieldwork reports including excavation forms, photographs, and artifact inventories are permanently stored at the Institute of Archaeology (Belmopan, Belize) and are available from the authors upon request.

Read this article:
Early isotopic evidence for maize as a staple grain in the Americas - Science Advances

SHE may have access to some of the world's top chefs - but it turns out, The Queen isn't too fussed by fine dining.

According to Her Majesty's former chef Darren McGrady, The Queen is not what you'd consider a "foodie" - unlike her husband Prince Philip.

2

Speaking to The Telegraph, the chef said: "[The Queen] not a foodie.

"She eats to live, unlike Prince Philip who loves to eat and would stand and talk food all day."

What's more, Darren claims Her Majesty follows a strict no-carb diet when she's eating on her own.

He added: When she dines on her own, shes very disciplined. No starch is the rule."

2

The monarchs meals are healthy, low-carb affairs, usually grilled fish or chicken with two different vegetables or a big bowl of salad.

That said, The Queen still likes to treat herself to something sweet from time-to-time - and Darren claims she's a total "chocaholic".

He told HELLO!: "She is absolutely a chocoholic. Anything we put on the menu that had chocolate on, she would choose, especially chocolate perfection pie.

But, the Queen won't entertain any old chocolate - in fact, it has to be dark.

"She likes chocolate, but only dark chocolate, the darker the better," he added. Shes not a big fan of milk or white chocolate.

While it's no surprise that the Queen is partial to a little chocolate, Her Maj's former pilot has claimed that the Queen wouldenjoy a tinned Fray Bentos pie on long-haul flightsin the 90s.

THE ONLY WAYHow Michelle 'tamed' playboy Mark with love of junk food & NEVER being jealous

coming cleanClueless star Alicia Silverstone reveals she shares baths with 9-year-old son

GARDEN GOALSFamily revamp their entire yard with seating areas, a fireplace & a playground

TRASH TALKStacey Solomon's best interior tips & they all use junk lying around your house

SKIN SAVIOURWoman who tried everything for her acne clears it with miracle 6 soap bar

WHITE ON CUEWoman creates stunning white kitchen for 23 & people are seriously impressed

In more Royal Family news, The Queen developed a good left hook when she was young after having fights with Princess Margaret, a royal expert claimed.

And Meghan Markle has been secretly working with animal charity as it battles funding crisis during coronavirus lockdown.

Plus Princess Diana used to take Prince William and Prince Harry on secret trips to McDonalds for Happy Meal toys.

Follow this link:
The Queen is not a foodie and follows a no-carb diet when eating on her own, former chef reveals - The Sun

Our body literally makes itself out of the nutrients our food provides it thats right, you very much are what you eat. In the case of your skin, the food you consume can have a much larger impact that just a few zits after a late-night sweets binge. If you have issues with inflammatory skin conditions like severe acne, psoriasis, or rosacea, youll want to know what researchers at UC Davis Health have discovered.

The typical American diet is certainly tasty, but not as healthy as it is delicious. High sugar and fat consumption with low fiber intake characterize most standard American diets. While we know that weight gain and even obesity are the usual outcomes of this diet, there is an even earlier result that will make your beauty regiment less effective.

Health researchers tested the effects that this high fat and sugar diet had on lab mice and found that before the mice experienced the expected outcome of weight gain, skin issues presented themselves. These mice who were put on an unhealthy diet for only four weeks began showing signs of skin inflammation, including the development of psoriasis. Before even gaining weight, the mice on the high sugar and fat diet suffered worse skin health outcomes than the mice on an exclusively high-fat diet. Thats right, put down the second serving of that dessert.

Not the most polite dinner table conversation but it turns out that bile may play a more important role in your skins health than youve ever thought (if youve ever thought). Researchers found that using a drug that lowered cholesterol levels by binding bile acids in the intestine actually worked to lower the level of skin inflammation. This finding indicates theres an important connection here that researchers will need to probe further.

If youre wondering what all this bile and diet information means for you in your everyday life, its as simple as making a few more conscious choices around your eating habits. Its easy to treat ourselves to high fat and high sugar foods, but these findings that place a direct link between skin inflammation, including psoriasis, and your diet can serve as a healthy dose of fitspo to get you back on track to make healthier dietary choices. Just remember, dont undo all the work and money that goes into your skincare regiment with diet.

Go here to see the original:
There's a Direct Link Between the Western High-Fat & Sugar Diet and Skin Conditions - YouBeauty

She has also been mourning her friend, Mark Blum, the actor whom she worked with on the film Sister of the Groom. He died of Covid-19 at 69 in March. Its a really sad, scary time for so many people, she said.

Her daily routine involves sensible self-nourishment. I always bring everything back to diet, she said. When I dont eat well, I dont feel well, and then my moods go all over the place. Ms. Silverstone has been eating meals filled with fresh herbs, greens, miso soup and ginger tea. She has found comfort in cooking, of course, but also in daily long walks, yoga, writing in a journal and meditation.

She has also been focused on finding activities to do with Bear Blu, now 9, when hes not with Mr. Jarecki like bouncing on the mini trampoline, dancing or jump roping. My son and I take baths together, and when hes not with me, I take a bath and that really feels nourishing and comforting, Ms. Silverstone said.

She is still amazed by the brilliant genius of Ms. Heckerling. Its generational, Ms. Silverstone said. The people that were watching it when it came out have shared it with their children, and so it just keeps going and keeps living. I dont know why that happens to some movies and others it doesnt, but Im so grateful to be a part of it.

In 2017, she introduced a screening of the film at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery and took her son to see the movie for the first time. I didnt want to miss out on this opportunity to show him the movie on the big screen like that with 4,000 people outside, she said. It just felt like a moment.

For her, whats most memorable about the film are the costumes that make entrances. After filming, she even kept some of her favorite items like Chers Mary Janes, but shes since given all of the items away. Back then, Ms. Silverstone said, she had no style and wore the same green T-shirt and jeans every day for four years.

When asked which actor should play Cher in a reboot, Ms. Silverstone laughed. Shes far removed from the film that once made her a star: Im like a grandma at my house whos going to help climate change and raise my son.

Original post:
Alicia Silverstone Wants Us to Eat Our Fruits and Vegetables - The New York Times

It's rare to see Kevin Hart having a serious moment. We're used to watching him cracking jokescenter-stageand leaving fans in tearsfrom laughing so hardsometimes about things that make us uncomfortable. Hart tapped into his serious side on The Joe Rogan Experiencepodcast and revealed that he has a newfound appreciation for life after his near-death experience in a car crash last September. "I'm a plant-based eater," he tells Rogan. For him, everything changed after the crash. He also told Rogan that in the hospital and the days at home not able to walk, hemasqueraded the pain andworked hard toget back intotip-top shape through eatinghis new diet and boxing.

"It can change like that," Hart says to Rogan, snapping his fingers. The car Hart was a passenger in went off an embankment in Calabasas and the two otherpeople in the car had to be cut from the vehicle, while Hart himself suffered a serious spinal cord injury.

Since the Septemberaccident, Hart hasn't said muchabout his recovery, but he toldRoganthat he had to getserious about his health, and that part of the equation was to try to recover his full health and not be so dependent on his wife and kids, who in the first days of his recuperation, had to do everything for him while he was unable to do the smallest things like reach for the remote.

Hart talked to Rogan about everything fromhis childhood and growing up in North Philadelphiato his new health-minded lifestyle, post-recovery.The crash and having to work his way back to full health hasledHart on a journeyin search of knowledgeabout how to be his healthiest self.

"Health and wellness sh*t is way bigger than you think it is," Hart declared. His diet is now totally free ofred meat, fish, or any seafood. Hart admitted he does have the occasional piece of chicken but he identifies as being a "plant-based eater." His advice when switching your diet: "Learn it, understand it, and see if there are benefits that work for you."

Hart is following medical and science-based research: Plant-based eating has been linked to healing after injurybylowering inflammation, so doctors often urge patients who want to heal faster or recover from injury to stay off the meat and dairy.Chronic inflammationcan slow down cell regrowth.

In the ensuing months, Hart found plant-based proteins he loves to eat such as Beyond Meatand even became an ambassador for the company.Along with celebrities like Joaquin Phoenix and Kate Mara, he joined the Feed a Million+ campaignwhich helped deliver food to hospitals and others on the front line of the pandemic. With Beyond Meat's help, in April Hart delivered burgers to the Northridge Hospital that treated his injuries after the crash.

Hart got into the details of his accident with Rogan, explaining: If it had not been for hisdedication to training and focus onfitness prior to the crash he would have likely ended up paralyzed and unable to ever walk again. But because of his fitness level, he was able to recover.

"Doctors looked me in the eyes and said, 'You're lucky to be alive.If your core wasn't in the shape it was, if you didn't have the strength to take whatever that impact was, you would've been snapped and wouldn't walk again.'"Hart believes that the work he put into his fitness over the years led him to recover fully.

Hart will turn 41 this coming July 6th and said that he has only one birthday wish: To have 8.5% body fat. That wish is pretty close to coming true already since he is already at about 10% body fat today.

We wish him that and more since Hart obviously has had a life-altering experience and is making the best of what happens next.

See the article here:
Kevin Hart Reveals He is a "Plant-Based Eater" to Joe Rogan - The Beet

Page 106«..1020..105106107108..120130..»

Home » Diets that Work » Page 106