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People In The UK Are Going Crazy For This Diet, But Does It Work? Women's Health When you hear about a diet that allows you to eat whatever the eff you want and still lose weight, one question inevitably comes to mind: What's the catch? But apparently there is no catch with Slimming World, a popular U.K.-based program that's now ...

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People In The UK Are Going Crazy For This Diet, But Does It Work? - Women's Health

A couple of pounds here, a few more there. Weight gain for Matt Baretich, a biomedical engineer in Loveland, Colo., was insidious but steady. By his early 60s, he weighed 300 pounds.

"As I approached that number, I was aghast and began to stagger back from the brink," says Baretich, who's 5 feet 11 inches tall. "I managed to fitfully get myself down to 260 over the next several months, but I lost a lot of muscle along with the fat."

At 260 pounds, with his body mass still registering as obese, Baretich committed to a yearlong behavior-change program at the University of Colorado Anschutz Health and Wellness Center. The first week was immersion at the center. After that, coaching took place online or on the phone.

Eight months later, Baretich achieved his goal of 180 pounds. His waist measurement went from 50 inches to 38. Ceremoniously, he cut the extra length off his belt before setting out on a backpacking trip.

"It's difficult to overstate how much more fun backpacking is now that I'm 80 pounds lighter and a lot stronger," Baretich says. "Along with physical changes, I have regained self-confidence I had lost. I know I can accomplish difficult tasks. I eagerly look for challenges to overcome."

How's maintenance going?

"It's hard, but I know how to do it. Getting older and losing a lot of weight both cause metabolism to slow. The answer is to move away from food as a reward. I still enjoy good food, but it's fuel, not solace.

"Something the program taught me to say is this: 'Choose your hard.' It was hard to lose the weight. It's hard to keep it off. It's hard to find the time and willpower for exercise. But it was hard being fat too. In so many ways, the 'fat old days' were harder. It's important to keep that in mind when I'm tempted to snack instead of getting on my bicycle and hitting the road."

Behavior change like Baretich's is key to losing weight and maintaining, says Lauren Ott, registered dietitian at the center. Her tips for lasting change:

Plan ahead. Healthful, low-calorie meals and snacks don't just magically appear. Plan, buy and prepare before you're hungry.

Eat more vegetables. They're low-calorie and high-fiber.

Consume protein at each meal. It's key to feeling full.

Make your environment conducive to health. Keep fruit on the counter, and vegetables in plain sight.

Stash athletic shoes at work or in the car; you might find a few minutes to walk.

Change your route so you don't drive past favorite fast-food outlets.

Replace a happy-hour date with friends with a walk in the park.

Allow the occasional treat, and ditch any guilt. An all-or-nothing mindset can't last, and guilt pushes you off track.

Schedule workouts. Knowing when, where and how you're going to exercise beats a vague promise that you'll work out sometime this week.

People want a magic diet, but those don't change behavior, Ott says. Instead of fixating on carbs, as with the currently popular Paleo diet, fixate on behaviors. Think of how you can manage stress without food. Examine the messages you send yourself.

"Our thoughts define our reality," Ott says. "Telling yourself that you've failed before, and therefore will never succeed, is not reality. Instead, try: Yes, I've failed in the past, but I'm approaching it in a new way, with a new mindset, so it's likely I'll succeed."

Tammy Waldschmidt had tried and failed. In college she lost 76 pounds, but she gained it back. She started working and lost 35 pounds, but gained it back plus more. At age 34, a borderline diabetic, she lost 110 pounds, but gained most of it back. At one point, she weighed 316 pounds.

A computer engineer in Highlands Ranch, Colo., 5 feet 7 inches tall, now in her early 50s, Waldschmidt weighed 244 when she started at the center. Ten months later she hit 173, and she is working to lose more.

"Before, I really was not feeling alive," Waldschmidt says. "I felt hopeless about my personal future. My negative self-talk was out of control."

She says she now feels transformed. "I went zip lining! I went on a roller coaster. You couldn't wipe the smile off my face. I am full of energy. I can wear cute clothes. I've gone from size 24 to size 10. I go hiking, and walk or jog in 5Ks and 10Ks. I went speed dating, had a blast, and went on some dates. I'm excited to go dancing. I'm about to get rid of satellite TV; I don't have time to watch it. No more hiding on the sidelines and standing in the back row for pictures. No, I'm now in the front row of life!

"My big thing now is to pay it forward. I want to inspire people to get involved and live the life they want."

Like Baretich and Waldschmidt, Elaine Brown's weight loss boosted confidence. A nurse in Denver, Brown weighed 207 pounds when she started a 20-week program at the center. Six months later she was 147. At 5 feet 6 inches tall, she's kept her weight at 142 pounds for nearly two years.

"My whole life, from high school on, I weighed 180. At 40 years old, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. Through chemo, steroids, stress and sadness eating made me feel better. After treatment, I went to 190 and 200. When I hit 207, I didn't want to do it anymore."

The behavior-change program taught her to question whether extra food was worth it. "I learned to recognize boredom or stress, and make better choices. Every day, I have two servings of fruit and three of vegetables. That was a big shift, and I've stuck with it."

Like Waldschmidt, Brown discovered new activities.

"I went spelunking! In my former body, I never would've fit through those cave holes," she said. "I can wear clothes that are fun, such as leggings and high boots.

"It's given me more confidence."

Cheryl Stritzel McCarthy is a freelancer.

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Magic diets don't change behavior. Tips to lose, keep off weight ... - Chicago Tribune

Alberto Ruggieri/Illustration Works/Getty Images

Alberto Ruggieri/Illustration Works/Getty Images

Your child is diagnosed with a serious autoimmune disease and conventional treatments aren't proving to be effective. Doctors prescribe powerful medications that don't seem to work. Not only is your child not responding as hoped, he's withering from the side effects. What do you do? Journalist Susannah Meadows found herself having to answer this question when her son, Shepherd, was diagnosed at age 3 with juvenile idiopathic arthritis, joint inflammation that can last a lifetime.

When the drugs didn't work, Meadows was persuaded to look at his condition through a different prism and to consider the possibility that medications might not be the only answer. Meadows began speaking to parents who had sleuthed out alternative theories and tried things like radically changing their kids' diets and giving them Chinese herbal medicines. Like many parents of sick children, Meadows grew increasingly willing to venture outside of the standard treatments.

Her experiences spurred her to seek other stories of people with illnesses ranging from multiple sclerosis to epilepsy to ADHD who pursued unproven methods of treating their diseases. Their stories, as well as an account of her son's case, are compiled in The Other Side of Impossible: Ordinary People Who Faced Daunting Medical Challenges and Refused to Give Up, published Tuesday by Random House.

Shots sat down with Meadows to discuss her book. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

When Shepherd was diagnosed with a case of juvenile idiopathic arthritis, were you initially uncomfortable with him taking the standard drugs for the disease?

I was very comfortable when the first thing he was prescribed was naproxen, because that was familiar as a relative of ibuprofen. But when that didn't work and he was prescribed an immunosuppressant [methotrexate], I was troubled by the risks. It's a serious drug and it comes with an increased risk of lymphoma and liver disease and for sure, I was very uncomfortable with that.

And then in the immediate sense, taking the drug made him sick and he spent days on the couch, nauseous every week, and to me, that was an unacceptable life. I could not accept that that was going to be his life. I think the thing that really pushed me to explore other options was desperation.

In addition to keeping him on the methotrexate, we took gluten, dairy and sugar out of his diet. We gave him high doses of omega-3s in fish oil and a probiotic. His arthritis started to get better six weeks to the day after we started the new diet, and we weaned him off the methotrexate. He's now totally healthy, completely without pain, and has been off all arthritis medications for four years. It's impossible to know what made him better, but there's some science that suggests it could have been the diet.

Your book is a call to arms to think about diet and what we put in our bodies, whether you have serious illness or not. How did food play in the recovery of the people you wrote about?

Terry Wahls [had] multiple sclerosis and went from using a wheelchair to riding a bike again after she radically changed her diet to eat only nutritionally dense food. You can't come away without thinking, if that can do that for her, what could it do for me?

The pioneers in your book weren't the trained scientists or the doctors. They were the patients. What can you say about that?

Certainly doctors know more about disease than I ever will, but that doesn't mean that their expertise is universal. Our own doctor was a good partner in our weighing things to try. We were able to have good conversations about risk, and what I liked about him was his openness he made it clear to us that he didn't have to understand it if it worked, which to me is a great quality in a doctor. The best doctors recognize that they don't know everything.

Some key themes emerge in the book about the personality traits of those who seek different avenues of treatment. What are they?

One of the things that struck me about everybody in the book was extraordinary self-confidence, almost a stubbornness that they would find an answer. These people exhausted medicine's answers and kept looking. Another thing was hope. I used to think of hope as being about the known possibility. You could have hope if even 1 out of 100 people got better. But what was amazing about these people was that they had hope even without an example of one. There was nothing to point to. A woman with multiple sclerosis who's using a wheelchair, it's unheard of to come back from that. And yet she believed she could find a solution for herself. And to me that's extraordinary.

It seemed like many of the subjects of your book were financially comfortable, which gave them advantages such as moving across the country to be near a practitioner. How can people access experimental diets, supplements or interventions not covered by insurance?

To be sure, having resources helps, but one of the things that's so exciting about food being a potential solution for some diseases is that it's a lot cheaper than medication. Some medications for multiple sclerosis, for example, can be $80,000 a year. We have strong anecdotal evidence and in some cases, clinical evidence that food can improve symptoms for some chronic disease. The other virtue of food is that it's open to all of us to experiment with. Until we have the data to say this diet will benefit this disease, we are free to see as individuals what might help us.

Finally, how has the experience of dealing with your son's illness as well as meeting these other like-minded people changed you as a parent and as a person?

The biggest thing that I have learned is that when it seems as if there are no options, you can still look for them and maybe find them. That you have a choice to keep going when others say that you can't. I don't think I had that feeling when Shepherd was diagnosed, but I think his unlikely recovery taught me that.

Heather Won Tesoriero is a writer living in New York City. She's currently working on a narrative nonfiction book. The Class will be published in 2018 by Ballantine Books.

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A Child's Suffering Drives A Mother To Seek Untested Treatments - NPR

CNN

Fasting diets could be more effective than other weight loss plansif we weren't so wired for consistency Quartz In the long-run, though, fasting diets may be no better than regular calorie-restricting dietsbecause they're harder to follow. A study published May 1 in JAMA Internal Medicine by researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago, Stanford, and ... Does fasting on alternate days work? A new study weighs inCNN Fasting every other day isn't as good of a weight loss method as you ...The Verge New diet trend not a sure betWZVN-TV CBS News -Medical Daily -The Australian -The JAMA Network all 37 news articles »

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Fasting diets could be more effective than other weight loss plansif we weren't so wired for consistency - Quartz

D

r. Rebecca Carey admits to being a little embarrassed about what her son, Mark, eats every day. Hamburger patties for breakfast, or bacon. A pack of raisins and a cookie for lunch; a turkey and cheese sandwich if Im lucky, says Carey, but it usually comes back home. His favorite dinner is fish cakes and pasta, but all vegetables remain firmly untouched.

Its the kind of diet low in fruits and vegetables, high in carbs that a doctor like herself might caution against. But its also low in milk, sugar, and artificial food additives all things Carey believes worsen 10-year-old Marks attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, symptoms. Twice a day, in the morning at their home in Newburgh, Ind., and from the school nurse at lunch, he takes a vitamin and mineral supplement, which helps make up for the lack of veggies.

Its been six months on this diet, which Carey researched herself and tested out on Mark, and in that time he has transitioned off his ADHD medication. It wasnt all smooth sailing; there were fights in the candy section of the grocery store, and Carey struggled to find quick, high-protein breakfasts. But honestly, I would never go back, she said.

Carey is not the only one whos trying this approach. Medication and therapy remain the most effective treatments for ADHD. But driven by concerns about the short- and long-term side effects of psychiatric medications on children, some parents are looking for ways to keep their kids on lower doses of the drugs, or to quit the drugs entirely.

But addressing ADHD symptoms by changing diet can be a minefield. For one thing, while some diet interventions have scientific evidence to back them up, others dont and even the ones that do only seem effective for a subset of kids. Diet tweaks are oftentimes pretty harmless to try, but not universally so. And most pediatricians arent nearly as familiar with these approaches as they are with conventional medication.

So amid a lot of confusing and contradictory information on the internet, and a big nutrition knowledge gap in the medical system, parents at their wits end are mapping out their own treatment plans through trial and error over the dinner table.

As of 2011, the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show, at least 6.4 million children in the US had been diagnosed with ADHD. Only about 6 percent are taking medication for the condition. The vast majority, then, are doing something else perhaps counseling, or other forms of treatment, or nothing at all.

The most common type of drug used for ADHD is methylphenidate, a slow-acting stimulant that works on the central nervous system. Its found in well-known brand names like Adderall and Ritalin, and its considered the most effective ADHD treatment. Less is known, however, about the drugs long-term effects. Common side effects include loss of appetite, trouble sleeping, and anxiousness.

Those side effects became a problem for Mark soon after he was first diagnosed with ADHD in kindergarten. At home, hed always been a sensitive, irritable child, but in the classroom he started having freakouts, said Carey: throwing things, hiding under his desk, biting other students. Careys pediatrician put Mark through a behavioral test, found he measured high on the ADHD spectrum, and prescribed him behavioral therapy and Concerta, another common brand of methylphenidate.

Tasty and easy to take, a new ADHD drug alarms some psychiatrists

Carey was uncomfortable with the medication from the beginning. It became a constant fight to get Mark to eat; he shedded weight, and couldnt fall asleep at night. Carey had a gnawing feeling that hed have to always be on the drug. And it wasnt helping his symptoms instead, he seemed to be getting worse. After a year, his psychiatrist thought he was showing signs of bipolar disorder, and prescribed medication for that.

I just felt in my heart of hearts there had to be a better way, said Carey. As a physician specializing in gastrointestinal disease, Carey had seen diet do tremendous things for her own patients. Marks diagnoses got her thinking about nutritions role in the brain, and she started to chart her own course of research and experimentation.

Dietary interventions tend to be relatively low-risk but the evidence base for most of them, in terms of improving ADHD symptoms, is still small.

To try to balance those factors against one another, a group of specialists in child and adolescent psychiatry at Ohio State University in 2011 devised what they call the SECS vs. RUDE test. Looking at the scientific literature surrounding 15 different dietary or nutritional interventions, they asked: Are they Safe, Easy, Cheap, and Sensible; or Risky, Unrealistic, Difficult, and Expensive?

SECS doesnt need as much evidence for someone to try it on an individual basis, said Dr. L. Eugene Arnold, a physician at Ohio States medical center who specializes in childhood ADHD and autism and who coauthored the 2011 study. You want more evidence before you invest a lot of money or undertake something risky.

Delaying standard treatment medication and behavioral therapy in favor of alternative approaches can be risky if it means symptoms go untreated, wrote Arnold and coauthors in their review. If a treatment doesnt work, there is also the loss of family resources, including time and money, to consider.

Some of the things their analysis found that fall under the SECS category are fattyacid supplements, specifically omega-3 supplements, which seem to improve ADHD symptoms.

Arnold and coauthors looked at five randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trials (the gold standard of clinical research) that tested combinations of fattyacids on ADHD symptoms, in both children and adults. Four had a statistically significant positive effect on symptoms.

Omega-3 fatty acids, said Arnold, show small but significant benefits, and as long as these supplements are low in mercury, it makes sense to try.

Other interventions, however like homeopathic and herbal treatments were both uncertain and potentially risky, the analysis found.

A supplement with less evidence, but which still passes the SECS test, is the one that Mark Carey takes. Called EMPowerplus, the supplement contains 36 different vitamins and minerals, and is marketed to help with psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder, ADHD, and depression.

But only one of the studies done on the pill was placebo-controlled and double-blinded. It showed a reduction in ADHD symptoms in adults. More research is needed on EMPowerplus and similar broad-spectrum micronutrient supplements before conclusions about their effectiveness can be made, Arnold said.

More difficult interventions tend to be the ones that eliminate whole classes of foods. Elimination diets involve taking foods out of the diet one of the first iterations of which, for hyperactivity, was the Feingold Diet.

Developed back in the 1970s, the Feingold Diet focused on the link between artificial colors and flavorings and ADHD. Research since then has supported a link. A 2004 meta-analysis of only the gold standard of studies double-blind and placebo controlled concluded that artificial food colorings increase hyperactivity in kids with ADHD. And another 2004 study found that kids even without a hyperactive disorder have behavioral effects of colorings. Preschoolers given a drink with artificial coloring were rated as more hyperactive by their parents than those given a naturally colored placebo. (The study was blinded, so parents didnt know which their kids received.)

Lidy Pelsser, a researcher at the Netherlands ADHD research center, led a trial in 2009 in which 100 families of children with ADHD were recruited to take part in a five-week few-foods experiment. Half were instructed to keep their kids on a healthy diet, and half were instructed to give their children only turkey, rice, some vegetables, and water and thats it, said Pelsser. Of the 41 families who completed the few-foods diet, 32 responded positively, with 60 to 70 percent improvements on ADHD tests compared to when theyd started.

Pelsser described this approach not as a cure, but as a diagnostic tool that is going to have different results depending on the child. If theres no improvement in behavior after five weeks, the child is allowed to eat everything again and medication would be appropriate, she said. If the child improves significantly, then the parents can start adding foods back in slowly and one at a time to figure out which may be triggers.

She warned that this approach is aggravating. It is low-risk, but also difficult for families.

When it works, it seems to work really well, said Pelsser, and families are increasingly willing to try. What I see is more awareness in parents that they do not want to give their medication and they are desperately looking for other ways to help their child.

A 2014 review estimated that a strict elimination diet may have a 10 to 30 percent chance of showing symptom improvements for ADHD.

Arnold also pointed out that these approaches dont have to replace medication.

We know that behavioral treatments tend to enhance the effects of medication, so that the patient can respond to a lower dose, said Arnold. Theres no reason to believe that wouldnt work the same way with diet and nutrition.

Although diet is widely promoted by doctors as an important lifestyle factor in managing ADHD, along with exercise, routine, and good sleep habits, the acceptance of diet and nutrition as an effective primary treatment is still very grassroots within the medical community, according to Dr. Anna Esparham, a Kansas-based pediatrician and member of the American Academy of Pediatricss integrative health unit.

Carey recalls a feeling of isolation. I was so despondent about where Mark was and despondent about the treatment options for him that I felt like I couldnt be the only one, she said.

So in September 2016, she started a support group for other parents like her who felt like they were struggling outside the mainstream. The first meetings were held at her church I didnt want it affiliated with anything, I just wanted to start it in the local community, she said but after six months the group had grown large enough and was taking up enough of Careys time that she needed help. She brought it to the medical director at St. Marys hospital, in Evansville, Ind., where Carey works, and now the hospital hosts the group, which draws about 30 people each week.

Each week a different speaker comes to talk about topics that the parents indicated they were interested in in a poll at the beginning things like vision therapy, curbing screen time, and a behavioral therapy called the nurtured heart approach.

Carey acknowledges that these things might not be mainstream or have lots of randomized control trials behind them, but she figured parents including herself deserved to have a place could openly discuss alternatives to the status quo.

Ideally, someday, that place could also be the doctors office. Esparham thinks a big part of the reason parents and providers dont discuss diet interventions for ADHD is a general ignorance of nutrition in the medical field. A lot of doctors do not know how to give nutritional advice because they didnt get in school, in residency, in training, said Esparham.

Pelsser, the Dutch researcher, thinks it might take more than just education it might take a perspective shift as well. In the Netherlands as well as the United States there is a lot of skepticism about the effect of food on ADHD, despite the research, she said. I think its difficult to accept that things could be different from what we have been thinking all the time. It takes courage to say, well, after all, we may be wrong.

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Seeking an alternative to medication, parents tinker with diet to treat ADHD - STAT

Im about to do something very difficult; rewrite an article that hundreds of authors have already taken on and challenge something that is on a steady rise to stardom in the strongman society. This subject can best be addressed in a FAQ style format to just cover the basics. I would love to start dialectics on the topic and know that this is the best way to find some common ground on the subject of:

Nutrition. I am constantly asked for strongman programming and training advice. Its been that way for over a decade. Elite competitors know that there is a science to getting stronger and peaking for an event. There are often things that experienced coaches can see that others are unaware of. Many of these aspects are small in detail but huge in payoff. The results are often immediate and amazing. To my shock the subject of nutrition has come up more and more frequently in the last year. While I find it great that athletes are taking an interest in upping every part of their game I feel they are over investing in the subject without educating themselves first.

Provide adequate nutrition for training, recovery, and competition, all while maintaining an ideal weight for the athlete to compete at. Sometimes the athlete must gain or lose weight to accommodate their goals and the diet is going to be mostly responsible for this task.

Humans are biological machines, not mechanical ones, and sometimes small changes in eating will affect one person more than another. In cases like this a where your diet is extremely sensitive a pro can really help out. Also, sticking to the plan all the time helps understand how the system is succeeding or failing the athlete. This leaves room for human error and makes perfecting the diet more difficult.

Paleo, Ketogenic diet for athletes, Zone, If It Fits Your Macros? All different styles of diets. They simply differ in ratios of proteins, fats, and carbs eaten and what the sources of those foods are. But they have one thing in common that must be understood:

Many diets share one commonality: control calories.

Depending on the foods you like you can find a diet that fits your schedule and goals. A mass diet and weight loss diet really only vary in one aspect: are the calories more or less than you need to maintain weight?

Quite honestly (and this is a huge take away point from this article) the diet probably worked so well because Athlete X was free eating (no plan and just eating whatever) and started to control their calories because they paid money to be on a diet. This is part of the placebo effect. X wanted the diet to work, followed the diet exactly, hence cutting much junk food from their daily routine. The fact that they paid for it will have a greater impact on their commitment and their ability succeeded. By all means, if you need nutrition help and the only way you stay on plan is to pay for it, then do so.

There is literally a calculator for your metabolic rate and calorie outline on the internet for every single diet plan out there, free. If you are willing to take control of your food choices and consumption you can do this yourself.

I have worked with and been friends with a large number of NFL and NHL athletes. The abilities of these people are in the top one percent of the one percent. To the amazement of many fans, their diets are often that of a college frat boy. The same is true for many strongmen, too. While they may say they have a tight nutrition plan, just observe them eating at contests. Plate after plate of food is consumed with little thought to any fact other than the enjoyment. Protein first, and then pile it on.

Its difficult to be undernourished in the United States. Food is relatively inexpensive and easy to get. Your body tells you if you are hungry and fatigue levels should indicate that you may not be consuming enough. Humans are also super efficient at saving calories for later and adjusting the metabolism to deal with the food they are given. Consistent weight gain or weight loss is often a challenge.

Athletes want to believe they are doing everything they can to be a success. Making sure the diet is working is part of that process Never forget health and wellbeing are important too. This is a short career for anyone and you should be concerned about the long term effects of your diet choices. Also some diets (like Keto) are touted to have medical benefits that may help people with illnesses. Make sure the program fits the situation.

Visible muscles have no impact on the outcome of an event. Some athletes perform their best at 7 percent body fat others at 20. May athletes assume they will perform better if they are more muscular. This Rocky IV effect isnt always true. Muscle costs a lot of energy to run. Plan around performance not vanity.

This topic wouldnt leave my thoughts after having a 90 minute conversation with Dr. Trevor Kashey, most likely the smartest guy in the sports nutrition field today. One of the points he made was that he spends more of his time trying to talk his athletes and normal clients out of doing complicated plans, but instead having a better relationship with food. His concern seemed centered around anyone being able to get it together for 90 days, but is this really the best plan for long term success?

When I work with my my athletes, I explain that following the plan I set up long term (years, not months) will have them see the best gains for their entire career. Basic exercises combined with the correct volume and frequency scheme will provide the athlete with a great amount of strength and foundation. Eating whole food (like meats, vegetables and starches) in reasonable amounts is the same way to think about athletic nutrition. Build a foundation that you can work with day in and day out and you only then need minor adjustments to fit your competition schedule during the year.

Featured image: @savickas_bigz in Instagram

Editors note: This article is an op-ed. The views expressed herein are the authors and dont necessarily reflect the views of BarBend. Claims, assertions, opinions, and quotes have been sourced exclusively by the author.

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8 Questions Strength Athletes Should Ask About Their Diets - BarBend (blog)

May 1, 2017 -- Conventional wisdom has long held that salty foods boost our thirst and lead us to drink more water. But can salt also lead us to eat more, as well?

Researchers have begun to explore salts previously unknown role in hunger and weight gain. Several recent studies shed light on why salt may encourage us to overeat.

Until now, we have always focused on the effect of salt on blood pressure, says Jens Titze, MD, associate professor of medicine and of molecular physiology and biophysics at Vanderbilt University in Nashville. We have to expand our conceptions of salt and diet.

Titze was the lead researcher on a new study challenging the notion that salty foods make us thirsty. Instead, he found that people who eat high amounts of salt actually drink less water than those who have smaller amounts of salt in their diet. They also become hungrier. Over the long term, that boost in appetite could lead us to overeat and gain weight.

For the study, published last month, Titze and his colleagues gained access to a unique group of subjects: Ten Russian astronauts -- or cosmonauts -- preparing for the rigors of space travel to Mars. The space flight simulation, which lasted for months, provided a stable environment for the researchers to study how salt affected them.

Throughout the study, the cosmonauts' diet did not vary except in one key way: The researchers changed the amount of salt in their food. The study subjects began on a diet that included 12 grams of salt per day. Thats about twice the amount recommended by U.S. dietary guidelines. After several weeks, researchers reduced their salt to 9 grams per day. The cosmonauts ate 6 grams of salt daily during the final third of the study period.

What happened over the course of the study upended the researchers expectations: The cosmonauts drank more water as their salt intake dropped.

We simply could not understand it, says Titze.

Titze describes another surprise. The cosmonauts complained of hunger while on the high-salt diet.

We said you cant be hungry, youre getting the same amount of food, says Titze. The only thing thats changed is the amount of salt.

Sodium, the main ingredient in salt, is an essential part of our diet, and not just for flavor. It keeps our muscles and nerves working properly, and it helps our bodies maintain the proper balance of fluids.

But when sodium levels rise too high, blood pressure often goes up as well. Over time, high blood pressure can have serious, life-threatening consequences. It can lead to stroke, heart attack, kidney disease, and other health problems.

To protect against high blood pressure, U.S. dietary guidelines recommend that we get less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium per day. Thats about a teaspoon of salt. According to the American Heart Association, the ideal target for most adults is no more than 1,500 milligrams daily.

Most adults, however, get far too much. The CDC estimates that the average American adult eats 3,400 grams every day.

In the last several years, scientists have begun to investigate whether salt affects obesity. Heres what they have found:

Keast, a professor of food science and head of the Centre for Advanced Sensory Science at Deakin University said in an email that he believes salt encourages people to eat more.

While these studies show a link between salt and body fat, increased eating, and obesity, they dont show that salt makes any of those things happen. More research needs to be done to fully understand salts role.

Lori Roman, president of the Salt Institute, said in an email that her nonprofit trade group continues to follow the science closely as it develops.

She says research shows that cattle ranchers use saltto cut their animals' appetites and limit how much feed they eat.

This longstanding research and other research on humans would lead us to question any claims that salt might increase obesity, Roman wrote. She added that Americans eat in the normal range when it comes to salt.

In the space flight simulation study, the authors did not understand why the cosmonauts drank less and became hungrier on the higher-salt diet, so they turned to mice to find out. This study revealed that when mice ate a high-salt diet, their livers produced a substance called urea, which helps keep the body's water in balance. But producing urea requires lots of energy, says Titze. In other words, it requires food, specifically protein. And that need could be what caused the astronauts hunger.

The fact that they didnt drink more but wanted to eat more was interesting, says Vijaya Surampudi, MD, assistant professor of medicine and assistant director of the Weight Management Program at UCLA. It means that there are mechanisms at work that we dont yet understand.

Mark Zeidel, MD, says the study raises important new questions and may shed light on what drives our appetites.

What this study makes clear is that we need to better understand how things like appetite and thirst are controlled, says Zeidel, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and chairman of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

The control of appetite is very, very complex.

Future research will tell more about Titze's findings. In the meantime, Titze offers this advice: If youre on a diet and trying to reduce the amount of food you eat but you always feel hungry, start thinking of salt. Perhaps reducing it may help you.

Lowering how much salt you eat can be tough, says Lauren Blake, a registered dietitian at Ohio State Universitys Wexner Medical Center. Here are her tips:

Jens Titze, MD, associate professor of medicine and of molecular physiology and biophysics, Vanderbilt University, Nashville.

Lauren Blake, registered dietitian, Wexner Medical Center, Ohio State University, Columbus.

Russell Keast, PhD, professor of food science and head of the Centre for Advanced Sensory Science, Deakin University, Burwood, Victoria, Australia.

Vijaya Surampudi, MD, assistant professor of medicine, division of human nutrition, and assistant director, Weight Management Program, University of California, Los Angeles.

Mark Zeidel, MD, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, and chairman of medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston.

Lori Roman, president, Salt Institute.

CDC: Get the Facts: Sodium and the Dietary Guidelines, Salt.

American Heart Association: Sodium and Your Health, Shaking the Salt Habit to Lower High Blood Pressure.

Bolhuis, D. Journal of Nutrition, April 2016.

Grimes, C. British Journal of Nutrition, March 28, 2016.

Rakova, N. Journal of Clinical Investigation, April 17, 2017.

Kitada, K. Journal of Clinical Investigation, April 17, 2017.

Zhu, H. Pediatrics, January 2014.

More here:
The Connection Between Salt and Weight - WebMD

I recognized Theresa from her workplace. And I noticed that she had lost weight, so I asked her how she did it.

Heres her story in a nutshell.

Since January 2016, she has lost more than 80 pounds. She credits four landmark changes that have turned out to have enormous and long-lasting effects.

Theresa tried pills, shakes and specialty diets, and none worked for the long haul. So her first step in this last attempt to lose weight was to become part of a group of like-minded people. There was a financial commitment to join, but she decided the outcome would be worth the investment. Plus, all those pills, shakes and specialty diets cost something too and that investment didnt work out. She found that the group provides encouragement, accountability and education, which has proven to be invaluable to keep her on task.

Secondly, she has changed what she consumes. The most dramatic step was taking in absolutely no pop diet pop used to be her go-to choice, and as of today, Theresa has not had one single drop of pop in almost a year and a half. Additionally, her healthier choices in diet include being willing to try new foods (such as salmon), rather than the standard burger and fries option. Plus, shes eating far more vegetables and fresh fruits.

The third change came about a month after her decision to join the group. She decided to join a workout facility and a friend joined with her. The immediate results of uplifting her mental state and clearing her mind added to the rewards of losing weight and getting in shape. Primarily she exercised on the bike and treadmill, starting with only 10 or 15 minutes. But now, nearly a year and a half later, she uses the elliptical machine for 45 minutes as her confidence and fitness level has blossomed.

Being more confident, fostering a sense of determination, plus the instant reward received when people notice are unexpected and very welcomed byproducts of her weight loss commitment.

The last change she noted is in doing everyday life, the moving about. Whereas before she used drive-thru, now that just isnt an option. She thinks, Get those extra steps! Now she parks farther away from the entrance than ever before to get just a pinch more activity. Having a desk job is an ongoing obstacle, but she continues to overcome it by getting in every extra step she can think of having a record-keeping device helps, too. She aims for minimally 10,000 steps daily.

Theresas main inspiration is her family. With three young nephews whom she adores and wishes to be an active part of their lives for a long time, plus a sister getting married this summer, the goal to lose weight catapulted to a top priority. But now that shes felt and seen the results, she welcomes these lifestyle changes with their results, even if her sister would not be getting married. Theresas health flirted with problems like high blood pressure and cholesterol, so getting healthier motivated her, too. After almost a year and a half of allowing the affects of exercise and good diet to run their course, Theresa no longer requires prescription drugs to keep cholesterol levels in check since her levels are now normal.

Also, the mental burden of wanting to get healthier, and not doing it, has been lifted through this journey and she feels overall happier and more confident. Theresa also sleeps more soundly. Plus, shopping is way more exciting as a matter of fact, shes had to buy a whole new wardrobe. Her experience early on of shopping for new pants, and discovering that she had to buy pants two sizes down, is motivating and invigorating to recall.

Speaking of recalling things, Theresa shared her fear of flying, not because of heights but because the seats were uncomfortably small for her. Today, the possibility of flying isnt so frightening, and she looks forward to flying to Florida to visit her friend who is battling cancer.

If you asked this 36-year-old conqueror today for advice shed tell you, Never give up. Its not out of your reach and be patient. Nine months into her program, she hit a plateau, so she knows personally how important it is to be patient, and to accept the gradual improvements.

Theresa plans to shed another 60-65 pounds by continuing to do what shes doing over the next year making specific lifestyle changes, which add up to big rewards.

Sheri Lynn Essian, of Bad Axe, is personal trainer certified through the National Exercise Trainers Association.

Read the original post:
Another success story - Huron Daily Tribune

As summer approaches, looking good in a swim suit is on everyones mind. A quick Google search of, tips for weight loss will result in a lot of conflicting information that is largely unreliable. Sometimes you just need to take the word of an expert someone with years of experience shedding pounds, building muscle, and staying in shape.

The Daily Meal spoke with bodybuilding champ turned personal chef Carlo Filippone to talk about transitioning from the gym to the kitchen, clean eating, weight loss, and how to get defined abs for summer. Filippone is currently the personal chef for model and actor Tyson Beckford, and if youve ever seen Beckford (clothed or shirtless), youll realize that Filippone really knows what hes talking about.

The Daily Meal: What was the hardest part of transitioning from body builder to chef?

Carlo Filippone: Food has always been something that I loved. Creating healthy meals came very natural to me. That being said, I had to give very strong consideration to the menu items I created. I had to ensure that every menu item was not only nutritious, but delicious and appealing as well. Bodybuilders diets typically aren't the most flavorsome!

Is there a particular abs diet that helps get that six pack?

No two metabolisms are created equal, so when it comes to getting defined abs, each case is unique. However, there are some universal pointers that transcend natural genetic differences, such as consistent clean eating, moderate aerobic activity, moderate anaerobic activity, and mental stability.

A great dietary measuring stick from a macronutrient perspective is the 80/20 rule where you consume a combined 80 percent of your daily calories from lean proteins and complex carbohydrates and only 20 percent of your calories from fats. A great rule of thumb is to consume 50 percent of your calories from lean proteins (lean poultry, lean white fish, egg whites, and lean cuts of red meat) and 30 percent of your calories from complex carbohydrate sources (oats, potatoes, yams, rice, quinoa) and only 20 percent of your calories from fats (stick to olive oils, raw nuts, avocados, coconut oil, macadamia nut oil). Combine that formula with a healthy dose of physical activity and reduced-stress levels... and you have a perfect recipe!

Is there a safe way to lose five pounds in a week?

Yes! Some people will tell you to work out twice per day or hit the sauna or something of that nature, however... Most people's diets are so bad that simply cutting out simple sugars will work (sweetened beverages are the biggest culprits). Think about this: A Grande Frappuccino from Starbucks contains 72 grams of carbohydrates 69 of those from simple sugars! If you consume one per day, you would be consuming almost 2,000 calories from sugar in just the Frappuccino alone! And if youre not consuming sugars, then consider your sodium intake! Eliminating sodium-laden foods could immediately drop your body weight by eliminating water-retention.

What percentage body fat do you need to be before your abs are defined?

I've seen great ab definition in people with three percent body fat and then I've seen great ab definition in people with 20 percent body fat! Again, it comes down to genetics however, most of us fall into the eight to fifteen percent body fat bracket in order to show true abdominal definition.

What are the best foods to eat before (and after) lifting weights?

If you are going to consume fresh fruit... this is the time to do it! The natural sugars will elevate your blood-sugar levels prior to your workout and help them rebound post workout. If you are not a fruit person, then starchy "white" carbs (potatoes, white rice) will work well. At the end of a workout, you should consume carbs, but combine them with a high-quality protein either by way of a whey protein shake or a lean meat protein.

Are there any particular foods that should be avoided at all cost?

Yes... Absolutely! Processed foods! These include cheeses, bread, "snack" items, cured meats (bacon) and food items with added sugars high fructose corn syrup most particularly!

Original post:
Bodybuilding Champion Turned Personal Chef Talks All Things Summer Fitness - The Daily Meal

Pippa Middleton leaving her London gym. Photo: TheImageDirect.com

Pippa Middletons upcoming May 20 wedding to British man James Matthews may be under threat by normal people, but the royal sister-in-law isnt letting that distract her from getting ready for her big day. E! News reports Middleton has been prepping by working out at an exclusive London gym, in addition to following the Sirtfood Diet, which one expert warns is extremely restrictiveand can potentially cause long-term health problems.

On Wednesday, E! News published pictures of Middleton leaving private fitness center KX gym in Chelsea after an hour-and-fifteen-minute Pilates class, accompanied by a report that detailed Middletons use of the Sirtfood Diet, which was created by health consultants Aidan Goggins and Glen Matten. The diet is all about eating foods that are high in polyphenols micronutrients found in plant foods which supposedly help activate a persons sirtuin (or skinny) genes. In other words, the diet claims that by sticking with 20 so-called Sirtfoods including strawberries, kale, arugula, red wine, and walnuts youll burn more fat and your metabolism will speed up.

While that may sound great in theory (especially the part about red wine), registered dietitian Brigitte Zeitlin told the Cut that the diet is actually quite dangerous. Thats because, as Zeitlin explained, the diet is broken down into two phases, as detailed in the creators book, The SirtFood Diet. During a persons first week on the diet, theyre only supposed to consume 1,000 calories a day for three days through three Sirtfood juices and one meal a day (recipes for such meals and juices are included in the book and online). Then, for the remainder of the week, the amount of calories they consume is upped to 1,500 a day, through two juices and two meals.

The second phase of the diet is a maintenance phase that lasts for two weeks, involving three Sirtfood meals and one juice each day. After that, a person can repeat the process all over again (starting from week one), or merely stick with the maintenance phase for however long they want. Zeitlin confirmed that yes, a person would likely lose weight on this diet due to its overly restrictive nature, but theyd also be starving themselves in the process and would merely gain the weight back once they started eating again.

Its unhealthy and unsafe to eat below 1,200 calories a day, Zeitlin told the Cut. In addition to not giving yourself the proper energy and nutrients you need each day youre on this fad diet, eventually youre going to go off of it. Youre going to gain all of the weight you lost back, and more often than not, youre going to gain even more weight back.

Brides who are hoping to get in shape for their big day or even those of us hoping to shed the doughnut weight from our winter hibernation should pursue a healthier option rather than follow Middletons lead, according to the registered dietitian. The best thing a person could do for their health, she said, is to ensure that theyre getting a variety of whole fruits and vegetables, as well as lean protein, each day. This is far healthier than yo-yo dieting, like you would on the Sirtfood diet, she explained, since going up and down in weight has been shown to be bad for your heart, to screw up your metabolism, to cause stress on your body, and to lead to inflammation.

Extreme diets like this dont work, Zeitlin said. Most brides usually burn out on them, and they get incredibly cranky because theyre starving themselves. At a time when youre already incredibly stressed out, the last thing you need to do is add in the stressful factor of not eating properly.

Besides, as Celebitchy points out, the photographs E! News published of Middleton leaving KX gym which, of course, just so happens to have a restaurant that features a Sirtfood Dietfriendly menu seem to be pretty staged, suggesting that perhaps, like most other things celebrity-related, Middletons wedding prep might just be spon-con.

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Invalid Date, New York Media LLC.

The rest is here:
Don't Follow Pippa Middleton's 'Extremely Restrictive' Wedding Diet - New York Magazine

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