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We all want to do the best by our horses, but modern management practices arent always helpful when you strive to make your horse #fitnotfat. It can be a difficult balance for many horse owners to meet their horses mental, physical and dietary needs, as well as keep an eye on their horses waistline.

There are two lifestyle areas physical and mental wellbeing, and diet that you can reassess to improve your horses quality of life.

Getting him out and moving will benefit your horse mentally and physically, but access to too much grazing can cause his waistline to expand. Grass intake needs to be regulated by type of field, size of field, number of horses grazing and use of grazing muzzles.

When turnout is not possible, alternative access to outdoor space and equine company is important.

Interaction between horses increases the amount they move when turned out.

Any field can be adapted to encourage greater movement. There are some fabulous guides to this available. Track system expert Dr Tamzin Furtado recommends this online article about grazing systems, the book Paddock Paradise by Jaime Jackson, and the Facebook group Track Systems UK.

Consider sharing your horse if you struggle to find the time yourself.

Adding variety can stop you and your horse from getting bored. Try schooling, jumping, hacking, and in-hand.

This can also make him work harder. Use your arena, but also work him on grass and roads, incorporate hill work and, if possible, in water.

This will encourage movement and your horse will expend excess calories to keep himself warm.

Safe toys and trickle-feeders, such as treat balls, can be used to increase movement and create mental stimulation in order to access food.

Where there is a need to supplement the diet with hay or concentrate feed, this can be done in a way that increases movement; for example, by dividing up rations and locating them in different parts of the field.

Only feed hard/concentrate feed if forage intake is at a maximum/ad-lib and more energy is required in order for your horse to carry out the work he does. Speak to a nutritionist for advice on this.

Where forage intake needs to be limited, try to slow the rate of feeding by using trickle feeding nets and grazing muzzles. Strip grazing (when done correctly) and track systems can slow grass intake.

Have you heard about Your Horses#FitNotFatcampaign, which is supported by Dodson & Horrell? Equine obesity is an enormous welfare problem and were on a mission to provide owners and riders with the knowledge, skills and information you need to keep your horse in tip-top health. It could be life saving! Findoutmore

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11 ways to improve your horse's diet and help to keep him healthy - Your Horse

Father Terry Martin, a Catholic priest in West Sussex, became a vegan almost three years ago. The transition was fairly abrupt: he was alone eating a roast dinner with his dog Pepe on his knees (I know, he says. Terrible.) when he was struck by the realisation that the animal he was eating had been just as sentient as the one sitting on my lap.

At the time, Pepe, a cockapoo, was also a strict carnivore. I actually raw-fed him, so talk about going from the ridiculous to the sublime, says Martin. Raw-feeding involved buying prepared, frozen raw-meat meals and defrosting them. He liked it, and for a while I was a bit of an advocate for it, but when my ethics led me to become vegan myself I thought, I cant actually have meat and dairy products in the house any more. Its just not something Im prepared to do. So I looked into vegan food for dogs.

These days, both of Father Terrys dogs, Pepe and George a more recent rescue eat a plant-based diet. By the time Id got George Id gone vegan, so he was vegan from day one with me, but of course he was six months old when he came to me off the streets of Greece, and I dont know what hed been eating before.

Projections suggest that the global vegan pet food market, worth $9.6bn (7.8bn) in 2020, will generate $16.3bn annually by 2030. Until recently, choice was limited, but several new UK based brands including The Pack, Omni and Noochy Poochy have started up in the past few years. In 2020, Lilys Kitchen a natural pet food brand that includes vegan dog food was acquired by Nestl Purina PetCare, the second-largest pet food company in the world.

But the idea of vegan dog food is still greeted with scepticism and, in the case of the British Veterinary Association (BVA), an abundance of caution. The organisations official advice suggests that while dogs can theoretically be fed a vegan diet that meets their nutritional needs, not enough is known about the effects to consider it safe.

We dont recommend it yet, just because the long-term studies havent been done, says Justine Shotton, the president of the BVA. While the short-term studies that weve seen suggest it could be just as good as other types of food, there hasnt been the evidence base of lifelong studies of feeding these pets these foods.

Advice from the Pet Food Manufacturers Association (PFMA) is just as circumspect. Although it says that dogs are omnivores and can adapt to a well-balanced vegetarian diet, its fact sheet on the subject maintains that vegan foods (no animal products) should be carefully checked by a vet or animal nutritionist as they may be deficient in arginine, lysine, methionine, tryptophan, taurine, iron, calcium, zinc, vitamin A and some B vitamins. Meticulous attention to detail would be needed to assure nutritional adequacy and palatability.

It also cites studies showing that dogs fed a vegetarian diet were often deficient in protein, essential amino acids and other nutrients, but the studies are old, predating the much wider availability of commercially prepared complete plant-based foods.

Michelle Thomas has been a vegan for six years. Her two-year-old Hungarian vizsla, Loki, went vegan at 10 months, after a recommended two-month transition period.

Being vegan myself, what I was feeding my dogs was becoming increasingly troubling to me, as it went against the way I was living, Thomas says. So I started looking into whether I could safely feed my dog a plant-based diet.

Was it primarily an ethical decision? Absolutely, its ethical, she says. And its also hugely environmental. Were in a true planetary emergency, and we can no longer ignore the part that animal agriculture is playing in destroying the planet.

Plant-based pet feeding is often presented as a time-consuming challenge, but Thomas insists its no more trouble than what she was doing before. She feeds Loki a commercial vegan kibble called Solo Vegetal, made from rice, potato, spinach, apple, carrot and different vegetable proteins. Its expensive roughly the same cost as any special diet pet food from a veterinary practice but no supplements are required. I have absolute confidence in it, Thomas says. And if I didnt, you know, I would be struggling with my principles and my ethics and probably feeding him something I didnt want to feed him.

Rachael was also a committed vegan, but didnt initially feel the need to force her two dogs a border terrier and a labrador to adhere to her regime. Id always been very much of the opinion: of course dogs need meat theyre carnivores, she said. Theyre descended from wolves they have to have it.

Like Thomas and Father Terry, Rachaels search for more information on plant-based pet feeding led her to Dr Arielle Griffiths MRCVS, a veterinarian and the director of Just Be Kind Dog Food, who offers nutritional advice and vegan dog food recommendations on her Just Be Kind website.

Griffiths, it transpires, was also a relatively recent convert to veganism, both for herself and her dog Ruff. Four years ago, I would have never dreamed that I would be going down this path, she says. Because we were buying normal dog food. I mean my husband would go on to Amazon and say: OK, lets see what the cheapest food is at the moment.

Griffiths mission began while she was working as a vet for the animal charity the Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA). I had one particularly gruelling day where I had to put four animals to sleep for obesity-related illness cats and dogs, she says. It was horrible. I got home and I just said: No, this is crazy. Im going to do something about this obesity epidemic.

Griffiths threw herself into the study of pet nutrition, and was surprised by what she found. The more I looked at it, the more I realised that, just like humans, the more plants you add into the diet, the healthier the pet will be.

People cite different reasons for moving their dogs to a plant-based diet. Some of the concerns are ethical the owners are usually vegan themselves. There is also the issue of sustainability: pets consume a fifth of the worlds meat and fish, although much of that is a byproduct of meat production for human consumption. Increasingly, however, people are putting their pets on vegan diets for their health.

This flies in the face of conventional thinking, which is that a vegan diet is only potentially feasible for dogs, and wholly unsuitable for cats. I think its important to recognise that while dogs theoretically can eat a vegetarian or vegan diet, cats are obligate carnivores, and we really do not recommend feeding them this because of the very serious health concerns that can result, says Shotton.

Griffiths disagrees, even when it comes to cats. Cats are so unhealthy in this country, terribly unhealthy obesity problems and allergy problems, and arthritis problems, she says. If cats were to go plant-based, wed see a huge change in health in cats.

Both cats and dogs have very specific nutritional requirements, including vitamins, amino acids and essential fatty acids that are normally found in meat. But supplemental nutrients are often added into ordinary dog food anyway, because processing eliminates them, and supplements including vitamin D3, omega fatty acids, L-carnitine and tryptophan can be derived from non-meat sources.

As long as youve got those, the protein levels you can get with plants is equivalent to the protein levels that you can get with meat and fish, says Griffiths. Most plant-based complete pet foods meet the nutritional guidelines set out by the PFMA and the European Pet Food Industry Federation (FEDIAF). But not all do.

There are some plant-based companies, sadly, in the UK that dont follow the proper FEDIAF guidelines, says Griffiths. Theyve been around for a long time, theyre not balanced and they havent got these valuable additions. They havent followed the times.

Because of the nutritional complexities surrounding plant-based feeding, it has been suggested that people who feed their pets an insufficiently nutritional vegan diet could face fines or even imprisonment for animal cruelty, but this ignores one important fact: pet owners are already presiding over a growing, and largely unpunished, obesity epidemic.

A recent survey-based study published in the journal Plos One showed that dogs on vegan diets actually had on average fewer veterinary visits than those on meat diets, and fewer health disorders. The reasons for this are not known, but the author of the study, Prof Andrew Knight, said: One of the most common health problems for dogs is being overweight or obese and it is unfortunately common that when we do tests on the commercial meat-based diets, there are more calories.

Another study conducted by the Ontario Veterinary College last year found that cats that were fed a plant-based diet about 20% of the survey sample also suffered fewer adverse health effects than meat-eating cats, as well as a similar lifespan.

Although vegan herself, Rachael had been feeding her border terrier a raw meat diet, hoping it might alleviate his lifelong stomach troubles. Id heard so many things about how miraculous it was when it came to curing dogs of absolutely everything under the sun, she says. No matter what condition it is, stick em on a raw diet and theyll get better.

So what happened?

Number one, he hated it, says Rachael. You could immediately tell he was not keen, but they say persevere with it. Dont feed them anything else, and eventually theyll get so hungry they start eating. Well, yeah, that happened.

The raw food was one stop in a long search to find a diet that would ease the dogs gastric issues, beginning with a variety of different meats. We tried every animal under the sun, Rachael says. I think we were down to: Lets try crocodile next. It was that bad, trying to find a food that would not make him horrifically ill four or five days a week.

She tried an insect-protein diet based largely on the black soldier fly larvae, but that didnt help. Then came the barf diet, short for biologically appropriate raw food. The raw feeding movement gained a lot of interest after a 2007 recall of more than 5,000 pet food products worldwide, due to contamination with melamine and cyanuric acid. The resulting suspicion of processed pet food led to people seeking out more natural alternatives. The barf diet is supposed to replicate how animals might feed in the wild.

Unfortunately for Rachaels terrier, barf was more than just an acronym. He ended up in the vets twice with two really quite nasty campylobacter infections, which manifested as really extreme vomiting, and just blood pouring out of his back end, she says. We always bought the raw food from really reputable suppliers, but at the end of the day, youve been defrosting a load of meat and offal and putting it in a bowl and feeding it to your dog.

She had wanted to switch him to a vegan diet, largely for environmental reasons, but was wary, given his health issues. So she started vegan-feeding her other dog, a labrador, first.

Almost like a guinea pig that sounds terrible, she says. But hes got an iron constitution, that dog. He once ate an entire bag of chocolate coins at Christmas, with the foil.

When the lab took to the vegan food immediately, she tried it out on the terrier.

What I wasnt expecting was that it would almost and I say almost because Id be lying if I said they were completely gone but it almost cured him of stomach issues that had plagued him for 10 years of his life, she says. A very happy side-effect.

In the long history of her dogs problems, the possibility that a plant-based diet might help had never been put to her. No vet had ever said to me, try taking the animal products out of the diet and see if that helps, she says. It was always: Remove the grain, try this meat, try that meat, have you tried goat, have you tried kangaroo?

All of the owners I spoke to said their dogs were healthy and happy on a plant-based diet. Hes perfect, spot-on weight, says Thomas of Loki. Super-happy, fit, massively high energy. And yeah, just hes just loving life. None of them said the switch was difficult Father Terry didnt bother with the recommended transition period, because his dog loved the food straight away.

But they all stressed the importance of educating yourself thoroughly before transitioning a dog to a plant-based diet.

You have to do your research and know what youre feeding, says Rachael. I have come across the occasional person who has tried feeding their dog plant-based, and Ive looked at what theyve been feeding them and thought, thats not quite right.

I think the question is not really whether the food we feed our dogs is vegan or not, says Thomas. The question is more: if I can feed my dog a delicious, nutritious, balanced food thats healthier for them, kinder to other beings and kinder to the environment, then why on earth wouldnt I?

Rachael remains wary about the idea of feeding pets a plant-based diet solely for ideological reasons, because all dogs have individual needs. My dogs are my absolute world, and I would never do anything that I felt could jeopardise their health or happiness just because it would make me feel better, she says. I dont say that my dogs are vegan. I cant make my dogs vegan any more than I can make them support Labour.

She is also wary of the backlash that the owners who feed their dogs a plant-based diet can face on social media. On Facebook, Ive tried entering into conversations with people a couple of times, she says. It goes horribly, horribly, horribly. Ive had people say they want me arrested and imprisoned. For this reason, she asked that her surname and her dogs names not be used.

Given the controversy surrounding vegan pet foods, what did everybodys regular vets think of the switch to a plant-based diet? None of the owners interviewed, it turns out, has quite broken the news.

Ive told the vet nurse, but I havent actually told the vet yet, says Thomas. Just purely because it hasnt come up in conversation.

To be quite honest, even though Ive seen the difference in my dogs health for myself, I wouldnt expect a good reaction, says Rachael. If I have to have the conversation with him at any point I will, but weve not had to go back there for any of the stomach issues.

Even Father Terry hasnt told his vet about what hes feeding Pepe and George. Of course, if they did ask I would be honest about it, he says.

Griffiths, a vet herself, is not despairing about what she sees as closed-mindedness in some of her colleagues.

I feel massively positive, she says, even though l do feel very alone. And I feel like a small voice. But the changes are so great on the human side to be vegan now is the easiest thing in the world.

Read more:
People say they want me arrested: the owners putting their pets on vegan diets - The Guardian

Jenny Wang M.S. 22 and Jeff Kassab M.S. 20 bonded over their shared interest in a consumer-centric approach to climate solutions during their time in the Stanford d.schools Design-Impact program. The project, now known as Sexy Tofu, started out as a capstone project to help people eat more sustainably.

Along with Tony Chen M.S. 19, Wang and Kassab developed an interactive database that offers improvements to your diets carbon footprints. Sexy Tofu compares user data with emissions from cars and land use, putting into perspective how food choices, at scale, can have significant environmental implications.

The Sexy Tofu also suggests how one can reduce the carbon impact of their diet using similar ingredients and funrecipes. The recommendations are based on a global emissions median value. The team is actively working on including more precise data that takes into account a broader range of ingredients.

The Daily sat down with Wang and Kassab to discuss Sexy Tofu and the many iterations they went through since starting the project in 2020.

This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.

The Stanford Daily [TSD]: How did you begin Sexy Tofu?

Jenny Wang [JW]: For our masters degree, we would spend one year working extensively on a project. Jeff and I both wanted to do our part to combat climate change. We started off doing the capstone project on how we can help people to eat more sustainably. Along the journey, we met many people and one of them was Tony.

Jeff Kassab [JK]: I had already graduated at that point. But I still wanted to work on projects that I felt were going to be impactful. Since I was living with Jenny, we ended up doing a lot of brainstorming, trying to do some research around the biggest drivers of global warming. We ended up landing on food sustainability.

The Stanford Daily [TSD]: How would you both describe Sexy Tofu?

Jeff Kassab [JK]: I would say right now were seeing it as very much a tool to do two things. One of them is to educate people on the environmental impact of the food that theyre consuming and the other is to help them actually take action around it. The current beta version is trying to first help people understand what is the actual impact of your food, and then to help people actually make changes to their diets to be more sustainable. The taking action part is still in the works at this point.

Jenny Wang [JW]: We want to be funny, supportive and helpful. So this is something we considered when doing research because both of us are designers. So a very big part of product design development is understanding the users. So for us, this is talking to people who like to cook, who go grocery shopping and others. We understood that people do not want to be preached to do whats better for the environment. Whats better for the environment typically means having more of a plant rich diet, such as avoiding eating a ton of red meat or things like that.

We do understand that everybody has different health conditions, situations, budget and things like that. One thing we learned from research is not to be preachy, which is something that we very much want to embed in the branding of Sexy Tofu.

TSD: Why is it important that Sexy Tofu provides a guilt-free nudge towards a low-carbon diet?

JW: More often than not, if you try to guilt someone into doing something, theyre either going to do it in spite of themselves or not do it at all. If we inform people about the effect of things, then they can make their own informed decisions.

In one of the first design mockups we did, we played around with an artificial intelligence voice message. What if we send some sassy message to our friends to change their behavior for the climate? For example, you should not leave your lights on. The message was a little passive aggressive, with a dry sense of humor to it. Our friends were like, Im just gonna do the opposite of what youre telling me to do. Obviously, that was kind of a joke, but its one example of how guilting someone doesnt work. Food is an especially personal ask as well; everybody has their own culture.

JK: From both our experiments and literature review, I think negative reinforcement rarely ends up resulting in lasting behavioral change.

TSD: I suppose there are arguments for pushing for systematic change in climate solutions as opposed to consumer behavioral change, although both demand- and supply-side stimulus for climate transition are important. Why did the team decide to work on the individual-scale problem?

JK: Our thoughts are, its kind of a group effort. If everyone is informed about what they need to be doing, then hopefully individual actions can lead to systemic change in the longer run.

Were both sustainably conscious people, but we dont understand exactly what we can do and exactly how what were doing affects the environment. So we feel like there are consumers who are like, I care enough to do something if someone tells me what to do, but Im not sure what to do otherwise. If theres a need for it, then why shouldnt we be the ones helping those people and developing a solution around it?

TSD: What are some unexpected lessons you learned from working on Sexy Tofu?

JK: One thing that was hard is that behavioral changes are not easy to do. And so that was one of the first things we spent a lot of time on. We spoke to people who have studied behavioral science for a while, and they advised us.

I think our next iteration will hopefully help us get to a point where we kind of move away from having people do too much on their side, while still keeping the education component on making actual change.

JW: We talked to some people who are working on diet and cooking apps; theres a huge behavioral component to those apps. And usually, [dieting] is something that people keep for a period of time and then drop. So getting the retention rate of customers is all really, really tough.

For us, what we want to figure out is the following: How do we make it extremely simple for people? I think we already made progress in making the platform fun and light-hearted by the branding and the community building aspect without losing credibility. But in terms of the action, how can we remove friction in the process? We talked to behavioral expert Brian Jeffrey Fogg Ph.D. 97, author of Tiny Habits. He said change can happen when there is motivation, ability and prompt. Hopefully, by removing more frictions, Sexy Tofu can help change behaviors.

TSD: What are the next steps for Sexy Tofu?

JW: We are iterating the business model side. Although consumers are ultimately the people who are going to be making the personal choice of food diet, there are a variety of different channels of how that can manifest. The menu in the restaurant could be an avenue where you can have mindful choices or when you grocery shop. So, in terms of the business aspect, we are continuously iterating and prototyping. Were starting off with consumers. We think for individuals to make a diet change or habit change, we need to understand their perspective. Therefore, we will start researching individuals first.

JK: Weve been chatting with some restaurants and with some supermarkets to try and see if we can help consumers make those better decisions. Were still kind of playing around with a few different ideas. Were also working for the quarter on updating the current beta version of Sexy Tofu that we have online, trying to make it potentially more actionable.

This article has been corrected to more accurately reflect the contents of the interview. The Daily regrets this error.

Read more:
Q&A: The developers of Sexy Tofu on creating a platform measuring the carbon footprint of your diet - The Stanford Daily

It's InternationalNo Diet Dayor #Nodietday, as it's known on social media. This day was created by Mary Evans Young in 1992 to celebrate body acceptance, diversity and respect for all body shapes and sizes. This day also brings awareness against diet culture, which uses unrealistic food rules and restrictions to encourage weight lossand/or to control weight. Diet culture prioritizes weight loss (and thinness) over health, but the two aren't synonymous. A growing movement of dietitians are aiming to throw out every food rule you've ever been taught in order to become the happiest, healthiest version of yourself. These are commonly known as "anti-diet dietitians."

The "diet" in "dietitian" simply means "the food that one eats," but the word diet is often associated with a strict food regimen intended to help you lose weight. That's exactly what anti-diet dietitians are speaking out against.

Anti-diet dietitians encourage people to avoid restrictive diets and, instead, practice becoming experts on their own bodies. Their belief is that there is no need to calorie count, eliminate food groups or focus on portion sizes in order to improve health. Instead, you can have full autonomy to decide what to eat, based on how your body feels, your personal goals and your circumstances.

Sound simple? It's not so easy when you live in a culture that hyper-focuses on health and measures it solely by how you look. Diet culture is everywhere, from the grocery store to the doctor's office, and it's loud enough to drown out your intuition about how to treat your body, even at the cost of mental or physical health. Diet culture gets particularly bad around the holidays.

That's why some dietitians now actively advocate against diets, even when it means subverting their own training. One registered dietitian and nutritionist, Dalina Soto, has carved out a niche by fighting diet culture in-person and on social media. She founded Your Latina Nutrition to help Latina women take control of their eating habits and let go of guilt.

"Because I went to school for dietetics, I definitely subscribed to the idea of weight loss for health [at first]," says Soto, who also runs a practice called Nutritiously Yours in Philadelphia. "Once I started practicing and working in the community, I realized that there was so much more to health than what I was taught in a textbook. That's when my whole career turned to that anti-diet message."

I talked to Soto to learn more about why diets can be dangerous and how a diet-free approach can help you get back on track if you're struggling with your body.

Dieting puts you at higher risk of disordered eating.

Diet culture values thinness over all else, including health and well-being. As part of diet culture, it's common to cut out entire food groups (like carbs), reduce portion sizes or otherwise restrict your food in order to achieve weight loss.

But the idea that thinness is the ultimate health goal is a myth. Health is so multidimensional that it could never be reduced to a specific size or number on the scale. In fact, contrary to popular belief, you can't tell much about how healthy someone is simply by looking at them. And while it's OK to lose weight if you want to (or do whatever else you want with your body), diet culture's obsession with thinness is risky on a variety of levels.

Food restriction -- which most diets entail -- is a "slippery slope" that can lead to disordered eating or even a full-blown eating disorder, Soto says. "There's only so much you can restrict until you want to restrict more, and you want to restrict more, and you want to restrict more. And so what we see is that when people chronically diet, they have a higher chance of having an eating disorder."

Diet culture uniquely impacts people of color, too. "Unfortunately in people of color, eating disorders are underdiagnosed because we don't fit the mold of looking frail and really small," she says. "A lot of the time, our bodies are different."

Diets can also be unrealistic. Many people who diet end up in a cycle of "yo-yo dieting" -- repeatedly losing weight and then gaining it back. This can be hard on your body, not to mention your mental state. "When you look at the data, most diets fail, about 95% of them, because people can't live so restrictive," Soto says.

The anti-diet approach allows you to tap into your intuition about how to nourish your unique body.

In place of diets, Soto teaches "intuitive eating," a method that helps you develop eating habits that meet your individual needs, such as satisfaction, pleasure and nutrition -- regardless of size. Some anti-diet dietitians also practice the "Health at Every Size" approach, which promotes balanced, flexible eating habits without size stigma.

Soto never advises her clients to restrict food, nor does she believe in "good" or "bad" foods. She teaches that all foods have nutrition, and you should have a variety of foods in your meals (including plenty of carbs!). Rather than restricting, Soto says you can always add nutrition, such as an extra fruit or vegetable, if it'll taste good and you want to. That means no more guilt, which can be a huge relief to those who are used to berating themselves for eating the "wrong" meal.

Intuitive eating can help you learn to listen to your body without shame. "Every day you're going to have different needs and different wants. We're humans, we obviously are not robots, and so we're going to expend energy differently every single day," Soto says. On days where you expend a lot of energy due to stress or extra movement, for example, you might feel hungrier and need to eat more.

As you develop sustainable eating practices, you will find and settle into your body's natural weight -- no more yo-yo dieting. Weight loss may or may not happen, and there's no shame either way.

There are no "good" or "bad" foods, according to the anti-diet or intuitive eating approach.

If health isn't about weight, then what is it about? According to anti-diet dietitians, you have the right to decide what health means to you and how much of a priority you want it to be.

"It's really hard to let go of the buzz, so I often just challenge people to really ask themselves: 'What would health be for me when it's not a look and it's not a size?' Because you could always achieve that without the restriction," Soto says.

For many of her clients, she says, health involves feeling comfortable in their bodies or being able to do certain activities, like running up a flight of stairs without losing breath. These are goals that are often hard to achieve under the strict rules of diet culture and food restriction.

It's also important to note that there are many different dimensions of health, and only some of them are in your individual control. There are also "social determinants of health," like where you live and how much access you have to health care, per the US Department of Health and Human Services.

One principle of the HAES approach is that health is not a moral imperative -- no one is obligated to strive to be healthy, especially when health is inaccessible to many groups of people.

"Health is very individualized," Soto says. "We have to let go of this notion and idea that everybody's going to be healthy, and that in order for us to be worthy and treated with dignity by the medical system, that we have to be healthy." She adds, "There's people that are born with chronic issues, have genetic conditions, or due to whatever reason are never going to be 'textbook healthy.' But that doesn't mean that we have to treat them different or that they're less valuable as a human."

If you do have a medical condition that requires a special diet, anti-diet dietitians are qualified to help with that, too.

Many traditional cultural foods don't fit into diet culture, but are packed with nutrition.

Diet culture in the US doesn't make much room for people from non-American and non-European cultural backgrounds, whose traditional foods often don't fit into the MyPlate model of nutrition. In fact, many staple cultural foods are shamed by health enthusiasts for being "unhealthy," like white rice and beans. But by trying to "healthify" traditional foods, people of color run the risk of erasing their cultures and missing out on the nutrition that was already packed into those meals, according to Soto.

Also, Soto says, traditional foods aren't the real culprit behind the health disparities that plague many communities of color. "The main issue is health equity. We have to look at the broad picture here and look at who actually has access to quality health care and who doesn't. Who has access to supermarkets, salaried jobs, paid time off -- things that are sometimes out of our control that definitely affect our health," she says. "Health is affected by so much more than just what we eat and how we move."

"How is it that in our countries, people aren't sick eating our foods, but then they come to the US and they are?" she asks.

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If you'd like to improve your relationship with food or work on your health outside of the pressures of diet culture, an anti-diet dietitian may be worth a try.

Soto is just one of a growing number of anti-diet dietitians across the US. To find one in your region, look for a registered dietitian who practices "intuitive eating" or the "Health at Every Size" approach. Other key terms to look for include "weight inclusive," "fat positive," "body positive," "non-diet dietitian" and of course, "anti-diet dietitian." Some registered dietitians take insurance.

Soto also emphasizes that finding a culturally competent dietitian who will respect and understand your traditional foods can be just as important as finding an anti-diet one. "If the dietitian is willing to learn and understand what your cultural foods are, I think whether she's anti-diet or not, that's a first step," she says.

By doing your research and asking questions, you can find the right dietitian for you, no matter your health goals. "In the era of the internet and reviews and things like that, it's much easier to find someone that is willing to listen to you and be a right fit," Soto says.

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.

Read this article:
International No Diet Day: Why You Should Ditch Your Diet, and What to Do Instead - CNET

People with higher levels of certain antioxidants in their blood may be less likely to develop dementia later on, a new study shows.

This adds to growing evidence that eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables rich in these phytonutrients may have long-term benefits for the brain.

Researchers caution that more research is needed before we know how much and which of these antioxidants have the biggest impact on lowering the risk of dementia.

This study may indicate that only certain types of carotenoids may be effective at reducing the risk for dementia, and those may include lutein+zeaxanthin and beta-cryptoxanthin, said study author May Beydoun, PhD, an epidemiologist with the National Institutes of Healths National Institute on Aging in Baltimore.

However, without evidence from randomized controlled trials, it is too early to advise people to make changes in their diet, she added.

Researchers used data on over 7,200 participants from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES 1988-1994).

People were 45 to 90 years old at their first study visit and were followed for an average of 16 to 17 years and for up to 26 years.

All participants were free of dementia at the first visit, during which they had an interview, physical exam, and a blood draw to measure antioxidant levels.

Researchers looked to see how many people were diagnosed with dementia during the follow-up period, including Alzheimers disease and other types.

People 65 years or older at baseline with the highest blood levels of lutein and zeaxanthin had a lower risk of developing any type of dementia during the follow-up period compared to people with lower levels of those antioxidants.

High levels of beta-cryptoxanthin, compared to lower levels, were linked to a lower risk of any type of dementia in both 45- to 64-year-olds and those 65 years or older at baseline.

These specific antioxidants are a type known as carotenoids, which give fruits and vegetables their yellow, orange, and red color.

Lutein and zeaxanthin are found in high amounts in dark-green vegetables such as kale, spinach, and broccoli. Beta-cryptoxanthin is abundant in fruits such as oranges, papaya, peaches, and tangerines.

The apparent protective effect of these antioxidants was reduced somewhat when researchers considered other factors such as income, education, and physical activity. This suggests that these other factors also shape the risk of developing dementia.

No clear link was seen between dementia risk and lycopene, alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, or vitamins A, C, or E.

The study was published online May 4 in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

Some earlier studies have found a link between higher dietary intake of carotenoids or flavonols and reduced risk of Alzheimers dementia. Other studies, though, have been less conclusive.

Flavonols are found in a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, as well as certain teas.

The different results among studies could be due to the way they are carried out, differences in the people included in the study, which types of foods they generally eat, along with several other factors.

In addition, many studies just measure antioxidant levels based on which foods people eat. This requires people to track their diet for a period of time or try to remember what they ate during that time.

In contrast, the current study measured antioxidant levels in the blood sample, which provides a more accurate picture of these nutrients at least for that moment in time.

One of the studys limitations is that researchers only assessed antioxidant levels once. Ideally, researchers would monitor people at multiple points in their life to see if there is a shift.

However, Dr. Thomas M. Holland of the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging said, peoples diets tend to be quite stable over time unless somebody has a major life event that spurs them to change their diet.

This event could be as small as their doctor telling them they have high blood pressure or something more serious such as a heart attack or stroke.

In addition to the antioxidant levels in the blood, Beydoun and her colleagues also looked at participants diet quality, which was based on their recall of what they ate over a 24-hour period.

Beydoun said they expect diet quality to be directly related to most but not all antioxidant levels measured with a blood test.

This is particularly true for carotenoids and vitamin C, she said, as well as when the diet quality index strongly emphasizes intake of fruits and vegetables.

In addition, Beydoun said, other external factors may influence these [antioxidant] levels, including other lifestyle factors such as smoking tobacco, drinking alcoholic beverages, and consuming a high-fat diet.

Like much of the previous research, the new study is an observational study, so it cant prove the connection between antioxidant levels and the risk of dementia.

For that, randomized clinical trials will be needed, such as with a specific diet or antioxidant supplements. Researchers would then follow people over time to see how many participants developed dementia.

Additional studies are also needed to determine how much of which foods people need to consume each day to reach antioxidant levels that promote brain health.

There is so much still to be understood about how these nutrients are getting into the body and then further, how theyre being utilized, said Holland, including how the nutrients may support brain health.

While we wait for researchers to answer some of those questions, Holland said studies of specific diets show the benefits of diet for the brain.

He points to the Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay (MIND) diet, which was developed by Rush nutritional epidemiologist Martha Clare Morris, ScD, and colleagues.

This diet is similar to the heavily plant-based Mediterranean diet, with an emphasis on antioxidant-rich berries and green, leafy vegetables.

One randomized controlled trial published this year found that this diet improved mental performance and brain structure in healthy women with obesity.

[The Neurology] study, as well as these other studies, [found brain-related benefits of consuming] leafy greens, especially the dark leafy greens kale, arugula, spinach, romaine lettuce, said Holland.

Those are nutrient-dense, he added. They are, as some would say, power foods that should really be consumed one serving a day.

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Urfi Javed, actress and star of Bigg Boss OTT, has a fit figure and works hard for it. As if to prove it, Javed just posted another swimsuit reel this week. In it, she posed by the water with the wind in her hair. She wore a teal seashell bikini and a sheer pink cover-up. Javed captioned the Little Mermaid look: "Made this bikini top using shells and wrapped a see through fabric around my legs with anundergarment! Ariel is ready!" How does she stay so fit? Read on to see 5 ways Urfi Javed stays in shape and the photos that prove they workand to get beach-ready yourself, don't miss these essential 30 Best-Ever Celebrity Bathing Suit Photos!

Javed revealed her wellness and lifestyle secrets in an interview with Women Fitness. She says that she doesn't have a specific workout routine that she follows. She also says that she prefers to keep it simple and easy. "My routine includes basic cardio sessions. I don't have any hardcore workout routine."

Similar to her fitness, Javed also doesn't follow a hardcore diet. She tells Women Fitness that she likes to cook a lot of her own food, and eats as healthy as she can. "I don't follow any specific special diet but I eat home-cooked and healthy food. I am not a very diet-conscious person. I eat what I want. My favorite cuisine has to be none other than Indian cuisine. I just love eating South Indian, Rajasthani, Bengali, etc dishes."

Javed has been in the spotlight for a long time, and is a large presence on social media. She tells Women Fitness that she ignores the trolling and hatred she gets online, and tries to turn it into a positive thing. "Yes, social media is both boon and bane but I don't deal with trolls at all. I don't focus on negativity but I do like the memes. It's like if you're on a meme, you have made it."df44d9eab23ea271ddde7545ae2c09ec

In this video from her Facebook account, Javed opens up about her diet. She revealed that she works with a dietician to help herself eat better. "Let me thank Anisha, my dietician, who helps me every time whether I am out on my shoot or vacation," she writes. "Her diet is simple and easy to follow."

Javed is a big fan of cooking her own food. She tells the Times of India that she even likes to cook healthier alternatives to her favorite indulgences. "Whatever food item I like, I try a healthy version of it at home," she explains. "For instance, I love cakes, so while making them at home, I bake whole wheat cakes and substitute sugar with jaggery. I even make burgers and the sauces at home."

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Urfi Javed in Bathing Suit Says "Ariel is Ready" Celebwell - Celebwell

If youre on the hunt for simple ways to eat well for better health and performance, then youve probably heard about the benefits of following a plant-based diet. And with plant-based diet recommendations often comes the promotion of adding more beans to your plate. Thats because the health benefits of beans expand from packing vitamins and minerals to offering plenty of healthy carbs, protein, and lots of fiber.

Research backs up the health benefits associated with eating more beans too. For instance, a report published in the journal Clinical Nutrition found that when people swapped out some of the eggs, bread, rice, or baked potatoes in their diet for legumes they were less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Another study found an association between higher bean consumption and reduced cancer mortality. Research also links eating more legumes with a lower risk of premature death overall. And incorporating beans into the diet can also aid in any weight-loss efforts.

Beans are a cornerstone of the Blue Zone diets around the worldthe term that refers to geographic areas in which people have low rates of chronic disease and historically live longer than anywhere else. Dietary habits, including a regular rotation of beans on the menu, are thought to play a major role in their longevity.

Whats more, in this time of rising food prices, its important to know that beans still offer a very wallet-friendly source of nutrition. The only problem: Dietary surveys show that we are typically not eating enough of this ingredient.

Read on to find out why its about time you and all runners spill the beans on mealtime more often.

Beans are the pod-borne seeds of a family of flowering plants called Fabaceae. They are often included among the crops called legumes (or pulses). Legumes are plants that bear fruit that grows in pods and can be broken down into different subsections including beans, lentils, peas, and peanuts. In other words: All beans are legumes, but not all legumes are necessarily beans.

There is a vast array of edible beans, but some of the most common ones at the supermarket include black beans, kidney beans, pinto beans, cannellini beans, and garbanzo beans (a.k.a. chickpeas).

The exact nutritional content varies between each type of bean, but all of them generally have a similar (and impressive) nutritional resume:

Beans of all guises are a good source of plant protein. This is especially noteworthy if you eat a plant-based, vegetarian, or vegan diet, as these eating styles need to prioritize non-meat sources of this macronutrient.

Legumes are going to be your best source of protein if you are going more plant-based, says Kayla Slater, M.S., R.D.N., founder and wwner of Plant-Based Performance Nutrition and Run Coaching, LLC. A cup of black beans or navy beans has 15 grams of protein. Protein is important for various aspects of health and performance because it helps build muscle and aids in muscle recovery after workouts, Slater tells Runners World. You also need adequate dietary protein for bone development and immune system support.

But Slater says even meat eaters can benefit from pivoting to plant proteins more often. A large study review published in BMJ found that not only was a higher intake of total protein associated with a lower risk of all-cause mortality, but also a greater consumption of plant protein was associated with a lower risk of all-cause and cardiovascular disease death. And this life-extending benefit was not limited only to vegans. A big reason for the health benefit is that plant proteins like beans are typically lower in saturated fat, Slater explains.

As for runners worried about getting most, if not all, of their protein from plant foods like beans, the most recent research shows that as long as you get enough total proteinwhich can be as high as 1.6 to 1.8 grams per kilograms of body weight if you are fairly activeit does not matter where you get the macronutrient (plants or animals) if you want to build and maintain lean body mass.

Slater lauds beans are a superb source of fiber, a type of carbohydrate thats important for keeping your digestive system healthy.

For example, a cup of cooked kidney beans supplies about 13 grams of fiber, whereas the same amount of pinto beans delivers 15 grams. So certainly adding beans to the diet can help you overcome the fiber shortfall that the majority of people experience.

A recent investigation published in Nutritional Neuroscience found that higher fiber diets could be protective against cognitive decline, dementia in particular, as we age.

Its the fiber, and soluble fiber in particular, present in canned beans that is likely a big reason a study in the Journal of Nutrition found that daily intake of these convenient legumes can lower total and LDL (bad) cholesterol numbers. And if you find yourself having trouble breathing mid-way through a run, take heed of one study, which shows a link between higher fiber consumption and a lower risk for asthma and other respiratory symptoms including wheezing, cough, and phlegm. This might be because of fibers anti-inflammatory effects.

Several of the impressive benefits of eating more fiber from foods like beans may result from it altering the gut microbiota, the bacteria that can metabolize fiber into byproducts like short-chain fatty acids (also called postbiotics) that are emerging as important players in human health.

The combo of fiber and protein in beans also increases satiety from a meal, making them an especially filling food to help control appetite. This is important if you find yourself needlessly snacking throughout the day. The fiber and protein in beans can help fill you up on fewer calories and keep you satisfied for longer, says Slater.

One randomized study discovered that high-protein legume-based meals promote greater feelings of fullness and lower post-meal sensations of hunger than high-protein animal-based meals, which are much lower in fiber. Research also suggests that a high-fiber, bean-rich diet is just as effective for weight loss as a low-carb diet, but is better at improving cholesterol numbers.

All types of beans are a reliable source of a vast range of micronutrient vitamins and minerals. These include vitamin K, folate, iron, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium and copper. Using data from the National Health and Examination Survey (NHANES) researchers found that people who consumed more pulses, which includes beans, typically had higher quality diets including greater intakes of several important micronutrients such as magnesium, potassium, and folate, compared to non-consumers.

That means eating beans regularly can certainly make it much easier for runners to reach all their nutrient needs. For example, a cup of kidney beans supplies more than half the daily requirement for folate. Folate helps break down homocysteine, a harmful amino acid if in the body in large amounts, and assists in building healthy blood cells, notes Slater.

Each cup of cooked lima beans also gives you about one-third of the need for magnesium, a mineral linked to improved blood pressure numbers. Magnesium may relax blood vessels, which increases blood flow, thereby decreasing blood pressure.

Beans are also a decent source of iron, a mineral necessary for helping transport oxygen to your working muscles, and why having poor iron status can make your runs feel like a slog. Though the form of iron in beans is not as well absorbed as that in animal-based foods like beef, Slater says you can remedy some of this by pairing beans with a source of vitamin C, such as bell peppers, which increases absorption rates.

Its not just fruits and vegetables that give you antioxidants. Beans are a surprising source of these plant chemicals, including a type called polyphenols. According to Slater, polyphenols can help reduce cell damage in the body and thereby lower the risk for several diseases, such as cancer and diabetes. The antioxidants in beans can also help with recovery after intense workouts because they function to lower inflammation and oxidative damage to your muscles.

It appears that beans with a dark skin color such as black and kidney have a higher antioxidant capacity than their paler counterparts like navy. Black beans, in particular, are extra rich in anthoycanins, the same brain-benefiting antioxidants found in berries, like blueberries and blackberries.

Not to be overlooked, there can also be an environmental benefit to trading in beef for beans a little more often. A report in the journal Nutrients found that just replacing meat twice a week with pulses can have a modest benefit when it comes to the environmental sustainability of the diet. The more meat you wedge out of your diet in favor of plants the greater the reduction in greenhouse gas emissions associated with food production, according to some research.

One of the biggest complaints about eating more beans is the gas. This occurs when bacteria in your large intestine break down (ferment) hard-to-digest carbs, such as the raffinose in beans, with gas being a byproduct. But rest easy knowing that the more you eat, the less you tweet.

Over time, Slater says your digestive system adapts to the gas-producing compounds pulses contain. An interesting theory is that when people add more high-fiber foods like beans to their diet it can take a while for their digestive tracts to become populated by the microorganisms needed to properly break down the fiber and this, in the interim, can lead to discomfort and other GI woes.

Begin by eating beans only a couple of times each week, then gradually increase the servings from there, explains Slater. Research has found that the gassy impact diminishes dramatically if you continue to include beans in your diet regularly.

The one time you do want to be careful about eating a big serving of beans: right before a run. All that fiber can be uncomfortable when you are trying to keep up the pace.

To help stave off gas, research shows that soaking dry beans for up to 18 hours and discarding the soaking water can reduce levels of oligosaccharides, which are poorly digested carbohydrate substances that can cause bloating or flatulence. Slater notes that refreshing the soaking water once can lower the offending carbs further. It also helps to skim off any froth that appears during cooking. And cook dried beans until fork-tender, as well-cooked starches are easier to digest.

You can also try adding a little baking soda (about 1 teaspoon) to the cooking water when preparing dried beans. The baking soda helps break down some of the beans natural gas-making sugars. Or try using a pressure cooker that can break down the gas generating compounds quickly before they hit your digestive tract.

If using canned beans, rinsing them well will reduce these substances further along with some of the excess sodium, Slater says. Additionally, she says several over-the-counter products contain digestive enzymes to help ease the digestion of beans and other legumes.

You may also hear that beans and other legumes contain lectins, a group of proteins that can reduce our absorption of certain micronutrients like calciumits why they have been classified as anti-nutrients. There are also claims that lectins can damage the gut wall leading to leaky gut, diarrhea, and a bunch of other health issues. But soaking dry beans for several hours and cooking them in boiling water greatly reduces lectin levels to the point where they are of little concern, says Slater.

You'll be glad to know that Slater says there is no research showing that canned beans are any less nutritious than their dried counterparts. And you can now find canned beans that are lower in sodium, she says. Just know that dried beans tend to have an advantage when it comes to texture and flavor, and cost per serving. The need for a pre-soak just requires a bit of forethought.

If youre going the extra mile and cooking dried beans, pay it forward by simmering up a large batch and freezing extras in an air-tight container for future use.

Versatile beans can be incorporated into a great variety of dishes, including soups, stews, pasta, salads, curries, and dips like hummus. They can also serve as meat substitutes when making items like tacos, burgers, and even meatloaf.

Be sure to play the field and work a variety of beans into your diet for different flavors, textures, and nutrition.

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BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) Based on anInternational Food Information Councilsurvey, 43% of respondents report going on a diet, with 47% saying they did it to lose weight. You may choose one of the many popular diet trends out of convenience. However, research shows that many gain the weight back, but that may not be your fault.

This is the way the program is designed to go, says Clinical Psychologist, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist, and author ofThe Diet-Free RevolutionAlexis Conason.

Fat Liberation Activist Ragen Chastain adds, What the diet industry has done brilliantly is take credit for the first part where people lose weight, short term, and then blame people and get us to blame ourselves and others for the second part where they gain the weight back.

It can be frustrating to feel like you failed.

Its not uncommon for people to become more and more desperate and do more and more extreme things to try to keep that weight loss off, says Conason. So you may feel tempted to give dieting another chance, but thats part of the plan. By blaming people for the natural outcome, theyve built a repeat business model, says Chastain.

But why do people feel the need to lose weight?

The mainstream culture that so many of us live in equates weight with moral value and this sense that if youre in a larger body, theres something wrong with you, youre not trying hard enough, youre lazy, and that if youre in a smaller body, then youre virtuous, and youre righteous, Conason explains.

She describes dieting as a bad relationship, Oftentimes, we get caught in this kind of push and pull with dieting that we believe its going to save us and its going to be the answer, and its going to bring us all the good things we want in life, but then it disappoints us.

Some of that pressure is enforced by our activity online. Social media plays an incredible role in weight stigma in the ways that especially influencer culture, really centers this stereotype of beauty, says Chastain.

Its important to remember not to believe everything you see online. People fail to remember that social media is very carefully curated and edited and filtered, and people are promoting the best version of themselves that may not be authentic, says Registered Dietician and Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist Kristin West.

Conason explains that midset applies to some of the profiles that claim to be fitness or nutrition accounts. She says they often encourage eating disorder behavior, giving the example of thinner influencers posting about what they eat in a day. Eat Fit BR Registered Dietician Savannah Latimer says these can cause you to have a bad relationship with food, and it can be very damaging and long-term, you will struggle with body image.

With so many negative connotations, people have resisted this dieting culture for decades through social movements. One such movement is body positivity. Body positivity actually started in the sixties as a social movement for people that were fighting for equal rights for all body types, says Latimer.

As the movement got more popular, it began to get watered down.

Its sort of been a co-opted movement at this point, says Chastain, adding, youll hear those kinds of influencers say, its okay to be fat as long as youre healthy, as long as you have certain mobility, et cetera.

But the meaning began to change as well. The body positivity movement has also gotten misconstrued to mean I have to feel great about my body all the time and loving what our body looks like, says Conason.

So now, the focus is shifting to body neutrality. This idea that my bodys not good or bad, it just is. Im accepting it as it is now, even if I dont love it all the time, says Conason.

There is also a strong push to remove the stigma around weight entirely. People have the right to exist in fat bodies. It doesnt matter why theyre fat, it doesnt matter if there are health impacts of being fat, it doesnt matter if they could or want to become thin, says Chastain.

But whatever the movement, the diet industry is taking note and adapting. Theyre seeing what were doing, that it is working, and theyre co-opting the language of fat liberation to sell diets, says Chastain.

So before starting a diet or taking advice from someone online, discuss your options with a weight-inclusive doctor or dietician who is experienced in the health at every size approach.

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When it comes to a runner's diet, it seems everyone has an opinion. But often this is based on what we can term n=1; that is, when an individual bases an outcome on their personal experience; or the science, when it is available, is simplified to take into account only fuelling and recovery.

But human bodies are not machines. While we need fuel to move and to survive, it is not a simple equation of being able to cover a certain number of miles when we fill our tanks with a specific amount of fuel. In human biology, the body is a series of intricate processes that interact and work with each other. This is why fuelling is never as simple as just energy in and energy out; it is about the composition of your diet, the timing of your nutrients and the quantities it takes not just to meet the demands of your training load, but also to drive essential biological processes alongside your running.

Making the right choices in your training, lifestyle and nutrition will help you to maintain your training effort day after day, encouraging adaptation, helping to maintain motivation and, ultimately, bringing the improvement you are looking for. Itll keep you healthy, too. Studies have also shown that the timing of nutrition has an integral role to play in maintaining hormonal balance, boosting bone health and supporting your immune system.

So how do you make the right choices? What youll find here isnt a list of rules to follow. I am against food rules, because when people live by rules, it can become an obsession. And we all know how obsessive runners can be! Instead, youll find the information you need to inform and empower you to make the correct nutrition choices. This is a guide you can learn from and adapt to your lifestyle; its a manual to fuel your running and your life.

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Carbohydrate is the critical fuel source for exercise, because it is broken down into glucose, which is the bodys preferred energy currency; this is then utilised by the body to provide energy. Carbohydrate is stored as glycogen in your liver and muscles, andthe glycogen in muscle is the most readily available and quickly released energy. The catch, as you may know from long runs and the latter stages of marathons, is that this storage facility is limited. If muscles are inadequately fuelled, it leads to fatigue and poor performance, and may put you at greater risk of injury.

It takes around 500g of carbohydrate to fill your glycogen stores and, at most, this will last you for 60-90 minutes of running at 55-75 percent of your maximal heart rate. The faster you go, the sooner your stores will deplete. So for those of you training most days, your glycogen stores are always slightly depleted.

This makes it vital to plan carbohydrate intake around your training sessions; the amount you need will depend on the frequency, duration and intensity of your training.

Problems occur when runners aim to do hard sessions either deliberately fasted or in a carbohydrate-depleted state, owing to inadequate fuelling in the hours or even the day beforehand. Further difficulties can arise when they find they are not hungry immediately after a session, so they fail to properly fuel the recovery process, thereby compromising their recovery and adaptation. Both situations will have negative effects on hormonal regulation in the body. If this failure to refuel and repair continues, it can have long-term consequences on not just your running performance but also your overall health, such as a depressed immune system, a decrease in bone density and a much slower digestive system.

A key hormone that can be affected by our exercise levels and eating habits is ghrelin, which is mostly produced in the stomach. Levels of our so-called hunger hormone rise after exercise or several hours after a meal, telling us we need to refuel. When ghrelin is high, levels of another hormone leptin are low. Both hormones will return to normal levels when our energy demands are met. However, if a runner continually fails to fuel adequately after a training session, intentionally or unintentionally, leptin levels stay low. Chronic low leptin levels encourage the body to preserve energy, so you burn fewer calories and store more fat.

So, while the runner may think they are going to lose weight and improve body composition, the reverse can happen. Its important to highlight here that this is a simplified version to help explain why some runners, even when they restrict calorie intake or increase training, still dont achieve the body composition and weight goals they would expect.

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For runs under an hour, you want to aim for around 0.5-1g of carbohydrate per kg/bw as a general fuel target, adjusting according to duration and intensity of training. If youre in a rush or its early and you cant face a solid meal, one solution is to make your own sports drink. Take 300ml of any fruit juice and dilute with 300ml of water; if youre a heavy sweater, add 14 tsp salt. Drink some of this before leaving for your training session and then continue to sip on the run. Other good options include hot cross buns, banana and fruit yoghurt or Scotch pancakes.

For runs longer than 60 minutes, aim for 30-60g of carbs per hour for the first three hours, increasing to 60-90g of carbs per hour if youre still going after that. These can be in the form of sports products such as drinks, gels or bars, or actual food such as bananas and sweets. On longer runs over varying terrain, some runners may prefer food such as boiled, salted potatoes, noodle soup or even pizza.

Gastric distress is one of the most common issues reported with taking on fuel when running. This leads some runners to avoid fuelling during long or intense training, despite the importance of carbohydrate availability. But these runners often refuel during a race in the search for optimal performance. When I ask why, the answer is usually bound up in the notion that they want to save their energy for after training, so they have something to look forward to. This is one myth that needs to be busted. In fact, for optimal performance and recovery, fuelling before, during (on long runs) and after is best practice and actually helps with satiety and appetite.

In-run fuel should be in the form of glucose and fructose: the body can absorb around 60g of glucose per hour and 30g of fructose. Some studies suggest this limit of 90g could be increased to 120g in some athletes who train their gut, but the sample sizes used have been small and only involved men running at altitude. Whatever you choose, practise until you have nailed what works for you. Mistakes include:

1. Leaving it too long before fuelling; start taking on nutrition in he first 30 mins and then every 30-40 mins.

2. Taking gels too quickly; take one gel over 4-5 mins, not all in one go. This aids absorption and tolerance.

3. Becoming dehydrated and not replacing fluids and electrolytes, specifically sodium.

People often neglect hydration, but it is crucial to your running. It is well documented that fluid intake and adequate hydration are important during exercise, and critical over long training sessions and events. Along with maintaining hydration, fluid intake during endurance running helps to regulate body temperature (thermoregulation) and ensure adequate plasma (blood) volume.

Ensuring that plasma volume and thermoregulation stay within an optimal range has a direct impact on performance. When core body temperature rises owing to dehydration, plasma volume decreases, resulting in an increased heart rate, which accelerates fatigue. Just a one per cent reduction in bodyweight through fluid lossescan contribute to these negative physiological effects. In addition, dehydration has a marked effect on cognitive function, compromising your ability to make good decisions.

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Most runners will sweat between 400ml and 2,400ml per hour of exercise. The average is around 1,200ml per hour, but this varies with age, sex, weight, intensity of training and the temperature. Sweat is mostly water, but you also lose electrolytes, mainly sodium.

The sodium content of sweat varies, from 115mg per 1,000ml of sweat to more than 2,000mg. A runner who is a salty sweater (high sodium) may lose more than the recommended intakes. Most electrolyte tablets, salt capsules or sports drinks provide 250-300mg of sodium. If you are diluting your electrolytes into 750ml, this will mean having to consume in the region of 2,250ml of fluid per hour in longer races to meet your sodium requirements, which is hard from a consumption and transportation point of view.

Sodium balance is not confined to when you are running; it is also important pre-training

So, its little wonder that many runners complain of the symptoms associated with low sodium intakes and dehydration, such as gastrointestinal distress, nausea, bloating, fatigue, impaired concentration and dizziness. The biggest cause of mid-run stomach issues is related to sodium imbalance, not sports nutrition gels or bars. If you are dehydrated, and consuming glucose, it becomes highly concentrated in the gut. Blood is being directed away from the stomach to the working muscles, so the gut cannot absorb the glucose quickly enough, resulting in stomach upsets.

I usually suggest runners take in 700-900mg of sodium an hour during longer training runs and races. This can be a mix of salt tablets, electrolytes, energy drinks and even food if you can stomach it (eg salted peanuts, cured meat).

Sodium balance is not confined to when you are running; it is also important pre-training or leading up to an event. I often suggest runners start drinking electrolytes in the 24 hours before race day to help prevent the issues above.

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Not all fat is bad for you. You need some fat to help absorb the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, and to provide essential fatty acids the body cannot produce itself. These nutrients are important for recovery, immune health, inflammation and prevention of fatigue. Fat should be an integral part of your diet, but should be avoided as an immediate fuel source high-fat foods pre-run will slow digestion.

Not all fats are good, either. Eating too much saturated fat can raise levels of harmful cholesterol, which increases your risk of heart disease. Sources include pies, cakes and biscuits, fatty cuts of meat, sausages and bacon. The term also encompasses trans fat, which is often found in processed foods. To up your intake of the good stuff, aim for the following:

Oily fish, such as salmon and mackerel, for omega-3s

Nuts and seeds, including their oils and butters

Sunflower and olive oils

Avocados

I encourage runners to choose good fats over saturated varieties. However, these fats still have a high energy value and should be eaten with that caveat in mind.

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Proteins are often called the building blocks of the body. Protein consists of combinations of structures called amino acids. There are 20 amino acids and these combine in various sequences to make muscles, bones, tendons, skin, hair and other tissues. They serve other functions, as well, including transporting nutrients and producing enzymes.

Eight of these amino acids are essential and must come from your diet. They are found as a complete source (containing all essential amino acids) in animal-protein food such as dairy, meat, fish and eggs. They are found as an incomplete source in plant-based proteins; that is, they will be lacking in one or more of the essential amino acids. Examples include vegetables, grains, nuts and legumes. If, however, these are combined in the correct way, you can make a whole source of protein. Some good combinations include baked beans on toast; rice and dhal; or a wholegrain bagel with peanut butter.

We in the sports and fitness industry hear a lot about protein, with many believing it is the most important macronutrient for active people. In reality, runners need protein primarily as a response to exercise rather than as a fuel source.

Protein has been a huge area of research for many years, with the most recent findings demonstrating how important it is in the recovery phase. During exercise, whether thats endurance sports such as running and cycling, team or power sports such as netball, football and tennis, or resistance training (using weights), there is an increase in the breakdown of protein in the muscle. There is a preference to include a large amount of protein in the immediate recovery phase, but the recommendation for protein foods is that they should be distributed evenly throughout the day, to help counteract a negative protein balance. The suggested amount is 0.4g/kg bw protein four to six times a day depending on training load.

For a 65kg runner, this will be 26g protein at each serving, which looks like:

Along with macronutrients carbs, protein and fat micronutrients are vital for many metabolic processes. You need to get them from your diet. They include:

Vitamins A, B, C, D, E, K

Minerals Calcium, iron and phosphorus

Electrolytes Sodium and potassium

Trace elements Iodine, zinc and magnesium

Most micronutrients function as co-enzymes or co-factors that is, they aid enzymes and proteins in their function. For example, the B vitamins are needed for carbohydrate and fat metabolism; while vitamin C, along with zinc, is important for a healthy immune system; and magnesium and calcium are vital for good muscle contraction. All are needed to keep you healthy and ensure you run at your best.

Do runners need more minerals and vitamins? Do you need supplements? The research is inconclusive. Some studies show enhanced requirements in runners because of an increase in damage to muscles by free radicals, which accumulate in response to exercise. (Lifestyle factors, such as smoking, also lead to the excessive production of free radicals.) But there have been no proven links to improved sporting performance from a diet high in free-radical-fighting antioxidants.

The quality of your diet is crucial. As an active person, you should naturally be taking in more food to fuel your running, and as long as this fuel is balanced and nutrient-rich, you should meet your increased requirements. If you eat a balanced diet that includes wholegrains, veg, meat, fish and dairy, you should have no problem getting all you need.

Vegan and vegetarian runners may need to pay special attention to iron and B12

Red meat and eggs are your best sources of iron; plant-based options, such as green, leafy vegetables, pulses, wholegrains and fortified cereals are harder to absorb than animal sources and must be taken with vitamin C to enhance absorption. While dairy is your best source of calcium and phosphorus, soya products and oily fish are also good sources.

One nutrient to be aware of is iodine; with the rise in the use of plant-based milks, most of which dont have added iodine, some people risk deficiency, which can lead to metabolic problems. Also, vegan and vegetarian runners may need to pay special attention to iron and B12, which can be hard to get from a plant-based diet.

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Runners diet: Everything you need to know - runnersworld.com

VIA helps people overcome challenges of autism through education, outreach, outpatient behavioral services, and adult services. The day school offers kindergarten through 12th grade education; Stephanie serves children of all ages.

A. When a school deems that it cant provide the service a child needs in a public school, the childs parent may apply through the county to be admitted to VIA, and we have students from all over the state, some who travel an hour by bus. We also see children with all levels of ability, some who are nonverbal. We use programs on iPad and picture books to help with communication.

A. In my role as school nurse, I help lots of students with autism who have other diagnoses, a common one being chronic constipation. Often, our students have preferred foods and they are not typically the healthiest options, and that is likely a contributing factor.

I work with teachers and the students families. For some students, two meals each day are provided by the local school district. They are not always the healthiest options, and we are a year-round school, so we are trying to find out what we can do here to add healthier foods. One classroom implemented smoothies as snacks for the kids, and they really like that. We have tried overnight oats. Mandarin oranges are a big hit.

But constipation is a problem for lots of children, not just those we serve. It can be difficult to tell the exact cause (i.e., medication, diet, hydration, etc.). We will be working on making small tweaks to foods we offer and introducing new foods to students.

A. We also give the students opportunities to earn reward tokens. When they earn a preset amount, they receive a preferred item or event, like playing ball or taking a break. Sometimes the preferred item is food. When given the choice, they will choose Doritos, for example. So we are taking a step back and seeing where we can substitute new food choices to broaden their horizons.

We definitely have roadblocks along the way, but it is a matter of opening them up to new things. We have a garden and now that it is spring, some of the instructors will be working on that. The students will be involved in watering and weeding. We feel a responsibility to make sure the students are receiving healthy food options, and at least here and with the help of Food for Life, they will.

A. I have been a vegetarian since high school, and vegan since 2009, and have followed Drs. Neal Barnard and Michael Gregor and other experts. When I found out about Food for Life, I was very interested. Then COVID happened. But Food for Life offered virtual instructor training during the pandemic, so I did that last winter. I would like to offer Food for Life classes at VIA for parents and siblings of our students, some of our adult learners, and our staff. I have already heard from people who are interested, and I will teach our first class around Earth Day later this month.

I recently sent a survey to parents and teachers to find out what they would like to learn and to gather information about which fruits and vegetables our students already favor. Ive asked parents which foods they would like to see their children try. Weve received great feedback! Another benefit to these classes is community. We used to have support groups, meet-ups for families, and field trips. COVID put a lot of that on hold but families will have the opportunity to meet with other families and learn new bits of information about nutrition, and I am excited to have the support of families like them. I am hopeful that the classes will also help parents/families at home who are interested in learning more about nutrition and diabetes, heart ailments, or other health challenges.

A. My goal is to offer a Food for Life class once each month or at least once each quarter for staff and families.

I want families and our instructors to feel supported and to know that even small changes are meaningful. If a student eats an apple each day and he didnt before, thats progress. I would like Food for Life to bring us together, teach about good nutrition, and that eating healthfully can also be cost-saving.

To find out more about what is happening at the Virginia Institute for Autism, visit Viacenters.org

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School Nurse Combines Service to Children with Autism with Love of Plant-Based Eating - Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine

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