Christine Byrne Archives - 国产吃瓜黑料 Online /byline/christine-byrne/ Live Bravely Wed, 10 Apr 2024 15:55:25 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.1 https://cdn.outsideonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/favicon-194x194-1.png Christine Byrne Archives - 国产吃瓜黑料 Online /byline/christine-byrne/ 32 32 Lumen Wants to Track Your Metabolic Flexibility. But Do You Need It? /health/nutrition/metabolic-flexibility-lumen-review/ Mon, 30 May 2022 11:00:03 +0000 /?p=2581882 Lumen Wants to Track Your Metabolic Flexibility. But Do You Need It?

Tracking your metabolic flexibility on a simple device might sound good, but experts say it鈥檚 not that simple

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Lumen Wants to Track Your Metabolic Flexibility. But Do You Need It?

Metabolic flexibility is a buzzy topic, particularly among biohackers鈥攑eople who use themselves as an experiment in an effort to be healthier or perform better. Being metabolically flexible means that you鈥檙e able to switch between burning carbs and burning fat for energy, which helps your body consistently function at its best, both in everyday life and during exercise.

But even though metabolic flexibility is important, do you need a tool to track it? , the company behind what it calls 鈥渢he first device to hack your metabolism,鈥 claims it can do just that, helping customers burn fat, lose weight, and naturally boost their energy in the process. The premise is simple: users breathe into the device within 30 minutes of waking, and the Lumen app creates a meal plan for the day based on whether the user is burning more carbs or more fat. The gadget, plus听six months of app听access, costs $249; subsequent months require听an additional subscription.

Despite Lumen鈥檚 big promises, experts aren鈥檛 sold on the device. Here鈥檚 why.

It鈥檚 Good to Be Flexible

Being metabolically flexible helps performance. Glucose is your body鈥檚 quickest source of energy, but it can only store so much at once; fat takes longer to break down and convert into energy, but we can store much more of it, so it鈥檚 virtually always available. In order to best meet your energy demands at any given moment, it鈥檚 helpful to be able to switch between these two fuel sources, depending on how much energy your body is burning and what鈥檚 available.

A explains that听during vigorous exercise (basically, anything that makes it tough to carry on a conversation), energy demands are so high that muscles need fuel from a variety of sources, including both glucose and fat. This is crucial for staying energized during long workouts鈥攚ithout good metabolic flexibility, someone will tire more quickly during strenuous exercise and likely won鈥檛 be able to go as hard. Being metabolically flexible can be associated with a person’s fitness level: a听 found that professional athletes had better metabolic flexibility and were more able to efficiently burn fat for fuel than听moderately active people.

Metabolic flexibility is measured by a person鈥檚 respiratory exchange ratio (RER)鈥攁 鈥渕easure of carbon dioxide being produced by the body versus oxygen being consumed,鈥 explains Dylan MacKay, an assistant professor of nutrition at the University of Manitoba. Generally speaking, most people鈥檚 RER is close to 0.7 upon waking in the morning or after a period of fasting. This ratio climbs closer to one听after eating (particularly carbs), MacKay says. 鈥淲hen RER is at one, you鈥檙e burning purely carbs for energy. At 0.7, you鈥檙e burning mostly fat.鈥 During strenuous exercise, RER can increase to about 1.1, due to the way the body buffers against lactate buildup.

People with diabetes, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and other chronic health conditions tend to be less metabolically flexible. A showed that men with Type 2 diabetes had a higher RER after periods of fasting and less metabolic flexibility overall (measured as less change in RER over time) than men without diabetes.

You Don鈥檛 Need Another Gadget

So, if metabolic flexibility is such a good thing, wouldn鈥檛 it be great to be able to measure yours every day? That鈥檚 what the folks behind Lumen want you to believe. But experts say that the information it sells鈥攅specially when it comes to weight loss鈥攄oesn鈥檛 actually provide new insights.

鈥淚f you鈥檙e more than three hours without eating, you鈥檒l burn more fat. If you鈥檝e recently consumed some carbohydrates, you鈥檒l burn less fat,鈥 says Nicholas Tiller, a senior researcher in respiratory medicine and exercise physiology at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center. 鈥淒o you really need an expensive gadget to measure your carbon-dioxide output and tell you this? I just don鈥檛 see a practical use for the product in helping people achieve their weight-loss goals.”

MacKay agrees. 鈥淭he app gives meal suggestions, with the goal of improving metabolic flexibility,鈥 he says. 鈥淏ut I haven鈥檛 seen any data saying that following a certain meal plan to expand metabolic flexibility will have any benefits.鈥

Plus, Lumen isn鈥檛 even all that great at measuring your RER. Its technology is loosely based on a metabolic cart, a听device that measures a person鈥檚 total volume of gas in (oxygen) and out (carbon dioxide), calibrates against other gases that might be present in trace amounts, and produces a very accurate RER reading. Lumen, on the other hand, only measures your carbon-dioxide output. And while a metabolic cart reading takes about ten minutes and is usually performed in a medical setting, a Lumen reading is based on just a single breath.

of Lumen, conducted by the company and published last year in the 鈥嬧Interactive Journal of Medical Research, compared various RER readings using both Lumen and a metabolic cart, one after the other. While the Lumen readings were correlated with the metabolic cart reading鈥攚hen one went up, the other went up, and vice versa鈥擫umen wasn鈥檛 nearly as accurate at measuring RER. (Here鈥檚 that shows how the Lumen readings lined up with RER readings.)

As Always, the Answer Is to Eat Well and Exercise

One possible benefit of Lumen, MacKay says, is that using it could encourage people to eat a more varied and nutritious diet and to exercise more often, both of which are associated with increased metabolic flexibility and better health overall. But you really don鈥檛 need a device and an app full of your RER data in order to do that.

鈥淭he use of metabolic flexibility and other science-sounding terms lend the product a false scientific legitimacy,鈥 Tiller says. Lumen鈥檚 promise is alluring: 鈥淏reathe into this device every day, eat what we tell you to, and you鈥檒l be healthier!鈥 But it鈥檚 not really evidence-based. 鈥淚t鈥檚 quintessential marketing over science,鈥 Tiller says.

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Eating 鈥淗ealthy鈥 Might Be Hurting Your Performance /health/nutrition/eating-healthy-might-be-hurting-your-performance/ Sun, 20 Mar 2022 11:30:04 +0000 /?p=2563204 Eating 鈥淗ealthy鈥 Might Be Hurting Your Performance

Eating right looks different for athletes, and following vague nutrition maxims can have a surprisingly negative impact

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Eating 鈥淗ealthy鈥 Might Be Hurting Your Performance

Proper fueling when you鈥檙e training is about more than just eating when you鈥檙e hungry and stopping when you鈥檙e full, and it鈥檚 tough to get enough calories when you鈥檙e avoiding often-demonized calorically dense foods. While we鈥檙e thankfully undergoing a seismic away from and restrictive eating, subtler food rules like 鈥渄on鈥檛 eat processed foods鈥 or 鈥渓imit carbs鈥 persist among health-conscious people. These principles might seem innocuous, but the trouble with food rules is that they almost always decrease your caloric intake, and many active people have internalized ideas that make it tough to consume enough energy throughout the day. Limiting carbs might mean swapping bread for vegetables, and avoiding processed food could lead you to forgo on-the-go snacks or tasty desserts.

, a Philadelphia-based certified sports dietitian who has consulted for USA Swimming and the Philadelphia Phillies, sees this often. 鈥淭he majority of the clients that come to our practice, as well as athletes whose teams I consult for, are underfueling in some way,鈥 she says. Jones explains that they鈥檙e not eating enough overall, not getting enough carbohydrates, or not eating the right nutrients at the right time. Below, two sports nutrition experts share the fueling mistakes that they often see athletes making, as well as how to avoid them.

Veggies Aren鈥檛 Always Best

Fruits and vegetables are key to a healthy overall diet, and athletes, like everyone else, should be aiming for five servings per day. But it鈥檚 possible to overdo it, particularly if you subscribe to clean eating, or the idea that whole foods are always best. 鈥淎thletes may eat a lot of high-volume 鈥榟ealthy鈥 foods, like squash, salads, and vegetables, which leave them feeling full even though they have not met their calorie needs,鈥 says , a sports nutritionist and researcher at Brock University in Ontario. Vegetables high in fiber and water fill you up, but they鈥檙e relatively low in calories and macronutrients, which means they don鈥檛 provide much energy. Take a look at your meals: are you mixing in an adequate serving of fats, carbs, and protein with your veggies? A kale salad with tomatoes, cucumbers, and sprouts is a good start, but try adding calorically dense toppings like nuts, cheese, chicken, avocado, and olive oil鈥攁nd eat a slice of bread on the side.

Don鈥檛 Trust Your Gut

Even the non-diet approach, which prioritizes relying on hunger and fullness cues to tell you when and how much to eat, may not work for athletes without some modifications. 鈥淭hose who eat based on stomach hunger can wind up with very low energy intake compared to what they鈥檙e burning,鈥 Jones says.

This may be because, contrary to popular belief, exercise can actually decrease appetite. 鈥淪everal factors can affect post-exercise appetite, including but not limited to hormones and blood redistribution during exercise,鈥 Guzman says. A published in the American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology and Metabolism describes that the buildup of lactate in your blood during intense exercise is associated with lower levels of ghrelin, the hormone that makes you feel hungry. And a in the journal Appetite explains that many other things may contribute to decreased appetite post-workout, including the effect that exercise has on the levels of insulin, glucose, and fat molecules in your bloodstream.

The amount of food you need depends on the length and duration of your workouts and your basal metabolic rate (BMR). The best way to figure out your energy needs is to work with a dietitian or estimate them using a that takes your activity level into account.

Stop Cutting Carbs

Carbs are the foundation of a healthy diet. The U.S. Department of Agriculture鈥檚 recommend that carbs make up 45 percent to 65 percent of your total daily calories. But they鈥檙e even more important for athletes.

鈥淐arbs are the most efficient and preferred energy source for exercising muscle,鈥 Jones says. It鈥檚 important to eat them throughout the day, not just during or around workouts, because carbs get stored as glycogen to be used during exercise. When you run out of stored glycogen and there鈥檚 not enough glucose in your bloodstream, your body will start burning fat鈥攚hich is OK but not optimal for high-intensity workouts鈥攁nd may also start breaking down muscle for protein.

鈥淭o ensure the body isn鈥檛 tapping into muscle protein, which can impair recovery and adaptation to training sessions, eating adequate carbohydrates throughout the whole day is important,鈥 Jones says. You should eat a pre-workout meal or snack that鈥檚 high in carbs, and if your workout is moderate or high intensity and lasts longer than an hour, eating at least 30 grams of carbs per hour (one banana, two slices of bread, or three or four energy chews) will improve performance and prevent muscle breakdown.

Don鈥檛 Fear Processed Foods

Even if you鈥檙e not dieting or trying to lose weight, you might still try to limit your intake of processed foods. That can be a good thing, to a point, as whole foods generally contain more nutrients. But there鈥檚 no need to eliminate processed foods completely. For one thing, processed carbohydrates are easier to digest because they lack fiber, which means that they鈥檙e generally a better choice before and during a workout. The carbs from a sports gel will enter your bloodstream and give you energy quickly, whereas the carbs in an apple will take longer to absorb. The apple鈥檚听high fiber content may also upset your stomach, particularly because exercise diverts blood away from your gastrointestinal tract and slows digestion.

Processed protein sources, like powders and bars, can also be helpful. 鈥溾嬧婽he recommended intake of protein for both female and male strength and endurance athletes is 1.2 to two grams per kilogram of body weight per day, ideally with meals spread throughout the day,鈥 Guzman says, citing a published in the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. For a 150-pound woman, that鈥檚 between 82 and 136 grams of protein per day, which can be hard to get from whole foods sources like nuts, cheese, or yogurt.

鈥淚deally, protein will be spread into moderate doses four to five times per day, rather than just having high doses post-workout and at dinner,鈥 Jones adds.

Bottom Line: Break the Rules

Strict food rules are rarely sustainable, and even loose food rules like cutting back on processed foods or prioritizing vegetables can have unintended consequences when you鈥檙e an active person. 鈥淗ealthy eating for an athlete is so different than for a non-athlete. Many athletes are not aware of how much higher their energy needs are,鈥 Jones says.

If you鈥檇 like more guidance, check out , a tool that helps people visualize how much to eat based on training intensity. Ideally, this tool will help you give your body what it actually needs to perform and recover properly, instead of living by vague healthy eating maxims and arbitrary rules.

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This Is the Best Podcast We鈥檝e Heard About Health /health/nutrition/maintenance-phase-podcast/ Thu, 13 Jan 2022 12:30:19 +0000 /?p=2544698 This Is the Best Podcast We鈥檝e Heard About Health

鈥楳aintenance Phase鈥 hosts Aubrey Gordon and Michael Hobbes are tackling everything from Halo Top ice cream to the war on obesity

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This Is the Best Podcast We鈥檝e Heard About Health

Considering there are over two million podcasts out there, it鈥檚 hard to believe that a relatively new one launched by two noncelebrities could reach the top of the charts. But Maintenance Phase, a show dedicated to 鈥渄ebunking the junk science behind health fads, wellness scams, and nonsensical nutrition advice,鈥听according to the听, has done just that. Hosted by听Seattle-based writer Aubrey Gordon, who until last year published anonymously under the pseudonym , and Berlin-based journalist Michael Hobbes,听the podcast is currently ranked third in Apple鈥檚 Health and Fitness category and is placed in the top 75 overall.

Maintenance Phase doesn鈥檛 just offer a new take on the same old self-help advice鈥攊t looks closely at how these tips and trends have actually impacted people. The hosts鈥 approach to research is one part investigative journalism, one part Wikipedia rabbit hole. 鈥淥ne of us spends probably two weeks full-time researching each episode,鈥 Hobbes says. They鈥檒l read a book or two, anywhere from 20 to 60 academic articles, and various media stories听in order to present a complete picture of a diet (like ), wellness trend (i.e.,听), or lifestyle guru ( or ). Then one of them will present their findings to the other on the air.

Both are great storytellers and quick with humor, so it feels less like a lecture and more like eavesdropping on听two smart and enthusiastic friends. 鈥淚 love listening to other podcasts like that, with somebody who has a real passion for an issue presenting it to someone else,鈥 Hobbes says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also nice to just experience two friends bouncing off of each other, having inside jokes, and constructively analyzing an idea.鈥 Gordon and Hobbes don鈥檛 present any topic as black-and-white, which they think the format of audio facilitates more than than written stories. 鈥淭here鈥檚 just more room for the kind of nuance and couching that happens in conversation with friends,鈥 Gordon says.

At a time when so many popular podcasts are either deeply reported true-crime stories or totally off-the-cuff conversations, it鈥檚 nice to tune in to something that mixes both research and personality. Gordon, a 鈥渇at, white, queer cis lady鈥 talks about her experiences with eating disorders, weight-loss drugs, and Weight Watchers meetings. Hobbes describes watching his mother repeatedly try and fail to lose weight. And although the subject matter is often serious, the show itself is funny. Each episode starts with a quick intro that foreshadows what鈥檚 to come. Sometimes they鈥檙e lighthearted: 鈥淲elcome to Maintenance Phase, the podcast that butters your coffee.鈥 (The topic was keto.) An episode titled 鈥淚s Being Fat Bad for You?鈥 kicked off with: 鈥淲elcome to Maintenance Phase, the podcast that鈥檚 [yelling]听just concerned about your health!

That鈥檚 a universal excuse given by people who believe they have the right to comment on fat bodies, as Gordon鈥攁nd every other fat person鈥攚ell knows. Almost every listener has likely been on either the giving or receiving end of the line, and approaching such a loaded topic with some humor makes it feel safer for all. The jokes work because they don鈥檛 come at the expense of fat people (or any bullied group) and because Hobbes and Gordon can gracefully transition from humor to humanizing vulnerability and thoughtful criticism.

In an episode called 鈥淭he Obesity Epidemic,鈥 they joke about news stations鈥 tendency to pair segments about obesity with neck-down footage of fat people walking around. 鈥淭he only place in American life where you see that many headless torsos are local news segments about obesity and Grindr,鈥 Hobbes says. Then Gordon opens up about her own experience as a fat person tuning in to those news segments of headless fat people. 鈥淚 spent a good 10 to 15听years watching that B-roll, and I would often tear up watching it, because鈥攐h, I might tear up now鈥攂ecause I was looking for myself.鈥 Listeners in thinner bodies may never have considered how dehumanizing it is to be filmed without their consent as an example of poor health by a cameraman who doesn鈥檛 actually know a thing about their health.

On-air moments like this elicit thank-you messages from fans who can relate to Gordon鈥檚 experience as a fat person and are relieved to finally hear these things being voiced to such a large audience. But there鈥檚 also lots of positive feedback from those who work in the health field and are excited to see this perspective鈥攖hat being fat isn鈥檛 inherently bad, and that fat-shaming is nothing but harmful鈥攑resented in a way that makes sense to an audience of nonexperts. 鈥淚 think the bulk of the responses that we get are from people who do this work professionally鈥攑ublic-health officials, health care providers of all stripes, researchers, the whole bit,鈥 Gordon says. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e overwhelmingly extremely complimentary, which is lovely.鈥

That鈥檚 not surprising, since the hosts are well versed in听the research and the social systems around health and fatness. They鈥檝e both published widely on the subject: pick up a copy of Gordon鈥檚 2020 book and give Hobbes鈥檚 widely read HuffPost听feature 鈥溾 a read if you haven鈥檛 already.

Although Hobbes and Gordon followed each other鈥檚 work for years, they鈥檇 only met once in real life before starting the podcast (which they record virtually), when Gordon was in Seattle for a few days. 鈥淲e met for dinner at 4 P.M., hung out, and just had a delightful goddamn conversation,鈥 Gordon remembers. 鈥淚t was a really lovely vibe.鈥 But the podcast didn鈥檛 come about until many months later, after the pandemic hit, when they suddenly had far more free time.

Hobbes had done an episode about obesity on You鈥檙e Wrong About, a podcast he started in 2018 with fellow journalist Sarah Marshall dedicated to setting the record straight on past events, people, and things that have long been misunderstood by the public.听鈥淭here are so many misconceptions about health and wellness that, if I wasn鈥檛 careful, You鈥檙e Wrong About听was just going to become a health and wellness show,鈥 Hobbes says. So he reached out to Gordon, and they decided to try something new. (Ultimately, Hobbes left You鈥檙e Wrong About听in October 2021).

They recorded six or seven episodes over several months, then decided to start releasing them. 鈥淲e had this secret relationship for six months, because we didn鈥檛 want to announce it or make it a thing,鈥 Hobbes says. 鈥淲e wanted to record a couple just to see, Does this feel good?鈥

鈥淚 remember having a conversation that was, We鈥檒l see if other people care,鈥 Gordon says. 鈥淢aybe they will, maybe they won鈥檛.鈥

鈥淭he response was absurd,鈥 Hobbes says. 鈥淲e thought, yeah, this is really meeting a need for people.鈥 An overwhelming number of their listeners love the show, enough to pay for a monthly bonus episode. On the membership platform , they have over 23,000 patrons, with subscriptions ranging from $3 to $50 per month. This means the show will never have to take on advertisers, something its hosts believe would damage their credibility.

鈥淲e keep a running list that includes things that we think of along the way and suggestions from listeners. The list is long,鈥 Gordon says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e living in a time where everything, everyone, and every product seems to have some kind of wellness angle.鈥

Critically, the hosts don鈥檛 pass judgement on those who buy into these fads or act like they鈥檙e immune to the wellness zeitgeist. To wit: 鈥淎t some point we鈥檒l do CBD,鈥 Gordon told . 鈥淚 have been a CBD person, and I鈥檒l be made uncomfortable by my own research.鈥 Instead, they offer a more complete picture of the wellness world听than we get most anywhere else, allowing listeners the opportunity to reconsider and challenge their own beliefs, on their own time.

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Eating for Performance Should Be Simple鈥攁nd Cheap /health/nutrition/eating-for-performance-should-be-simple-and-cheap/ Mon, 20 Dec 2021 10:30:46 +0000 /?p=2542284 Eating for Performance Should Be Simple鈥攁nd Cheap

Many sports-nutrition enhancements are a waste of money and time. They can also perpetuate privilege.

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Eating for Performance Should Be Simple鈥攁nd Cheap

Eating well isn鈥檛 cheap. At least, not according to the sports-nutrition industry. For $220 a month, will pair you with a credentialed coach who will tell you what and when to eat based on your body composition and training goals. For $100, you can have a fitness influencer (which you can then track yourself for free via MyFitnessPal). And for a comparatively minuscule price of $20, you can exactly like seven-time Super Bowl champion quarterback Tom Brady鈥攁lthough his will cost you $147.

We鈥檙e constantly being marketed products that promise us , , , and more. , , and even have all been reformulated and rebranded as performance-supporting foods.

Things didn鈥檛 used to be nearly this complicated or expensive. According to an article in , bodybuilders in the 1970s stuck to basic (if boring) meal plans of mostly protein (beef, eggs, cottage cheese, chicken, and fish) and vegetables. The only thing that resembled a supplement was an analog protein shake, which waseither made with soy protein powder or milk, with additional powdered milk stirred in. Among runners, even basic energy bars weren鈥檛 commonplace until marathoner Brian Maxwell created PowerBars in 1984 and started marketing them to other athletes.

The notion that fitness and healthy eating are complicated and expensive perpetuates privilege in the wellness world. Regardless of how effective supplements, meal plans, and similar products may be, it鈥檚 important to consider whether they make good sports nutrition鈥攁nd, by extension, performance鈥攕eem out of reach to anyone who can鈥檛 afford them.

Normalizing pricey supplements, meal plans, and snacks just adds one more barrier to entry for lower-income individuals and families, when whole foods and a simple healthy diet will suffice. Journalist Anne Helen Petersen wrote about this recently in her , Culture Study, explaining how this messaging is especially challenging for young athletes in lower-income households, who are already at a massive disadvantage due to how expensive it鈥檚 become to play competitive peewee sports:听$4000-$6000 a year spent for , upwards of , and between for soccer,鈥 Petersen writes, citing stats from USA Today.) And it鈥檚 certainly not a helpful message for college athletes, over a quarter of whom experience food insecurity (including 24 percent of Division 1 athletes), according to a .

Predictably, a听 in PLoS One states that people with higher incomes are more likely to participate in any type of physical activity than people with lower incomes, and that those in the highest income group expended roughly 26 percent more energy through exercise than those in the lowest income group. The researchers can鈥檛 pinpoint the exact cause, but they point to time constraints as a possible explanation: those with lower incomes typically have less leisure time, because they work more hours and can鈥檛 afford as many conveniences. There鈥檚 also the fact that even basic forms of physical activity require investments like shoes and athletic apparel, not to mention the gym memberships, expensive gear, and travel required for more specialized sports.

A personalized fueling strategy can complement training and boost performance, but too much focus on how you eat can have diminishing physiological returns. 鈥淯nless they have aspirations of going pro or reaching elite status, the everyday athlete doesn鈥檛 need to be overly preoccupied with fine-tuning their nutrition,鈥 says Cara Harbstreet, a dietitian and the owner of . In fact, she says, athletes who rely heavily on supplements or buy into 鈥減erformance boosting鈥 meal plans often end up eating too little, which has a significant negative effect on performance.

The basic tenets of good sports nutrition are to eat balanced snacks and meals鈥攅ach containing protein, carbs, and fat鈥攅very two to four hours, and to make sure you鈥檙e properly hydrated, explains , a sports dietitian and the former director of sports nutrition at the University of North Carolina. This alone can be enough for many people, as long as you鈥檙e eating a variety of nutritious foods in quantities large enough to feel satisfied and energized. And while certain athletes might need to supplement specific nutrients that they don鈥檛 get enough of from their diet (vitamin D, iron, and calcium are common deficiencies among athletes), there鈥檚 no need for a cabinet full of pills and powders.

Plus, sports-specific supplements don鈥檛 necessarily offer anything that food doesn鈥檛. 鈥淭he ingredients in many sports supplements, such as creatine, branched-chain amino acids, and nitric-oxide boosters, are actually food components, and athletes should be reassured that food is an effective and inexpensive way to consume them,鈥 says , a sports dietitian based in Littleton, New Hampshire. She recommends basic protein-dense foods鈥攑oultry, meats, fish, dairy, and legumes鈥攊n place of powders, and inexpensive snacks like chocolate milk or a bowl of cereal in place of bars and shakes marketed as recovery aids.

The bottom line is that pricey meal plans and sports supplements don鈥檛 offer a whole lot of value, despite costing significantly more than whole-food alternatives. A peanut butter and jelly sandwich has roughly the same nutrient profile as a peanut butter ProBar, and at a fraction of the cost ( for the PB&J, compared to over three dollars for the ). The next time you think about shelling out for one of these things, ask yourself if you really benefit from it or if you鈥檙e just buying into marketing or convenience.听And remember that plenty of people don鈥檛 even have the luxury of making that choice.

Want to transform your relationship with food and develop healthier eating habits? Check out our 听online course on , where 国产吃瓜黑料+ members get full access to our library of more than 50 courses on adventure, sports, health, and nutrition.

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How Clean-Eating Rhetoric Is Shaping the Anti-Vax Movement /health/nutrition/clean-eating-anti-vax-conspiracy/ Tue, 09 Nov 2021 11:30:33 +0000 /?p=2535739 How Clean-Eating Rhetoric Is Shaping the Anti-Vax Movement

Actually, we can鈥檛 get everything we need from nature

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How Clean-Eating Rhetoric Is Shaping the Anti-Vax Movement

In 2008, journalist Michael Pollan published , a book with a now familiar message: 鈥淓at food. Not too much. Mostly plants.鈥 The book鈥檚 central argument is that the processed foods that make up a big chunk of the standard American diet and are ruining our health, and we all should strive to replace these 鈥渆dible foodlike substances,鈥 as he calls them, with whole, unprocessed foods.

That message quickly became omnipresent. Pollan鈥檚 well-meaning advice lent more momentum to a growing fanatical clean-eating movement, which popularized the idea that natural is always best: whole foods are inherently pure and health promoting, and processed foods are filled with toxins that disrupt and undermine our well-being. On the surface, it seems to make sense鈥攖here鈥檚 truth to the idea that whole foods are more nutritious than overprocessed ones. But the clean-eating ethos can also oversimplify nutrition and lead to an unwarranted fear of food that isn鈥檛 in its original form. Think: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 eat anything with more than five ingredients鈥 (which comes from , another Pollan book) or 鈥淚 won鈥檛 buy anything with ingredients that I can鈥檛 pronounce.鈥

Today the glorification of what鈥檚 鈥渘atural鈥 (a vague term with ) has seeped out of the nutrition realm and into the broader landscape of health and wellness, and some influencers are using the same playbook to spread fear about the COVID-19 vaccine.

The 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 in it so I won鈥檛 put it in my body鈥 argument has expanded from food and into medical interventions. But 鈥渘atural鈥 doesn鈥檛 always mean good for you, nor does synthetic mean the opposite. What started as a truth-based suggestion to eat more apples and fewer Pop-Tarts has morphed into misguided skepticism of the food industry, biotechnology, and science.

Natural Isn鈥檛 Always Better

Key to all of this messaging is the concept that the best way to solve our modern health problems is to return to nature. 鈥淭here鈥檚 this idea that our bodies are perfect as is and could fight off every single disease if we could just eat right and live in some healthier environment,鈥 says , a dietitian and nutrition researcher at the Baylor College of Medicine.

But scientific and historical evidence proves this isn鈥檛 the case. In 2018, the estimated that vaccines save roughly two and a half million lives every year (and that was pre-COVID). The of processed-grain foods like bread and cereal with folic acid has reduced neural-tube defects in newborns by over a third since it became mandatory in 1998. Human life expectancy in the U.S. has increased from 47 years old to 78 in 2020, largely due to improved food safety, sanitation, health care, and pharmaceuticals. None of these lifesaving advancements come from nature; they鈥檙e all a result of technology and science.

And yes, the same industries that give us vaccines, safe food, and effective cleaning products also do bad things, like implementing on medications, health and nutrition research, and essentially green-lighting . There are legitimate reasons to be critical of these industries and to stay up to date on the science of health and nutrition. But that doesn鈥檛 mean you need to boycott everything they produce.

It鈥檚 About Money

鈥淭he problem is that the wellness industry, which is a massive for-profit industry, has leveraged those genuine concerns to use fear to sell products,鈥 says , research director of the Health Law Institute at the University of Alberta. And now they鈥檙e twisting their message to dissuade people from getting vaccinated.

On Instagram, 听who describes herself as a medical herbalist and who talks about 鈥渘atural health鈥 and 鈥渘atural living,鈥 started her account in 2019. At the time, her posts mostly criticized the food industry and promoted clean eating. Now she has over 65,000 followers and her focus has shifted to criticizing the pharmaceutical industry and vaccinations (which she spells 鈥溾嬧媣a***nations鈥 to prevent Instagram from flagging her content). 鈥淧eople who refuse pharmaceuticals and work on their health naturally are the healthiest people alive,鈥 she wrote in , citing no evidence or sources. Through the you鈥檒l find links to 12 鈥渘atural鈥 products that she recommends, 11 of which come with discount codes.

Another good example is . She claims she is a 鈥渃ertified nutritional therapist,鈥 although she doesn鈥檛 say where this certificate comes from. She has amassed over 40,000 Instagram followers by focusing her account and her website on detoxing information, and she sells a seemingly infinite number of supplements meant to eliminate various toxins. In an Instagram highlight titled 鈥 she reads biblical scripture and equates the media to the devil and the 鈥渟pirit of fear,鈥 asserting that those of us who listen to them 鈥渨orship at the altar of pharma.鈥 On her website, she sells a听 鈥渇or Prevention and [if] someone comes down with the Virus.鈥 It includes ten supplements and .

This isn鈥檛 an anomaly. Influencers who speak out against the vaccine are almost always promoting some kind of supplement as an alternative therapy鈥攎uch like the way they often damn mainstream nutrition science in favor of their own alternative diet theory, which usually comes with a supplement recommendation or two as well. Klatt points out that while vaccines typically drive little profit for pharmaceutical companies, supplements are huge moneymakers for those who produce and market them. And while pharmaceuticals are heavily regulated by the government, supplements are not.

Doing Your Own Research Is Complicated

Such influencers promote the 鈥渄o your own research鈥 thinking that is a huge part of the clean-eating movement鈥攄issecting nutrition labels, refuting dietary guidelines, second-guessing staple foods that have long been considered safe鈥攁nd is now a catchphrase among people who don鈥檛 agree with masks and vaccines.

The trouble is, performing sound nutritional or medical research is something that researchers, scientists, and other experts spend years learning how to do. 鈥淢y alarm bells go off immediately when someone says, 鈥楧o your own research,鈥欌 Caulfield says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 problematic for a whole bunch of reasons. For one, it invites the idea that there鈥檚 some dominant conspiracy theory creating a narrative that you need to see through.鈥 But the real issue, Caulfield says, is that people likely never take all of the evidence into account. In a legitimate evidence-based review, researchers gather every study previously done on a given topic (excluding those that don鈥檛 meet certain quality or study design standards) to get a full picture of the data. While it鈥檚 impossible to completely eliminate bias, even in a legitimate review, there are checks in place to minimize it. On the other hand, an individual who does their own research is usually seeking out evidence that supports what they already believe. 鈥淭hey find one study here, and another study there that supports them, and a YouTuber that supports them, and they鈥檝e 鈥榙one their own research鈥 and confirmed their preconceived beliefs,鈥 Caulfield says.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just a gish gallop of bullshit,鈥 Klatt says. 鈥淲hen you can say a bunch of stuff that sounds science-y to an audience who has no idea about what it means to be evidence based, it鈥檚 just a losing battle for the evidence-based folks.鈥

Be Critical, but Trust the Evidence

It has become glaringly obvious over the course of the pandemic that personal beliefs and values can skew the way that we view facts. This isn鈥檛 new, and the tendency to disregard the evidence isn鈥檛 unique to any particular worldview. Caulfield points out that while conservatives are far more likely to believe anti-scientific information about the COVID-19 vaccine, it鈥檚 primarily liberals who championed the early iterations of clean eating and ignore what the science says about the safety of GMOs. (Not long ago, liberals were also the loudest .) We鈥檙e all susceptible to this kind of thinking.

And there are still reasons to be wary of the companies that gave us the COVID-19 vaccine, just as there are reasons to be wary of those that manufacture processed food. Yes, there鈥檚 some level of uncertainty about the safety of both vaccinations and processed food鈥攖here always will be, because uncertainty is inherent to health and nutrition science. But the blanket distrust of industry and reverence for natural products, pushed forward by clean-eating acolytes and now serving as the crux of the anti-vax movement, isn鈥檛 helpful.

Instead of blindly believing in whatever interpretation of science best fits with our values, we all need to get better at respecting science itself. Seek out experts who have legitimate credentials and who regularly cite large systematic reviews and meta-analyses that pool huge amounts of evidence, instead of following self-appointed authority figures who take small bits of evidence out of context. And if you鈥檙e skeptical of what an expert is telling you, go ahead and do some follow-up research by reading through those same systematic reviews yourself. Just don鈥檛 fall prey to the influencers and conspiracy theorists who exploit the (inevitable) uncertainty of legitimate science in order to sell you an ideology that鈥檚 not based in any science at all.

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Why Psychiatrists Are Prescribing Food /health/nutrition/nutritional-psychiatry-food-mood-mental-health/ Thu, 21 Oct 2021 10:00:26 +0000 /?p=2532293 Why Psychiatrists Are Prescribing Food

The diet-mood connection is interesting, but the research is still in its infancy. Here鈥檚 what we know.

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Why Psychiatrists Are Prescribing Food

Anyone who has cozied up with a bowl of mac and cheese after a hard day will agree that food can trigger feelings of happiness and comfort. The idea that food affects mood is a familiar one. But the emerging field of nutritional psychiatry aims to better understand how overall diet and specific nutrient intake can influence mental health, and apply it in a clinical setting. Psychiatrists and researchers are beginning to consider their patients鈥 eating habits an integral part of addressing mental health conditions like anxiety and depression, making diet recommendations in addition to providing psychotherapy and (in some cases) prescription medication.

The question of how to put the food-mood connection into practice is a hard one to answer. Nutritional psychiatry research is still in its early stages; so far, most of it points to eating the same type of diet that has long been recommended for physical health. And while a healthy eating prescription sounds simple and harmless enough, too much focus on eating the 鈥渞ight鈥 foods can actually worsen mental health. Here鈥檚 what you should know before you start applying any food-mood principles in your own life.

An Up-and-Coming Field

The International Society for Nutritional Psychiatry Research, which coined the phrase 鈥渘utritional psychiatry,鈥 was established in 2013. Its founder and president, is a professor at Deakin University School of Medicine in Australia, where she researches the link between diet and mental health. The 听now boasts hundreds of members, all practitioners or researchers in psychiatry and related fields. Psychiatrists at prominent institutions like and are teaching and applying nutritional psychiatry. And media outlets from to are helping popularize the approach.

It鈥檚 an exciting notion, but it鈥檚 worth approaching the field with some skepticism. The market is filled with companies and people interested in turning a profit: unregulated supplements with names like and make vague promises about making you feel happier or lessening your anxiety. Influencers and health coaches make anecdotal鈥攁nd dubious鈥攃laims that and .

What you eat, of course, impacts how your brain functions. The brain needs calories to operate, and chemical messengers travel back and forth between your gut and brain via the vagus nerve triggering all sorts of functions, from hormone production to cognition. But researchers are excited about the prospect of finding concrete associations between specific nutrients and mental health.

The most well-supported recommendation in nutritional psychiatry is the use of omega-3 fatty acids to help treat and prevent depression. A听听published in听Nature听analyzed data from 26 existing randomized controlled trials, which included a total of 2,160 participants, all adults with diagnosed clinical depression. The authors found that a daily dose of one gram of omega-3 fatty acid was associated with a significant improvement in depressive symptoms. It鈥檚 not totally clear why, but researchers guess that it鈥檚 due to both omega-3 fatty acid鈥檚 anti-inflammatory effects and their role in producing compounds that support brain function. One important note is that they were looking at omega-3 supplements, not omega-3s from food sources like .

A of 213 studies, published in the World Journal of Psychiatry, sought to identify other nutrients that are critical to mental health. The authors identified 12 essential nutrients that, based on existing evidence, seem to be associated with the prevention and treatment of depressive symptoms: folate, iron, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium, potassium, selenium, thiamine, vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin C, and zinc. The authors then assigned an 鈥渁ntidepressant food score鈥 to various foods, based on their concentration of these nutrients. The highest-scoring foods were leafy green vegetables, organ meats, oysters, clams, and mussels. Other types of seafood, fruits, and vegetables also made the list.

We know these nutrients play a role in the biological pathways related to depression, but the evidence isn鈥檛 enough to confidently conclude that getting more of them actually alleviates depression. Just because a nutrient affects a particular pathway, doesn鈥檛 mean that it will necessarily have an impact on the outcome (in this case, depression).听

Even though we鈥檙e still in the early phases of identifying powerhouse nutrients, research does support the association between mental health and certain eating patterns. There鈥檚 that a healthy gut microbiome filled with a diverse set of probiotic (good) bacteria has a positive impact on mood and mental health, among other things. Probiotics produce hundreds of neurochemicals that your brain uses to regulate many physical and mental processes in your body, the explains. For example, 95 percent of our body鈥檚 serotonin (the neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood) is produced by probiotics in the gut.听The best way to support your probiotic bacteria is to feed them prebiotic fiber, found in whole, plant foods like fruits and vegetables. On the other hand, processed foods and simple sugars can feed less-healthy gut bacteria, so too much of these things can cause harm.

A听 published in Molecular Psychiatry found an overall association between a Mediterranean diet鈥攈igh intake of plant foods, moderate intake of fish and poultry, and olive oil as the main source of fat鈥攁nd lower risk of depression, although not every study they included supported this conclusion. The same review found a loose, inconclusive link between eating fewer processed foods and a lower risk of depression.

Putting Theory into Practice

, a psychiatrist and the director of nutritional and lifestyle psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital, became interested in nutritional psychiatry early in her career. She recommended simple adjustments to one of her patient鈥檚 nutrition while treating him for depression. First, he cut back on his daily coffee鈥攚hich he took with ample creamer and several spoons of sugar. Then, he worked on replacing processed food with more fruits and vegetables. 鈥淚t really made a difference in his care and his treatment and our therapeutic relationship,鈥 she says.

Now works with several patients who suffer from depression and anxiety to improve their overall听diet quality,听with small tweaks like increasing their intake of whole foods and decreasing their consumption of processed food and added sugar. She checks in with patients about their progress during their regular psychotherapy sessions. In general, this approach is best suited to patients whose diets are high in processed foods to start with, and who are able, financially and otherwise, to make dietary changes. Naidoo says that she鈥檚 seen many of her patients鈥 symptoms improve as a result.

In some ways, it鈥檚 similar to the work that registered dietitians do, but Naidoo explains that nutritional psychiatry is just one tool in her practice, and it doesn鈥檛 exclude the use of other forms of therapy or medication. Medication can be life-saving for patients with certain mental health disorders. 鈥淚t is meant to be a complement, and offer more solutions to improving mental wellbeing,鈥 she says.

Keep It Simple

Eating nutritious foods can absolutely support mental health, but some mental health experts worry that prescriptive nutritional psychiatry may encourage patients to be overly vigilant about what they eat.

鈥溾嬧婽he first thing that I think of when I hear about nutritional psychiatry is 鈥榞reat鈥攅ven more pressure to eat perfectly,鈥欌 says , a psychologist who specializes in food and body image concerns. Our cultural fixation on healthy eating is already harmful to many people鈥檚 mental health; orthorexia, a damaging obsession with a rigid idea of healthy eating, is now recognized by many experts as an eating disorder (although it鈥檚 not yet in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual used across the field to identify mental disorders). And while nutritional psychiatry doesn鈥檛 necessarily mean 鈥渆at only nutritious foods all the time,鈥 it can be interpreted this way.

Daniels also points out that the sense of empowerment people may feel with nutritional psychiatry鈥攊mproving their mood through their own food choices instead of relying solely on medication and psychotherapy鈥攃an backfire. Eating seems like something you can control, but being too strict can lead to unmanageable feelings around food, and shame whenever you slip up.

Nutritional psychiatry is still in its infancy. So, for now, think of it as a field to watch. Yes, small changes in how you eat can be sustainable, particularly if they have a noticeably positive impact on your mental health. But there鈥檚 so much room for misinterpretation here that it鈥檚 worth taking the food-mood connection with a grain of salt.

Food is more than the sum of its nutrients. It is also a source of comfort, joy, and connection, all of which are important for mental health. Too much focus on food can lead to stress, anxiety, and guilt. The only conclusion we can confidently take away from existing research is to keep eating the same type of diet that鈥檚 long been recommended for physical health: lots of whole foods, fruits and veggies, and a good balance of macros from a variety of sources. Most importantly, make sure that any diet changes you make鈥攆or any reason鈥攍eave room for finding pleasure in eating. If you鈥檙e going to change your eating habits in the name of better mental health, make sure those changes are actually having that effect.

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We Still Don’t Know What an Eating Disorder Looks Like /health/nutrition/eating-disorders-pandemic-body-stigma/ Tue, 07 Sep 2021 10:00:40 +0000 /?p=2528829 We Still Don't Know What an Eating Disorder Looks Like

Eating disorders affect people of all backgrounds, at all weights. To tackle them, we first need to broaden our idea of what they look like.

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We Still Don't Know What an Eating Disorder Looks Like

Eating disorders have been on the rise for years, but during the pandemic, there was a drastic increase in diagnoses and disordered behaviors. Psychologist Lisa Damour wrote in that the combination of high anxiety, lack of structure, and fewer outlets for energy and time created the perfect storm for this rise in disordered behaviors among teens. The same has proved true for adults, as eating disorder treatment centers are at capacity and therapists have long waitlists for new patients, .

In 2021, it鈥檚 easier than ever to spot the hypocrisy around how we think and talk about eating disorders. 听and mainstream outlets like the New York Times continue to spread fatphobic messages, warning against fatness and weight gain. publishes stories about how pandemic anxiety has , while simultaneously running pieces that (both of which are disordered eating behaviors, according to the ). As life settles back into a new kind of normal, we should take the opportunity to broaden our view of who is affected by eating disorders, and learn how to talk about them鈥攁nd food and bodies in general鈥攊n a way that鈥檚 helpful without being triggering.

A Worsening Problem

A published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that roughly 7.8 percent of the world鈥檚 population will have an eating disorder in their lifetime, more than double the number from just 15 years ago. Another published in Eating Behavior found the prevalence among American women to be even higher, at more than 13 percent. And while there鈥檚 not yet a huge amount of data on how the pandemic has affected these numbers, say that they鈥檝e seen a rise in both eating disorders and the severity of disordered behaviors since stay-at-home orders began last March.

This makes sense. a dietitian, registered nurse, and activist who works primarily with BIPOC communities, explains that oftentimes, eating disorders are a coping mechanism. 鈥淚 treat eating disorders as a trauma response,鈥 she says. Many people who live in marginalized bodies, or who deal with the constant stress and uncertainty of job insecurity, poverty, or abuse, use disordered eating behaviors as a way to feel some sense of control over their bodies and their lives. In a time of such universal uncertainty, it鈥檚 no surprise that so many people are turning to unhealthy coping mechanisms like extreme restriction, over-exercise, and bingeing as a way to feel like they鈥檙e in control.

Of course, that sense of control is always short-lived. Climber Kai Lightner explains in this 国产吃瓜黑料听piece that his own eating disorder was born out of a desire to be a more competitive (lighter) athlete, but eventually took a huge physical toll. Champion obstacle course racer Amelia Boone admits that she downplayed her own eating disorder for years, ashamed that, as an athlete known for her grit, she couldn鈥檛 get a handle on it herself.

Many people with eating disorders appear healthy and high-functioning. , an eating disorder therapist and senior director of admissions at the in Chicago, explains that many of her patients are at the top of their class, or working a great job. They鈥檙e also totally consumed by their disorder, but people don鈥檛 notice because they don鈥檛 look sick. Or worse, others mistake disordered behaviors for discipline and dedication.

Most People Don鈥檛 Look the Part

Too often, we don鈥檛 worry about someone鈥檚 relationship with food and body unless they鈥檙e visibly emaciated, or they鈥檝e lost a significant amount of weight in a short time. But this is a complete misunderstanding of what eating disorders actually look like. Many people think only of anorexia nervosa (extreme food restriction, very low body weight, and disturbed body image) and bulimia nervosa (repeated bingeing and purging, usually through vomiting or overexercise). But eating disorders encompass a much wider range of behaviors, including food restriction and/or obsession without weight loss, extreme picky eating, and binge eating. And only about six percent of people with diagnosed eating disorders fall into the underweight body mass index category, while the rest are classified as normal, overweight, or obese.

There鈥檚 also the issue of diversity when it comes to how eating disorders are portrayed. While more high-profile , , and people of color (like Lightner) have started talking about their experience with eating disorders, the vast majority of these stories still come from young white women, like , and . Trotter says that this is a huge problem鈥擝IPOC communities experience similar rates of eating disorders, but because there鈥檚 no conversation about it, people are far less likely to seek or admit they need help. Bowling-Waters also adds that eating disorders affect people of all ages, despite the myth that it鈥檚 primarily young people at risk.

The worsening of eating disorders during the pandemic is in part due to this limited understanding of what these disorders look like and who they affect. Instagram has policies that from posts about weight loss, but are encouraged to lose their quarantine 15. We celebrate body positivity and acceptance when it鈥檚 , but criticize it .

And of course, there鈥檚 the fact that most of us have spent far more time than usual on social media in the past 16 months. 鈥淵ou can go on social media whenever you want and stare at 鈥榩erfect鈥 bodies,鈥 Bowling-Waters says. And when you鈥檙e not surrounded by as many real-life bodies, these photoshopped images that display a tiny fraction of the population start to seem normal鈥攚hich makes some people feel like they have to engage in extreme restriction or other disordered behaviors just to fit in.

It鈥檚 Time to Change the Conversation

There isn鈥檛 a quick and easy way to prevent eating disorders. But there is so much we can do to reframe the way we think and talk about them. On a large scale, we can end the cultural panic about quarantine (or any other) weight gain. It鈥檚 stigmatizing to anyone in a fat body, and it鈥檚 triggering for anyone with or at risk of an eating disorder. On an individual level, we can be deliberate about not complimenting weight loss or expressing 鈥渃oncern鈥 over someone鈥檚 weight gain. In sports, we can focus on an athlete鈥檚 performance and wellbeing instead of obsessing about their weight. And overall, we can stop praising thinness as the end-all, be-all of wellbeing and happiness. We鈥檙e talking about a huge cultural shift, and that will take time and work鈥攂ut if we can pull it off, we can decrease the risk of eating disorders and make help more accessible to those who need it.

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Don鈥檛 Be Fooled, Noom Is Just Another Diet /health/nutrition/noom-app-diet-trend/ Mon, 23 Aug 2021 11:00:28 +0000 /?p=2527300 Don鈥檛 Be Fooled, Noom Is Just Another Diet

The popular app promises weight loss without dieting. Then it proposes restrictive eating habits.

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Don鈥檛 Be Fooled, Noom Is Just Another Diet

isn鈥檛 supposed to be a diet. The app is a weight-loss program, yes, but : 鈥渄esigned by psychologists & scientifically proven to create real, sustainable results,鈥 its marketing copy reads. If you鈥檙e sick of dieting, the ads say, Noom is for you. The personalized health-coaching company was founded in 2008 by two engineers, Saeju Jeong and Artem Petakov, and it took off when they released an app in 2016. It promises to teach sustainable health habits and mindful eating, and to improve your relationship with food and your body via an individualized program. For most users, the goal is weight loss.

Clearly, the message is resonating with people. According to , Noom has been downloaded more than 50 million times since its launch five years ago. In May 2021, reported that the company raised an astounding $540 million in Series F funding. (For reference, raised $550 million in the same funding stage in 2018.) It鈥檚 safe to say, Noom is huge and it鈥檚 going to keep growing.

But behind Noom鈥檚 popularity and slick 鈥溾 marketing, it鈥檚 really just another diet. The app is essentially a calorie tracker supplemented by lessons on behavior change and a personal coach who messages you. Many and experts have warned that the way Noom presents itself听is misleading.

(Photo: Courtesy Noom)

Earlier this summer, I signed up for the two-week free trial version of Noom (which then goes on to cost $59 per month or $199 per year). After downloading the app, I filled out an initial survey that asked for basic information like my gender, weight, lifestyle, goals, and food preferences. I input a weight-loss goal of 12 pounds, and it gave me a timeline suggesting when I might realistically meet that goal鈥攁bout seven weeks. Technically, that鈥檚 in line with the one to two pounds per week that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers .

I swiped my way through a welcome that included a few multiple-choice questions, including one that read, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the best way to reach your weight loss goals with Noom?鈥 The correct answer was 鈥淪imply believe.鈥 I was also assigned a Noom coach, a woman named Laura, who sent me a message through the app鈥檚 chat feature, saying that she was there to provide support and answer questions. Then there were a few swipe-through lessons about Noom鈥檚 approach, which is meant to be flexible, intuitive, and motivating.

On day two, I opened the app and saw, at the top of the screen, a calorie goal for the day: 1,200. Given all of Noom鈥檚 talk of psychology, behavior change, and not being a diet, I was surprised that it expected me to track my calories at all. But I was more shocked by the drastically low recommendation.

鈥淥ur bodies need a bare-minimum amount of calories to keep us alive and keep our heart pumping,鈥 says , an anti-diet dietitian based in the Los Angeles area. That minimum number varies, but the says that most women need between 1,600 and 2,200 calories per day, and most men need between 2,000 and 3,200.

I reached out to Noom as a reporter, asking for clarification on how it calculated my (extremely low) caloric allotment, and a representative told me that Noom bases the recommendation on user information, desired speed of weight loss, and principles from the , a formula grounded in legitimate science and often used by health care professionals to estimate someone鈥檚 basal metabolic rate (BMR) and total energy expenditure.

For comparison, I plugged my height, weight, age, and gender into the Harris-Benedict Equation () and got a BMR鈥攖he minimum number of calories needed just to function鈥攐f 1,486 calories per day鈥286 more than Noom鈥檚 recommendation. Factoring in my activity level, the online calculator added an additional 1,000 calories to my total energy expenditure, the estimated number of calories burned daily when activity is taken into account. Because my body mass index falls in the normal weight category, the no more than a 500-calorie deficit for weight loss鈥攚hich meant I should be consuming about 2,000 calories per day. That鈥檚 800 calories higher than Noom鈥檚 recommendation. (The that even 鈥渉ealthy鈥 weight loss typically plateaus after six months, and most people end up regaining any weight lost.)

I wondered whether Noom鈥檚 caloric recommendation was more accurate for others, so I posted about it on social media. Several dozen women messaged me saying that Noom had prescribed them the exact-same caloric goal. Many of them also shared their height, weight, and age鈥攐ur weights ranged more than 100 pounds, and our ages spanned three decades. It鈥檚 hard to fathom how all of us could have legitimately ended up with the same recommendation.

I asked Noom about this, and a representative told me over email that 1,200 is the minimum amount assigned to women. 鈥淢any Noom users select the fastest speed of weight loss, which equates to losing approximately two pounds per week,鈥 they said. But you don鈥檛 explicitly choose your rate of weight loss up front鈥攖he survey takes you through a series of questions and visually shortens your weight loss timeline based on your answers. You can adjust your weight loss speed in settings, but it鈥檚 not intuitive, nor is the option foregrounded in the user experience.

鈥淣oom鈥檚 calorie budget is not a rigid recommendation but a starting point,鈥 the representative told me. 鈥淲e鈥檝e been working on the best way to visually represent this philosophy within the platform.鈥

(Photo: Courtesy Noom)

Noom supplements its calorie tracking with a stoplight-inspired food-categorization system based on caloric density. Calorically dense foods like olive oil, dried fruit, and French fries are red, slightly lighter options like whole-grain bread and grilled chicken breast are yellow, and things like berries, egg whites, and nonfat dairy are green. The app recommends increasing the amount of green foods you eat and limiting red ones. Although it tries to explain that red foods aren鈥檛 inherently bad, and acknowledges that a healthy diet includes all three categories, the colors are clearly associated with permission and a lack thereof; from there it isn鈥檛 hard to make a leap to thinking of certain foods as good and others as the opposite. , a dietitian and nutrition professor at Messiah University in Pennsylvania, says that thinking about food in such a binary way can be damaging, because it leads to feelings of guilt and shame when someone eats a 鈥渂ad鈥 food.

Also concerning is Noom鈥檚 lack of eating-disorder screening. While a Noom representative told me via email that coaches are trained to be 鈥渉ypervigilant鈥 and watch for signs that a user is struggling, its initial survey doesn鈥檛 ask about eating-disorder history or relationship with food. , a New York鈥揵ased psychologist, eating-disorder specialist, and author of , has real concerns about this. Many of her eating-disorder clients have tried Noom, thinking it would help their recovery and not realizing that it was in fact a calorie tracker.

鈥淧eople start the program and find that it鈥檚 incredibly triggering,鈥 Conason says. 鈥淚t goes against everything that the anti-diet movement is about.鈥

Noom repeatedly points out that it incorporates psychological research to help users lose weight safely and sustainably. The premise of this psychology-based approach is cognitive behavioral therapy, a type of treatment focused on changing people鈥檚 thoughts and feelings as a way to change their behaviors. But while , Noom鈥檚 application of it looks much different than it would in a clinical setting, where a licensed听therapist would administer it in ongoing, one-on-one counseling sessions. On Noom, users read short lessons about behavior change and might get weekly messages of encouragement from their coach.

Even a psychologist likely wouldn鈥檛 be able to effectively administer CBT through messages in an app, Conason says. And Noom鈥檚 coaches are not licensed therapists鈥攊nstead, they enroll in Noomiversity, a 75-hour 鈥渉ealth and wellness coach training program,鈥 after which they clock 200 hours of coaching experience, a Noom representative told me via email. These coaches sign nondisclosure agreements and thus couldn鈥檛 speak to me on the record, but say that each coach is assigned to upward of 350 active Noom users at a time. In comparison, a full caseload for a licensed therapist is typically somewhere between 15 and 30 clients per week.

Like other diets out there, Noom doesn鈥檛 lead to long-term weight loss for most people who download the app. In a 鈥渓earn more鈥 page on the app, Noom cites a statistic that 78 percent of its users lose weight. But that number, which comes from a published in Nature in 2016, is a little misleading, explains Conason. When the authors collected the data, ten million people had downloaded Noom, but the company only pulled data from 36,000 people, because the other 99.6 percent of users quit the app before six months.

There鈥檚 not much data to back up long-term weight loss of Noom users, either. Of those 36,000 people, 15,000 were included in a one-year follow-up, less than 0.5 percent of the original sample size, and the data about their experiences is opaque: 38 percent of that small group is missing from the data table, and just 24 percent maintained weight loss for a year.

Despite its popularity and clever marketing, Noom is simply a calorie-counting app with a chat feature and bite-size lessons on eating and weight loss. If you鈥檙e set on trying to lose weight鈥攁lthough I鈥檇 encourage you to rethink this, as for improved health鈥攖here are more sustainable paths out there. Consult a registered dietitian and perhaps a licensed therapist, and come up with a plan that is genuinely individualized to your body, your history, and your goals.

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What 5 Olympians Eat in a Day of Training /health/nutrition/what-olympians-eat-training-diet/ Tue, 03 Aug 2021 11:00:04 +0000 /?p=2525421 What 5 Olympians Eat in a Day of Training

We asked Tokyo-bound athletes competing in various sports to share how they fuel themselves

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What 5 Olympians Eat in a Day of Training

Olympic athletes: they鈥檙e absolutely not just like the rest of us. Most train rigorously throughout the year and compete in high-profile events in the interim between the Games. Their schedules have a serious focus on performance and recovery, which means that they live鈥攁nd eat鈥攁 little differently.

Demanding training schedules call for ample energy and the right nutrients at the right time. The nutritional needs of every sport, and every individual, are different, meaning that each athlete has to figure out a way of eating that supports their own output. We asked five athletes competing in Tokyo in听five different sports to share what they eat on a typical day of training. Then we asked sports dietitians to weigh in on what works about their diets鈥攁nd what they could do to dial it in even further.

, 21, Weight Lifting

Cummings is a first-time Olympian and four-time Junior World Champion weight lifter. Born and raised in the small town of Beaufort, South Carolina, he still trains at local gyms. At age 11, he became the youngest lifter to ever complete a double-bodyweight clean and jerk (200 pounds). He was also the first weight lifter to win four Junior World Champion titles in a row (2016 to 2019), and he currently holds 23 American records. While Cummings didn鈥檛 take home a medal this year, he鈥檚 just beginning his Olympic career. He trains five days a week for roughly two hours per day, and each training session focuses on one of the two Olympic lifts: the snatch or the clean and jerk.

Breakfast: A sausage, bacon, ham, and cheese omelet or a sausage, egg, and cheese burrito

Midmorning snack: Granola bar

Lunch: Either salmon and rice with tomatoes, or steak and potatoes with some vegetables

Afternoon/Post-workout: Ascent Protein shake or Ascent recovery water (Cummings is sponsored by )

Dinner: Steak and potatoes or chicken and vegetables, with fruit for dessert

Treats: French fries or cookie-dough ice cream every once in a while

Expert Opinion:

As a weight lifter, Cummings is primarily focused on building strength. There鈥檚 plenty of protein in his diet, which is important for muscle repair and growth, but experts say that getting adequate carbs is equally critical. 鈥淔or optimal recovery, you want carbs to refuel, protein to repair, and electrolytes and water to rehydrate,鈥 says Tony Castillo, a sports dietitian and the owner of in Stuart, Florida. Even strength-based athletes should include carbs in every meal and snack.

, a Pittsburgh-based dietitian who works with female athletes, applauds the fact that Cummings doesn鈥檛 avoid foods he loves. 鈥淓veryone, whether they are Olympic athletes or not, should enjoy all foods. By occasionally eating less nutritious foods like ice cream and French fries, CJ is creating a healthy relationship with food.鈥

Morgan Stickney, 24, Paralympic Swimming

At age 15, , raised in Bedford, New Hampshire, was one of the top 20 swimmers in the U.S. and hoped to someday qualify for the Olympics. But after an injury in her left foot, multiple surgeries, and an infection, she underwent a below-the-knee amputation on her left leg in 2018. She began training for the upcoming Paralympics, which begin in late August, as a unilateral amputee after recovery, but she soon felt a pain in her right foot and ultimately had to undergo a second amputation in 2019. Against the odds, she was able to return to the pool months later, and will now compete in the Paralympics as a bilateral amputee. She trains six days a week, and each day includes two pool sessions, clocking in as much as four total hours, and one weight-training session.

Breakfast: Two packets of oatmeal with a banana

During swim practice: Grape-flavored drink

After swim practice, before weight training:听An RxBar or a Kind bar

Lunch: Protein shake, fruit, two hard-boiled eggs, Chobani Greek yogurt, Kodiak Cake Graham cracker bites

Dinner, after second swim practice: A big plate of vegetables, protein, and carbohydrates

Expert Opinion:

Because Stickney鈥檚 training schedule is so intense,听San Diego鈥揵ased sports dietitian recommends that she increase both her carb and protein intake. 鈥淢organ is depleting her muscle glycogen鈥攖he carbohydrates in her muscles鈥攄uring her workouts, and she needs more protein to build and maintain her muscles.鈥 Stickney鈥檚 amputations decrease her caloric needs slightly, but she鈥檚 still an elite athlete with an incredibly demanding training regimen.

Castillo recommends adding an additional protein shake after her swim workout, for quick-absorbing protein leading into her strength workout. He also suggests that she eat an additional snack before bed.

MyKayla Skinner, 24, Gymnastics

, who has been training at the elite level in her home state of Arizona since taking a leave of absence from the University of Utah in 2019, was an alternate at the 2016 Olympic Games. She qualified for one of two American individual spots in Tokyo, completely against the odds鈥攁t 24, she鈥檚 the oldest U.S. gymnast to compete at the Olympics since 2004, and in the past year, she has contracted COVID, been hospitalized with pneumonia as a result, and dealt with a bone spur in her foot. Despite her impressive showing before the Games, she placed 11th in qualifying rounds and didn鈥檛 get the opportunity to compete in the finals. She trains in the gym for over five hours a day, five days a week.

Breakfast: Yogurt topped with strawberries, bananas, and granola

Lunch:听An acai bowl with protein powder and topped with fruit and granola

Dinner: A baked dish of rice, beans, chicken, and vegetables, topped with guacamole and cheese

Snacks (throughout the day):听A Verb energy bar, fruit leather, Cocoa Pebbles, chocolate milk

Expert Opinion:

Skinner鈥檚 diet is high in fast-absorbing carbs, like the cereal and the acai bowl. DeGore says this is a good thing. 鈥淐arbohydrates are the most important fuel for athletes, especially for high-intensity sports like gymnastics,鈥 she says. 鈥淢yKayla鈥檚 performance would suffer without adequate fuel for workouts and competitions.鈥

Castillo agrees, pointing out that several high-carb snacks throughout the day ensure that her muscle glycogen stores are always topped off.

Hannah Roberts, 19, BMX Freestyle

, who was raised in Michigan but now trains in Raleigh, North Carolina, has been competing in BMX freestyle since 2012. She is the reigning world champion and took home silver in her Olympic debut over the weekend in Tokyo, the first time BMX freestyle has been included in the Games. Roberts says she didn鈥檛 think much about nutrition until she was recovering from shoulder surgery in 2018 and realized how much it affected her energy and recovery. Now she eats five times a day to support her training schedule: three to four hours on her bike six days a week, and one to two hours in the gym four days a week.

Breakfast:听A protein pancake, half a cup of berries, three eggs and one cup of scrambled egg whites, and a glass of milk (Roberts is a member of )

Before training:听A glass of milk and a handful of berries

Lunch:听A peanut butter and jelly sandwich, half a glass of milk

After training: Half a glass of milk with a scoop of recovery powder (a mix of protein and vitamins)

Dinner:听A three-ounce steak, three ounces of grilled chicken, mashed potatoes, and a serving of mixed vegetables

Expert Opinion:

Roberts is sponsored by , which obviously gives her incentive to drink milk. But Harpst, Castillo, and DeGore all agree that it is an excellent choice for a pre- or post-workout drink and for performance nutrition in general. 鈥淢ilk is an effective rehydration aid, providing calcium, phosphorus, B vitamins, potassium, and vitamin D, as well as protein and carbohydrates,鈥 DeGore says, adding that it鈥檚 also accessible and affordable.听鈥淚t outperforms most recovery drinks.鈥

Castillo says that PB&J is a favorite among athletes, because it鈥檚 portable, easy to eat, and rich in carbohydrates. He says that Roberts is smart to drink milk (a high-quality protein source) alongside it, because peanut butter doesn鈥檛 deliver enough protein on its own.

Cat Osterman, 38, Softball

is a pitcher from Houston听who took home silver this year during her third stint on Team USA. She also won gold at the 2004 Olympic Games and silver in the 2008 Games. She turned to coaching full-time in 2015, but came out of retirement when it was announced that softball would return to the Olympics in 2020 (it was excluded in 2012 and 2016). She trains five to six days a week for between two and six hours a day. Each session includes some form of conditioning, lifting, throwing, and recovery work.

Breakfast: Sweet potato hash with turkey sausage, peppers, onions, and an egg

Lunch:听A salad of arugula, chopped raw vegetables, a few candied pecans, and a creamy dressing, paired with a glass of milk (Osterman is also a member of )

After training:听A smoothie made with frozen fruit and milk

Dinner: Zucchini noodles with a tomato and meat sauce, plus some quinoa thrown in

Expert Opinion:

Osterman鈥檚 diet seems to be lower in calories than those of other athletes. But Castillo, who used to be a dietitian with Major League Baseball鈥檚 Toronto Blue Jays, thinks that overall it鈥檚 likely appropriate for her sport. (Although DeGore points out that, as a pitcher, Osterman can be more active than other players on the field.) Castillo applauds her for including milk in her smoothies and as part of her lunch, since it鈥檚 higher in protein than nondairy milks and sports drinks, but recommends adding more protein to dinner as well.

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Should You Be Drinking Protein Coffee? /health/nutrition/proffee-protein-shake-coffee-tiktok-trend-benefits/ Fri, 23 Jul 2021 10:30:26 +0000 /?p=2522945 Should You Be Drinking Protein Coffee?

The nutrition trend is all over TikTok, and it's actually not a bad idea

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Should You Be Drinking Protein Coffee?

Social media isn鈥檛 a great place to find wellness or nutrition advice. The most viral stuff tends to be the most over-the-top and the influencers who create it typically care more about shareability than science. Put bluntly: 鈥淟ikes and follows do not indicate competence,鈥 says , co-founder of and the sports dietitian for the Kansas City Chiefs.听But once in a blue moon, a viral nutrition trend is worth trying. Like protein coffee, which recently took TikTok by storm.

#Proffee is pretty simple: it鈥檚 a protein shake, made with coffee. And while the idea of a caffeinated smoothie isn鈥檛 earth-shattering, it has its merits, particularly if you鈥檙e someone who likes to work out in the morning. Here鈥檚 what two sports dietitians have to say about it.

How to Make It

There鈥檚 no master recipe for #proffee. Scroll through the tag on TikTok and you鈥檒l find thousands of videos. One woman orders a couple of shots of iced Starbucks espresso in a venti cup and then pours a pre-made shake on top. Another uses a vanilla protein shake as 鈥渃reamer,鈥 and several people blend their own shakes with flavored protein powder, ice, and coffee instead of milk. You get the idea.

Protein coffee is a great way to kill two birds鈥攏utrition and caffeination鈥攚ith one stone. Let鈥檚 get one thing clear, though. 鈥淐offee is not a meal,鈥 says Abby Chan, a sports dietitian and co-owner of Evolve in Flagstaff, Arizona. 鈥淎nd adding protein to coffee still does not make it a meal.鈥

If you鈥檙e relying on protein coffee alone to get you through the morning, Bonci recommends adding carbohydrates by blending in a banana or eating some fruit or cereal alongside your drink. Chan points out that you could add fat with a scoop of nut butter, too.

Protein coffee works well alongside a regular breakfast, particularly if your morning meal contains less than 15 grams of protein. Chan says this is the minimum amount that most people should eat per meal, although there鈥檚 no need to hit this target on the nose every time. For reference: two large eggs contain roughly 13 grams of protein, a seven-ounce container of plain Greek yogurt has 20 grams, and a half-cup of rolled oats cooked in a cup of two-percent milk has 13 grams. If you鈥檙e already eating protein-rich foods at breakfast, Chan says, there鈥檚 not much benefit to adding it to your coffee, although it won鈥檛 cause any harm. 鈥淵our body can only absorb 25 to 35 grams during a meal,鈥 she says.

Why It Works

Some TikTokers use protein coffee as a pre-workout drink. This makes sense, since caffeine is the main active ingredient in most pre-workout supplements, and a cup of coffee is far cheaper than a scoop of expensive powder. Bonci explains that for many people, consuming caffeine 30 to 60 minutes before a workout can boost endurance and increase focus.听

But it might not work for everybody, and it鈥檚 not a magic bullet. 国产吃瓜黑料 columnist Alex Hutchinson previously reported on a looking at caffeine鈥檚 effect on performance, published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. The study followed a group of 101 male athletes during 10k cycling time trials, and found that, while caffeine did boost performance on average, the athletes who benefited the most had a specific gene that helps them metabolize caffeine well鈥攁nd those without that gene actually rode more slowly.

You likely already know from experience whether caffeine helps, hurts, or doesn鈥檛 affect your workouts. If you feel better exercising after coffee, Chan explains that adding protein could have some benefit听for workouts lasting more than 90 minutes. When your glycogen stores are depleted, having amino acids (the building blocks of protein) readily available in your system will prevent your body from breaking down existing muscle to get them. But for shorter workouts, the protein probably won鈥檛 serve any purpose beyond helping you hit your nutrient requirements for the day.

Chan stresses that you shouldn鈥檛 need caffeine to train. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e relying on caffeine to get through a workout, then you are not ready or recovered enough to be training,鈥 she says.

鈥淎t the end of the day, protein coffee is simply a protein shake with caffeine,鈥 Chan says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not a meal, and it鈥檚 not a magical elixir.鈥 Frankly, it鈥檚 surprising that something so simple took off on TikTok, a space usually reserved for wellness trends that are either or completely ridiculous (like dipping cucumber slices in stevia as a low-sugar substitute for watermelon). If you like the taste of a coffee protein shake, great! Just don鈥檛 drink it in lieu of breakfast.

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