January 21, 2019 at 08:20AM by CWC The ketogenic diet may have been the buzziest eating plan in 2018, but is it the healthiest overall? According to U.S. News and World Report, the tried-and-true Mediterranean diet rises to take the top honor. A panel of health experts examined and ranked 41 popular eating plans, concluding that the Mediterranean diet is the most universally beneficial for long-term health. Further down the list, U.S. News named the DASH diet as the second healthiest, with WW (formerly known as Weight Watchers) as fourth, vegetarian as 11th, vegan as 20th, Paleo as 33rd, and Whole30 and keto tied for 38th. What makes the Mediterranean diet so beloved by MDs and nutrition experts? Registered dietitian Lauren Slayton, RD, points to the fact that it emphasizes the consumption of foods high in omega-3s and healthy fats, like fish, olive oil, nuts, grains, legumes, fruits, and veggies. “[Olive oil] has tremendous cardiovascular benefits,” she says. Meanwhile, you’re eating a lot less red meat—although it’s still permitted on occasion. It’s generally pretty easy for people to follow, Slayton says (and allows for small amounts of red wine). The eating plan also takes into account more than just food, adds Marisa Moore, RDN. “If you look at the Mediterranean diet pyramid, what’s at the base is actually physical activity and social relationships,” she says. So movement and friendship definitely play a part, too. To quote Gilmore Girls, it’s a lifestyle. What’s not to like here? Wondering what exactly it looks like to
Category: Keto
Why Kayla Itsines is committed to the Mediterranean diet during her pregnancy—and beyond
January 18, 2019 at 05:36AM by CWC In a classic case of what’s old is new again, the Mediterranean diet has replaced keto as the eating plan of the moment—and fitness superstar Kayla Itsines is 100 percent on board during her pregnancy. “I’ve always followed a balanced, Mediterranean diet as that is what works for me and my body. Being Greek, it’s part of my heritage and is what I grew up eating,” she tells Well+Good when asked why she’s such a fan of the diet. Of course pregnancy being, well, pregnancy, at first Itsines had to make a few adjustments to a familiar eating plan. “At the beginning of my pregnancy journey, I was feeling nauseous for the first 12 weeks so I consumed more dry foods than I normally would,” she says. “But being 23 weeks pregnant and in my second trimester, I am feeling so much better and am pretty much back to eating my normal Mediterranean diet. This consists of lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, rice, grilled meats and olive oil.” “I’ve always followed a balanced, Mediterranean diet as that is what works for me and my body. Being Greek, it’s part of my heritage and is what I grew up eating.” For Itsines, breakfast typically consists of either mushrooms and spinach on toast or scrambled eggs and kale on toast. Lunch is homemade chicken gyros, with a wholewheat wrap, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and tzatziki dressing. Between meals, she’ll grab fresh fruit, depending on what’s in
Here’s what it means when your friend says she’s avoiding “damp” foods
January 16, 2019 at 08:31AM by CWC Most of us think of “damp” and “dry” in terms of how recently we used our bath towels, or what the weather is doing outside. But according to the 2,500-year-old school of thought of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), there’s so much more to these concepts than what’s going on outside the body. “The idea of internal dampness versus dryness in traditional Chinese medicine refers to the specific ways that what you eat affects your overall internal balance,” explains Josh Axe, D.N.M., C.N.S., D.C, author of the upcoming book, Keto Diet (Feb 2019) and co-founder of Ancient Nutrition. (Dampness and dryness are two of the six the “pernicious influences” in TCM that are believed to affect your body’s balance and cause illness and disharmony—along with heat, cold, wind, and summer heat.) After being eaten and digested, some foods create an environment of dampness while others create an environment of internal dryness, Dr. Axe says. As for what that means (as well as the rationale behind your BFF’s new “anti-dampness” diet)…more on that below. What is “dampness?” The TCM approach suggests that there are certain foods that make our internal systems “damp”, or phlegmy, clammy, sluggish, swollen, groggy, or cold , says Jill Blakeway, DACM, a doctor of Chinese medicine and Well+Good Council member. “These symptoms start in the digestive symptom and spleen, and then accumulate and bring stagnation to the rest of the body.” Stagnation translates into things like unwanted weight gain, bloating, low energy, loose stools, and phlegm-y lungs, she says. She adds
The beginner’s guide to the ketogenic diet
January 14, 2019 at 01:00PM by CWC If you are a sentient being living in the year 2019, you’ve heard about the keto diet. More than that, there’s a 98 percent chance* that you know someone—your best friend, mother, former high school classmate who is involved in a pyramid scheme—who has embraced this low-carb/high-fat diet. (*Based on my very unscientific, but probably accurate, real-life observations.) Only unlike that MLM company Becky from freshman year bio keeps spamming you about on Facebook, the keto diet could actually be a positive thing for you. A growing body of research has shown that our bodies need fat to thrive, which explains why the ketogenic diet—which emphasizes fats and strictly reduces carb intake—is having a serious moment. (And nearly every celeb, from Halle Berry to Vinny from Jersey Shore, is on board.) While a diet filled with avocados, EVOO, and butter may sound like a true gift, there are a few super-important rules—and icky side-effects—that you need to know about. (Hello, “keto flu”!) Scroll down for the ketogenic diet for beginners, explained. Photo: Stocksy/Stephen Morris Learn the ratios Let’s start with the basics: your macros. “The most important thing to know before embarking on the ketogenic diet is that you need to keep your carb intake under 30 grams total per day,” says Keto Comfort Foods author Maria Emmerich. This is because the absence of carbohydrates forces your body into—and keeps it in—ketosis, the metabolic state key to the ketogenic diet. When your body is
5 recipes that prove the record-breaking egg is all it’s cracked up to be
January 14, 2019 at 11:42AM by CWC With a quick scroll through Instagram, you’ll find no shortage of perfectly-spread avocado toasts, plentiful puppies being generally adorable, and more than a few pastel-hued smoothie bowls. But at 33 million likes and counting, the new most-liked photo of all time will be tough to beat. Hard though it may be to believe that something so ordinary could garner more attention than any other image on the platform, it was all part of a plan hatched by @world_record_egg. As Instagram users scrambled to crack a world record, it only took a matter of days to poach the top spot from Kylie Jenner’s photo announcing the birth of her daughter, which fell to a distant second with a measly 18 million likes. View this post on Instagram Let’s set a world record together and get the most liked post on Instagram. Beating the current world record held by Kylie Jenner (18 million)! We got this #LikeTheEgg #EggSoldiers #EggGang A post shared by EGG GANG (@world_record_egg) on Jan 4, 2019 at 9:05am PST //www.instagram.com/embed.js Eggs are incredible, versatile, and delicious, and therefore should be celebrated. We’ve gathered some of our favorite easy egg recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner—the kind of meals you’ll want to photograph and post to Instagram for all the likes. 5 recipes to celebrate the Insta-famous egg Photo: Primavera Kitchen 1. Veggie breakfast casserole This casserole—which is loaded with eggs, broccoli, mushrooms, and spinach—can be made ahead of time for easy weekday breakfasts. Photo:
Yes, bread can be healthy if you do it right
January 14, 2019 at 09:35AM by CWC Ah, bread: Can’t live with it, can’t live without it. In a world where low-carb diets like keto are commanding more of the spotlight, our relationship with starchy goodness has become pretty complicated. But according to one dietician, it doesn’t have to be. “Every bread has value,” says Jessica Perez, RD. “Bread has become the enemy, whereas 10 years ago, fat was.” So…is bread healthy? Yes, says Perez—but in moderation. As long as you don’t suffer from Celiac disease or a gluten intolerance, she says there’s plenty of room in anyone’s diet for a slice or two. Great news for all of us who are on Oprah-levels of loving bread. Of course, there are certain breads that offer more nutrition per slice than others (major side-eye at you, white bread). When it comes to shopping for a healthy bread, Perez says there are a few varieties in particular that should be on your radar—and in your cart: 1. Whole grain bread Perez says to always opt for whole grain bread. That’s because whole grain bread contains all three parts of the grain intact: the inner endosperm, which contains carbohydrates and a small amount of nutrients, the outer germ, which contains healthy fats, and the outer bran, which is loaded with fiber, antioxidants and B vitamins. White and wheat breads, meanwhile, use flours that have only the inner endosperm of the grain—which cuts down on the amount of nutrients you get from your loaf. Preserving all
Move over, oranges—turns out cantaloupe has a ton of vitamin C, too
January 11, 2019 at 12:31PM by CWC Controversial opinion time: The most underrated part of any fruit salad are the melons. Sure, everyone goes for the berries and grapes first, but you’re making a rookie mistake by skipping the cantaloupe chunks sitting forgotten at the bottom of the bowl. Because…well, the benefits of cantaloupe are pretty legit. “Cantaloupe carries a host of benefits, aside from being delicious!” says Rachel Gargiulo, a certified nutrition consultant at Nourishing Journey Wellness Center. “It is rich in beta-carotenes, an antioxidant that converts into vitamin A in the body, as well as vitamin C. Additionally, its phytonutrient compounds help combat inflammation and oxidative stress.” (The icing on the cake? Cantaloupe is also a keto-friendly fruit. #praise.) So what does this mean for those who decide to add cantaloupe to their dietary repertoire? Gargiulo provided a more thorough run-down of the major health and nutrition benefits of cantaloupe: 1. Tons of inflammation-fighting antioxidants. In every serving of cantaloupe you get beta-carotene, cryptoxanthin, lutein, and zeaxanthin. (Try saying all of those three times fast.) Gargiulo notes that antioxidants are known for their anti-inflammatory properties, plus they ward off cancer-causing free radicals in the bod. Both beta-carotene (once converted to vitamin A) and zeaxanthin are thought to play key roles in eye health, including reduced risk of age-related macular degeneration. 2. Immune-boosting vitamin C. Okay yes, oranges and mangoes have tons of vitamin C. But one cup of diced cantaloupe has 59 mg of the stuff (about 79 percent of your recommended daily value).
Wait, why is the Mediterranean diet cool again?
January 11, 2019 at 07:33AM by CWC You know the feeling you get when you text a new love interest for the first time and your message turns green instead of blue? Like, it’s not a deal-breaker but you feel kind of bummed and confused? That about sums up how I felt at first when I read that the Mediterranean diet was named the best diet of 2019 in US News and World Report‘s annual ranking. Really? 2013 called; it wants its food trend back. It wasn’t really clear to me why the eating plan—which advocates for a balanced approach to eating lean proteins, fruits and veggies, and grains (with small amounts of wine and cheese for good measure)—was suddenly a “thing” again. Haven’t we all collectively “been there, done that?” Well, turns out the Med diet never really went away in the first place, says Amy Shapiro, RD and founder of Real Nutrition. “New trends came out that promised fast weight loss results and felt more drastic so it got drowned out a little bit,” she says. But all the while, the Mediterranean diet stayed quietly in the background of the wellness world, doing its thing. (Kind of like a less-problematic version of the Fiji water girl at the Golden Globes.) “People are looking for something sustainable that doesn’t require too much overthinking. The Mediterranean diet is just that.” —Vanessa Rissetto, RD And Vanessa Rissetto, RD, adds that people are starting to get over trendy diets. “[People are] looking for something sustainable
‘Squashbread’ is a delicious two-ingredient recipe my dad made up
January 09, 2019 at 09:17AM by CWC Each year, after spending the holidays in Charleston, I return to a tiny New York apartment with its empty refrigerator and my head full of new recipes ideas. You see, my dad is kind of an expert at inventing new dishes that require just a few ingredients. Each recipe is more mouth-watering than the last and I waste no time in recreating them. I drop my luggage and make a beeline for the grocery store, where I’m bound to do a little damage. This past Christmas season, I went downstairs each morning to the kitchen knowing delicious homemade treats would be waiting for me—sugar-crusted blueberry scones, trays of biscuits, and quiches that would make Julia Child proud. But I predict that only one recipe will be my meal-prep hero in 2019, and it only adds two items to your shopping list. Dad’s squashbread (feel free to @ me if you have a more creative name) calls for just two ingrediants: squash (of any variety) and eggs. Just this week, I chopped up a squashbread and mixed it into a salad; I used another as a pizza crust; I bought an avocado and made soft tacos; and since we’re all friends here, I’ll admit that I snacked on several fresh out of the oven along the way. I suspect that if you topped squashbread with a healthy hazelnut spread, you’d have something of a crêpe even the French would declare délicieux. Without further ado, I give you a versatile recipe
Psst…you totally can eat these low-sugar fruits if you’re keto
January 08, 2019 at 12:58PM Things that are on the “yes” list for the keto diet: butter, bacon, avocados, “fat bombs,” MCT oil, grass-fed beef. Things that are on the “no” list…well, basically everything else. Okay, maybe that’s an over-simplification. But the keto diet (arguably one of the biggest food trends of the past year) is famously restrictive thanks to its focus on eating lots of fat and very few carbs. Which leaves people who love carby foods like bread and pasta out in the cold. But having one little orange or apple isn’t that big a deal on keto, right? Not necessarily, according to Rachel Gargiulo, a certified nutrition consultant at Nourishing Journey in Baltimore, Maryland. “Carbs are usually the body’s preferred substance for producing and using energy,” she says. “However, when adhering to a keto diet, the body switches from using carbs, in the form of glucose, to using fat reserves instead.” This process is called ketosis and it’s linked with all kinds of benefits (from weight management to improved mood). But staying in ketosis depends on you limiting your carb intake—which is where fruit can get kind of tricky. Generally, most keto plans call for eating 30 grams of carbs per day max. For context, eating just one mango (which has over 50 grams of carbs per fruit and roughly 45 grams of sugar) puts you well over your day’s carb limit. And those extra 20 grams of carbs make a difference. “Entering ketosis usually takes anywhere from three days to a