Source: http://www.foodpolitics.com/2016/03/more-industry-funded-studies-with-industry-favorable-results-the-score-14012/

A nutrient profiling system for the (re)formulation of a global food and beverage portfolio.  Antonis Vlassopoulos · Gabriel Masset · Veronique Rheiner Charles ·Cassandra Hoover · Caroline Chesneau‑Guillemont · Fabienne Leroy ·Undine Lehmann · Jörg Spieldenner · E‑Siong Tee · Mike Gibney ·Adam Drewnowski.  Eur J Nutr DOI 0.1007/s00394-016-1161-9.

Conclusions:  The NNPS sets feasible and yet challenging targets for public health-oriented reformulation of a varied product portfolio; its application was associated with improved nutrient density in eight major food categories in the USA and France.
Funding: The research presented herein was funded by Nestec Ltd, which is a wholly owned affiliate of Nestlé S.A.  The first eight authors are employed by Nestlé.
Comment: the paper is the basis of a Nestlé infographic.

Including whey protein and whey permeate in ready-to-use supplementary food improves recovery rates in children with moderate acute malnutrition: a randomized, double-blind clinical trial.  Heather C Stobaugh, Kelsey N Ryan, Julie A Kennedy, Jennifer B Grise, Audrey H Crocker, Chrissie Thakwalakwa, Patricia E Litkowski, Kenneth M Maleta, Mark J Manary, and Indi Trehan.  Am J Clin Nutr  First published February 10, 2016, doi: 10.3945/​ajcn.115.124636.

Conclusion: This study highlights the importance of milk protein in the treatment of MAM, because the use of a novel whey RUSF resulted in higher recovery rates and improved growt…

Source: http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2016/03/02/katniss-shows-us-that-sometimes-sacrifice-is-necessary/

“I volunteer! I volunteer as tribute!” – Katniss Everdeen

Few moments in popular contemporary literature conjure up as much emotion as the monumental scene in The Hunger Games, in which the Capitol selects which children will fight each other to the death. It’s at this moment that we learn just what kind of hero the protagonist Katniss Everdeen will be, as she volunteers – almost certainly signing her own death sentence – to save the life of her sister.

I remember reading those pages and my jaw dropped as I realized the gravity of Katniss’s sacrifice. A close look at our favorite films and books reveals that great sacrifice is often required of the hero to bring about lasting change:

Darth Vader at the end of The Return of the Jedi
Captain America at the end of The First Avenger
Optimus Prime in Transformers: The Movie (the animated 1986 version)
Iron Man in the climax of The Avengers
Harry Potter toward the end of his seven-novel journey

Our heroes are often faced with a choice that will decide the fate of thousands or millions, requiring them to sacrifice everything they hold dear, including, at times, their own lives. Other times, like with Katniss, a single decision made now can have drastic consequences many years down the road.

And while nobody is asking you to lay down your life here, make no mistake: if you truly want to make lasting changes in your life and turn things around, sacrifices wil…

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/02/468921290/slice-the-price-of-fruits-and-veggies-save-200-000-lives?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=thesalt

We know eating more produce is good for your heart. Now computer models suggest slashing their price by about a third could results in dramatically lower death rates from heart disease and stroke.

iStockphoto

Lowering the price of fruits and vegetables by 30 percent can save nearly 200,000 lives over 15 years — roughly the population of Des Moines, Iowa. That’s the message being touted by researchers this week at the American Heart Association’s Epidemiology meeting in Phoenix.

We know eating more fruits and vegetables is good for your heart. Now computer models suggest that making that produce more affordable may actually translate into lower death rates from heart disease and stroke. And, the researchers add, lower prices are more effective at saving lives than traditional campaigns designed to en…

Source: http://www.sonima.com/fitness/active-alignment/

Watch video on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PJJVBsk_YE

The human body is anatomically designed to be totally balanced. When that balance is thrown off for prolonged periods—perhaps because of how you live, work, and move on a daily basis—chronic discomfort, pain, and even injuries may develop over time.

How do you know if you have an imbalance? Take a look in the mirror. In this video, Sonima.com alignment expert Pete Egoscue, the creator of the Egoscue Method for pain-free living, explains what to look for in your feet and femurs. He also offers a simple sequence to help you realign your posture joints and muscles so that they work in concert with each other.

Start with three variations of toe raises with elbow curls between each set. Then ease into a relaxing static back posture to rotate the pelvis into a neutral position and elongate the muscles that run along the spine. After three minutes, add a pillow or block between your knees and squeeze to build strength in this newly balance and aligned position. Continue strengthening your muscles and improving your range of motion with pull backs, femur rotations, knee drops and spinal floor twists. Reset your body with cats and dogs. Next do a set of flutter kicks before moving into a sitting posture on the ground. Hold this position for five minutes, then wrap up the routine with cats and dogs to bring your spine back to neutral.

Related: How Your Feet Reveal Why …

Source: http://www.fannetasticfood.com/2016/03/02/adventures-in-food-fitness/

Happy Wednesday! It’s a cold and very windy one over here – so lame after the gorgeous warm weather we were teased with earlier this week! I even busted out a sun dress yesterday and a skirt Monday – and now today it’s back to scarves and hats and they are predicting snow for Friday. What the heck, weather? Oh well – I guess it’s a good excuse to make more soup, right? I’m glad many of you liked the look of my Thai Coconut Chicken Soup recipe from yesterday!

Since I knew it would be getting cold again today, I took full advantage of the weather on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, I treated myself to a Chop’t grain salad bowl and ate it outside – the sun felt amazing.

<img title="chopt olympia salad" style="border-top: 0px;border-right: 0px;border-bottom: 0px;float: none;padding-top: 0px;padding-left: 0px;border-left: 0px;margin: 0px auto;padding-right: 0px" border="0" alt="chopt olympia salad" src="http://www.fannetasticfood.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/IMG_0604_thumb.jp…

Source: http://www.niashanks.com/you-dont-know-fit/

Fit is a tool of empowerment. Fit makes your life better. Fit builds you up.

Fitness. Fit, for the short-hand version.

What immediately enters your mind when you think, “I’m going to get fit” or “Hot damn, she is fit.”? Ooh, and let’s not forget the social media phenomenon of fit-spiration with its surplus of motivating memes showing us what it means to be fit.

When we declare our intentions to “get fit” we imagine how we will eventually look in our new state of fitness. When we exclaim that someone is fit we’re usually commenting on that person’s physical appearance.

Let’s talk about this a bit. Let’s define fitness and what it means to be “fit” because, as it turns out, we don’t know fit.

Get Your Fit Together!

Even though physical appearance is typically the main indicator people point to for “being fit” (brace yourself): how you look is the least important part of fitness. 

So, what the heck does it mean to “be fit” and how should we define it?

Fit means performing tasks of daily living with ease. Feeling great. Having energy. Receiving good news with your yearly physical and blood work (or at least moving those markers in the right direction).

Fi…

Source: http://www.sonima.com/videos/bipolar/

Watch video on YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D65GD3NhjXg

Medication was long thought to be the only recourse from the intense emotional spirals of bipolar disorder. But for the 5.7 million American adults living with the condition, the treatment has many adverse side effects, including a flattening or absence of feeling and emotion. In the words of filmmaker Paul Dalio, who was diagnosed with bipolar at age 24, “Feeling nothing, feeling numb … [is] the only thing worse than pain.”

After years of dealing with manic depression and the anesthetizing effects of its treatment, Dalio found something that made the difference between surviving and thriving: meditation. Under the guidance of an experienced teacher and the supervision of his doctor, Dalio committed himself to regular transcendental meditation (TM) practice, which eventually led to such remarkable improvements his doctor was inspired to research the method and write a book about its potential for healing.

According to Dalio, the practice serves as a way to both calm the mind and heighten sensitivities to allow an individual with bipolar to experience deep feelings in a more stable way. “When you settle your system down in a way that’s natural and healthy you don’t need these heavy medications to filter your system and senses—you’re able to experience so much more of the emotion while at the…

Source: http://www.livelifeactive.com/2016/03/01/painting-kitchen-cabinets-rustoleum-kit-before-and-after-pics/

Hey guys!  So I wanted to hop on here and show you a project I did recently.  We decided that the kitchen needed an upgrade and painting kitchen cabinets was the first DIY project on the list.  The old oak builder’s grade style was just not doing it for us anymore so it was time for a DIY cabinet transformation.

I had always wanted to try out the Rustoleum Cabinet Transformation kit because the reviews on Amazon are always amazing.  I have also found myself stalking tons of before and after pictures on Pinterest (we won’t talk about that little obsession of mine though..), so I figured it was time for me to showcase my own Rustoleum Kitchen Cabinet Transformation – Before and after pics!

Side note…I didn’t get this product for free..and no…I wasn’t paid to write this post..I’m just a huge fan of this stuff now and want to show off my hard work

I bought a kit on Amazon and it’s only $75.  Yep…you can transform your whole kitchen for under $100.  Ri-DONK-u-LUS, right?!

You can get the small kit or the large kit.  The small kit covers up to 100 sq. feet and the large kit covers up to 200 sq. feet.

<img class="alignnone wp-image-16065 " s…

Source: http://greatist.com/live/how-to-tell-someone-you-have-an-std?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed_http–greatistcom-

In life, there’s no shortage of tough yet necessary conversations—from breaking up with someone to laying off an employee to telling your mom you’re not going to make it home for Christmas. One of the worst? Informing a new partner you have a sexually transmitted disease (STD).

We’re not going to sugarcoat it: It’s going to be awkward. But it’s also incredibly important, says Rachel DeAlto, a relationship and communications expert. Allowing sexual desire to overtake our human decency is really not OK, she says.

Fortunately, when done right, having this conversation can open the door to an even more honest and trusting relationship in the long run. And while it may never be an easy talk to have, this advice can help.

6 Tips for the Talk 1. Yes, you have to tell.

While you don’t need to share your STD status with everyone you go on a date with, you do need to tell anyone you’re going to be getting physical with, says Christan Marashio, writer, dating expert, and creator of And That’s Why You’re Single.

And no, you can’t put it off until after getting busy. While condoms can reduce the risk of passing on an STD, they don’t eliminate the risk completely.

So if there’s a chance of …

Source: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2016/03/02/468568385/doctors-in-flint-mich-push-a-healthy-diet-to-fight-lead-exposure?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=thesalt

Audio for this story from Morning Edition will be available at approximately 9:00 a.m. ET.

Ashara Manns says she has to plan her meals around how much bottled water she has.

Rebecca Kruth for NPR

A bright red tablecloth adds a pop of color to Ashara Manns’ kitchen at her home in Flint, Mich.

The substitute teacher is at the stove, where she pours two bottles of water into a stockpot before dumping in big bags of mixed greens.

“Normally, I would rinse these with the running water, so hopefully they’re still safe,” Manns says.

Flint residents have been told not to drink or cook with the city’s lead-tainted tap water, so Manns and her husband, Bennie, rely on bottled water to prepare their meals.

<img src="http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2016/02/29/img_1463_edited-448c792dff365db68fca6daacb2ca25a486d2360-s300.jpg" title="Ben…