But what if you live in an apartment or condominium, or don’t have a yard that’s suitable for growing your own produce? Maybe your space is too small, growing season is too short, or the weather is too harsh. Enter indoor vertical gardening.

Indoor Vertical Gardening. Indoor vertical gardening has seen a rise in popularity in recent years as more people seek to grow their own fresh produce in small spaces by growing vertically on walls or in specially designed containers. Most ready-made garden kits include a support structure, irrigation and lighting systems, and pre-seeded plant pods.

Vertical gardens allow you to grow fresh herbs, vegetables, and other plants even if you don’t have extensive yard or garden space, making them well-suited for those living in urban indoor environments and those with small yards. By using vertical structures and surfaces, much less ground and soil surface area is required, compared to outdoor in-ground gardening. In fact, most vertical garden systems don’t use soil at all—they hold soilless media and plant roots while delivering water and nutrients through drip irrigation or hydroponic flows.

The Pros. Indoor vertical gardening has a number of benefits, in part because it can be simpler and easier to control in many respects. For example:

You can grow a variety of vegetables, greens, fruits, and herbs year-round, because indoor gardening isn’t dependent on the weather or seasons.

Many home systems have automatic light, water, and sensors, doing much—but not all—of the work for you.

Indoor vertical gardens prevent slugs, insects, rodents, and other wildlife from eating or damaging plants.

Vertical gardening minimizes the need for bending or kneeling, which makes gardening more convenient and accessible, especially for those with impaired mobility or other physical challenges.

The Cons. There are also a few potential disadvantages to consider:

Some home kits can be pricey. They may also include extra costs such as grow lights (if not already included) and replacement seed pods.

While these kits allow you to select from a variety of plants, options are still much less than you would have if you were doing traditional outdoor gardening.

Indoor gardening units rely on electricity, and sometimes Wi-Fi. If your power or internet goes out, your garden system may not function correctly.

Regardless of the type of indoor gardening, there will be some mess and maintenance, so an easily accessible location on easily cleaned flooring will save some headaches.

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“I can’t talk to my patients about their cardiovascular health without addressing their mental health,” says Dr. Erin Michos, director of women’s cardiovascular health research at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, speaking at last year’s annual meeting of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. She noted there’s been an increase over the last 10 years of people with mental health disorders—especially anxiety disorder and major depression—being admitted to the hospital after having a heart attack.

Effects of Stress and Sleep. Michos says both negative and positive psychological factors influence cardiovascular health. Take stress for example. “Not all stress is bad. Stress is what helps us meet deadlines, but chronic stress can change some processes in the body.” She says chronic stress—as well as anxiety, anger, and depression—can directly trigger the release of stress hormones, elevate heart rate and blood pressure, increase inflammation, stiffen the arteries, increase the risk of blood clots, and constrict blood vessels on the heart’s surface.

A 2019 study found that people who slept less than six hours or more than nine hours per night were more likely to have a heart attack. Michos says this may be because short or long sleepers are more likely to be struggling with depression, other mental health concerns, or a chronic physical illness. In other words, is it the sleep pattern affecting the heart, or is a physical or mental illness affecting both sleep and the heart? For example, a 2021 study found that women veterans with PTSD had a 44 percent increased risk of cardiovascular death, possibly because trauma to the brain leads to both mental disorders and cardiovascular disease.

Chronic stress and poor mental health can also contribute to heart disease indirectly, by affecting how we take care of ourselves. For example, some people may try to cope with stress, anxiety, or depressed mood by smoking, overusing alcohol, or stress eating. And when someone’s in distress, they’re less likely to take medications as prescribed or seek preventive healthcare.

The Power of Resilience. On the other hand, positive psychological health—happiness, emotional vitality, optimism, sense of purpose, gratitude, mindfulness—is linked to healthier blood pressure and blood sugar levels, but also to behaviors that support health, including increased physical activity, heart-healthy eating, and other essential forms of self-care.

Being optimistic and having a purpose in life are both linked to better survival from cardiovascular disease, and so is having positive social connections. A 2023 UK study that followed 18,509 people with diabetes for more than 10 years found that loneliness was associated with a 20 percent increased risk of cardiovascular disease. That makes it a bigger risk factor than depression and some “traditional” risk factors, such as high blood pressure and blood sugar, smoking, low physical activity and poor diet.

Sleep, physical activity, and a nutritious diet help build personal resilience against stress, as can learning healthy ways to cope, bonding with family and friends, practicing mindfulness (perhaps through mindfulness meditation), engaging in genuine laughter, and reframing setbacks as opportunities. Cultivating gratitude (perhaps with a gratitude journal), a sense of optimism, and self-compassion are also key. “I think we’re harder on ourselves than others are,” Michos says.

The Role of Diet and Exercise. The American Heart Association (AHA) acknowledges the links between stress, mental health, and the heart, and its recommendations for a heart-healthy diet—vegetables, fruits, and whole grains, pulses (beans and lentils), nuts, fish and seafood, unsweetened dairy products, and healthy fats from avocados, olive oil, and other liquid oils—can benefit mental health as well.

“We know that diet quality at every life stage does affect health and well-being,” says Kristina Petersen, PhD, associate professor of nutritional sciences at Penn State University, who co-presented with Michos. A poor diet along with impaired sleep and reduced physical activity are associated with major depressive disorder in what may be a chicken-or-the-egg scenario—which comes first?

Petersen says a healthy eating pattern is associated with lower odds of depression, possibly because the vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, fiber and healthy fats have positive effects on the gut microbiota while helping to reduce levels of stress hormones, inflammation, and oxidative stress in the body. All of this can have positive effects on the brain and the heart. On the exercise front, she says at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity per week can help buffer against stress, anxiety, and depression, while directly benefiting heart health.

The Bottom Line. The clear connections between mental and cardiovascular health are a reminder that we should tend to both mind and our body. Fortunately, what’s good for one may well be good for the other.

The post The Links Between Mental Health and Heart Health appeared first on University Health News.

It’s so simple: Use a swab to get a small sample of your stool in the privacy of your own bathroom, seal it in a vial, and send it back to the company. You’ll receive a personalized assessment that lists what bacteria and other microorganisms live in your gut (large intestine) and tells you what you may be at risk for. Some companies also give tips for how to improve your gut microbiome through diet and lifestyle and may offer to sell “customized” supplements that claim to solve your health issues.

Where These Tests Fail. Unfortunately, home microbiome tests only look at the microorganisms that are in your stool, which is not completely representative of what’s actually important—the total numbers, relative proportions, and overall robustness of the microorganism population of your gut. For example, some bacteria may remain on your gut wall rather than pass into a stool sample, and stool testing can’t determine whether the microorganisms in it are alive or dead.

Another issue is that scientists can only accurately identify a small percentage of the more than 200 types of microorganisms that are common in the human gastrointestinal tract. Although knowledge in this area is steadily growing, it’s not yet possible to pinpoint which gut microorganisms are associated with specific health problems or health benefits. One Tufts University microbiologist sent portions of the same stool sample to three different home testing companies and received three very different results. One company found 527 microbe species, while another found 27. One company said his microbiome was healthy, while another said it wasn’t.

Not only might the results you receive not be accurate, but one sample is simply a snapshot. It doesn’t provide an accurate picture of what, in reality, is a rapidly evolving, constantly changing gut ecosystem. Research has established that a change in diet can lead to changes in the gut microbiome as little as 24 to 48 hours later. Stress and physical activity can also influence the function of your gut, which can then alter your gut microbiome.

All of this is why “personalized” microbiome tests are not a valid diagnostic tool, why they aren’t covered by insurance, and why the Food and Drug Administration has not approved them.

The Bottom Line. While it’s a good idea to take care of your gut microbiome, test kit results won’t provide advice that’s any more relevant than the standard advice to eat more vegetables and gut-friendly fiber, reduce stress, exercise, and dig in the garden. There is no good data showing that you can do more than that to change your gut microbiome. If you’re seeking answers for what’s causing persistent digestive symptoms, talk to your doctor instead. Home test kits should never replace a doctor’s visit, and their results do not constitute a professional diagnosis.

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In a survey conducted in 2008—but equally relevant today—the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill’s Center for Excellence for Eating Disorders, in partnership with SELF Magazine, asked 4,023 American women between the ages of 25 and 45 detailed questions about their eating habits. They found that 65 percent of the women reported at least one disordered eating behavior. These behaviors included trying to lose weight even when already at a healthy weight, finding that concerns about food and weight interfered with their happiness, regularly skipping meals to try to lose weight, becoming “extremely upset” over gaining five pounds, cutting out entire food groups, and eating 1,000 calories or less per day.

These behaviors are not unusual—just consider current diet trends such as Paleo, intermittent fasting, and clean eating—but they are examples of disordered eating, which the study authors defined as “endorsing unhealthy or maladaptive eating behaviors, such as restricting, binging, purging, or use of other compensatory behaviors, without meeting criteria for an eating disorder.”

The Eating Behavior Spectrum. It’s easy to see why restricting food intake is “unhealthy or maladaptive” in the context of a clinical eating disorder such as anorexia nervosa. It’s not so easy to see why restricting food is a problem in the context of trying to lose weight through dieting or “lifestyle changes,” especially when health is one of your reasons. Many things exist on a spectrum—and one spectrum includes dieting, disordered eating, and clinical eating disorders.

“A lot of my clients began looking into nutrition with great intentions to become ‘healthier,’ and tracking macros or abiding to ‘eat this, not that’ type of rules may have felt initially supportive to their lives,” says Mya Kwon, MPH, RD, CD, a Seattle-based registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Food+Body Peace. “However, in many cases, it soon becomes an obsession ridden with control, guilt, and fear.”

If you find yourself consumed by thoughts of food and obsessively meal planning, those are signs that the diet is becoming harmful, says Maria Adams, MS, MPH, RDN, LDN, Boston-based registered dietitian nutritionist and owner of Hälsa Nutrition. “Diets that are restrictive from the start—whether by counting macros or calories, limiting when you can eat, or restricting what you can eat—are more likely to become problematic.”

When someone manipulates their eating and exercise to try to change their body, maybe because they want to “get healthy,” lose the Freshman 15, look better in their wedding dress, regain their pre-pregnancy body, start dating again after a divorce, or shed menopausal weight gain, they often view it as self-care or a self-improvement project. When they see results, they feel successful and maybe better about their bodies—but these feelings are dependent on maintaining those changes, and most people who intentionally lose weight regain most or all of it. This sets the stage for yo-yo dieting, feelings of failure with each round of weight regain, and increased food and body obsession. This is where “just a diet” can move along the spectrum into disordered eating or beyond, harming mental and physical health.

“The biggest sign to me that suggests that a diet has become harmful or maladaptive is when it’s become rigid and controlling of someone’s life, inducing a lot of fear and guilt,” Kwon says. “Food is meant to nourish your life physically and emotionally, and support your life—not limit your life or become your entire life.”

What is “Healthy”? Kwon says the reasons why you’re eating what you’re eating provide a bigger clue to whether your eating plan has become harmful than simply what you’re eating, even if your initial motivation was the desire to live a healthier life. If that motivation starts to cause severe anxiety because you start to feel you must always follow your eating plan perfectly, Kwon asks, is that healthy? What if the plan’s rigidity limits participation in social events, interferes with relationships, or induces fear of eating instead of joy of eating?

She says when the nervous system is in “fight-or-flight” mode, it’s not an optimal physiological state for the body to digest food, “but this is the system you are triggering when eating in a state of anxiety and fear.”

Adams agrees that even a “healthy” diet may be unhealthy if it’s having a negative effect on mental and emotional well-being. “Is it really healthy if you’re missing out on your aunt’s famous BBQ dinner, which you love, because you’re following, say, a Mediterranean diet plan? Having flexibility around eating and an overall good relationship with food is arguably just as important—if not more important—than what you eat.”

The post Is it a Diet or is it Disordered Eating? Here’s How to Tell appeared first on University Health News.

First, metabolism refers to the processes that take place as your body converts food into usable energy. Your basal metabolic rate is the minimum number of calories your body burns just to stay alive, keeping your brain, lungs, blood vessels, and every cell in your body running 24/7. This accounts for between 50 and 75 percent of the total calories you “burn,” with the rest coming from energy used through activity. Research suggests that metabolic rates are similar among family members.

“Genetics plays a strong role in how many calories you burn throughout the day,” says Philadelphia-based registered dietitian nutritionist, Colleen Tewksbury, PhD, RD, a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. “Genetics account for anywhere from 40-70 percent of an individual’s body weight, so it is not determinative, but a very strong factor.”

Does Metabolism Slow with Age? A 2021 study helped debunk the idea that metabolism automatically slows at middle age. Researchers obtained measurements of daily energy use from 6,421 people from 29 countries spanning ages 8 days to 95 years. They found that total energy use rises rapidly after birth, peaking at about 1 year of age—which makes sense given how much growth and development happens in the first year of life. It then declines slowly through childhood and adolescence, plateaus between about ages 20 and 60, then starts to decline again. By age 90, total energy use is about 26 percent less than that of middle-aged adults.

“Much of the effect of decreasing calorie burning as someone gets older can be attributed to loss of lean body, or muscle, mass as someone gets older,” Tewksbury says. “This trend emphasizes the importance of resistance training and prevention.” It’s estimated that resting metabolic rate slows by one to two percent per decade, mostly due to age-related muscle loss.

But can slower metabolism lead to weight gain? A 2022 study by the same research team looked at total energy use in 347 adults and 47 children. They found that in adults, having a fast or slow metabolism is an individual characteristic that persists over time. They also found no evidence that adults with slow metabolism are likely to have more body fat, or that adults with fast metabolism are likely to have less body fat, debunking both “common wisdom” and previous research.

Movement Matters. The researchers also concluded that exercise may have an effect on how many calories we burn, but only a modest one. That’s in line with previous research suggesting that when we increase physical activity, our bodies slow basal metabolism to keep total energy use within a relatively narrow range. In other words, while exercise is great for overall health, it might not contribute much to higher metabolism, or to weight loss, over time.

As we age, social and work demands can cause us to change our physical activity patterns, especially if we have jobs that require sitting at a desk for most of the day. Staying active with aerobic exercise and strength exercise can help prevent muscle loss from sedentary jobs and leisure activities, which can help improve the “metabolism hand” dealt to you by genetics.

Anything that increases your breathing, heart rate, and core temperature requires your body to use more energy. But are specific types of activity best? Tewksbury says it depends. “If your goal is to increase calorie burning when exercising, intensity matters. Cardiovascular activity can increase caloric expenditure for the time exercising. Strength training can increase lean body mass and, in turn, the amount of calories your body burns just to function day-to-day.”

The Role of Nutrition. Contrary to claims that one food or another will “kickstart” your metabolism, “There are no known dietary changes that significantly and consistently change the amount of calories someone burns in a day,” Tewksbury says. “Studies of foods that increase calorie burning are typically temporary effects and have not been shown to translate to weight changes or major shifts in energy balance.”

What about eating several small meals a day to keep the metabolic fires stoked? It’s true that when you eat, your body burns about 10 percent of those calories to fuel the effort of digestion—but that’s true whether your calories are spread over three meals or six. Another thing to keep in mind is because our bodies adjust our metabolisms to meet our needs, eating too few calories can slow your metabolism, as your body tries to ensure your survival on less fuel.

The Bottom Line. The next time you see an article touting “easy ways to boost your metabolism,” look away. And instead of exercise based on predicted calorie burn, consider instead about how exercise might make you stronger overall, enhance mobility, manage stress, and generally make you feel better.

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Eating nutritious, whole, and minimally processed foods that are prepared in ways you enjoy has inherent value. So does moving your body regularly in ways that work your muscles, heart, and lungs. Here are six small-but-significant wins you may experience as you work towards your overall goals:

Better health markers. Positive changes in blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels can be a sign that your new nutrition and exercise habits are “working.” However, genetics also plays a role, so some people will see more significant changes from diet and lifestyle than others.

More energy. Nourishing yourself with healthy meals and snacks spaced throughout the day will give your body the fuel it needs to run optimally, which can reward you with steady energy levels. Similarly, “spending” energy each day on physical activity will yield you even more energy.

Better digestion. Changes to eating patterns such as reducing meal skipping, eating more fiber-rich plant foods, putting down your fork when you are satisfied but not stuffed, and reducing late-night eating can all improve digestion.

Improved sleep. Shifting more of your food intake to earlier in the day—starting with eating breakfast, then making lunch a bigger meal than dinner if you can—can also promote more restful sleep and may have other health benefits. Regular exercise can also help you sleep better.

Increased fitness. Regular exercise doesn’t always lead to weight loss, but it does improve your strength, endurance, and flexibility. Not only is maintaining and building muscle and cardiovascular fitness important for health, especially as we age, but you’ll find that many routine daily activities become easier as you become stronger.

Greater resilience. Supporting your body with nutrition and the movement it needs supports physical and mental health, which can help you recover from stressful events big and small.

Another benefit of looking beyond the scale—even if you do hope to see the number on the scale shift—is that when you pay attention to how the results of your new habits make you feel every day, this can be more motivating than simply focusing on a far-off goal.

You may also notice a synergy to the changes you’re making. For example, eating better and staying active may improve your energy and help you sleep better, and feeling refreshed and energetic can make it easier to plan and prepare nutritious meals and decide to go for a walk instead of lounging on the couch…which continues to support energy and good sleep.

When you feel better and know you’re feeling better, this can strengthen your new nutrition and exercise habits. It becomes easier to do the work to maintain those habits long term, and to return to them if you find yourself off-track along the way because life threw you a curveball.

The post Look Beyond the Scale appeared first on University Health News.

Research has found that our population of gut microorganisms changes with age, but it’s unclear if these changes contribute to the aging process, or if aging contribute to the changes in the gut. It’s likely that the microbiome has a two-way relationship with age: the microbiome changes with age and in response to age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, but the microbiome also influences how healthfully we age, both physically and cognitively. Age-related changes in the gut microbiome vary from person to person based on personal, lifestyle and environmental factors, and different patterns of change may be associated with different health outcomes later in life.

The Importance of Diversity. A 2021 study that analyzed the gut microbiomes of 9,000 people ages 18 to 101 found that as people get older, the gut microbiome does tend to change, and the more change, the better. The types of microorganisms that play a major role in the gut during early adulthood gradually decrease in number with age in healthy people, while the percentage of less common types of microorganisms starts to rise. This leads to an increasingly unique gut microbiome, which appears to be reflective of healthy aging and predictive of greater longevity. In less healthy people, the composition of the gut microbiome changes little with age and is less unique.

Similar findings have been reported in studies of centenarian populations from around the world, with some of these studies finding that the gut microbiome continues to develop even in the last decades of life. So, it may not be that your gut microbiome is supposed to stay forever young, but that it’s supposed to change appropriately. It’s unclear whether appropriate age-related changes to the gut microbiome drive healthy aging, or if healthy aging drives age-appropriate changes.

Support Gut Health and Healthy Aging. Many of the same lifestyle and environmental factors that affect our overall health and well-being can also affect the gut microbiome. If microbiome changes drive the aging process, then protecting the microbiome through healthy habits may keep us healthier for longer.

• Physical activity. Studies have found gut microbiome pattern differences in older adults who are physically active compared to their less-fit peers. Other research connected early frailty to reduced gut microbiome diversity.
• Healthy diet. Reduced diet quality also has negative effects on the gut microbiome, and on other aspects of health. Reduced sense of taste, dental problems, difficulty swallowing, and early fullness due to a slowed digestive tract can all affect nutrition and appetite.
• Social connection and environment. Connecting with loved ones, volunteering, having pets, and being outside can all benefit gut health.

Because of the relationship between a healthy gut microbiome and a healthy you, caring for the health of your gut may reap continued rewards as you age.

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Intuitive eating has 10 principles:

• “reject the diet mentality”
• “honor your hunger”
• “make peace with food”
• “challenge the food police”
• “discover the satisfaction factor”
• “feel your fullness”
• “cope with your emotions with kindness”
• “respect your body”
• “movement—feel the difference”
• “honor your hunger with gentle nutrition”

As with many ideas that experience a surge in popularity, intuitive eating can be easily misinterpreted or misunderstood, especially as information spreads on social media. Here are three common myths about intuitive eating—along with the facts.

1.Myth: Intuitive Eating is a Food Free-for-All. Kara Lydon, RD, a Boston-based registered dietitian, certified intuitive eating counselor, and owner of Kara Lydon Nutrition, says it makes sense that many people think intuitive eating means just eating “forbidden foods” such as pizza and donuts all day, given that this is often how it’s portrayed on social media. But that’s more “impulsive” eating than “intuitive” eating.

“Intuitive eating is about so much more than giving yourself unconditional permission to eat and making peace with all foods,” she says. “It’s also about listening to and honoring your body’s internal cues, noticing how different foods make you feel, and taking into account nutrition from a more balanced and less rigid perspective.”

It’s not uncommon for people new to intuitive eating to have a “honeymoon period” in which they feel like they’re eating nothing but previously off-limit foods—especially if they have a long history of restrictive dieting or following a lot of food rules. But Lydon says eventually habituation sets in, and those foods start to lose their novelty and that forbidden allure. “At this point, you have a greater capacity to notice how these foods make you feel—both physically and mentally—and your body naturally starts craving a wider variety of foods.”

A metaphor frequently used by intuitive eating experts is the pendulum swing. Rigid or restrictive eating swings the pendulum way to the right. When you release yourself from those rules, the pendulum may swing just as far to the left. But as you become more skilled at practicing intuitive eating, the pendulum will settle somewhere in the middle.

2. Myth: Intuitive Eating is the “Hunger Fullness Diet.” One of the first steps in beginning to practice intuitive eating is to notice your body’s hunger and fullness cues and allow them to guide you about when and how much to eat. However, if you’re accustomed to following rules about meal timing and portion sizes, or find comfort in the certainty of counting calories or carbs, it can be very easy to turn the ideas of eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full into another set of rules to gauge how “well” you’re doing.

“Intuitive eating can quickly become ‘the hunger fullness diet,’ and any deviation from these rules feels like a failure,” Lydon says. “The reality is honoring hunger and fullness are only two of the ten principles of intuitive eating—it’s just as important to practice the other principles like rejecting diet culture, respecting your body, and discovering the satisfaction factor of food.”

Lydon says there are many reasons why someone might eat when they aren’t hungry or eat past comfortable fullness—and it doesn’t mean they’re doing intuitive eating wrong. “For example, you might eat as an act of self-care before you get on a long flight or enter a meeting even if you’re not hungry just yet,” she says. “Perhaps you eat a piece of cake at a friend’s birthday party when you’re not physically hungry because it tastes good and you want to take part in the celebration. You may eat past comfortable fullness because you’re at your favorite restaurant and the food tastes so delicious.”

3. Myth: Intuitive Eating is Easy. When intuitive eating turns out to not be so intuitive, it’s easy to think “this isn’t working.” But like any new skill, intuitive eating takes time, and for most people, intuitive eating feels very new, indeed. We’re borne with this ability, but diet culture takes it away from many of us. It’s also important to understand that intuitive eating is a practice—it’s not enough to just read the book and understand it intellectually.

Adding to the frustration for many people is that intuitive eating is not black and white—it’s all shades of gray. That can feel uncomfortable when you have a long history of rules-based eating. Intuitive eating is a lifelong journey best approached with curiosity and a non-judgmental mindset, because what might look like a “mistake” is actually valuable information.

“Intuitive eaters are not perfect eaters, they’re still human,” Lydon says. “This means sometimes you’ll miss the mark and you won’t have eaten enough or will have eaten too much. These aren’t failures; they are just opportunities for learning and collecting some data that you may choose to use to inform future eating occasions.”

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Detoxification or “detox” diets range from “starvation” fasts (no calories) to juice cleanses to solid-food diets that restrict intake of certain foods or food groups. While these types of diets have been around for a long time, they have become trendy over the past several years, with certain juice cleanses becoming a sort of status symbol.

But what is it that you are supposed to be “detoxifying” from? Many detox diets specifically tout removal of toxins along with improved liver, kidney, and colon function, better sleep, improved digestion, mental clarity, weight loss, and improved immune function. However, they don’t specify what toxins you will supposedly be removing or how the diet or cleanse will remove them. “There have been few studies on detox diets or cleanses on people and no studies on the long-term effects of these,” says Theresa Gentile, MS, RDN, CDN, a Brooklyn, New York-based registered dietitian nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

How the Body Detoxes Itself. Your body has highly sophisticated mechanisms for eliminating the toxins you eat, breath, absorb, and produce every day. Your liver takes the lead, but your kidneys, digestive system, skin, lungs, and lymphatic system all play supporting roles. How your body removes a toxin depends on the specific substance, but generally it involves converting the substance into a less-toxic form that can be eliminated from the body with other normal waste.

To support its natural detoxification processes and run optimally, your body needs a balanced, nutritious diet. Yet juice cleanses can overload the body with natural sugars, and these and many other detox diets are lacking in key nutrients and may be dangerously low in calories and protein. Your body needs enough calories to function well and enough protein to prevent breakdown of your organs—including your liver, kidneys, and digestive tract—and muscles.

“Since typical ‘detox diets’ tend to encourage consumption of only one food item, these diets can lead to inadequate intake of vitamins, minerals, fiber and cause stress and, possibly, binge eating due to the restrictive nature of these diets,” Gentile says, adding that if followed for too long, these diets could lead to malnutrition, muscle weakness, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and gastrointestinal disturbances.

The Detox Mindset. Detox diets have the potential to be just as harmful to mental well-being as they are to physical health. If you’re craving healthier foods after a few months of enjoying more sugar than usual, that’s one thing. But if you’re detoxing as punishment for or redemption from “bad” eating habits, or even to regain a sense of “purity,” then that’s another story, because thinking of food as sinful or contaminated isn’t a recipe for a positive relationship with food. Also, many of these plans promise weight loss even though they’re simply diets with a new marketing spin. For many, restricting calories or entire food groups ultimately leads to weight regain.

Instead, support your body’s built-in detoxification system by cultivating balanced eating and lifestyle habits that you can sustain for the long term. “Make sure your diet is rich in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and fiber by consuming four to five servings of fruits and vegetables per day. A diverse diet will also supply prebiotics and probiotics, promoting a balanced presence of beneficial gut bacteria,” Gentile says. “Prioritize sleep, as it facilitates the body’s regeneration of gut tissue, promoting an efficient digestive system. Finally, exercise is important as it improves digestion and elimination.”

Getting Back to Basics. What if you really feel like you’ve overindulged over the holidays? Gentile says that many people certainly feel a need to undo the “gluttony” of the holidays. “Most of us have overindulged over the holiday season with turkey, dessert, eggnog, and peppermint mochas, and the start of the new year encourages a fresh commitment to a healthier way of living.”

Now that the holidays are past, it can also be helpful to assess your alcohol intake. Even when drinking in moderation (one drink per day for women, two for men), alcohol is a toxin, like it or not, and your liver has to work to process it.

To restore balance without resorting to a detox or cleanse, Gentile suggests, in addition to the tips above, drinking enough water to stay hydrated, which will encourage elimination and optimal bodily function. From there, focus on getting back to basics. “Now that the holiday food and cookie gifts are all gone, resume your usual way of eating, making sure to consume balanced meals of protein, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy,” she says. “And don’t forget that any movement can be restorative, especially outside.”

The post Should I Do a New Year’s Detox or Cleanse? appeared first on University Health News.

Avoid All-or-Nothing Thinking. If you tend to stress about making the “right” food choices, the holiday food environment can feel especially daunting. Feeling that you’ve made a “wrong” choice can lead to guilt, remorse, and possibly to a downward spiral of restricting and bingeing. The truth is no one meal, one day, or even one week of more indulgent choices is going to erode your health.

Tend to Your Hunger. Trying to compensate for “overeating” at dinner by skipping breakfast the next morning can backfire by making you overly hungry later that day. Similarly, “saving up” for a special dinner by eating next to nothing for breakfast or lunch can lead to eating to uncomfortable fullness at that dinner. If you’re hungry, you deserve to eat; we tend to enjoy our food the most when we’re gently hungry, not ravenous.

Stock Your Coping Toolbox. The holidays can be full of triggers for many. While there’s nothing wrong with using food to soothe sometimes, it shouldn’t be your only strategy. Make a list of activities you can use to lift your mood, calm your anxiety, or simply distract yourself—maybe calling a friend, listening to music, meditating, or going for a walk. If you know a particular meal will be stressful, bookend it with one or more of these activities.

Plan for the (Near) Future. If you often feel overfull at the end of holiday meals, ask yourself this question before you start eating: “How do I want to feel when I get up from the table?” Imagine yourself choosing the foods that taste good and feel good to your body, then imagine yourself mindfully enjoying them and walking away feeling satisfied, not stuffed.

Have a Plan for Food Pushers. Saying “Yes, please” to food you don’t want just to avoid hurting someone’s feelings can be stressful. You have the right to decline food you don’t want or aren’t hungry for. To thwart food pushers without stepping on toes, start with a compliment and finish with a deflection, such as “Mmmm…that looks delicious. I’m not hungry right now, but I’ll have some later” or “The food was great…I can’t eat another bite.” 

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