appetizers

Here’s a taste of what’s cooking in the nutrition world:

New research out of Spain shows that a vitamin D deficiency is more closely associated with glucose metabolism disorders than with obesity, clarifying the connection among vitamin D, obesity and diabetes. Mostly produced by the skin after sunlight exposure, but also absorbed through fortified foods, vitamin D is important for calcium absorption and for muscle and bone health. This study shows a direct correlation between vitamin D levels and glucose levels, but not body mass index.

After getting bored with trying to stick to a diet, Andy Leeks, in the U.K., lost 30 pounds—with his waist going from 38–40 inches to 34–36 inches—by doing 10 different diets in 50 days. “I’ve always had a short attention span, and this meant I had to stick to each diet for only 5 days,” he said. In the end, his LDL cholesterol went up, even though his weight went down. The one diet Leeks would recommend to others? Following the U.K.’s National Health Service guidelines. He also wants people who might follow his lead to get a full health screening from their doctor, as he did before starting the 50-day experiment.

It may have taken Beyoncé just one night to get drunk in love, but she is now partnering with exercise physiologist Marco Borges on a 22 Days Nutrition plant-based home-delivery meal service. It’s based on the concept that a new habit takes 21 days to develop, and by the 22nd day it is formed. Beyoncé did the nutrition challenge herself in 2013,
with Borges as her trainer, and from that
experience, the business partnership was
born. Delivered once a week,
the whole-food, plant-based meals are
made with organic
ingredients that are
soy-free, gluten-free,
dairy-free and non-
GMO.