A recent study published in BMC Medicine found compelling evidence that people who consume a diet rich in whole plant foods may age slower than those who eat more animal products and ultraprocessed foods. The researchers looked at health data from more than 10,000 people over the age of 50 for eight years to determine how their diet impacted their biological age.

Biological age (the age of your cells) differs from chronological age (the amount of time you’ve been alive) and is gaining traction in scientific communities as a more accurate measurement for determining a person’s true age. Scientists are able to look at cells and determine whether they have entered senescence, a phase in cellular development where they lose the ability to regenerate and repair themselves. As we age, more of these defunct cells build up in our bodies and pave the way for age-related diseases. If you are exceptionally healthy, you may not have as many senescent cells as someone your age who’s in average health, thus making your biological age lower than the number of candles you’ll blow out on your next birthday cake.

Eating to Slow Down the Clock

Using a newly developed biological aging measure that factors in 14 key cellular biomarkers, the researchers identified three aging trajectories within the sample of participants: slow, medium, and high. They discovered that those who ate diets rich in fruits, vegetables, and legumes and low in animal products were more likely to be in the slow aging group and to have a lower overall mortality rate than those who ate more animal products and/or unhealthy plant-based foods.

To put it further into perspective, participants who consumed the most whole plant foods cut their risk of accelerated aging by about a third. In contrast, participants who followed an unhealthy plant-based dietary pattern were 70% more likely to fall into the fastest-aging group. Refined grains, salt-preserved vegetables, and dairy products were identified as potential key contributors to the higher aging scores of those who followed an unhealthy plant-based dietary pattern.

“We … found that adopting a plant-based dietary pattern, especially when rich in healthful plant foods, was associated with substantially lowered pace of aging,” concluded the study authors.

Several studies in recent years that have pointed to the age-defying benefits of a plant-based diet. A 2022 study concluded that adopting a plant-based diet could increase one’s lifespan by more than a decade. Another 2022 study found that mortality rates in older adults decreased when they ate a diet rich in healthy plant foods. And for those concerned about the aesthetic changes that come with aging, a study from 2020 found that a WFPB diet rich in antioxidants may slow skin aging.

To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.

The post A Healthy Plant-Based Diet May Slow the Aging Process, New Study Finds appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Cue Dan Buettner, one of the world’s leading experts on how we can create longer, healthier lives. Nearly 20 years ago Buettner set out with a team from National Geographic to document specific populations around the world that have a higher concentration of centenarians (people who live to 100) than anywhere else. These pockets of good health are called Blue Zones, and Buettner has dedicated his life to understanding—and sharing—the common denominators among these diverse populations that all experience unusually long lives.

With the state of American life expectancy, it seems as if there’s no better time for Netflix to debut its new docuseries that takes an in-depth exploration of the Blue Zones. The four-part series, Secrets of the Blue Zones, which premieres on August 30, follows Buettner from California to Japan as he talks with the people who have uncovered the secret formula for living to 100. In addition to the series, Buettner is releasing a new book, The Blue Zones Secrets for Living Longer, which distills the wisdom of the Blue Zones and serves as a how-to manual to help you create your own mini Blue Zone no matter your ZIP code.

“The book brings up-to-date insights on all the five Blue Zones…and identifies a Blue Zone 2.0, Singapore, which is an intentionally engineered Blue Zone instead of one that just occurs naturally,” Buettner told FOK. “Sixty years ago Singapore was an unhealthy island. It’s now become one of the healthiest, longest-lived places on Earth. They’ve done it because of good policies. It’s a proof of concept that if you create the right environment, people live measurably longer with a fraction of the rate of the diseases that cost us trillions of dollars a year in America.”

The Blue Zone Formula

Upon first learning about Blue Zone populations, it can be easy to write off these niche pockets of good health as the result of a small group of people who’ve won the genetic lottery. Buettner says this is not the case.

“I would argue that 20% of it is genes, 10% of it is personal choices, 10% of it is the health care system, and the remaining 60% is your environment,” says Buettner. “There are areas in Kentucky where life expectancy is 20 years less than Boulder, Colorado. In both cases you have a diverse set of genes and a spectrum of people who take responsibility for their health. The only thing that’s different is that it’s much easier to walk or bike across town in Boulder than it is to drive your car. It’s a food environment where you can get delicious plant-based meals much easier than you can in Kentucky. It’s easier to socialize, it’s easier to get out in nature, and the air is cleaner. These are all environmental factors which we vastly underestimate in the formula for longevity.”

So, what do these centenarian-saturated populations do so differently from the rest of us? Surprisingly, it isn’t anything revolutionary; rather, it’s an accumulation of small daily habits, a supportive living environment, and social policies and attitudes that reinforce every person’s value, dignity, and health. While there are much more detailed insights revealed in the docuseries and the new book, here are four key factors that all Blue Zones share:

WFPB Diet

“Overwhelmingly, they eat a plant-based diet that’s somewhere between 90 to 100% whole-food, plant-based—more or less a Forks Over Knives diet,” says Buettner. Apart from what they eat, Blue Zone inhabitants also have strategies for not overeating throughout the day, and they tend to keep electronics away from the dining table to keep their full attention on sharing meals with loved ones.

Natural Movement

It turns out that our current understanding of exercise—performing concentrated bursts of activity that meet our fitness goals each day—may be completely misguided. “[People in the Blue Zones] don’t exercise, but they live in environments where they’re nudged to move naturally every 20 minutes,” Buettner says. Between their work, household chores, social activities, and walkable towns, movement is a built-in part of their day, instead of an extracurricular activity.

Social Connections

Social isolation has been found to be as deadly as smoking 15 cigarettes per day, and the longevity of Blue Zone inhabitants provides further evidence that strong social ties keep you alive for longer. “They put their families first and keep aging parents nearby,” explains Buettner. “They tend to belong to a faith-based community, and they surround themselves with people who reinforce [healthy] behaviors.”

Sense of Purpose

Buettner emphasizes that these long-lived populations “know their purpose and live by it.” As one of the more abstract characteristics of Blue Zones communities, he defines living with purpose as “being clear on your values, knowing what you’re good at, and finding an outlet that provides some good for the rest of the world or helps other people.”

Changes Big and Small

While the lessons gleaned from Blue Zones can be applied on an individual level, their transformative potential lies in the fact that these core tenets can be replicated and customized to reshape the health of entire cities. After discovering these unique age-defying pockets, Buettner founded the Blue Zones organization, which works with cities across the U.S. to enact policies that extend the lifespans of their inhabitants. Over the past two decades, the organization has successfully worked with 72 cities, including Fort Worth, Texas, where obesity rates were lowered, smoking rates dropped by 31%, and more than 58% of residents are now categorized as “thriving.”

Buettner has personally shifted elements of his life to embody the wisdom of the Blue Zones, such as moving to Miami Beach, Florida, so he can swim daily, enjoy a walkable neighborhood, and surround himself with health-focused friends. The goal of his new book and the Netflix series is to inspire you to design a life that gives you more time to do the things you love, with the people you care about most, for as long as possible.

“I hope people who read the book take away 10 extra years of good life,” says Buettner. “The average American leaves more than a decade of life on the table by living the way we’re living. [Blue Zone living] is not a biohack, it’s not an anti-aging gimmick, it’s not any of the other maelstroms designed to make money off of you. These are real people who’ve lived an identifiable way for hundreds of years, and they have a very average set of genes, so there’s no reason we can’t achieve their outcomes if we pay closer attention to our own lives.”

The Secrets of the Blue Zones docuseries is now streaming on Netflix. The companion book, The Blue Zones Secrets for Living Longer, is available online and in bookstores August 29.

The post New Netflix Docuseries ‘Secrets of the Blue Zones’ Reveals How to Live to 100 appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

The study, published recently in Nature Food, analyzed the diets of more than 55,000 people in the United Kingdom and integrated data from 38,000 farms across 119 countries to assess how food sourcing and production methods impacted environmental factors. While previous studies linked vegan diets with lower environmental impact, most of the research relied on modeled diets, which might not accurately reflect true eating behaviors.

Apart from drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions, vegan diets used 75% less land, required 54% less water, and had a 65% lower impact on environmental biodiversity than meat-heavy diets, which were defined as eating at least 3.5 oz of meat per day. (For reference, that’s equivalent to about a palm-size serving of chicken.) Improvements in environmental impact were also found between high-meat diets and low-meat diets, with low-meat diets producing only 43% of the dietary carbon dioxide emissions of high-meat diets.

“Encouraging high-meat-eaters to reduce meat consumption and encouraging vegetarians to become vegans should result in lower emissions,” said Richard Tiffin, professor of applied economics and chief science officer for agrimetrics at the University of Reading, in a statement from Science Media Centre.

The researchers also examined the different diets in relation to their 20-Year Global Warming Potential (GWP), which looks at the impact of different gases in the atmosphere and how much heat they retain. High-meat diets created a GWP footprint 5.1 times greater than vegan diets, further emphasizing the heavy impact of animal products on our short-term climate goals.

The researchers note that the current global food system is responsible for 34% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, 70% of the world’s freshwater use, and 78% of the pollution in lakes and rivers. Nearly 75% of the world’s inhabitable land has been affected by agriculture, which squashes biodiversity and interrupts delicate ecosystems. A primary driver of this environmental destruction is the vast amount of land used to raise livestock, including the crops planted to feed livestock. A 2020 study discovered that even the lowest-impact meat product, organic pork, is responsible for eight times more climate damage than the highest-impact plant product, oilseed.

“Our dietary choices have a big impact on the planet,” said Peter Scarborough, professor of population health at Oxford University and the lead researcher on the study. “Cutting down the amount of meat and dairy in your diet can make a big difference to your dietary footprint.”

The post New Study Reveals Vegan Diets Generate 75% Less Greenhouse Gases Than Meat-Heavy Diets appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Soon after cutting out meat, I noticed that when I ate anything that had dairy in it, I immediately became congested, with a runny nose and cough. So for a few months, I experimented with taking breaks from dairy and then trying it again. Every time I ate dairy, I experienced sinus problems. And when I stopped, within a day the symptoms were gone. So I decided to cut out all dairy, going fully vegan around age 16. (This was an interesting decision at the time, as my father owned and operated seven steak and seafood restaurants, and I grew up working in them!)

As an adult, I followed my interest in natural health and healing to a career as a chiropractor. My intention as a doctor was always to empower people, showing them how to care for their health naturally through diet, exercise, and positive thinking. I also began teaching taiji classes, which I really enjoyed. Eventually, I gave up my career as a chiropractor to become a full-time taiji teacher and health educator.

Staying WFPB and Free of Aches, Pains, and Chronic Disease

I’ve spent the past several decades traveling all over the world giving workshops and retreats on taiji and healthy living, and I always emphasize the importance of following a diet rich in whole plant foods.

What surprises me the most after following a WFPB diet for so many years is how resistant people can be to changing the way they eat, meanwhile spending time, energy, and money going to doctors to treat symptoms while not addressing the underlying causes. It just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense!

I will turn 70 at the end of this year. I don’t know how 70 is “supposed” to feel, but I am positively thriving. I don’t have any health complaints, and I’m the exact same weight I was in high school. When I look around at most people in my age group, I see people taking pills every day and constantly running to doctors’ appointments. And many of my peers have died. Sometimes I feel like the odd man out: In social situations where everyone is comparing their diseases, aches, and pains, I politely excuse myself, go outside, and meditate or practice some taiji.

I’ve lived in a small remote village in Costa Rica for more than 20 years, and I enjoy snacking on all the delicious tropical fruits that grow here. For me, the best part of whole-food, plant-based (WFPB) eating is that I can eat lots and never worry about being overweight. Now if that doesn’t inspire others, I don’t know what will!

I enjoy hosting retreats on taiji and natural health here in Costa Rica, and I am always learning more about health for my own knowledge and so that I can be of better service to others. Any time I have a conversation about eating, I recommend the Forks Over Knives documentary and website. I dream of opening a natural health center where people learn how to get healthy and stay healthy.

For me, eating this way was never a diet. It has always been a way of life, interwoven with my daily martial art training and love of nature.

Ready to get started? Check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path. To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer.

The post Living Proof: How a WFPB Diet Has Kept Me Healthy and Energetic Well Into My 60s appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Apple Pie Bites

“These have been our favorite movie snack lately. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Dice 4 unpeeled apples, spread them on a baking sheet, and bake 15 minutes. Leave oven on. Place cooked apples in a large bowl, and gently mash to release a bit of liquid. Stir in 1 cup rolled oats; 1 cup unsweetened applesauce; 2 teaspoons lemon juice; 2 teaspoons cinnamon; ½ teaspoon vanilla bean powder; and ¼ teaspoon each ground nutmeg, ginger, and cardamom. Pour batter into a 12-cup silicone muffin pan. Bake 20 minutes. Let cool completely before removing from the pan.”—Brittany Jaroudi, founder of The Jaroudi Family

Pickle Popcorn

“Our go-to savory snack is pickle popcorn. It sounds odd at first, but if you like pickles and you like popcorn, prepare to be amazed. Put some pickle juice in a spray bottle and lightly spray air-popped or microwaved oil-free popcorn, then dust it with nutritional yeast.”—Rachael J. Brown, author of For Fork’s Sake: A Quick Guide to Healing Yourself and the Planet Through a Plant-Based Diet

White Bean Queso

“I love making a ‘queso’ to pair with salsa and baked chips. In a high-speed blender combine one 15-oz. can white beans (drained); 2 tablespoons each tahini, nutritional yeast, and lemon juice; 1 tablespoon miso paste; 1 teaspoon each cumin, paprika, and garlic powder; a pinch of black pepper; and a little hot sauce, sliced jalapeño, or red pepper flakes, to taste. Blend until creamy. I use the ‘soup’ function with my Vitamix, which warms up the dip, but you can also heat it in the microwave.”—Cleodia Martinez, author of Ay Sus! Whole Food Plant-Based Global Filipino Cuisine

Banana Tahini Toasts

“I like whole grain toast or whole grain crisp bread with slices of banana and a drizzle of tahini, cut into triangles to share.”—Sharon Palmer, MSFS, RDN, founder of The Plant-Powered Dietitian

Chocolate Cherry Nice Cream

“This is my latest obsession. Place a cup of frozen banana chunks, ½ cup almond milk, and 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract in a blender. Puree until smooth, adding more milk, if needed. Add 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder. Puree again. Add ¼ cup frozen cherries. Pulse just to break up the cherries. Serve topped with more cherries.”—Katie Simmons, Chicago-based personal chef and founder of Plants-Rule

Classic Crudités

“My favorite movie snack is a veggie platter with baby carrots, sliced yellow peppers, broccoli florets, and cherry tomatoes, with homemade hummus for dipping. Sometimes I have a few pita chips and Kalamata olives on the side.”—Judy Brangman, MD, DipABLM, CEO of The Plant-Based MD

Frozen Grapes

“I absolutely love grapes as a movie snack. They taste fantastic straight out of the refrigerator, but you can also freeze them to make them even more delicious!”—Sheil Shukla, DO, internal medicine physician and author of Plant-Based India: Nourishing Recipes Rooted in Tradition

Peanut Butter Stuffed Dates

“Kids love getting messy making these treats. Using a teaspoon, fill 24 plump pitted dates with 1½ teaspoons peanut butter each. Place the filled dates on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and freeze for 15 minutes. Enjoy right away, or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.”—Del Sroufe, author of The China Study Family Cookbook and Forks Over Knives: The Cookbook

For more healthy vegan meal and snack ideas, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path. To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer.

The post Plant-Based Pros Reveal Their Fave Healthy Movie-Night Snacks appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

The shift in diet garnered several significant results: 22 of the patients (37%) achieved total remission, while the number of patients who needed to use glucose-lowering medications dropped from 40 to 29. Additionally, the number of insulin prescriptions within the group fell from 4 to 1 after the changes in diet were made.

“The two key characteristics of WFPB diets that support Type 2 diabetes remission are lower total energy and lower total fat, which lead to reduced energy intake,” says Micaela Karlsen, PhD, senior director of research for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and a lead researcher on the study.

The concept of eating low energy density foods—that is, foods with a low calorie count—is a popular and proven method for long-term weight loss. This approach allows a person to eat a relatively large volume of food without gaining weight because the ingredients aren’t highly caloric and are often filled with hunger-busting properties such as fiber. In a 2020 statement, the American College of Lifestyle Medicine elaborated on how this technique can support Type 2 diabetes remission by saying that “the three factors of decreasing fat, increasing fruits and vegetables, and increasing water content have been shown to decrease caloric content,” which supports healthy blood sugar levels. Eating a WFPB diet naturally includes many low energy density foods, making it a prime lifestyle choice for people battling diabetes.

This new study adds to a growing body of research that supports using a WFPB diet to prevent, halt, or even reverse the negative health effects of Type 2 diabetes. A 2021 study which looked at data from nearly 42,000 Seventh-day Adventists (many of whom are vegetarian or vegan) discovered that vegans within that group had a 62% decreased risk of developing diabetes compared to the meat eaters. More recently, a 2023 study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that a WFPB diet decreased the likelihood of premature death in Type 2 diabetes patients.

The CDC reports that more than 37 million Americans have diabetes (about 1 in 10), and Type 2 diabetes makes up 90–95% of those cases. While medications are a major component of Type 2 diabetes care, growing research supports the evidence that lifestyle interventions—including a WFPB diet, exercise, decreased substance use, and proper sleep—can have similarly significant health outcomes as pharmaceutical interventions.

“We need to do more research to see if there are differences in remission rates among different populations,” says Karlsen. “But we do know that behaviors like a low-fat, whole food, plant-predominant lifestyle and moderate exercise have positive benefits for blood glucose, and are likely to help everyone.”

To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.

The post New Study Confirms Plant-Based Diet Can Promote Type 2 Diabetes Remission appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

Apart from being environmentally friendly, inexpensive, and pleasant on the nose, a homemade vinegar cleaner doesn’t require the same safety precautions as strong chemical-based cleaners that can irritate your skin, eyes, and airways. Just keep in mind that vinegar isn’t enough to eliminate COVID-19 or other cold-causing viruses, so we recommend using a stronger commercial disinfectant for more serious sanitizing jobs.

DIY Vinegar Cleaner Recipe

In a 16-ounce glass spray bottle combine 8 ounces of distilled white vinegar and 8 ounces of water. Optional: Add a few long strips of lemon zest and/or a handful of fresh rosemary sprigs, or 5 to 10 drops of lavender or lemongrass essential oil. Adding scent isn’t essential for the solution to be effective, but it adds a pleasant aroma to everything you clean!

Use Vinegar Cleaner For:

• Stainless-steel appliances. Use a microfiber cloth to buff out stains, going with the grain in small circles.
• Greasy stove tops. Spritz liberally, let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then gently wipe away.
• Sinks and tile counters. Sponges or soft bristle brushes are ideal for using with vinegar cleaner on these surfaces.
• Cloudy glasses and dirty windows. Spray glassware and windows, let sit for a few minutes, and then wipe to remove grime and hard water mineral deposits.
• Trash cans. Vinegar is great for wiping down and deodorizing stinky bins.

Use Something Stronger (or Gentler) to Clean:

• Stone countertops and wood floors. Vinegar can etch granite and marble, ruining its natural shine. It can also eat away at the enamel on hardwood paneling, causing it to dull or warp.
• Metal and rubber appliances. Acetic acid can corrode low-quality metal and rubber parts used in coffee makers or blenders.
• Medical gear. Despite the mild disinfectant properties of vinegar, rubbing alcohol works better for sanitizing thermometers or pulse oximeters.
• Light switches and door handles. Stop the spread of germs by using a stronger cleaner to wipe down these frequently touched surfaces.
• Children’s toys. Hot soapy water or a mild bleach solution is better for disinfecting germ-gathering items.

The post The Only Vinegar Cleaner Recipe You Need appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

What inspired you to start running in ultramarathons?

Austin Meyer: From 2010 to 2014 I played for the Stanford University soccer team. My vision was always to be a professional soccer player. At the end of my college soccer career, I hoped to hear my name called in the [Major League Soccer] draft. I had been going on trial with some teams, but unfortunately it didn’t pan out. So at that point, I decided to stay in school and pursue a graduate degree in journalism instead of playing second division professional. But what it meant was that I had to find a new athletic identity. I really was distraught when my soccer career was over, I was searching for that void to be filled. And in that time of searching, I ended up stumbling upon a book called Born to Run. It talks about how humans are distinct in our physiology to be able to cover super long distances on foot, and it talked a lot about ultra trail running. It sounded so wild, but also really captivated my imagination and made me think, “I wonder if I could do that.” And so having never run a race of any distance in my life, I decided to sign up for a 50-mile trail race.

You didn’t want to ease into it?

AM: In soccer I might be running eight miles in a game. So there was something about doing a 50-mile race where I was like, “I truly don’t know if I can do this.” And that really excited me. Whereas I was pretty confident I could do a marathon, the 50-mile race was this big unknown. And so the experience of training for that race and then running that first race in 2016 was kind of the kickstart of this new obsession with ultramarathons.

You’ve since run 12 ultramarathons, winning the Zion 100K Trail Race earlier this year. What’s your training process like?

AM: I train six days a week, and then the seventh day I use as a rest and recovery day. In those six days of training, I’m getting in the range of 65 to 75 miles per week. Two of those days I’ll have more concentrated speed work where I’m really focused on building my running efficiency and speed. And then the other four of those days are more focused on just enjoying the trails and going at a conversational pace. Most of that training happens in the woods, in the forests here in the East Bay [of San Francisco].

What is it like to be running alone on these extra-long races?

AM: One of the reasons I’m drawn to this sport so much is the mental challenge of being in complete solitude throughout training for over 10 hours a week. And then on race day, I almost go into a meditative trance as I run. I’m not listening to music; it’s just me and my thoughts and the pitter-patter of my feet. And my mind scans between a few different variables, like, “How’s my pace? Am I eating enough? Am I drinking enough?” And then just trying to stay as present and in the moment as possible. Zion was the first ultra marathon that I ever won, and it’s also the first ultra marathon that I’ve really been in the lead at all. So having that experience of being chased by a field of over 200 people was really unique. I remember trying to forget the fact that I was in the lead and just be present with the current mile I was on. I was trying to chase the ghost of my own potential rather than worry about people behind me who might catch up.

How did you feel crossing the finish line in Zion?

AM: For the past three ultra marathons I’ve done at the 100K distance, within 10 minutes of finishing I was in the medical tent needing attention. The previous one before this, I was in a wheelchair just minutes after. But for one reason or another, when I finished the race in Zion I was able to celebrate with my girlfriend and didn’t need to go to a medical tent. I got to cheer on the people who were finishing behind me who had been in this awesome race with me all day. It was a moment where I got to really reflect on these seven years post-soccer. I felt a lot of gratitude for the fact that even though one sport I loved was suddenly gone, I found something else to take its place.

Tell us about your journey with veganism.

AM: I went vegan in 2018. That year I got a grant from National Geographic to make a documentary film in Zambia. I arrived in Lusaka, Zambia, and had a few weeks of logistics before I could really start the project I was working on. So I had all this space in this new location separated from the identity that I had constructed for myself at home. In that space of solitude and reflection, and being a little uncomfortable with the new surroundings, there was something about my mindset that just started to open in a new way. At that time, I was listening to a podcast called The Rich Roll Podcast, which is hosted by a vegan endurance athlete. I’d been in the endurance arena for a couple years at that point, and was always thinking about how to optimize my performance. Rich Roll often has guests who come on and talk about veganism, and in the past I had always been like, “Ah, no, I’m going to skip over this; it’s not for me.” But in that space of having my mind opened by this new context of where I was living, suddenly I was open to listening to the messages and really taking them to heart. I just started binge listening. And within a day or two, I was convinced that going vegan would be in alignment with the values I hold most dear.

What are the values that you feel veganism aligns with?

AM: So the first one is the value of compassion and care. I was shocked and horrified when I heard about just how poorly animals are treated in the industrial farming system. It was so clear to me how my dollars and my decisions were leading directly to the suffering of an individual, and I couldn’t come up with any sort of justification to continue doing that. Another core value is vitality, which I view as cultivating the life force energy that enables me to go on adventures—not just right now but also as I get older, so I can do the things I love for as long as possible. I started to listen to the evidence-based health benefits for performance and longevity. And then lastly, I’m an environmentalist. One of the things that I love so much about veganism is that it makes me feel very empowered in the face of such insurmountable challenges. It feels amazing to be able to act in alignment with my values every single day, multiple times a day, by choosing what I eat.

Did you notice any changes in terms of athletic performance after going vegan?

AM: The immediate shift I felt was more of a mental transformation—how good I felt to be living in alignment with my values. And then since going vegan and continuing to get more educated about how to optimize a whole-food, plant-based diet, I’ve absolutely seen how that has propelled my performance as an ultra athlete. I feel like eating WFPB has really helped me stay injury free so that I could make such immense strides since I started this sport. It’s amazing for me to say right now, almost a decade out of being a Stanford soccer player, that I’m fitter than I was back then.

What do you hope your achievements show to others about being a vegan athlete?

AM: I’m representing a counter narrative to what so many people view defines the vegan diet, which is this idea that it isn’t masculine or that you can’t be a great athlete. So if I can win a race or have amazingly consistent training and be someone who’s positive about it, maybe even just one person will think differently about how they eat and how that could impact their performance. It’s very rewarding for me to look at it in those terms.

How does your passion for storytelling intertwine with your vegan values?

AM: My personal sensibilities as a documentarian lean more towards the inspirational and the positive. I love telling stories about the animals at sanctuaries—their backstories and what their lives are like now. I’m also really interested in finding stories that get people to see animals as someone rather than something. Oftentimes what that looks like is finding stories that highlight the interconnectedness between humans and animals and that tender, innate connection that we have. Most recently, I was in Rwanda for three weeks filming a documentary about wildlife veterinarians that look after an endangered mountain gorilla population in Volcanoes National Park.

What advice would you give to someone who is curious about going vegan but isn’t sure where to start?

AM: My first piece of advice is to think about your personal values and then look for resources that speak to how veganism interacts with them. I guarantee pretty much whatever value or issue you hold dear, veganism interacts with it. Starting there means you’re grounded in a “why” that will help you navigate the challenges along the way. And if you come up against friction from family members or a partner, I would say to lead by example. My hope is that as an athlete I can continue to run with joy and a positive spirit and continue to progress for many years, and that success will do the loudest talking about the merits of a vegan diet. Just do your best to be a lighthouse of inspiration that guides people toward making positive choices for themselves.

The post Ultramarathon Champion Austin Meyer on Life as a Vegan Endurance Athlete appeared first on Forks Over Knives.

The study, published recently in Nature Scientific Reports, measured the amount of two amyloid-beta peptides in the bloodstream of participants at the beginning and end of a four-week intervention. Elevated levels of these peptides in the brain are believed to trigger the onset of Alzheimer’s disease and are often associated with excessive stress or sleep deprivation.

To measure the impact of behavioral changes on peptide buildup, the researchers randomly divided 108 healthy adults into two groups and instructed them to practice one of two stress-reduction techniques for 20-40 minutes, twice a day, for four weeks. Each participant wore a heart rate monitor that was attached to a biofeedback machine so they could see their heart rate displayed on a laptop. One group was asked to think of soothing imagery and try to maintain a steady heart rate for the duration of their sessions. The other group was told to match their breathing to an on-screen pacer graphic that guided them to slowly inhale and exhale for matching counts based on the breathing pattern that induced the greatest heart rate variability for each participant.

At the end of the study, researchers discovered the group who participated in timed breathing had significantly lower levels of both peptides in their blood than when the research began. The decrease was consistent among participants in the timed breathing group irrespective of age, which may indicate that behavior-based Alzheimer’s prevention techniques can be effective at any stage of life.

The Head and the Heart

So why might slow, timed breathing have such a profound effect on peptide buildup? Researchers posit that strong heart rate variability—that is, the small fluctuations in time between each heart beat—is crucial for maintaining a healthy body and mind as you age.

Let’s break it down: Your autonomic nervous system is constantly adjusting your heart rate and breathing patterns based on what is going on around you (e.g., if you’re hiking and see a bear, your heart rate picks up so your body is primed to flee danger). Two branches of the autonomic nervous system, known as sympathetic and parasympathetic, are associated with distinct heart rate and breathing patterns. When your sympathetic nervous system is engaged (aka fight-or-flight mode) the time between your heartbeats remains relatively constant and you breathe more rapidly. When the parasympathetic nervous system is switched on (aka rest-and-digest mode) the time between your heart beats fluctuates, getting shorter as you inhale and longer when you exhale. Long deep breaths induce greater heart rate variability and signal to your brain that you’re safe, which allows your nervous system to slide in the parasympathetic state more easily.

The study authors point out that as you age your heart rate variability weakens, which means it’s harder to access the restorative state of your parasympathetic nervous system. In fact, a 2020 study that analyzed smart watch data found heart rate variation drops by up to 80% between the ages of 20 and 60.

“We know the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems influence the production and clearance of Alzheimer’s-related peptides and proteins,” says lead study author Mara Mather, who directs the Emotion & Cognition Lab at the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology. “Nevertheless, there’s been very little research on how these physiological changes in aging might be contributing to the factors that make it conducive for someone to develop Alzheimer’s disease or not.”

Maintaining access to your parasympathetic nervous system, and thus heart rate variability, may be key when it comes to having a healthy brain as you get older. And just as doing bicep curls builds up the muscles in your arms, practicing conscious breathing can help increase heart rate variability so your nervous system remains capable of downregulating.

Exercise: Breathe for Better Health

Curious to try the breathing exercise from the study? While this isn’t the exact graphic used by the research participants, the video below follows the same breathing pattern outlined by the researchers and can provide a good bite-size starting point for your own routine.

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1. Close Windows and Doors

It may be tempting to let in fresh air, but the ripple effects from pesky pollen, which can settle into furniture, carpet, and bedding, overshadow any joy from springtime breezes. “The principal strategy of treating allergies is always avoidance, trying to limit what’s triggering the symptoms,” says Michael C. Hollie, MD, an allergy and asthma specialist in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and a board member of the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. “If we can do that, then you don’t have to [turn to] medications.”

2. Clear Your Tracks

For pollen that sneaks in anyway, try an air purifier with a HEPA filter, which can remove 99.97% of airborne particles. In a study in Allergy & Asthma Proceedings researchers found that by using an air-filtration device in the bedroom, 77% of patients with ragweed allergies measured significant improvements in nasal symptoms, quality of life, and daytime sleepiness. Be sure to periodically change out the HEPA filter according to manufacturer guidelines.

3. Take Plenty of Showers

Any pollen lingering on your hair or clothes can spark symptoms. A quick fix is changing your clothes after spending time outdoors. But nonnegotiable is a nightly shower, with a thorough hair-washing, before climbing under the covers. “You don’t want to carry that pollen to bed with you and for it to get into your bedding,” says Hollie.

4. Rinse with a Nasal Wash

Saline washes flush pollen, mucus, and inflammatory mediators out of the nasal passages. “The majority of my patients get a lot of relief,” says Hollie. In fact, a meta-analysis of 10 studies in the American Journal of Rhinology & Allergy found a nearly 30% improvement in nasal symptoms and quality of life, and a 62% reduction in medicine use with regular nasal washing. For convenience try a premade solution (like NeilMed Sinus Rinse Kit or Arm & Hammer Simply Saline Allergy and Sinus), or make your own (see below).

Make Your Own Nasal Wash for Seasonal Allergies

Here’s how to make your own nasal/sinus wash at home to combat seasonal allergies, courtesy of the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology.

Ingredients

• 3 tsp. iodide-free salt (with no anti-caking agents or preservatives)
• 1 tsp. baking soda

Instructions

1. Mix together salt and baking soda. Store in an airtight container.
2. When ready to use it, dissolve 1 teaspoon of the mixture in 1 cup lukewarm boiled or distilled water. Administer using a clean nasal bulb, syringe, squeeze bottle, or neti pot.
3. Repeat daily as needed up to three times a day.

To learn more about a whole-food, plant-based diet, visit our Plant-Based Primer. For meal-planning support, check out Forks Meal Planner, FOK’s easy weekly meal-planning tool to keep you on a healthy plant-based path.

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