Emil du Bois-Reymond proclaimed the mystery of consciousness, championed the theory of natural selection, and revolutionized the study of the nervous system. Today, he is all but forgotten.

Unlike Charles Darwin and Claude Bernard, who endure as heroes in England and France, Emil du Bois-Reymond is generally forgotten in Germany no streets bear his name, no stamps portray his image, no celebrations are held in his honor, and no collections of his essays remain in print. Most Germans have never heard of him, and if they have, they generally assume that he was Swiss.

But it wasnt always this way. Du Bois-Reymond was once lauded as the foremost naturalist of Europe, the last of the encyclopedists, and one of the greatest scientists Germany ever produced. Contemporaries celebrated him for his research in neuroscience and his addresses on science and culture; in fact, the poet Jules Laforgue reported seeing his picture hanging for sale in German shop windows alongside those of the Prussian royal family.

Those familiar with du Bois-Reymond generally recall his advocacy of understanding biology in terms of chemistry and physics, but during his lifetime he earned recognition for a host of other achievements. He pioneered the use of instruments in neuroscience, discovered the electrical transmission of nerve signals, linked structure to function in neural tissue, and posited the improvement of neural connections with use. He served as a professor, as dean, and as rector at the University of Berlin, directed the first institute of physiology in Prussia, was secretary of the Prussian Academy of Sciences, established the first society of physics in Germany, helped found the Berlin Society of Anthropology, oversaw the Berlin Physiological Society, edited the leading German journal of physiology, supervised dozens of researchers, and trained an army of physicians.

He owed most of his fame, however, to his skill as an orator. In matters of science, he emphasized the unifying principles of energy conservation and natural selection, introduced Darwins theory to German students, rejected the inheritance of acquired characters, and fought the specter of vitalism, the doctrine that living things are governed by unique principles. In matters of philosophy, he denounced Romanticism, recovered the teachings of Lucretius, and provoked Nietzsche, Mach, James, Hilbert, and Wittgenstein. In matters of history, he furthered the growth of historicism, formulated the tenets of history of science, popularized the Enlightenment, promoted the study of nationalism, and predicted wars of genocide. And in matters of letters, he championed realism in literature, described the earliest history of cinema, and criticized the Americanization of culture.

Epistemology rarely inflames the public imagination anymore. In the second half of the 19th century, however, epistemology was one of the sciences of the soul, and the soul was the most politicized object around.

Today it is hard to comprehend the furor incited by du Bois-Reymonds speeches. One, delivered on the eve of the Prussian War, asked whether the French had forfeited their right to exist; another, reviewing the career of Darwin, triggered a debate in the Prussian parliament; another, surveying the course of civilization, argued for science as the essential history of humanity; and the most famous, responding to the dispute between science and religion, delimited the frontiers of knowledge.

Epistemology rarely inflames the public imagination anymore. In the second half of the 19th century, however, epistemology was one of the sciences of the soul, and the soul was the most politicized object around. When du Bois-Reymond proclaimed the mystery of consciousness, he crushed the last ambition of reason. Everyone who longed for a secular revelation was devastated by the loss. The historian Owen Chadwick put it this way: The forties was the time of doubts, in the plural and with a small d. . . . In the sixties Britain and France and Germany entered the age of Doubt, in the singular and with a capital D.

Jealous rivals identified du Bois-Reymond as a member of the Berlinocracy of the new German Empire. This was not quite fair. As a descendant of immigrants, du Bois-Reymond always felt a bit at odds with his surroundings. He had grown up speaking French, his wife was from England, and he counted Jews and foreigners among his closest friends. Even his connections to the Prussian crown prince and princess disaffected him from the regime. Du Bois-Reymond supported women, defended minorities, and attacked superstition; he warned against the dangers of power, wealth, and faith; and he stood up to Bismarck in matters of principle. His example reminds us that patriots in Imperial Germany could be cosmopolitan critics as well as chauvinist reactionaries.

He once joked to his wife that Prussian officers assumed that anyone of his eminence was an intimate of the government who regularly conversed with the Kaiser. He might have told them that he had introduced the engineer Werner Siemens to the mechanic Johann Georg Halske, or that he had launched the career of the physicist John Tyndall, or that he had sponsored the photography of Julia Margaret Cameron, or that he could recite poetry by Goethe and Hugo that he had seen in manuscript, but he was too polite to do more than excuse himself. His enthusiasts would have been pleased to learn that he did indeed present himself to his king, a considerable honor for someone who once signed a guestbook as Emil du Bois-Reymond, frog-faddist, Berlin.

Du Bois-Reymonds distinction was a long time coming. Most of his life he worked in obscurity, although every so often a keen observer would perceive the significance of his methods. Ivan Turgenev, for one, based the character of Bazarov in Fathers and Sons on his example. Another famous student at the University of Berlin, Sren Kierkegaard, wrote:

Of all sciences physical science is decidedly the most insipid, and I find it amusing to reflect how, with the passing of time, that becomes trite which once called forth amazement, for such is the invariable lot of the discoveries inherent in the bad Infinity. Just remember what a stir it made when the stethoscope was introduced. Soon we shall have reached the point where every barber will use it and, when shaving you, will ask: Would you like to be stethoscoped, Sir? Then someone else will invent an instrument for listening to the beats of the brain. That will make a tremendous stir, until, in fifty years, every barber can do it. Then in a barbershop, when one has had a haircut and a shave and has been stethoscoped (for by then it will be very common) the barber will ask: Perhaps you would also like me to listen to your brain-beats?

Detecting brain-beats is not yet common practice in barbering, but it is in medicine. In this respect Kierkegaard was right: The march of technology has been steady to the point of routine. Every refinement of du Bois-Reymonds electrophysiological apparatus, from the vacuum-tube amplifier to the microelectrode to the patch clamp, can be thought of as a footnote to his original technique. Such achievement in instrumentation is anything but small: Two years after Kierkegaards taunt, du Bois-Reymond contended that physiology would become a science when it could translate life processes into mathematical pictures. The imaging devices associated with medical progress the EKG, the EEG, the EMG, and the CT, MRI, and PET scanners seem to vindicate his prediction. But success is not a category of analysis any more than failure. To make sense of why du Bois-Reymond devoted the whole of his scientific career to one problem, it helps to understand his deepest motivations.

The physiologist Paul Cranefield once asked a simple question: What kind of scientist, in 1848, would promise to produce a general theory, relating the electrical activity of the nerves and muscles to the remaining phenomena of their living activity? Cranefields answer was someone who believed that electricity was the secret of life. Perhaps du Bois-Reymond really did think of himself as a visionary after all, he was born in the year in which Frankenstein was published. On the other hand, a scientist obsessed with electrophysiology could just as easily be deemed a practical philosopher, a misguided fool, or a complex figure.

The study of animal electricity has a long history. When du Bois-Reymond came to the topic, it was still musty with doctrines of vitalism and mechanism, forces and fluids, irritability and sensibility, and other arcana of biology. Underlying all this confusion were the elementary workings of nerves and muscles, the problem that sustained him throughout his career. The reason is plain: Nerves and muscles are the basis of thought and action. Du Bois-Reymond never gave up trying to understand animal electricity because he never gave up trying to understand himself.

If you want to judge the influence that a man has on his contemporaries, the physiologist Claude Bernard once said, dont look at the end of his career, when everyone thinks like him, but at the beginning, when he thinks differently from others.

This quest for identity informed the course of his science and his society, a Romantic theme of parallel development common to the first half of 19th century. Du Bois-Reymonds struggle to establish himself might stand for Germanys struggle to establish itself, the success of both endeavors catching witnesses off guard. Less apparent is the more classical theme of the second half of his life: the understanding that authority implies restraint. This is the deeper significance of his biography how his discipline failed to capture experience, how his praise of the past hid his disapproval of the present, and how his letters and lectures only hinted at the passion of his ideals. The result of a years work depends more on what is struck out than on what is left in, Henry Adams wrote in 1907. Du Bois-Reymond shared Adamss Attic sensibility. The sad fact is that most of his countrymen did not. Du Bois-Reymond was not the first intellectual to counsel renunciation over transcendence, but he was one of the last in a nation bent on asserting itself. His caution deserves notice.

How, then, could someone so famous and so important end up so forgotten? Let me suggest three kinds of answer. The first has to do with the histories that disciplines write about their origins. These usually take the form of the classical Greek myth of the Titanomachy, with a Promethean figure (the disciplinary founder) aligning with the Olympian gods of truth against an older and more barbaric generation (here symbolized by Kronos, or tradition). Psychology provides a perfect case in point. In Russia the disciplines heroes are the two Ivans, Pavlov and Sechenov, with little discussion of how much they owed to Carl Ludwigs studies of digestion or Emil du Bois-Reymonds studies of nerve function. In Austria the hero is Sigmund Freud, and only recently has Andreas Mayer laid out just how much he learned from Jean-Martin Charcots use of hypnosis. And in the United States the hero is William James, the center of a veritable industry of scholars, none of whom quite put their finger on why he moved to Berlin in 1867. James never mentioned his debt to du Bois-Reymond, perhaps because he quit his class, or perhaps because so many of his early lectures drew from du Bois-Reymonds writings. In each case the titanic hero breaks the line of continuity, throws over the all-devouring father, and benefits humanity with his torch of reason.

The second answer has to do with academic specialization. Du Bois-Reymond is hard to pigeonhole. This is the trouble with studying polymaths: It takes a long time to master the history of the fields in which they work, and when one does, it isnt easy to sum up their contributions in a catchphrase. As a result historians have tended to reduce the complexity of Imperial German culture to caricatures of creepiness on the one hand (Nietzsche, Wagner, and the politics of despair) and kitsch on the other (nature, exercise, domesticity, and Christmas). Such distortions fail to capture the main feature of the age, which was excellence in science, technology, and medicine. After all, its not just du Bois-Reymond who has been forgotten pretty much every German scientist of the 19th century has been forgotten as well.

Du Bois-Reymond is hard to pigeonhole. This is the trouble with studying polymaths: It takes a long time to master the history of the fields in which they work, and when one does, it isnt easy to sum up their contributions in a catchphrase.

To my mind du Bois-Reymond provided the best explanation for his oblivion. Reflecting on how few of his generation remembered Voltaire, he suggested that the real reason might be that we are all more or less Voltairians: Voltairians without even knowing it. The same holds true for du Bois-Reymond: He is hidden in plain sight.

Du Bois-Reymond reminds us that individuals mark their times as much as their times mark them. If you want to judge the influence that a man has on his contemporaries, the physiologist Claude Bernard once said, dont look at the end of his career, when everyone thinks like him, but at the beginning, when he thinks differently from others. Bernards comment regards innovation as a virtue. By this measure du Bois-Reymonds contributions are as noble as any. But du Bois-Reymond taught a lesson of even greater importance, one that matters now as much as ever: how to contend with uncertainty.

Gabriel Finkelstein is Associate Professor of History at the University of Colorado Denver and the author of Emil du Bois-Reymond: Neuroscience, Self, and Society in Nineteenth-Century Germany.

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The Greatest Unknown Intellectual of the 19th Century - The MIT Press Reader

In recent years, Skidmore College, where I am a professor, has been roiled by political incidents large and small. As at other colleges and universities, these eruptions have ranged from sometimes violent protests designed to prevent controversial speakers from speaking to call-outs and disruptions to prevent the teaching of ostensibly offensive books or to punish people for using ostensibly offensive language.

In an effort to encourage dialogue, the president of Skidmore recently invited a scholar named Fred Lawrence to give a lunchtime lecture to faculty and staff. As author of a book called Punishing Hate and the secretary of Phi Beta Kappa, the nations oldest honor society, Lawrence seemed suited to offer advice about the troubles wed been going through on campus. How could we better differentiate between offenses serious enough to warrant concern, and the more minor slips or unintentional derogations sometimes called microaggressions?

To be unable to tell the difference between kicking a dog and accidentally tripping over one is to have little hope of successfully navigating life on a college campus, Lawrence said, in a talk that was mild and notably free of polemic.

The first faculty member to raise a hand after the lecture asked Lawrence whether he was aware of the privilege he had exercised in addressing us. She spoke with conviction, and suggested that Lawrence had taken advantage of his august position by daring to offer his advice. Lawrence replied with courtesy, conceding that, like everyone else assembled, he was of course the beneficiary of several kinds of privilege, and would try to be alert to them.

Though nothing further came of this exchange, it seemed clear that privilege had been invoked as a noise word to distract from the substance of Lawrences remarks and from his suggestion that some of us had failed to make the elementary distinction he had called to our attention. More, the privilege charge had been leveled with the expectation that he was guilty not because of anything particular he had said, but because he was a white male.

There was a time, not so long ago, when to speak of privilege was to identify forms of injustice that decent people wished to do something about

It was hard not to think that my young colleague was in fact suffering from what Nietzsche and others called ressentiment a feeling of inferiority redirected on to an external agent felt somehow to be the source or cause of that painful feeling. Rightly or wrongly, she regarded him as the embodiment of a power, or authority, that is nowadays conventionally associated with privilege; that is, with some endowment or attribute wealth, position, conviction, erudition, benevolence enjoyed by some people but not others.

Of course there really is such a thing as privilege, and of course it is distributed unequally in any society. Youd have to be a fool to deny that whiteness has long been an advantage, however little some white people believe that their own whiteness has given them what others lack. Can anyone doubt that privilege is a real and legitimate issue when certain groups in a society enjoy ready access to good healthcare and schooling when others do not? There was a time, not so long ago, when to speak of privilege was to identify forms of injustice that decent people wished to do something about.

But youd also have to be a fool to deny that the idea of privilege has been weaponized in contemporary discourse, often by people attempting to seize rhetorical advantage. The privilege call-outs increasingly common in the culture entail a readiness to rebuke people simply because their gender, ethnicity or rank makes them an apt target for shaming and condemnation. The charge of privilege is usually directed at its targets not with the prospect of enlisting them in some plausible action to combat injustice but instead to signal the accusers membership in the party of the virtuous. Accusations of privilege have become a form of oneupsmanship, and a charge against which there is no real defense.

The writer and linguist John McWhorter has written of the self-indulgent joy of being indignant; for many in the academy, he notes, the existential state of Living While White constitutes a form of racism in itself. In fact, he argues, the standard White Privilege paradigm is designed to shunt energy from genuine activism into Im sorry a kind of performance art.

Those words a kind of performance art sharply identify what has lately happened and explain why many of us believe it is time to retire the term privilege, or at least agree to use it only when it cannot be understood to describe a self-evident crime. Not every advantage is unearned. Not every advantage is misused. Not every white person enjoys privilege in the way that some white persons do. Not all black people are without advantages.

In fact, to speak of privilege in the way that is now customary is to suppose that whiteness, or blackness, or maleness, or other such attributes, must signify to all of us the same things. It is to consider a white person primarily as a white person, a black person primarily as a black person, and to consign to irrelevance the many other qualities that make humans different from each other.

Our emphasis on privilege has served to obscure a great many things that ought to be obvious. We cannot have a serious discussion about privilege without first making elementary distinctions between one experience of race or advantage and another. Until and unless we are prepared to renounce the performance art phase of our relationship to privilege we ought to let it go.

Robert Boyers, a professor of English at Skidmore College, is the founder and editor of the journal Salmagundi and the founder and director of the New York State Summer Writers Institute

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The term privilege has been weaponized. It's time to retire it - The Guardian

But I have foundthat in the simple act of living with hope, and in the daily effort to have a positiveimpact in the world, the days I do have are made all the more meaningful andprecious. And for that I am grateful.

~ Elizabeth Edwards ~

Have youever had one of those days where it seems that the world is one big pigeon,just waiting to crap on your front steps? Sure, we all have. Then someone comesalong and tells you to keep positive. You feel like strangling them on thespot. While our mind is telling us we should be positive, our feelingsare screaming at us to tell the world where to stick it. Regardless ofhow we feel however, we realize that it will not do us any good to continue tohave our own pity party and we need to move on.

There arethings we can do, that will help us turn our attitude around, brighten our dayand shorten our stay in a negative state the next time it seems the world isout to get us.

Here are 5 things we can do.

Step away and get a reality check

When we arein a negative state, we have a tendency to see problems as greater than theyare, overreact and see trappings in a situation that really dont exist. Thiscauses the position and problem to snowball and get worse. Ask yourselfthis question, Is there anything I can do at this time to keep the problemfrom getting worse? Or, How could thisproblem have been worse than it is? This may help us to see there is somelight at the end of the tunnel. If we feel stuck in negativity we can asksomeone we trust to give us their perspective. As they are not caught upemotionally in the problem as we are, they will be able to see in a clearer andunbiased manner.

Look for a positive and focus on it

When youhave just found out some bad news it will not be easy to focus on somethingpositive. Try to shift your thinking, however, away from the negative toa situation that has gone well, good ones or something that has brought you joyand happiness in the past. If it makes it easier just try to think of somethingneutral. Do whatever it takes to shift your focus. At the time ofreceiving bad news it may feel you are the only one who is having a difficulttime. The life stories of most highly successful people will usuallyinclude at least one chapter on overcoming tragedies and failures. Remindyourself of this next time things have gone off the rails for you.Nietzsche said that What doesnt kill us will make us stronger. Peoplewho have survived adversity and gone on to better their lives believe this andlook back on their difficult times with a sense of pride for having overcomethem.

Look past the situation

Think ofdifficult situations that you have been through in your past.Become aware that this too will pass. Try to imagine what it will be like ayear, five years or ten years from now looking back on this time. It willhelp us focus on doing the difficult work that we need to do to get through acrisis, while at the same time giving us perspective that this is only onething in our ongoing lives. This helps keep us from getting overwhelmed by ourpresent negative situation or events.

Ask for and accept help

Successfulpeople have a strong support network that they can count on to support them intimes of need. If you have such a network, this is the time to reach outand ask for help. Knowing when we need help and asking for it is a signof strength, not of weakness. We feel good when we are able to helpothers, so let others experience that same feeling by being able to help us in timesof need. Support networks dont happen by accident, they are built upover time with effort and consistency. The way to develop a strongsupport network is to be part of such a network by offering and helping othersfreely in times of need. What we put out to others comes back to usmultiplied. If you dont have an immediate support network, or haverecently moved to an area where you dont know anyone, there are organizationsin the community whose purpose it is to offer support in your situation.Reach out to them in difficult times.

Develop an Attitude of Gratitude

Everymorning, before I start my day I have a gratitude book in which I write in atleast ten things which I am grateful for. When Im having a bad day, togo back to that list helps me and I become aware of all the good there are inmy life. Developing an awareness of all the positives and rememberingthem is a powerful tool that helps us overcome adversity and the difficulttimes that are an inevitable part of life. While remembering all thethings we have to be grateful for is a good practice in our everyday lives, itis especially important during difficult times.

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5 Ways to Stay Positive When Facing Adversity - Thrive Global

Whether you're running, lifting, or doing yoga, working out can burn hundreds of calories. That means you might be hungrier than normal and need to consume more food to replenish your energy. But if you're following intermittent fasting (IF), should you be concerned about exercising on an empty stomach? The short answer is it depends on the type of fasting diet you're following, the way you time your workouts, and the fitness goals you want to achieve.

While most IF diets allow you to determine your own eating and fasting periods based on your lifestyle, you need to be smart about properly fueling your body before and after a fast so that it doesn't negatively impact your workouts. Here's what you can do to ensure you're working out safely while intermittent fasting.

First note that there are many different methods for IF, including the 5:2 program, which involves restricting your calorie consumption to 25% of your calorie needs two days a week and eating normally the rest of the days. On the 16:8 diet, you eat during an eight-hour window and fast for the remaining 16 hours. While you're fasting, you can drink water, black coffee, and tea, but everything else is off limits.

"It is safe to follow IF and be physically active, but some things are more important to be aware of, especially at the beginning when you are becoming keto adaptivemeaning your body is learning how to burn fat for fuel instead of carbs," says Wendy Scinta, M.D., president of the Obesity Medicine Association and member of Prevention's medical review board. "Hypoglycemia initially can lead to increased heart rate, dizziness, nausea, and poor athletic performance, but this improves as your body learns how to run on ketones instead of glucose," she says.

"Some people don't do well when they eat and work out, but it's important to have energy," says Bonnie Taub-Dix, R.D.N., creator of BetterThanDieting.com, and author of Read It Before You Eat It - Taking You from Label to Table. "If you're on the 5:2 program, you're consuming only 25% of your calorie needs two days a week, so I would reserve exercise for the other days of the week when you're eating normally," she advises.

Women on the 5:2 diet limit their calorie intake to 500 calories and men 600 calories. But this calorie limit is separated by a 12-hour fast, so you can consume 250 calories in the morning and another 250 calories at night. Men can break up their calorie intake evenly between the fasting period too. If you want to work out during your limited-calorie days, then it might make sense to exercise right before or after your fast. This way, you're working out while you're fueled and have the option to eat once your fast is over. What's also great about the 5:2 diet is that you can decide which days you want to eat normally and which days you want to eat very little, making it easier to schedule your workouts accordingly.

It's best to work out at the beginning of a fast period when you're already properly fueled and at the end of a fast, so you can enjoy a pre- or post-workout snack.

Kulaa Bacheyie, M.S., C.S.C.S., adjunct professor at Syracuse University and a strength and conditioning rehab specialist and fitness consultant at Medical Weight Loss of New York, a clinic that specializes in weight management and obesity medicine, agrees that the 5:2 plan is more ideal than other intermittent fasting methods when you're new to IF and easing into a workout routine. "The 5:2 plan may be better than the 16:8 diet so you are fueled before your workout," he says. Bacheyie says it's best to work out at the beginning of a fast period when you're already properly fueled and at the end of a fast, so you can enjoy a pre- or post-workout snack.

Once your body has fully adjusted to an IF diet and is keto adaptive, making sure you're doing low-impact workouts over HIIT, running, and other high-impact exercises becomes less of a concern. "Initially, high-intensity exercises and resistance training will reduce blood sugar levels and glycogen stores, so avoid these in the beginning. But once you have been doing IF for a while, it is less of a problem," Bacheyie says.

Research shows that combining an IF diet with a regular exercise routine can produce greater weight loss results than fasting alone. But the reality is IF isn't the most effective nutrition plan for building muscle mass, so if that's your goal, you want to consider following a different diet. "IF has a greater tendency to decrease your workload due to muscular fatigue. But you can build muscle if you train intensely enough and time your workouts properly, along with recovery days," Bacheyie says. "Loading your feeding time with protein will also help."

Other than timing your workouts so that they begin at the start or end of a fast, there are some other steps you can take to ensure that your workouts are effective while following IF.

1. Load up on protein, fat, and carbs during your eating periods. Taub-Dix says that combining protein, carbs, and fats in your meals will help you feel fuller during your fast and give you energy for your workouts. "It's important to replenish your glucose stores after a workout, so be sure to enjoy at least 15 grams of carbs. That's a half-cup of pasta or a slice of bread," she says. Go for lean sources of protein too, like grilled chicken, salmon, and grass-fed beef, and add some healthy fats, such as nuts and avocado.

Taub-Dix also stresses hydrating before and during your fast, as some people confuse thirst with hunger. "Drink a smoothie that has a good combination of protein and carbs, so it's easier to digest," she says.

2. Trick your brain into thinking you're actually fueling up. If you're new to IF and your body hasn't adapted to using fat as fuel yet, Bacheyie says swishing or gargling a carb-heavy drink in your mouth and then spitting it out can reduce your perception of fatigue and trick your brain into thinking that you're fueling it.

3. Save your more intense workouts for days you're not restricting calories. If you're following the 5:2 plan, Taub-Dix says walking, doing yoga, Pilates, and other low-impact workouts are safer during the two days that you're limiting calories. "The calorie demand is greater when you're working out and 500 calories isn't adequate anyway. If you're the kind of person that needs to work out every day, I would save the heavier workouts for later in the week," she says. If you're following another IF method that has longer fasting periods, like the 16:8 diet, then time your workouts at the beginning or the end of a fast.

4. Enjoy a healthy pre- or post-workout snack. When you time your workouts before or after a fast, you have the benefit of eating pre- or post-workout. There aren't hard or fast rules on whether it's better to eat before or after a workout (it depends on what works best for you), but the most important thing is that you're fueling up wisely.

Bacheyie says healthy high-glycemic carbs, like bananas, grapes and grape tomatoes, are best after a workout. "A recovery drink that has a 3:1 ratio of carbs to protein is best for replenishing glycogen stores and stimulating protein synthesis for muscle recovery," he adds. If you're working out before a fast, eat fruit, low-fat yogurt, peanut butter, and other foods that are easy to digest. Your body is able to break down these foods quickly and use them as fuel. Taub-Dix says that Greek yogurt with nuts, a smoothie, and whole-grain toast with peanut butter are some healthy pre-workout snack options.

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Can You Exercise and Do Intermittent Fasting? Experts Weigh In - Prevention.com

Weight loss is not always easy to achieve and slimmers may worry they will be left feeling hungry and unsatisfied. However, dieters do not have to go without a mid afternoon treat when getting into shape, experts revealed. These are the top five snacks to help weight loss.

Protein is the most satiating macronutrient and is the hardest to store as body fat. You even burn calories digesting it.

Instead of tucking into high carb treats, slimmers can pick from a list of healthy foods to keep them satisfied.

Fat-free yogurt with raspberries and nut butter - 210 calories

They said: This nutrient-dense swap is not only voluminous - so youll feel fuller - its much higher in protein. It includes a great source of healthy fats and the berries bring added fibre. This is a great snack for curbing sweet cravings!

DON'T MISS

Dark chocolate - 121 calories

They said: I get all my clients to immediately switch from sweets and bars of milk or white chocolate to high-quality dark chocolate, roughly 70to 85 percent.

With good quality dark chocolate, a little goes a long way, so harder to overconsume, and it has a lot of healthy antioxidants.

Dark chocolate is especially beneficial for my female clients when they are nearing their time of the month and cravings are through the roof a little dark chocolate can squash those urges right away.

Biltong - 74 calories

Biltong brings all the convenience, but far less calories than its potato equivalent, the experts revealed.

This slow digesting protein will keep you fuller for longer and help stabilise blood sugar levels.

Cherry tomatoes - 26 calories

Cherry tomatoes are a great swap to get a sweet fix, the trainers explained.

Packed full of fibre but low in calories, they will help curb sweet cravings and give you that feeling of fullness. Great for desk-snackers or social events like cinema outings.

Low calorie jelly - 4 calories

They said: Its so easy to pick up a yoghurt from the fridge for a low-calorie dessert, but remember that all those 100 calorie snacks here and there soon add up if youre not paying attention.

The rest is here:
Weight loss: Top five snacks to help you shape up revealed - which has fewest calories? - Express

Visceral fat is deemed dangerous because its a type of body fat stored within the abdominal cavity. Its found near several vital organs which is why a persons risk of developing serious health problems is increased. Eating a poor diet has been found to lead to visceral fat build up, so making changes to the food youre eating is advised.

Diet plans come highly recommended for weight loss and fat loss, but with so many diets to choose from, which one is considered best?

Low-carb diets have been found to help get rid of visceral fat, and one in particular proven effective is the ketogenic, or keto, diet.

The keto diet shares many similarities with the Atkins diet, drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat.

A reduction in carbs puts the body into a metabolic state called ketosis.

READ MORE:How to get rid of visceral fat: This cheese could reduce the harmful belly fat

A study involving 28 overweight and obese adults found those who followed a ketogenic diet lost more fat, especially visceral fat, than people following a low-fat diet.

The participants also did this while eating roughly 300 more calories per day.

Low-carb diets in general have been shown to be key to visceral fat loss.

A greater proportion of the fat people lose on low-carb diets seems to come from the abdominal cavity.

DON'T MISS

Low-carb diets have also been shown to lead to more weight loss at first.

Studies demonstrate people on low-carb diets lose more weight, faster, than those on low-fat diets.

This is believed to happen because low-carb diets act to rid excess water from the body, lowering insulin levels and leading to rapid weight loss in the first week or two.

In studies comparing low-carb and low-fat diets, people restricting their carbs sometimes lose two to three times as much weight, without being hungry.

One study in obese adults found a low-carb diet particularly effective for up to six months, compared to a conventional weight loss diet.

But after that, the difference in weight loss between diets was insignificant.

Diet isnt the only way to get rid of visceral fat - regular aerobic exercise has also been shown to be effective.

An analysis of 15 studies in 852 people compared how well different types of exercise reduced visceral fat without dieting.

The authors found moderate and high-intensity aerobic exercises were most effective at reducing visceral fat without dieting.

But combining regular aerobic exercise with a healthy diet is more effective at targeting visceral fat than doing either one alone.

Examples of aerobic exercise include brisk walking, riding a bike, hiking and pushing a lawnmower.

As part of government guidelines, adults aged 19 to 64 should aim to do at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity every week alongside strength exercises on two or more days a week.

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How to get rid of visceral fat: Best diet to reduce the harmful belly fat - foods to eat - Express

Transient ischemic attack, often referred to as a ministroke, occurs when there is a temporary lack of blood flow to the brain. Almost a quarter-million Americans experience a TIA every year.

TIAs are a good news, bad news condition. The good news is that TIAs dont kill brain tissue or cause permanent disabilities. The bad news is that a TIA happens before about 15% of all strokes. Up to 25% of people who experience a TIA die within a year. About 33% of people who suffer a TIA have a more severe stroke within a year. Recognizing a TIA and getting immediate medical care are critical.

TIAs tend to be brief, and the symptoms can often clear up by the time you get to the doctor. This could cause people to believe that a TIA is a minor event. But that is not true.

Here is a list of common symptoms associated with a TIA:

Vision changes

Trouble speaking

Confusion

Balance issues

Numbness

Weakness

Tingling

Muscular weakness generally on one side of the body

Severe headache with no obvious cause

Although TIAs dont lead to permanent brain damage, emergency medical care is necessary because TIA symptoms are the same as those of a stroke. It is not possible for you to tell whether your symptoms are related to a TIA or a stroke. This can only be done by a medical professional.

Treating a TIA is focused on mitigating the chance of a future stroke. Medical professionals may start or adjust medication that improve blood flow to the brain.

Treatment options may include:

Medicines such as antiplatelet drugs, which help prevent blood clots, such as aspirin, Plavix, Effient or Aggrenox.

Surgery, called carotid endarterectomy, where your doctor clears the carotid arteries of fatty deposits and plaques.

Lifestyle changes can also reduce your risk of future TIAs or strokes. Some of these changes include:

Dont smoke. Stopping smoking reduces your risk of a TIA or a stroke.

Limit cholesterol and fat. Cutting back on cholesterol and fat, especially saturated fat and trans fat, in your diet may reduce buildup of plaques in your arteries.

Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. These foods contain nutrients such as potassium, folate and antioxidants, which may protect against a TIA or a stroke.

Limit sodium. If you have high blood pressure, avoiding salty foods and not adding salt to food may reduce your blood pressure. Avoiding salt may not prevent hypertension, but excess sodium may increase blood pressure in people who are sensitive to sodium.

Exercise regularly. If you have high blood pressure, regular exercise is one of the few ways you can lower your blood pressure without drugs.

Limit alcohol intake. Drink alcohol in moderation, if at all. The recommended limit is no more than one drink daily for women and two a day for men.

Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight contributes to other risk factors, such as high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Losing weight with diet and exercise may lower your blood pressure and improve your cholesterol levels.

Dont use illicit drugs. Drugs such as cocaine are associated with an increased risk of a TIA or a stroke.

Control diabetes. You can manage diabetes and high blood pressure with diet, exercise, weight control and when necessary medication.

Educate yourself on the warning signs of stroke and do it FAST.

F Face drooping

A Arm weakness

S Speech slurred

T Time to call 911

A TIA can signal a future stroke. Take the warning seriously, and dont delay. According to the American Heart Association, stroke is the leading cause of long-term disability in the U.S. and the fifth leading cause of death.

Tracy Arabian is the communications officer at SeniorCare Inc., a local agency on aging that serves Gloucester, Beverly, Essex, Hamilton, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, Rockport, Topsfield and Wenham.

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SENIOR LOOKOUT: Don't ignore the warning that a TIA is giving - Gloucester Daily Times

Its almost inevitable that you've scrolled past a sweaty selfie of a friend, co-worker or high school classmate bragging about their WOD and professing their love for CrossFit.

CrossFit became a super popular workout a few years ago when box gyms began popping up not only across the country, but the world. CrossFit is practiced by members of over 13,000 affiliated gyms in 120 countries. In the U.S. alone, there are over 7,000 gyms offering the program. Its estimated that there are roughly 4 million CrossFitters, and its members are so devoted to the competitive approach to fitness that the community has even been described as cult-like.

With all this publicity, you may have wondered if this program could work for you. Before you jump into the box (ahem, thats CrossFit speak for gym), heres what you need to know about the workout craze and how to determine if it's right for you.

A form of high intensity interval training, CrossFit is a strength and conditioning workout that is made up of functional movement performed at a high intensity level.

These movements are actions that you perform in your day-to-day life, like squatting, pulling, pushing etc. Many workouts feature variations of squats, push-ups, and weight lifting that last for predetermined amounts of time to help build muscles. This varies from a traditional workout that may tell you how many reps to do over any period of time.

CrossFit Journal notes that the workouts are so effective because of their emphasis on the elements of load, distance and speed, which help participants develop high levels of power. The workout may utilize different equipment to accomplish this, including kettle bells, rowers and bikes, medicine balls, speed ropes, rings and plyo boxes.

CrossFit is similar to Orange Theory in that there is a standard "workout of the day" (WOD) that all members complete on the same day. The daily workout can be found on their website (which is always free), along with a guide to all the specialized lingo that is used. There is also a substitutions section on their FAQ page that suggests places to find level appropriate workouts. CrossFit is universally scalable and modifiable for all fitness levels, so it can be tailored to meet your goals and current fitness level, says Tracey Magee, owner and head coach of CrossFit Clan Performance Center.

You may have a preconceived notion of the type of person who belongs in a CrossFit gym (relatively young, jacked, etc.), but Tony Caravajal, certified L-2 CrossFit trainer with RSP Nutrition, strongly believes that CrossFit is hugely beneficial for the full spectrum of ages and athletic capabilities, starting with adolescents. CrossFit Kids classes are a fantastic way to help a child develop balance, coordination, as well as proper motor skills. He says that these skills are a fantastic way to put a child ahead of the game as well as instill a love for a healthily lifestyle.

Patrick Zeiher, owner of CrossFit Indian Trail, notes that one reason CrossFit is so beneficial for all ages is that the physical needs of a person vary by degree not by kind. We can literally have a 60-year-old athlete doing a similar variation of a workout as a 25-year-old competitive athlete, he says. Their needs don't vary by kind; in other words, they both need to be able to squat to a toilet, pick something up off the floor, or get themselves off the floor. The 25-year-old should just be able to do it all faster, says Zeiher.

Another essential element of CrossFit is the spirit of sports and competition. Many CrossFit gyms use strategic actions, like keeping a score board and posting winners to social media, as motivation rather than a reward system. So if youre someone who is motivated by competition to push yourself physically, CrossFit may prove a great exercise for you that drives fast results.

As with any high intensity workout, there is some risk involved. One study found that 20 percent of the CrossFit participants surveyed injured themselves while doing CrossFit endorsed workouts.

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The injury rate of CrossFit is about 20 percent, meaning 20 percent of people who perform CrossFit branded workouts regularly will be injured at some point, which is high for a recreational activity," says Cuyler Hudson, a physical therapist at Finish Line. "I personally see CrossFitters regularly in my physical therapy practice. Injuries will usually occur as an athlete fatigues, which causes their form to also fatigue, causing the load to be shifted from the areas it is supposed to be to areas that cannot handle the stress as well.

You may hear several acronyms and words thrown around during a class, either verbally or written on a board with the workout for the day. Here are some of the most common:

WOD: Workout of the Day

EMOM: Every Minute on the Minute

AMRAP: As Many Reps as Possible

Box: A CrossFit gym with the bare necessities to perform all the WODs.

Ladder: A series of exercises where you increase the number of reps by 1 each time they are performed. (i.e. 5 squats, then 6 squats, then 7 squats )

Zone Diet: The diet that CrossFit endorses. This diet is based on macronutrients.

SQ: Squat

PR: Personal Record. This refers to when you reach your personal best in a given exercise. For example, completing a certain number of push-ups in a minute.

Hero WOD: These workouts are named after first responders who have died in the line of duty. These workouts are especially difficult to remind CrossFitters of the sacrifices that these men and women made for their country.

Magee suggests that you communicate with your coach any limitations or restrictions you have, especially if youre just getting back into a workout routine or are a beginner. Once a person has been through their initial assessment, a qualified coach will help them determine the any modifications, such as particular movements or the volume of training for a particular workout, she says.

If you are a beginner, youre in luck. CrossFit accounts for this sector of the population. Some sort of beginner or foundations class is highly recommended for newcomers. In these classes, they'll learn the basics and improve fitness at their own pace. Once they learn the basic foundational skills and build their confidence, they can move into regular classes, explains Magee. A less experienced or very de-conditioned individual would be advised to start with fewer classes per week (usually 2-3), until their bodies have adapted to the new movements and the volume of training.

Even if you arent quite ready to jump full force into CrossFit, there are effective elements of the workout that you can incorporate into your current exercise routine.

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What is CrossFit? And is it right for you? Here's what you need to know - NBC News

When it comes to losing weight, exercise and diet both play an important part in getting results. Making simple changes to the diet plan can be enough to help dieters lose weight and cut back on fat. Slimmers must ensure they eat foods high in protein to see the best results, Cecilia Harris, celebrity PT and co-founder of online fitness, nutrition and health platform, Results with Lucy, explained.

If you want to lose fat you need to burn more calories than you put in. In other words, create a calorie deficit.

When doing this, dieters must be mindful with what foods they cut out and eat foods high in protein.

Cecilia explained: Upping your protein intake will promote weight loss and keep you feeling fuller for longer.

If hoping to burn fat, slimmers will still need to eat the right nutrients when cutting back on calories.

DON'T MISS

Making small changes and swapping unhealthy habits will help dieters on their way to a tone midriff.

You still need to make sure you are getting all the right nutrients so really its about eating smart and making sure what you eat has nutritional value and is not wasted calories," Cecilia added.

Simple changes can make a big difference like cutting down portion sizes or swapping a milky coffee for green tea.

For each person the calorie deficit will be different depending on variables like your height, weight, gender and how active you are.

Dieters hope to lose fat quickly can achieve their goals by upping their protein intake and cutting back on unhealthy calories.

However, the trainer warned this is not for everyone and those already eating healthily might not need to cut back.

Cecilia added: I dont believe that day to day creating a calorie deficit is necessary if you are living a healthy, balanced lifestyle however, if you are looking to get that extra ab definition then creating a calorie deficit can work.

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Weight loss: Using this diet trick can help burn belly fat fast - what can you eat? - Express

To trim down the waistline, dieters can pick from a number of different weight loss diet plans. The keto, or ketogenic, diet is a popular choice for many slimmers and can help speed up fat burning results. However, an expert reveals the tips you must follow.

The low carb and high fat plan is thought to help promote fat loss, Elliot Upton, PT at ultimate performance and head of LiveUP online coaching, explained.

He told Express.co.uk: The idea of keto is to take in such a low amount of carbohydrates that your body switches to a metabolic state called 'ketosis' where it uses fat and ketones for fuel instead of glucose."

By following this plan, the body will start to burn through fat leaving those on the plan much trimmer.

READ MORE: Joe Wicks reveals simple workout plan to help burn fat - avoid making common mistake

Although many people may think they should avoid fat when trying to slim down, eating foods high in healthy fats could actually help them get into shape.

Pairing those foods with meals high in carbs and with a moderate protein content can give the best results.

Elliot added: People who follow the keto diet will eat a high proportion of their calories from fat, some protein and minimal or no intake from carbohydrates.

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Common foods people eat on the keto diet tend to be anything with a high fat and low carbohydrate content, such as oils, cheese and dairy products, eggs, nuts and some fatty meats or fish.

If switching onto the plan, he explained why dieters much ensure they still eat enough nutrients.

Removing a food group can leave slimmers lacking in certain things and the expert explained how to compensate for this.

When you cut out an entire food group, there is the potential to be lacking in key nutrients, he said.

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Weight loss: This surprising food can help you burn fat fast - what can you eat? - Express