CSUN On Point

Fad diets are diets that claim to help people with weight loss. There are several well known ones, such as the Paleo Diet, the Five Bite Diet, the Master Cleanse, Juicing, Gluten-free diets and many more.

“How do you spell diet?…and what are the first three letters of diet?” asked Professor Terri Lisagor from CSUN’s Nutrition, Dietetics, and Food Science Program. “Diets that we see in our society are built-in failures…When we are trying to give people advice, we want them to practice balance, variety, moderation, and exercise.”

She said the best way to get fit is by balancing the food groups, having variety in those food groups, not feeling guilty about food intake, and exercising.

Many of these diets do become trends. Seeing a celebrity endorsing something immediately makes people want to try it. There’s always an assumption that it’ll work. The truth is, nobody really knows if a fad diet will work unless real research and time is put into making sure all parts of a fad diet are understood. Extreme programs like the Master Cleanse can be particularly unhealthy.

“It can be really dangerous,” Certified Nutritionist Liz Voosen said. “You’re really just drinking, and not eating anything, and you can end up with all kinds of health problems. People actually pass out from it, because their blood sugar goes all wonky…” Learning how to eat right is essential; just juicing won’t fix anything. “You lose a couple of pounds, [and think] ‘hey that’s great!’, [but] you can’t sustain it,” Voosen said.

“I think we’re all searching for health,” Voosen said, “and we’re all searching for what is the right diet…[but fad diets] just don’t work and they don’t last.”

“People are looking for an easy fix,” Lisagor said.

Voosen and Lisagor said education, overall health and cultural preferences should be taken into consideration when trying to find ways to help people eat better.

Moderator: Melanie Rosales

Producer: Marissa Martinez

Anchor: Angela Bickmann

Social Media Editors: Karin Abcarians and Jesyka Dunn

Reporters: Karin Abcarians, Angela Bickmann, Jesyka Dunn, Marissa Martinez and Melanie Rosales

Moderator: Breanna Burnette

Producer: Nathan Hoffman

Anchor: Star Harvey

Social Media Editors: Shuandy Herrera and Maxwell Goen

Reporters: Breanna Burnette, Max Goen, Star Harvey, Shuandy Herrera, Nathan Hoffman, Tephanie Martinez and Jennifer Montiel

When people choose to be vegan, they say no to eating and using animal products.

This ranges from not eating meat, to not using skin care products tested on animals.

Vegans avoid any form of exploitation to animals.

“Being very connected to animals, and living with them, and knowing them on a personal level, it really motivated my veganism,” said CSUN Central American Studies professor, and vegan activist Dr. Linda Alvarez.

For many, veganism represents a larger ethical approach.

“Try to suck less in life,” vegan blogger Al Borja said. “Meaning, whatever it is that you are doing, you can be more conscious and aware of what it is you are consuming: animals being one [thing], the products that come from animals are another…[Veganism] is a holistic approach, an awareness of what’s really happening in your lives. Veganism is really just a label, to get people familiar with what [the larger ethical issues are]…”

Other vegans believe veganism is healthier. They say one of the benefits of a meatless diet is increased energy, but vegans say it is also important to be educated when going vegan. A well-planned vegan diet can provide enough protein, iron, calcium, and other key essentials, and this can benefit your health by reducing obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.

“Being vegan is probably the [most nutritious] way to go. But there are so many different levels of that and so many different layers, that it really is a personal choice,” said CSUN’s Klotz Student Health Center dietitian Ellen Bauersfeld. “Diet quality is important, whether you are eating animal products or not, and as a vegan you still have to make good choices.”

“I had really high cholesterol; I was over 200 in cholesterol, and my grandfather was going through pancreatic cancer,” Borja said. “That lead to research, and that was really important, trying to figure out if it really was for me, if it was something I could do. The most important thing for me was doing the research and making sure it fit with who I am and what I want to become. It’s a journey.”

Still misconceptions about protein deficiency in a vegan diet persist.

“You have to be educated, and you have to look at eating and an overall balanced diet,” Bauersfeld said. “But if you are smart about it, it would be very unlikely that you would have a protein deficiency.”

Many experts believe that being a vegan is also good for the environment, although the arguments are complicated and controversial. Avoiding animal products will likely help lower a person’s carbon footprint, while eating in fast food chains can be environmentally harmful, as well as unhealthy.

“You don’t have to be in prison to be on death row,” Borja said, about fast food restaurants lined up on streets of the San Fernando Valley and other communities.

Alvarez suggested getting involved in organizations that help promote animal rights and going vegan or vegetarian.

“We need to have animal advocates out there, discussing the issues that affect animals,” she said, “because there are so many ways that we continue to further oppress animals. Even in our daily talk, someone can say ‘he treated me like a dog’. What does that mean? When we refer to animals, [it’s] something always negative.”

For those looking for healthier diets that are less damaging to the environment and animals, there are many different choices, including veganism and vegetarianism. Many nutritionists advocate pescetarianism, a mostly plant-based diet that includes fish; and flexitarianism, a plant-based diet that includes occasional meat and dairy products.

“Everything is on a continuum,” Bauersfeld said. “And that’s the beauty of this: you get to pick and choose, if you want to make those changes.”

Moderator: Luzita Pineda

Producer: Jose Duran

Anchor: Rosa Rodriguez

Social Media Editors: Adam Hajost, Arianna Takis and Lexi Wilson

Reporters: Jose Duran, Adam Hajost, Luzita Pineda, Rosa Rodriguez, Arianna Takis and Lexi Wilson

The number of farmers markets around the United States has grown in the past few years. CSUN has jumped on board with this new phenomenon, and has extended its contract to continue the weekly farmers market on campus for another year.

“The farmers market here on campus has been so successful with students that I’ve talked to,” Klotz Student Health Center registered dietitian Ellen Bauerfeld said. “They are running over there each Tuesday, and I would say about 90 percent of the students I see shop at the farmers market.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimated that 8,268 farmers markets were operating in the United States in 2014, up 180 percent since 2006.

“There are … farmers markets all over the United States,” said Marvin Halaby, owner of Upper Loveland Farms. “It’s popular everywhere, and  it’s not going to stop.”

Certain factors have contributed to the growing number of farmers markets in the United States. One is the desire to find a sense of community.

“Nobody wants to go to a store anymore and buy a wax apple,” Halaby said. “They want to be in a farmers market environment with their families on a nice day.”

“What you’re looking at is the return of the ‘agri-culture’, the culture that was wrapped up in this [kind of community], that we left in World War II,” L.A Kitchen founder and president Robert Egger said. “An army, for the first time in the world, came home and didn’t go back to the farm. Their grandchildren are now trying to turn the ship around, and find their way back. It’s a really amazing time.”

Another factor is the desire to support local farmers and businesses.

Sales at farmers markets were slightly over $1 billion annually, according to the USDA National Farmer Market Managers Survey.

“For a lot of consumers, local is what they’re looking for,” Egger said. ”This ties into supporting the local economy and supporting the local farmers.”

Many people have become more conscious of what they eat, but experts say it might not be so easy for everyone to start to eating organic produce.

“As a whole, most people don’t want to change their eating habits,” Bauerfield said. “It takes work and it takes commitment.”

“Salt and sugar is crack,” Egger said, “and we’ve  been literally addicted…I defy you to put those Doritos chips away at eleven o’clock at night. That’s by design; there is an addictive quality. We kind of act like it’s a personal choice, [but] it’s harder than hard; these are like cigarettes and we’ve been raised to eat this way.”

Halaby said farmers markets make healthy food affordable for people from all economic backgrounds. Many vendors accept Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, allowing eligible recipients to use benefits to buy produce.

“It makes it easier for people to come out and use their EBT cards,” he said. “They are able to buy good fruit and vegetables for their families….We try to educate a lot of our customers, and keep them educated, so they can pass [information about nutrition] off to their young ones.”

Bauerfeld said farmers markets have been making a positive impact, especially among younger people, and are here to stay.

“I don’t think it’s a fad,” she said. “I do think it’s a trend, and I think it’s just the beginning of the local food movement. I do see that this population, our students’ population, is craving something different. They’re looking for something different besides fast food, and they are looking for more than just a drive through.”

“More and more, you’re seeing young men and women coming onto campus with a greater palate and a greater expectation of what they want to eat,” Egger said. “Don’t occupy Wall Street; occupy your refrigerator.”

Moderator: AJ Romero

Producer: Rosanna Siracusa

Anchor: Evan Mederos

Reporters: Cyndy Alvarado and Sharon Shin

Social Media Editors: Precious Allen and Kelly Hernandez

“Touchdown!”

That’s the word that every football player wants the chance to hear as often as possible.

But no player wants to lose the chance because of a head injury or concussion that happened during the game.

According to the U.S. Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, four million high school students throughout the nation suffer head injuries and concussions every year.

In response to growing concern, Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 2127, which limits middle and high school football teams to only two full-contact practices per week, and prohibits contact practice during the off-season. The new football restrictions go into effect on Jan. 1, 2015.

Ellis Green, former football player and 16-year football coach at Westlake High School, said he is already aware of how hard he pushes his players.

“It’s something you have to do in each sport, especially in football, “Green said. “However, there is a fine line when pushing a player to their limit.”

CSUN Assistant Athletic Trainer Ashley Meyer said reports of head injuries have increased, partly due to increased competitiveness, but also due to increased education among parents, coaches and trainers.

“Head injuries and concussions are such a hot topic right now,” Meyer said. “People are more aware of it, of what to look for, and how to prevent it. It is more so an increase of diagnosis than in the number of athletes.”

Green said football concussions were practically unheard of when he started coaching sixteen years ago, but now they are a main topic of concern.

“What this means is that coaches need to try to educate themselves, so that they can help educate the parents, and therefore educate their kids,” he said.

Meyer listed five key symptoms of identifying a concussion:

• Headache
• Fracture (contact head-to-head or head-to-ground)
• Abnormal presentation of a person’s behavior (ex. feeling nauseous, dizzy, taking long to respond to questions)
• Loss of consciousness
• Spotty vision

“We look at things such as long-term or short-term memory,” Meyer said. “We ask the [player] to remember a few words, and ask them few basic cognition questions. Balance is also another key thing, as they can’t fake that.”

June Dubreuil, who has three football-playing sons, emphasized the parents’ responsibility to be actively involved in their children’s safety.

“I will spend the money on helmets, shoulder pads and whatever else is necessary for my sons, even if I don’t have the money,” she said. “Football is a brutal sport and I want to protect my children.”

Green said football isn’t the only brutal sport.

“As of recent, football has gotten a bad rep,” he said. “There have been injuries in other sports like soccer, hockey and basketball, but you don’t hear about it all the time. It’s because football has two players banging their head against one another as they’re tackling. It’s a contact sport, but there’re a lot of contact sports.”

Green said the bond between a coach and trainer is important to injury prevention.

“There used to be a time where coaches didn’t like to hear a trainer’s input because they would remove a player off the game,” he said, “but times have changed now, as a coach understands where a trainer is coming from now.”

Many involved in youth sports say the benefits outweigh the risks.

“It’s really great, especially in team sports, having to learn how to depend on other people, and trust other people, and communicate effectively with other people, and work towards a common goal,” Meyer said, “and that’s a huge thing for people to learn, especially as a child or a young adult.”

“I have three boys,” Dubreuil said, “…and they were very physical, and keeping them active and in positive activities, it kept them from fighting, and it kept my china closet intact, and it was fun…and they care about winning and losing, and that’s important…They’re the men that they are because of athletics.”

“Very few [high school athletes] are going to become professional athletes, “Green said. “But all of them are going to have to go into the working world, and that’s where they’re going to show what they learned on the football field.”

Moderator: Candice Curtis

Producer: Candice Curtis

Anchor: Stephanie Murguia

Reporters: Danny Max, Bryan Ramirez, Stephanie Murguia and Gabriela Rodriguez

Social Media Editor: Gabriela Rodriguez

Veganism is a way of life that requires people to change their diets, their clothing, and other buying decisions, with the goal of ending the exploitation of animals.

People are drawn to veganism for all sorts of reasons. One might be increased vitality, another to reduce pollution, and another out of concern for animal rights.

Nutritionist Diana Shore said vegans feel better, have better digestion and elimination, and maintain a more desirable weight without even trying.

According to Vegetarian Times, one of the biggest impacts of a meat-eating diet is the depletion of natural resources, especially the consumption of huge amounts of water for livestock production.

Therefore being a vegan may a positive effect on the environment. By going vegan, individuals may help prevent global warming, rainforest destruction, and pollution, while saving water and other natural resources. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, chemical and animal waste runoff from factory farms is responsible for more than 173,000 miles of polluted rivers and streams.

But many people also choose to become vegans for animals.

“I originally did it for the compassion aspect of it, and on a more global level, too,” long term vegan Keith Sikora said.

“There’s a great piece of mind in knowing that because of our compassion, we’re not contributing to the suffering of the animal’s plight,” said Marilyn Peterson, chef and author of Vegan Bite By Bite.

Peterson describes in her book the two stages of becoming a vegan. The first stage is dropping processed foods from a diet, and foods with no animal or dairy ingredients. The second stage is to adopt completely plant-based foods. Her book offers a six-week menu guide.

One common misconception is that a vegan diet doesn’t supply enough protein and calcium. But many experts say it is easy for a vegan to meet the recommendations for protein, as long as calorie intake is sufficient. Strict protein planning or combining isn’t necessary. The key is to eat a varied diet.

“Vegans get their sources of nutrients through peas, beans, lagoons, lentils, dried fruits and dark green vegetables,” Shore said.

A study by Loma Linda University reported that vegans have lower rates of cancer than meat eaters and vegetarians. For example, vegan women have a 34 percent lower chance of contracting female-specific cancers like breast, cervical, and ovarian cancer. Similar results occur in men for prostate cancer.

The number of vegans in the U.S. has doubled since 2009, from 2.5 percent of the population to more than 5 percent. About half of these vegetarians say they are vegan.

“The awareness is heightened today because it’s the information age,” Peterson said. “There’s so much great technology and research is so strong that a vegan diet is so healthy, and all of the causes for degenerative conditions are linked to animal products and dairy.”

“It’s a commitment and a choice,” Sikora said, “but definitely a lot easier than what most people might think it is.”

Moderator: Jacquelyn Koenig

Anchor: Ben Ladiana

Reporters: Mihkel Teemant and Trene Todd

Producers: Brionna Lewis and Jonny Green

Beauty is a multi-billion dollar industry in this country, but there’s not much that’s beautiful about it.

With the mass media setting the standard for what is considered ‘beautiful’, more and more people end up believing they are in need of improvement.

Magazine covers and billboards feature sexy celebrities, musicians wear skimpy outfits, and television shows star thin and beautiful actors. Some experts believe these images have an impact on the most vulnerable audience, who is becoming younger and younger each year.

“Media know that our looks are our ultimate vulnerability, and they take advantage of that,” said Dr. Ramani Durvasula, a psychology professor at CSULA. “And they start with younger audiences every year.”

Fifth-graders told researchers at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute they were dissatisfied with their bodies after watching a music video by Britney Spears. Forty percent of the 10-year-olds said they have tried to lose weight.

“It starts young,” Durvasula said. “ And then it’s that sense of ‘I don’t measure up’ or ‘I’m not good enough’…It comes from a lot of different places, but the bottom line is that it can really go to the dark place of people doing some really dangerous things with food and eating behaviors.”

It’s not just the mainstream media perpetuating the idea of an ideal body type. Roughly half of the women in the U.S wear a size 14 or higher, but many retailers carry only sizes 14 and lower. Psychologists say this modern-day shunning of a particular group can lead to disordered eating.

“Whether that’s from a message they were told by their family or their culture, or whether that’s from media images, it’s an issue of socialization,” said Dr. Veronica Stotts, coordinator for the Joint Advocates on Disordered Eating at CSUN. “It’s a misrepresentation of how we’re supposed to measure our worth; that it’s not about our brains, it’s about how we look, and we’re taught that from an extremely young age.”

Ninety percent of those diagnosed with an eating disorder are between the ages of 12 and 25, according to The Center for Mental Health Services.

“Women have learned to use food for everything but what it’s designed for,” Durvasula said. “Most women a long time ago stopped listening to themselves. Instead what they listened to is other people, (about) how they should look, how they should eat, that they should live to please.”

Durvasula is a former over-eater, and the author of “You Are WHY You Eat: Change Your Food Attitude, Change Your Life”.  She said the key to controlling disordered eating is learning to accept one’s body as it is.

“Body image is how a person sees oneself,” Durvasula said. “The core of an eating disorder is when a slim woman sees that she needs to lose weight when she doesn’t. It starts inside your mind, not the body.”

Dove’s Real Beauty campaign released a video in April portraying a sketch artist working on a drawing of a woman as she described herself, and then working on a sketch of that woman as described by someone else. The first sketch, based on the woman’s own description, shows someone older and plainer than the sketch based on another woman’s description. The campaign’s message was simple: women see themselves as less attractive than others do. Millions viewed the video on Youtube within days of its release.

Durvasala said young women and men must learn to celebrate their bodies and learn to love themselves the way they are. “I want you to enjoy that body you find yourself in,” she said. “It can be yoga, it can be hiking — something to show you that this thing is a beautifully engineered machine.  Grow to love it, take care of it, and nourish it with healthy things.”

“Focus on health,” Stott said. “Get enough sleep. Move your body. Eat when you’re hungry and stop eating when you’re full. Be in tune with what your body needs at any given moment, and just treat yourself well spiritually and emotionally, and your body will find exactly where it’s supposed to be.”

Moderator: Nattashia Arrango

Anchor: Ruben Saenz

Reporters: Tasnim Hanafy and Iuliia Vazhenina

Producers: Erika Yasuo and Malcolm Hoyle