The risk of microbial contamination could prevent humans and even robots from visiting the most promising parts of the red planet.
Nature News doi: 10.1038/nature.2015.18450
from Nature News & Comment http://ift.tt/1YKxfG2
And in case you didn't know, we are also on Twitter and YouTube! Follow, like, and watch us today!
https://www.facebook.com/ucipmurbanhttps://twitter.com/ucipmurbanhttps://www.youtube.com/user/UCIPM…
from UC Food and Agriculture Blogs Feed http://ift.tt/1MV1giw
Are humans truly meant to be together for life? Or are people always going to be tempted by outside desires, no matter the circumstances? We had psychotherapist and relationship specialist Lisa Brateman on the show to talk with us about the state of monogamy, obstacles to commitment in the modern age, and how we can work through issues of loyalty in our own relationships.
Easier to be disloyal?
Lisa doesn’t necessarily think engaging in online communication makes you disloyal, but it does make it “easy to be superficial”. The disloyalty doesn’t happen when you’re initially communicating, but it can happen “down the line”, especially if the thinking is “only about yourself.” But if you’re out of a relationship, or figuring things out about yourself, this type of communication can be productive.
Swipe right for happiness
Lisa deals with many clients who use Tinder, an effortless matchmaking app that links people by their geographic location. In the app, users decide whether or not to match with someone by swiping left or right, oftentimes basing their judgement on a split-second glance at a single photo. Lisa’s thoughts on this are similar to any sort of online communication- good and bad can come out of it, depending on the mutual expectations of the users. While certain people may be looking for meaningful relationships, others may be using Tinder precisely for its “spontaneous and superficial” qualities. And sometimes, this kind of interaction can be “more spontaneous than you might want.”
Click here to see the full interview with Dr. Lisa Brateman.
And follow Lisa on twitter for more relationship advice.
You can submit all your questions for our future guests on Mondays with Marlo on Twitter and Facebook.
Add Marlo On Facebook:
Follow Marlo on Twitter:
Sign up to receive my email newsletter each week – It will keep you up-to-date on upcoming articles, Mondays with Marlo guests, videos, and more!
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from Healthy Living – The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1PJFFXV
For those who still enjoy the fantasy of a retirement life that includes strolls on the beach, walking hand-in-hand with a silver fox, snap out of it. People who don’t retire are healthier, a new study found.
The University of Miami researchers, examining data collected on the National Health Interview Survey of 83,000 people post-65, found that the 13 percent who remained in the workforce were in better health than their counterparts who don’t work.
“Being unemployed/retired was associated with the greatest risk of poor health across all health status measures, even after controlling for smoking status, obesity, and other predictors of health,” the study authors concluded.
But the results don’t show whether working past retirement age is what made senior citizens with jobs healthier than their non-working peers. The study authors even acknowledged that the reverse is often true: Health problems force some people to drop out of the workforce.
The report was published Thursday in the journal Preventing Chronic Disease, a publication of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The idea that working keeps you young isn’t a new one of course. Many studies have documented the link between involuntary unemployment of older workers and depression. Keeping your mind active is also an important part of aging well, studies have shown.
So if your heart is set on that beach stroll, maybe take a crossword puzzle with you?
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from Healthy Living – The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1P1Q7Mp
On September 22, news broke that governor and U.S. presidential candidate Chris Christie had given General Michael Cunniff, the leader of New Jersey’s 9,000+ national guardsmen, a weighty ultimatum. The general had 90 days to slim down — or he would face dismissal.
As it turns out, General Cunniff did not meet the military’s basic combat-readiness criteria, and the governor was the one who had to issue the command.
In response, Cunniff said: “Many people struggle with weight control — I am not immune from this.”
The irony, of course, is that Governor Christie himself has had his own share of weight struggles. In fact, in 2013, the governor had surgery — known as a gastric band procedure — to close off a section of his stomach. At the time, experts believed he weighed in at more than 400 pounds.
Many people pointed the obvious finger at Governor Christie, accusing him of hypocrisy.
But I think these people missed the whole point.
Whatever you think of their politics or positions, there is no doubt that both Governor Christie and General Cunniff are smart, motivated, successful men.
And therein lies the powerful enigma of obesity.
More than two-thirds of all Americans are overweight. And right now, more than 108 million Americans are on a diet. The average dieter makes four or five attempts each year. And less than one percent of these attempts actually result in long-term weight loss.
We hear these statistics all the time, but I think we’ve become numb to what they’re actually telling us. Is there any other sphere of endeavor where so many people try so hard with so little success? What would we think if fewer than 1 percent of people who enrolled in college ever graduated, while the other 99 percent spent billions dropping out and re-enrolling four or five times each year?
Many of life’s problems can be solved by an onslaught of intelligence, ambition, motivation, and perseverance. But for the vast majority of people, that just isn’t true for weight. So clearly our approach and commonsense understanding are flawed.
The fact is that, for most people, lasting weight loss takes a lot more than willpower or desire. According to recent research, it takes a fresh understanding of how the brain interacts with food.
Dr. Susan Peirce Thompson is a tenured psychology professor with a Ph.D. in Brain and Cognitive Sciences. For 16 years she struggled under a torturous relationship with food. She dieted again and again, only to watch her weight balloon back up. She was clinically depressed, and, in her darkest hours, would lie in the fetal position and weep for a solution.
Finally in 2003, Dr. Thompson’s cognitive studies put her in the path of the answers she’d been seeking. She shrank from obese to slender in six months and today she’s among the top .01 percent of successful weight loss maintainers.
Now Dr. Thompson has created a program called Bright Line Eating to share what she’s learned about how the brain blocks weight loss and so far the results are promising. She reports that for the first 1,000 graduates, her program was three times more effective and seven times faster than Weight Watchers.
I asked Dr. Thompson if she had any insight into why Governor Christie and General Cunniff might be struggling to lose weight, despite intense scrutiny from the public and the threat to the viability of their future careers, not to mention their health.
She had this to say:
I don’t know them, of course, but my guess is that they’re both really high on the Susceptibility Scale. That’s the scale that measures how susceptible someone is to the addictive properties of refined foods. They’re not alone. Research shows that one-third of people are high on the Susceptibility Scale. It makes it nearly impossible to lose weight unless you understand what you’re up against. If you’re low on the Susceptibility Scale, indulging in a craving makes it go away. But if you’re highly susceptible, indulging just makes the craving stronger.
In evolutionary terms, Dr. Thompson explained to me, being highly susceptible was a good thing. But today we’re surrounded by cues to eat foods that have been refined to affect our brains exactly the same way as drugs do. We have a food industry that spends tens of billions of dollars every year marketing highly processed, highly sweetened, and highly addictive foods. In this context, being susceptible is seriously dangerous.
We live in a society that, all-too-often, blames overweight people for their suffering — as if they lacked willpower. But, according to Dr. Thompson, the problem isn’t at all a deficiency of willpower. The problem is that some of us are highly susceptible to food addiction — and have no roadmap to conquer it.
Fortunately, there are answers that can help. And Dr. Susan Peirce Thompson has developed something that appears like it could provide tremendous help to a lot of people.
Perhaps even Governor Christie and General Cunniff.
To find out how you score on Dr. Thompson’s Susceptibility Scale, take her free quiz here.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from Healthy Living – The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1Fx1o5k
In a quiet place:
The sun is shining through a thin layer of grey. Lightening up my mood. Gently caressing everything it touches. The flowers, the sea, my hair.
On the hillside, I’m moving with the wind. Feeling a sense of awe.
Out of my awareness, my thoughts are turning inward. My mind drifting fast through space to the future and the past. It doesn’t matter which way I turn, an inner voice is commenting, analyzing, planning.
Right below, something else is going on. The crisp air is rustling on the ground.
Sounds and smells of autumn are catching my attention, allowing my mind to refocus. To come to my senses, back to the present moment.
Here, in nature, I am.
Letting my thoughts drift by like the wind.
Hiking Mt Saksa/ Ørsta/ Norway, September 2015
This post originally appeared on the blog hannesuorza.no
——
HuffPost’s GPS for the Soul app is based on two truths about human beings. First: We all have a centered place of wisdom, harmony and balance within us. Second: We’re all going to veer away from that place, again and again and again. What we need is a great course-correcting mechanism — a GPS for the Soul — to help us find our way back to that centered place, from which everything is possible.
Because no one knows better than you what helps you de-stress and tap into that place of peace inside yourself, it’s important for you to create your very own GPS guide — a personalized collection of whatever helps you course-correct. Email us at GPS@huffingtonpost.com and we’ll set you up with your very own HuffPost blogger account to share your guide on the site. If you’re already a blogger, we encourage you to upload your personal guide today. We can’t wait to see what you have to share.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from Healthy Living – The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1PJGikm
Over the years I have learned that tuning in to the present is an important step in negotiating and crafting the intersubjective fields of my dream state and awake state.
Scientific studies and research have already demonstrated that dreams are invaluable tools for instilling creativity, self awareness, personal development and problem solving.
Cultivating present moment awareness is a healthy exercise that offers unique benefits and insights. An avid dreamer, Carlos Castaneda once said, “If you enter a state of non-ordinary reality, it is only to draw from it what you need in order to see the miraculous character of ordinary reality. For me the way to live — the path with heart — is presence in the world.”
Living in the present moment with heart is the mantra of the Heart Math Institute. They are a team of scientists and doctors who through their Global Coherence Initiative (“GCI”) are spearheading an international effort to help activate the heart of humanity and promote peace, harmony and a shift in global consciousness.
Since 1991 GCI has conducted groundbreaking research on the interconnection between humanity and Earth’s magnetic fields and energetic systems. They are also conducting fascinating research on collective human consciousness and how it affects us on a global level. They are accomplishing these studies by mining data from strategically placed monitoring systems and sensor maps that are located across the globe and then analyzing the results of large numbers of people creating heart centered states of care, love and compassion.
One particular GCI initiative that caught my attention is their Global Care Room, where lucid dreamers from all over the world login to meditate and radiate love, care and compassion for everyone.
The potential for creating a more coherent world through lucid dreaming has never been more tangible. Today we possess the tools, props, technology and even virtual meditation rooms like GCI’s Global Care Room.
In order to help offset our current planet’s discord and incoherence, like Vice President Biden recently said at the Global Citizen’s event:
“It is within our reach.
We can change the world.
We really can.
You can.”
Indeed it starts with us. Today’s Global Citizens and dreamers for global good are co-creating a coherent world for all.
Dream it. Journal it. Do it!
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from Healthy Living – The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1OCl9Ls
Wouldn’t it be great if you could do something relatively easy to improve yourself, and your family?
Now let’s scale it up. What if that same action could help your neighborhood? Your city? Your state?
Whoa, now it’s starting to get intimidating … and, hopefully, intriguing.
Here’s the deal: Tuesday is World Heart Day, and this year’s theme is creating healthy heart environments. While this might sound like a lofty challenge best suited for people with deep pockets and powerful connections, it truly requires nothing more than being inspired.
If you’re willing to merely invest some time and effort, everything else is in place to help you make a difference in your life and the lives of those around you.
It’s already happening in communities around the country — such as Dayton, Ohio, where Dr. Mary Chace is helping lead the charge.
***
The premise is simple:
That’s it.
The concept is called “shared use,” a name that’s perfect because we all learned about sharing in school. It is even more perfect when you line up a few other facts.
Let’s start with the most obvious, that schools are paid for by taxpayers.
Then there’s the cruel reality about Americans: Most of us weigh more than we should and exercise less than we should. Surely it’s not a coincidence.
Put it all together and you and your family could partake in fun, healthy activities at a nearby place built and/or maintained by your taxes.
Nothing is ever as easy as it seems, and there are some challenges any grassroots campaign might face. There’s good news about that, too: Easy-to-follow toolkits are a few keystrokes and mouse clicks away thanks to people like Chace.
***
“We’d drop 40 or 50 cents in a box to pay the monitor who was there to watch over things,” she said. “We spent all day there playing volleyball, dodgeball and basketball.”
Chace’s fondness for those days may have led to her career choices. She earned degrees in health-fitness and biology, a Ph.D. focused on exercise and wellness education and a Master of Public Health in Health Education. She’s now an assistant professor in the Kinesiology and Health Departments at Wright State University, and the director of the school’s public health education program.
And, in perhaps her most important role, she’s the mom of a ninth-grade daughter.
Put it all together and you have someone who is personally and professionally motivated to make a difference. She also believes the saying that “knowledge is not enough; it’s your responsibility to speak up and make change.” So in addition to studying shared use, she’s taken action.
I’m proud to say that one of the many ways she contributes is through the American Heart Association’s Ohio Advocacy Committee. She’s provided leadership and strategic guidance for many issues, such as testifying to state legislators and being a spokesperson for a variety of issues.
Her expertise will soon be evident in a scientific paper about to be published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health. It is called “Opening the Doors to Health,” and it’s based on several years of researching how schools across Ohio were sharing their facilities with their communities for physical activity outside the school day.
“The doors were open to some extent, but the majority were informal agreements, not written down,” she said. “We need to make it sustainable and part of the regular daily life for people.”
***
So let’s go back tour initial three-step approach, with Chace’s insight on each:
“The hard part is getting started — that first step of saying `Yes, we want to do something,'” Chace said. “Nobody is expecting schools to do this alone. We know their primary job is educating children. But if they’ve got the resources that we’ve all paid for, it just makes sense. Let’s work together.
“It’s got to happen from the grassroots up. People need to push for it. Sometimes it just takes a parent or community member going to school board and asking them. Be patient, though. It might take time.”
Chace’s research showed that a primary barrier was concerns over liability. Since then, Ohio has passed a law resolving that. Solutions exist for states without such legislation.
Voices for Healthy Kids — a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that works to help all children grow up at a healthy weight — is among the organizations that provide a how-to toolkit featuring all the necessary paperwork, and more.
“Nobody has to reinvent the wheel; the hard work has been done,” Chace said. “Just Google ‘shared use toolkit’ and you’ll find it all.”
Another concern is cost — paying for oversight and maintenance, plus utilities and other unforeseen expenses.
Harkening back to the gym coin box of her youth, Chace said: “Nobody is expecting schools to incur a lot of costs or extra staff time. It makes sense for them to charge a nominal fee. Those are things that can be worked out. That’s what a shared-use agreement does. And it should be in writing and posted somewhere for everyone to see.”
Another potential barrier is coaches who’ve bought expensive equipment for their players and don’t want to share it. This could especially be true when the funds came not from taxpayers but from boosters.
Chace found little evidence of it. In fact, quite the opposite was true — many coaches, principals and superintendents were visionary enough to realize they could expand their base of supporters by welcoming in their neighbors.
“Most schools really want to find new opportunities to engage their communities; they just haven’t thought of this as a way,” she said. “Whether a person’s kid goes to that school or not, using those facilities makes them feel connected to the school. They’re more likely to contribute when the lacrosse team is selling things to pay for new uniforms or the civics club is holding a car wash to raise money for a trip to Washington, D.C.”
“Once there’s a spark, it’s up to each community to find out what people have a passion for,” Chace said. “It’s going to be different in each community. You also have to think about the activities that might be the best fit for a certain target group. The best scenario is multiple generations doing an activity together. Imagine a grandma playing badminton with middle schoolers.”
The next step is finding people to make it happen.
While some community members may have expertise in certain areas, there are other win-win solutions available.
“Right here at my college we have a lot of sports science majors who would love to create programs, leagues or classes in the community. That’s their passion,” she said. “And that’s just one example.”
Technology makes this easier than ever.
In addition to old-school methods such as signs and posters, write-ups in the local newspaper and stories on TV and radio, there are also new-school tactics such as email, Facebook, Twitter and more.
Schools can tap into their social networks. Take advantage of neighborhood associations.
The key is getting the communication going. Chace also recommends keeping conversations going with school leaders.
“Shoot a quick email to the superintendent to say you appreciate using the track,” she said. “Let them know it’s being used and that they are helping make a difference.”
***
There’s something else important to know. There are many variations of “shared use.”
While the details could fill another column (or several), Chace offered these:
And while schools have been our main focus, Chace also emphasized that there are other options you can tap into to bring this concept to your community. Any business or church with a gym, large meeting room or even a big outdoor space could be options.
“I’m a true believer that exercise doesn’t have to be done in a formal setting — it can be any green space,” she said. “Most communities have what we need. So ask yourself, ‘How can I connect the pieces in my community that are already there to make the healthy choice the easy choice?'”
All it takes is a spark. Here’s hoping World Heart Day 2015 can ignite you create a healthy heart environment.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from Healthy Living – The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1VmoX2u
The past few years in this country have seen a grassroots effort to change the dialogue on end of life care. Brittany Maynard became the poster child for choice, for autonomy, something we Americans love. She chose how and when she wanted to die and her choice to end her life in Oregon, where physician assisted death is legal, helped to spur California’s quest for the same. This past friday, California’s assembly and house passed the Right to Die bill. It now sits on Governor Jerry Brown’s desk awaiting his signature — or not.
I have gotten many excited calls from friends over the past year. “They’re talking about physician assisted death on NPR. Turn it on!” I never know what to say to these friends when they call. They assume that I, as a palliative care physician who values dignity and compassionate care at the end of life, would automatically support this proposal. Yet this is only partially correct.
I am ambivalent. As a layperson, I appreciate this added control to my own medical destiny. Yet as a doctor, I am worried.
While my mother is thankfully healthy, one day I will likely be her surrogate decision maker. She has said several times that if she has unremitting suffering from terminal illness, she is counting on me to make sure that she is taken out her misery. It’s always been a bit of a joke, but now it’s a real legal possibility. And I am thankful for that.
Control over one’s destiny is something I value strongly, for myself, for my mother, for my patients. As a doctor practicing both palliative care and ICU medicine, I do my best to provide my patients with as much truthful information as I can, as well as the array of options available before them. I want my patients to choose their own best paths, as opposed to the default life-prolonging treatments that we typically heap on patients at the end of life.
If disease-focused cure is no longer working, my patients often choose to receive palliative or hospice care, which provide expert and personalized care focused on the management of pain and distress. These approaches are as successful as any in medicine at achieving their goals — palliative care medicine has upwards of 90 percent success rate at managing symptoms that accompany the dying process. And for many conditions, patients with life-limiting disease tend to live longer if they choose hospice than if they continue the default approach.
Only rarely, the tools of the palliative care specialists can not bring relief. And it is in these rare cases where palliative sedation — medications which decrease patient awareness — or physician assisted suicide might be considered.
Bill SB 128 specifies that the patient make three requests for assisted suicide: two oral, one written, over a span of 15 days. This requirement encourages the patient to consider this weighty choice over time to protect against impulsive decision making. The bill also lists several requirements for the doctor administering the drug, including getting a second physician’s opinion that life expectancy is short and making sure to introduce the concepts of palliative and hospice care.
Which brings me to concern number one. Does this bill provide enough oversight? Does it require adequate due diligence from the physicians who will be hastening death? This is a tremendous ethical responsibility, and certainly not one I ever considered when I signed up for medical school. I believe that it must be under tight lock and key, only to be used when all other options have been exhausted. From what I have seen, Bill SB 128 does not lay out enough specifics for my taste. Who is this attending physician? How long should she have known the patient? Did she just meet her on this hospitalization?
The bill states that patients should receive counseling about other alternatives, including hospice and palliative care, but is that enough? As a palliative care physician, I have cared for many patients who came in despairing, and, after our ministrations, left with hope and a renewed desire to live what remained of their lives. I for one do not feel that assisting suicide should occur without an aggressive trial of palliative care. How can we, as a medical community, ensure that this will happen every time?
Another key concern involves socioeconomic inequities. I work in a county hospital and see firsthand the inadequacies of our country’s social services support system. Many of my patients must choose between receiving nursing home placement or hospice, because their insurance status only covers one or the other, not both. Recently, I cared for a spunky 67-year-old woman with terminal ovarian cancer. She had decided to forego chemotherapy and selected hospice as her choice. She desperately wanted to go back home but her insurance wouldn’t cover in-home support. Most hospices strongly recommend, even require, that the patient be accompanied at all times in the home, whether by family or an aide. This family could not afford the latter, and the patient’s daughter had just gotten a new job. Should she stay home and care for her mother, or send her to a nursing facility, something that, the patient told me, would rob her of all will to live?
For lower-income people who fall through the Medicare cracks, end of life care can be cost-prohibitive. My concern is that the option of assisted suicide is simply much cheaper, and because of how broken our system is, these competing concerns may put some of our most vulnerable population between a rock and a hard place. Again, how can we, as a society, improve our social support structure so that patients and their families would only consider this choice for the right reasons?
I am encouraged that in other states in which an assisted suicide law has been passed, there is no evidence of inappropriate use. But the populations of those states are very different from California’s — far more homogenous, for starters. And I am doubly alarmed when I read about the interpretation of Belgium’s Right To Die law, under which many patients have received life-ending medications for conditions like depression, chronic fatigue, and even body dysmorphia following sex assignment surgery.
Last night, I had a dinner at my house with several palliative care doctor colleagues. I hesitantly confessed my concerns, thinking that I would surely be alone in my lack of full enthusiasm. I was surprised to hear each of the others agree on all points.
It is not that I’m against this bill. In fact, I support it on a personal level. For myself. For my mother. And I want my patients to have all of the options that are available to me. My purpose is rather to strike a cautionary note, to acknowledge the risks of taking this leap, and to call for a much more rigorous set of conditions to be fulfilled by the physicians assuming this weighty responsibility than I have currently seen proposed.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from Healthy Living – The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1OCl9Lm
When a mom of two set up a camera to record her kids having fun and playing in the living room, she likely did not anticipate the incredible footage she would capture.
Mom Rujeana hoped to record her kids “doing cute things” that she could show their grandma. But as this viral video shows, it was Dad who really stole the show.
The dad dances to Katy Perry with his little girl and baby — and then takes his moves to a new level with his daughter’s pom-poms.
Way to cut a rug, Dad.
Also on HuffPost:
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from Healthy Living – The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1VmoZqZ
When thinking about frozen fish, you may picture those little flavorless rods that have been posing as fish since the 1950s. Well, I have good news: Frozen fish has gotten a makeover and should be in competition for a position on your dinner table. For those of you over the age of 30, which includes me as well, you will probably remember how gross frozen food was. Most of us had frozen berries as a child and retain the memory of taking them out of the freezer, only to be disappointed by the mushy resemblance of their former selves. The good news is things have changed for the better, and that is an understatement.
When new clients comes to see me with a diagnosis of obesity, one of my first questions is, “Are you eating seafood?” The usual answer is something along the lines of, “once a month or less.” The major complaints are the messiness of preparation, lack of cooking knowledge, and fishy smell. I tell them to head to the grocery store, bypass the fresh fish section, and keep on walkin’ to the icy nutrition-packed area of frozen goods.
After they give me the, “you’re crazy” face, I tell them about IQF. The term IQF stands for Individually Quick Frozen. Foods that are IQF are sent into a blast-freezer that freezes the item very quickly. This lightning fast process does not allow time for the ice crystals that damage the cells of the food to form, resulting in a more consistent product with very high integrity and nutritional quality. In other words, no more tasteless cardboard “fish” sticks or mushy berries.
Now that we know IQF frozen foods are going to taste better than the frozen foods of the yester-years, here are three reasons frozen fish may just be healthier for you than its fresh counterparts:
Contamination. So I know we all want to buy fish right from the sea, but the truth is that by the time you even see the ingredients you eat, they have had a life before you. Yes, not only did that fish have a life in the sea but also quite the journey in their afterlife. The “fresh” fish has been moved from fisherman to transport truck, to distribution center, to grocer, and then again from the store to your house. The more links in this chain of distribution, the more opportunity for contamination. In fact, if you are immunocompromised (have a weakened immune system) savefood says that frozen fish may be the safer option. IQF fish is usually blast-frozen as soon as possible and placed in vacuum sealed bags. This makes it very difficult for bacteria to live or thrive. Moreover, if the fresh fish was stored at temperatures above 40 degrees Fahrenheit for too long, the structure of the fish can start to degrade, so your frozen fish could be safer and in better condition by the time you’re ready to eat.
Price. According to the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations, food costs have doubled since 2000 and the cost of fish can be a deterrent for many Americans watching their waists and their wallets. By choosing individually packaged frozen fish, you are paying less because fewer employees are involved in the processing, keeping costs low. You can get a 2-pound bag of tilapia for less than $5.50 — that’s $2.25/lb. for a high-nutrient, low-fat product which can last as long as five months in your freezer!
Quantity. When you buy fresh fish from the store, you have at most two days to prepare and cook your catch. Comparatively, you can buy 1-5 pounds of fish filets from a variety of species that can last months if properly frozen. No longer do you have to worry about what you’re making for dinner, because you’ve got filets ready to roll in your freezer. If you pack your freezer with frozen fish, you are more likely to include seafood in your diet because it has become more convenient and accessible to you on a day-to-day basis. Like I said, I still include fresh seafood in my diet, but mainly on weekends when I have the time to work with a whole fish or tackle a local species that is seasonal in nature.
These three reasons should motivate you to try frozen fish, but here is a fourth, just in case you need the push:
Weight Loss. Good intentions alone will not help with weight loss. I like to say, “If you don’t eat it, it doesn’t count.” You must take ideas and implement them and frozen fish makes availability for a busy person so much more convenient. Menu planning for success starts with a realistic plan. Of course, I prefer going to the fishmonger and picking up the best and freshest catch of the day, but I live in the real world, like you. Life tends to get in the way of wellness, so we must recognize and choose foods that are doable. Frozen fish is not only doable, it’s the easiest menu change with the highest impact. Easy means we will do it more and that will make us healthier. In a country where, according to the CDC, 610,000 people die each year of cardiovascular disease, have cholesterol issues and obesity, just adding some fish to your plate may help.
Get out there and try some frozen fish. Be fearless. Be full.
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from Healthy Living – The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1OCl7mX
Sept 28 (Reuters) – An investigation in Missouri found no evidence that Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis clinic mishandled fetal tissue or engaged in unlawful activity, Attorney General Chris Koster’s office said on Monday.
Koster’s office had launched an investigation after an anti-abortion group released videos over the summer alleging that Planned Parenthood in other states illegally sold fetal tissue.
“The evidence reviewed by my investigators supports Planned Parenthood’s representation that fetal tissue is handled in accordance with Missouri law,” Koster said in a news release. “We have discovered no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Planned Parenthood’s St. Louis facility is selling fetal tissue.”
The Attorney General’s Office interviewed workers at Planned Parenthood, the only licensed surgical abortion facility in Missouri, and reviewed documents from all 317 abortions during a 30-day audit, according to the statement. The investigation found that all tissue from abortions was examined at a pathology lab then incinerated.
Planned Parenthood came under attack over the summer when anti-abortion group the Center for Medical Progress released a series of secretly recorded videos alleging the group sold aborted fetal tissue. Planned Parenthood says the videos were distorted with deliberately deceptive edits and denies allegations that it has improperly used fetal tissue from abortions.
Republicans in Congress tried and failed this month to strip federal money for Planned Parenthood in a government funding bill. (Reporting by Fiona Ortiz in Chicago; Editing by Lisa Lambert)
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from Healthy Living – The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1VmoWM2
We all need help maintaining our personal spiritual practice. We hope that these Daily Meditations, prayers and mindful awareness exercises can be part of bringing spirituality alive in your life.
Today’s meditation features a song by ambient music group Stars of the Lid. “Meaningful Moment” invites us to find wonder and inspiration in our daily lives.
Also on HuffPost:
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from Healthy Living – The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1iWAM3F
It seems like diet-culture is everywhere. From the Paleo fanatics, to the clean eating enthusiasts, and the Weight Watchers evangelists, there are tons of people exalting the many benefits of various diet plans.
Even if you are not on a traditional diet, I use the word “diet” in this context to refer to any set of restrictive food rules-barring true medical and ethical concerns. If you are feeling guilt and shame surrounding your food choices, then it is likely that you are approaching the experience of eating from a “diet mentality.”
The truth is that the diet industry wants us to “fail” so that we will continue to purchase their products. Further, by jumping on the latest diet bandwagon you are supporting a multi-billion dollar industry, which makes profit by convincing us that we are inherently flawed. The following are three reasons why you shouldn’t go on another diet.
1. Diets do not help you to maintain weight loss in the long-term.
The idea that people fail at diets because of a lack of willpower is a myth that is perpetuated by the diet industry. There are powerful biological factors at play, which essentially ensure that your attempt at dieting will fail. Traci Mann, a researcher who has studied dieting for over 20 years, found that there are metabolic, hormonal, and neurological changes that contribute to “diet failure.”
According to Mann, “When you are dieting, you actually become more likely to notice food … But you don’t just notice it — it actually begins to look more appetizing and tempting.” Mann also stated that as you begin to lose weight, “the hormones that make you feel hungry increase” and “the hormones that help you feel full, or the level of those rather, decreases.”
Lastly, Mann explained that when you are dieting, “Your metabolism slows down. Your body uses calories in the most efficient way possible … When your body finds a way to run itself on fewer calories there tends to be more left over, and those get stored as fat.”
Thus, it comes as no surprise that studies show that 95 percent of people will “fail” at diets. Working to suppress your weight below your natural body weight is ultimately a fruitless effort and an utter waste of time.
Even if you are in the 5 percent of people who can maintain a suppressed weight in the long-term, think about what you may be giving up in order to achieve this. After all, what good does it do to have “the ideal body,” if you are sacrificing eating out, socializing with friends, and your interests outside of calorie-counting and obsessive exercise.
2. Weight loss is not the key to increased happiness.
As stated above, diets do not work if your aim is maintaining weight loss in the long-term. However, I have a problem with the very idea of weight loss as a goal. Tying your happiness to something external is a recipe for discontent.
Andrea Bonior, a clinical psychologist, exemplified this point when she stated, “It’s not the external achievement of some goal that’s going to make us happy. You think that will automatically change your life in some meaningful way, but it could be that your life pretty much remains the same.”
For argument’s sake, let’s say that you had your “ideal body” and were supremely happy with your appearance. The reality of life is that our bodies will change as we age. Ultimately, putting all of your worth and value into your appearance is akin to boarding a sinking ship.
Further, counting calories, obsessing about your body fat, and reading diet books, is likely taking time away from more meaningful pursuits. Think about all of the other passions that you could explore if you gave up the goal of weight loss. What if you poured all of the time, money, and energy that you spent on dieting into something that could actually make a difference in the world?
3. Losing weight will not make you healthier.
You can be considered overweight and be healthy. You can also be considered thin and be unhealthy. A person’s weight is simply not a good barometer of their overall health.
According to an article in The Nutrition Journal by Dr. Linda Bacon and Lucy Aphramor, “Most epidemiological studies find that people who are overweight or moderately obese live at least as long as normal weight people, and often longer.”
Shifting your goal from weight loss to that of adopting a few healthful habits is one way that you can work to improve your health. Bacon and Aphramor exemplified this point when they stated, “As indicated by research conducted by one of the authors and many other investigators, most health indicators can be improved through changing health behaviors, regardless of whether weight is lost.”
We all want to believe that there is some magic solution that will help us to discover true health and happiness. However, the reality is that restrictive food rules and weight loss is not the answer to what we are seeking.
I challenge you to really think about what is behind your desire to lose weight. After all, you can find love, feel great about yourself, and make a difference in this world, at any size.
Lisa Turner, a food writer and nutrition consultant, summed it up best when she stated:
“Losing weight is not your life’s work, and counting calories is not the call of your soul. You surely are destined for something much greater, much bigger, than shedding 20 pounds or tallying calories. What would happen if, instead of worrying about what you had for breakfast, you focused instead on becoming exquisitely comfortable with who you are as a person?”
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from Healthy Living – The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1iWAM3B
Did you ever notice a child who runs faster than his peers in every activity? How about the three-year old who spells incessantly? These examples provide a glimpse of two easily recognizable developments in children. Both of them are essential to a child’s advancement. However, intellectual and physical developments aren’t the only areas parents should focus on as their children grow. There are two more maturations vital to the expansion and deepening of individual life experiences. Those who are conscious of the different developments, and are able to provide appropriate guidance absent of fear, significantly impact a child’s overall primary developmental success.
In order for children to mature properly and reach their potential parents must remain accepting and supportive regardless of the varying progress exhibited. No two children develop at the same time, rate, or manner. They mature and proceed at various stages and paces within the different areas of development throughout childhood. If the goal is to raise smart, caring, successful, responsible people then, parents must be aware of how their children are developing without forcing unnatural advancements. How well a child develops is based on if they are able to tap into their innate curiosities and abilities as they grow, learn, and gain confidence. This emerges whenever a child has people around them who remain open-minded and supportive regardless of what is happening with their peers or in the global world.
The areas of development that are most prominent in childhood are intellectual and physical. And, even though intellectual development is one that most people hold in high regard, to focus solely on intellect is detrimental to an individual’s evolution. Physical development is another area often scrutinized during a child’s early years. Intellectual and physical developments have a strong correlation to one another that helps children acquire greater life experiences then when considered independent of one another. When intellectual and physical developments are supported equally, along with the latter two, individuals yield the healthiest progress.
Emotional development is just as significant as the previous ones and, requires similar attention. Thankfully, the importance of emotional intelligence has been recognized in recent decades both in schools and the work force. A person’s skillfulness in navigating life with the ability to express themself properly and recognize people’s emotions has proven advantageous. A collaboration of the three areas of development: intellectual, physical, and emotional, creates a strong platform that yields great potential. However, there’s a fourth area of development that is commonly ignored in childhood and often tapped into later in life by people who want to expand their understanding.
The fourth development, which is spiritual, is essential in generating the best possible outcomes and true fulfillment. This concept is critical in helping individuals navigate life as well as spark an understanding of self-motivation and purpose. Spiritual insight is the balm that helps unite intellectual advancement, physical maturity, and emotional awareness thus, propelling individuals to flourish in their developmental progress.
A child’s overall development is a direct response to the environment in which they live. It’s the evolution and synchronization of all four developments that creates meaningful connections and greater chances for success. Children have an innate ability to move fluidly throughout their development when their upbringings do not stifle them. Parents need to remain open as they provide children a variety of opportunities that help encourage their individual paths. Individuals who have that support and actively engage in life can reach a balance as they magnificently progress through all four areas of development, ultimately reaching their potential.
Follow me at Facebook or Instagram. Learn more about these four developments HERE. anastasiagavalas.com
— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
from Healthy Living – The Huffington Post http://ift.tt/1KFSPnu
