the cold and flu season

Scientists now believe they know why people get more colds and the flu during the winter months.

Researchers found that the cold air itself damages people's immune response occurring in the nose, which causes more respiratory illnesses, according to a recent study published in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology that is being called a scientific breakthrough.

“This is the first time that we have a biologic, molecular explanation regarding one factor of our innate immune response that appears to be limited by colder temperatures,” said rhinologist Dr. Zara Patel, a professor of otolaryngology and head and neck surgery at Stanford University School of Medicine in California, who was not involved in the study, according to CNN.

The study states that reducing temperature inside the nose by as little as 9 degrees Fahrenheit is capable of nearly half of the billions of virus and bacteria-fighting cells located in the human nostrils.

“Cold air is associated with increased viral infection because you’ve essentially lost half of your immunity just by that small drop in temperature,” said rhinologist Dr. Benjamin Bleier, director of otolaryngology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School in Boston.

“it’s important to remember that these are in vitro studies, meaning that although it is using human tissue in the lab to study this immune response, it is not a study being carried out inside someone’s actual nose,” Patel added in an email to CNN. “Often the findings of in vitro studies are confirmed in vivo, but not always.”

Flu activity often increases in October and reaches its peak between December and February, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

8 billion people

We never know precisely how many of us are alive at any one time, but this Tuesday is the United Nations’ best estimate on when we’ll reach 8 billion human beings.

Eight billion. It’s a number too big to imagine but think of it this way: In the time it takes you to read this paragraph, the world’s population grew by around 20 people.

While the Earth’s population is growing quickly, the growth rate is starting to slow down. Eventually, it will start falling and our societies will shrink.

Humanity is changing day by day in ways we can’t perceive over short periods, but in ways that will reshape our world over the coming century.

We’ve come a long way, fast  

Homo sapiens have roamed the Earth for roughly 300,000 years, give or take (no one left a diary back then). 

We evolved to have big brains and long legs, but our population grew relatively slowly at first.

There were perhaps 230 million of us on Earth at around the time of Cleopatra’s death, as the ancient Egyptian civilisation came to an end.

The population had more than doubled by the Renaissance in 1500 and doubled again by 1805 when the ancient Egyptian civilisation was being rediscovered with the help of the Rosetta Stone.

These are all pretty rough estimates — we didn’t have comprehensive censuses in the Middle Ages – but the human population has been on a slow burn, until recent centuries, when it has boomed.

The 2 billion mark was reached just before the Great Depression in 1925, and it took just 35 years from there to get to the third billion. 

Since then, the population has been rising by another billion every 10 to 15 years.

Where are we going?

The world is likely to have a couple more billion mouths to feed in just a few decades.

The UN’s latest projections, released earlier this year, suggest the world will house about 9.7 billion humans in 2050.

“Demographic projections are highly accurate, and it has to do with the fact that most of the people who will be alive in 30 years have already been born,” the UN’s population division director, John Willmoth, says.

“But when you start getting 70, 80 years down the road, there’s much more uncertainty.”

Under its most likely scenario, the UN projects the world population will reach about 10.4 billion in the 2080s.

From there, it’s set to plateau for a couple of decades, before falling around the turn of the 22nd century.

But the range of reasonable possibilities in 2100 is considerably wider, between 8.9 and 12.4 billion.

cancer vaccine before 2030?

Professors Ozlem Tureci and Ugur Sahin co-founded BioNTech, which partnered with Pfizer to develop a COVID-19 shot.

The scientists told the BBC's "Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg" that a vaccine against cancer is on the horizon.

A cancer vaccine will be widely available for patients "before 2030," said Sahin.

The husband-and-wife team who co-founded BioNTech, the biotechnology company that partnered with Pfizer to develop an effective messenger-RNA (mRNA) shot against COVID-19, has predicted that a cancer vaccine could be widely available within the next decade.

"Yes, we feel that a cure for cancer, or to changing cancer patients' lives, is in our grasp," said Professor Ozlem Tureci during an interview on BBC's "Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg."

The cancer vaccine, which would build upon breakthroughs achieved by the scientists during the development of the COVID-19 shot, may be widely available within just eight years, said Professor Ugur Sahin.

"We believe that this will happen, definitely, before 2030," he told Keunssberg.

The hope is that a vaccine currently in development would train the body to recognize and attack cancers using mRNA technology.

"The goal that we have is that can we use the individualized vaccine approach to ensure that directly after surgery, patients receive a personalized, individualized vaccine, and we induce an immune response that so the T-cells in the body of the patient can screen the body for remaining tumor cells and ideally eliminate the tumor cells," Sahin explained.

BioNTech originally focused on developing mRNA-based technologies for a patient-specific approach to cancer treatment, per The New York Times.

live long and lift weights

Lifting weights can build strength, add muscle, and put you in a good mood. Now, a new study finds that the practice may have an even bigger benefit: a longer life.

An observational study of nearly 100,000 people over about ten years, published Sept. 27 in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, found that people who reported lifting weights once or twice a week—without doing any other exercise—had a 9% lower risk of dying from any cause except for cancer. People who paired 1-2 days of weekly weight lifting with aerobic exercise fared even better; their risk of dying was 41% lower than those who did not exercise.

Jessica Gorzelitz, an assistant professor of health promotion at the University of Iowa and co-author of the study, says that the findings fit with the federal activity guidelines, which recommend that adults do at least 150 minutes of aerobic exercise per week, plus muscle-strengthening exercises two or more days a week. “If you want the biggest bang for your buck, the lowest risks were observed in those groups that were doing both aerobic exercise and weightlifting,” says Gorzelitz.

While other studies have found that muscle-strengthening exercises improve health, Gorzelitz—who’s a power-lifter—says she couldn’t find any research on weight lifting and mortality, which is why she decided to study that question. The results are especially important for women, she says, because they seemed to get an even bigger benefit from weight lifting than men in the study. When Gorzelitz worked as a personal trainer, women often told her they feared that strength exercises would make them “too bulky”—a common misconception about weight lifting, Gorzelitz says. “Beyond our study, we see that it’s linked with better muscle mass, healthier muscle…and stronger bones,“ she says. “It’s really important to not just live long, but to live well.”

The study has several limitations. Researchers weren’t able to analyze the intensity and other details about the weight lifting workouts. People in the study also tended to be older than the general population, with an average age of 71, which means that the results might not generalize to younger adults.

It also raises further questions to explore. Even though the study did not find a link between weight lifting and a reduction in deaths caused by cancer, it could require longer term follow-up studies, says Alpa Patel, a senior vice president at the American Cancer Society. For instance, “we know from various other studies that strength training is beneficial for survival after a cancer diagnosis,” she says. Another intriguing finding was that people who did aerobic exercise and lifted weights three to seven times a week—which exceeds the federal guidelines—had an even lower risk of death, although Gorzelitz noted that this is a single study’s finding, and the guidelines come from the totality of evidence. So far, it’s unclear whether the benefits have an upper limit.

Other research provides plausible reasons why weight lifting could lower the risk of death. The exercise improves body composition, trims fat, and builds muscle, which research has linked to a lower risk of death from any cause, especially cardiovascular deaths.

Despite the clear benefits, however, less than a quarter of Americans meet the U.S. physical activity guidelines. “People don’t have to run out and start training for bodybuilding,” Gorzelitz says. “Doing something is better than nothing.” Start slow and look for help online or from a personal trainer, she says. “It’s okay to start with small steps for improving your health.”

I'll be happy when...

Ask yourself when was the last time you uttered the phrase: "I'll be happy when I..." Probably recently, right?

Whether the end of that statement includes getting "a better car," or "a bigger house," or finding "true love" or "the dream job," we're all guilty of delaying our joy and gratification based on a future outcome. Many of us believe a certain relationship status or a higher salary is the singular key to being fulfilled.

Turns out, this way of thinking has a name: It's called the "I'll be happy when" syndrome, a condition that's prevalent today in our working society.

ABC News reported that happiness (or unhappiness) is broken down into the following percentages: About 50 percent is based on genetic makeup, 40 percent is within your control determined by your thoughts and actions, and the remaining 10 percent is related to other circumstances like income, where you live, marital status, and your appearance.

Despite the "I'll be happy when" thought pattern being a universally shared behavior, clinical psychologist and business consultant Dr. Natalia Peart argues that the way we feel right now shouldn't be a result of what we believe is coming down the pipeline. In fact, Dr. Peart, who graduated from Georgetown University, Harvard Medical School, and Brown University, suggests that happiness isn’t the direct effect—it’s actually the cause.

Fortunately, even if you do suffer from "I'll be happy when" syndrome, Dr. Peart asserts in her book, FutureProofed: How To Navigate Disruptive Change, Find Calm in Chaos, and Succeed in Work & Life that there are plenty of ways to treat it.

"To cure 'I'll be happy when' syndrome, we must start seeing success as a lifestyle, not a destination, so that you can finally be happy now—wherever you are in life," she explains in the book.

Here, Dr. Peart discusses the most common symptoms to look out for, why you should rip up your to-do list, and how best to maneuver through change and disruption in the dizzying world of technology and social media. She also shares expert advice on finding happiness right where you are.

Now that we finally know this condition has a name, can you explain what, exactly, "I’ll be happy when" syndrome is?

"For decades, we've always thought that once we achieve success in our careers, then we're supposed to get happy. And that once we get happy, we're going be fulfilled. That was the old path. So we'd ignore signs of burnout or the fact that our lives were so narrow, because the assumption was that there would still be a reward of happiness. But that reward was always in the future. Happiness is now and being able to live in this moment, even in the harried, busy life that we live. You want to get up everyday and know that there’s some level of meaning in the now—not two months or two years from now."

What are the symptoms people should look out for?

"Well, the first sign is determining whether you're living a checklist-based life. If you think back to when you were a teenager, yes, you went to school. But you also did other activities and had fun. It seems the older we get, the more we seem to push the fun things out to crowd our lives with what's on our to-do lists."

You should think of your life as a calendar, not necessarily a to-do list.

Can you elaborate more on this checklist lifestyle? Do you have any suggestions for managing your day-to-day responsibilities while still having fun?

"A checklist includes all the things you must do. But you should really think of your life as a calendar, not necessarily a to-do list. A calendar makes room for all those tasks, but it also allows space and time for restorative activities. The problem with a list is that it involves someone else’s deadline, and any subsequent consequences to not meeting those expectations. By thinking of your life as a calendar, you can prioritize things as you go along. That’s why I’m not a fan of the term 'work-life balance,' because you're made to feel like you're doing something wrong if you don’t divvy things up correctly."

Is there any danger in being routine-driven?

"By only looking at what you have to do today or this week, you're not thinking about your long-term vision. When you have your head down doing the next thing, you can’t see yourself moving towards the bigger picture and what matters most to you. That results in burnout and stress. If it feels stressful, or you find yourself constantly monitoring the time instead of being fully engaged and in the flow of things, that's when you know you're off track. As adults, we’ve lost that sense of connecting to who and what we are—especially women. Women, in a way, are encouraged to feel guilty. It’s like a badge of honor if we show up for everyone else except ourselves."

You have to be able to walk in uncertainty.

So how does one begin to alter their way of thinking or adopting this calendar approach?

"First, you need to have an agile mindset. It’s about developing the inner confidence that says, 'I’m going to look at a situation and think about what can I do to move towards the next step.' The old mentality of lining up our ducks in a row before we took action, or waiting until everything is perfect doesn't work because we're in a different time now. You cannot wait until everything looks right and is set in place. You have to be able to walk in uncertainty and separate yourself from the outcome, even if you don't have all the pieces together yet."

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But what happens if the "when" never comes? How does one manage their expectations for failure or letdowns?

"The first thing to know is that this disappointment of never getting to happy, even when you're checking things off the list, is very common. One big reason this happens is that we base our life goals and the expectation for happiness on the decisions we made when we were teenagers, like our college major and our first job. If you're in this situation, step back and ask yourself bigger questions. For example: What do you care about, or what inspires you? This way, you can better orient yourself toward what is meaningful to you, and not just toward the "when" you've built up over the years. Lastly, you should build daily habits that reflect the things that are a priority for you right now."

Why is living in the moment so important? And for those who need help focusing on their "right-now" goals, what's your advice?

"When you talk about right now, it’s about focusing on whether the things you’re doing are adding energy to your present goals or draining you of your energy to accomplish them. Don’t major in the minors, wasting time on things that aren’t of significance. Get a visual snapshot in your head of where you are and where you want to go in your career or with your fitness goals and finances. If you’re not happy, then you need to create and prioritize new habits around one or two restorative things. Turn to supportive people to hold you accountable who will cheer you on from the frontlines. You also have to make choices about what you’re willing to let go of, and adjust your expectations. But when you get to this step, you can’t give in to fear or fatigue—or quit when you hit roadblocks."

With technology and social media...you end up curating your life, not living it.

What role do you see technology and social media playing in this disconnection from our true selves?

"What happens with technology and social media is that you end up curating your life, not living it. There’s something about the social comparisons that are making things worse, particularly with the 'I'll be happy when' syndrome. Decades ago, when we didn’t have social media, we’d only be concerned about who got married or had a baby first. Those were the success markers. Today, however, we’re comparing our lives to what someone else is posting, which is contributing to our high-stress culture. At the end of the day, it’s a glossy version of a highlight reel you’re supposed to measure up to. But there’s no way you’ll ever live up to it because it’s not real."

Why the title, Future Proofed, for your book?

"We are living in times of constant and rapid change. It’s about understanding what to do today, with an eye towards anticipating tomorrow. The concept of future proofing your life is about having a peace of mind and sense of control, so that no matter what’s coming around the corner you understand how to maintain a sense of calm."

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8 Quotes to Motivate You at Work

In the book you talk about the "freelance economy." What is that, and how does it impact the everyday working woman?

"The way we think about our careers has changed. It’s no longer about having one career for the rest of your life. When women took off to have kids, they were particularly disadvantaged when trying to get back on track. I encourage people to strategize and think of a playbook. Instead of focusing on a job title, think about the value, skills, and talents you offer. In this freelance economy, it means keeping the bigger picture in mind, while also being flexible for twists and turns on the way to achieving your greater vision."

What empowers and energizes you at the present moment?

"I’m deeply mission-driven. I believe that each of us should have the chance or the opportunity to fulfill our potential in life. In my book, I write this quote: 'Someone else paid the cost.' Even though my burden is heavy with responsibility, I gladly accept it, because someone else did the same for me and all of us. And now it's our turn, especially in these times of great change."

lower your cholesterol

[6/1/14] After not going to the doctor for a checkup for like 15 years, I find out I have high cholesterol.  Well, I may have had high cholesterol the last time I tested, but I forget.  Anyway, here's some foods that may lower your cholesterol.

While nobody would intentionally clog their own arteries, it’s easy to do just that with the foods you choose to eat or not eat. Nibbling on hot dogs, full-fat cheese, or donuts can boost unhealthy, artery-damaging LDL (low-density lipoprotein) cholesterol. Grilling and dining on salmon, on the other hand, can raise the “good” or HDL (high-density lipoprotein) levels.

Walnuts
While most varieties of nuts boast health benefits, the unique fat make-up of walnuts makes them particularly helpful when it comes to lowering cholesterol. Rich in polyunsaturated fats and the only nut source of plant-based omega-3 fatty acids, walnuts are a star food for cardiovascular health. Harvard researchers found that adding walnuts to the daily diet, even for the short term, creates dramatic drops in cholesterol.

Steel-Cut Oats
Of all the whole grains, oats sport the highest amount of soluble fiber. And studies show that just five to 10 grams of this soluble fiber can lower both total cholesterol and LDL or “bad” cholesterol. Does it matter what type of oats you eat? Probably not when it comes to soluble fiber. But steel cut oats have the lowest glycemic index because they’re processed the least.

Salmon
High levels of omega-3 fatty acids, or what researchers refer to as fish oils, make salmon a shoe-in when it comes to improving levels of HDL, or “good” cholesterol. In a study from the Western Human Nutrition Research Center, HDL levels shot up 10% when volunteers (all with normal lipid levels) ate a salmon-rich diet for 20 days.

Olive Oil
Rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats, olive oil is always a good choice in healthy cooking. And so nutritionists and cardiologists have long encouraged using it in place of butter and other animal fats. Yet newer studies suggest the oil contains a powerful mix of antioxidants that can lower LDL, or “bad” cholesterol. When possible, opt for the extra-virgin variety; minimal processing helps keep more of its antioxidants intact.

Limiting Foods that Cause Cholesterol
If you want any or all of these cholesterol-lowering foods to do their job effectively, it makes sense to also limit foods that can raise cholesterol. On that list: any animal products with large amounts of saturated fat, including whole milk, ice cream, and fatty red meats. It also includes processed foods (donuts, chips) that contain harmful trans fats, aka partially hydrogenated oils. A two-pronged effort of including foods that lower cholesterol and limiting foods that raise it will put cholesterol numbers into a healthy range.

***

Lower Your Cholesterol

Ours is a pill-popping culture, so it’s no surprise the default method for lowering high cholesterol levels is usually medicinal. Drugs are readily available. They’re effective. And the pill approach requires very little effort. Yet studies show that diet and lifestyle changes can be as or even more powerful than many drugs. Better yet, these natural methods help lower heart disease risk without negative side effects. Employ one (or all five) of these strategies and chances are cholesterol numbers will improve. Already taking cholesterol-lowering meds? These changes can enhance a drug’s effectiveness.

The ultimate goal: total cholesterol less than 200 mg/dl; 100 mg/dl or less for LDL or "bad" cholesterol, and 40 mg/dl or higher for HDL or "good" cholesterol.

1. Get Moving

Hop on a bike. Walk around the neighborhood every day. Lift weights. Try dancing or kickboxing your way through an aerobic workout. Studies confirm that moderate intensity activity on an almost daily basis (yes, we mean exercising) can reduce cholesterol levels 10 to 20 percent. It also boosts levels of HDL, or "good" cholesterol.

One more thing: Get a doctor's O.K. if you've been inactive. Otherwise, the American Council on Exercise recommends starting out with 20 minutes of moderate intensity walking four days per week. Build up to one hour of walk-jogging (aerobic classes) six to seven days per week. Find routines to get you started with our Ultimate Move Finder.

2: Eat More Fiber

Eating more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is important to health for a lot of reasons. But when it comes to lowering cholesterol levels, soluble fiber, the kind found in oats, apples, and barley, is most adept. Studies suggest at least 3 grams of soluble fiber is needed. Start with a half cup of either oats (2 grams soluble fiber), black beans (2.4 grams), or Brussels sprouts (2 grams). Other good sources: sweet potatoes, asparagus, turnips, citrus fruits, peas, and strawberries. Starting your morning with a bowl of oatmeal, like this version with apples, hazelnuts, and flaxseed is always a heart-healthy, fiber-filled way to start your day.

One more thing: To reap the most benefits from soluble fiber make it part of a diet low in saturated fats, trans fats, and cholesterol, says the American Heart Association.

3. Lose Weight

If you're already implementing the first two strategies (exercise and fiber), numbers on the scale may already be dropping. If not, make a concerted effort to lose weight since studies show that losing even as little as five to ten pounds can lower total cholesterol levels dramatically. Not overweight? Concentrate efforts on maintaining a healthy weight.

One more thing: For long-term success with weight loss, the Mayo Clinic suggests making small, sustainable changes. Slowly work more activity into your daily routine. Bring a healthy lunch from home instead of eating out. It all adds up.

4. Focus On Good Fats

Peanut butter, nuts, olive oil, and fats found in fish, avocados, and plant foods don't raise blood cholesterol levels and in some cases even help to lower them. The hitch: some of these good fats are high calorie, so eat them in moderation. What to limit or avoid? Artery-clogging saturated fats (red meat, butter) and trans fats (partially hydrogenated oils). Oh, and keep in mind that it's healthier to replace those harmful saturated fats with small amounts of good fats rather than with carbs.

One more thing: Missing butter? Try cholesterol-lowering spreads like Benecol® or Take Control® that block the body's absorption of cholesterol.

5. Drink Red Wine or Tea

Studies confirm red wine raises levels of HDL or "good" cholesterol. It doesn't hurt either, according to a 2010 review from the Journal of Cardiovascular Research, that wine is rich in antioxidants (quercetin, resveratrol, proanthocyanidines), which protect the heart by decreasing inflammation and oxidative stress. If you imbibe, the American Heart Association advises women put a limit on alcohol to one drink (one 5 ounce glass of wine) per day and up to two drinks per day for men.

One more thing: Don't drink? This isn't a call to start; these same antioxidant compounds can be found in grape juice, green tea, and many fruits and vegetables.

More Cholesterol-Lowering Tips

Spoiler alert: While diet and lifestyle changes can promote dramatic drops in cholesterol for many folks, sometimes they don't do the trick, particularly in people with a genetic disposition for high cholesterol levels. If that's the case, a doctor can prescribe medications (probably less of them if you're being scrupulous about diet and exercise) to bridge the gap. Also important, if you're a smoker, quit smoking. Studies on smoking suggest mixed results with smoking raising LDL levels in some studies and having little impact in others. Yet there is no doubt that smoking is a strong risk factor for heart disease.

*** [8/17/22]

Nine foods that lower cholesterol

New research continues to shape our knowledge when it comes to heart health, cholesterol, and diet. This means that recommendations evolve — and they change slowly too. It can leave each of us wondering what foods are really best for lowering cholesterol and blood lipids. Can oats really improve your heart health? Can beans protect your ticker?

We're simplifying the science by sharing nine foods that research suggests (and continues to support) naturally lower cholesterol. Check them out, and then look for ways to incorporate a few into your favorite heart-healthy recipes.

1. Lima Beans

A half cup of lima beans packs in 6.5 grams of total fiber; soluble fiber makes up over half of that. This is key since soluble fiber decreases total and low-density lipoprotein (LDL — the "bad" kind) cholesterol levels by forming a gel in the intestines to block fat and cholesterol absorption. Not a lima bean fan? That's OK. All beans and peas contain some soluble fiber, so aim to get at least three cups of beans and peas each week. Search our best lima beans recipes.

2. Pears

Pectin is a type of soluble fiber found predominantly in the skin and flesh of fruit, and it's one of the reasons that recommendations advise eating fruit, rather than drinking it. While all fruits have pectin, pears are at the top. One medium pear boasts two grams of soluble fiber and four grams of total fiber. The next best is a medium orange or a grapefruit half which has has two grams soluble fiber and two to three grams total fiber. Pears are also one of 10 foods that help you poop.

3. Steel-Cut or Rolled Oats

Eating a bowl of oatmeal made from less processed oats is one of the best ways to start your day to lower cholesterol. This is because oats are rich in beta-glucan, a type of soluble fiber found primarily in oats and barley. Beta-glucan is particularly powerful at lowering total and LDL cholesterol levels. To get the most benefit, skip instant oats, and opt for whole oats that are labeled steel-cut or rolled. These oatmeal recipes will mix up your morning routine.

4. Salmon and Tuna

Research suggests that omega-3 fatty acids found primarily in fish work to lower triglycerides and may even increase high-density lipoproteins (HDL or "good") cholesterol. These omega-3s also slow the progression of plaque build-up in arteries thanks to their anti-inflammatory effects. That's another reason why health recommendations advise eating two to three servings of omega-3-rich fish a week. Good sources that are also low in mercury include salmon, canned light tuna, catfish, pollock, sardines, and anchovies.

5. Edamame

Edamame or immature soybeans are an easy and delicious way to work more soy into your diet. This is important because soybeans contain isoflavones. Research suggests these compounds lend a powerful hand to potentially lowering cholesterol, especially when compared to non-soy legumes and beans. Eat them steamed straight from the pod or shelled, seasoned and toasted. Another route to get more soy is to incorporate tofu into your diet in place of animal proteins.

6. Walnuts

Swapping your regular afternoon snack for one to two ounces of nuts each day not only decreases heart disease risk, but it also improves cholesterol numbers. In fact, numerous studies suggest that eating a nut like walnuts each day significantly reduces both total and LDL cholesterol. Partial to another nut? Tree nuts like almonds and pistachios, as well as peanuts, appear to offer similar cholesterol-lowering benefits.

7. Brussels Sprouts

Even if they're not your favorite, adding Brussels sprouts to your plate isn't a bad idea. These cruciferous vegetables offer three grams of soluble fiber and 4.5 grams of total fiber per half cup, which assist in pulling down cholesterol numbers. In addition, they're a great source of antioxidant compounds that may help prevent LDL oxidation. For those who aren't a fan of the veggie at all, choose another cruciferous vegetable like broccoli, cauliflower, or kale.

8. Avocado

Cutting back on total fat may have been the focus in past decades, but today we know that it is the type of fat that matters most when it comes to reducing heart disease risk. And avocados are a great way to add healthy, monounsaturated fats since they are also rich in fiber and the antioxidant Vitamin E. Slice or cube ripe avocado to add to a sandwich or salad; mash it to use as a spread in place of mayo or make a quick guacamole.

9. Flax Seeds

Flax seeds are one of the best sources of plant lignans, a unique type of fiber that's not widespread in foods, as well as bioactive polyphenols and an omega-3 fatty acid known as alpha-linolenic acid (ALA). Incorporating a little flax seed is considered one of the most beneficial foods to add for heart health to improve lipids because of this powerful nutrient combination. Unsure how to add it or what to do with it? Try sprinkling a little ground into smoothies or hot oatmeal.

Food Compass

Just when we thought we finally got the hang of this whole wellness thing, a new study from Tufts University throws a curveball our way.

People reports that Tufts has released their Food Compass, a nutrient-profiling system that was developed by researchers at the university. The system uses a unique algorithm to assign foods a score between 1 and 100, with 100 being the most healthy.

Among the many observations made thanks to the Food Compass is that chocolate ice cream in a cone with nuts (score of 37) is healthier than a multigrain bagel with raisins (score of 19). And we can only imagine what the bagel's Food Compass score becomes once you slather it with cream cheese or butter.

Additionally, you might want to skip on that side of saltine crackers with your next bowl of soup. The crispy crackers scored a less than impressive 7. But if you are feeling peckish, your best bet is chocolate-covered almonds (score of 78) and air-popped, unbuttered popcorn (score of 70).

According to Dariush Mozaffarian, who led the study, the goal of the Food Compass is to simplify what healthy eating looks like. "Once you get beyond 'eat your veggies, avoid soda,' the public is pretty confused about how to identify healthier choices in the grocery store, cafeteria, and restaurant," Mozaffarian said, according to People. "Consumers, policy makers, and even industry are looking for simple tools to guide everyone toward healthier choices."

***

Here are some highlights:

Beverages: soft drink, cola, Gatorade (1), tomato juice 100%, celery juice (100)

Grains: bread, pita (1), cheerios (95!)

Fruits: nectarine, strawberries, peach, orange, lemon, grapefruit, cherries, cantaloupe, blackberries, apricot (100)

seafood, dairy, eggs, meat: hot dog, beef (3), canned tuna (88), greek yogurt (95), broiled salmon (95)

extincton vs. jobs

we prefer your extinction to the loss of our job

https://www.gocomics.com/calvinandhobbes/2022/07/31

Nichelle Nichols

Nichelle Nichols, who made history and earned the admiration of Martin Luther King Jr. for her portrayal of communications officer Lieutenant Uhura on Star Trek, has died. She was 89. 

Nichols, who earlier sang and danced as a performer with Duke Ellington’s orchestra, died Saturday night of natural causes, her son, Kyle Johnson, posted on her official Facebook page.

“Her light however, like the ancient galaxies now being seen for the first time, will remain for us and future generations to enjoy, learn from, and draw inspiration,” he wrote Sunday. “Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all.” (Read tribute to the late actress here.)

A family spokesman told The Hollywood Reporter that she died in Silver City, New Mexico. She had been living with her son and was recently hospitalized.

Nichols played a person of authority on television at a time when most Black women were portraying servants.

She was cast as Uhura by Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry after she guest-starred as the fiancee of a Black U.S. Marine who is a victim of racism in a 1964 episode of another NBC show he created, the Camp Pendleton-set The Lieutenant.

(Leonard Nimoy and Ricardo Montalban, two other Star Trek actors, appeared on that short-lived Roddenberry series as well.)

In the 2010 documentary Trek Nation, Nichols said she informed Roddenberry midway through Star Trek’s first season of 1966-67 that she wanted to quit the show and return to the musical theater, which she called “her first love.”

However, a chance meeting with King at an NAACP fundraiser — who knew he was a Trekker? — led Nichols to stay put.

“He told me that Star Trek was one of the only shows that his wife Coretta and he would allow their little children to stay up and watch,” she recalled. “I thanked him and I told him I was leaving the show. All the smile came off his face and he said, ‘You can’t do that. Don’t you understand, for the first time, we’re seen as we should be seen? You don’t have a Black role. You have an equal role.’

“I went back to work on Monday morning and went to Gene’s office and told him what had happened over the weekend. And he said, ‘Welcome home. We have a lot of work to do.’ ”

Said Roddenberry in the documentary, “I was pleased that in those days, when you couldn’t even get Blacks on television, that I not only had a Black but a Black woman and a Black officer.”

Nichols played Nyota Uhura, who hailed from the United States of Africa in the future, on all three seasons of the series, which featured a multi-ethnic, multi-racial crew manning the deck of the Starship Enterprise.

She reprised the role in all six of the Star Trek films from 1979 through 1991, on animated series and several videogames and on a 2002 episode of Futurama.

In the three recent Star Trek films directed by J.J. Abrams and Justin Lin, Uhura was portrayed by Zoë Saldana. (Celia Rose Gooding plays her in the new Paramount+ series Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.) 

In the original Star Trek episode “Plato’s Stepchildren,” which first aired in November 1968, Uhura and Captain Kirk (William Shatner) shared an interracial kiss. (They couldn’t help themselves; according to the plot, aliens made them do it.)

When NBC execs learned about the kiss during production, they feared stations in the Southern states would not air the episode, so they ordered that another version of the scene be filmed. But Nichols and Shatner purposely screwed up every additional take.

“Finally, the guys in charge relented: ‘To hell with it. Let’s go with the kiss,” Nichols wrote in her 1994 book, Beyond Uhura: Star Trek and Other Memories. “I guess they figured we were going to be canceled in a few months anyway. And so the kiss stayed.”

In the mid-1970s, after Nichols took NASA to task in a speech for not reaching out to women and minorities, the organization asked her to serve as a recruiter.

“I went everywhere,” she said. “I went to universities that had strong science and engineering programs. I was a guest at NORAD [the North American Aerospace Defense Command], where no civilian had gone before.

“At the end of the recruitment, NASA had so many highly qualified people. They took six women, they took three African-American men … it was a very fulfilling accomplishment for me.”

Among those who applied to NASA thanks to Nichols were Sally Ride, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair and Ellison Onizuka. A documentary about her efforts, Woman in Motion, premiered in 2018.

Born Grace Nichols on Dec. 28, 1932, in the Chicago suburb of Robbins, Illinois, she studied dance at the Chicago Ballet Academy. As a teenager, she toured as a dancer with Ellington and Lionel Hampton, then sang for the first time with Ellington’s band when a performer became ill at the last minute.

She danced with Sammy Davis Jr. in Porgy and Bess (1959), was a dice player in James Garner’s Mister Buddwing (1966) and played the foul-mouthed head of a prostitution ring who puts a hit out on Isaac Hayes in Truck Turner (1974). In 1968, she recorded an album, Down to Earth.

Nichols appeared as the grandmother of avenging angel Monica Dawson (Dana Davis), who has the power to mimic any physical motion she witnesses, on the NBC series Heroes.

Her more recent film appearances came in Snow Dogs (2002), Are We There Yet? (2005) and This Bitter Earth (2012).

Survivors include her son, who starred in the Gordon Parks film The Learning Tree (1969). The Los Angeles Times reported in August that he was at the center of a conservatorship battle over his mom, who had lived in Woodland Hills.

***

George Takei, Stacey Abrams and More Pay Tribute to Nichelle Nichols: "Champion, Warrior and Tremendous Actor"

Will Smith banned from Oscars

[7/29/22] Will Smith shares updates and thoughts on Instagram

[6/1/22] Jada Pinkett Smith hopes Will Smith and Chris Rock can reconcile

***

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The motion picture academy on Friday banned Will Smith from attending the Oscars or any other academy event for 10 years following his slap of Chris Rock at the Academy Awards.

The move comes after a meeting of the academy's Board of Governors to discuss a response to Smith's actions.

The academy in a statement called Smith's actions “unacceptable and harmful.”

Smith pre-emptively resigned from the academy last week during the run-up to the meeting and said he would accept any punishment the academy handed down.

“I accept and respect the Academy’s decision," Smith said in a statement.

The academy also apologized for its handling of the situation and allowing Smith to stay and accept his best actor award.

“During our telecast, we did not adequately address the situation in the room. For this, we are sorry,” the academy said. “This was an opportunity for us to set an example for our guests, viewers and our Academy family around the world, and we fell short — unprepared for the unprecedented. ”

foods to detox your body

Our modern lifestyle is comfortable, sure, but it has its downsides too. Pollution, too much chlorine in water, preservatives in food, additives, and many other chemicals end up in our bodies, whether we like it or not.

To stay healthy, you must help your body fight these pollutants by eating any detox foods you can get.

These are the best detox foods you should start eating today.

Citrus - Citrus fruits like limes, lemons, grapefruits, and tangerines have impressive doses of vitamin C, a nutrient that boosts your immune system helping you get rid of any intruder and toxic compounds floating around.

Vitamin C is also great for your skin and will help it stay clean and elastic. Our skin absorbs many pollutants from the air, and you must take care of them too.

Pomegranate - The ruby-red, seedy fruit has an incredible amount of punic acid, which lowers your triglyceride levels, clearing your blood vessels. A healthy circulatory system helps your body eliminate cholesterol. Pomegranate seeds also have antibacterial properties.

Hibiscus Tea - Hibiscus flowers render concentrated brightly colored tea, which has many antioxidants that help you detox your blood from harmful compounds and free radicals.

The red flower treats liver steatosis too, which is accumulating fat in your liver. Remember, your liver takes care of detoxing your body every day.

Avocados - Avocado is the perfect detox food. They’re not only loaded with unsaturated fatty acids that clear your arteries, but they also have lots of fiber that gets rid of toxins and waste. Avocados help you absorb other nutrients, and that’s a welcoming bonus.

Fatty fish - Fatty fish have many Omega-3 fatty acids that clean your veins and arteries and lower cholesterol levels. The high proteins in salmon, tuna, and other oily fish speed up your metabolism, making you lose weight faster, getting rid of unnecessary fat.

Turmeric - Curcuminoids in turmeric have fantastic health benefits, and one of them is that they encourage natural detox. Turmeric, especially when combined with piperine found in black pepper, cleanses us from inside out, at a molecular level. Expect not only a deep-cleanse but an improvement in your overall health.

Asparagus - Asparagus have extraordinary amounts of insoluble fiber, the best kind to cleanse your digestive system. The green stemmy vegetable is not only good for you but also for bacteria living in your gut. These microorganisms are responsible for eliminating hard-to-digest compounds and promoting nutrient absorption, which means a cleaner, richer bloodstream.

Beets - The purple root vegetable is an excellent addition to your detox diet because of its insoluble fibers that can help you lose weight. Antioxidants in beets clean your arteries and dietary nitrates, which lower your blood pressure, improve your liver work more efficiently.

Matcha tea - We’re sure you already know that green tea, especially the powdered matcha, is one of the most potent sources of antioxidants. What you might not know is that the bright-green powder is right for your liver and kidneys too. Matcha can prevent both liver damage and liver diseases if ingested regularly, helping your body get rid of all toxins and waste in your body.

Berries - Berries, all red, black, and blue, have amazing detox properties, they have proper amounts of antioxidants in the form of anthocyanins. The sweet fruits are a good source of fiber and lower harmful cholesterol levels. And there’s more, berries have collagen, which will bring back elasticity and strength to your skin, reversing the damage of pollution and chemicals in the air.

Made the most of your detox diet

There’s more news, all foods above are not only excellent ways to detox your body, but they’re also super healthy. 

While you indulge in detox foods, reduce your simple sugar intake, and drink plenty of water. These two habits will boost the health benefits in your detox diet and will make you feel lighter and healthier.

Island Organizers

Your house is a mess. Full of so much stuff that you can’t find anything you need when you need it.

You need help organizing things and turning your home into a place where you can do your work neatly and live your life with joy, especially now since so many of us are working from home.

That’s where Karen Simon, Shinobu Kuroyanagi and Paige Altonn can help. They are local members of the National Association of Productivity and Organization, which offers courses in organizing and operates as a registry for people who are trained in the art of bringing “order and efficiency to people’s lives.” These organizers have developed reliable techniques and principles for organizing one’s home or office.

Simon is a co-founder of Island Organizers, a consulting firm that advises businesses and individuals on organizing their offices, whether at home or in a separate building, as well as tips on technology tools. With her business partner, the late Donna McMillan, she co-wrote a book, “Solving the Organizing Puzzle,” which offers practical fundamentals on organizing, based on their own experiences. The book is mostly focused on business, but there’s plenty in it that applies to home organizing as well. It was ­released during the pandemic, but Simon is planning to have public ­promotions soon.

Simon said people often confuse what being organized really is.

“People have this misconception that being organized only means decluttering and having stuff look nice,” she said. “But it’s not just about having things in their places, it’s about how you operate in the rest of your life. Are you on time? Do you plan? Do you look ahead for what’s going to happen tomorrow? There’s so many things you need to plan for.”

The book is based on four concepts, the most basic being the idea of seeing a space — it can be a physical space like a kitchen or bedroom, a space on your computer, or even a period of time — as “Million Dollar Real Estate.”

“Precious space is worth millions,” Simon said, and so it should be organized according to whatever activity takes place there. “If this is where you read, then you need to have a space there for your bookshelves, and a place to sit comfortably.”

The second concept, which is applied to a million-dollar real estate, is that “Clutter confuses. Uniformity creates calm.” Simon said a disorganized bookcase, where some books are on their sides while others are standing up, can be distracting, whereas one where books of similar sizes are lined up edge to edge “creates a calming effect, because it’s not all busy and different colors.” With the mind calm, the activity at hand should be easier, she said.

A third principle is the idea that “Everything Deserves a Home.” Part of that concept is the importance of having a “dumping zone” near the entry of a home, Simon said, a place to unload items from your day at work, as well as things like groceries that you might have picked up on the way home. The problem, she said, is that the items often stay there because you haven’t decided where they should really go. According to Simon, “Making Decisions” is principle No. 4, the most difficult concept of all because it can be so personal.

“People put things in those spaces where they do not belong, and that is how stuff gets classified as ‘clutter,’” she said.

-- Star Advertiser, May 22, 2022

how much exercise do you need?

For anyone interested in the relationship between exercise and living longer, one of the most pressing questions is how much we really need to stay healthy. Is 30 minutes a day enough? Can we get by with less? Do we have to exercise all in one session, or can we spread it throughout the day? And when we’re talking about exercise, does it have to be hard to count?

For years, exercise scientists tried to quantify the ideal “dose” of exercise for most people. They finally reached a broad consensus in 2008 with the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, which were updated in 2018 after an extensive review of the available science about movement, sitting and health. In both versions, the guidelines advised anyone who was physically able to accumulate 150 minutes of moderate exercise every week, and half as much if it is intense.

But what’s the best way to space out those weekly minutes? And what does “moderate” mean? Here’s what some of the leading researchers in exercise science had to say about step counts, stairwells, weekend warriors, greater longevity and why the healthiest step we can take is the one that gets us off the couch.

Aim for the 150-minute sweet spot.

“For longevity, 150 minutes a week of moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity clearly is enough,” said Dr. I-Min Lee, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. She has extensively studied movement and health and helped draft the current national physical activity guidelines.

For practical purposes, exercise scientists often recommend breaking that 150 minutes into 30-minute sessions of speedy walking or a similar activity five times a week. “It is quite clear from numerous large-scale, well-conducted epidemiological studies that 30 minutes of moderate-intensity activity most days lowers the risk of premature death and many diseases, such as stroke, heart attack, Type 2 diabetes and many types of cancer,” said Ulf Ekelund, a professor specializing in physical activity epidemiology at the Norwegian School of Sports Sciences in Oslo, who has led many of those studies.

Moderate exercise, he continued, means “activities that increase your breathing and heart rate, so the exertion feels like a five or six on a scale between one and 10.” In other words, pick up the pace a bit if your inclination is to stroll, but do not feel compelled to sprint.

Consider exercise snacks.

You also can break up your exercise into even smaller segments. “It doesn’t matter whether exercise is done in a long, continuous 30-minute session or is dispersed across the day in shorter sessions,” said Emmanuel Stamatakis, an exercise scientist at the University of Sydney in Australia who studies physical activity and health.

Recent studies overwhelmingly show that we can accumulate our 150 weekly minutes of moderate exercise in whatever way works best for us, he said. “Many people may find it easier and more sustainable to squeeze in a few dozen one-minute or two-minute walks between work tasks” or other commitments. “There is no special magic to a sustained 30-minute session of exercise” for most health benefits.

Think of these bite-size workouts as exercise snacks, he said. “Activities like bursts of very fast walking, stair climbing and carrying shopping bags provide excellent opportunities for movement snacks.” To concentrate the health benefits of these workout nuggets, he added, keep the intensity relatively high, so you feel somewhat winded.

Conceivably, you also could cram all of your exercise into long Saturday and Sunday workouts. In a 2017 study by Dr. Stamatakis and colleagues, people who reported exercising almost entirely on weekends were less likely to die prematurely than those who said they rarely exercised at all. But being a weekend warrior has drawbacks. “It is certainly not ideal to spend the workweek totally sedentary and then try to compensate” over the weekend, Dr. Stamatakis said. You miss many of the health benefits of regular exercise, such as improved blood-sugar control and better moods, on the days you do not work out, he said. You also increase your risk of exercise-related injuries.

Count your steps.

The exercise recommendations remain the same if you measure your exercise in steps instead of minutes. For most people, “150 minutes of exercise a week would translate into about 7,000 to 8,000 steps a day,” Dr. Lee said. In a large-scale new study by Dr. Lee and Dr. Ekelund of the relationship between steps and longevity, published in March in The Lancet, the optimal step count for people younger than 60 was about 8,000 to 10,000 a day, and for those 60 and over, it was about 6,000 to 8,000 a day.

Consider more.

Of course, these recommendations about steps and minutes focus on health and life spans, not physical performance. “If you want to run a marathon or a 10K race as fast as possible, you need much more exercise,” Dr. Ekelund said.

The recommended 150 minutes a week also may be too little to stave off weight gain with age. In a 2010 study of almost 35,000 women that was spearheaded by Dr. Lee, only those who walked or otherwise exercised moderately for about an hour a day during middle age maintained their weight as they became older.

So, if you have the time and inclination, move more than 30 minutes a day, Dr. Lee and the other scientists said. In general, according to her research and other studies, the more active we are, well beyond 30 minutes a day, the more our risks of chronic diseases drop and the longer our lives may be.

But any activity is better than none. “Every single minute counts,” Dr. Ekelund said. “Walking up the stairs has health benefits, even if it only lasts for one or two minutes, if you repeat it regularly.”

Gretchen Reynolds will be taking time off from the PhysEd column to work on a book. In the meantime, follow her on Twitter (@gretchenreynold) or look for her on the running trails and bike paths.

Finland tops World Happiness Report

For the fifth consecutive year, Finland has topped the latest rankings in the World Happiness Report. Once again, the other main Nordic countries all ranked in the top ten, well ahead of the U.S., the U.K. and Canada.

The annual report from the Sustainable Development Solutions Network—a global initiative for the United Nations—uses data from the Gallup World Poll to report how people evaluate their own lives in more than 150 countries worldwide.

With Finland, Iceland and Denmark filling the top three places and Sweden (6th) and Norway (8th) placing well, the world’s attention has once again turned to why the Nordic countries perform so well.

In a year that the report’s authors describe as “lamentable”, they said people’s trust in each other and confidence in their governments were key factors in this year’s rankings.

As a region with high levels of societal trust, that goes some way to explaining why all the Nordic countries held on to high positions despite the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. But other things must explain the consistently high rankings of the Nordic countries over so many years.

Content, but not necessarily happy

One simple factor could be that the region’s high societal trust, strong welfare systems, relatively low crime and low unemployment means there are far fewer people who consider themselves unhappy.

Two American expats living in Scandinavia previously said that “contentment” is a better description than happiness for the emotion that sums up the region. Oslo-based Audrey Camp said that when people feel secure in their jobs, health and education, they have the freedom to emotionally invest in things that matter more for happiness, such as family, friends and fun.

Janteloven, or the law of jante, is another possible factor. It’s a set of societal norms captured by a Danish-Norwegian author in a 1933 novel. Many believe his observations of the suppression of individuality and personal success are still relevant today, and may explain why many people feel happier with a comfortable life rather than striving for someone else’s idea of success.

An outdoors lifestyle

Many people based farther south may find it difficult to believe anyone living in areas with so little daylight during the winter can possibly be happy. But Finns make the most of the winter, helped by the nation’s huge number of saunas.

“Whereas some countries would be on the brink of hysteria if they were to suddenly experience the winter climate of Finland, Finns have learned not only to simply adapt to the winter, but to thrive in it,” explained the Helsinki Times.

It’s a similar story across the Nordic region. Author Lorelou Desjardins gave a TEDx talk about the concept of “friluftsliv”, which broadly translates as an outdoors lifestyle.

She described it as a philosophy of living a simple life in nature, which doesn't need to involve epic adventures: “It can be something as simple as taking a Sunday hike with your family in the forest, going skiing with your friends on the weekend from cabin to cabin, or going ice fishing with your grandfather.”